Talkin’ ‘bout my generation’s best music

ALBANY — For music lovers, the task would seemingly be an easy one: Simply name your Top 25 favorite songs of all-time.

But as our generations of participants, those both still wet behind the ears and long of tooth — and everyone in between — found, maybe it’s not so simple after all. In fact, young sports writer Nolan Imsande, who is 24, may have spoken for the other participants when he called the assignment “the toughest thing I’ve ever had to do.”

Trust me, I know where Imsande’s coming from. A few years back, I got the bright idea to name my Top 100 songs of all-time for this publication. After fretting over choice after choice, knowing I couldn’t give a true listing of how I felt about the music I loved if I left certain songs out, I decided to expand my list to a Top 200. Then a Top 300.

Finally, I settled on a Top 500 and went to work. After hours and hours and days and days of listing, adjusting and looking over my old album collection, I finally completed my list of 500. Unfortunately for me, I’d asked readers to send me their Top 10 lists, and as they started coming in, I realized that there was song after song after song that I’d forgotten.

So I dug out some of my reference books, looked deeper in my album stash, and two weeks later came up with a “Forgotten 500,” or 500 more songs that I loved that weren’t on the initial list. So that was 1,000.

And every day I’d remember another … and another … and another.

Initially, I planned to get with writing buddy and fellow music fanatic Brad McEwen and we’d do the old Butch and Sundance routine and come up with our generational Top 25s. But upon deeper reflection, I decided this was a task better suited for multiple generations, so I called on McEwen, who’s 39, Insande, my buddy — and this publication’s Old Rocker — Barry Levine, who quit counting years decades ago when the numbers got too high, and Lee County High School senior Rosemary Scott, an 18-year-old who’d proven herself quite an accomplished writer, despite her youth, during a summer internship with The Herald.

Then I encountered Tommy Fletcher, a music man in his own right who told me I was too dumb to know good music because I’d mentioned on various occasions that I considered Eminem one of the best artists of all-time and admitted that I considered Kanye West one of today’s most talented artists. I told Fletcher, 50, to come up with his own list, and he quickly obliged.

A chance conversation with another Herald reader and music fan — Jimmy Rizzo, a 62-year-old who has seen maybe every significant musical act ever, including pre-“Dark Side of the Moon” Pink Floyd — gave me a representative member of the Baby Boom generation, and my lineup was set.

Here, then, generations of favorite music. (If any of you have nothing better to do and want to send your own lists, we’ll address this issue again at another time. Oh, and by the way, my No. 1 all-time is still “Black” by Pearl Jam.)

BARRY LEVINE, 70: This is probably a smattering of the great artists of the pre-British Invasion Era. Great artists and great songs that will live forever.

1. Up On The Roof — The Drifters

2. Papa Was a Rolling Stone — The Temptations

3. Can I Get A Witness — Marvin Gaye

4. Be My Baby — The Ronettes

5. Little Girl of Mine — The Cleftones

6. That’s Why — Jackie Wilson

7. Tears on My Pillow — Little Anthony & The Imperials

8. Alley-Oop — The Hollywood Argyles

9. Bye, Bye Love — The Everly Brothers

10. In The Ghetto — Elvis Presley

11. Unchained Melody — The Righteous Brothers

12. Breathless — Jerry Lee Lewis

13. Can’t Help Myself — The Four Tops

14. Shout — The Isley Brothers

15. Runaround Sue — Dion

16. The Twist — Chubby Checker

17. Hound Dog — Elvis Presley

18. If I Had a Hammer — Peter Paul & Mary

19. Mickey’s Monkey — The Miracles

20. The Sound of Silence — Simon & Garfunkel

21. There Goes My Baby — The Drifters

22. I Wish It Would Rain — The Temptations

23. You Better Know It — Jackie Wilson

24. Walk Like a Man — The Four Seasons

25. Sherry — The Four Seasons

JIMMY RIZZO, 62: For all you rockin’ metal fans, here it is. In no particular order, here are 25 of my favorite foot-stompin’ songs. Some are very obscure, and many readers will have never heard of the band at all. The first five were the hardest. (An occasional comment is good.)

1. Mississippi Queen — Mountain (the heaviest early-’70s song that cannot be played loud enough)

2. Manic Depression — Jimi Hendrix (again, as loud as possible … remember this song was recorded in 1967)

3. Good Times, Bad Times — Led Zeppelin

4. Eruption — Van Halen (Eddie THE MAN Van Halen and his guitar solo masterwork)

5. Star-Spangled Banner — Jimi Hendrix (at Woodstock)

6. When the Levee Breaks — Led Zeppelin

7. Spoonful — Cream (live)

8. Camel’s Nite Out — Eric Johnson (live)

9. Who Knows — Jimi Hendrix (live)

10. Machine Gun — Jimi Hendrix (live)

11. Traintime — Cream (live)

12. Atomic Punk — Van Halen

13. Suzie Q — CCR

14. Overture (from Tommy) — The Who

15. Red House — Jimi Hendrix

16. Purple Haze — Jimi Hendrix

17. Hey, Joe — Jimi Hendrix

18. VooDoo Chile (Slight Return) — Jimi Hendrix

19. Foxy Lady — Jimi Hendrix

20. Wild Thing — Jimi Hendrix

21. My Generation — The Who

(Nos. 21-25 all come from The Who’s “Live at Leeds,” the best live rock album of all time. Nothing comes close.)

TOMMY FLETCHER, 50: Songs that will make you sit in the car and be late for work.

1. Sing Me Back Home — Merle Haggard

2. American Band — Grand Funk Railroad

3. Sweet Home Alabama — Lynyrd Skynyrd

4. Poncho and Lefty — Willie Nelson

5. Sunday Morning Coming Down — Johnny Cash

6. Bad Company — Bad Company

7. California Dreaming — Mamas and Papas

8. I Drink Alone — George Thorogood & the Destroyers

9. Red Barchetta — Rush

10. Simply Irresistable — Robert Palmer

11. (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay — Otis Redding

12. Come Monday — Jimmy Buffet

13. Radar Love — Golden Earring

14. ‘Bama Breeze — Jimmy Buffet

15. Sundown — Gordon Lightfoot

16. Back in Black — AC/DC

17. Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress — The Hollies

18. Folsom Prison Blues — Johnny Cash

19. Convoy — C. W. McCall

20. Take This Job and Shove It — Johnny Paycheck

21. Down in Mexico — The Coasters

22. Ramblin’, Gamblin’ Man — Bob Seger

23. Martian Boogie — Brownsville Station

24. Old Violin — Johnny Paycheck

25. Play That Funky Music — Wild Cherry

BRAD MCEWEN, 39: I was recently asked to develop a list of what I think are the 25 best songs ever written. Naturally, being a student of music history, I could no doubt put together a scholarly list of 25 of the most influential and important songs in history.

However, seeing as how there’ve been dozens of such lists published in countless magazines and on dozens more websites, I thought it might be fun to come up with a list of my 25 favorites songs.

Well, it certainly was fun, but it proved to be a rather daunting task indeed. There are so many wonderful songs floating around the ether, it would have taken me weeks, perhaps months, to formulate such a list and even then it probably wouldn’t be complete.

So instead, what you get is a list of songs that have been on my mind for some reason or other. It could be I’ve heard them recently or that they are simply songs that have taken on new life as they’ve become favorites for my children, meaning that I hear them a lot.

Regardless of which category they fall into, my hope is that you take the time to listen to each one of them for no other reason than to hear a great song. And isn’t that what it’s all about? Here they are in no particular order, other than No. 1, which is the best song ever. I promise.

1. Stairway to Heaven — Led Zeppelin

2. Disposition/Reflection — Tool

3. You Get What You Give — The Young Radicals

4. Heebie Jeebies — Little Richard

5. Jesus Christ Pose — Soundgarden

6. Rearview Mirror — Pearl Jam

7. Float On — Modest Mouse

8. BoB — Outkast

9. Rhapsody in Blue — George Gershwin

10. Since I’ve Been Loving You (You really should listen to the Song the Remains the Same version)— Led Zeppelin

11. Decoration Day — Drive By Truckers

12. …And Justice for All — Metallica

13. Pushit — Tool

14. Careful With That Axe, Eugene — Pink Floyd

15. Holding Back the Years — Simply Red

16. For Whom the Bell Tolls — Metallica

17. I’ve Just Seen a Face — The Beatles

18. Little Egypt — The Coasters

19. You Never Give Me Your Money/Sun King/Mean Mr. Mustard/Polythene Pam/She Came In Through the Bathroom Window/Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End (It’s a bunch of songs that really need to be heard together)— The Beatles

20. Wet Sand — Red Hot Chili Peppers

21. Shine on You Crazy Diamond — Pink Floyd

22. Trippin’ on a Hole in a Paper Heart — Stone Temple Pilots

23. Regular John — Queens of the Stone Age

24. Don’t Ask Me Why — Billy Joel

25. Pyro — Kings of Leon

NOLAN INSANDE, 24: Hardest task I’ve ever had, but here it is.

1. Wish You Were Here — Pink Floyd

2. The Weight — The Band

3. Hallelujah — Jeff Buckley

4. Miss You — The Rolling Stones

5. Cover Me Up — Jason Isbell

6. Crazy Train — Ozzy Osbourne

7. Lose Yourself — Eminem

8. All Along the Watchtower — Jimi Hendrix

9. Best of You — Foo Fighters

10. Everlong — Foo Fighters

11. November Rain — Guns N’ Roses

12. Atlantic City — The Band

13. In Color — Jamey Johnson

14. Hallelujah — Ryan Bingham

15. Simple Man — Lynyrd Skynyrd

16. Walk All Over You — AC/DC

17. Wild Side — Motley Crue

18. Babe, I’m Gonna Leave You — Led Zeppelin

19. Just Breathe — Pearl Jam

20. What I Got — Sublime

21. Mary Jane’s Last Dance — Tom Petty

22. Thugz Mansion — Tupac

23. Landslide — Fleetwood Mac

24. Hurt — Johnny Cash

25. Under the Bridge — Red Hot Chili Peppers

ROSEMARY SCOTT, 18: It’s February 2016, and the average millennial is probably on his/her/their/prefer-not-to-specify iPhone, scrolling through Twitter with headphones in, listening to a playlist that is so unique and so hip. Walk through the halls of any high school, and hundreds of teenagers will be seen with headphones in and heads down. It is perhaps because of this uniformity that teens find such comfort in the uniqueness of content on said phones — everyone wants to think that they’re different and yet still the same, and the word “basic” is quite possibly the most insulting descriptor today. Young people seem to find their independence and relate to one another through their different tastes in music.

With this information in mind, it is impossible not to wonder what, exactly, is in those iTunes libraries that is so influential. It is this curiosity that resulted in the list below: a compilation of 25 songs that represents the music taste of the average millennial. Knowing what you now know about the importance of music to the average teen’s fragile self-image, this list is the key to understanding those who don’t even understand themselves. You’re welcome.

1. Pillow Talk – Zayn

2. Alright – Kendrick Lamar

3. Summer Sixteen – Drake

4. Hands to Myself – Selena Gomez

5. Formation – Beyonce

6. Come a Little Closer – Cage the Elephant

7. Drive – Halsey

8. On My Mind – Ellie Goulding

9. Borders – MIA

10. To Be Alone – Hozier

11. Every Day Is Like Sunday – Morrissey

12. Feelin’ Myself – Nicki Minaj

13. High by the Beach – Lana Del Ray

14. One for the Road – Arctic Monkeys

15. A Tale of Two Citiez – J Cole

16. Ultralight Beam – Kanye

17. Acquainted — The Weeknd

18. Pursuit of Happiness – Kid Cudi

19. Hey Ya – Outkast

20. Day Tripper – The Beatles

21. Come Thru – Drake

22. Dizzy – Title Fight

23. Heroes – David Bowie

24. Happy – Marina and the Diamonds

25. Georgia – Vance Joy.

Email columnist Carlton Fletcher at [email protected]. Follow @ABH_Fletcher on Twitter.