THE TOP 3333 MOST ESSENTIAL CLASSIC ROCK SONGS OF ALL TIME ... AND A VERY SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

Thank you so much, Kent, for the Top 3333 Most Essential Classic Rock Songs of All Time spreadsheet.  Exactly what I was hoping for … and more. 

I feel like I am super hungry walking into a buffet.  One of each please.  Not that buffets exist any longer.  

Thank you to yourself, your site and contributors for such an undertaking. 

I appreciate curated lists such as yours. 

Only wish someone could create a video of the results like some of the ones on Youtube such as  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKXnnBiV6Og, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHdiqTOsvz4 and https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_7vpQf_FoeIC_V5u8AuzHQ/videos

dfwloop100

If you scroll back thru the site (just keep hitting the “Older Posts” tab at the bottom of the page) you will see that we featured HUNDREDS of YouTube videos along the way as we first revealed The Top 3333 List.  (Most of them are still there … but more and more keep disappearing over time.)

To TRULY appreciate the depth of this countdown, you need to hear it in its entirety … and we haven’t found anyone willing to take on that kind of commitment yet … it’s really quite an undertaking.  Nobody is EVER going to agree with all of the results of this poll … heck, even I don’t!!!  But it shows you the depth of worthy material that is being ignored by Classic Rock Radio on a daily basis.  All we’re saying is, “Mix it up a bit” … because THESE are the songs that your listeners REALLY want to hear!  (kk)

NOTE:  If you’d like your own copy of The Top 3333 Most Essential Classic Rock Songs Of All Time, just drop me an email at kk@forgottenhits.com and we’ll send it off to you.  All we ask is that you properly credit us for our efforts if forwarding it or posting it for others to enjoy … and throw in a link to the site:  https://classicrockessentials.blogspot.com/

Hi Kent,

Thanks so much for the mention in your column today!  

And thanks for the Top 3,333.  A lot of great music on there that hasn’t yet been overplayed by commercial classic rock radio.  A good reference for my show.

You mentioned Phil Nee in your column.  I was actually on vacation and found myself in Richland Center, WI, on a Saturday night a few years ago.  I happened upon Phil’s show on the car radio and it was like an oasis in the middle of the desert.  It was a great show.  But when I got home I was disappointed to see that the station didn’t stream.  But I keep checking back so interesting to read of that mention this past week.  Thanks again!

Mark Nielsen

Phil does a GREAT show … and we’ve been talking to him about streaming for YEARS now … for some reason, the station doesn’t want to do it.  (I think they’re cutting themselves short … they’d have SO many more listeners nationwide … and much greater street cred … if the word got out.  Then again, I’ve been pleading with Me-TV-FM to stream for as long as they’ve been on the air … and they have absolutely NO interest in doing so … which is ESPECIALLY weird since some of their satellite stations stream … which is the ONLY way that I get to listen to them now since neither of our cars will pick up the 87.7 signal.)

In BOTH cases, when you’ve got programming this good, it’s a shame not to share it with the rest of the world.  Maybe it won’t help you in the local ratings … but you are greatly underestimating the power of word of mouth within the oldies community.  You wouldn’t believe how many letters I get complaining that no matter how great I say either of these stations are, what difference does it make if people can’t actually listen to them!!!

Speaking of which, I’ve listened to a couple of your archived shows now and find them very enjoyable … a nice mix of oldies you just don’t hear that much anymore.  Internet Radio has become home to the BEST oldies music out there … but you’ve GOT to share it if you want to get the word out.

Thanks, Mark!  (kk)

Live shows, Saturday Night, 7 pm, Central Time … CPL Radio:

https://live365.com/station/CPL-Radio-a13640

Here is a link to the show archives.   https://archive.org/details/@cpl_radio_53012

On a side note, SO many of the college stations featuring special oldies programming are also streaming these days.  As such, we have become BIG fans of Sam Tallerico’s Lost And Found Oldies Show and Jeff James’ Saturday Night At The Oldies and Windy City Wednesdays.  If the college stations can do it, you sure would think some of the bigger commercial radio stations could, too.  (In the meantime, they're stealing a large segment of your audience by offering up music you just can't find anywere else!)  kk

Thank you so much for your Top 3333 Essential Classic Rock Songs list.  I really appreciate you sending it.

Now for a couple of comments ... 

First of all, this Top 3333 Most Essential Classic Rock Songs list was actually a lot better than I ever thought it would be.  I just figured you'd list the titles and artists

of the songs.  I did NOT EXPECT you to include the album that each song came from as well.  And, as if that wasn't enough, in some cases where there are both studio and live versions, you included both the album of the studio cut, and the album where the live cut could be found.  All I can say is wow!!! This must have been really hard work, not only compiling everything, but writing everything down.  Now I can see why there was such a delay before this amazing list became available. 

One thing has become evident from this list.  With the passage of time, the Rolling Stones are clearly more popular than the Beatles, even though many people still consider the Beatles the greatest rock band of all time ... but your list doesn't totally support that. 

There were three Rolling Stones songs in the top ten, with Gimme Shelter at the highest position of number 5. There were no Beatles songs in the top ten at all. 

There were five Rolling Stones songs in the top twenty and only two Beatles songs.  I found that very interesting. 

Anyway, I am really enjoying reading through this list even more than I thought I would.  I've only gotten down to about song number 300 so far, but would

personally put a lot of songs much higher in my personal list. 

I think that for me, A Whiter Shade Of Pale by Procol Harum would be my number 1 choice on my own list, and I'm sorry, but I am so sick of Hotel California by the Eagles that I don't even enjoy listening to it any more.  There's a woman in this retirement home named Pam who always asks me to play it for her, and it makes me cringe every time.  But, that's what makes us all different, our varied tastes in music. 

Now I wish I had voted for my top twenty favorite classic rock songs of all time.  They would be very different than your top twenty list.   

Just for the heck of it, here's my top twenty: 

  1.  Light My Fire, The Doors
  2.  Whiter Shade Of Pale, Procol Harum
  3.  I'm Only Sleeping, The Beatles
  4.  Have A Cigar, Pink Floyd
  5.  Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You, Led Zeppelin
  6.  Getting Better, The Beatles
  7.  All Along The Watch Tower, Jimi Hendrix
  8.  Time, Pink Floyd
  9.  She Said She Said, The Beatles
10.  Your Lost Little Girl, The Doors
11.  Dandelion, The Rolling Stones
12.  L.A. Woman, The Doors
13.  Dazed And Confused, Led Zeppelin
14.  Born To Run, Bruce Springsteen
15.  Main Street, Bob Seger
16.  Hush, Deep Purple
17.  Once In A Life Time, Talking Heads
18.  Lucky Man, Emerson Lake and Palmer
19.  Wonderful Tonight, Eric Clapton
20. Dynamo Hum, Frank Zappa  

Anyway Kent, what I am trying to say, and I know that others have stated before me, was a great big hearty thank you for your effort in compiling this list, and then making it available to us all.  I think you are doing one hell of a job keeping this blog running, and even as much as I know about rock music, I still learn some amazing things from you sometimes.  Keep up the excellent work.

With warmest regards from north of the border,

Sam Ward in Streetsville Ontario Canada

Well, you know what they say … you can’t complain about the results if you don’t v vote in the first place!  (lol)

But your Top 20 proofs the point about why OUR list is such a valuable representation of reality for the masses …

Your Top 20 includes three songs by The Doors, three songs by The Beatles, and two each by Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin.  Those are personal choices … but represent fully HALF of your Top 20.

Believe me, nobody was more surprised than I was to find FIVE Rolling Stones songs in the final Top 20 on our list … while certainly well-represented on Classic Rock Radio, they don’t get the kind of repeated airplay that artists like Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Aerosmith, The Who, Bob Seger, Steve Miller, Queen and a few other do … yet the votes prove that The Stones consistently appeal to a much wider audience.

As to your point about The Stones now being more popular than The Beatles, I would agree with that to a point … certainly on the top end of the chart they were … I remember making a big point of the fact that of The Beatles’ two Top 20 entries, BOTH were written by George Harrison … and not the much-ballyhooed team of Lennon and McCartney.  Overall, The Beatles placed 140 songs in The Top 3333 while The Stones had 56.  That’s nearly three times as many for The Fab Four, generally considered more of a “pop” band than a classic rock band.  Ironically only one of your top three Beatles picked made our final countdown (“She Said, She Said,” #1449.  “I’m Only Sleeping” and “Good Morning, Good Morning,” although nominated, didn’t earn enough points to make the final list.)  Your tunes are also all John songs, so I’m assuming he’s also your favorite in that regard … on The Top 3333 the first Lennon song doesn’t come up on the list until you hit “A Day In The Life” (#44)  Above that, you’ve got two by George and two by Paul (including a solo hit).  If nothing else, I think you’ll agree our list better reflects airplay as it currently exists on Classic Rock Radio today, from coast to coast in America anyway.  Maybe you’re getting a slightly better mix north of the border (???)  Believe me, I’m the FIRST to suggest that Classic Rock Radio needs more variety … in fact, it was the whole point of this survey to suggest viable options that listeners would most enjoy hearing.

And that’s the main reason that I trust our list … NO list has ever been put together with the sheer volume of votes received, coupled in with actual airplay and, perhaps more importantly, the number of downloads generated.  A radio station can play “Night Moves” four times a day, 20 times a week, because it “tests well” … but that doesn’t mean that most of us out here are tired of hearing it and will likely change the channel rather than listen to it yet again … especially when you know it’ll be coming up in a few hours again anyway.  (Like you, I prefer “Main Street” over “Night Moves” as well!)  It’s kinda like your point about “Hotel California” … GREAT song, but I, too, find myself turning it off as often as I listen to it these days because radio has completely RUINED it for me.  Now that doesn’t mean that it still isn’t a great song … it is … one of the best … but I can no longer APPRECIATE hearing it because it’s been shoved down my throat (or ears) so many times already.

Give it a rest.  We have found that if you had a larger rotation of songs … and USED it so as NOT to beat the crap out of the same 200 tunes … we WILL start to appreciate these songs again in smaller doses.  There are FAR too many songs that I genuinely love that radio has RUINED for me with this complete saturation of airplay.  GIVE IT A REST!!!  Read the list … you’ll find at least A THOUSAND other tracks you could be playing instead that your listeners really want to hear, even just once in a while … or they wouldn’t have made our cut.

“A Whiter Shade Of Pale” and “Lucky Man” are two of my all-time favorites, too … absolutely LOVE these songs and have never grown tired of them … but you’ve got a few tracks in your Top 20 that were never even NOMINATED, much less made the lower region of the list.  Again, personal taste.  (kk)

A VERY SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT:

We will be presenting our very OWN Memorial Day Weekend Countdown, spotlighting The Top 50 Most Essential Classic Rock Songs Of All Time from our Top 3333 List.

Phil Nee of WRCO counted these down about ten days ago and we will be posting segments of that broadcast throughout the entire Memorial Day Weekend, kicking off at 3 pm on Friday, May 22^nd.

New posts will follow (about every three hours or so) until we reach the top … with lots of great “extras” thrown in along the way!

Be sure to check back often to enjoy the complete experience.  (Posts will stay up throughout the weekend so you can always scroll back to any postings you may have missed along the way while flipping burgers in your backyard!)

Please help us to spread the word …

You’ll find it EXCLUSIVELY here:  https://classicrockessentials.blogspot.com/