CLASSIC ROCK TRACKS POLL: THE RESULTS

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

(the dj was not dan selzer tho iirc he had played in the other room at UP earlier that nite, irony-free)

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

― °ㅇ๐ْ ° (gr8080), Wednesday, July 30, 2014 11:43 AM (23 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Totally disagree, i would argue they are underrated.

oh fuck baker street

what is it that makes it such an effective time machine of a song

the lyrics are kinda haunting & sad, ugh i love it so much

There are always going to be bands a certain segment of people are fucking crazy over that I really don't get, and The Who is one of those bands for me. I like some songs just fine, but they're a band I can largely take or leave and have no attachment to.

also need to post this Rocket From The Crypt cover one of their only releases in a decade

these days I may love "Right Down the Line" more but "Baker Street" is all time.

Oh shit, another sax solo. I'm gonna go call my sponsor.

http://i.imgur.com/ZoL6yxm.jpg

54. Bruce Springsteen – Born To Run
1033 points, 18 votes

carl-- peep the uncropped photo for some bonus context

BROOOOCE

For reasons that make no sense even to me, Gerry Rafferty is simply awful, but I'd be delighted to listen to some Al Stewart.

"Baker Street" is awesome - totally forgot to vote for it but it's super solid.

"I Can See For Miles" I do like, moreso when it's playing than when I'm thinking about and can just hear the chorus. This and "White Rabbit" must be the chronologically earliest songs to chart so far, yes? For me it's just barely past the limits that define "60s rock" versus "classic rock" - the opening menace parade is very CR, as are the trippy fire-alarm guitar notes on the chorus. But it's a little too..airy? Too much space? Drums mixed too low and vocals too high? The recording feels "cleaner" than the song itself is.

"Born To Run"...I should try harder to like this, I guess. Get what it's going for, appreciate it and all, but it's always been more SNOOOOOOZE than BROOOOOCE for me.

P. sure this is the only 'heartland' song I voted for. It's great imo.

Today's run is slightly disappointing because it means that some of the bands who only have the one shot at CRR fame are more likely to get shut out in favor of bands we typically talk about all the time (too often, even?).

h8 Baker Street. Though I've just realised I'm going to be on the actual Baker Street on Friday as our top twenty hits up, I should mark it somehow.

I've been trying to like Springsteen for my entire life, but man find this dude's dreary working man schtick to be such a drag.

back to THE WHO for one minute!

the who are THE QUINTESSENCE of classic rock radio for me. when i was a little kid, like ages 6-12 or so, i can think of numerous examples (as I'm sure we all can) of when i would hear a song, try to figure out who was playing it and over and over again it was THE WHO. my ballot started off with every who song and i had to cut some but they appealed to me in basically every single way and i totally got into them via no other manner than classic rock radio. i got attached to them in a way that i did not get with zep, floyd, lots of others.

long live the who

OTMFM

Didn't vote for Born to Run, but voted for other Springsteen songs I like more. The opening lines are still classic.

Is/was there a radio format at least somewhat focused on '70s AM gold? I don't remember hearing some of this stuff (like "Baker Street") on CR radio but it also seems like it would be out of place on oldies stations. I'm probably too young to have been exposed to most of it at the time it came out, but I swear I've heard that stuff a lot, and way before I started my own AM gold deep digging.

time-life is still selling their 70s sampler via informercial

the who have a similar appeal for me as the beatles - four incredibly distinct personalities all of whom are constantly pushing beyond the limits of their talents, endlessly inventing like mad scientists... and so full of joy for music that they almost burst through the speakers

like i can't picture hearing the Who & not feeling that buzz of electricity that comes off the four of them

re: Born To Run, the whole instrumental section culminating with him counting off that last verse and then "highway's jammed with broken heroes on a last chance power drive" is such an emotional high for me

also, "I Can See For Miles" was my sole Who pick

give the saxophonist some! shoutout to raphael ravenscroft ("baker street") and clarence clemons ("born to run").

woops - infomercial
donny osmond is the talking head and it's full of garbage

VG otm
beyond magnetic, like combustion

way to go saxmen!

I'm out at lunch, but I just remembered laughter and decided to come back and post this:

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

53. Led Zeppelin – Stairway To Heaven
1040 points, 14 votes, 2 first place votes

I didn't think I knew what "Baker Street" was, but I pulled up the video and realized its that horn song I thought was by Chuck Manione or Kenny G

FM, and AOR didn't just displace AM overnight. AM radio itself was still going strong through most of the 70s. As a kid in the 70s, I don't recall Baker Street particularly on FM, but I definitely recall stuff like 10cc The Things We Do For Love on AM.

Wow! The (arguably) most CR song of all time at 53!

looooooool

Two first placers, keeping in the spirit of the poll.

Looking at most CR station polls, choosing anything but Stairway is objectively wrong.

I didn't vote for it, so I'm wrong I guess.

Love love love Zep (occasionally think they might be my favorite band ever), okay with "Stairway" although I almost always skip it (which is the only way I can stay okay with it after all of the overexposure). But this is pretty much the cornerstone of CR radio, yeah?

Stairway was a tough one for me to place. Probably should have went higher but it settled in to number 30 for me.