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Good Night Irene- Leadbelly (The Weavers had a hit with it and sparked the folk revival in the 50's)
Little Red Rooster- Howlin' Wolf (EVRY rock band in the sixties played this song. I think it was a requirement.)
Bo Diddley- Bo Diddley (Where would rock and Roll be without this shave and a haircut jam? It's R&R's Salt Peanuts)
Dark Star- The Grateful Dead (the LSD culture wouldn't have been the same without this aural companion. Not to mention the influence this type of music had on bands like Sonic Youth some years later. Seriously, Lee Renaldo cites the dead as important in developing the noise rock/no wave sound)
Flashlight- Parlament/Funkadelic (Hello?)
Hm. Well, these discussions are generally silly, but I'm game.
For one, I'm surprised that "My Generation," by The Who isn't on there. And for the Ramones, I think "I Wanna Be Sedated" would be a better choice.
I also question the lack of a Talking Heads or Peter Gabriel song, as both artists were out in front of the World Music movement. And one might also consider something like Paul Simon's "Graceland," for the same reason.
And there's no question that Bowie had a profound impact, but was it "Ziggy Stardust" that had that impact? I dunno.
And can we really leave off R.E.M.? I mean, when we're talking impact, R.E.M. is hard to ignore. I may not have understood "Radio Free Europe," but I listened to it like 1000 times. And I can't speak for anyone else, obviously, but The Police had a lot more influence on *me* than Black Flag. Not to mention The (English) Beat.
Just a few random thoughts.
