I'm not suggesting for one moment that everyone's iPod should have an identical playlist. No one would even want to live in a world like that. (Well . . . no one except certain members of a certain wing of a certain political party, but I never discuss politics, so let's leave things at that . . . )
But there are some songs that really ought to be on your iPod. The list below is, in some ways, an outgrowth of the 100 Greatest Rock Songs of All Time list I put together a couple of years ago. The differences here are that:
Songs are not confined to a single genre;
Songs are not ranked, but rather are listed in alphabetical order by title;
The list is not confined to 100 songs.
A question that often comes up is, should I buy the single tune from the iTunes store, or buy a CD from Amazon with the song on it? It's a question of personal preference, really, but I lean toward buying the CD; if I hadn't bought CD's for only one or two songs, I never would have heard a lot of great, though perhaps less popular, tunes, which are now also on my iPod.
| Song Title | Artist |
| 25 or 6 to 4 | Chicago |
| Ain't No Sunshine | Jose Feliciano |
| All Day and All of the Night | Kinks |
| American Woman | Guess Who |
| Bad Moon Rising | Creedence Clearwater Revival |
| Bad to the Bone | George Thorogood and the Destroyers |
| Badlands | Bruce Springsteen |
| Ball and Chain | Big Brother and the Holding Company |
| Before the Next Teardrop Falls | Freddy Fender |
| Black Magic Woman | Santana |
| Bohemian Rhapsody | Queen |
| Born To Be Wild | Steppenwolf |
| Born To Run | Bruce Springsteen |
| Bridge Over Troubled Water | Simon & Garfunkel |
| Brown Eyed Girl | Van Morrison |
| Brown Sugar | Rolling Stones |
| California Dreaming | Mamas & Papas |
| Can't Get It Out of My Head | Electric Light Orchestra |
| Crazy Arms | Linda Ronstadt |
| Daniel | Elton John |
| Do Wah Diddy Diddy | Manfred Mann |
| Do You Believe In Magic | Lovin' Spoonful |
| Dream On | Aerosmith |
| Dust In the Wind | Kansas |
| Eight Miles High | Byrds |
| Feelin' Alright | Traffic |
| Flame, The | Cheap Trick |
| For What It's Worth | Buffalo Springfield |
| For Your Love | Yardbirds |
| Gimme Shelter | Rolling Stones |
| Gimme Some Lovin' | Spencer Davis Group |
| Good Vibrations | Beach Boys |
| Goodbye Yellow Brick Road | Elton John |
| Great Balls of Fire | Jerry Lee Lewis |
| Heart of Gold | Neil Young |
| Hey Jude | Beatles |
| Hotel California | Eagles |
| House of the Rising Sun | Animals |
| Hush | Deep Purple |
| I Walk the Line | Johnny Cash |
| I'm A Man | Spencer Davis Group |
| Imagine | John Lennon |
| In the Presence of the Lord | Blind Faith |
| It's Only Make Believe | Conway Twitty |
| Jailhouse Rock | Elvis Presley |
| Jesus Is Just Alright | Doobie Brothers |
| Johnny B Goode | Chuck Berry |
| La Bamba | Los Lobos |
| Lay Down, Lay Down | Melanie |
| Lay Lady Lay | Bob Dylan |
| Layla | Derek and the Dominoes |
| Let It Be | Beatles |
| Light My Fire | Doors |
| Like A Rolling Stone | Bob Dylan |
| Magic Carpet Ride | Steppenwolf |
| Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys | Willie Nelson |
| Morning Has Broken | Cat Stevens |
| Nights in White Satin | Moody Blues |
| One | Three Dog Night |
| Oye Como Va | Santana |
| Piece of My Heart | Big Brother and the Holding Company |
| Pretty Woman | Roy Orbison |
| Purple Haze | Jimi Hendrix |
| Refugee | Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers |
| Right Here Waiting | Richard Marx |
| Ring of Fire | Johnny Cash |
| Roadhouse Blues | Doors |
| Runaway | Del Shannon |
| San Francisco | Scott McKenzie |
| Satisfaction | Rolling Stones |
| Shambhala | Three Dog Night |
| Smoke on the Water | Deep Purple |
| Somebody To Love | Jefferson Airplane |
| Sounds of Silence | Simon & Garfunkel |
| Southern Cross | Crosby, Stills, & Nash |
| Stairway to Heaven | Led Zeppelin |
| Stand By Your Man | Tammy Wynette |
| Suite Judy Blue Eyes | Crosby, Stills, & Nash |
| Sultans of Swing | Dire Straits |
| Summer In the City | Lovin' Spoonful |
| Sunshine of Your Love | Cream |
| Take It to the Limit | Eagles |
| Taking Care of Business | Bachman Turner Overdrive |
| Thrill Is Gone | BB King |
| Time of the Season | Zombies |
| Total Eclipse of the Heart | Bonnie Tyler |
| Train Kept A-Rollin' | Yardbirds |
| Truckin' | Grateful Dead |
| Turn, Turn, Turn | Byrds |
| Unchained Melody | Righteous Brothers |
| Wear Your Love Like Heaven | Donovan |
| When A Man Loves A Woman | Percy Sledge |
| Whipping Post | Allman Brothers |
| White Room | Cream |
| Whiter Shade of Pale | Procol Harum |
| Whole Lotta Love | Led Zeppelin |
| Wild Horses | Rolling Stones |
| Wonderful Tonight | Eric Clapton |
| Woodstock | Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young |
| Yesterday | Beatles |
| You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet | Bachman Turner Overdrive |
| You Make Loving Fun | Fleetwood Mac |
| You Really Got Me | Kinks |
| Your Cheatin' Heart | Hank Williams |
| You've Lost That Loving Feeling | Righteous Brothers |
Recently Added:
Please note: As discussed above, these are songs I definitely want on my iPod, and whether or not they're "important" isn't important to me. Hope you find it helpful, or at least thought-provoking.
Copyright © D. J. McAdam· All Rights Reserved