IT'S A SIMPLE QUESTION...OR IS IT?
While feeding the kiddo yesterday I had the XM 80's station pulled up on our DirecTV. Steve Perry's "Oh Sherrie" came on and I made the comment at what a distinctive opening the song had. By opening, I meant from the first note through the first line of the first verse. Sheer synthesizer brilliance with a rare kill of the music leading directly into his acapella vocals. This immediately led to a conversation about what the best musical intro of all-time is.
Folks, it's definitely not a clear-cut answer. I pulled up my iTunes playlist of the top 500 songs ever as determined by Rolling Stone and quickly scrolled through the classics. No fewer than 169 struck me as fairly remarkable. Clearly this list need to be cut down. A second run-through of that smaller selection yielded 52 potentials.
It's not a comprehensive list, because I only worked off that Rolling Stone list. How could it be, when there was no Van Halen included in my list of finalists? "Running With The Devil," "You Really Got Me," "Ain't Talkin' About Love," "Dreams," "Right Now," "Jump," "Panama," "I'll Wait"...there might be no group better at grabbing you by the throat and pulling you in right off the bat.
No Def Leppard either. Consider the intros on these hits: "Bringin' On The Heartache," "Pour Some Sugar On Me," "Hysteria," "Photograph."
But if we're looking at the best intros to the best songs, how do you decide from a list that includes:
Satisfaction...Johnny B. Goode...Smells Like Teen Spirit...London Calling...Purple Haze...Born To Run...Layla...Stairway To Heaven...Gimmie Shelter...All Along The Watchtower...Hotel California...When Doves Cry...Superstition...Whole Lotta Love...I Heard It Through The Grapevine...Every Breath You Take...Brown Eyed Girl...I Want You Back...Won't Get Fooled Again...While My Guitar Gently Weeps...Kashmir...Foxey Lady...Let's Get It On...Dream On...Back In Black...Sweet Child O' Mine...Good Times...Sunday Bloody Sunday...Walk This Way...One Way Or Another...Iron Man...Heartbreaker...We Will Rock You...Spirit In The Sky...Beat It...Baba O'Reilly...Pride (In The Name Of Love)...Bitter Sweet Symphony...Ohio...Roxanne...(Don't Fear) The Reaper...Sweet Home Alabama...Sweet Emotion...The Boys Of Summer...Nuthin' But A 'G' Thang...Piano Man...Smoke On The Water...Paradise City...Welcome To The Jungle...Eighteen...I Love Rock 'N' Roll...How Soon Is Now?
Can't be done, folks. If I had to only pick a half-dozen for myself, it would probably have to be London Calling, Born To Run, Layla, Superstition, Pride (In The Name Of Love), and Paradise City (no particular order).
While feeding the kiddo yesterday I had the XM 80's station pulled up on our DirecTV. Steve Perry's "Oh Sherrie" came on and I made the comment at what a distinctive opening the song had. By opening, I meant from the first note through the first line of the first verse. Sheer synthesizer brilliance with a rare kill of the music leading directly into his acapella vocals. This immediately led to a conversation about what the best musical intro of all-time is.
Folks, it's definitely not a clear-cut answer. I pulled up my iTunes playlist of the top 500 songs ever as determined by Rolling Stone and quickly scrolled through the classics. No fewer than 169 struck me as fairly remarkable. Clearly this list need to be cut down. A second run-through of that smaller selection yielded 52 potentials.
It's not a comprehensive list, because I only worked off that Rolling Stone list. How could it be, when there was no Van Halen included in my list of finalists? "Running With The Devil," "You Really Got Me," "Ain't Talkin' About Love," "Dreams," "Right Now," "Jump," "Panama," "I'll Wait"...there might be no group better at grabbing you by the throat and pulling you in right off the bat.
No Def Leppard either. Consider the intros on these hits: "Bringin' On The Heartache," "Pour Some Sugar On Me," "Hysteria," "Photograph."
But if we're looking at the best intros to the best songs, how do you decide from a list that includes:
Satisfaction...Johnny B. Goode...Smells Like Teen Spirit...London Calling...Purple Haze...Born To Run...Layla...Stairway To Heaven...Gimmie Shelter...All Along The Watchtower...Hotel California...When Doves Cry...Superstition...Whole Lotta Love...I Heard It Through The Grapevine...Every Breath You Take...Brown Eyed Girl...I Want You Back...Won't Get Fooled Again...While My Guitar Gently Weeps...Kashmir...Foxey Lady...Let's Get It On...Dream On...Back In Black...Sweet Child O' Mine...Good Times...Sunday Bloody Sunday...Walk This Way...One Way Or Another...Iron Man...Heartbreaker...We Will Rock You...Spirit In The Sky...Beat It...Baba O'Reilly...Pride (In The Name Of Love)...Bitter Sweet Symphony...Ohio...Roxanne...(Don't Fear) The Reaper...Sweet Home Alabama...Sweet Emotion...The Boys Of Summer...Nuthin' But A 'G' Thang...Piano Man...Smoke On The Water...Paradise City...Welcome To The Jungle...Eighteen...I Love Rock 'N' Roll...How Soon Is Now?
Can't be done, folks. If I had to only pick a half-dozen for myself, it would probably have to be London Calling, Born To Run, Layla, Superstition, Pride (In The Name Of Love), and Paradise City (no particular order).
Labels: Collections, iPod, MTV, music, Video
posted by coachsullivan at 8:35 PM
2 Comments:
"Satisfaction" - hands down...the first chords are the most classic in the history of rock
Side note... Oh Sherrie is featured in the current Broadway show Rock of Ages. The music in it reminds me of all the times I listened to you, Todd and Lonnie on the radio when I was in middle school.
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