Without further ado (BEWARE, I'M NOT A ROCK CRITIC):
"Alive" (Pearl Jam) a pretty mainstream pick; Vedder's voice is one of the greatest out there in rock today; goshdarn depressing.
"Backwater Blues" (Bessie Smith) the woman with the titanic voice does one of her most convincing performances
"Billie Jean" (Michael Jackson) still MJ's greatest song and his most atmospherically daring
"Bennie and the Jets" (Elton John) delicious; a relative of "Honky Cat"?
"Bohemian Rhapsody" (Queen) still a fresh and catchy hybrid epic
"Brass in Pocket" (The Pretenders) Hynde gives a very sexy performance that is simulataneously hilarious and lonely
"Car on a Hill" (Joni Mitchell) exquisitely arranged jazz-folk
"Castles Made of Sand" (Jimi Hendrix) the Hendrix that makes me cry
"The Christmas Song" (Nat King Cole) actually, I'm still not sure whose is the best version of this, the greatest Christmas song ever written
"Come as You Are" (Nirvana) down-in-the-dumps poetry
"Come On in My Kitchen" (Robert Johnson) haunting and visual
"Everytime We Say Goodbye" (Ray Charles and Betty Carter) a subtle, goregeous delivery of what I think is the greatest song Cole Porter ever wrote
"Express Yourself" (Madonna) a superbly powerful get-up-and-dance statement; other Madonna faves: "Papa Don't Preach," "Deeper and Deeper," "Skin," the destined-to-be-a-classic "Don't Tell Me"
"Father Figure" (George Michael) a pop ballad that isn't emotionally excessive
"For What It's Worth" (Buffalo Springfield) perhaps it seems quaint now, but that stinging guitar and the lyrical ache lives on
"Gloria" (Patti Smith) a salacious crescendo
"Good Golly, Miss Molly" (Little Richard) piano-pounding, soulfully screeching... and "when she hugs me and kiss me/make me ting-a-ling-a-ling" is quite a lyric.
"I Feel Love" (Donna Summer) She always sounds so distant, and the electronic Giorgio Moroder backdrop makes for a chilling coupling of cold dance music and an orgasmic, robotized voice
"I Get Around" (The Beach Boys) everlasting surf music
"I Heard It Through the Grapevine" (Gladys Knight and the Pips) I love Marvin, but Knight's voice has this incredible quality to it and sometimes I even think she rivals (can I say it?) the Queen of Soul.
"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" (U2) anthemic and yearning
"I Want to Know What Love Is" (Foreigner) a cheesy pick, I know, but that gospel choir takes this delightful pop-epic confection to great heights
"In My Life" (The Beatles) filled with the pain and beauty of nostalgia; other fave Beatles tracks: "Revolution," "Oh! Darling," "Hey Jude," "I Am the Walrus," "Ticket to Ride."
"Jailhouse Rock" (Elvis Presley) not much I can say about this one except that it still has verve and amazing energy after all these years
"Jimmy Mack" (Martha and the Vandellas) I have a tough time figuring out which is the better song: "Jimmy Mack" or the admittedly rousing "Heat Wave," two of the greatest songs to come out of Motown.
"Jumpin' Jack Flash" (The Rolling Stones) rock derivative of the blues; a great, self-pitying song that rocked and continues to rock.
"Kashmir" (Led Zeppelin) hypnotic.
"Moonlight in Vermont" (Billie Holiday) Billie gives the song the perfect atmosphere, other faves: the heartbreaking Commodore master take of "Fine and Mellow," "I've Got it Bad," "Gee Baby, Ain't I Good to You" for Verve, the Bessie cover "'Tain't Nobody's Bizness If I Do"
"Mr. Paganini" (Ella Fitzgerald) pure exhilaration; the greatest voice in the world and those bursts of jazz heaven; other faves: "Imagine My Frustration," "Blue Skies," the unforgettable scat exercise "How High the Moon?," "Something's Gotta Give"
"Nice Work If You Can Get It" (Frank Sinatra) classy ol' blue eyes sings a great Gershwin swinger; other faves: "One For My Baby," "Willow Weep for Me"
"No Woman, No Cry" (Bob Marley) the most moving and strangely soothing song by the ambassador of reggae
"Oh Pretty Woman" (Roy Orbison) a chillingly good voice and a killer bridge
"Over the Rainbow" (Judy Garland) wide-eyed and pleading
"Proud Mary" (Ike and Tina Turner) Tina's aggressive take puts the oomph in the swampy CCR classic
"Pusherman" (Curtis Mayfield) frightening and gloomy; blaxploitation with a conscience
"Respect" (Aretha Franklin) a masterpiece performance in a career of gems; other Aretha fave: her piercing begging in her cover of Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come," "Do Right Woman - Do Right Man," her profoundly sexual study of isolationism (or redemption) in "Dr. Feelgood," the melodic exorcism of "Going Down Slow," the cute and girlish "Baby, I Love You," the impeccable explosion "With Everything I Feel in Me"
"Roxanne" (The Police) scary and kickin' reggae-rock
"(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay" (Otis Redding) the loneliest song I've ever heard
"Skit-Dat-De-Dat" (Louis Armstrong) Beautiful work by the Hot Five and some heart-piercing Louis scatting; other faves: the absolutely perfect "West End Blues," "Cornet Chop Suey," the kinda-bittersweet come-on "Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love)" "Stars Fell on Alabama" (Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong) honey and concrete; one of the most extraordinary merging of voices you are likely to hear
"Summertime" (Janis Joplin) Ella's and Sarah's versions were too sweet; Billie hit the mark, but Janis takes the Gershwin-Heyward standard into the stratosphere of blues-tinged psychedlic rock with her throaty, visceral rendition
"Tangled Up in Blue" (Bob Dylan) the romance of that dirt road
"Tupelo Honey" (Van Morrison) other faves: "Caravan"
"U Got the Look" (Prince) strangely spellbinding... other faves: "When Doves Cry," "Raspberry Beret," "Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad," "Cream"
"Wake Up Little Susie" (The Everly Brothers) fascinating harmonies and lyrically interesting
"Waitress (Live)" (Tori Amos) the war between the desire for peace and the human habits of violence; a tour de force on stage
"Walkin' After Midnight" (Patsy Cline) country and blues become synonymous
"When a Man Loves a Woman" (Percy Sledge) the greatest love song ever written?
"Where Did Our Love Go" (Diana Ross and the Supremes) The Supremes have numerous classics to their credit, many of which equal this diamond in sheer timelessness...