Correcting, Once and For All, Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Rock Songs, Part 1.

Rolling Stone magazine recently updated it's list of the 500 greatest rock songs of all time. You can take a gander at it Here

Now, lists of this sort are inherently silly, pointless and without meaning. But as a geek, making lists is a part of life. Think of John Cusack's character in High Fidelity. He defined and planned his life by lists. While I am not that insane, I do enjoy doing them. They're fun.

Lists are so entertaining because they are at once both all-inclusive and a ridiculous simplification. When you make a list, you presume that what is on the list is exhaustive--a list contains everything relevant, and you didn’t forget anything--which is never true. Also, putting things in a list takes them out of context, simplifies them as simply under the heading "best books," or whatever. Although this makes list wholly inadequate, it also makes them fun. Delight in the inadequacies.

That's where the Rolling Stone list comes in. In my eyes it is not just wholly inadequate, it's insulting to the history of rock, and to contemporary artists making iconic music. 

Let me go through my personal list of grievances with the list first and foremost:

• Nirvana before The Who?? 
• Waterloo Sunset by The Kinks not listed until 42. Aside from Nirvana I cannot pinpoint a song or 20 that should obviously dropped down. But Waterloo Sunset is frequently cited as one of the 10 greatest, if not THE greatest song of all-time. It's at least as good as "God Only Knows" – The Beach Boy, at #25.

• The Sex Pistols 36 places before the Ramones. Um, no. In fact, Blitzkrieg Bop could legitimately be top 10. Again, if Nirvana, in respect to it's influence, is top 10 then Blitzkrieg Bop is as well.
• Wrong Television song. Wrong Pixies song.
• Too much U2. Now, I LOVE U2. I do. But they appear on the list 8 times. Moment of Surrender at 160?? I like No Line On The Horizon, but Moment isn't the best song on the CD even. At least 3 U2 songs could go.
• No Nick Lowe. No Crowded House (Don't Dream It's Over???). NO GODDAMN REPLACEMENTS.
• Not enough contemporary artists. They do include The Strokes, M.I.A., Missy Elliot, Coldplay, MGMT, Franz Ferdinand, Radiohead, White Stripes and...um...Weezer. Ok. I don't like all of those artists but recognize they have made great, influential tunes. But there are many many others who have done the same recently. Who is to say these songs are no better than a Buddy Holly or an Elvis. Outside of a slavish devotion to history, you can only cite influence as the reason. But influence can happen immediately. And it is still happening. The present is as important as the past.

I am not going to go through the list and remove songs, mainly because most of them ARE genuinely great. But the list is missing color and variety. Slavish to both history and certain artists, and overlooking many others. So what I WILL offer is 50 songs that could/should be on the list. I do this for my own amusement, and to reconcile myself with a list that annoys me. And to also remind myself that lists ARE meaningless, especially when the tings you love aren't on them. You don't cease to love and appreciate them. You love them more.

I will list the songs in a new blog entry as I am still sussing it out. I would love to hear suggestions, though, from the 2 readers I might have out there.