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TIME'S ALL-TIME 100 SONGS

 

"Our critics pick the most extraordinary English-language pop recordings since the beginning of TIME magazine in 1923. Here are 100 (unranked) songs of enduring beauty, power and inventiveness"

 

(Should be noted that it was decided to limit an artist to only one song.)

 

2000s

 

Janelle Monae Tightrope

Missy Elliott Get Ur Freak On

Outkast Hey Ya!

Arcade Fire Wake Up

Kanye West Gold Digger

Lil Wayne Georgia Bush

LCD Soundsystem All My Friends

Beyonce Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)

Lady Gaga Bad Romance

 

1990s

 

Sinead OConnor Nothing Compares 2 U

Pet Shop Boys Being Boring

Nirvana Smells Like Teen Spirit

Richard Thompson 1952 Vincent Black Lightning

Wu-Tang Clan C.R.E.A.M.

A Tribe Called Quest Scenario

The Notorious B.I.G. Juicy

Tupac Shakur California Love (Remix)

Pulp Common People

Radiohead Paranoid Android

 

1980s

 

Joy Division Love Will Tear Us Apart

George Jones He Stopped Loving Her Today

Michael Jackson Billie Jean

New Order Blue Monday

Prince Kiss

Metallica Master of Puppets

R.E.M. Its the End of the World as We Know It

Lucinda Williams Pineola

Public Enemy Fight the Power

Madonna Borderline

 

1970s

 

The Melodians Rivers of Babylon

James Brown Get Up (I Feel like Being a) Sex Machine

Led Zeppelin Immigrant Song

Black Sabbath Iron Man

Joni Mitchell A Case of You

The Who Baba ORiley

Stevie Wonder Superstition

Dolly Parton Jolene

Big Star September Gurls

Bonnie Raitt Angel from Montgomery

Fela Kuti Zombie

Bruce Springsteen Thunder Road

Queen Bohemian Rhapsody

Donna Summer I Feel Love

Bee Gees Stayin' Alive

David Bowie Heroes

Ramones I Wanna Be Sedated

Fleetwood Mac Dreams

Peter Tosh Equal Rights

Parliament One Nation Under a Groove

Velvet Underground Rock & Roll

Loretta Lynn Coal Miners Daughter

 

1960s

 

Bob Dylan Subterranean Homesick Blues

Patsy Cline Crazy

Roy Orbison Crying

The Ronettes Be My Baby

The Beatles I Wanna Hold Your Hand

Astrud Gilberto The Girl from Ipanema

The Supremes Where Did Our Love Go?

The Beach Boys God Only Knows

Aretha Franklin I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)

Marvin Gaye I Heard It Through the Grapevine

The Band The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

Big Mama Thornton Ball n Chain

Jackson 5 I Want You Back

The Rolling Stones Gimme Shelter

Crosby, Stills and Nash Suite: Judy Blue Eyes

Otis Redding I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)

Johnny Cash Folsom Prison Blues

 

1950s

 

Les Paul How High the Moon

Kitty Wells It Wasnt God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels

Elvis Presley Jailhouse Rock

Odetta Take This Hammer

Frank Sinatra I've Got You Under My Skin

Chuck Berry Johnny B. Goode

Ray Charles What'd I Say

 

1940s

 

Woody Guthrie This Land Is Your Land

Lena Horne Stormy Weather

The Andrews Sisters Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy

Spike Jones Der Fuehrers Face

Bing Crosby White Christmas

Betty Hutton It Had to Be You

Mahalia Jackson Move On Up a Little Higher

Hank Williams Cold, Cold Heart

Ella Fitzgerald Baby Its Cold Outside

Doris Day Sentimental Journey

 

1930s

 

Ethel Merman I Got Rhythm

Cab Calloway Minnie the Moocher

Duke Ellington It Dont Mean A Thing (If It Aint Got That Swing)

Louie Armstrong Star Dust

Fred Astaire Cheek to Cheek

Ray Heatherton Where or When

Judy Garland Over the Rainbow

 

1920s

Al Jolson My Mammy

Bessie Smith St. Louis Blues

Paul Robeson Ol Man River

The Carter Family Wildwood Flower

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Lists are kinda fun to debate, as this one will be.

 

If Michael Jackson can get 2 songs (solo and Jackson 5), why not Lennon or McCartney?

 

If pop culture phenoms like "Hey Ya" or "Single Ladies" can get a mention, then why not an 80's nugget like "Don't Stop Believing" or "Don't You Forget About Me"?

 

It seems like a lot of earlier selections cancelled out later selections. Did Neil Young not get a song 'cause Dylan, The Band and Crosby/Stills/Nash got a song? No Replacements because Big Star got one?

 

The 90's and 00's is too heavy on rap and Top 40 pop in my opinion. And the mix of popular ("Get UR Freak On", "Borderline"), obscure ("Vincent Black Lightning", "Being Boring") and obvious ("Superstition", "Johnny B Good", "Jailhouse Rock", "Over the Rainbow" ) is random and annoying.

 

No Elton John. No U2. No White Stripes, etc....oh well.

 

Overall, not a bad representation of 90 years of music, I guess.

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