And maybe it's time for another clarification on songs I love. I started listening to pop music regularly in 1961 when I was 11 years old. That's why except for great old songs I heard later, most of my music starts then.
But there were songs I loved before that, mostly songs my mother sang to me when I was little and songs my dad played for me on his hi-fi when I was a little older. These aren't songs that would make the top 100, but they're songs I love all the same. Songs like "I've Got Sixpence," a British morale song from World War II. Songs like Pete Seeger's funny story song, "Abiyoyo," about a ne'er-do-well who saved his village from a giant.
And songs like Jim Reeves' novelty song, "Bimbo," from 1954. In case you don't know it, the Bimbo of the song was a happy little boy.
At any rate, they're songs I remember fondly, and maybe someday I'll have to make another list.
For now, though, the top 25.
***
25. "CHERISH," the Association -- It topped the charts in September 1966, and I was probably one of ten million American teenagers who had a picture of the object of his unrequited love in his mind every time he heard the song. It was a nice song, but it doesn't wear as well as I would have thought. And surprise, surprise, "Never My Love" might actually be the best song the group did. Also: David Cassidy did a good remake in the '70s, and in 1985, Kool and the Gang did a lovely song that shared only the title with the Association's hit.
24. "MY GIRL," the Temptations -- There are plenty of people who think this was the greatest song ever to come out of Motown. I've got two others that rank higher, and you'll be seeing them as we move along. The Temps had many other great songs, but this one was special. "I've got sunshine, on a cloudy day ..." Also: The Supremes and Martha and the Vandellas had big hit after big hit, ones that could easily have made the top 100 but didn't.
23. "YOU WEAR IT WELL," Rod Stewart -- Fifty years of hit records as a solo artist and with groups, Stewart's big breakthrough was "Maggie May" in the summer of 1971. But this song a year later was always the one I liked best, a song of a man trying to talk to the girl he let get away and now misses desperately. "You wear it well, Madame Onassis got nothing on you ... Also: In recent years, Stewart has extended his career by doing remakes of great old songs from what could be called the Great American Songbook.
22. "HOW DEEP IS YOUR LOVE," the Bee Gees -- No singing group ever got more out of a movie than the Bee Gees did. The Brothers Gibb had been on the charts since 1967 and had had three No. 1 hits, but they were fading by 1977 when they got the chance to write and perform songs for "Saturday Night Fever." This song, my favorite from the movie, was the first of six consecutive No. 1 songs for the group that ruled disco music. Also: I have at least one friend who says the Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive" is the one song that best defines the 1970s.
21. "THE LONG RUN," the Eagles -- If I had to pick only one group to listen to for the rest of my life, the Eagles would be on the short list. The one time I saw them live in concert was in 1979, on their tour for this album. "And all the debutantes in Houston couldn't hold a candle to you ..." Also: This was the last album of the group's original incarnation, and it sounded like they were having fun on songs like "The Greeks Don't Want No Freaks" with Jimmy Buffett.
20. "HERE THERE AND EVERYWHERE," the Beatles -- How on Earth do you pick the best Beatles songs? There are at least a dozen I could put on this list, but I decided on this one and one other, picking my favorite song off my two favorite albums. This was from "Revolver," and may have been the prettiest love song the Fab Four ever did. People point to "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and "Abbey Road" as wonderful albums, but "Rubber Soul" and "Revolver" were the albums where the Beatles showed ho great they were becoming.
19. "THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND," Woody Guthrie -- I said at the beginning three days ago that I wasn't going to include patriotic songs, but this one is a little different. It was actually Guthrie's answer song to a song he didn't like, Irving Berlin's "God Bless America." Guthrie and those who have been following him have made the point all along that America is about people. Also: Another great song in the same vein came along in the '60s when Phil Ochs gave us "Power and Glory."
18. "HOW GREAT THOU ART," Elvis Presley" -- If Elvis had never recorded a rock 'n' roll song, he would have been a major star singing nothing more than gospel songs. This is one of the greatest Christian songs, chosen by Americans as No. 2 behind "Amazing Grace" on their list of favorites. A lot of good versions of it, but Elvis's was the best.
17. "THE CIRCLE GAME," Joni Mitchell -- Maybe the reason this song is so high on my list is that this tale of a boy growing to age 20 came out in 1970, when I was 20. My first real girlfriend introduced me to the song, and whether vinyl, cassette, CD or mp3, I've been buying the "Ladies of the Canyon" album ever since. Another great song -- maybe Mitchell's best -- was "Both Sides Now."
16. "JUMPING JACK FLASH," the Rolling Stones -- To me, this was the best of the Stones, the rocker that has held up for decades to the point where people in their 60s are jumping up at concerts singing "It's a gas, gas, gas ..." I saw the Stones in concert twice, in 1972 and 1981, and both were among the best concerts I ever saw. "Satisfaction," "Brown Sugar," "Let's Spend the Night Together" and dozens of other songs need no introduction.
15. "DON'T WORRY BABY," the Beach Boys -- It has been called the perfect Beach Boys song, but when it was released in 1964 it was just the "B" side of the No. 1 hit "I Get Around." It ended up as one as the most memorable songs of the '60s, with that classic Beach Boys harmony that has kept the group popular for more than 50 years. Also: "Fun Fun Fun," "California Girls," "Good Vibrations" -- is there an American group with more wonderful songs?
14. "THE PRETENDER," Jackson Browne -- I was going through a box of new albums from the States in our tiny little commissary in Vienna in 1977 when I found this album. I took it back to our apartment in the American compound and didn't stop playing it for two days. "Are you there? Say a prayer for the Pretender, who started out so young and strong only to surrender." Also: Jackson Browne, wow. From co-writing "Take It Easy" with Glenn Frey to classics like "Late for the Sky" and "Fountain of Sorrow," the guy even wrote a great Christmas song -- "The Rebel Jesus."
13. "CENTERFIELD," John Fogerty -- One of the weirdest moments I can remember was back around 1995. I was driving my daughter Pauline to school, and we stopped to pick up a friend of hers. Her friend Jenny got into the car, heard this song coming from my CD player and said, "Hey, that's my Uncle John. Her last name was, of course, Fogerty. A truly great baseball song about the beginning of the game every spring. "Put me in, Coach. I'm ready to play."
12. "HERE COMES THE SUN," the Beatles -- My single favorite Beatles song ever, George Harrison's best effort and one of the true highlights off the Abbey Road album. Such an upbeat, optimistic song for a time when we seemed to be sinking into a sense of national despair. Carl Sagan wanted to include the song in the golden records on the Voyager spacecrafts, but there were copyright problems and it didn't happen.
11. "BORN TO RUN," Bruce Springsteen -- If you've made it this far in the top 100, you've seen that I'm not much of a hard rockin' guy. If I had wanted to, I could have put five Springsteen songs on this list. This is the one that represents them all American music is richer for 40 years of the Boss. "Thunder Road," "Dancin' in the Dark," "Rosalita," the list could go on and on. Springsteen's double album "The River" would make any top five list I did of albums I love. I only saw him once -- in 1984 in St. Louia -- but I had tickets to a Capital Centre show in July 1978 that a headache -- not mine -- kept me from seeing.
10. "GOD ONLY KNOWS," the Beach Boys -- Paul McCartney calls this the most perfect pop song ever written and says he wishes it was his. Brian Wilson wrote it for the "Pet Sounds" album, Carl Wilson sang it and at least one survey called it the very best song of the 1960s. It's still heard all the time. I don't think it will ever die.
9. "TAKE IT EASY," The Eagles -- Jackson Browne and Glenn Frey wrote it, and it became the encore for a generation of Eagles concerts. The Eagles had a lot of great songs, but this one seems to the the first one that comes to mind with a smile. "Standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona, such a fine sight to see. It's a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford, slowing down to take a look at me."
8. "LIKE A ROLLING STONE," Bob Dylan -- This was the song that changed everything. Rolling Stone magazine put it at No. 1 on its last of the 500 greatest songs of the rock 'n' roll era. This song is why Dylan mattered as so much more than just a folk singer. It's a song that brings a smile to my face every time I hear the intro. Also: Songs like "Blowin' in the Wind" and "The Times They Are a Changin'" will last forever.
7. "SOUNDS OF SILENCE," Simon and Garfunkel -- This song was so different than anything we had heard before, telling us the "words of the prophets were written on the subway walls ..." It started Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel on a great five year run and gave us some of the smartest lyrics of the '60s. They even did cool things like singing "Silent Night" as a news broadcast describing all the horrible news in the world got louder and louder. I also loved "The Boxer," a big hit of theirs in the summer of 1968, and "Bridge Over Troubled Water."
6. "I CAN'T HELP MYSELF," the Four Tops -- This one and the next one are my two favorite Motown songs, performed by a group that was truly unique. They stayed together with the same lineup from 1953 to 1997, and the only reason they changed then was that one of the members died. This song, also known as "Sugarpie Honeybunch," was their first huge hit and would be high on nearly every list of the best of Motown. And then came ...
5. "(IT'S THE) SAME OLD SONG," the Four Tops -- This was the followup to the first one, and it had every bit as great a sound. This one tells the story of a breakup, saying the songs are the same but their meaning is different without love. They had plenty more terrific songs and remember, they were together for 44 years.
4. "DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC," the Lovin' Spoonful -- Could there have been a happier, more feel-good anthem in the mid '60s? The Spoonful burst on the scene with that song, a song it was impossible to ignore and impossible not to enjoy. They were also the first rock band I saw live in concert in the fall of 1967. "Daydream," "Six O'Clock," "Rain on the Roof" and their powerhouse hit in the summer of '66 -- "Summer in the City."
3. "TINY DANCER," Elton John -- This would be my pick for best pop song of the '70s. "Hold me closer, tiny dancer ..." I don't know if I could ever figure out the lyrics, but to me this was the best song by a guy who has shown incredible longevity in a truly great career.
2. "BROWN EYED GIRL," Van Morrison -- This is a different type of song than nearly anything else Morrison did. It's such a great, happy song with a great '60s feel to it. Of course, it never hurts when Jimmy Buffett takes your song and makes it his own. It's a song of memories, of a guy remembering his girlfriend and a time when they were both younger. "So hard to find my way now that I'm all on my own. I saw you just the other day, My, how you have grown! Cast my memory back there, Lord, sometimes I'm overcome thinking about making love in the green grass behind the stadium with you, my brown-eyed girl."
And finally, at long last, we reach No. 1. Our top song is one I always liked, but one that never would even have made my top 100 until I saw 42 years old. I met the love of my life on Sept. 12, 1992, and married her 51 days later. We're going on 22 years together now, and from the beginning, one song was ours. The singer had 17 different No. 1 songs between 1956 and 1969. This one only reached No. 2 in December 1961, but here it tops the list ...
1. "CAN'T HELP FALLING IN LOVE," Elvis Presley -- I'm not sure there was ever a better song about love at first sight. It came from the movie "Blue Hawaii," and while it didn't reach No. 1, it topped the Easy Listening charts for six weeks in late 1961. This was another one of those songs that ought to remind us that Elvis really was The King and that he could sing practically anything and sing it well. It has been more than 37 years since he died, but his records still sell. And just as there was never a "new" Beatles or a "new" Dylan, it ought to be obvious to everyone that when Elvis Presley died in 1977, there was never going to be anyone who could take his place.
And to wrap it all up, a bonus:
13. "CENTERFIELD," John Fogerty -- One of the weirdest moments I can remember was back around 1995. I was driving my daughter Pauline to school, and we stopped to pick up a friend of hers. Her friend Jenny got into the car, heard this song coming from my CD player and said, "Hey, that's my Uncle John. Her last name was, of course, Fogerty. A truly great baseball song about the beginning of the game every spring. "Put me in, Coach. I'm ready to play."
12. "HERE COMES THE SUN," the Beatles -- My single favorite Beatles song ever, George Harrison's best effort and one of the true highlights off the Abbey Road album. Such an upbeat, optimistic song for a time when we seemed to be sinking into a sense of national despair. Carl Sagan wanted to include the song in the golden records on the Voyager spacecrafts, but there were copyright problems and it didn't happen.
11. "BORN TO RUN," Bruce Springsteen -- If you've made it this far in the top 100, you've seen that I'm not much of a hard rockin' guy. If I had wanted to, I could have put five Springsteen songs on this list. This is the one that represents them all American music is richer for 40 years of the Boss. "Thunder Road," "Dancin' in the Dark," "Rosalita," the list could go on and on. Springsteen's double album "The River" would make any top five list I did of albums I love. I only saw him once -- in 1984 in St. Louia -- but I had tickets to a Capital Centre show in July 1978 that a headache -- not mine -- kept me from seeing.10. "GOD ONLY KNOWS," the Beach Boys -- Paul McCartney calls this the most perfect pop song ever written and says he wishes it was his. Brian Wilson wrote it for the "Pet Sounds" album, Carl Wilson sang it and at least one survey called it the very best song of the 1960s. It's still heard all the time. I don't think it will ever die.
9. "TAKE IT EASY," The Eagles -- Jackson Browne and Glenn Frey wrote it, and it became the encore for a generation of Eagles concerts. The Eagles had a lot of great songs, but this one seems to the the first one that comes to mind with a smile. "Standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona, such a fine sight to see. It's a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford, slowing down to take a look at me."
7. "SOUNDS OF SILENCE," Simon and Garfunkel -- This song was so different than anything we had heard before, telling us the "words of the prophets were written on the subway walls ..." It started Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel on a great five year run and gave us some of the smartest lyrics of the '60s. They even did cool things like singing "Silent Night" as a news broadcast describing all the horrible news in the world got louder and louder. I also loved "The Boxer," a big hit of theirs in the summer of 1968, and "Bridge Over Troubled Water."
6. "I CAN'T HELP MYSELF," the Four Tops -- This one and the next one are my two favorite Motown songs, performed by a group that was truly unique. They stayed together with the same lineup from 1953 to 1997, and the only reason they changed then was that one of the members died. This song, also known as "Sugarpie Honeybunch," was their first huge hit and would be high on nearly every list of the best of Motown. And then came ...
5. "(IT'S THE) SAME OLD SONG," the Four Tops -- This was the followup to the first one, and it had every bit as great a sound. This one tells the story of a breakup, saying the songs are the same but their meaning is different without love. They had plenty more terrific songs and remember, they were together for 44 years.
3. "TINY DANCER," Elton John -- This would be my pick for best pop song of the '70s. "Hold me closer, tiny dancer ..." I don't know if I could ever figure out the lyrics, but to me this was the best song by a guy who has shown incredible longevity in a truly great career.
2. "BROWN EYED GIRL," Van Morrison -- This is a different type of song than nearly anything else Morrison did. It's such a great, happy song with a great '60s feel to it. Of course, it never hurts when Jimmy Buffett takes your song and makes it his own. It's a song of memories, of a guy remembering his girlfriend and a time when they were both younger. "So hard to find my way now that I'm all on my own. I saw you just the other day, My, how you have grown! Cast my memory back there, Lord, sometimes I'm overcome thinking about making love in the green grass behind the stadium with you, my brown-eyed girl."
And finally, at long last, we reach No. 1. Our top song is one I always liked, but one that never would even have made my top 100 until I saw 42 years old. I met the love of my life on Sept. 12, 1992, and married her 51 days later. We're going on 22 years together now, and from the beginning, one song was ours. The singer had 17 different No. 1 songs between 1956 and 1969. This one only reached No. 2 in December 1961, but here it tops the list ...
1. "CAN'T HELP FALLING IN LOVE," Elvis Presley -- I'm not sure there was ever a better song about love at first sight. It came from the movie "Blue Hawaii," and while it didn't reach No. 1, it topped the Easy Listening charts for six weeks in late 1961. This was another one of those songs that ought to remind us that Elvis really was The King and that he could sing practically anything and sing it well. It has been more than 37 years since he died, but his records still sell. And just as there was never a "new" Beatles or a "new" Dylan, it ought to be obvious to everyone that when Elvis Presley died in 1977, there was never going to be anyone who could take his place.And to wrap it all up, a bonus:
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