CLASSIC ROCK TRACKS POLL: THE RESULTS

There were the CR stations that I grew up with in the early 80s, the ones that had been the original FM pioneers playing Yes and It's A Beautiful Day and Two for Tuesdays and Get the Led Out. Slowly, they started playing your Lita Ford songs and Rock You Like A Hurricane, and by the time Appetite for Destruction was released, you had Zeppelin, GNR, Motley Crue, Barracuda and Stones' Bitch playing all in one rock block. A lot of these stations dived into grunge with Soundgarden and Pearl Jam.

And then came the "new" CR stations, the ones that promised they wouldn't have any caterwauling by any Marilyn Manson or Nine Inch Pumpkins or whatever. No, dammit, here are The Doors and here are The Eagles and hey, remember The Band? We even got them too.

So playlists on CR stations can be kinda weird. You wouldn't think there'd be too much of a difference between Beatles, Stones, Who, Zeppelin, but there's going to be one on one side of the dial that'll slip Stone Temple Pilots into the rotation and another one on the other side playing Sausalito Summernights by Diesel.

Back from a quick trip to Trader Vic's. You wouldn't believe what I saw.

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

57. Warren Zevon – Werewolves of London
1007 points, 19 votes

WAA-OOOOOOOOOOHHH

Typically excellent rhythm work from Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, ace piano part, Zevon at his friendliest and shaggiest.

draw blood.

Weird, never knew that was McVie and Fleetwood!

me neither!

the "his hair was perfect" line always gets me in this song

why did Tom Cruise almost ruin it

Essential track. Better than everything below it? No, but CR would be missing something without it, surely, the shaggy world of smart guys taking dumb jokes too far in the studio. Since Nilsson doesn't trouble us here, glad to have this - and thank god, some of the jokes are well-delivered enough to still be funny on the zillionth play: "His hair was perfect."

According to Wachtel, "Werewolves of London" was "the hardest song to get down in the studio I've ever worked on."[1] However, Wachtel "laid down his solo in one take, before he'd even had a chance to partake of the bump of coke and drink he'd placed in front of him."

haha, xpost to gr8080

Had no idea about the Fleetwood Mac connection either! Though obv Zevon is totally of that whole 70s LA studio milieu. I'm usually kinda oblivious to these things, but his imprint is so clear that I remember the first time I heard Linda Ronstadt's "Poor Poor Pitiful Me," I went: that sounds like a Warren Zevon song.

"What a Fool Believes" and "Dreams" were #1 Billboard hits - I believe the first of such to appear on this list. After its run on the Top 40 stations "What a Fool Believes" had a very long run on Adult Contemporary radio, which is why I associate the song with getting my hair cut or waiting for the dentist.

― Josefa, Wednesday, July 30, 2014 10:24 AM (16 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

"Frankenstein" and "My Sharona" are the other Hot 100 chart-toppers to appear so far. I'll hold my tongue on how many are still to come.

12" mix of "what a fool believes" is so necessary http://youtu.be/sbk0YnyF2lY

I love Werewolves of London, voted for it in my Top 25. Perfect lyrics, deservedly a staple.

"His hair was perfect."

Always think of this when I hear it:

What sound does a man make who trips on a catwalk over a vat of boiling sugar in a candy factory? The answer can be heard in Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London." It sounds sort of like da!--startled and visceral, "what the fuck?!?!" compressed into a monosyllable.

Zevon's solo piano version on Learning to Flinch (his live album) is pretty good as well, though it loses some of the stomp of the original track.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WCZUBKsAzM

gr8080, these 12" mixes of CR tracks you keep providing are hitting me right in the wheel house.

"Frankenstein," that's right! Awesome to think of that crazy tune as a #1.

"Werewolves Of London" has a special place in my heart as the first song my son sang along with when it came on the radio. We can't get him to do the "awoooooo" anymore but he sings along with a lot of other songs now.

"Frankenstein" a truly great and weird song. For how iconic the opening riff is, it's actually a surprisingly small portion of the song.

I swear I hear The Band every time I go into Walgreens - just this past month, I've heard "Ophelia" and "The Shape I'm In" while waiting for my prescriptions (and I completely would have voted for "The Shape I'm In" if it had been nominated).

God, I really want to meet the person programming the drugstore listening lineup. See also Obscure Singles Heard at CVS

According to Wachtel, "Werewolves of London" was "the hardest song to get down in the studio I've ever worked on."

This was mostly Fleetwood/McVie's fault iirc. There's a section in the Zevon bio about this but unfortunately I don't have it with me at the moment to confirm, but basically they just kept finishing takes and immediately asking for another take. Everyone else in the studio thought they'd nailed it several times over but they kept insisting they could do better.

We'd like to take a moment to thank the sponsors of today's program: Heinz Baked Beans and Odorono.

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

56. The Who – I Can See For Miles
1012 points, 16 votes

:-)

Don't forget Charles Atlas--will turn you into A BEAST OF A MAN

I can't imagine what this song sounded like in 1967. Had there been anything this heavy in a mainstream rock record?

Hold your group together with Rotosound Strings!

"Sunshine of Your Love" was released about 5 months earlier, and was a bigger hit (#5), but this is way heavier.

xp

rogermexico said this about "In the Air Tonight":
changed everything. Phil Collins on LEAD DRUMS, motherfuckers.

But when I think of LEAD DRUMS I think of this song. Love it so fucking much.

just starting to get through the spotify playlist... amazing tracks surrounded by absolute shite. Pretty cool listen.

This song is about as heavy as a pack of new socks. You people are nuts.

I think of (and only voted for) '70s Who as much more CR than '60s Who. But "I Can See for Miles" was my #1 vote in the Who poll -- like World War III as a pop song.

xp

lead socks

Best guitar solo on the countdown so far.

Haha whenever I try play a song on Spotify it keeps playing Black Betty instead. It's been a great playlist so far.

Kinda think Macca missed the point when he tried "to beat" this one at its own game with Helter Skelter.

rogermexico said this about "In the Air Tonight":
/changed everything. Phil Collins on LEAD DRUMS, motherfuckers./

But when I think of LEAD DRUMS I think of this song. Love it so fucking much.
--cwkiii

Lol. Fair.

The thing about Moon is, can you call it leading if you just run as fast as you can in every direction at once?

It's true tho that with the Who it's often Townshend holding it down while Ox goes on excursions and Moon goes to distant galaxies and back.

i like the who songs that have turned up so far but imo they are the most overrated band of all time, even more than the doors

I'm gonna press play and step outside for a smoke...I'm recovering from a sax addiction and this song is what we call a 'trigger.'

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

55. Gerry Rafferty – Baker Street
1018 points, 15 votes

now this is my childhood: road trips, interstate, parents hitting thirty.

It's true tho that with the Who it's often Townshend holding it down while Ox goes on excursions and Moon goes to distant galaxies and back.

Yeah, they just completely ignored the traditional roles of their respective instruments. They're so rarely (and/or unconvincingly) imitated because it's so difficult to get a handle on what the fuck they were doing.

I'm really familiar with the song but I don't think I hear this on CRR that much tbh.

Baker Street rules

"Baker Street" that is. "I Can See for Miles" was top 20 for me.
xpost

Best guitar solo on the countdown so far.

You accidentally posted this claim one track too early.

I always thought it was a saxophone.

The sax takes all the glory, but the guitar solo in this song is actually amazing.

The photograph choices/graphics for this poll are so consistently awesome I'm starting to take them for granted but this one is amazing.

Love this song, too, although I didn't vote for it because even by my loose, AM Gold loving standards I wouldn't call it classic rock. That's okay though, because that pic is amazing.

i was at union pool in williamsburg some time in late 06/early 07 and as the lights were coming up at the end of the nite, the DJ ended his up-till-that-point tastefully selected postpunk/disco-not-disco/new-wave-centric set with baker street and it was a total "is this ironic/i dont even know anymore" moment for me, for our generation, for mankind