Top 20 Rock Songs: My Picks

During Labor Day weekend I wrote a post about 101.9 RXP's 1,019 greatest rock songs of all time countdown but failed to ever post my own top 20 list that I managed to send in right before the deadline. I forget exactly how many of my songs wound up on the list but I do know it was a good amount - maybe 10? Maybe even more. I'm proud of that and also proud of all the other songs on my list. Not even all of Matt Pinfield's songs made the list (I don't think).

Believe it or not Pete Yorn, Ray LaMontagne, AND MY NATIONAL SONG(!) got on the list and really that's all I could ever ask for. I was thrilled.

So without further adieu, here is my Top 20 List of my favorite great rock songs.

Enjoy!

Cream - Sunshine of Your Love
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - I Need to Know*
The Band - Up On Cripple Creek
Led Zeppelin - D'yer Mak'er*
The Hollies - Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress
Todd Rundgren - I Saw The Light
The Who - The Seeker
Jefferson Airplane - High Flying Bird
The National - Mistaken For Strangers*
Bruce Springsteen - It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City*
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under the Bridge*
David Bowie - Queen Bitch
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Have You Ever Seen the Rain?
Jimi Hendrix - All Along the Watchtower*
Dramarama - Anything, Anything*
Chicago - Beginnings
Fleetwood Mac - Dreams
Foo Fighters - Everlong*
The Smiths - This Charming Man*
Stone Temple Pilots - Interstate Love Song*

(*)=songs I know were chosen for the countdown, there may have been more.

And my "legacy picks" (these were categories with a predetermined artist that required you to choose their best song. For The Beatles it was pre-Rubber Soul and for the Stones it was pre-Sticky Fingers):

Buddy Holly - It Doesn't Matter Anymore
Bob Dylan - I Threw it All Away
Elvis Presley - Heartbreak Hotel
The Beatles - You Can't Do That
The Rolling Stones - Paint it, Black (although it would've been "Miss You" if it was out of their entire catalog)

Top 25 Best Album Covers

There's a new computer keyboard at work today and it types so smoothly that I feel like writing a novel..if only I had enough things to talk about. It's funny that you could have a lot going on but the absorbtion of it all takes more energy than the actual actions. I don't like to absorb much (except music).

Strangely enough, I just came across a list of Rolling Stone's top 25 album covers by sheer accident and I'm taking it as a sign from above. The list is full of the best content of all time but not the best album covers. It's like they just picked the most popular albums of all time and blended them together to make a list of record covers - and that is not how it should be done.

So for your consideration, I present to you my list of top 25 album covers - that is subject to change as I find more covers I didn't know about - AND Rolling Stone's top 25 list.

Rolling Stone's (in order from 25 - 1):

25. Purple Rain - Prince
24. Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen
23. Unknown Pleasures - Joy Division
22. The Ramones - The Ramones
21. Rid of Me - PJ Harvey
20. Appetite for Destruction - Guns N Roses
19. Parallel Lines - Blondie
18. Physical Graffiti - Led Zeppelin
17. The White Album - The Beatles
16. War - U2
15. Who's Next - The Who
14. MCMLXXXIV - Van Halen
13. Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd
12. OK Computer - Radiohead
11. IV - Led Zeppelin
10. Daydream Nation - Sonic Youth (that I couldn't disagree with more)
09. Revolver - The Beatles
08. The Velvet Underground and Nico - The Velvet Underground and Nico
07. Nevermind - Nirvana
06. Sticky Fingers - The Rolling Stones
05. Paul's Boutique - Beastie Boys
04. Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd
03. Abbey Road - The Beatles (the one I most agree with)
02. London Calling - The Clash
01. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band - The Beatles

And now my list (possibly not in order):

Keith Moon

In memory of the gorgeous, talented, frantic, inspiring drummer who had a thing for Holiday Inns..

My mother met him years and years ago at Convention Hall in Asbury Park where she was lucky enough to see The Who in their heyday. She was sitting by the beach when suddenly Mr. Moon decided to run over to the ocean and take a swim with all his clothes on. My mother was starstruck and ran over to the dripping wet drummer and simply asked to shake his hand. She tells me he was very cordial and extremely funny (apparently he made some type of joke but she doesn't remember what it was). She said he had crazy eyes. Oh my. I love crazy eyes and dreamy faces. God Bless Him.

From Wikipedia:

At 17, Moon joined The Who (in April 1964), a replacement for Doug Sandom. Without a drummer the remaining members hired a session drummer to fulfill shows they had agreed to play. Moon attended one of these shows. Pete Townshend described him as looking like a "ginger man" with his hair dyed ginger and wearing ginger-coloured clothes. As stated in Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who, Moon looked up to Roger Daltrey during the show and said "I hear you're looking for a drummer. Well, I'm much better than the one you've got."[6] The band knew they needed Moon after seeing him practically smash the drum kit to pieces.[2]

Early in The Who's career, live sets culminated in "auto destruction", members destroying their equipment in elaborate fashion, an act that was imitated by other bands and artists including Jimi Hendrix in his breakout performance at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival. Moon showed a zeal for this, kicking and smashing his drums. For a performance on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour television show, he loaded explosives into one of his kit's two bass drums. During the finale of "My Generation," he kicked the other drum off the riser and then set off the charge, singeing Townsend's hair and embedding a piece of cymbal in his arm (the blast has been speculated as starting Townshend's tinnitus). Another time, he filled clear acrylic drums with water and goldfish, playing them for a television appearance. When an audience member asked "What happens with your goldfish?" he replied with a grin, "Well I mean, you know...even the best drummers get hungry."[7] Antics like these earned him the nicknames "Moon the Loon", and "Mad Moon".

His determination to add his voice to Who songs led other members to banish him from the studio when vocals were recorded. This led to a game, Moon sneaking in to join the singing. At the end of "Happy Jack," Townshend can be heard shouting "I saw you!" It is said that he noticed Moon trying to join in[citation needed] Moon can be heard singing on several tracks, including a section of "A Quick One While He's Away" (A Quick One, 1966), "Armenia City in the Sky" (The Who Sell Out, 1967), "Bell Boy" (Quadrophenia, 1973), "Pictures of Lily" (1967), "Instant Party Mixture" (My Generation Deluxe Edition, 1965), "Bucket T" and "Barbara Ann" (Ready Steady Who EP, 1966).

He was credited as composer of "I Need You," which he also sang, and the instrumental "Cobwebs and Strange" (from A Quick One, 1966), the single B-sides "In The City" (co-written by Moon and Entwistle), "Dogs Part Two" (1969) (sharing credits with Townshend's and Entwistle's dogs, Towser and Jason) and "Wasp Man" (1972), and "Girl's Eyes" (from The Who Sell Out sessions; featured on Thirty Years of Maximum R&B and a 1995 re-release of The Who Sell Out). He also co-composed the instrumental "The Ox" (from the debut album "My Generation") with Townshend, Entwistle and pianist Nicky Hopkins. "Tommy's Holiday Camp" (from Tommy) was credited to Moon, who suggested the action should take place in a holiday camp. The song was written by Townshend, and although many think Moon sings on the track, the version on the album is Townshend's demo. However Moon did sing it live and on the Tommy film. He also produced "Baba O'Riley"'s violin solo (which he had suggested), and was recorded by Dave Arbus, a friend.

Daltrey said Moon's drumming style held the band together; that Entwistle and Townshend "were like needles... and Keith was the wool."