Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time: Song-By-Song Thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by KJTC, Sep 19, 2021.

  1. KJTC

    KJTC Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    I think that as time passes, the less effective/more derivative versions of a popular sound fade away, and only the best examples of that sound stand the test of time. So when you hear only those, and they aren't surrounded by soundalikes, it's easier for the quality to stand out.

    We're a long way from the top 60, but there's a Kate Bush song on this list that I discovered in 2019 and has since become my most played track by any artist from any era. And it's as eighties sounding as it gets.
     
  2. YarRevenge

    YarRevenge Forum Resident

    Location:
    Spain
    #475. Janet Jackson, “Rhythm Nation” (1989)

    2/5

    Nice song but Black Cat is better.
     
  3. Jamsterdammer

    Jamsterdammer The Great CD in the Sky

    Location:
    Málaga, Spain
    I guess you're not a fan of Oliver Stone then? :D
     
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  4. Brian Kelly

    Brian Kelly 1964-73 rock's best decade

    Sunday Morning Coming Down (Kris Kristofferson)
    Kristofferson is certainly a worthy songwriter to have something included in this list. One can debate if this is the song to choose (and if it is, is this the best version to have represented?) But this is a decent song. Would not make my personal list, but I have no issue with it being included here.
    (3.5/5)

    Rating the songs so far:
    1. You're So Vain - Carly Simon
    2. Buddy Holly-Weezer
    3. Cannonball-Breeders
    4. I Can't Help Myself-Four Tops
    5. Oy Como Va-Santana
    6. Baby Love - Supremes
    7. Without You - Nilsson
    8. Our Lips Are Sealed-Go Go's
    9. Sunday Morning Coming Down-Kris Krisofferson
    10. Cross Road Blues-Robert Johnson
    11. Pancho And Lefty-Townes Van Zandt
    12. Time After Time - Cyndi Lauper
    13. So What-Miles Davis
    14. Just A Friend-Biz Markie
    15. Bad Romance-Lady Gaga
    16. 212-Azelia Banks
    17. Cranes In The Sky -Solange
    18. Where Is My Mind?-Pixies
    19. Welcome To The Jungle-Guns N' Roses
    20. Old Town Road-Lil Naz
    21. Truth Hurts-Lizzo
    22. House Of Balloons-The Weeknd
    23. Stronger-Kayne West
    24. Back That Azz Up-Juvenile
    25. A Milli-Lil Wayne

    Once I get to a top 40 I'm not going to drop the bottom songs if a new song places higher.

    RS still hasn't included a top 500 songs from the 2000's in my opinion. Only #1-#3 are definite top 500 with 4-10 contenders were I making my own list. #15-#24 would not even be considered for my top 50,000 songs!
     
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  5. Brian Kelly

    Brian Kelly 1964-73 rock's best decade

    Rhythm Nation (Janet Jackson)
    This is OK dance pop. Not anything that would be in my top 500. There are better songs in this genre, but there are certainly many more that are worse.
    (2.5/5)

    Rating the songs so far:
    1. You're So Vain - Carly Simon
    2. Buddy Holly-Weezer
    3. Cannonball-Breeders
    4. I Can't Help Myself-Four Tops
    5. Oy Como Va-Santana
    6. Baby Love - Supremes
    7. Without You - Nilsson
    8. Our Lips Are Sealed-Go Go's
    9. Sunday Morning Coming Down-Kris Krisofferson
    10. Cross Road Blues-Robert Johnson
    11. Pancho And Lefty-Townes Van Zandt
    12. Time After Time - Cyndi Lauper
    13. So What-Miles Davis
    14. Just A Friend-Biz Markie
    15. Bad Romance-Lady Gaga
    16. Rhythm Nation-Janet Jackson
    17. 212-Azelia Banks
    18. Cranes In The Sky -Solange
    19. Where Is My Mind?-Pixies
    20. Welcome To The Jungle-Guns N' Roses
    21. Old Town Road-Lil Naz
    22. Truth Hurts-Lizzo
    23. House Of Balloons-The Weeknd
    24. Stronger-Kayne West
    25. Back That Azz Up-Juvenile
    26. A Milli-Lil Wayne

    Once I get to a top 40 I'm not going to drop the bottom songs if a new song places higher.

    RS still hasn't included a top 500 songs from the 2000's in my opinion. Only #1-#3 are definite top 500 with 4-10 contenders were I making my own list. #17-#26 would not even be considered for my top 50,000 songs!
     
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  6. Terrapin Station

    Terrapin Station Master Guns

    Location:
    NYC Man/Joy-Z City
    haha--I like some of his films at least. My two favorites are probably Natural Born Killers and U Turn.
     
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  7. John54

    John54 Senior Member

    Location:
    Burlington, ON
    I have never heard Rhythm Nation before (despite whatever great heights of popularity it may have attained, as I was never into chart stuff much after the '60s), so I'm digging in ...

    Unlike some other tracks on the list, I was more favourable to this one at the beginning than I was at the end. As befits its title, the rhythm is more or less impeccable. The vocals started out alright but quickly degenerated into that grating, shouty miasma that has plagued R & B / soul since the '60s ended, or more precisely, since Aretha Franklin came along and everyone wanted to copy her, but didn't have the ability to do it tastefully that she did.

    And I can confirm that that "vocal squeal" (as @Joy-of-radio puts it) is annoying.

    It's always a shame to see a good rhythm track go to waste, but there are truckloads of 'em
     
  8. Spy Car

    Spy Car Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Janet Jackson Rhythm Nation: 2/5

    Not worthy of a place on a top 500 song list in my estimation.

    Bill
     
  9. Chief

    Chief Over 12,000 Served

    My music of 1989 was Poco, Jackson Browne, and Loggins & Messina. I barely had any idea what was going on in popular music. “Rhythm Nation” is something I’d hear in passing and think that I don’t identify with anything about it. I still feel that way listening to it now. It’s 17 out of 26.

    Despite being a “youthful” 50 (I joined SH when I was 34), I’ve been an old man in a musical sense for a long time, which is my taste, I suppose. All of these songs are driving the point home.
     
  10. KJTC

    KJTC Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    #474. Curtis Mayfield, “Move On Up” (1970)
    Written by Curtis Mayfield

    Wikipedia says:

    “Move On Up" is a song by Curtis Mayfield from his 1970 debut album Curtis. Nearly nine minutes long on the album version, it was released as a single in the United States (Curtom 1974), but failed to chart. An edited version of the song spent 10 weeks in the top 50 of the UK Singles Chart in 1971, peaking at No. 12, and it has become a soul classic over the years.

    In 1979, disco trio Destination recorded a medley, incorporating "Keep on Pushing", a 1964 hit by the Impressions, also written by Mayfield. Along with the tracks "Up Up Up" and "Destination's Theme", "Move On Up" hit number one on the disco chart for four weeks. It peaked at number sixty-eight on the soul singles chart.

    The Jam, an English rock band active in the late 1970s to the early 1980s, released a version of the song on an extended play record in 1982.

    Kentucky-based jam-band My Morning Jacket frequently covers the song in their live shows.

    Just Blaze heavily sampled the song for Kanye West's 2006 single "Touch the Sky", using a slowed-down version of the horns.


     
  11. Terrapin Station

    Terrapin Station Master Guns

    Location:
    NYC Man/Joy-Z City
    RS #474

    Curtis Mayfield – “Move on Up” [from Curtis]

    Love, love, love this tune. It has a perfect, funky blend of jamminess and relatively “fussy” precomposition (especially re the fantastic horn chart), and Curtis’ vocals go back and forth from a lower register to his falsetto very effectively. He otherwise sometimes stayed with his falsetto too much for my tastes, because he doesn’t have a very wide falsetto range.

    I particularly like the 9-minute album version of the track. It also earns major nostalgia points for me. I can vividly picture riding in my mom’s Mustang through downtown Cleveland as an 8-9 year-old as this song would play on the radio.

    The weird thing is that I don’t like the rest of the Curtis album near as much as I like “Move on Up.” It always seems to me that I should like it more than I do—it checks a lot of the boxes for me “on paper,” and the genres it spans are among my very favorites. But it just never clicks with me as much as I want it to—I always expect that one day it will suddenly resonate with me. The album is in 3/5, maybe 3.5/5 vicinity, and given how easily I hand out 4s and 5s, that’s a bummer. “Move On Up” is very easily a 5/5 though, and definitely a top 500 song candidate.

    So this is a relatively rare case where the Rolling Stone song selection from the album is clearly my favorite track.

    Top 15 tracks we’ve covered so far:
    1. “Move On Up” – Curtis Mayfield
    2. "Time After Time" - Cyndi Lauper
    3. “Rhythm Nation” – Janet Jackson
    4. "Without You" – Nilsson
    5. "You're So Vain" - Carly Simon
    6. “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)” – Four Tops
    7. “Oye Como Va” - Santana
    8. "Baby Love" – Supremes
    9. “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down” – Kris Kristofferson
    10. “Bad Romance” – Lady Gaga
    11. "So What" - Miles Davis
    12. "Welcome to the Jungle" - Guns N' Roses
    13. “Cannonball” – The Breeders
    14. “Just Friends” – Biz Markie
    15. “Buddy Holly” – Weezer
     
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  12. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus

    I find this song highly enjoyable.
     
  13. Danby Delight

    Danby Delight Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston
    Probably my favorite Curtis of all time, certainly my favorite song on the list so far.
     
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  14. the_doctor

    the_doctor Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    474. Curtis Mayfield, “Move On Up”
    Woah, now we're talking! This is pure magic. Everything combines to make a deliriously enjoyable track: the horns, drums, Curtis' delivery, the pure simplicity of the refrain. Does anybody NOT like this!?

    I'm less familiar with the extended version but it's fantastic and I could easily listen to a 16 minute version if there was one.

    Move on up to the top of the pile, Mr Mayfield.

    1. [reserved for Talk Talk. They'll be in there, right? Right!?]
    2. Move On Up
    3. Bad Romance - Lady Gaga
    4. So What - Miles Davis
    5. You're So Vain - Carly Simon
    6. Baby Love - Supremes
    7. Oye Como Va - Santana
    8. Cannonball - The Breeders
    9. Our Lips Are Sealed- The Go-Go's
    10. I Can't Help Myself - Four Tops
     
  15. blair207

    blair207 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Fife, Scotland
    Curtis Mayfield Move on Up
    Now we’re talking. Great record. Superb opening horn riff. Fantastic vocals and such a positive song.
     
  16. RudolphS

    RudolphS Forum Resident

    Location:
    Rio de Janeiro
    Curtis Mayfield - Move On Up

    Top drawer track by one of my favorite soul/r&b artists, with humanist message. Gotta love the percussion solo in the extended album version of 'Move On Up'.

    4,5 / 5


    01. Curtis Mayfield - Move On Up
    02. The Breeders - Cannonball
    03. Carly Simon - You're So Vain
    04. Azealia Banks - 212
    05. Guns N' Roses - Welcome To The Jungle
    06. Four Tops - I Can't Help Myself
    07. The Weeknd - House Of Balloons
    08. Miles Davis - So What
    09. Weezer - Buddy Holly
    10. Kanye West - Power
     
    Last edited: Oct 15, 2021
  17. mantis4tons

    mantis4tons Forum Resident

    Location:
    Denver, CO, USA
    Move On Up is the best song so far, and by a wide margin IMO. I think it should be much farther up the list.

    Here's my top 15 so far:

    Curtis Mayfield "Move On Up"
    Miles Davis "So What"
    Biz Markie "Just a Friend"
    Santana "Oye Como Va"
    Weeknd "House of Balloons"
    Four Tops "I Can't Help Myself"
    Supremes "Baby Love"
    Lizzo "Truth Hurts"
    Azealia Banks "212"
    Juvenile "Back That Azz Up"
    Janet Jackson "Rhythm Nation"
    Lady Gaga "Bad Romance"
    Weezer "Buddy Holly"
    Solange "Cranes in the Sky"
    Cyndi Lauper "Time After Time"
     
  18. BluesOvertookMe

    BluesOvertookMe Forum Resident

    Location:
    Houston, TX, USA
    Curtis Mayfield - Move on Up

    So far, there seems to be a consensus that Move on Up is the best on the list so far and should be ranked higher than where it is. I am in agreement.
    Great horn chart! Good melody, good vocals, good drums, and it makes me want to move. This would DEFINITELY be in my top 500 - I think perhaps top 250. I wonder if Kanye's Touch the Sky will be in the Rolling Stone list.


    Updated list
    1. Curtis Mayfield - Move On Up
    2. Go-Gos - Our Lips Are Sealed
    3. Santana - Oye Cómo Va
    4. Carly Simon - You're So Vain
    5. Lady Gaga - Bad Romance
    6. Guns N' Roses - Welcome to the Jungle
    7. The Four Tops – I Can’t Help Myself
    8. Pixies - Where is My Mind?
    9. Robert Johnson - Cross Roads Blues
    10. Kris Kristofferson - Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down
    11. Weezer - Buddy Holly
    12. Miles Davis - So What
    13. Kanye West - Stronger
    14. Townes Van Zandt - Pancho and Lefty
    15. Janet Jackson - Rhythm Nation
    16. Juvenile - Back That Azz Up
    17. The Breeders - Cannonball
    18. Nilsson - Without You
    19. Azealia Banks -212
    20. Solange: Cranes In The Sky

    (big gap)

    21. Lil Nas X - Old Town Road
    22. Biz Markie - Just a Friend
    23. Lil Wayne - A Milli
    24. The Weeknd – House of Balloons
    25. Lizzo - Truth Hurts
    26. Supremes - Baby Love
    27. Cyndi Lauper - Time After Time
     
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  19. prymel

    prymel Forum Resident

    Location:
    Houston
    “Move On Up” 5/5 – I would have preferred to see “Freddie’s Dead” make the list (and maybe it will, I’ve resisted the urge to peek ahead too much). But “Move On Up “ is a great choice to represent Curtis Mayfield on this list. The track has energy to burn and is particularly great in its extended album form. A 70’s soul classic.

    Top 10:
    1. Cannonball – Breeders
    2. Our Lips Are Sealed – Go-Go’s
    3. You're So Vain - Carly Simon
    4. Move On Up – Curtis Mayfield
    5. Oye Como Va - Santana
    6. I Can’t Help Myself – Four Tops
    7. Where Is My Mind? - Pixies
    8. Baby Love - Supremes
    9. Without You – Nilsson
    10. Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down – Kris Kristofferson
     
  20. troggy

    troggy Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow

    Location:
    Benton, Illinois
    I'm so glad to see something like "Move On Up" on this list. If you're a Curtis Mayfield fan, don't sleep on the Curtom albums he made with the Impressions before going solo. Those are wonderful records.
     
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  21. carlwm

    carlwm Forum Resident

    Location:
    wales
    476: Kris Kristofferson - Sunday Mornin' Coming Down As someone who, for the most part, loves classic singer-songwriters, this should be right up my street but I struggle with Kris Kristofferson. He just seems to be a miserablist, karaoke version of Gordon Lightfoot to me. Not keen on this at all although to damn it with faint praise, it's not as dismal as the Johnny Cash cover. 1.5/5

    475: Janet Jackson - Rhythm Nation
    Not an essential track for me, by any means and it does rather outstay its welcome but I like the general Eighties pop vibe well enough. 2.5/5

    474: Curtis Mayfield - Move On Up
    Encapsulates everything I dislike about soul music in eight & a half tedious minutes. I'm glad others are getting more out of this than I'll ever manage but I'd be happy never to hear it again. 1/5
     
  22. troggy

    troggy Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow

    Location:
    Benton, Illinois
    The single is about three minutes long.
     
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  23. BluesOvertookMe

    BluesOvertookMe Forum Resident

    Location:
    Houston, TX, USA

    Interesting to hear a differing opinion. Would you please share examples of Soul music that you really enjoy?
     
  24. Brian Kelly

    Brian Kelly 1964-73 rock's best decade

    Move On Up (Curtis Mayfield)
    Growing up in rural New England I never heard any Curtis Mayfield outside of "Super Fly" and "Freddie's Dead" as a kid and I was lukewarm to both. Interestingly the local adult alternative station picked up on "Move On Up" as one of their regular oldies and I like it. I figured it was a hit I never heard as it seems much more like hit single material than the songs I knew, but it seems like it wasn't in the US. I will say I have only heard the shortened single version on the radio. I'm not as thrilled by this extra long version presented here, so if it is the full version we are rating, deduct half a point. Overall the songs have been getting better in this countdown. I hope that trend continues!
    (4/5)

    Rating the songs so far:
    1. You're So Vain - Carly Simon
    2. Buddy Holly-Weezer
    3. Cannonball-Breeders
    4. I Can't Help Myself-Four Tops
    5. Move On Up-Curtis Mayfield
    6. Oy Como Va-Santana
    7. Baby Love - Supremes
    8. Without You - Nilsson
    9. Our Lips Are Sealed-Go Go's
    10. Sunday Morning Coming Down-Kris Krisofferson
    11. Cross Road Blues-Robert Johnson
    12. Pancho And Lefty-Townes Van Zandt
    13. Time After Time - Cyndi Lauper
    14. So What-Miles Davis
    15. Just A Friend-Biz Markie
    16. Bad Romance-Lady Gaga
    17. Rhythm Nation-Janet Jackson
    18. 212-Azelia Banks
    19. Cranes In The Sky -Solange
    20. Where Is My Mind?-Pixies
    21. Welcome To The Jungle-Guns N' Roses
    22. Old Town Road-Lil Naz
    23. Truth Hurts-Lizzo
    24. House Of Balloons-The Weeknd
    25. Stronger-Kayne West
    26. Back That Azz Up-Juvenile
    27. A Milli-Lil Wayne

    Once I get to a top 40 I'm not going to drop the bottom songs if a new song places higher.

    RS still hasn't included a top 500 songs from the 2000's in my opinion. Only #1-#3 are definite top 500 with 4-11 contenders were I making my own list. #18-#27 would not even be considered for my top 50,000 songs!
     
  25. carlwm

    carlwm Forum Resident

    Location:
    wales
    Would Lionel Richie count? I quite like some of his albums. Maybe a few of the more dramatic Four Tops singles (Bernadette, Reach Out etc), the odd Chaka Khan song, Shannon's Let The Music Play. Slim pickings really.

    When there's a little funk thrown into the mix al a Earth, Wind & Fire, Chic etc, I enjoy things a lot more.
     

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