Late last year Rolling Stone released its list of the 500 Greatest Songs — “the greatest rock & roll songs of all time, chosen by a five-star jury of singers, musicians, producers, industry figures, critics and, of course, songwriters.” While the 500 is far from satisfactory in many ways, being obsessive NewMexiKen began to see how many of the 500 I had, then how many more I could acquire.
As of today it’s 499 — all acquired through perfectly legal means I hasten to add. Most are directly from CD; others are from iTunes. Among the most difficult was “96 Tears” (#210), which only recently became available on CD for the very first time (and at iTunes). Today’s addition was Eddie Cochran’s “C’mon Everybody” (#403). Cochran’s greatest hits compilation was not the first CD I’ve bought just to get one tune. Though Cochran has two tunes on the 500, I had a copy of “Summertime Blues” (#73).
And the 500th song, the one I still need — “I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll,” by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts (#484).