70. Rock Lobster – The B 52s. … There are not many, if any, party dance
songs better than this one with some crazy lyrics from lead singer Fred
Schneider and guitarist Ricky Wilson. It brings back memories of Friday night
mixers from college and some great times in the 80s. “He was in a jam, said a
giant clam!”
69. Sister Golden Hair – America. … No. 1 hit from 1975 by a group that
graced us with a lot of great easy-listening music. “I ain’t ready for the
altar, but I do agree there’s times when a woman sure can be a friend of mine.”
68. Mercy, Mercy Me (The
Ecology) – Marvin Gaye. … What great music we missed out when Marvin passed
away in 1984. The Washington D.C. native wrote this simple, beautiful, but sad
tune about concerns over the environment. “What about this overcrowded land.
How much more abuse from man can she stand?”
67. Love is the drug – Roxy Music. … Catch that Buzz. Bryan Ferry said
the lyrics came to him while he was walking one day in London’s Hyde Park and
it later became the group’s signature tune. “I say go, she say yes. Dim the
lights, you can guess the rest.”
66. My Best Friend’s Girl – The Cars. … Ric Ocasek wrote this cheeky
tune about frustration over a woman – no doubt before he met wife Paulina Porizkova.
Something about this simple tune makes it my favorite from the Boston-based
group, which will make the Rock’n Roll Hall of Fame some day.
65. Wish You Were Here – Pink Floyd. … Roger Waters and David Gilmour
co-wrote this brilliant short song from 1975, reportedly about feelings of
alienation and mistrust. “We’re just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl,
year after year. Running over the same old ground. What have we found? The same
old fears.”
64. Good Girls Don’t – The Knack. … This controversial, borderline
inappropriate tune brings one of the great debut albums of all time “Get the
Knack” to life more than Sharona did. The late Doug Fieger reportedly penned
the song with naughty lyrics from the perspective of a teenage boy.
63. Peace, Love And Understanding – Elvis Costello. … This is something
America needs a whole lot more of right now, and there is nothing funny about
it. “As I walk on through this wicked world, searching for light in the
darkness of insanity. I ask myself, is all hope lost? Is there only pain, and
hatred, and misery?”
62. Let’s Stay Together – Al Green. … The Reverend! co-wrote and
performed this soulful, moving tune that became a No. 1 hit in 1971. “Loving
you whether, whether, times are good or bad, happy or sad.”
61. Smoking Gun – Robert Cray Band. … The five-time Grammy-winning
blues guitarist has been somewhat under the radar, but he hit it big
commercially in the mid 80s with this rocking tune about infidelity and
irrational behavior that turns to disaster.
