All-time Favorite Songs

Just about anyone who knows me knows that I like making lists. I especially like getting paid to make lists, but have only had a couple of jobs like that so far as an independent contractor. But, man, were they fun.

The end of the second fiscal quarter (December) and the beginning of the third fiscal quarter (January) often leaves me with more free time that I care to have, and this time has been no different. I decided to make an official list of my favorite songs. There is a much larger, deeper list that I will likely post here in the coming days/weeks/months, but I will need to break the list down further, such as by decade, genre, and so on. However, I am ready to post my first list of all-time favorite songs.

The rules for this list are simple. Each of these songs are my current favorites by the band or artist that sings it, and no artist can appear on the list more than once, unless the person appeared in more than one group. Fortunately, no one crosses that list, although guitarist Gilby Clarke came the closest, as he is here as a solo artist and he was, at one time, a member of Guns N’ Roses. However, he was not a member of the band when the GN’R song that appears on this list was recorded. Others who came close include Herb Alpert and Paul McCartney.

I made that a rule because, again, those who know me know I could easily populate this list with songs from my five favorite bands: The Cars, Electric Light Orchestra, Collective Soul, Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band, and The Offspring.

Reflecting my vast taste in music, just about every type of music appears here, except country (which is odd considering how much I love country music). There are many country artists on my overall list, such as Charlie Rich, Hank Williams, Garth Brooks, Travis Tritt, Clint Black, Olivia Newton-John (when she was country) and so on. Just not on this list. But most forms of rock, R&B, and soul are here, even new-school punk and, dare I say it disco. The King and the Fab Four are also present – as they should be. At the other end of the spectrum, there are also a fair number of one-hit wonders and artists who should have had many more hits.

Probably the most surprising, even to me, are the names missing from the list. Besides the aforementioned country acts, I was surprised to see acts like Prince, KISS, The Four Tops, Duran Duran, Stone Temple Pilots, and The Eagles not make the top 50. But I still like their songs, just not as much as these.

So, starting the countdown at No. 50 and working our way to No. 1:

50) The Dazz Band: Let It Whip

49) Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band: Fire Lake

48) Chic: Good Times

47) David Bowie: Life on Mars

46) Devo: Gut Feeling/Slap Your Mammy

45) Kansas: Dust in the Wind

44) Scorpions: The Zoo

43) The Bloodhound Gang: The Bad Touch

42) Cracker: Teen Angst (What the World Needs Now)

41) Danzig: Mother

40) Gene Pitney: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence

39) Axe: Rock N Roll Party in the Streets

38) Quarterflash: Find Another Fool

37) The Doors: Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar)

36) The Offspring: Gone Away

35) Robert Hazard: Escalator of Life

34) The White Stripes: Seven Nation Army

33) Nick Gilder: Hot Child in the City

32) Johnny Rivers: Secret Agent Man

31) Elvis Presley: Suspicious Minds

30) Electric Light Orchestra: Wild West Hero

29) Bangles: Hazy Shade of Winter

28) The Beatles: When I’m Sixty-Four

27) Gerry Rafferty: Baker Street

26) Guns N’ Roses: Used to Love Her

25) Radiohead: Karma Police

24) Gilby Clarke: Cure Me … or Kill Me …

23) Def Leppard: Rock of Ages

22) Otis Redding: Try a Little Tenderness

21) Creedence Clearwater Revival: Midnight Special

20) Collective Soul: Precious Declaration

19) T. Rex: 20th Century Boy

18) Jackson Browne: Somebody’s Baby

17) Soul Asylum: Runaway Train

16) The 5th Dimension: Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In

15) The Go-Go’s: Head Over Heels

14) Jimmy Ruffin: What Becomes of the Brokenhearted

13) Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass: A Taste of Honey

12) A Flock of Seagulls: Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You)

11) Lynyrd Skynyrd: Tuesday’s Gone

10) Kenny Rogers and The First Edition: Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition was In)

9) Queen: Don’t Stop Me Now

8) Pink Floyd: Wish You Were Here

7) The Monkees: (I’m Not Your) Stepping Stone

6) AC/DC: You Shook Me All Night Long

5) The Band: The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

4) Sniff ‘n the Tears: Driver’s Seat

3) The Cars: All Mixed Up

2) Nick Lowe: Cruel to Be Kind

1) Greg Kihn: The Breakup Song (They Don’t Write ‘Em)

Feel free to comment or offer up your list if you like. I don’t mind.