Saturday, March 27, 2010

Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Songs - wikipedia's take

The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" was the cover story of a special issue of Rolling Stone published in November 2004, a year after the magazine published its list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". The song list was chosen based on votes by 172 musicians, critics, and music-industry figures.
The list is almost entirely composed of North American and British artists. Of the 500 songs, 352 are from the United States and 117 from the United Kingdom; they are followed by Ireland with 12 entries, Canada with 10, Jamaica with 7 (most of them by Bob Marley or Jimmy Cliff), Australia with three (AC/DC with two) and a lone song from Sweden (by ABBA).
The list includes just one song not in English -- "La Bamba" by Ritchie Valens (345); only three songs from the 21st century -- "Hey Ya!" by OutKast (180), "Lose Yourself" by Eminem (166), and "Stan" also by Eminem (290); and two songs from the 1940s -- "Rollin' Stone" by Muddy Waters (459) and Hank Williams' "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" (111).
With 23 songs on the list, The Beatles are the most-represented musical act. John Lennon is the only artist to place multiple songs in the top 10 (as a member of the Beatles and as a solo artist). The Beatles are followed by The Rolling Stones (14); Bob Dylan (12); Elvis Presley (11); The Beach Boys and The Jimi Hendrix Experience (7); Chuck Berry, U2, James Brown, Prince, Led Zeppelin, and Sly & the Family Stone (6); and The Clash, The Who, The Drifters, and Elton John (5).
Three songs appear on the list twice, being performed by different artists. "Mr. Tambourine Man" performed by Bob Dylan and The Byrds, "Blue Suede Shoes" by Elvis Presley and Carl Perkins and "Walk This Way" by Aerosmith and Run-DMC.
The shortest tracks are "Great Balls Of Fire" (#96) by Jerry Lee Lewis and "Rave On" (#154) by Buddy Holly, both with a duration of one minute and fifty seconds.
Source: Wikipedia

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