Late in 2004 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. By last summer I reached 499 — all acquired through perfectly legal means I hasten to add. Most are directly from CD; others are from iTunes. The 500th song, the one I still need — “I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll,” by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts (#484) isn’t available as a single track and, though I have done it before, I refuse to buy a whole CD for that one tune.
Now I have a new list. Well actually, an older list, but newly in my sights. It’s the 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll. This is the list put together in 1995 by the curators of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame of what they considered the “most influential” songs. It’s actually a much more interesting list than the Rolling Stone 500, though of course there are many, many tunes that are on both lists. The 500 That Shaped has seven selections recorded in the 1920s and ten from the 1930s.
I’m closing on 400 with this newest, shall we say, obsessive-compulsive activity. As I look down the list to the songs I need to find, there’s one that stares back at me — “I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll,” by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.