Here are my 100 favorite songs

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

#100 "We Are the World" - USA For Africa

I said this was William Vest's favorite song as a joke but I would like you all to admit that this is the best song that Bruce Springsteen, Kenny Rogers, Dionne Warwick, Huey Lewis and others ever contributed to. Admit it, dickheads! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to start this thread with name-calling but to be honest, you're all going to do it to me soon anyway.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

#99 The Show Must Go On - Queen

I feel Freddie took this phrase and made it his own. God, he was the best singer that ever lived or ever will live, wasn't he?

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

#98 An Apology - LeMMino featuring Veela

I think Veela's voice is one of the most amazing voices in the world. Good news, everyone! I successfully licensed this song for Cyberganked.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

#97 Into My Arms - Mylo

This is a mash-up or something of Bette Davis Eyes by Kim Carnes and Waiting For a Star to Fall by Boy Meets Girl.

I was introduced to Milo thanks to Jason Scott back when everyone in text adventures wasn't at each others' throats. We were a scene!

I put the version up where the two crazy kids go after each other for an entire day because, Jesus, sometimes you just have to remember what having hot blood was like.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

#96 You're My Best Friend - Queen

This probably would have been top 10 if I made this list in college. I have mellowed a bit, but I still respect a good melody.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

#95 Fall - Something Corporate

This has a very simple chord progression, but I feel it's good to get a catchy tune out of the way while I still have everyone's interest so you can discount this list and SAVE TIME.

Save yourselves.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

#94 Be Calm - fun.

I like songs that don't sound anything like the music a band does otherwise. We saw fun. in concert a few years ago. They did this song but Nate Reuss did NOT hit "that note" from this song. I said at the time that not doing so every night on tour means we get to hear the rest of the notes. That's fine. I can live with that.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

#93 Have You Ever Seen The Rain - Creedence Clearwater Revival

So this is an absolutely brilliant song. It's catchy, it's inspired about a million covers, it MAY be about nuclear war (maybe???) and even though it inspired all those covers, including one by the Spin Doctors, who we'll get to later, it's a song that is pretty much carried by the voice of John Fogerty.

I used to write songs and I never wrote anything as good as this, but what this song kind of makes you feel - if you write pop, which I sort of did - is that if you just dig deep enough you MIGHT get something like this, you might find something like this inside you.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

#92 You Shook Me All Night Long - AC/DC

One of the best pop songs by a rock band and again, one of those that would be higher if I hadn't heard it 100,000 times at this point. I gave it another listen just now and it's just so fun and great and knowing the kind of music these Australian Satanists normally played, I love that this became their most famous song. Ha! Ha ha! So good. It makes you wonder if they could have done this any time they wanted.

[youtube][/youtube]

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

#91 The Warrior - Scandal

Okay, hear me out, please. Wait. WAIT.

1) I know that including a Patty Smyth song on a list like this and having it be this one is probably heresy. I don't care, this is how I roll.

2) Anyone born in the 80s who liked MTV at all is honor-bound to sing along with Patty when this song randomly comes on the radio in 2016 or beyond. It doesn't count if it's through your aux cable or it's walk-up music at a baseball game.

3) Everyone my age came of age when Patty does the "bang, bang" thing at the very end of the video. Jesus Christ, who didn't spend the rest of their life looking for a chick that would shoot you in the head and then two seconds later play the Trust Game with an emotional vampire? She's 59 but I think I could finally hold my end during a conversation with her now.

[youtube][/youtube]

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

#90 Company Calls Epilogue - Death Cab for Cutie

Any of the four or five Jolt Country Denizens currently thinking about or actively in the process of offing themselves, know this: we will be playing this song at your funeral.

Life doesn't seem so bad, now, does it? You can make it back to Home Depot before it closes and the receipt to the plastic stool is on the counter because of course you couldn't stop yourself from leaving one last mess, so return it.

[youtube][/youtube]

[Music Critic]

#100 "We Are the World" - USA For Africa

How they managed to pack this much talent into a song that is complete shit mystifies me to this day.

God, he was the best singer that ever lived or ever will live, wasn't he [Freddie Mercury]?

Roy Orbison is easily the best male non-classical singer of all time. Mercury was still an epic singer.

#98 An Apology - LeMMino featuring Veela

She is a very talented singer. This was a very smart pick for your game.

Also for your consideration is this amazing Italian singer if you have anything left in your budget:

[youtube][/youtube]

#93 Have You Ever Seen The Rain - Creedence Clearwater Revival

Everything Creedence is epic, this would not have been my top CCR pick, so I am hoping other songs of theirs will make the list.

#91 The Warrior - Scandal

You went into 3 paragraphs justifying your Patty Smyth pick when there was no reason to do any of that. Anybody who does not like Patty Smyth is sick in the head, and I wouldn’t trust them, hell, I probably wouldn’t even stop my car if I saw them crossing the road in front of me.


Queen is epic, and AC/DC gets pretty good with enough beers in you.


Everything else has been a complete abortion on my ears.

[pinback]

Roy Orbison is easily the best male non-classical singer of all time.

Is this-- are we doing comedy bits? This has to be a comedy bit.

[Flack]

WHOA WHOA WHOA.

I need some context here. How did you come up with this list. WHEN did you come up with this list? What criteria did you use for picking these songs? I... wow, this thread's gonna be a busy one!

[Flack]

#100 "We Are the World" - USA For Africa

I said this was William Vest's favorite song as a joke but I would like you all to admit that this is the best song that Bruce Springsteen, Kenny Rogers, Dionne Warwick, Huey Lewis and others ever contributed to. Admit it, dickheads! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to start this thread with name-calling but to be honest, you're all going to do it to me soon anyway.

I don't know what the cut off is -- 35 years old, maybe? -- where everyone above that age remembers this as being one of the greatest moments of pop music, and everyone below that line can't figure it out. I haven't watched this video in years, but I just rewatched it and, my GOD... I mean, can you imagine getting five of today's pop stars in the same studio and not having them argue over who was brighter in the mix, who was getting more camera time, or who would receive top billing? And in this video you have some of the most famous musicians not just of the era but all time showing up and being like, "yup, I'll do two bars and out. Thanks for having me." Can you imagine a world where 80 celebrities got together and none of them were on their goddamn phones? My God, what an era.

I'll admit, this was a brave choice to begin with. When I first saw it I thought Jonsey had lost his mind, and 8 minutes later I shut down my laptop and left to get a We Are The World tattoo that features the faces and signatures of every person in that video. What a fucking fantastic arm sleeve this will be when they finish it!

I literally just got chills when Cyndi Lauper came in with her part. There wasn't a kid in my school who couldn't do this entire song "in character."

There's not a person in that video whose "greatest hits" I wouldn't listen to.

Thank you for this gift.

Thank you.

[Flack]

#96 You're My Best Friend - Queen

This probably would have been top 10 if I made this list in college. I have mellowed a bit, but I still respect a good melody.

In third grade my best friend moved away and somehow I got this song played in the school's cafeteria during lunch and I dedicated it to him. I realize in retrospect that this song is probably a gay love song and I can only assume my teachers got a good chuckle out of the whole thing.

In the early 80s I started getting a couple of bucks a week for allowance and mostly spent it on 45s that I bought at Walmart. This was one of the ones I owned, with Bohemian Rhapsody on the front and You're My Best Friend as the B-Side. What a great record.

[Flack]

#93 Have You Ever Seen The Rain - Creedence Clearwater Revival

So this is an absolutely brilliant song. It's catchy, it's inspired about a million covers, it MAY be about nuclear war (maybe???) and even though it inspired all those covers, including one by the Spin Doctors, who we'll get to later, it's a song that is pretty much carried by the voice of John Fogerty.

I used to write songs and I never wrote anything as good as this, but what this song kind of makes you feel - if you write pop, which I sort of did - is that if you just dig deep enough you MIGHT get something like this, you might find something like this inside you.

CCR was/is one of my dad's favorite bands, so I grew up listening to the greatest hits album over and over. It's one of the earliest CDs I purchased, and I have all the tracks on my phone. I could probably pick any of them as my "favorite," depending on my mood and the time of day. My dad's BBS was even named "Backdoor BBS" after the CCR song, back before "hey come visit my backdoor" had a different connotation.

[Flack]

#92 You Shook Me All Night Long - AC/DC

One of the best pop songs by a rock band and again, one of those that would be higher if I hadn't heard it 100,000 times at this point. I gave it another listen just now and it's just so fun and great and knowing the kind of music these Australian Satanists normally played, I love that this became their most famous song. Ha! Ha ha! So good. It makes you wonder if they could have done this any time they wanted.

This is a good song, but it wouldn't be the highest ranked AC/DC song on my list. Then again your list is only 1/10th over so maybe it won't be the highest ranked AC/DC song on your list, either.

When I was a kid someone told me that the lead singer of AC/DC died by driving his van over a cliff and when they found him "Highway to Hell" was stuck playing in the cassette deck. It scared me so much that when this song came on the radio I always sang "I'm on the highway to HECK" just in case. I later learned that's not how the lead singer died, but the story stuck with me.

Before I discovered heavy metal, AC/DC was the most evil band I knew. When they arrested Richard Ramirez (the Night Stalker) he said he was influenced by the AC/DC song "Night Prowler" and he even left an AC/DC hat at one of the murder scenes. So I guess he shook his victims all night long too, but really it was more stabbing and less shaking. Anyway I just remember AC/DC being pretty much two degrees from the devil himself, and when this song came out it seemed a little flippant or something. That being said, it's in my "air guitar classics" playlist. I like the song more than the video, I think.

[Flack]

#91 The Warrior - Scandal

Okay, hear me out, please. Wait. WAIT.

1) I know that including a Patty Smyth song on a list like this and having it be this one is probably heresy. I don't care, this is how I roll.

2) Anyone born in the 80s who liked MTV at all is honor-bound to sing along with Patty when this song randomly comes on the radio in 2016 or beyond. It doesn't count if it's through your aux cable or it's walk-up music at a baseball game.

3) Everyone my age came of age when Patty does the "bang, bang" thing at the very end of the video. Jesus Christ, who didn't spend the rest of their life looking for a chick that would shoot you in the head and then two seconds later play the Trust Game with an emotional vampire? She's 59 but I think I could finally hold my end during a conversation with her now.

This video (a classic) reminds me of some of Billy Idol's and a few other videos of that same time that made me think life outside of Oklahoma must be pretty goddamn scary. There's something about Smyth at the end of this video that's so darn cute... that makeup with a... kimono?

I'm with you Jonsey, the young me had no chance with a young, hip Smyth, but maybe when she hits 70 or so and all her friends are dead I'll swoop in and try to smash that. Bang, bang.

[Music Critic]

I mean, can you imagine getting five of today's pop stars in the same studio and not having them argue over who was brighter in the mix, who was getting more camera time, or who would receive top billing?

I remember that song when it was new, and it was lousy then as well. By contrast, here is a super group of the same era that still holds up just as amazing as ever:

[youtube][/youtube]