Let's make a Classic Rock Crash Course!

Perhaps Muffin Man or You Are What You Is?

Other than those listed:

• King Crimson, "In the Court of the Crimson King" and "Red" (that riff).
• Pink Floyd, "Interstellar Overdrive" (that riff).
• Pixies, "Gigantic" and "Where Is My Mind?".
• Soft Machine, "We Did It Again".
• Sonic Youth, "Expressway to Yr. Skull" and "Teenage Riot".
• Talking Heads, "Psycho Killer" and "Once in a Lifetime".
• The Velvet Underground, "Pale Blue Eyes" and "Sister Ray".

If you're going to put in 80s Genesis, you might want to throw in Land of Confusion.

An aside: While not as well-known as some of the other bands mentioned earlier, I think that the extensive influence of the "Krautrock" bands of the early '70s and some of the more notable punk and post-punk outfits of the late '70s/early '80s make them quite worthy of inclusion. I already forwarded Talking Heads and, more tangentially, Pixies and Sonic Youth, but I could easily give solid, reasonably well-known recommendations for Can, Faust, Gang Of Four, Joy Division, Kraftwerk, New Order, Television...

Screw it. Here's another list:

• Can, "Halleluhwah".
• The Cure, "Killing an Arab", "One Hundred Years" and/or "Just Like Heaven".
• DEVO, "Jocko Homo" and/or "Gates of Steel".
• Faust, "It's a Rainy Day, Sunshine Girl".
• Funkadelic, "Free Your Mind and Your Ass Will Follow" (because).
• Gang Of Four, "At Home He's A Tourist".
• The Jesus and Mary Chain, "Just Like Honey".
• Joy Division, "Shadowplay" and "Love Will Tear Us Apart".
• Kraftwerk, "Trans-Europe Express" (hugely important if not 100% rockin').
• My Bloody Valentine, "You Made Me Realise".
• NEU!, "Hallogallo" and "Hero" (after which Bowie named an album).
• New Order, "Ceremony" (covered soooo many times) and "Blue Monday".
• Pere Ubu, "30 Seconds Over Tokyo".
• Siouxsie and the Banshees, "Slowdive" and perhaps their cover of "Dear Prudence".
• Television, "Marquee Moon" and "Venus de Milo".
• Wire, "12XU", "Outdoor Miner", "Drill" and/or "Ahead".

I suggest "Autobahn" instead of "Trans-Europe Express". Mostly because it still has non-electronic instruments in it. I have almost everything in that lsit, btw.

I think this thread is going beyond the scope of Classic Rock...

edited 14th Jan '14 6:27:28 PM by Quag15

I was considering suggesting a few post-punk bands, but I wasn't sure if they counted as classic rock or not.

edited 15th Jan '14 2:37:59 AM by supergod

• Stevie Wonder - Superstition (dat bass yo)

• David Bowie - Modern Love

• Boston - More Than A Feeling

• The Mamas And The Papas - California Dreaming

• Journey - Don't Stop Believing

• Journey - Seperate Ways, Worlds Apart

• Journey - Wheel In The Sky

• Foghat - Slow Ride

• Fleetwood Mac - Rhiannon

• Fleetwood Mac - Tusk

edited 15th Jan '14 4:38:27 AM by Jinxmenow

Good point. I was not sure which to go with, though.

The OP makes it clear that this is about rock in a much broader sense than the usual use of the term.

I dont know if these songs have been mentioned yet but:

Ratt-Round and Round

Golden Earring-Radar Love

Steve Miller- Take the Money and Run

REO Speedwagon-Take it on the run

Jefferson Starship-Jane

edited 15th Jan '14 6:14:30 PM by Hadley

Guys, read through other posts and the list itself before suggesting songs. I've seen several repeats already.

I did. Somehow a bunch of really notable things slipped through the cracks.

It's cool. Just speaking generally, since I saw a lot of repeats throughout the thread so far.

How about "No Matter What" by Badfinger.

See, with Badfinger, I would suggest over that "Come and Get It" and, arguably, "Day After Day".

Talking Heads - Burning Down The House

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Have You Ever Seen The Rain?

The Mc Coys - Hang On Sloopy

The Kingsmen - Louie Louie

Boston - Peace of Mind

Chicago - 25 or 6 to 4

The Beach Boys - Wouldn't It Be Nice

edited 3rd Feb '14 3:27:38 PM by ColonelCathcart

And Now, for more Artistic Classic Rock:

The Beatles, Specifically from "Help!" to "Abbey Road" (Excluding "Yellow Submarine")

Elton John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" Album

Spirit's "Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus"

Pink Floyd: "The Piper At the Gates of Dawn", followed by "Meddle" to "The Wall".

Frank Zappa's Debut Album, "Freak Out!" (Very Critically Acclaimed)

Captain Beefhearts Opus Magnus, "Trout Mask Replica" (Very Critically Acclaimed)

ELO, from "Electric Light Orchestra" to "Discovery"

All of David Bowie's Work from the 60's to the 80's

Eric Clapton: Cream's Output, Derek And the Dominos Output, and a couple of his Solo songs before the 80's.

edited 30th Jan '14 8:17:31 PM by DingoWalley

We're talking about songs, though, and most of those have songs which have been brought up earlier. Have you read the thread?

Although in fairness, the lack of Captain Beefheart on my list was an oversight. Maybe The Residents, too, although singling out tracks by either of them can be difficult. Hmmm...

I'd suggest one of the tracks from the Third Reich 'n' Roll album. Maybe the second track.

I was thinking exactly that! Although the first track does lead off with a classic sample/cover/mash-up with that German version of "Land of 1,000 Dances". But the second is a stronger effort all around, so... I'll go with that. I would nominate something from Eskimo because it managed to sell one hundred thousand copies somehow, but it's kind of hard to pick favourites there. Duck Stab/Buster and Glen and The Commercial Album are much easier propositions that way. Even their debut is, what with "N-Er-Gee Crisis Blues" and that uproarious Nancy Sinatra cover.

edited 31st Jan '14 10:27:44 AM by JHM

Hard to believe this thread is 45 posts long and no-one has yet nominated anything by the Rolling Stones, and just one song by the Who has been nominated.

(And remember, never ever use "How has this not been mentioned yet?"-type phrases on the wiki! It's not a forum, after all. This, however, is.)

For the Rolling Stones, just off the top of my head, "Satisfaction", "Sympathy for the Devil", "Paint It Black", "You Can't Always Get What You Want", "It's Only Rock and Roll (But I Like It)", "Let's Spend the Night Together", "Start Me Up"... some of those are probably more deserving of a place on a shortlist than others, but that's a start.

And for the Who, again, just off the top of my head, "Won't Get Fooled Again", "Baba O'Riley", "Who Are You" (yes, the CSI opening music trifecta, but they are all classics), "My Generation", "Pinball Wizard", "See Me, Feel Me", "I Can See for Miles", "Behind Blue Eyes"... again, some are probably more deserving of a place on a shortlist than others.

Or the Kinks - "You Really Got Me" (the original, the best), "Lola", "Waterloo Sunset", probably other likely candidates.

Or Van Morrison, before and after leaving Them: "Gloria" from the Them era leaps to mind, while "Brown-Eyed Girl" and "Moondance" are probably the top picks of his solo career.

Sort of surprised that several people have mentioned Yes, but "I've Seen All Good People" hasn't come up yet. Might not make the final list, but it is a landmark track when they were finding their feet as a prog rock band.

Do the Police qualify as classic rock? Although neither "Roxanne" nor "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic" nor "Every Breath You Take" crack my personal Top 10 Police songs, they were staples of the classic rock station where I lived for a large part of the last decade. There's also possibly "Message in a Bottle" or "Don't Stand So Close to Me" (which do crack my personal Top 10 Police songs, overly obvious as they may be as choices for such a list).

Stealers Wheel have been mentioned; there's always Gerry Rafferty's biggest solo hit, "Baker Street". That sax riff is instantly recognisable.

Again, some of those are definitely more essential than others, but, well, it'll do for a start.

I think nearly every song on this list should be considered.

Mainly because the editors made a rule of including only one song per band (yes, that means The Beatles too). Some songs are from the 80's, but those can be ignored.

edited 31st Jan '14 10:59:58 PM by Alucard

I'm pretty sure a good amount of what you nominated is already on the master list.

Yes, but not all of it.

edited 1st Feb '14 7:33:00 PM by mlsmithca

Just, please check before you nominate repeats.

And again, I must ask, Rambler, you still monitoring this thread/list?

I would also like to nominate some bands based off of songs from this site's signature song list and certain classic rock stations overseas (the area I live in now doesn't even have a classic rock station for some reason). Please don't remind me to check through these posts if these examples are already on the list as I'm not going through about fifty lengthy posts, especially due to my interest in creating these lists anyway.

My list would cover bands/songs from a time period after the "British Invasion" and before MTV, with only certain songs considered for inclusion after the MTV launch as long as the band has existed before then.

• Lynyrd Skynyrd - Sweet Home Alabama, Simple Man, Gimme Three Steps, That Smell, What's Your Name
• The Rolling Stones - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction, Paint It Black, Gimme Shelter, You Can't Always Get What You Want, Honky Tonk Women, Jumpin Jack Flash, Under My Thumb, Get Off of My Cloud
• ACDC - Highway to Hell, Back In Black
• The Doors - Light My Fire, Riders On the Storm, People Are Strange, Love Her Madly, Touch Me, Love Me Two Times, Hello I Love You
• Creedence Clearwater Revival - Fortunate Son, Down On the Corner, Up Around the Bend
• Kansas - Carry On Wayward Son, Dust In the Wind, Point of Know Return
• Journey - Any Way You Want It, Wheel In the Sky, Lights, Don't Stop Believin, Faithfully, Who's Crying Now
• The Who - My Generation, Who Are You, Baba O'Riley, Pinball Wizard, Won't Get Fooled Again, Behind Blue Eyes
• Led Zeppelin - Stairway To Heaven, Kashmir
• Eagles - Hotel California, Life In the Fast Lane, One of These Nights, Witchy Woman, Tequila Sunrise
• Boston - More Than a Feeling, Peace of Mind, Foreplay/Long Time
• Electric Light Orchestra - Evil Woman, Mr. Blue Sky, Don't Bring Me Down, Strange Magic
• Pink Floyd - Another Brick In the Wall Pt. 2, Wish You Were Here, Comfortably Numb, Money, Time, Have a Cigar, Brain Damage, Hey You, Us and Them, The Great Gig In the Sky, The Happiest Days of Our Lives
• Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody, We Will Rock You, We Are the Champions, Another One Bites the Dust, You're My Best Friend, Killer Queen
• Styx - Come Sail Away, Renegade, Too Much Time On My Hands, Lady
• Dire Straits - Sultans of Swing, Money for Nothing
• Cheap Trick - I Want You to Want Me, Surrender
• Heart - Barracuda, Crazy On You, Magic Man
• The Beatles - I Wanna Hold Your Hand, She Loves You, Hey Jude
• Fleetwood Mac - The Chain, Go Your Own Way, Rhiannon
• Steve Miller Band - The Joker, Take the Money and Run, Fly Like an Eagle, Jet Airliner
• KISS - Rock and Roll All Nite

edited 19th Feb '14 3:49:14 AM by WolfMan16