130. John Coltrane: "My Favorite Things"(Oscar Hammerstein II/Richard Rodgers)
1960
Chart info: U.S. (N/A), UK (N/A)
Available on My Favorite Things
John Coltrane never stopped finding new things in this song. By Live in Japan it was going on for an hour with blistering solos that could peel paint. But this first take is delicate and lyrical, soft but never frail. And the key change after the chorus is among the most joyous sounds in recorded music. --Mark Richardson
129. Harry Nilsson: "Everybody's Talkin'"
(Fred Neil)
1968
Chart info: U.S. (#6), UK (#23)
Available on Aerial Ballet
It's still shocking to me that Nilsson didn't write the harrowing "Everybody's Talkin'". A notoriously conflicted guy, Nilsson recorded the Fred Neil song for his 1968 album Aerial Ballet, but it didn't blow until it became the theme for the 1969 film Midnight Cowboy. It remains one of the truest recordings of emotional distress ever recorded. Too bad Forrest Gump screwed it up for everyone. --Sean Fennessey
128. Buffalo Springfield: "For What It's Worth"
(Stephen Stills)
1967
Chart info: U.S. (#7), UK (N/A)
Available on Retrospective: The Best of Buffalo Springfield
Originally a Stephen Stills track about a club closing in West Hollywood, "For What It's Worth"-- like Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind"-- ended up more symbol than song. Neil Young's insistent, single-note echoes are the sound of a conflict begun; the sides are forgotten-- only the flavor of dissatisfaction and dissent remains. --Zach Baron
127. George Jones: "She Thinks I Still Care"
(Steve Duffy/Dickey Lee Lipscomb)
1962
Chart info: U.S. (N/A), UK (N/A)
Available on The Best of George Jones (1955-1967)
Elvis Presley and the Flying Burrito Brothers have recorded this masterpiece of self-delusion, but it forever belongs to Jones. Not only is he able to wring out every drop of sad-sack pathos but he's able to do so with enough natural charisma for listeners to fully sympathize with the song's vaguely creepy proto-stalker narrator. --Matthew Murphy
126. Led Zeppelin: "What Is and What Should Never Be"
(Jimmy Page/Robert Plant)
1969
Chart info: U.S. (N/A), UK (N/A)
Available on Led Zeppelin II
Skip the circular medieval hippie-isms, the coital dynamics, the pinging flytrap slide solo, and Plant's underwater sound effects for a moment. Skip to the 3:33 mark, right when it seems about to disembark. At that exact point, just try not to flail off Page's staccato sucker punch. --Ryan Dombal
125. Miles Davis: "Shhh/Peaceful"
(Miles Davis)
1969
Chart info: U.S. (N/A), UK (N/A)
Available on In a Silent Way
From Davis' cosmic In a Silent Way, "Shhh/Peaceful" forecast a time when only the blur of motion and pulsating waves of rhythm could describe what was happening outside one's window (or through one's monitor). Musically, it's colored with blue ambience and the electric ghosts of drone. But is it jazz? Nobody cares. --Dominique Leone
124. The Velvet Underground: "Venus in Furs"
(Lou Reed)
1967
Chart info: U.S. (N/A), UK (N/A)
Available on The Velvet Underground & Nico
John Cale's screechy viola buzzes like a beeline through trebled guitars and Maureen Tucker's slow-plod drums. Lou Reed's lyrics reference Leopold von Sacher-Masoch's 19th century novel, Venus in Furs, in language and imagery that matches (and then laps) that book's late-romanticism: "Whiplash girl child in the dark/ Clubs and bells, your servant, don't forsake him/ Strike, dear mistress, and cure his heart." The sound is lusciously decadent. The march itself feels so perversely languorous-- a parade for fur-wearing women and those who desire to submit to them. --Brandon Stosuy
123. The Supremes: "I Hear a Symphony"
(Lamont Dozier/Brian Holland/Eddie Holland)
1965
Chart info: U.S. (#1), UK (#39)
Available on The Ultimate Collection
You can't blame Holland-Dozier-Holland if this sounds like "Where Did Our Love Go?"-- after a rare lackluster performance by a Supremes' single, Berry Gordy released an inter-Motown memo telling his staff that this group will release nothing less than #1 singles. In response, one of the greatest songwriting teams in American history wrote a soaring anthem that encapsulated the greatness of their entire body of work within one perfect three-minute single that, naturally, reached the top of the charts. --David Raposa
122. Patsy Cline: "I Fall to Pieces"
(Hank Cochran/Harlan Howard)
1961
Chart info: U.S. (#12), UK (N/A)
Available on 12 Greatest Hits
Patsy Cline had a "one of the guys" reputation-- she supposedly could drink, cuss, and fight with the best of them. You'd never know it from this weepy pop-country gem. Of strong personal significance for Cline, "I Fall to Pieces" allowed her to break through on her own terms; the walking bass, dry snare, and vocal harmonies were the perfect backdrop for a booming voice that was best heard on heartbreakers. --Cory D. Byrom
121. Glen Campbell: "Wichita Lineman"
(Jimmy Webb)
1968
Chart info: U.S. (#3), UK (#7)
Available on The Glen Campbell Collection (1962-1989): Gentle on My Mind
Campbell's 1968 hit, penned by Jimmy Webb, helped define his career with its slick production and strong melody. The underlying sadness in his smooth vocals was pure country, but the sweeping strings and sparkling production were a fresh pop addition. --Cory D. Byrom
120. ? and the Mysterians: "96 Tears"(Rudy Martinez)
1966
Chart info: U.S. (#1), UK (N/A)
Available on Cameo Parkway 1957-1967
On the smartest/dumbest two-note Farfisa riff in history, ? and the Mysterians rode into history. "96 Tears" went to No. 1 at a time when a couple of shifty looking guys from Saginaw, Mich., with a shaky grasp on rock'n'roll could do such a thing. I read somewhere, possibly apocryphally, that once at a Suicide show before they performed "96 Tears", Alan Vega screamed "your national anthem, whether you know it or not!" Works for me. --Jess Harvell
119. Silver Apples: "Oscillations"
(Simeon/Warren Stanley)
1968
Chart info: U.S. (N/A), UK (N/A)
Available on Silver Apples
Where Morton Subotnick's "Silver Apples of the Moon" congealed, the Silver Apples' shiny electro-acoustic baubles actively grooved. Their penchant for quivering electronics-- and the self-conscious content of their lyrics, paying tribute to same-- laid the groundwork for Krautrock (not to mention American Tapes) with a dazzling, not-quite-three minutes of tribal drumming, gamelan timbres, folky modal harmonies, train whistles-- and of course those pesky waveforms, oscillating wildly. --Philip Sherburne
118. The Bobby Fuller Four: "I Fought the Law"
(Sonny Curtis)
1966
Chart info: U.S. (#9), UK (#33)
Available on The Best of the Bobby Fuller Four
Bobby Fuller sits in the prison yard with not a hair or a note out of place, and his guitar shines like the sparks off the bullet that ended his life as a free man. As cool a killer as any in rockabilly, he makes the sing-along confession of the title iconic in a song that's fast, hostile and, doomed-- just as Fuller's own legend was sealed when he was found dead at the height of his stardom, in a suicide that's still believed to be murder. --Chris Dahlen
117. Ben E. King: "Stand By Me"
(Ben E. King/Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller)
1961
Chart info: U.S. (#4), UK (#27)
Available on The Very Best of Ben E. King
I always thought this song was longer. King's telling us that he can endure the end of the world if he has the love of a good woman. But with that steadfast bassline behind him, he doesn't sound like he needs help-- just that he's looking for a more perfect union, the kind of love that makes us more than just men and women. You hear what that sounds like in the strings, which are almost too beautiful-- and stop right before they get mushy. --Chris Dahlen
116. Jefferson Airplane: "White Rabbit"
(Grace Slick)
1967
Chart info: U.S. (#8), UK (N/A)
Available on Surrealistic Pillow
Don't pay attention to the lyrics. Just don't. Pay attention to the snaking guitar line, the bolero beat, and Grace Slick's tremulous voice. And even if you hate hippies as much as I do, pay attention to the closing crescendo. It slays everything in its path: hippies, punks, yuppies, metalheads, even Jefferson Starship. --Amy Phillips
115. The Kinks: "Victoria"
(Ray Davies)
1969
Chart info: U.S. (N/A), UK (#33)
Available on Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)
With "Victoria", Ray Davies turns the social critique that always lurks in his songcraft to take on, well, the history of the British Empire-- in under four minutes. And as the song moves from wistfully nostalgic verses to soaring, patriotic choruses, he pretty much nails it. God save the Kinks. --John Motley
114. Nancy Sinatra: "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'"
(Lee Hazlewood)
1966
Chart info: U.S. (#1), UK (#1)
Available on Boots
The descending bassline that opens the song feels like a playground taunt, and so does everything else: Sinatra's blithe and flirty delivery, the skeletal tambourines, even the glorious, stomping horn riff that bursts into the song in its final 20 seconds. "Boots" is maybe the finest bitchy kiss-off in pop history. Take notes. --Tom Breihan
113. The Easybeats: "Friday on My Mind"
(Henry Vanda/George Young)
1965
Chart info: U.S. (#16), UK (#6)
Available on The Very Best of the Easybeats
Bursting out in fab psychedelic Technicolor, Australia's Easybeats sounded the horn for anyone who's ever pined for the weekend. Angels at the chorus go, "toniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiggggghhhht," and if only for a few seconds, tease visions of the city and everything that's going to happen there. "Friday on My Mind" is the jam. --Dominique Leone
112. Steve Reich: "It's Gonna Rain"
(Steve Reich)
1965
Chart info: U.S. (N/A), UK (N/A)
Available on Early Works
Steve Reich's most famous tape-loop finds a frothing black-magic Pentecostal minister prepping for street-riot Armageddon. With the assistance of Reich's gap-ridden tape splicing, his voice transforms into a series of beeps, springs, fans, and artillery fire. Occasionally, it approaches something that resembles serrated doo-wop or the Psycho theme. Fluttering pigeons turn into marching boots. Despite all the violence, "It's Gonna Rain" is a testament to man's ability to wrest melody from speech and rhythm from insanity. --Alex Linhardt
111. Stevie Wonder: "I Was Made to Love Her"
(Henry Cosby/Lula Mae Hardaway/Sylvia Moy/Stevie Wonder)
1968
Chart info: U.S. (#2), UK (#5)
Available on I Was Made to Love Her
For much of his career no one could fill the world with silly love songs as superlatively as Stevie Wonder. The sunshine soul of 1967's "I Was Made to Love Her" easily shows up the emptiness of most modern melisma, as the 16-year-old singer's churchy rejoicing lends a happy ending to a choir-and-harmonica Romeo and Juliet tale of parental disapproval and all-conquering hubba-hubba. --Marc Hogan
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