“Pretty antithetical to the prog hippie nerd bias of Starostin era Babble” - Prog led to nothing; punk led to some of the greatest subgenres ever in punk, new wave, and synth-pop. If you compare the actual music they’re about equal, but if you’re talking about legacy, it’s pretty easy to say punk > prog.

A few comments:

“I Heard It Through the Grapevine”? I thought “Respect” was rated too high and was a pander during peak Woke 1.0 when it topped Rolling Stone’s list but it’s twice the song “Grapevine” is. I guess I don’t have memories of the California Raisins (which was as old in 1990 as ’90s music is now). “Johnny B. Goode”, number two, should be number one. If you’ve heard later live versions it loses nothing.

4 Four Tops - Reach Out (I’ll Be There) - ranked appropriately, even if I’d kick it down ten spots.

5 The Righteous Brothers - “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling” - It took me a long time to appreciate this song. “Unchained Melody” by the same group might be more immediate.

9 Little Richard - “Tutti Frutti”

11 The Kingsmen - “Louie Louie”

14 Jerry Lee Lewis - “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On”

20 The Ronettes - “Be My Baby” - all appropriately in the top 20

28 Van Halen - “Jump” - very questionable. This song not only sucks, but is a poor representative for Van Halen. Van Halen without guitars?

38 The Beatles - “She Loves You” – this is the highest-ranking Beatles song, which is suspect in itself, but it’s a pretty mid song.

54 Ray Charles - “Hit the Road, Jack” - appropriate just outside of the top 50. Its placement in said (in a follow-up post) 1959-1963 neglected period (between rock and roll & British Invasion) work against it. This can be said of “Da Doo Ron Ron”, too, though that’s (appropriately) higher up

64 The Beatles - “I Saw Her Standing There” - this should be at #38, not “She Loves You”, if we’re paying any attention to historical importance (which we are – “Like a Rolling Stone” isn’t a good enough song to make the top 10-20, certainly not the best Dylan single)

69 Them - “Gloria” - appropriately ranked. One of the greatest tracks ever, but as a song it doesn’t belong in the top 50. The band name would later serve as the name of an alternative-sexuality/gender magazine.

71 The Police - “Every Breath You Take” - no

78 Sham the Sham & The Pharaohs - “Wooly Bully” – appropriate ranked. As garage rock, equal to “Louie Louie”, but with less influence.

87 Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five - “The Message” – Probably the most egregious song I haven’t heard. I’d use the excuse “I’m not into hip-hop” but it’s a foundational track.

88 The Coasters - “Yakety Yak” – a hell of a song, but they don’t include “Yakety Sax” (the Benny Hill theme), inspired by its instrumental break. Where’s “Yakety Sax”? It’s more important to pop culture than “Yakety Yak”.

101 Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell - “If I Could Build My World Around You” – there are too many Marvin Gaye songs no one’s heard of. Where do you find classic soul on the radio?

108 The Young Rascals - “Good Lovin’” - Below the two Clash tracks? I don’t think so

110 - Booker & and the MG’s - “Green Onions” - waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too low,

111 - Dion - “Runaround Sue”

112 - Dion - “The Wanderer” - One song closes an LP side, the other begins the other LP side. Playa vs. slut – it can’t be more clearly laid out than here.

115 - Martha & The Vandellas - “Dancing in the Street” – this is a shitty song. Has anyone ever recorded a good version of this? The original, Bowie/Jagger, Grateful Dead, they all suck.

119 The Trashmen - “Surfin’ Bird”

120 The Rivingtons - The Bird’s the Word”

121 The Rivingtons - “Papa Oom Mow Mow” – showing the ranking isn’t totally random

133 The Who - “My Generation” – this is so many places below “I Can See for Miles”) It wouldn’t make sense without the band’s cri de coeur.

170 The Swingín’ Medallions - “Double Shot of My Baby’s Love” – an all-timer (everyone knows the organ riff) but top 180? Really?

190 The Rolling Stones - “19th Nervous Breakdown” – my favorite Stones single, but it shouldn’t overtake “Satisfaction”. I think this is the Stones’ second-place song, after maybe “Get Off Of My Cloud”, which it whips.

192 - Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers - “Why Do Fools Fall in Love”

193 - The Drifters - “White Christmas” – from the sublime to the ridiculous. What a shitty rendition of “White Christmas”

202 Lipps, Inc. - “Funkytown” – finally, a list that doesn’t treat this as a disco novelty. It bangs.

209 - Wilson Pickett - “In the Midnight Hour” – all the way down here? How many obscure soul singles were above it?

226 - The MC5 - “Kick Out the Jams” – oh fuck yes

233 Stevie Wonder - “Superstition” – the Beck, Bogert & Apprice version (whom it was written for) smokes it.

238 Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels - “Devil With a Blue Dress On / Good Golly Miss Molly” - too low

‘

255 Billy Stewart - “Summertime” - the Gershwin’s a snooze; where’s Mungo Jerry?

270 The Knickerbockers - “Lies” – the highest Nuggets track other than the mainstream “Louie Louie” and “Double Shot of My Baby’s Love”.

271 The Trammps - “Hold Back the Night” – I thought they were a one-hit wonder

276 The Dixie Cups - “Chapel of Love” – A lot of these early ’60s tracks (which, to be fair, are generously represented here) would rank higher if there were still oldies stations. I remember this song solely from them, but it bangs.

278 Little Richard - “Long Tall Sally” - all the way down here? At least “Mustang Sally” didn’t overtake

285 Curtis Mayfield - “Freddie’s Dead” – no.

294 - Count Five - “Psychotic Reaction” – as much as I love this song, it probably wouldn’t make my top 300. The “psychotic” sections are just aimless noise.

That’s the top 300. One thing I noticed about the list is that it puts historical importance on par with song quality. Is there any reason that “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” is like 250 spots lower than “She Loves You” or “Doible Shot of My Baby’s Love”? Again, I’m glad that this list focuses on that dark age from 1959-1963, but there’s a limit to that. The pioneering track shouldn’t automatically take priority over the objectively good track, and do we really need both “God Save the Queen” and “Anarchy in the U.K.”? They’re both doing the same thing, and they’re not particularly good songs (though I’d lean towards “Anarchy”).

(No. 339 – Billy Ocean, “Get Out Of My Dreams and Into My Car”): really? This list is invalid.)

Omissions: Where’s “Rocket 88”? You’d think its historical importance would merit inclusion. I guess not.

The Monotones - Who Wrote the Book of Love?is=vGyH7q0tcnnCmpZN
Danny & The Juniors - At the Hop?is=TgR3GW0LqzvCTSNv
Danny & The Juniors - Rock and Roll Is Here to Stay?is=wM4yvzUYEWq5R3dQ
Eddie Cochran - Summertime Blues?is=9G5QQKtJre3iY_W2
Eddie Cochran - Twenty Flight Rock?is=99iH9c0DI19j__vt
Conway Twitty (or cover – Glen Campbell?) - It’s Only Make Believe ?is=nquUwoV1A4_lwyTm
The Del-Vikings - Come and Go With Me?is=7kmW1zPXti-CxG5w
Dick Dale - Misirlou?is=XMyHyFHIgYk-4lag
The Champs - Tequila?is=GaV4Td94xcPoAquS
The Surfaris - Wipe Out?is=gHbUSbzpWGldhzd9
Duane Eddy - Rebel Rouser?is=nJfiEzTiAb-gkymm

deserve to be high on the list (no doubt some of them are, 301-1000). Fucking Silver Diner jukebox is mostly ’60s-and-later, too.