Saturday, October 13, 2012

Rewind: Top Songs of 1972

 
 
Last year, while ticking through the songs from years ending in "1" and "6", the 1971 list was the strongest batch (followed by the 1991 list).  Not surprisingly, the 1972 list presents a similar mix of classic rock and latter-day soul, plus The King and Jimmy Cliff.

Picking one song from Exile is not an easy task. While it is the Stones' best album (and, to my mind, the greatest rock album of all time) it is not an album full of "singles". Ultimately, I chose "Rocks" because its rawness (both lyrically and musically) is the most emblematic of the album as a whole, though it is tough to make an argument against "Tumbling Dice", "Happy", "Sweet Virginia", "Let it Loose" or personal favorite "All Down the Line"

While Bowie is not directly on this list, his fingerprints are all over it (see #5 and #6)

Fat, cheesy Elvis was worth it for the joy of "Burning Love"

In all honesty, "Lean on Me" or "I Can See Clearly Now" are probably better choices for #10 below, but I just love the ridiculousness of "Jim" too much too leave off the list.


Top 10 Songs of 1972
  1. "Rocks Off" / The Rolling Stones / Exile on Main St.
    "the sunshine bores the daylights out of me"
  2. "Thirteen" / Big Star / #1 Record"I won't make you" 
  3. "Superstition" / Stevie Wonder / Talking Book
    "when you believe in things / that you don't understand / then you suffer"
  4. "Stuck in the Middle With You" / Stealers Wheel / Stealers Wheel
    "clowns to left of me / jokers to the right"
  5. "All the Young Dudes" / Mott the Hoople / All the Young Dudes"and my brother's back at home with his Beatles and his Stones"
  6. "Walk on the Wild Side" / Lou Reed / Transformer
    "and the colored girls say / doo doo do do do doo doo"
  7. "I'll Take You There" / The Staples Singers / Be Altitude: Respect Yourself
    "I know a place"
  8. "Burning Love" / Elvis Presley / single
    "'and you light my morning sky"
  9. "The Harder They Come" / Jimmy Cliff / The Harder They Come
    "I'm going to get my share now / what's mine"
  10. "You Don't Mess Around With Jim" / Jim Croce / single
    "and when the bad folks all get together at night / you know they all call big Jim boss"
1972 by David Scott on Grooveshark