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Top 100 Albums Top 100 Singles Hall of Fame
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Music
ARCHIVED LIST - Click Here for current Top 100 Singles

I've always had a fascination the single, impressed by how, in an average of about three or four minutes, a good song can get an entire country to memorize its words. But what I think is the most intriguing thing about the single is that, since it is limited in length, it doesn't necessarily have to be some great artistic achievement to be popular or acclaimed. It simply has to make

people want to dance or cry or, for whatever reason, hit the repeat button to hear it again. We all are familiar with hundreds, maybe thousands, of songs. But narrowing the endless field of singles that fall under wingspan of rock and roll turned out to be a relatively easy task. The real determining factor in creating the Top 100 was to focus on those songs that I personally am still able to fully enjoy no matter how many times I have heard them. That meant eliminating songs like "Louie Louie" and "Stand by Me," great music that has worn on me with repeated listening. What I am left with is a list of singles that I truly love and that in my best estimatation I will still love 50 years from now.
  1. Superstition
    Stevie Wonder
  2. California Dreamin'
    The Mamas and the Papas
  3. Eleanor Rigby
    The Beatles
  4. Chain of Fools
    Aretha Franklin
  5. Ain't No Sunshine
    Bill Withers
  6. Good Vibrations
    The Beach Boys
  7. You Really Got Me
    The Kinks
  8. Son of a Preacher Man
    Dusty Springfield
  9. Changes
    David Bowie
  10. The Sound of Silence
    Simon and Garfunkel

  11. Papa was a Rolling Stone
    The Temptations
  12. The First Time Ever
    I Saw Your Face
    Roberta Flack
  13. Once in a Lifetime
    The Talking Heads
  14. Layla
    Derek and the Dominoes
  15. Fake Plasic Trees
    Radiohead
  16. Redemption Song
    Bob Marley
  17. Nothing Compares 2 U
    Sinhead O'Connor
  18. In My Life
    The Beatles
  19. Good Times
    Chic
  20. Girlfriend
    Matthew Sweet

  21. Train in Vain
    The Clash
  22. White Rabbit
    Jefferson Airplane
  23. River Deep, Mountain High
    Tina Turner
  24. Try a Little Tenderness
    Otis Redding
  25. Cat's in the Cradle
    Harry Chapin
  26. How Soon is Now?
    The Smiths
  27. Bennie and the Jets
    Elton John
  28. Been Caught Stealing
    Jane's Addiction
  29. Suspicious Minds
    Elvis Presley
  30. You've Really Got
    a Hold on Me
    Smokey Robinson
    & the Miracles

  31. Fire and Rain
    James Taylor
  32. There She Goes
    The La's
  33. Killing Me Softly
    Roberta Flack
  34. In the Midnight Hour
    Wilson Pickett
  35. When Doves Cry
    Prince
  36. Everyday People
    Sly & the Family Stone
  37. I Heard It Through
    the Grapevine
    Glady Knight & the Pips
  38. Champagne Supernova
    Oasis
  39. Like a Prayer
    Madonna
  40. Imagine
    John Lennon

  41. Paint It Black
    Rolling Stones
  42. Accidents Will Happen
    Elvis Costello
  43. Here Comes Your Man
    The Pixies
  44. Tired of Being Alone
    Al Green
  45. Losing My Religion
    R.E.M.
  46. Genius of Love
    Tom Tom Club
  47. Lust for Life
    Iggy Pop
  48. Give Up the Funk
    Parliment
  49. Dream On
    Aerosmith
  50. Lithium
    Nirvana

  51. Bizarre Love Triangle
    New Order
  52. Don't Leave Me This Way
    Thelma Houston
  53. Protection
    Massive Attack
  54. I Guess That's Why
    They Call it the Blues
    Elton John
  55. Monday, Monday
    The Mamas and the Papas
  56. Don't Let Me Be
    Misunderstood
    The Animals
  57. In the Ghetto
    Elvis Presley
  58. A Day in the Life
    The Beatles
  59. I Got You (I Feel Good)
    James Brown
  60. Peace Train
    Cat Stevens

  61. God Only Knows
    The Beach Boys
  62. Gloria
    Them
  63. Got to Give It Up, Part I
    Marvin Gaye
  64. It Takes Two
    Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock
  65. One Way or Another
    Blondie
  66. What Do I Get?
    The Buzzcocks
  67. Waiting in Vain
    Bob Marley
  68. Epic
    Faith No More
  69. One
    Three Dog Night
  70. London Calling
    The Clash

  71. Dreams
    Fleetwood Mac
  72. Bittersweet Symphony
    The Verve
  73. September Gurls
    Big Star
  74. California
    Joni Mitchell
  75. Girls & Boys
    Blur
  76. There is a Light
    that Never Goes Out
    The Smiths
  77. War
    Edwin Starr
  78. Cum on Feel the Noize
    Quiet Riot
  79. Cannonball
    The Breeders
  80. Time of the Season
    The Zombies

  81. Me and Bobby McGee
    Janis Joplin
  82. Someday We'll Be Together
    The Supremes
  83. Don't Stop 'Til
    You Get Enough
    Michael Jackson
  84. Pump It Up
    Elvis Costello
  85. Break on Through
    The Doors
  86. I Want You Back
    The Jackson Five
  87. Back on the Chain Gang
    The Pretenders
  88. Tears of a Clown
    Smokey Robinson
    & the Miracles
  89. My Generation
    The Who
  90. Connection
    Elastica

  91. Sweet Jane
    Lou Reed
  92. Somebody to Love
    Jefferson Airplane
  93. Kiss
    Prince
  94. Philadelphia Freedom
    Elton John
  95. Low Rider
    War
  96. Proud Mary
    Creedence Clearwater Revival
  97. Shotgun
    Jr. Walker and the All-Stars
  98. So Far Away
    Carole King
  99. Ghost Town
    The Specials
  100. Groove is in the Heart
    Deee-Lite
Since taste inevitably evolves, this list is periodically updated. It was last updated in May 2002. The next update is scheduled for May 2004.