Monday, July 26, 2010

Best Tracks of the 70s: My Picks

1. John Lennon - Imagine
Very few songs transcend like "Imagine."   It's simplistic beauty and gleaming sincerity make it an ageless anthem that is instantly recognizable and almost universally revered.   It seems naive but is so earnestly hopeful that you think, just maybe, it could be true.  

2. Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven
The rock epic of epics.  A generation was riveted by this song.  It's lilting, folky melody, mystical lyrics and eventual eruption into an avalanche of molten rock captured the imagination of listeners since it's debut.   It's become an almost holy relic of rock and roll.   Everything about it comes together perfectly, especially Page's incendiary solo and Robert Plant's slowly building drama and voice-searing wail during the climax.  
 
3. Neil Young - Heart of Gold
There is a reason "Heart of Gold" was Neil Young's one and only ascent to the #1 spot on the pop charts.  It all comes together here.  Young's odd, high and wavery voice, a yearning melody, and ghostly steel guitar played by the great Ben Keith that will glide all in, out and around your brain.  

4. David Bowie - "Heroes"
Bowie looked like an alien anyway, and this was music beamed directly from whatever planet spawned him.  His Berlin period - "Low" "Heroes and "Lodger" - were the fuel that led to countless new wave imitators.  It's a dark, industrial, spooky and intense soundscape, and "Heroes" is the moment where it all soars.   In the shadows of one of the great mars on humanity, the Berlin Wall, "Heroes" is the human spirit - however dim - peering through the muck and daring to hope. 

5. Fleetwood Mac - Landslide


6. The Temptations - Just My Imagination
7. 10cc - I'm Not In Love
8. Marvin Gaye - What's Goin On
9. Sex Pistols - Anarchy in the UK
10. Donna Summer - I Feel Love

11. Janis Joplin - Me and Bobby McGee
12. Jefferson Starship - Miracles
13. David Bowie - Life on Mars?
14. The Beatles - The Long and Winding Road
15. Bruce Springsteen - Thunder Road

16. Rod Stewart - Maggie May
17. Elton John - Daniel
18. Pere Ubu - Final Solution
19. Chris Bell - Speed of Sound
20. The Clash - London Calling

21. Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
22. Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb
23. Blondie - Heart of Glass
24. Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)
25. Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

26. Paul McCartney & Wings - Jet
27. Roberta Flack - Killing Me Softly With His Song
28. Simon and Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water
29. CCR - Have You Ever Seen The Rain
30. Santana - Black Magic Woman

31. Kiss - Hard Luck Woman
32. Ike & Tina Turner - Proud Mary
33. Bob Dylan - Tangled Up In Blue
34. Fleetwood Mac - Dreams
35. Pink Floyd - Sheep

36. Bruce Springsteen - Born To Run
37. Joy Division - Transmission
38. Neil Young - After The Gold Rush
39. Climax Blues Band - Couldn't Get It Right
40. The Cure - Boys Don't Cry

41. Donny Hathaway - A Song For You
42. Nick Drake - Northern Sky
43. Bob Marley & The Wailers - Waiting in Vain
44. Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Like a Hurricane
45. The Rolling Stones - Tumbling Dice

46. David Bowie - Station to Station
47. Paul McCartney - Maybe I'm Amazed
48. Leonard Cohen - Famous Blue Raincoat
49. Blue Oyster Cult - (Don't Fear) The Reaper
50. Eagles - Hotel California

51. The Who - Baba O'Riley
52. Badfinger - Day After Day
53. CCR - Run Through The Jungle
54. Judee Sill - Jesus Was a Crossmaker
55. The Stooges - Gimme Danger

56. Al Green - Let's Stay Together
57. Bauhaus - Bela Lugosi's Dead
58. Gladys Knight & The Pips - Midnight Train to Georgia
59. Doobie Brothers - Long Train Runnin'
60. Eric Burdon/War - Spill The Wine

61. CCR - Who'll Stop The Rain
62. Aerosmith - Dream On
63. Elvis Costello - (What's So Funny) 'Bout Peace Love and Understanding
64. Elton John - Someone Saved My Life Tonight
65. Greateful Dead - Friend of the Devil

66. Chris Bell - I Am the Cosmos
67. Billy Joel - Say Goodbye to Hollywood
68. Roy Buchanan - The Messiah Will Come Again
69. Bread - Everything I Own
70. The Rolling Stones - Brown Sugar

71. Patti Smith Group - Dancing Barefoot
72. David Bowie - Changes
73. The Only Ones - Another Girl, Another Planet
74. Deep Purple - Smoke on the Water
75. Fleetwood Mac - Rhiannon

76. The Stooges - Search & Destroy
77. T. Rex - Get It On
78. John Lennon - God
79. Ann Peebles - I Can't Stand The Rain
80. Eagles - Tequila Sunrise

81. Carol King - So Far Away
82. George Harrison - My Sweet Lord
83. Rush - La Villa Strangiato
84. Yoko Ono - Yang Yang
85. David Bowie - Look Back in Anger

86. Elton John - Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters
87. Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Powderfinger
88. Led Zeppellin - Rock and Roll
89. The Clash - Train in Vain
90. Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights

91. The Cure - Killing an Arab
92. Fleetwood Mac - Tusk
93. The Who - Won't Get Fooled Again
94. Gram Parsons - Love Hurts
95. Bob Dylan - Changing of the Guard

96. Iggy Pop - China Girl
97. Gerry Rafferty - Baker Street
98. Stevie Wonder - Higher Ground
99. Ike & Tina Turner - Nutbush City Limits
100. CSNY - Ohio

101. Dire Straits - Sultans of Swing
102. Gloria Gaynor - I Will Survive
103. The Rolling Stones - Wild Horses
104. Lou Reed - Caroline Says II
105. Gene Clark - Silver Raven

106. The Doors - Riders on the Storm
107. Fleetwood Mac - Hypnotized
108. Stevie Wonder - I Wish
109. Van Morrison - Crazy Love
110. Gary Numan - Cars

111. Sammi Smith - Help Me Make It Through The Night
112. David Bowie - The Man Who Sold The World
113. Joni Mitchell - River
114. Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Cortez The Killer
115. Joy Division - She's Lost Control

116. John Lennon - #9 Dream
117. Bob Marley & The Wailers - No Woman, No Cry
118. Buggles - Video Killed The Radio Star
119. Eagles - One of These Nights
120. John Lennon - Instant Karma

121. George Harrison - Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)
122. Nick Drake - Pink Moon
123. Roxy Music - Love is the Drug
124. Chicago - 25 or 6 to 4
125. Dead Boys - Ain't It Fun?

126. Elton John - Rocket Man
127. Lou Reed - Satellite of Love
128. Marvin Gaye - Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)
129. Paul McCartney & Wings - Band on the Run
130. Fleetwood Mac - Storms

131. Doobie Brothers - What a Fool Believes
132. Iggy Pop - The Passenger
133. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - American Girl
134. Talking Heads - Psycho Killer
135. Grateful Dead - Ripple

136. Robin Trower - Bridge of Sighs
137. Television - Friction
138. Little River Band - It's a Long Way There
139. The Doors - Love Her Madly
140. Heart - Crazy on You

141. Prince - I Wanna Be Your Lover
142. John Lennon - Mother
143. Lou Reed - Walk on the Wild Side
144. Paul McCartney - Live and Let Die
145. Patti Smith Group - Because The Night

146. The Modern Lovers - Pablo Picasso
147. Kraftwerk - The Model
148. The Cars - Dangerous Type
149. Bob Dylan - Knockin' On Heaven's Door
150. Eagles - Desperado

151. Pink Floyd - One of These Days
152. The Beatles - Let It Be
153. Big Star - In The Street
154. Talking Heads - Life During Wartime
155. Joy Division - Disorder

156. The Persuaders - Thin Line Between Love and Hate
157. Pink Floyd - Money
158. Yoko Ono - Death of Samantha
159. Diana Ross - Love Hangover
160. Buzzcocks - What Do I Get

161. Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band - We've Got Tonight
162. Marvin Gaye - Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)
163. Thelma Houston - Don't Leave Me This Way
164. The Sensational Alex Harvey Band - Next
165. Al Stewart - Year of the Cat

166. Pretenders - Brass in Pocket
167. The Ramones - I Wanna Be Sedated
168. Santana - Aqua Marine
169. John Lennon - Jealous Guy
170. Steely Dan - Do It Again

171. The Records - Starry Eyes
172. Kansas - Dust in the Wind
173. Peter Gabriel - Solsbury Hill
174. Bob Marley & The Wailers - Three Little Birds
175. Kiss - Black Diamond

176. Blondie - Atomic
177. Donna Summer - Macarthur Park
178. Neil Young - The Needle and the Damage Done
179. Wire - Mannequin
180. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here

181. Warren Zevon - Werewolves of London
182. Genesis - Follow You Follow Me
183. The Police - Roxanne
184. Anita Ward - Ring My Bell
185. Iggy Pop - Lust for Life

186. Rod Stewart - Reason to Believe
187. The Cure - Three Imaginary Boys
188. 999 - Homicide
189. The Tubes - Prime Time
190. Meat Loaf - Two out of Three Ain't Bad

191. The Tourists - The Loneliest Man in the World
192. Nick Lowe - Cruel To Be Kind
193. Pink Floyd - Another Brick in the Wall
194. Magazine - The Light Pours Out of Me
195. George Harrison - Beware of Darkness

196. Queen - Crazy Little Thing Called Love
197. The Pointer Sisters - Fire
198. Led Zeppelin - When The Levee Breaks
199. OMD - Electricity
200. Black Sabbath - Paranoid

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