THE 200  MOST ESSENTIAL AMERICAN ROCK SONGS: #170-161. Continues tomorrow.

Caffé Latté celebrates…

THE 200 MOST ESSENTIAL

AMERICAN

ROCK SONGS

Country, folk and rhythm and blues begat rock ‘n’ roll. This musical form is the spawn of traditional American genres. Here are 200 of the most iconic and defining rock tracks from the United States.

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*170

LEGS

ZZ Top

ZZ Top honed its own sound, mixing the blues with rock. The group reached its chart peak in 1984 with the very accessible"Legs" which became a Top 10 hit.

*169

STAN

Eminem

Despite - or rather because of- the controversy his music attracts, Eminem remains a seminal force in rap. Disturbing his themes may be, but the former Marshall Mathers broke through to the mainstream with his worldwide smash "Stan". The track features a sample of Dido's "Thank You". 

*168

WOULDN'T IT BE NICE

Beach Boys

The harmonies shine again, adorned by the sublime production techniques on "Wouldn't It Be Nice". The Beach Boys promoted the image of America that encompassed beach, sunshine and girls. In 1966, the disc made the Top 10 as well as being included on the classic album 'Pet Sounds'.

*167

ROSANNA

Toto

Toto attracted both plaudits and derision for the perfection achieved in the recording studio. The album 'Toto IV' became the band's most successful, hatching the hit singles "Rosanna" and "Africa in 1982.

*166

ALL FIRED UP

Pat Benatar

Female rocker Pat Benatar gives her all vocally on the motivating track "All Fired Up". The single climbed into the Top 20 in 1988.

*165

LOVE MAN

Otis Redding

Otis Redding could be as tender as he was on "I've Been Loving You Too Long" or inject his brand of gritty R&B into Stax classics such as "Love Man". The latter single was issued posthumously in 1969. 

*164

LONGVIEW

Green Day

In 1994, Green Day announced its arrival on the global rock scene with debut single "Longview" from first album 'Dookie'.

*163

ARE YOU GONNA GO MY WAY

Lenny Kravitz

The title track from Lenny Kravitz's 'Are You Gonna Go My Way' album contains echoes of an array of past musical acts, including: Little Richard, Jimi Hendrix, Prince and Sly Stone.

*162

RIDERS ON THE STORM

The Doors

The music of The Doors offered mystique, seduction and unease. Lead singer Jim Morrison was largely responsible for this. The other group members applied their musical talents to create sonic gems such as the psychedelic rock of "Riders On The Storm". Issued in 1971, the track is Morrison's swansong with the band. He died a month later.

 

*161

LET'S GO

The Cars

The Cars released its debut album in 1978. Follow-up 'Candy-O' was unleashed a year later, with "Let's Go" chosen as its lead single. As the 1980s approached, The Cars delivered a straight-up rock track with less new wave ingredients.

Check out the playlist on spotify with new songs added for each update of the countdown.