Several months ago I wrote a post on the subject of Guilty Pleasure Songs, the songs you might be slightly embarrassed to admit to liking. Well, today let's revisit the subject to come up with another list of songs. But let's change it up a bit: This new list would not open you up to the laughter of friends like your previous Guilty Pleasure Songs might -- because the 2nd list will comprise songs that many critics agree, are well crafted songs. Just for fun let's now come up with a list of songs we never, ever grow tired of listening to. So the guilty pleasure element of my new list of songs (below) is this: Even though they have been around for a few years, I can still listen to them a sickening number of times. I love listening to my list of songs, even though I have heard each and every song over and over and over again. Someone else may think it obsessive, but I get the same pleasure out of playing them one more time. ♬♪♪♫♪♪
Listing only one song per artist is the challenge. In many cases I love an entire album. I could easily list 3 songs by Jimi Hendix alone; but for my Guilty Pleasure List, I will only list one of his, or any other artist's songs. Also, I will leave off early iconic rock and rollers, since any one of the early artists, such as The Everly Brothers, could make up my entire list. And I'm not including recent songs, like Somebody That I Used To Know (by Gotye) or Crazy (CeLo Green) or Blue Jeans (Laura Del Rey) or Telephone (Lady Gaga) since without the test of time, who knows if I'll grow tired of them. So, here is my list in no particular order:
Best Loved Pop Songs (a/k/a, songs I'm not ashamed to play 10,000 times, or more):
1. Paper In Fire - John Mellencamp
2. Caribbean Queen - Billy Ocean
3. Father Figure - George Michael
4. Ode To Billy Joe - Bobbie Gentry (here)
5. It's Raining Men - Weather Girls
6. Billy Jean - Michael Jackson
7. Super Freak - Rick James: RJ really, really likes his groupies and pays tribute.
8. Smoke On The Water - Deep Purple
9. House of the Raising Sun - The Animals
10. Heartbreaker - Rolling Stones: I love the Mick Taylor period of the band the best.
11. Aqualung - Jethro Tull
12. Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd
13. Purple Haze - Jimi Hendrix
14. Freebird - Lynyrd Skynyrd
15. Stairway To Heaven - Led Zeppelin: There's a good reason radio stations play this classic to death.
16. Time Of The Season - The Zombies
17. Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress - The Hollies: Very underestimated band and lead singer, Alan Clarke. I like so many of their songs, I keep switching my selection.
18. Behind Blue Eyes - The Who
19. Born To Be Wild - Steppenwolf: Everybody knows this ultimate biker song. I like it even though I will never ride a bike on a highway for fear of becoming a human missile if in an accident.
20. Layla - Derek And The Dominoes: Eric Clapton and Duane Allman playing blues rock is bliss.
21. Sharp Dressed Man - ZZ Top: Billy Gibbons is an underrated guitarist, who is still very much alive. Click here.
22. Put A Little Love In Your Heart - Jackie DeShannon: I know you're tapping a toe just thinking of how the tune goes.
24. I Heard It Through The Grapewine - Marvin Gaye: The more paranoid, the better, example here.
25. Alone - Heart
26. Come As You Are - Nirvana
27. All Right Now - Free
28. Iron Man - Black Sabbath: About a superhero gone wrong. Male cousins, thus the influence.
29. Don't Fear The Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult
30. Black Magic Woman - Santana
After you move past the tabloid stories, what you have is a sophisticated songwriter and a gorgeous vocalist. When George Michael is feeling a song, few other singers can touch him. Father Figure was a US #1 hit in 1988, but I love this more mature rendition. For another lovely one, click here. GM has several fine albums after Faith.
Which songs can you listen to 10,000 times?
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