Friday random ten: Revisiting the Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Songs list, part 17

Here’s their list.

1. California Dreamin’ – The Mamas and The Papas (#89)
2. My Girl – The Temptations (#88)
3. Thunder Road – Bruce Springsteen (#86)
4. Crazy – Patsy Cline (#85)
5. Every Breath You Take – The Police (#84; also a cover by Big Daddy)
6. I Heard It Through The Grapevine – Marvin Gaye (#81; also a cover by CCR)
7. You Really Got Me – Van Halen (orig. The Kinks, #80)
8. I Got You (I Feel Good) – James Brown (#78)
9. Summertime Blues – Joan Jett & The Blackhearts (orig. Eddie Cochran, #74)
10. Superstition – Stevie Ray Vaughan/Beck, Bogert & Appice (orig. Stevie Wonder, #73)

Song that sounds completely different when sung in German: “Ring of Fire”, Johnny Cash (#87). Two members of the Asylum Street Spankers used to do a German version of this as a gag in between sets. You kind of had to be there for this to make any sense at all.
Song whose title I had never known before now: “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)”, The Beatles (#83). It’s the one that starts “I once had a girl, or should I say, she once had me.”
Song that I will always associate with the TV show Happy Days: “Blueberry Hill”, Fats Domino (#82). If you’re anything like me, you always hear the refrain of that song in Richie Cunningham’s voice.
Song I don’t have bu probably should: “Whole Lotta Love”, Led Zeppelin (#75). As with the Stones, I’m kind of meh on Led Zep, likely because too many years of listening to classic rock radio oversaturated my appetite for their tunes. I do have “Led Zeppelin IV” – you know, the one with “Stairway to Heaven” on it – on vinyl, but never got around to ripping it.

As you can tell, as we get closer to the top, I have more and more of the listed songs. I haven’t peeked ahead to see if that continues the rest of the way, but I suspect that the basic trend will hold.

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