CLASSIC ROCK TRACKS POLL: THE RESULTS

I remember hearing "Rocky Mountain Way" on classic rock radio but no James Gang

Huh. This is another one of those songs that I literally have only ever heard on CRR -- I have never owned any James Gang (even though probably I should), but every second of this and "Funk #49" are deeply imprinted on my musical cortex.

lol great photo

Heard Stairway to Heaven just now while shopping for groceries.

Speaking of cortexes

There's a bathroom on the right

― voodoo chili, Monday, July 28, 2014 1:59 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

'scuse me while I kiss this guy!

xp Always had trouble reconciling the ominous lyrics of BMR with its happy, jaunty sound ... Not my fave CCR track

imo there is no more classic rock CCR than "fortunate son." whether that was enough for it to make my ballot or this rollout, only the rock gods know.

I heard "Yoda" before I ever heard "Lola," and therefore always consider it sort of a novelty song...despite a deep and abiding love for all things Kinks.

― Johnny Fever, Monday, July 28, 2014 10:21 AM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

haha ditto, I saw gr8080 post this entry then went outside to do some gardening and the whole time I was singing "So I used the Force! I picked up a box!" to myself.

fuck don't stop believin' forever, i will take solace in the fact that it came very near to not placing, and could very easily have been beaten by "eminence front"

loving how "ILM" these results are, though - all the wrangling over what constitutes Classic Rock aside, we've already got at least three songs here that I am sure would not place in a top 250 of the general radio listenership. Why I love this place!

"My Sharona" rules and was one of the few borderline new-wave/power-pop songs I let in (the main riff is really close to something like Costello's "Pump It Up")- it just rocks so hard, has always been ubiquitous in the format in my lifetime, and MY YI YI YI YI, YI, WOO!

"Bad Moon Rising" not my favorite CCR... reducing the turmoil and upheaval of the late 60s to an old man on the back stoop checking the wind could have maybe worked if anything about the song felt like an actual bad moon was on the rise. Wellll, don't come around tonight - we're out of beer. But come 'round on Saturday, Ed's gonna get the grill fired up around four, and the weather looks good. It's like it wants to be "Gimme Shelter" in vibe, but just ended up in the wrong key by accident. I did vote for "Up Around The Bend" which I doubt we'll see, and "Fortunate Son," which I could see placing...

basically, what brad said

in my world of classic rock neither Genesis nor Phil Collins ever registered, because they were on top 40 / pop radio. I think?

― Euler, Monday, July 28, 2014 10:30 AM (28 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

nah Genesis/Collins were AOR staples

― resulting post (rogermexico.), Monday, July 28, 2014 10:31 AM (26 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I would question whether I heard much Genesis or Collins solo on classic rock radio either. Stuff like "Follow You Follow Me" or Duke or Abacab singles are possible. Whole thing has me questioning whether there was an AOR format that was less hard rock-oriented than the station I grew up with.

also, shit, how did I not vote for "Green River"

we've already got at least three songs here that I am sure would not place in a top 250 of the general radio listenership.

Which ones? I don't think I've seen anything especially surprising so far?

(V. possible, Tim. I hear them plenty too.)

the most classic rock CCR song is "Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress" by the Hollies

I still can't imagine what the opening 23 seconds of "Purple Haze" sounded like to people in 1967. Like some straight up Martian shit, probably.

damn, i've got 9 of 13 so far on my ballot. but then again, maybe so does everybody else.

haha ditto, I saw gr8080 post this entry then went outside to do some gardening and the whole time I was singing "So I used the Force! I picked up a box!" to myself.

awesome.

no amount of cr overplay will ever be able to kill the majestic strangeness of "purple haze" for me.

tru

we've already had several songs that aren't in any of the top 500 airplay lists i gathered (Walk Away, Walk On The Wild Side, Stop Draggin, Eminence Front). i don't think that necessarily means anything. the canon is pretty large, even if playlists are shrinking on a lot of stations.

Sund4r: "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around, "Eminence Front," I guess "The Chain" and now I'd add "Walk Away" I guess, though I don't think I even know that one (add it to the list, fcc?). Not like the public hates any of those - just that ILM types rate Fleetwood Mac/Stevie Nicks a lot higher than I'd reckon the average CR listener does. Not dramatically - I'm just saying, A+ "essential," versus A- "love 'em." Of course, as discussed previously, our tendency to not vote a lot of songs by a given act may have vote-split some of the heaviest hitters - we'll see as the rollout continues. I think it's cool.

"Purple Haze" sounded fucking amazing to me at age 16 in the mid 90s, as rock as rock would ever get, and yeah, it's all in those opening bars. I didn't vote for it though, and came near to note voting for any Hendrix. Wish I could still hear it fresh, but I can't.

"Purple Haze" has one of my favourite solos. Could be a jazzy modal thing if it were played totally clean but becomes psychedelic liftoff with fuzz and Octavia. Love the way it sits against the beat.

xposts

I still can't imagine what the opening 23 seconds of "Purple Haze" sounded like to people in 1967. Like some straight up Martian shit, probably.

― Johnny Fever, Monday, July 28, 2014 2:10 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Probably why it peaked at #65 in the US.

And yeah, it cannot be overplayed.

My internal list is comprised of the songs we played at the classic rock station I worked at/with for 11 years. So far, the list is OTM.

Now, some of these are fading away from radio and fast. Back when there were CR stations and "oldies" stations, the CR would play Purple Haze or Turn Turn Turn while the oldies station would play Runaround Sue. But now, some of those songs like the ones mentioned above or even The Joker are moving from CR to Oldies.

Purple Haze is one of those songs where every note is ingrained in my subconscious, so I never listen anymore and therefore did not vote for it. Doesn't make it any less great though.

Probably why it peaked at #65 in the US.

Yeah, I remember when I was a kid in the 1990s shortly after I got Are You Experienced, I was talking to my dad like "I wish I was alive in the 1960s ... the music was so much better ... Jimi Hendrix, etc." and he was like "You know, Jimi Hendrix wasn't really that popular."

oh "The Chain" is a staple. 175th-ish rank on my airplay lists.

(I voted for a different song from that album that I have hopes will still place. Maybe?)

Walk Away" I guess, though I don't think I even know that one (add it to the list, fcc?)

happy to add it! though it's one of those songs with a slightly misleading title, so maybe you do know it and just don't know you know it. but i'll add it and we'll see.

The guitar on Purple Haze does not seem like it's played with hands, or by humans. It's like a mountain that climbs itself.

OK, kids, I'm back with your rock alphabet, just in time for a little CSN (and sometimes Y)

http://i.imgur.com/kbV368F.jpg

87. Crosby, Stills & Nash – Suite: Judy Blue Eyes
854 points, 13 votes

"suite: judy..." was up there with the doobies' "black water" when i was a kid as a song that i would patiently sit through the first several minutes every time it came on the radio just so i could hear the ending.

Woah! Didn't expect that. Would have thrown it a little teeny vote if I'd thought it had a chance as "classic rock" (versus AM gold).

ugh

everything doesn't need to fall into a neat container
i hope "ohio" makes it but i have my doubts

I dig plenty of CSNY just fine but not those with the taint of Stills as much as that one

I would love "Ohio" to place.

I expected more mid-70s cuts by this point, but perhaps the top half of the poll will be loaded with those.

the mid 70s are definitely the center of gravity for this whole thing

haven't been able to participate in this, but just wanted to say those pictures are great

Judy Blue Eyes is a great springtime jam.

indeed. Stills wrote most of my favorite CSN songs.

man I am not much of a CSN/Y fan but when I put my balloting hat on it turns out they're pretty classic imo. think I voted for three tracks. "suite: judy blue eyes" was one of them but "our house" was a canyon too far.

"can I tell it like it is?"

\m/

Either this song is pretty trippy or I drank something I shouldn't have from the cup gr80 left in the studio.

http://i.imgur.com/U3ZoeM3.jpg

86. Steve Miller – Fly Like An Eagle
857 points, 15 votes

For people of a certain generation, Fly Like an Eagle will always evoke Space Jam (and Seal's terrible version).

^ false

voodoo chili probably otm. I was a little too old for Space Jam, but have been stunned to realize what a cultural touchstone it is for people 3-8 years younger than me.

I think I'm glad I have no idea what "Space Jam" is

FLAE rules, always has, always will, and I say that as somebody w/ a very low Steve Miller tolerance level

steve miller, CR necessary evil