What Is the Doobie Brothers' Signature Song?

I voted "Listen to the Music."
Just the other day, I was hangin' with my brother and we heard that song playing....and I asked him, "Should the Doobie Brothers be in the hall of fame?" ....not being a huge fan of the group (or the hall, for that matter), he replied, "Absolutely!" I couldn't agree more. Lots of good choices to vote for, but it's no surprise what song has the most votes.

 

When I saw the thread title, that chorus immediately popped into my head.

 

Listen To The Music is probably right, but the first song I thought of (and what I voted for) was...

Takin' It to the Streets

 

I would say "Listen To The Music"...it was their breakout first hit in 1972 and yes I did buy a copy back then right after it came out. In no time it was getting saturation airplay and I heard it a few too many times, but I loved the B-side "Toulouse Street" and played it way more than the A-side.

 

The pre era is a tough choice; Black Water, China Grove, Listen To The Music, and Long Train Running are all legitimate contenders.

 

I just checked the signature-song site I regularly consult, and FWIW it says “Black Water,” with “Fool” for the McDonald era.

 

I would choose Listen To The Music, too - but Black Water is a good contender. I've seen many a party where everyone joins in on the acapella vocal parts. The
average listener aware of the Doobies know the lyrics of Black Water, it's so much easier to singalong to the lyrics than many of the other Doobie's early hits.

 

Those happen to be their only #1 Billboard hits.

 

It's got to be 'What a Fool Believes'. Not only is it the DBs' signature song, it's the signature song of an entire retrospectively created musical genre (yacht rock).

 

I’ll keep an eye out to see if their choices are always based on chart position. I don’t think so, though.

 

Just chiming in to suggest that Doobie fans check out:
- the documentary The Doobie Brothers: Let The Music Play, which airs periodically on AXS TV (I caught it last month)
- Michael McDonald concert video (with appearances by Patrick Simmons and Tom Johnston on several Doobie songs), airing Sept. 26 on AXS TV.

Minute By Minute is my favorite Doobie Brothers album, but as much as I enjoy the Michael McDonald era, it's hard to consider one of his tunes as the signature Doobie Brothers song. I voted for "Listen to the Music."

 

It's Long Train Runnin or Listen to The Music i think ...
I went with Long Train Runnin ...

 

This one is hard - there's like six songs that could reasonably be the choice.

 

"Rockin' Down The Highway" and "Without You" are my favorites (not choices here, however).
I chose "Listen To The Music".

 

I voted for Long Train Runnin' as i think its the number one song associated to the Doobies, especially for DB non-fans.
My favorite is Listen To The Music though.

 

Listen to the Music

 

Some people like to claim that these threads just boil down to chart positions, but that's wrong.

For one, it doesn't help when the artist has more than 1 song with the same chart position.

Also, "highest charting" doesn't always work. As I've mentioned, sig songs by acts like Elvis Costello and Squeeze don't correspond to their highest charting singles...

 

Hard polls are the purpose! No fun if they're a cakewalk!

 

Don’t forget Bob Seger!

 

That's a great example!

Did we do a Seger sig song thread? I forget and I'm too lazy to search!

 

Rock and roll never forgets!

Seger comes down to a choice between two songs, on successive albums, IMO. And the song I just referenced isn’t one.

 

“China Grove”

Those opening chords are just so identifiable.

 

Did the search since you refused to do one for me!

No sign of Seger signature. Will have to run one after this one peters out!

 

This.

 

Immerse yourself, deeply. You won't be disappointed.