CLASSIC ROCK TRACKS POLL: THE RESULTS

the most classic rock CCR song is "Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress" by the Hollies

I still can't imagine what the opening 23 seconds of "Purple Haze" sounded like to people in 1967. Like some straight up Martian shit, probably.

damn, i've got 9 of 13 so far on my ballot. but then again, maybe so does everybody else.

haha ditto, I saw gr8080 post this entry then went outside to do some gardening and the whole time I was singing "So I used the Force! I picked up a box!" to myself.

awesome.

no amount of cr overplay will ever be able to kill the majestic strangeness of "purple haze" for me.

tru

we've already had several songs that aren't in any of the top 500 airplay lists i gathered (Walk Away, Walk On The Wild Side, Stop Draggin, Eminence Front). i don't think that necessarily means anything. the canon is pretty large, even if playlists are shrinking on a lot of stations.

Sund4r: "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around, "Eminence Front," I guess "The Chain" and now I'd add "Walk Away" I guess, though I don't think I even know that one (add it to the list, fcc?). Not like the public hates any of those - just that ILM types rate Fleetwood Mac/Stevie Nicks a lot higher than I'd reckon the average CR listener does. Not dramatically - I'm just saying, A+ "essential," versus A- "love 'em." Of course, as discussed previously, our tendency to not vote a lot of songs by a given act may have vote-split some of the heaviest hitters - we'll see as the rollout continues. I think it's cool.

"Purple Haze" sounded fucking amazing to me at age 16 in the mid 90s, as rock as rock would ever get, and yeah, it's all in those opening bars. I didn't vote for it though, and came near to note voting for any Hendrix. Wish I could still hear it fresh, but I can't.

"Purple Haze" has one of my favourite solos. Could be a jazzy modal thing if it were played totally clean but becomes psychedelic liftoff with fuzz and Octavia. Love the way it sits against the beat.

xposts

I still can't imagine what the opening 23 seconds of "Purple Haze" sounded like to people in 1967. Like some straight up Martian shit, probably.

― Johnny Fever, Monday, July 28, 2014 2:10 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Probably why it peaked at #65 in the US.

And yeah, it cannot be overplayed.

My internal list is comprised of the songs we played at the classic rock station I worked at/with for 11 years. So far, the list is OTM.

Now, some of these are fading away from radio and fast. Back when there were CR stations and "oldies" stations, the CR would play Purple Haze or Turn Turn Turn while the oldies station would play Runaround Sue. But now, some of those songs like the ones mentioned above or even The Joker are moving from CR to Oldies.

Purple Haze is one of those songs where every note is ingrained in my subconscious, so I never listen anymore and therefore did not vote for it. Doesn't make it any less great though.

Probably why it peaked at #65 in the US.

Yeah, I remember when I was a kid in the 1990s shortly after I got Are You Experienced, I was talking to my dad like "I wish I was alive in the 1960s ... the music was so much better ... Jimi Hendrix, etc." and he was like "You know, Jimi Hendrix wasn't really that popular."

oh "The Chain" is a staple. 175th-ish rank on my airplay lists.

(I voted for a different song from that album that I have hopes will still place. Maybe?)

Walk Away" I guess, though I don't think I even know that one (add it to the list, fcc?)

happy to add it! though it's one of those songs with a slightly misleading title, so maybe you do know it and just don't know you know it. but i'll add it and we'll see.

The guitar on Purple Haze does not seem like it's played with hands, or by humans. It's like a mountain that climbs itself.

OK, kids, I'm back with your rock alphabet, just in time for a little CSN (and sometimes Y)

http://i.imgur.com/kbV368F.jpg

87. Crosby, Stills & Nash – Suite: Judy Blue Eyes
854 points, 13 votes

"suite: judy..." was up there with the doobies' "black water" when i was a kid as a song that i would patiently sit through the first several minutes every time it came on the radio just so i could hear the ending.

Woah! Didn't expect that. Would have thrown it a little teeny vote if I'd thought it had a chance as "classic rock" (versus AM gold).

ugh

everything doesn't need to fall into a neat container
i hope "ohio" makes it but i have my doubts

I dig plenty of CSNY just fine but not those with the taint of Stills as much as that one

I would love "Ohio" to place.

I expected more mid-70s cuts by this point, but perhaps the top half of the poll will be loaded with those.

the mid 70s are definitely the center of gravity for this whole thing

haven't been able to participate in this, but just wanted to say those pictures are great

Judy Blue Eyes is a great springtime jam.

indeed. Stills wrote most of my favorite CSN songs.

man I am not much of a CSN/Y fan but when I put my balloting hat on it turns out they're pretty classic imo. think I voted for three tracks. "suite: judy blue eyes" was one of them but "our house" was a canyon too far.

"can I tell it like it is?"

\m/

Either this song is pretty trippy or I drank something I shouldn't have from the cup gr80 left in the studio.

http://i.imgur.com/U3ZoeM3.jpg

86. Steve Miller – Fly Like An Eagle
857 points, 15 votes

For people of a certain generation, Fly Like an Eagle will always evoke Space Jam (and Seal's terrible version).

^ false

voodoo chili probably otm. I was a little too old for Space Jam, but have been stunned to realize what a cultural touchstone it is for people 3-8 years younger than me.

I think I'm glad I have no idea what "Space Jam" is

FLAE rules, always has, always will, and I say that as somebody w/ a very low Steve Miller tolerance level

steve miller, CR necessary evil

imo

Definitely a mid-70s cut, though, just what I was hoping for.

FLAE has a good trippiness going for it, though tbh I always thought shooting the children with no shoes on their feet was a little excessive. Second-tier Miller though IMO - this is one guy where I like him more when he goes full-on corporate fraternity rock and ditches the remnants of spacey Sixties mind-expansion and nature-love. Hoping for "Jet Airliner" and/or "Jungle Love" to place here.

"Fly Like An Eagle" evokes the bit in Miles Davis' autobio about Miller being a "non-playing motherfucker with only one or two sorry-ass records out."

lol - I just looked up that full quote and I love it.

We laugh now, but wait til Columbia exhumes Miles' sweetass fusion jam cover of "Swingtown".

Didn't Macca claim that Steve Miller was his favorite guitarist? Yikes...

A couple of songs I voted for have shown up so far, but Suite: Judy Blue Eyes is the first placing song I'm really excited to see. I love that tune. It has so many parts!

(As I was putting my ballot together for this poll, I realized that I have a thing for songs with lots of parts, as my #1 and #2 will strongly attest.)

The picture selections for Purple Haze and Suite: Judy Blue Eyes are fantastic, btw.

We laugh now, but wait til Columbia exhumes Miles' sweetass fusion jam cover of "Swingtown".

― Randall "Humble" Pie (C. Grisso/McCain), Monday, July 28, 2014 4:04 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Haha, CSNY were on that bill with Miles and Miller, and Miles did cover "Guinnevere"...

::does a split in mid-air::

http://i.imgur.com/7OHnHPy.jpg

85. Van Halen – Runnin’ With The Devil
858 points, 14 votes

XP Davis was also on the bill when the Whitten/Crazy Horse live album was recorded.

OH GOD I'M RUNNIN'!