That's Entertainment - Rolling Stone and other best of lists

I'll cop to something right here and now - I love lists, especially when it comes to music. There is something about them that makes me want to download and experience the music involved, whether they be super official or on my friend's blogs. In fact, if you're looking for some good indie music lists, I recommend checking out Cousin Brandon's Mr. Hipster Blog (he also loves to talk about LOST), or 500 Rad Records, run by my friends RM Cresser and Pat Aguiar.

My taste generally runs a lot simpler than theirs - I go for cheesy power chords, melodies and just flat out heavy noise. I also like a ton of bad music that would be banned by anyone with a modicum of taste, like Limp Bizkit, Ke$ha, Paramore and The All-American Rejects. As a result, I've always been a big fan of the various lists done by Rolling Stone, since they generally contour to the generally margins of my acceptable taste.

The only place I generally don't overlap with them tends to be the artists documented as Jann Wenner's pet favorites from the 1960s and 1970s. In fact, I think a lot of the music from that generation tends to be overrated and beloved because of the inebriated nature of the listeners.

Regardless, I took a spin with their list of the 500 greatest songs as of December 2004, and found plenty of gems I had never heard before. For example, the title of this entry and the video linked at the top is "That's Entertainment" by The Jam, a solid British band. Other songs I "discovered" or remembered to get my hands on included:

"While My Guitar Gently Weeps" by The Beatles
"Maggie May" by Rod Stewart
"I've Been Loving You Too Long" by Otis Redding
"Anarchy in the U.K." and "God Save The Queen" by The Sex Pistols
"Bring the Noise" by Public Enemy
"Higher and Higher" by Jackie Wilson
"Alison" by Elvis Costello
"Complete Control" by The Clash
"I'm Waiting For The Man" by The Velvet Underground