Well, I sorta put my foot in it on Tuesday. I called the opening bars of I’ll Be Around by the Spinners among the 25 most recognizable riffs in Christendom. This led to an internet argument. This is my favorite kind of argument. Internet arguments are so bitter because the stakes are so small. Someone named Hitler even showed up in the comments. When the brushy mustache guy is mentioned in any capacity, you know you’ve reached peak amusing pixel disagreement.
Now, I’ve mentioned Christendom here, which is a geographic term, really. This makes sense in my disordered mind. I’m really talking about American pop culture. Since American pop culture has entirely taken over what’s left of Christendom, except for the parts of France where it’s drowned out by the muezzins, let’s roll with it.
Now, people are going to mention the most recognizable intros to them. This is a bit of a category error. I’m looking for the opening stanzas of pop hits that would be recognized instantly by the largest slice of lowbrow humanity. I won’t be including Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, or anything numbered and opused and so forth. As a matter of fact, to simplify it, I’m going to specify the years from 1960 to 2000. Everything since 2000 has been churned out of an audio sausage machine, so it’s pointless to argue about it. Everything before 1960 is bound to be Greek to generations that don’t read cursive.
Now some ground rules. They’re mostly for myself. Everyone else can do as they please in the comments, but this is how I played it. First, no artist(s) gets more than one entry. The Beatles and the Stones, for instance, have beaucoup candidates for a list like this, so I chose one each. Secondly, the list is 25 entries. If you want to add something, it’s gotta bump something off. This lends an amusing knife-fight vibe to the proceedings, which I’ve always enjoyed. But remember: no wagering. And thirdly, this is not a list of songs I like. I once played in a band that held a little contest in the middle of our shows. We’d play just the opening bars of songs like these, stop, and ask the audience to identify it. We learned very quickly what songs everyone knew, and which songs had one guy way in the back who yelled Green Eyed Lady! while everyone else scratched their heads.
Also, certain songs are verboten to the list. These include any riff currently banned in musical instrument stores. There is no point in mentioning Stairway to Heaven, Hotel California, Smoke on the Water, Freebird, or something by Kansas. The opening riff should make the largest number of people yell, “Hell, yeah,” not groan. I’m also leaving Layla off the list. The opening riff might qualify, but Martin Scorsese only used the piano outro, and we will too. It’s music to see bodies tumbling out of a trash truck now, not whining about George Harrison’s first wife any longer.
The list is in no particular order, but that absolute winner is listed last:
- I Can See Clearly Now — Johnny Nash
- I Want You Back — Jackson 5
- Long Cool Woman — The Hollies
- Brown Eyed Girl — Van Morrison
- Go All the Way — The Raspberries
- My Girl — The Temptations
- Sweet Home Alabama — Lynyrd Skynyrd
- Guns N’ Roses – Sweet Child O’ Mine
- The Beatles – Day Tripper
- Nirvana – Smells Like Teen Spirit
- It Don’t Come Easy — Ringo Starr
- Stayin’ Alive — Bee Gees
- Green Onions – Booker T. & the MG’s
- Doobie Brothers – Listen To The Music
- Fortunate Son – Creedence Clearwater Revival
- Brown Sugar — Rolling Stones
- Surfin’ U.S.A. — Beach Boys
- La Grange — ZZ Top
- Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) — Sly & The Family Stone
- Rikki Don’t Lose That Number — Steely Dan
- Super Freak — Rick James
- Come And Get Your Love — Redbone
- That Lady, Pts. 1 & 2 –The Isley Brothers
- Blister In The Sun — Violent Femmes
And the absolute Number One slot on our top 25?
Whiter Shade of Pale — Procol Harum
I’ll tell you why you’ll never be able to bump this from the top spot. Opening riffs? There can be only one. The fellow playing the original organ melody, Matthew Fisher, didn’t write the song. Gary Brooker and Keith Reid did. So forty years or so later, Fisher sued, and said the song wasn’t nothing without his organ riff, and he wanted the credit. He wanted 50% of the songwriting royalties. He won the case, but they only gave him 40%. Brooker appealed, and Fisher kinda lost that one. The 40% held, but not retroactively. Then the House of Lords took it up, and said he should have his 40%, and retroactively too.
When your selection for intro riff is adjudicated by the House of Lords, you can bump A Whiter Shade of Pale off the top spot, but not before.
22 Responses
I could argue for removing a couple items, since I have no idea what they are, though of course I recognize the artists’ names. I suppose I could argue that Robin Trower ought to be more recognizable as well, to similar effect. But we’ve already established that my musical procilivities aren’t exactly mainstream. I can chuckle at your disqualifications, and if I ignore them, then I got 5/25, which ain’t too bad, all things considered.
It did occur to me, last night, that Hair of the Dog, by Nazereth, surely is a contender. Respect, by Aretha Franklin, comes to mind as well. I recall that Maggie Mae (Rod Stewart) was popular, with a distinctive intro. Money, by Pink Floyd, fits the bill quite nicely too. And, since we’re abandoning guitar riffs as a limiter, Lady, by Styx.
If I were going to wander off the reservation, I’d mention Uriah Heep. I saw them open for Kiss – in fact, that’s why I went to a Kiss concert at all. Kiss ended up being a better show.
Jed! You have me there. Not sure how I missed Maggie May. I’m not sure who to bump off the list to make room, though. Tough decision, made tougher by the fact that if I take the Raspberries off there, my wife will divorce me.
And all in all, I always preferred You Wear It Well‘s intro, but the song wasn’t nearly as popular.
“Lola” – The Kinks
Blackwing! I think you have me there, too, although I’m not sure who to bump, once again. There’s a danger that Lola slips to #26. Who should we nuke to make room?
I’m not a big fan of a lot of your top picks, but that’s what opinions are for*. Just dump a few of them, and then you could also include:
“Who Knows Where the Time Goes” – Fairport Convention
Richard Thompson’s guitar intro and fill pieces of that are some of the best music ever made, and Sandy Denny’s voice is simply beautiful after the intro.
“All Around my Hat” – Steeleye Span
It’s not a guitar riff, but it’s a riff just the same.
And if “Smoke on the Water” (Deep Purple) isn’t in the list of top 25 intro guitar riffs then nothing should be. Funky Claude (Nobs) not withstanding, since he was pulling kids out of the burning building.
*Yes, I have one, so does everybody else. And some are stinkier than others.
P.S.: Thanks for letting us put our silly notions out there on your blog.
@Blackwing1: My hat’s off to you…
Although I was vaguely aware of Fairport Convention, my introduction to Richard Thompson came from “1952 Vincent Black Lightning”. Some truly fine picking there. I really should explore further.
Jed:
The Fairport Convention album that includes that track, written by Denny, is “Unhalfbricking”, definitely worth listening through.
If you’ve never heard Steeleye Span, try listening to a few tracks like “700 Elves”, or “Thomas the Rhymer” from their “Now We Are Six” album. They are basically electrified Olde English folk tunes, or as one wag put it, “Elizabethan Boogie”.
And if you like that stuff, I can heartily recommend Jethro Tull’s “Songs From the Wood” album.
Hey, Mr. Sippican, there’s another intro riff that’s not a guitar, but a vocal:
“Songs From the Wood” – Jethro Tull
Okay, I’ll try to stop now.
Hmmm. Maddy Prior sorta reminds me of Annie Haslam. I’d heard of Steeleye Span, but I’m pretty sure I never listened to them. I wonder whether I can find some CDs on inter-library loan, since everything on YouTube sounds like crap to me. Could be my tinnitus and bad hearing are messing things up too.
I’m more or less familiar with Tull’s later stuff – nothing compares to Aqualung!
Can’t comment on Fairport Convention – all the tracks on YouTube sound bad, and I can’t believe the original recordings all suck.
That’s a great list, I would add The Rolling Stones’ Satisfaction, and I’m sure nobody is going to agree with this one, but if a song is gonna make me yell hell yeah, it would have to be Spirit in the Sky by Martin Greenbaum
Hi Robert- More or less, stones songs all have iconic intros. I picked what I thought was the best one.
Presumably where you have “Brown Sugar” listed by a group called “Brown Sugar”, you actually meant the Stones.
Hi Paul- An egregious error, since fixed. Thanks. I’m going to fire my editor, as soon as I get one.
I’d bump Rick James, as that’s the only one I’ve never heard. I didn’t realize that J5 tune was called that – completely unsurprising, but turns out I do know it. I’m on the fence about bumping The Violent Femmes, only because I couldn’t say whether they’re more well known than either Rod Stewart or The Kinks.
If I had to pick a Stones tune, it’d be Gimme Shelter. And I suppose they really do deserve a spot.
As long as I’m writing, I’ll mention “Don’t Tread on Me” by Metallica. Defintiely recognizable guitar intro, but not in the typical fashion. I’m going to bet that most metal heads don’t know it.
I don’t know why I didn’t think of Stevie Wonder. Superstition?
Jed! Caught me out again with Superstition. Absolutely belongs on the list. But I’ll bet you would recognize the Rick James intro if you heard it. It was also sampled and became “Can’t Touch This” by the baggy pants guy, whose name I can’t recall. It was everywhere, all the time for months.
I caught myself too. Old age – I can’t believe some of the crap I do remember, while having trouble with things I should, or want to. I did look up that Rick James on YouTube, and nope, don’t recall it at all. Didn’t make the playlists on the stations I listened to back then?
Speaking of remembering, yeah, M.C. Hammer. No reason for me to know that, other than he – and his pants – got enough publicity to show up in my regular slogs through the web. Just like another pants guy, who just got arrested – Korean, Gangnam Style! Stuck in my head along with Numa Numa. Aarrgh!
I gotta add one more…just heard it this morning:
“Stranglehold” – Ted Nugent
I’m not a Nugent fan, but even I’ve got to admit that it is an instantly recognizable intro guitar riff.
I can’t resist. Last one, I promise. Light my Fire.
The time to hesitate from adding this to the list is through.
Lotsa great ones there. I’ll throw in Jenny (867-5309).
Hi Dave- Yeah, that one might be enough to bump Steely Dan off the list.
Oh, and Doo Wah Diddy Diddy. There’s a riff that can get 50,000 baseball fans on their feet in about 3 seconds.