50 Essential Tracks of the Century

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50 Essential Tracksof the Century

• Jian Ghomeshi
• Host

2
Selection Criteria

• Each song
• Memorable melody
• Striking, well-crafted, emotive lyrics
• Engaging hook/riff
• Defining a generation
• Revolutionary impact on music

3
Process

• Expert panels for each decade
• Suggested 10 songs ? 5 tracks
• Listeners suggested extra tracks to add
• Out of hundreds, top 10 were added
• Listeners then voted for the order (over 7,000)
• 50 ? 1 played on Labour Day

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Final Countdown

• 50-41
• Real Love - Mary J. Blige
• Saturday Night Fish Fry - Louis Jordan
• Blue Yodel 1 - Jimmie Rodgers
• Message - Grand Master Flash
• Doo Wop (That Thing) - Lauryn Hill
• Potato Head Blues - Louis Armstrong
• Stop in the Name of Love - The Supremes
• That's Alright Mama - Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup
• Nature Boy - Nat King Cole
• I believe I'll Dust My Broom - Robert Johnson

• 40-31
• Misty - Sarah Vaughan
• Maple Leaf Rag - Scott Joplin
• Walk On The Wild Side - Lou Reed
• St Louis Blues - Bessie Smith
• Fight The Power - Public Enemy
• When Doves Cry - Performed by Prince
• Moritat Vom Mackie Messer - Harald Paulsen
• My Girl - The Temptations
• Brother can you spare a dime? - Bing Crosby
• What'd I Say - Ray Charles

5

• 30-21
• You oughta know - Alanis Morissette
• Rock around the Clock - Bill Haley and the Comets
  
• Paranoid Android - Radiohead
• How High the Moon - Ella Fitzgerald
• Stayin' Alive - Beegees
• God Save the Queen - The Sex Pistols
• Billie Jean - Michael Jackson
• Heroes - David Bowie
• Your Cheatin' Heart - Hank Williams
• Star Dust - Louis Armstrong

• 20-11
• Strange Fruit - Billie Holiday
• Born to run - Bruce Springsteen
• Heartbreak Hotel - Elvis Presley
• Good Vibrations - The Beach Boys
• Mr. Tambourine Man - The Byrds
• Born to be Wild - Steppenwolf
• This Land is Your Land - Woody Guthrie
• London Calling - The Clash
• Day in the Life - The Beatles
• One Love/People get ready - Bob Marley

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Top 10 Quiz 5 sec clips

• 10 Johnny B. Goode - Chuck Berry
• 9 In the Mood - Glenn Miller and his orchestra
• 8 Satisfaction - The Rolling Stones
• 7 Stairway To Heaven - Led Zeppelin
• 6 Over the Rainbow - Judy Garland

• 5 Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
• 4 With or Without You - U2
• 3 Like a Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan
• 2 In my life - The Beatles
• 1 Imagine - John Lennon

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Suggest a song

• That fits the criteria better than another song
  on the list
• Write a paragraph or two explaining your choice

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My suggestion Louie Louie

• My suggestion is Louie Louie, the quintessential
  1960s garage song. If importance can be measured
  by the number of imitators, then Louie Louie
  ranks high on any song list. It may be the most
  covered rock song of all time (at least 200). It
  was originally written and performed by Richard
  Berry in 1957 (but mostly ignored) in a kind of
  Calypso style however, the version which gave it
  that raw, riff-driven, garage form was by the
  Kingsmen in 1963, and so I would include it in
  that decade.
• In 1993 Dave Marsh wrote a book tracing the
  history of the song, from its latinesque roots to
  its investigation by the FBI for suspected
  sedition. Some of the more memorable covers of
  the song are collected on a CD "Love That Louie,"
  Ace Records (UK) 2002. It includes versions from
  the Beach Boys to The Kinks to Toots The
  Maytals.
• Continued?

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Louie Louie

• The original lyrics are hardly memorablea kind
  of longing for home in Jamaican patois. But most
  bands added their own lyricssome (such as Iggy
  Pops rendition) were very political. Its the
  simple riff and propulsive groove that make this
  song a classic and a staple for every
  3-chord-garage band in the pre-Beatles sixties.
  Our band started every gig with it Louie Louie
  always got people up and dancing, and let us show
  off our own ham-fisted improvisation.
• The song was especially popular on the west
  coast, centred on Seattle. It had a cultish
  following and would frequently be played for 30
  minutes during school concerts. Hence the
  interest by the FBI. Its no mystery that the
  movie Animal House featured it as a theme song.
• While no one choose this song for its beauty or
  cleverness, its raw energy and simplicity touch
  on the soul of Rock and Roll. You can draw clear
  line from the 60s Kingsmen to todays White
  Stripes. Its a line that starts with Louie
  Louie.

10
Louie Louie

• Memorable melody covered by 200 bands
• Striking, well-crafted, emotive lyrics No
• Engaging hook/riff absolutely
• Defining a generation West coast phonomenom
• Revolutionary impact on music beginning of
  garage rock