These are not in order, but these are the ones that come up after giving it a couple minutes of thought:

NWA, "Straight Outta Compton"
Booker T. and the MGs, "Green Onions"
Chuck Berry, "Promised Land"
The Band, "The Weight"
The Box Tops, "The Letter"
The Statler Brothers, "Flowers on the Wall"
Bob Dylan, "Don't Think Twice It's Alright"
Little Richard, "Brown Sugar"
Four Tops, "Bernadette"
Question Mark and the Mysterians, "96 Tears"

fuck yeah

Other than the first one, pretty hard to fuck with this.

How blasphemous is it for me to prefer Cocker's version of "TEH LETTER" over Chilton's?

No order, and for tonight only:

Dylan~ Idiot Wind
V. Morrison~ The Way Young Lovers Do
L. Cohen~ Alexandra Leaving
Guy Clark~ Desperadoes Waiting For A Train
Sam Cooke~ A Change Is Gonna Come
The Band~ Unfaithful Servant
Left Banke~ Walk Away, Renee
Bob Neuwirth~ Private Eye
Springsteen~ Darkness On The Edge OF Town
Family~ Broken Nose

Best songs or best performances? There are some songs that, no matter who does it, I adore.

i.e. 'Can't Help Falling In Love' would be in my top ten, but not necessarily any particular perfomance.

i'm not sure i've ever heard it.
he certianly did the only beatles cover better than the beatles.

A few off the top of my head, including some already mentioned, sticking to relative "hits":

Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Radio, Radio
The Jackson Five - I Want You Back
The Beatles - um, you know, that one
The Supremes - You Keep Me Hangin' On
Sam Cooke - A Change Is Gonna Come
Bruce Springsteen - The River
Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart
Neil Young - Down By The River
Public Enemy - Fight The Power
Velvet Underground - Heroin
Chameleons UK - Swamp Thing

um...

you have at least three songs there about rivers, four if you count swamp thing.

and did you say "fight the power" because you too are watching "do the right thing"

Interesting, though I'm not sure I'd count the Cooke song as really about a river.



No, that's funny though.

Thought of another:
Howlin' Wolf - Killing Floor

And I'm currently loving these, but not sure how they fit on the all time list:
The Four Tops - Baby, I Need Your Lovin'
Simon & Garfunkel - America
The Shins - Kissing The Lipless
The Beatles - I'm Only Sleeping

Hateful. Come on, kids.

Also, 'Welcome to the Occupation'

and 'Unsolved Child Murders'

and 'John, I'm Only Dancing'

Surely.

"Sweet Child O' Mine" - Guns 'n Roses

The Soft Boys - "I Wanna Destroy You"

Bob Dylan--Like a Rolling Stone
Modern Lovers--Roadrunner

I forgot Zevon's The French Inhaler.

50 Songs from My Never-Completed Top 100 Songs List:

10cc - I'm Not in Love
Abba - Waterloo
Badfinger - Day After Day
Blondie - Slow Motion
Bob Dylan - Tangled Up in Blue
Brian Eno - An Ending (Ascent)
Cocteau Twins - Lazy Calm
David Bowie - Heroes
Dionne Warwick - (Theme From) Valley of the Dolls
Dusty Springfield - The Look of Love [UK Mix]
Electric Light Orchestra - Ma-Ma-Ma Belle
Eurythmics - This City Never Sleeps
Fleetwood Mac - Go Your Own Way
King Crimson - Frame By Frame
Laurie Anderson - Blue Lagoon
Led Zeppelin – Kashmir
Low – I Remember
Martha Reeves & the Vandellas - Dancing in the Streets
Matthew Sweet - I've Been Waiting
Monty Python's Flying Circus - Eric the Half a Bee
Neil Young - The Needle and the Damage Done
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Into My Arms
Nick Drake - Northern Sky
Nico - It Was a Pleasure Then
Philip Glass - Prophecies
Prince - Kiss
R.E.M. - World Leader Pretend
Rickie Lee Jones - We Belong Together
Roxy Music - Avalon
Sinead O'Connor - In This Heart
Sonic Youth – Swimsuit Issue
Steely Dan - Aja
Talking Heads - The Great Curve
The Beatles - Strawberry Fields Forever
The Chiffons - One Fine Day
The Cure - Close to Me
The Germs – Forming
The New Pornographers – It's Only Divine Right
The Posies - Flood of Sunshine
The Pretenders - Mystery Achievment
The Roches - Losing True
The Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter
The Ronettes - Be My Baby
The Shangri-Las - Give Him a Great Big Kiss
The Stooges – TV Eye
The Velvet Underground - Heroin
The Who - Won't Get Fooled Again ["The Kids Are Alright" live version]
This Mortal Coil - Song to the Siren
Todd Rundgren - Hello It's Me
Traffic - The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys
Vince Guaraldi - Linus and Lucy
X - I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts
Yoko Ono - Even When You're Far Away

There's an overabundance of slow/quiet songs here--interestingly, those songs popped into my head right away, while there often weren't immediately obvious picks for my fave loud/fast bands, and I never got around to puzzling it out.

But really, the single greatest song ever recorded is "I Am Gross/No You're Not" by the Stinky Puffs. Accept no substitutes.

swoon. that voice. "Good morning to you, I hope you're feeling better, baby"
makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up...

and I second 10cc's I'm not In Love

I could never make a list but what about

Once in A LIfetime - Talking Heads
All I Need - Air
Tears of A Clown - Smokey Robinson
Enjoy the Silence - Depeche Mode
We Are the Champions - Queen

I almost put this one. The reason it got cut was because I started thinking that guys like Zevon, Young, Springsteen or Kristofferson are better served by their entire works or even albums moreso than just one song. Granted, I did put a Dylan song on my unofficial list, but "Don't Think Twice" just slugged me the first time I heard it, and it's only gotten better with time.

As I skimmed through my music folders, I figured that the guys above would have to be represented, especially since they are some of my absolute favorites. The problem I ran into initially was the "Christ, which song do I pick?" dilemma. Then it became a question of context. I just felt that my favorite Zevon or Young sounds were better suited to fit within the work of a full album rather than alone.

So rather than have a song of 250 with all my favorites well-represented, I looked for songs that I felt held some unique quality to them while carrying the spirit of rock and roll to a pretty wide audience. That's why you won't find the Ass Ponys on here. Though popularity doesn't determine quality, when a weird ass song like "Flowers on the Wall" sneaks its way into the high end of the charts, that is a testament to the songs cleverness and creativity that is more impressive than a song that only sold 30,000 copies to its street team.

A third for 10cc - "I'm Not in Love"

flame away, but:

NAZARETH - "Love Hurts"

Where is all the 10cc love coming from? I like a shit-ton of lame ass 70s pop music, but 10cc?

The song written by Boudleaux Bryant? I can understand preferring the Nazareth take over the Cher, Joan Jett, and Jim Capaldi versions, but also over the versions by Roy Orbison and Gram Parsons and the Everly Brothers original? That'd just be weird.