America's musical history has been fortunate enough that there are a multitude of hit songs that, when heard on the radio or iPod, people can immediately identify. This is made easier by the fact that some of the better songs ever made have a catchy intro or opening instrumental that immediately get people's heads nodding, or evoke some nostalgic memory. So here's my subjective top 10 list of the songs you can't help but listen to:
10. "Crazy Train", Black Sabbath
When you hear Ozzie shout, "ALLLL ABOOOOAARRD", I think everyone knows that the "AAI AAI AAI" part is next. 'Nuff said.
9. "Purple Haze", Jimi Hendrix
The catchiest guitar music seems to be the stuff that's simple when you're looking at the tabs but eloquent in its nature, and "Purple Haze" certainly meets those specifications. I know next to nothing about playing the guitar, but Hendrix's talent was so great, that even I knew when I was listening to someone who was a master at their craft.
8. "Smoke on the Water", Deep Purple
I was trying to figure out where to put this song and having some difficulty, because the beginning guitar part is what everyone remembers, but beyond that, not a whole lot else. I was never in a high school band, so it took me until I was 18 to learn that the band's name was Deep Purple and in actual fact, the song itself is pretty freakin' long.
7. "Final Countdown", Europe
You're damn right I went out of my way to put 80s music on this list. Perhaps it was because the lyrics of their songs were so non-substantive that most bands around this time just went for broke on the instrumentals. The go-to song of playoff basketball for two decades.
6. "100 Years", Five for Fighting
I was racking my brain trying to figure out the 21st century's contribution to this list, when this song exploded in my mind. Was it #1 on American Top 40? I'm pretty sure it wasn't, since it's really sappy. But when that piano first starts playing and you don't suffer a wave of nostalgia about SOMETHING, you're a soulless prick.
5. "I Want It That Way", Backstreet Boys
In an era where songs were driven totally by catchiness and not at all by lyrical sophistication, this song reigns supreme. If you assume that half of the United States population is below the age of 35 (or not, I don't care), that's as good as saying that 150 million people know more of the words to this song than they let on. As a straight male, I tried to think of every reason to NOT put this song on the list...and then I realized that I could lip-synch 80% of the words.
4. "Ants Marching", DMB
You sorta have to give Dave the benefit of the doubt with a list like this, as his music helps define an entire generation. Anyone in the 18-30 crowd has been living under a rock if they've never heard this song before and don't know a couple lines from it. I don't even listen to Dave Matthews Band that much anymore, but when those saxophones start playing, nine times out of ten, I'll stop and listen to the song the entire way through.
3. "I Want You Back", Jackson 5
Ahhh, to have a young(er) Michael Jackson again...I'm pretty sure this is the only song on the list that exalts the bass guitar in the opening, because it's the bass-line that everyone remembers in the song, even if the only other part you remember is the chorus.
2. "Sweet Home Alabama", Lynyrd Skynyrd
The opening guitar is good for TV shows, it's good for commercials and its good for movies. I figure something this timeless and marketable can't be anywhere lower than the top 3 and reps a state that at the time was probably better known for its folksy institutional racism.
1. "Billy Jean", Michael Jackson
Of course Michael has to be on this list more than once, we're talking about an artist with a fan base on every continent (I'm assuming scientists in Antarctica love his stuff too). You gotta hand it to this song, the only thing you hear at first is that simple drum beat, but everyone knows what comes next. A true generation gap-bridger.
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