It seems like almost every day I see a new post on Facebook or in a magazine with someone’s selections for “Top Ten” this and “Top Ten” that — quarterbacks, guitarists, vacation spots, female vocalists, fashion designers, double albums, car models, concert venues, vegan recipes, and on and on.

These Top Ten lists can be great fun, provocative, irritating, satisfying, or silly, but most of all, they get the conversation started.  Pretty much all these categories involve highly subjective choices, based as much on emotion as empirical quality, so there’s plenty of room for disagreement.

For more than 60 years, BBC Radio has had a program called “Desert Island Discs.”  Celebrities (some musicians, some not) are invited to list and discuss the eight records they would take with them to a desert island.  Bruce Springsteen recently picked his eight, which are all songs that had a dramatic impact on his life and career.  Others have selected tunes that reminded them of specific incidents or past relationships.

It’s certainly an intriguing idea, and a reader urged me to write a blog essay about the subject.  If you were banished to some remote location for, say, a year, and you could take along only a limited number of songs, which ones would they be?  What are the songs in your life that you simply don’t want to be without?

As I began assembling my own list, I realized this is pretty much an impossible task.  There’s no way in hell I could narrow down my favorites to just eight, or ten…so I decided to double the total to 20.  That still makes it a very difficult assignment, especially for a music fanatic like me, but that seems like a fair number that I could work with.

There are several factors to consider in addressing this task.  The first problem is determining which artists absolutely must be represented.  Clearly, you’ll need to have songs by your very favorite bands you’ve adored your whole life.  But then comes the agonizing decision of which track (or tracks) to choose from their catalogs.  Do you select the one that brings back the best memories, or the one that has the best musical chops?

What about the fact that you will very soon grow very sick of the songs you’ve selected?  I had to set that concern aside, and just focus on the music that is most near and dear to me…and hope that I would one day be able to hear other songs again.

There are other considerations as well.  If you are a hard-core fan of progressive rock (or R&B, or indie pop, etc.), do you limit your list to tunes from that genre?  Or do you perhaps select songs from a healthy cross-section of genres?  I like jazz or classical every now and then.  Shouldn’t I include something from those areas?

Then there’s the question of what era you’re drawing from:  Depending on your age, would you prefer to concentrate on classic tracks from the ’60s and ’70s…or ’80s and ’90s?  Or should you include something much more current?  And lastly, what about tempo?  Do you want music you can dance to, music you can harmonize to, or music you can make love to?

And, of course, the list you make today is very likely to change next year, or next month, or maybe even next week.  So this really serves as a snapshot of how you feel at the moment.  It’s not etched in stone.  Which is probably a good thing.

In order to get an idea of people’s preferences, I hastily conducted an informal poll of some of the folks who receive this blog every week, asking for their thoughts and favorites.  The findings were very interesting — predictable in some ways, but some surprising as well.  It’s good to get a sense of the kinds of songs that are essential to the people who regularly read “Hack’s Back Pages.”

I couldn’t include every song mentioned, but I’ve compiled a pretty comprehensive list:

It should come as no surprise that tunes by The Beatles showed up most often, and the choices were all over the map:  “Blackbird,” “She Loves You,” “In My Life,” “Here There and Everywhere,” “Hey Jude,” “Because,” “A Day in the Life,” “Norwegian Wood,” “Let It Be,” “When I’m 64,” “Get Back,” “Across the Universe,” “Back in the USSR,” “The Abbey Road medley“…

Many people said “some Motown” had to be on their list.  Getting the most mentions were The Temptations (“My Girl,” “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg,” “Get Ready,” “Papa Was a Rolling Stone“), Marvin Gaye (“I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” “What’s Goin’ On,” “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” “Mercy Mercy Me,” “Let’s Get It On“), Stevie Wonder (“Signed, Sealed, Delivered,” “Superstition,” “Golden Lady,” “I Was Made to Love Her“) , The Jackson 5 (“ABC,” “I Want You Back“) and The Supremes (“Baby Love“).  Also, Smokey Robinson (“More Love“), Aretha Franklin (“Respect“), Booker T & The MGs (“Green Onion“), The Isley Brothers (“It’s Your Thing,” “Shout“), James Brown (“Get Up/I Feel Like a Sex Machine“) and The Undisputed Truth (“Smiling Faces Sometimes“).

As I expected, votes were cast for multiple songs by some of rock music’s biggest bands of the ’60s and ’70s:

The Rolling Stones :  “Satisfaction,” “Beast of Burden,” “Can’t You Hear Me Knockin’,” “Gimme Shelter,” “Under My Thumb”

Led Zeppelin : “Good Times Bad Times,” “Ramble On,” “Fool in the Rain,” “The Ocean,” “No Quarter,” “Stairway to Heaven,” “Going to California,” “When the Levee Breaks,”  “Since I’ve Been Loving You”

Steely Dan :  “Kid Charlemagne,” “Aja,” “The Caves of Altimira,” “My Old School,” “Deacon Blues,” “Don’t Take Me Alive”

Bruce Springsteen :  “Thunder Road,” “Badlands,” “Born to Run,” “Rosalita,” “Jungleland,” “You’re Missing”

Jimi Hendrix :  “Purple Haze,” “Little Wing,” “All Along the Watchtower,” “Voodoo Child”

Cream :  “Spoonful,” “Sunshine Of Your Love,” “Badge”

The Doors :  “The End,” “Riders on the Storm,” “LA Woman,” “Break on Through,” “Light My Fire”

The Who :  “Baba O’Riley,” “Pinball Wizard,” “The Song is Over” “Love Reign O’er Me”

Santana :  “Europa,” “Black Magic Woman”

Elton John :  “Rocket Man,” “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” “I’m Still Standing” “Tiny Dancer”

David Bowie :  “Suffragette City,” “Moonage Daydream,” “Changes”

Pink Floyd :  “On the Turning Away,” “Us and Them” “Comfortably Numb”

U2 :  “Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of,” “Where the Streets Have No Name”

Fleetwood Mac :  “Dreams,” “The Chain,” “Hypnotized”

Dire Straits :  “Money for Nothing,” “Telegraph Road,” “Romeo and Juliet”

Van Morrison :  “Moondance,” “Brown-Eyed Girl,” “Into the Mystic,” “Wild Night,” “Real Real Gone”

James Taylor :  “Fire and Rain,” “Your Smiling Face,” “You Can Close Your Eyes,” “You’ve Got a Friend”

 

Simon and Garfunkel :  “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” “America,” “The Boxer”

Joni Mitchell :  “For Free,” “Carey,” “A Case of You” “All I Want”

Jackson Browne :  “For Everyman,” “Runnin’ on Empty,” “Take It Easy,” “Doctor My Eyes”

Bob Dylan : “Like a Rolling Stone,” “Sweetheart Like You”

The Beach Boys: “God Only Knows,” “Good Vibrations”

CSNY:  “Our House,” “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes,” “Guinnevere”

Chicago : “Questions 67 and 68,” “Make Me Smile”

Yes :  “Yours is No Disgrace,” “Roundabout”

The Doobie Brothers : “South City Midnight Lady,” “Here to Love You”

Little Feat : “Dixie Chicken,” “Roll Um Easy”

The Allman Brothers : “Jessica,” “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed,” “Whipping Post”

Jethro Tull : “Thick as a Brick” “A Passion Play,” “We Used to Know”

Sheryl Crow :  “Every Day is a Winding Road,” “Strong Enough”

The Pixies :  “Debaser,” “Monkey Gone to Heaven”

Dave Mason :  “We Just Disagree,” “Look at You Look at Me,” “Every Woman”

Derek & the Dominos :  “Layla,” “Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad,” “Little Wing”

Here is a sampling of some individual songs mentioned once:

Don McLean’s “American Pie,” Harry Chapin’s “Taxi,” The Eagles’ “Ol’ ’55“, Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain,” Maria Muldaur’s “Midnight at the Oasis,” The Band’s “The Weight,” Pure Prairie League’s “Amie,” Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine,” Al Stewart’s “Year of the Cat,” Batdorf and Rodney’s “Can You See Him,” Linda Ronstadt’s “Different Drum,” Paul Simon’s “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes,” Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” Craig Fuller & Eric Kaz’s “Annabella“…

John Mellencamp’s “Check It Out,” George Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord,”  Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes,” Toto’s “Africa,” Steve Winwood’s “While You See a Chance,” Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,”  Huey Lewis’ “Stuck With You,” The Replacements’ “I Will Dare,” Frank Zappa’s “Stick It Out,” Blondie’s “The Tide is High,” New Radicals’ “You Get What You Give,” Joy Askew’s “Big Sky,” Sting’s “Be Still My Beating Heart”… 

The Wallflowers’ “One Headlight,” Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough,” Average White Band’s “Queen of My Soul,” Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’,” Blind Faith’s “Can’t Find My Way Home,” Bob Seger’s “Nite Moves,” The Zombies’ “She’s Not There,” The Rascals’ “Lonely Too Long“, Poco’s “El Tonto de Nadie Regresa,”  Earth Wind & Fire’s “September,” Bryan Ferry’s “Kiss and Tell,” John Lennon’s “Instant Karma,” The Smiths’ “How Soon is Now,” Queen’s “Radio Gaga“…

Rush’s “Limelight,” Emerson Lake and Palmer’s “Karn Evil 9,” Buddy Guy’s “She’s Out There Somewhere,” Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’,” Brian Eno & John Cale’s “Spinning Away,”  Joe Walsh’s “Days Gone By,” “Connie Francis’ “Where the Boys Are,” Gregg Allman’s “Queen of Hearts,” Boz Scaggs’ “Loan Me a Dime,” Sade’s “Punch Drunk,” Robert Plant’s “In the Mood,” Pete Townshend’s “And I Moved,” Tracy Chapman’s “Material World,” Dave Matthews Band’s “Everybody Wake Up”

Billie Holiday’s “God Bless the Child,” Elvis Presley’s “Trying to Get to You,” B.B. King’s “Let the Good Times Roll,” Bobby Darin’s “Mack the Knife,” Dionne Warwick’s “Do You Know the Way to San Jose,” Patsy Cline’s “Crazy,” Carrie Underwood’s “Not Enough Wind in Oklahoma,” Brooks & Dunn’s “My Maria,” Keith Urban’s “Memories of Us,” Ronnie Spector’s “There is an End,” Phillip Phillips’ “Home,”  The Cleveland Orchestra’s “Beethoven’s 9th Symphony,” Dave Brubeck Quartet’s “Take Five”…  

Some readers mentioned these artists but no specific songs:   The Four Tops, Edgar Winter Group, Loggins & Messina, Joan Baez, Styx, Elvis Costello…

A few readers misunderstood my intent, thinking I was looking for songs that would be appropriate for a desert island locale!  Naturally, they suggested tunes by Bob Marley (“Is This Love,” “No Woman No Cry,” “Three Little Birds,” “Waiting in Vain“), Jimmy Buffett (“A Pirate Looks at Forty,” “Changes in Latitudes“), Jack Johnson (“Better Together“), Bobby McFerrin (“Don’t Worry, Be Happy“), The Green, Kenny Chesney (“When the Sun Goes Down“) and Zac Brown (“Life is Good Today“).

Artists mentioned from the most recent decade included The Black Keys (“Busted“), Bon Iver (“Re: Stacks“), Guided By Voices (“Fair Touching“), Fun (“We Are Young“), R. Kelly (“Ignition: Remix“), Gnarls Barkley (“Crazy“), Eric Church (“Springsteen“), Amy Winehouse (“Tears  Dry On Their Own“), Cee Lo (“F–k You“), Adele (“Hello“), Train (“Hey Soul Sister,” “Meet Virginia“), Pharrell Williams (“Happy“) and Justin Timberlake (“What Goes Around Comes Back Around“)…

For what it’s worth, one guy mentioned Iron Butterfly’s “In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida“…

A few wiseasses singled out cringeworthy songs like “Volare,” “Afternoon Delight,” “Having My Baby” and the theme song to “Barney”…

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In honor of my wife’s birthday today, I asked her to come up with her 20 essential songs.  Clearly, they reflect her love for the music of the ’60s and ’70s, but there are a few newer ones thrown in there too.  In no particular order, here they are:

“Thunder Road,” Bruce Springsteen; “In My Life,” The Beatles; “Happy,” Pharrell Williams; “Changes,” David Bowie; “You’ve Got a Friend,” James Taylor & Carole King; “Do You Feel Like We Do,” Peter Frampton; “Unchained Melody,” The Righteous Brothers; “The Chain,” Fleetwood Mac; “Sleep Song,” Graham Nash; “Baba O’Riley,” The Who; “The Boxer,” Simon and Garfunkel; “Kashmir,” Led Zeppelin; “Burning the Boat,” Emily Hackett; “Babe Now That I’ve Found You,” The Foundations; “Badlands,” Bruce Springsteen; “Brown-Eyed Girl,” Van Morrison; “The Logical Song,” Supertramp; “Shanty,” Jonathan Edwards; “Us and Them,” Pink Floyd; “Free Man in Paris,” Joni Mitchell.

 

Since this is MY blog, I figured I can list my 20 songs as well.  In no order:

“God Only Knows,” The Beach Boys; “Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys,” Traffic; “Rosalita,” Bruce Springsteen; “America,” Simon and Garfunkel; “The Song is Over,” The Who; “Down to You,” Joni Mitchell; “Telegraph Road,” Dire Straits; “I Was Made to Love Her,” Stevie Wonder; “Hypnotized,” Fleetwood Mac; “Thick as a Brick,” Jethro Tull; “You Can Close Your Eyes,” James Taylor; “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed,” The Allman Brothers; “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You,” Led Zeppelin; “Suffragette City,” David Bowie; “King of the World,” Steely Dan; “Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End,” The Beatles; “Can You See Him,” Batdorf and Rodney; “Sympathy For the Devil,” The Rolling Stones; “Guinnevere,” Crosby Stills & Nash; “Tangled Up in Blue,” Bob Dylan.

 

 

Whew.  This one was exhausting!