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The 100 greatest songs of 1971 #1 “When the Levee Breaks” Led Zeppelin (1 Viewer)

Good stuff squistion.   

I knew vids came out prior to 73 but not as far back as early 60s other than videos I've seen directly tied to movies.

In the mid 80s I was oblivious to anything other than his popular singles till I met a GF who was on a huge Aladdin Sane binge.  

I don't see Life On Mars as a masterpiece.  Looks and feels like a derivative of Space Oddity and an over-produced over-theatrical transition towards Ziggy.  

He put out his video of Space Oddity in 72, a year prior to the one you shared.

David Bowie – Space Oddity (Official Video)

I consider that to be his signature tune and feel he was chasing that success with songs of similar themes.  My take but YMMV and that's fine.
What's funny about Life on Mars? is that it doesn't really have anything to do with space (other than the title). A girl gets into a fight with her parents and storms off. She goes to a movie and gets stood up by a friend. She watches the movie, doesn't find it interesting, and while steaming and being extremely pi$$ed off at her existence, she wonders if life would be better somewhere else. ANYWHERE else. Like on another planet else. It's basically a coming of age song about escapism and dealing with some undefined real life issues as a young adult.

Bowie, on the other hand, said that the song was a great love song, apparently written about a young woman that he knew and had a thing for who acted like the girl in the song. So apparently he made it as an homage to her after hearing her spout off about the mundane things going on in her life (that were probably pretty petty and minor but made her angry). Yet he still found her fascinating, bedazzling, and alluring. Essentially, there was some subtext of the song being about running away from real life to be with a boyfriend or a confidant to feel happier. I admit, I never really got all that from listening to the song for decades, but when I read that it seemed somewhat plausible. IIRC, Bowie wrote the song in a park with all sorts of people coming and going. The section about Mickey Mouse and Lennon may have been references to him reading a newspaper while people watching.

Like any other song or artistic work, people will have to decide if something is genius and a masterpiece . . . or something that doesn't interest them (and all points in between). I will attest that when played live, Life on Mars? showcased Bowie's chops as a singer, and he really belted it out with feeling and emotion. Certainly the Bowie catalog is an acquired taste, and many people like some of his work but distain others.

As for Bowie and Ziggy, pretty much anything he recorded in 1970-72 was done with Ziggy in mind, and the songs from Hunky Dory, Man Who Sold The World, and Ziggy Stardust were all recorded in that timeframe, many of which were released out of sequence compared to the years they were recorded. It's been said that many of the songs were also recorded in a Ziggy-style (or at least recorded in multiple ways), so there are probably variations of a lot of his early songs tucked away in a vault somewhere. At one point, there was talk of taking Ziggy on the road almost as a Broadway play or Cabaret theatre (but that never materialized)

While you mentioned he was "chasing the success" of Space Oddity, Bowie was actually chasing something different. He wanted to record whatever he wanted however he wanted (ie, he wanted artistic freedom). He didn't want to be repetitive and make similar music to what he had done in the past. IMO, it was the record label that cared way more about trying to get him to fit into a certain box musically. He never wanted to be a big star, and after Let's Dance he was under intense pressure to be a cash cow and sell a ton of albums and singles (which he didn't care about).

Bowie eventually got tired of Space Oddity and both didn't love performing it and didn't want to be know just for that song. The whole way the song came to be was a bit cheesy, coming out just before the first moon voyage. It initially was not very popular in the UK, but it did manage to crack the Top 5 in England months later. It took Ziggy getting popular for Space Oddity to sell in the States . . . 4 years after it's release. Life on Mars? came out as a single shortly after Space Oddity in the U.S. . . . and completely bombed. It's funny how the music biz works and what sells and what doesn't.

 
That's three days walking high desert. 

Where did you get water and that had to be near Rock Springs.
it was before Li'l America, cuz i remember that was my target - to get lifts from truckers. Wyoming then had bar bounties on the hair of any hippies (i knew of at least a dozen guys been beaten half to death and three girls who'd been raped & shaved under the terms of that), so i was wary of cowboys and this guy was the opposite of a cowboy. it's beautiful country which i hadnt got to appreciate cuz i didnt stray from the 80, so i went along. i walked 6 days (western hitchers who dont carry a thermos deserve to die) til i caught a N/S rte that i knew was in Utah and turned north (which sucked cuz it was just getting cold at night - early sept). for my next year on the road i hadda either hop trains across  Basin/Rockies or go from SLC south to 70 (or vice versa) and pick 80 back up in NPlatte when i crossed country

 
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8. Rod Stewart “Maggie May” (from Every Picture Tells a Story

https://youtu.be/EOl7dh7a-6g

Before “Maggie May” Rod Stewart was a well known, well respected blues frontman for a couple of famous bands (The Jeff Beck Group, The Faces) who occasionally dabbled in solo material as well. After “Maggie May” Rod Stewart was a rock superstar, suddenly ascending to the level of Elton John and Mick Jagger. In retrospect this turned out not so good for music, as Stewart has basically spent the remainder of his career in a desperate attempt to maintain his stardom, ever sacrificing more and more of his great talent for commercial success. Though he would produce other great songs occasionally, “Maggie May” was his zenith, and the last 48 years have been a slow walk downhill. 
What’s ironic is that the song, which is supposed to be about the first woman Rod ever had sex with (he was a teenager, she an older adult), was not meant to be a hit at all. It was the B side to Stewart’s fine cover of Tim Hardin’s “Reason to Believe”, but DJs discovered that listeners enjoyed “Maggie May” more, and the rest was history. Martin Quittenton of the British rock band Steamroller is listed as the co-writer of the music but he only wrote the 20 second instrumental introduction. 

 
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it was before Li'l America, cuz i remember that was my target - to get lifts from truckers. Wyoming then had bar bounties on the hair of any hippies (i knew of at least a dozen guys been beaten half to death and three girls who'd been raped & shaved under the terms of that), so i was wary of cowboys and this guy was the opposite of a cowboy. it's beautiful country which i hadnt got to appreciate cuz i didnt stray from the 80, so i went along. i walked 6 days (western hitchers who dont carry a thermos deserve to die) til i caught a N/S rte that i knew was in Utah and turned north (which sucked cuz it was just getting cold at night - early sept). for my next year on the road i hadda either hop trains across  Basin/Rockies or go from SLC south to 70 (or vice versa) and pick 80 back up in NPlatte when i crossed country
OK, more past Green River.  Six days is about right and the rail parallel's 80 to the South side of the highway for much of 80 but not sure at that location

Bad juju in that area.  I think its cursed due to a massacre of Chinese in Rock Springs in the 1800s.   A guy named Robert Parker used to be a butcher in Rock Springs and later picked up the nickname Butch Cassidy.  The 'Outlaw Trail' runs right through that place.

That wasn't my only 'odd/threatening' adventure in that general are of Western WY.  I took a week off from college and went skiing up at Jackson Hole.  On the trip back I stopped at the grocery store in Rock Springs and decided to eat my lunch in a private part of the parking lot.  I finish and put my stick in reverse and am just starting to pull back when all of a sudden a cop car came out of nowhere and pulled up right at my driver's side door.  Scared the crap out of me but I smile and nod thinking nothing of it when... ANOTHER cop pulls up to my passenger side and I'm looking around like WT F?  

I look up and see that I was facing a bank.  I kinda chuckle to myself since they must think I was casing the joint but it wasn't funny because a cop was on  my ### the entire way out of town up to the highway.  

I thought, weird but I had a drive back to Steamboat Springs in Colorado.  Its pitch dark, twenty below, I am 35 miles out and I've got to piss like a racehorse. On top of that my feet are frostbit because my heater sucked.  I was tempted to floor-it but knew the highway patrol are all over that stretch and where they hung out.  Just as I'm about to chance it a CHP is on my ###.

I was a little ahead of him and got around a blind corner when a ####### DEER is in the middle of the road.  I swerve and just 'barely' scrape its side but don't impact it.  My heart is POUNDING out of my chest but I see my opportunity as the deer was still in the middle of the road with the CHP just about to round that corner.

I look back in my rear view mirror and see the headlights twist and turn from one-side to the other and he stopped.  

I punched it and got the hell out of there ending one strange road trip punctuated with another weird Western WY incident.  

 
OK, more past Green River.  Six days is about right and the rail parallel's 80 to the South side of the highway for much of 80 but not sure at that location

Bad juju in that area.  I think its cursed due to a massacre of Chinese in Rock Springs in the 1800s.   A guy named Robert Parker used to be a butcher in Rock Springs and later picked up the nickname Butch Cassidy.  The 'Outlaw Trail' runs right through that place.

That wasn't my only 'odd/threatening' adventure in that general are of Western WY.  I took a week off from college and went skiing up at Jackson Hole.  On the trip back I stopped at the grocery store in Rock Springs and decided to eat my lunch in a private part of the parking lot.  I finish and put my stick in reverse and am just starting to pull back when all of a sudden a cop car came out of nowhere and pulled up right at my driver's side door.  Scared the crap out of me but I smile and nod thinking nothing of it when... ANOTHER cop pulls up to my passenger side and I'm looking around like WT F?  

I look up and see that I was facing a bank.  I kinda chuckle to myself since they must think I was casing the joint but it wasn't funny because a cop was on  my ### the entire way out of town up to the highway.  

I thought, weird but I had a drive back to Steamboat Springs in Colorado.  Its pitch dark, twenty below, I am 35 miles out and I've got to piss like a racehorse. On top of that my feet are frostbit because my heater sucked.  I was tempted to floor-it but knew the highway patrol are all over that stretch and where they hung out.  Just as I'm about to chance it a CHP is on my ###.

I was a little ahead of him and got around a blind corner when a ####### DEER is in the middle of the road.  I swerve and just 'barely' scrape its side but don't impact it.  My heart is POUNDING out of my chest but I see my opportunity as the deer was still in the middle of the road with the CHP just about to round that corner.

I look back in my rear view mirror and see the headlights twist and turn from one-side to the other and he stopped.  

I punched it and got the hell out of there ending one strange road trip punctuated with another weird Western WY incident.  
some people need feudalism - if there's only one area above the Mason/Dixon that does, i can handle that. /hijack

 
8. Rod Stewart “Maggie May” (from Every Picture Tells a Story

https://youtu.be/EOl7dh7a-6g

Before “Maggie May” Rod Stewart was a well known, well respected blues frontman for a couple of famous bands (The Jeff Beck Group, The Faces) who occasionally dabbled in solo material as well. After “Maggie May” Rod Stewart was a rock superstar, suddenly ascending to the level of Elton John and Mick Jagger. In retrospective, this turned out not so good for music, as Stewart has basically spent the remainder of his career in a desperate attempt to maintain his stardom, ever sacrificing more and more of his great talent for commercial success. Though he would produce other great songs occasionally, “Maggie May” was his zenith, and the last 48 years have been a slow walk downhill. 
What’s ironic is that the song, which is supposed to be about the first woman Rod ever had sex with (he was a teenager, she an older adult), was not meant to be a hit at all. It was the B side to Stewart’s fine cover of Tim Hardin’s “Reason to Believe”, but DJs discovered that listeners enjoyed “Maggie May” more, and the rest was history. Martin Quittenton of the British rock band Steamroller is listed as the co-writer of the music but he only wrote the 20 second instrumental introduction. 
As a general rule, any early Rod Stewart with organ is the schiznett. Some of his best stuff (solo or Faces) featured Ian McLagan on the Hammond organ.

 
8. Rod Stewart “Maggie May” (from Every Picture Tells a Story

https://youtu.be/EOl7dh7a-6g

Before “Maggie May” Rod Stewart was a well known, well respected blues frontman for a couple of famous bands (The Jeff Beck Group, The Faces) who occasionally dabbled in solo material as well. After “Maggie May” Rod Stewart was a rock superstar, suddenly ascending to the level of Elton John and Mick Jagger. In retrospect this turned out not so good for music, as Stewart has basically spent the remainder of his career in a desperate attempt to maintain his stardom, ever sacrificing more and more of his great talent for commercial success. Though he would produce other great songs occasionally, “Maggie May” was his zenith, and the last 48 years have been a slow walk downhill. 
What’s ironic is that the song, which is supposed to be about the first woman Rod ever had sex with (he was a teenager, she an older adult), was not meant to be a hit at all. It was the B side to Stewart’s fine cover of Tim Hardin’s “Reason to Believe”, but DJs discovered that listeners enjoyed “Maggie May” more, and the rest was history. Martin Quittenton of the British rock band Steamroller is listed as the co-writer of the music but he only wrote the 20 second instrumental introduction. 
sidebar: a contemporary rule of thumb was that any girl mad for Maggie - and there were plenty - was good for one extraordinary date, if you could get away with only one

 
7. Led Zeppelin “Stairway to Heaven” (from Led Zeppelin IV

https://youtu.be/QkF3oxziUI4

There’s no way to separate this song from its iconic, legendary status. There are very few songs that are as important to the classic rock genre- perhaps “Hey Jude”, “Bohemian Rhapsody”. Based on that alone “Stairway to Heaven”, which truly is a great song, has to be in this top 10, and few would argue with me if I put it in the top spot. Except that there are still 6 other tunes that are just a little better...

 
7. Led Zeppelin “Stairway to Heaven” (from Led Zeppelin IV

https://youtu.be/QkF3oxziUI4

There’s no way to separate this song from its iconic, legendary status. There are very few songs that are as important to the classic rock genre- perhaps “Hey Jude”, “Bohemian Rhapsody”. Based on that alone “Stairway to Heaven”, which truly is a great song, has to be in this top 10, and few would argue with me if I put it in the top spot. Except that there are still 6 other tunes that are just a little better...
IMO, the most overrated song in the LZ catalog and possibly the most overplayed song of all time. But other opinions may vary. 

 
IMO, the most overrated song in the LZ catalog and possibly the most overplayed song of all time. But other opinions may vary. 
I'd actually put Maggie May above it on the overrated list, but still a good point. Just because something is played to death doesn't make it an all time great.

 
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7. Led Zeppelin “Stairway to Heaven” (from Led Zeppelin IV

https://youtu.be/QkF3oxziUI4

There’s no way to separate this song from its iconic, legendary status. There are very few songs that are as important to the classic rock genre- perhaps “Hey Jude”, “Bohemian Rhapsody”. Based on that alone “Stairway to Heaven”, which truly is a great song, has to be in this top 10, and few would argue with me if I put it in the top spot. Except that there are still 6 other tunes that are just a little better...
IMO, the most overrated song in the LZ catalog and possibly the most overplayed song of all time. But other opinions may vary. 
Whether or not it is their best, it is by far their most iconic song, which is why it has been overplayed. It's a great song that deserves to be ranked higher than #7 in this list IMO.

 
Just because something is played to death doesn't make it an all time great.
That works both ways though. I think at least some people might diminish some of these songs because they are overplayed. 
 

That’s why I wrote that it’s impossible to separate “Stairway” from its status. With each of these songs I have tried to ask myself, suppose you heard that for the first time ever, what would you think of it? I’m usually able to do that. But with Stairway it’s just not possible. Like most people reading this (I imagine) I know every note of it far too well. 

 
And while I don’t believe Stairway is LZ’s best song, there’s only a couple better IMO. So I don’t know if overrated really applies. 

 
7. Led Zeppelin “Stairway to Heaven” (from Led Zeppelin IV

https://youtu.be/QkF3oxziUI4

There’s no way to separate this song from its iconic, legendary status. There are very few songs that are as important to the classic rock genre- perhaps “Hey Jude”, “Bohemian Rhapsody”. Based on that alone “Stairway to Heaven”, which truly is a great song, has to be in this top 10, and few would argue with me if I put it in the top spot. Except that there are still 6 other tunes that are just a little better...
6 songs from 1971 better than Stairway?  I dunno, Tim.  That's a tall order.  

Janis Joplin's "Me & Bobby McGee" comes to mind as a possibility.  After that....

 
Whether or not it is their best, it is by far their most iconic song, which is why it has been overplayed. It's a great song that deserves to be ranked higher than #7 in this list IMO.
I would not have Stairway In the Top 7 of the LZ4 album. It’s my least favorite song of the 8 songs. That’s not a knock on the song as much it is a tribute to the strength of the entire album. That being said, Stairway would be a ways down on my LZ list of favorite songs. Clearly I am in the minority compared to the masses, but I find the first 3/4 of the song very repetitive. Add in that they stole the intro and it’s not their best work (IMO).

I get that it’s the band’s signature song so by definition it has to be high on any sort of ranking list. But IMO there are any number of bands whose most popular or signature song may not be their best. 

 
I also prefer other LZ songs over Stairway, but it’s a great song. Agree with Tim that there’s a reason it’s so overplayed, not unlike the Free Birds and the Bohemian Rhapsodies of the world.

These days though when I want to hear Stairway, I’ll listen to this version.

 
IMO, the most overrated song in the LZ catalog and possibly the most overplayed song of all time. But other opinions may vary. 
Well you devoted a whole thread to Bowie.

I also prefer other LZ songs over Stairway, but it’s a great song. Agree with Tim that there’s a reason it’s so overplayed, not unlike the Free Birds and the Bohemian Rhapsodies of the world.

These days though when I want to hear Stairway, I’ll listen to this version.
Love that version.

 
All of this bickering and hyperbole about LZ and Stairway has taken us away from the mission of this thread, on to Song #6 in the Countdown!

 
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Is Stairway to Heaven overplayed?  Sure.

Is it also a great song and worthy of pretty much all praise it gets?  Abso-freaking-lutely.

 
Is Stairway to Heaven overplayed?  Sure.

Is it also a great song and worthy of pretty much all praise it gets?  Abso-freaking-lutely.
This.  I’m not one to complain about rankings but this is clearly a top 5 song of 1971... probably #1.  It’s one of the most iconic rock songs of all time.  Yes it’s been overplayed but it’s the most iconic song from one of the greatest bands of all time.

 
Sorry if I’m coming in from the peanut gallery, but stairway is only 7???

It’s like top 7 ever. 

 
I heard a sad man sing karaoke to it one desolate Friday or Saturday at the airport bar, me too done to have gotten up after my party had left, him singing his heart out to STH. He did a good job for the ten in the karaoke audience that had filed in unbeknownst to me. Usually quick to be hip to that, I had missed out on my moment to leave. I was now sitting in a lounge that was clearly a karaoke hot spot. Oh my. I think I excused myself after a different song so as not to interrupt the performer and left the bar.

That will always be embedded in my memory about loneliness and the way in which we seek others out for our adulation, our edification. We are never really bowling alone in our mind's eye, atomized only in lapses, never in the full. All is gratitude. 

Enough of that. Back to the countdown.

 
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When Classic Rock radio came about in the '80s, it's true that "Stairway To Heaven" got burned into the ground. But, in my experience listening to CR in the '90s and early 00s (I quit when they added grunge), it was - if anything - underplayed. "Whole Lotta Love", "Black Dog", and "Kashmir" got tons more airplay than "STH". Same thing happened with "Freebird". 

I think the "overplayed" thing has turned into one of those myths that folks take for granted even if it hasn't been true for 30 years.

 

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