Essential Rock Singles

It's Nobel Prize week! But since they are being garbage (no Lit prize until 2019...) I am going to turn my focus elsewhere. 

In 2018 a new category of ‘singles’ was included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Some of the songs that changed rock, after all, were released by effective one-hit wonders, and this category recognizes those artists for their important songs.

The initial inductees were all solid, essentially indisputable:

·         Link Wray - "Rumble"

·         The Kingsmen - "Louie Louie"

·         Chubby Checker - "The Twist"

·         Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats - "Rocket 88"

·         Steppenwolf - "Born to Be Wild"

·         Procol Harum - "A Whiter Shade of Pale"

The only one I think is odd is Steppenwolf. Sure, “Magic Carpet Ride” isn’t as famous, of course, but I could see them being inducted as Performers – unlike the Kingsmen, Chubby Checker, or Procol Harum who really are known for a single track.

For the class of 2019 I have the following suggestions to choose from:

·         Don McLean – “American Pie”

·         Thin Lizzy – “The Boys Are Back in Town”

·         Kansas – “Carry on My Wayward Son”

·         Blue Oyster Cult – “Don’t Fear the Reaper”

·         Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels – “Devil with a Blue Dress On”

·         The Blossoms (initial credit to The Crystals) – “He’s a Rebel”

·         The Bobby Fuller Four – “I Fought the Law”

·         Gloria Gaynor – “I Will Survive”

·         Strawberry Alarm Clock – “Incense and Peppermints”

·         The Five Satins – “In the Still of the Nite”

·         Little Eva – “The Loco-Motion”

·         Boston – “More Than a Feeling”

·         The Chantays – “Pipeline”

·         Afrika Bambaataa – “Planet Rock”

·         Gil Scott Heron – “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”

·         Norman Greenbaum – “Spirit in the Sky”

·         Ben E. King – “Stand By Me”

·         Rick James – “Super Freak”

·         Edwin Starr – “War”

·         Village People – “Y.M.C.A.”

Now there are others, but I am hopeful they will be added as performers (I mean, the Hall of Fame says it’s possible to get inducted first as a single and later as a performer…but it just seems unlikely). Could you add Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” to the list? Of course. Same goes for someone like Dick Dale with “Misirlou”, The Modern Lovers with “Road Runner”, and Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain”. But all, in my opinion, would be worthy Performer inductees.

Anyway, I’ll be excited to see which ones, if any of my 20 suggestions, make it.