I can't sleep cause my bed's on fire, don't touch me I'm a real live wire



21. Psycho Killer by Talking Heads

-Talking Heads actually beat their placement on the 80s list (#26 And She Was), which might be a little surprising since I think most peoples know them as an 80s group through and through. While I'm not ready to say PK is my fav from them, I think it was more important, as far as influence goes, in 1977 than ASW in 1985. We can also play the game of "How much french has Flava'd really learned from Duolingo?" So we have quest-ce que cest - one of my least favorite parts of the language is adding all those damn que words when they are mostly unneeded - so my final answer is ... Who is this? Or maybe what is this? And the answer is - what is it ... eh close enough. Reading some quotes about the creation of this song is pretty wild too. He wanted an Alice Cooper song sung by Randy Newman ... what?? Who thinks of that lol. And while this was about the Hitchcock movie psycho, changing from English to French to represent a killer's changing personalities, I'm sure it had a big impact on the future writing of American Psycho too.

I believe in this and it's been tested by research, he who fucks nuns will later join the church



20. Death or Glory by The Clash

-While The Clash are best known for the title track for their London Calling album, that whole thing is just banger after banger. Brand New Cadillac, Jimmy Jazz, Spanish Bombs, Lost in the Supermarket, Clampdown, Guns of Brixton, Train in Vain (aka Stand By Me) and even more ... Jeez. I'm going with Death or Glory though .. and not just because of the hilarious line I posted at the top. It just feels like a marriage between their older, more traditional punk themes and the more progressive punk sound they were striving for and would use in the 80s. And damn does it still hold up so well. Don't martyr yourself kids. Nobody is gonna care.

You don't have to turn on the red light



19. Roxanne by The Police

-Roxanne made the list which means we have avoided the darkest timeline. I'm no huge fan of Sting, after all he did try to

DUNE SPOILERS



Anyway, I came into the Police via P Diddy, then known as Puff Daddy, sampling their song Every Breath You Take for his tribute song to the newly dead Notorious BIG. Seven or eight year old Flava'd hadn't quite gotten into music yet, the only tapes (yes tapes) I owned were WWE, then WWF, theme song soundtracks. "How can one song be two songs?" I asked Poppa Flava'd ... And I don't remember what he said but he used the opportunity to place some his Police tape and voila .. Roxanne was in my life. It would be a few more years before I discovered it was actually about a prositute, and then a few more years before the big Community episode. And now, here we are again, a new reason for Roxanne to reenter my musical rotation. It just keeps coming back. You'd think this song was the one sending out an SOS...

Midnight creeps so slowly into hearts of men



18. Boogie Wonderland by Earth, Wind & Fire

-So while I had heard this song (along with their other big hits like September and Lets Groove which placed #37 on the 80s list) in a million movies, mostly by Adam Sandler, the song didn't really hit until a bit later on. That time came in ... I wanna say the late aughts or early 10s, when sports-writer Bill Simmons created his Grantland website. More specifically, he and former player Jalen Rose would do a preview of NBA season every year. And, on those preview, they would always play this song before talking about the Sacramento Kings and their star player Demarcus Cousins .. aka Boogie. I got to see Earth Wind and Fire live in concert (with Nile Rogers and Chic as the openers) shortly afterward and they ended the show with those 3 songs in a row and it was totally awesome. This is another one that just missed the cutoff date in the fall of 1979 too, which is probably why everyone thinks of them as an 80s group.

On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair



17. Hotel California by Eagles

-"I fucking hate the Eagles" - maybe not the first time I'd had heard of the band, but it did come at a time when I was willing to trust in Mr. Lebowski's taste in music over the general consensus. And also lets not forget about how much of a doofus Elaine's boyfriend looked like when he was staring ahead into blank space every time Desperado came on. And I had never made the connection between them and their spinoffs like the #25 song "Rocky Mountain Way" and "Boys of Summer", of which I loved the cover version by The Ataris. The point of all this is that once I hit my classic rock phase after high school, Hotel California was pretty much a fresh song for me and didn't have the cringe association that alot of other uber-popular songs from this era have. So I guess I have to thank the Coens not only for delivering a hell of a movie, but for saving most of Eagle's greatest hits (the highest selling album in American history) for a time when they would be much more appreciated.

Nobody gonna take my head, I got speed inside my brain



16. Highway Star by Deep Purple

-if Smoke on the Water is a song that almost every guitar player learns at the beginning, Highway Star is a song that will break most of them. Though funny enough, even though these two are debated as Deep Purple's best, neither were even the first single released off the album (Never Before.) Makes you wonder what kind of purple those record labels were smoking back then. I've quit guitar (a few times) long before making it to Highway Star (any chord that requires more than two fingers is a no-go for me ... and that's what she said), but being able to do Smoke (and Satisfaction was other one) did make me feel good about myself for a few minutes (also what she said.) So why does Highway Star win out? Well, I guess I just love me an explosive opening track (...) off a great album. Plus, not only was it on guitar hero, but Rock Band as well, so I could sing it (not a good singer either but the game still gave me 5 stars.) And every song around this time had a killer guitar solo. How many had killer organ solos? Not many, that's how many.

Never could explain just what was happening to me, just one touch of you and I'm a flame



15. Every 1's A Winner by Hot Chocolate

-I first heard this song on Ty Segall's 2018 epic Freedom's Goblin album. And honestly I was little disappointed that it was a cover at first since I loved the song so much. One good thing about cover songs though is that if you hear the new version first then both can coexist peacefully (but if you hear the original first then the cover can fuck right off.) So I was mostly grooving to the Ty Segall one at first, with a little bit of Hot Chocolate sprinkled it (did you know they also do the song I believe in miracles you Sexy Thing??) Then I watched Frances Ha during the pandemic. What a fucking fantastic use of that song! It all clicked into place and the rest is history. This song feels so perfect for the time period, the early aughts or whenever Frances came out and then again with the Ty Segall cover (who quite frankly could cover every song on this list and none would be out of place.) The riff, the words, the whole thing is timeless.

Didn't realize Boogie Wonderland's lyrics were that intense.
.
Hotel California would be high on my list.

Well yesterday was a bit of a setbeck in terms of finishing the list by tonight. Do I have 14 in me today? Probably not, but only way to know for sure is to tackle one at a time! So lets continue on, into the best of the best the 70s had to offer.

Some people call me the space cowboy, some call me the gangster of love



14. The Joker by Steve Miller Band

-Like most 90s kids, I first heard of SMB through the movie Space Jam which not only had R Kellys I Believe I Can Fly, but SMBs Fly Like An Eagle. But that didn't mean much to me at the time. I only cared about Daffy, Bugs, Lola (before they took her tits away) and Michael Jordan. Flash forward to the year 2010. Flava'd is living in a dormroom in New York City (yes, the NYC), skipping class to sit around with his friends and listen to songs like this. I wonder why our group was so fascinated by someone who is a joker, a smoker and a midnight toker? It's all a mystery (the lyrics to another song we played everyday - Fight Test by Flaming Lips.) Also, telling a girl that she was "the cutest thing that I ever did see" had the quite the effect. It was by far the coolest I've ever been and I'll always give Steve a little bit of credit for that. See you, space cowboy.

I wanna see some history, cause now I got a reasonable economy



13. Holidays In The Sun by Sex Pistols

-Here's another explosive opening song off a GOAT album. Though it is odd that they would start an album about all the things that made them upset with a song about getting away from all the things about London that made them feel that way in the first place. I'm all for it though. Maybe getting away is the only thing that lets you see things as they are. And when they return ... anarchy! So I didn't get into Sex Pistols until even further after my classic phase had begun, probably thanks to GH3 or something like that. What I do remember was this girl in high school who I kinda liked and also kinda didn't like at all, it varied from week to week. Her favorite movie was Sid and Nancy, which I downloaded for her on Kazaa. I told her that I really enjoyed the movie, but that was a lie cause it was one of the times I liked her and wanted ... Well what high school boys (and boys of all ages after high school) want. But really I thought the movie was rather trashy and it turned me off the band. Little did I know that Sid Vicious didn't really even play on the album, he was always too junked out on heroin to be relied on. Johnny Rotten is the real star. He's an amazing singer and lyricist and didn't die of an overdose. After Pistols ended very quickly (there were a few more records but they felt like posthumous albums even though most of the band was still alive), Johnny would go on to found the band Public Image LTD ... Who I don't really know all that well. Will have to fix that!

Everybody had a hard year, everybody had a good time, everybody had a wet dream, everybody saw the sunshine



12. I've Got A Feeling by The Beatles

-We say goodbye to The Beatles here at #12. Though, if were being honest, if John wasn't killed so tragically young (thanks to a guy who was later played by Jared Leto) they'd probably have done a reunion tour or ten by now. The Let It Be album was the only thing they released in the 70s, and while there are a dozen good choices from there (LIB, The Long and Winding Road, Get Back, Two Of Us, Across The Universe) I like IGAT as my choice since it has both Paul and John doing vocals on it. I think that is a good representation of this whole album. The recording of it broke the band and made them hate each together (with an assist from Yoko,) but they were still able to keep it together and make one more piece of beautiful music. The Beatles were my actual #1 of all time once I hit my classic rock phase all the way until they were finally toppled by the experience of seeing Tool live in 2019. They just have so many damn good songs. Only they, and Taylor, have over 100 tracks on my single artist playlists. If I ever get around to a 60s list, they will be a very strong contender for #1.

Weird pick for best song from that album

Yeah this one of those times where I probably should have disregarded the rules that I made up (no songs from previous Flava'd Fifties) and put Let It Be in the top 5 where it belongs. But I already wrote about that and like to honor as many songs as possible, especially from bands like The Beatles who have so many of them. Plus, it would have meant another song cut from the top ten which has been hard enough as is.

Also, good news, I don't have covid! So I can go see Guardians 3 tonight guilt free ... though I should probably go to a doctor after that to figure out why I've been so damn tired. Oh well, I guess we'll have to do a Flava'd Fifty of: Health Issues Due To Aging one day.

But if I stay here with you girl, things just couldn't be the same



11. Freebird by Lynyrd Skynyrd

-Fun fact: this was actually my Class Song for my graduation in 2006. I remember, after an assembly where they announced we'd be voting for the winner, all the cool kids walked in a line chanting "freebird! freebird! freebird!" Now, where this originted from I'm not entirely sure, but it was very trendy at the time to shout "Freebird!" in between songs at any concert, especially for local bands who couldn't play it even if they wanted to (some cool cats would also yell out "Slayer!) And I guess that carried over into Freebird being the most popular song at the time. Maybe it had something to do with The Devil's Rejects, Rob Zombie's one good film, coming out the summer before and expertly using this song in a "going out in a blaze of glory" scene at the end of the movie. Sorry for the spoilers, but I'm guessing that if anyone wanted to watch Devil's Reject they would have done it by now. Anyway, back to my final day of high school, where they played this song in between every break between classes. But they started it over every damn time and never ever got to the best part. Won't you fllllly higgggghhhhhhhh freeeebird, Yeah! *insert five minute guitar solo.*

You're the right kind of sinner to release my inner fantasy



10. Heartbreaker by Pat Benetar

-After falling just a bit short on the 80s list (#11 Anxiety though maybe it should have been Hit Me With Your Best Shot,) Pat Benetar kicks off the 70s top ten in style. I first became aware of her when Kelly Clarkson cited her as an influence on both the Breakaway and My December albums. I wish Kelly had stayed on that path, but I guess in way she did since Pat also ventured away from rock n roll into the more futuristic pop music of the 80s with songs like Love Is A Battlefield. It's crazy that this guitar driven slamma jamma was considered pop music at one time, but hey that's part of why the 70s hold up so well. Pop and rock could be one and nobody had a problem with it (nowadays popular rock has been buried by hip-hopaganda, but both genres continue to see success on their own.) And although Pat wasn't the first girl in rock n roll, I think she was the biggest trendsetter since Janis Joplin (it's crazy that Janis and Jimmy Hendrix both died in 1970 ... what would the world of rock look like if a woman and black guy had been near the top during its biggest years?) Anyway, I know Pat is opening up for Pink this year, which seems like a waste, but I'm hoping to see her in a punk-rock Riotfest type vibe where her hits will be appreciated.

See that cat? Yeah I do mean you



9. TV Eye by The Stooges

-AKA Iggy and the Stooges (though I prefer the original name better.) It's hard to find anyone talking about what this song actually means, I assumed it was comparing a girlfriend to Big Brother from 1984, but the net has taken to assume to that T.V. Eye stand for Twat Vibe Eye ... A google search of that yields nothing but porn results so I'm just gonna leave it there. So anyway, while I'd long known the name Iggy Pop, it wasn't until Ellen (now Elliot) Page spoke the words "it just doesn't compare to the raw power of Iggy and the Stooges" in the movie Juno. So I listened to them and ... it didn't really click honestly. Maybe Diablo Cody wasn't right about everything after all. Flash forward to many years after, 2021, a Guns N Roses show in Vegas where they replaced their usual cover of Black Hole Sun (which is hella depressing now) with I Wanna Be Your Dog from the Stooge's self-titled 1969 album. I listened to that record, which was great, and then moved on to their 1970 album Funhouse which is even better! TV Eye is obviously the standout, and though its not on the raw power album there's no better terms to describe it. Raw energy maybe? I dunno, but they are doing it raw, and this was before AIDS so there was nothing wrong with that. After being converted I was even able to Raw Power and realize that Juno had actually been right all along. Search and Destroy was another good choice. Just ... I mean you can hear every bit of the garage rock movement in TV Eye. And even though there are several other artists listed as "hard rock" on here, there's absolutely nothing heavier than TV Eye. This song shreds.

Well you can tell by the way I use my walk, I'm a woman's man, no time to talk



8. Stayin Alive by Bee Gees

-I hope KJ doesn't think less of me for having the top disco be performed by white dudes. But come on, there's a reason that the Bee Gees are the poster boys for disco - they were the best at it. Most people first came across this song from a movie, and I was the same ... except it was an entirely different movie. One known as Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigalo (there's a cover of it playing in the scene where he walks into the bar and meets a girl, but neither of them realize that they are both prostitutes.) Shortly after, or maybe before I can't remember, the song Night Fever popped up in the fantasy miniseries The 10th Kingdom, which I loved back then (dunno how it holds up now.) Though, I have to say, I was a little disappointed that Stayin Alive was not used in a dance sequence once I actually saw Saturday Night Fever (pretty easily the best movie soundtrack of the decade and maybe ever.) They really focus in on the walking part. More Than A Woman is probably my favorite sequence in the movie and I almost threw it on the countdown because of it. But nah, this is a songs list, not a movie scene list, and Stayin Alive shall triumph over its peers in the disco world.

I'm gonna go see Guardians now and what a perfect movie to come out while exploring 70s music. Will try to finish the list when I get home!

It would be a good time for Ego’s favorite song

I tried putting together a list and the top 10 was mostly fairly obvious songs I already put on best songs list years ago. I might do one banning them like Flava did or I could do the 90s which I don't think I've done.

I wasn't up to much of anything when I got home last night. And I'm gonna be gone for most of today, so the final bit of this list is gonna be stretched out a bit more than I would like. Apologies. I think I can get a few in before leaving though.

Guardians was so good. Not as much 70s music as you would expect though. Peter must have updated his Zune while he was on Earth in Endgame. Did not expect the likes of:

Do some digging on the 70s and you'll find some more stuff like I did!

Though a 90s one would be good too. I snubbed a lot of good songs there and it may be up to you to redeem them. #Justice4Nookie

Just get me to the airport, put me on a plane, hurry, hurry, hurry before I go insane



7. I Wanna Be Sedated by Ramones

-Most punk rockers have a mission in mind; the fight the man. To buck the system. To rage against the machine. Fuck the government and all that. Yet, four albums into their storied career, Ramones were fighting against something more common and relatable - boredom. I feel like all of us here put high value on the relief of boredom. Shit, one could argue that my whole life is designed around it. So that's why I Wanna Be Sedated wins out here, despite Ramones having a few others that are worthy. Blitzkrieg Bop especially, as influencial as it was. Plus my strongest Ramones related memory is thinking how cool Justin Long was when he sang that song in Accepted to impress Blake Lively (and who wouldn't wanna impress Blake Lively?) I guess I just feel like no longer one of the kids pulsating to the backbeat, and I very much want to be sedated.

No stop signs, speed limits, nobody's gonna slow me down



6. Highway To Hell by ACDC

-It was the Summer of 1998. Stone Cold Steve Austin was the world heavyweight champion. The Undertake was the challenger. These two were once allies against the team of Kane (the Undertaker's brother) and Mankind. Despite being enemies for their entire careers, there were rumors swirling that Undertaker and Kane were in cahoots with Vince McMahon and would screw Austin out of the world title. There was only one way to find out what would happen, and there was only one way to get there - the highway to hell. On a less fun note, this song would prove to disturbingly prophetic as ACDC's original singer, Bon Scott, would perish the next year. What a bummer, though the new singer Brian Johnson was very good too, and I even once got to see ACDC with Axel Rose as the singer and he was awesome.