Bands whose most famous song sums them up so well that you'd totally get the right idea about them from just that one track

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Led Zeppelin - "Stairway to Heaven" (epic ambitions, layers of guitar ranging from pseudo-medieval fingerpicking to metal pounding, big solo, Plant sings in both his pretty voice and his screechy one, obscure mystical lyrics)

Rush - "Tom Sawyer" (possibly their most complex and virtuosic track also their most famous one with some shrill individualistic ranting on top, mixes guitars and synths pretty evenly)

Boston - "More Than a Feeling" (the rest was pretty much a rewrite, wasn't it?)

Jimi Hendrix - "All Along the Watchtower" (rootsy foundation with lots of trippy guitar effects and soloing, sing-speak vocals)

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Friday, 17 September 2004 01:43 (twenty-one years ago)

Blow Monkeys, "Digging Your Scene"

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Friday, 17 September 2004 01:45 (twenty-one years ago)

It works for the most part, but that Led track does lack one element: the boogie! ("Misty Mountain Hop," "Dancing Days," "The Ocean")

I'm tempted to say any AC/DC song would qualify (except "It's A Long Way To The Top," what with the bagpipe).

― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 17 September 2004 01:47 (twenty-one years ago)

Cameo - "Word Up"

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Friday, 17 September 2004 01:48 (twenty-one years ago)

The Misfits - "Hybrid Moments"

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 17 September 2004 01:49 (twenty-one years ago)

oh and "Thunderstruck" is disqualified AC/DC-wise for all those Van Haleny hammer-ons.

― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 17 September 2004 01:49 (twenty-one years ago)

xpost - nah. It's not their most famous (though it most certainly is their best), and it doesn't account for the proto thrash of Earth AD

― roger adultery (roger adultery), Friday, 17 September 2004 01:51 (twenty-one years ago)

Ya beat me to it, Roger. On second thought, their "most famous" song (if they ever had one) is invariably "Last Caress"...if only because Metallica covered it.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 17 September 2004 01:52 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, the lack of blues (and probably boogie) is the big hole in the "Stairway" one. A problem with Hendrix too. Still comes pretty close, I say.

"You SHook Me . . " is probably the most famous AC/DC song but it's kinda poppier and less blues than the rest, right?

Allman Brothers - "Whipping Post" (you can hear the R&B and country influences along with all the time changes and the big wailing chorus. And they made it 20 minutes long live.)

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Friday, 17 September 2004 01:52 (twenty-one years ago)

"You SHook Me . . " is probably the most famous AC/DC song but it's kinda poppier and less blues than the rest, right?

OTM

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 17 September 2004 01:53 (twenty-one years ago)

Rick James ("Super Freak")
Kraftwerk ("Pocket Calculator")
Gary Numan ("Cars")

― Mr. Policeman, Friday, 17 September 2004 01:54 (twenty-one years ago)

Kraftwerk ("Pocket Calculator")

Would you say that's their most famous track???

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 17 September 2004 01:55 (twenty-one years ago)

oh yeah, the blues! I guess I missed that since I'm way more into the dancey Zep that the blues stuff.

yeah "You Shook Me" is exceptionally melodic (relatively speaking). I'd probably pick "Problem Child" for my AC/DC pick.

― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 17 September 2004 01:55 (twenty-one years ago)

Spice Girls
New Kids
Take That
Bros
N Sync
Backstreet Boys
pretty much any doll guy/girl group

― Mr. Policeman, Friday, 17 September 2004 01:56 (twenty-one years ago)

"Pocket Calculator" was their first U.S. charting single. Perhaps it was other songs in other countries, but still, any other more famous Kraftwerk song would certainly sum up Kraftwerk well, too.

― Mr. Policeman, Friday, 17 September 2004 01:57 (twenty-one years ago)

Definitely yes on "Super Freak". There are a few songs on Bustin' Out that practically sound like remakes of that song.

"Livin' On a Prayer" for Bon Jovi (the narrative of the working-class couple struggling against the odds all for love, the massive pre-chorus/chorus buildup, the backing vocals, the synthy intro, the minor/major-key shift)

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Friday, 17 September 2004 01:57 (twenty-one years ago)

technically, "Super Freak" is the culmination of Bustin' Out tunes as the latter was released in 1979, whereas "Super Freak" was on Street Songs from 1981.

― Mr. Policeman, Friday, 17 September 2004 01:58 (twenty-one years ago)

"God Save the Queen" by the Sex Pistols.

Pretty much sums up right up.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 17 September 2004 01:58 (twenty-one years ago)

agh wtf I missed the part about how it has to be the most famous song. Never mind my "Problem Child" comment.

― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 17 September 2004 01:58 (twenty-one years ago)

Randy Newman?

― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 17 September 2004 01:59 (twenty-one years ago)

"Small People" lacks the complexity of other tracks but its fairly similar otherwise

― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 17 September 2004 01:59 (twenty-one years ago)

Actually, the Kraftwerk hits kind of kept me away from discovering the extended electroacoustic jams on Autobahn for a long time.

Sex Pistols for sure.

There's a GH album called Bustin' Out: The Best of Rick James that includes "Super Freak". Is there an earlier studio album with a similar name?

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Friday, 17 September 2004 02:00 (twenty-one years ago)

Also, Rick James's Throwin' Down from 1982 was a weaker replica of Street Songs essentially (although he was dressed like a medieval warrior on the cover of that one!)

― Mr. Policeman, Friday, 17 September 2004 02:00 (twenty-one years ago)

"Short People." Agh, I'm brainfarting all over the place.

― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 17 September 2004 02:00 (twenty-one years ago)

Superchunk sold me with "Slack Motherfucker," but sold me out with every other thing they done within three degrees of seperation.

― Ian Christe (Ian Christe), Friday, 17 September 2004 02:01 (twenty-one years ago)

"Ever Fallen In Love with Someone..." by the Buzzcocks

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 17 September 2004 02:01 (twenty-one years ago)

Actually, the Kraftwerk hits kind of kept me away from discovering the extended electroacoustic jams on Autobahn for a long time.

True, but after that point, that was no longer really the idea of the band, especially the material that preceded it.

― Mr. Policeman, Friday, 17 September 2004 02:02 (twenty-one years ago)

Emerson, Lake & Palmer

― jim wentworth (wench), Friday, 17 September 2004 02:09 (twenty-one years ago)

Lil Jon - "Get Low"

― Jacob (Jacob), Friday, 17 September 2004 02:14 (twenty-one years ago)

Rush - "Tom Sawyer" (possibly their most complex and virtuosic track ....

Dude. Listen to "Xanadu"!!!!

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 17 September 2004 02:18 (twenty-one years ago)

Ace of Spades does it.

― Collardio Gelatinous (collardio), Friday, 17 September 2004 02:24 (twenty-one years ago)

xpost: The TS guitar solo and all the drum rolls over changing meters put up some pretty stiff competition at least!

Yeah, one-sound bands like Motorhead, the Ramones, and Andrew WK are the no-brainers of this thread.

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Friday, 17 September 2004 02:26 (twenty-one years ago)

this is yet another thread where it would be inappropriate to mention Junior Senior.

― You've Got to Pick Up Every Stitch (tracerhand), Friday, 17 September 2004 02:27 (twenty-one years ago)

(But, anyway, it wouldn't be too hard to extrapolate "Xanadu" from "Tom Sawyer", would it?)

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Friday, 17 September 2004 02:27 (twenty-one years ago)

(But, anyway, it wouldn't be too hard to extrapolate "Xanadu" from "Tom Sawyer", would it?)

Well, the point I was making was that "Xanadu" is a good deal more complex than "Tom Sawyer."

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 17 September 2004 02:37 (twenty-one years ago)

Gary Numan ("Cars")

i kinda disagree w/ this one.

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Friday, 17 September 2004 03:15 (twenty-one years ago)

Limp Bizkit - Nookie

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Friday, 17 September 2004 04:39 (twenty-one years ago)

otm!

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 17 September 2004 04:43 (twenty-one years ago)

"children in heat"

― duke misfit, Friday, 17 September 2004 04:46 (twenty-one years ago)

ELO - no matter what you think their biggest hit is, it sounds like everything else Jeff Lynne ever did, with or without the rest of ELO.

― skreddy57 (skreddy57), Friday, 17 September 2004 05:24 (twenty-one years ago)

Pet Shop Boys.

― mottdeterre, Friday, 17 September 2004 05:25 (twenty-one years ago)

i kinda disagree w/ this one.

Why so? I thought "Cars" was a great summation of the whole aural theme of The Pleasure Principle. Sure, it may not summarize Numan's entire career (and given those later albums, would you really want it to?). But, as far as capturing Numan at his absolute best and taking the perfect snapshot of the whole Numan aesthetic, "Cars" happens to be one of the best choices.

― Mr. Policeman, Friday, 17 September 2004 05:42 (twenty-one years ago)

I can't believe we all missed this one..

The Cult! ("She Sells Sanctuary")

(actually, "She Sells" is almost too generous a famous song for the rest of the Cult's legacy)

― Mr. Policeman, Friday, 17 September 2004 05:44 (twenty-one years ago)

Weezer - any single from the debut album

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Friday, 17 September 2004 05:47 (twenty-one years ago)

archers of loaf web in front there

― jeremiah (jeremiah), Friday, 17 September 2004 07:55 (twenty-one years ago)

so wrong.

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Friday, 17 September 2004 08:07 (twenty-one years ago)

Well, obviously, RAMMS+EIN ansd "Du hast"

You get the synchronized swimming guitar thrust-o, the Depeche Mode-ian melancholia, the band's intrinsic goofiness via the cell-phone-tone synth solo, the miserable Germaness of it all via Till's lumber-tone singing, and again, the humor of a title hook that either means "you hate" ot "you have".

― ian g, Friday, 17 September 2004 18:12 (twenty-one years ago)

Pavement - "Cut Your Hair"
Bauhaus - "Bela Lugosi's Dead"

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Friday, 17 September 2004 19:15 (twenty-one years ago)

i think randy newman got on both lists

― Symplistic (shmuel), Friday, 17 September 2004 19:16 (twenty-one years ago)

INXS - "Devil Inside"

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Saturday, 18 September 2004 14:04 (twenty-one years ago)

"Cut Your Hair" is Pavement's most famous song?

― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Saturday, 18 September 2004 14:30 (twenty-one years ago)

They Might Be Giants. Duh.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Saturday, 18 September 2004 14:31 (twenty-one years ago)

"Dirty Deeds (Done Dirt Cheap)" is a strong contender for AC/DC's most famous song, and it perfectly encapsulates them: huge guitar riff, chant-along chorus, sex lyrics (but in a much more winking and clever, less crude way than under the Brian Johnson regime)...it's the paradigmatic AC/DC track.

― pdf (Phil Freeman), Saturday, 18 September 2004 15:09 (twenty-one years ago)

Nickleback.

― Wooden (Wooden), Saturday, 18 September 2004 15:12 (twenty-one years ago)

Obviously, "September Gurls" sums up Big Star pretty well.

"Cut Your Hair" is Pavement's most famous song and it sums up well. But "Rattled by the Rush" always seemed to sum them up for me better than either one of the more well-known songs they did with "Cut" in them.

I'd say "Purple Haze" is just as famous as Hendrix' take on "Watchtower."

Beach Boys' "California Girls" sums them up.

Moby Grape's most famous tune would be either "Hey Grandma" or "Omaha," both of which do it for them.

Love's "Seven and Seven Is."

Zombies' "Time of the Season."

― eddie hurt (ddduncan), Saturday, 18 September 2004 16:24 (twenty-one years ago)

Pulp - 'Common People', I guess.

I really don't think 'Cut Your Hair' is Pavement's most famous song.

― Alba (Alba), Saturday, 18 September 2004 16:28 (twenty-one years ago)

"Love Will Tear Us Apart", Joy Division. Or maybe not. The lyrical tone, certainly, sums 'em up nicely. But the keyboards and the structure? Hrmmm. I still think it works.

― frankE (frankE), Saturday, 18 September 2004 16:36 (twenty-one years ago)

prince, um, what would it be, "1999"? "when doves cry"? i think either one of them, or any of a number of other contenders, would totally give you the right idea about prince.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Sunday, 19 September 2004 07:34 (twenty-one years ago)

"Love Will Tear Us Apart" gives you no hint that Joy Division was a punk band at one point (and at least a loud guitar rock band through Unknown Pleasures)!

"Cut Your Hair" was the only Pavement song that got video rotation AFAIK.

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Sunday, 19 September 2004 13:11 (twenty-one years ago)

"Cut Your Hair" is Pavement's "She Don't Use Jelly." The fans or even semi-fans like me don't see it as significant, but there's any number of non-fans who only remember the band from hearing that song on the radio.

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Sunday, 19 September 2004 14:08 (twenty-one years ago)

This must be another US-UK difference. I don't think 'Cut Your Hair' ever made much of a daytime radio impression here.

― Alba (Alba), Sunday, 19 September 2004 14:22 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't think Time of the Season sounds anything like the rest of the songs on the album it came from. it has a much more pronounced blue-eyed soul influence.

I think the mainstream caught up with pavement more and more and I think a later single would be more well known. Shady Lane?

― Magic City (ano ano), Sunday, 19 September 2004 14:49 (twenty-one years ago)

Pet Shop Boys

For West End Girls? I don't know...

― Atnevon (Atnevon), Sunday, 19 September 2004 22:38 (twenty-one years ago)

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