440Led Zeppelin, 'Ramble On'

Writers:Jimmy Page, Robert PlantProducer:PageReleased:Oct. '69, AtlanticNon-SingleGroupies andThe Lord of the Ringsinspired "Ramble On," recorded in New York onLed Zeppelin's first U.S. tour. OverPage's acoustic guitars,Plantwails, "In the darkest depths of Mordor/I met a girl so fair." Middle Earth influenced more than the music: "After reading Tolkien," Page said, "I knew I had to move to the country." According to legend, John Bonham is banging on a plastic garbage can.Appears on:Led Zeppelin II(Atlantic)RELATED:100 Greatest Artists of All Time: Led Zeppelin500 Greatest Albums of All Time: Led Zeppelin'sLed Zeppelin II100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time: Jimmy Page100 Greatest Singers of All Time: Robert Plant 439Gladys Knight and the Pips, 'Midnight Train to Georgia'

Writer:Jim WeatherlyProducer:Tony CamilloReleased:Sept. '73, Buddah19 weeks; No. 1Originally titled "Midnight Plane to Houston," the ode to long-distance romance from Mississippi songwriter Weatherly (who also wrote Knight's "Neither One of Us") became the biggest hit ever for Gladys Knight and the Pips. Cissy Houston had an R&B hit with it first, before Knight rode it to the top of the pop charts.Appears on:Essential Collection(Hip-O)RELATED:100 Greatest Singers of All Time: Gladys Knight 438Fats Domino, 'Ain't It a Shame'

Writers:Dave Bartholomew, DominoProducer:BartholomewReleased:July '55, Imperial13 weeks; No. 10In the summer of 1955, "Ain't It a Shame" becameDomino's first pop smash, after a string of R&B hits. Pat Boone's whitebread cover (retitled "Ain't That a Shame" though Boone allegedly wanted it to be "Isn't That a Shame") reached Number One, but as Jerry Wexler put it, "Fats Domino is still the thing. Who cares about what's his name with the white buck shoes?"Appears on:The Fats Domino Jukebox: 20 Greatest Hits(Capitol)RELATED:100 Greatest Artists of All Time: Fats Domino 437The Clash, '(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais'

Writers:Mick Jones, Joe StrummerProducers:The ClashReleased:July '79, EpicDid Not Chart"We can't play reggae,"Strummersaid in 1977. But theClashinvented a skank of their own, toasting the solidarity they saw between punks and Rastas. The anti-racist fusion of "Hammersmith Palais" also skewered sellouts in both scenes. "I was trying to talk about revolution and how we weren't ever gonna have one," he said.Appears on:The Clash(Epic)RELATED:100 Greatest Artists of All Time: The Clash500 Greatest Albums of All Time: The Clash'sThe Clash 436Solomon Burke, 'Everybody Needs Somebody to Love'

Writers:Burke, Bert Berns, Jerry WexlerProducer:BernsReleased:July '64, Atlantic8 weeks; No. 58Philadelphia-bornBurkestarted preaching at the age of seven and often recorded his vocals from behind a pulpit. He attacks this song in the style of a fire-and-brimstone Southern preacher, calling out for a witness and testifying to the power of love. In the congregation: theRolling Stones, who covered it in 1965.Appears on:The Very Best of Solomon Burke(Rhino)RELATED:100 Greatest Singers of All Time: Solomon Burke 435U2, 'New Year's Day'

Writers:Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen Jr.Producer:Steve LillywhiteReleased:April '83, Island12 weeks; No. 53"New Year's Day" liftedU2out of the rock underground for good. As he often did,Bonomade up his lyrics on the spot. "We improvise, and the things that came out, I let them come out," he said. "I must have been thinking about Lech Walesa being interned. Then, when we'd recorded the song, they announced that martial law would be lifted in Poland on New Year's Day. Incredible."Appears on:War(Island)RELATED:500 Greatest Albums of All Time: U2'sWar100 Best Albums of the Eighties: U2'sWar100 Greatest Singers of All Time: Bono100 Greatest Artists of All Time: U2 434Deep Purple, 'Smoke on the Water'

Writers:Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillian, Roger Glover, Jon Lord, Ian PaiceProducers:Deep PurpleReleased:May '73, Warner Bros.16 weeks; No. 4Keyboardist Lord claimed that the working title for this song was "Durh Durh Durh" a transliteration of the riff that some beginner guitarist is probably trying out for the first time right now. The lyrics tell the story of a fan shooting a flare gun during a 1971Frank Zappashow at the Casino in Montreux, Switzerland, setting the venue ablaze.Appears on:Machine Head(Rhino)RELATED:100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time: Richie Blackmore 433Rolling Stones, 'Tumbling Dice'

Writers:Mick Jagger, Keith RichardsProducer:Jimmy MillerReleased:April '72, Rolling Stones10 weeks; No. 7Originally titled "Good Time Women" (an early take is on the recentExile on Main Streetreissue), "Tumbling Dice" had numerous faster incarnations before it was recorded atRichards' villa, Nellcte. "I remember writing the riff upstairs in the very elegant front room," said Richards, "and we took it downstairs the same evening, and we cut it." Since Bill Wyman wasn't around, Mick Taylor played bass.Appears on:Exile on Main Street(Virgin)RELATED:500 Greatest Albums of All Time: The Rolling Stones'Exile on Main Street100 Greatest Artists of All Time: The Rolling Stones100 Greatest Singers of All Time: Mick Jagger100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time: Keith Richards 432Green Day, 'American Idiot'

Writers:Green DayProducers:Rob Cavallo, Green DayReleased:Oct. '04, Reprise20 weeks; No. 61No song captured the rancid zeitgeist of the Bush era like thisClash-style rave-up, which bashed the USA's "redneck agenda." The starting point forGreen Day's punk opera, later a Broadway musical, "Idiot" signaled the band's evolution into righteously angry political rockers. "We did everything we could to piss people off," said Billie Joe Armstrong, who often performed the song in a George W. Bush mask.Appears on:American Idiot(Reprise) 431The Smiths, 'William, It Was Really Nothing'

Writers:Johnny Marr, MorrisseyProducer:John PorterReleased:Aug. '84, SireDid Not ChartAsked in 1984 who was the last person to see him naked,Morrisseyreplied, "Almost certainly the doctor who brought me into this cruel world." But like many of theSmiths' early singles, "William" is a tale of traumatic teen sex, in this case a tragic love triangle in a humdrum town.OutKast's Andr 3000, a huge Smiths fan, once named "William" as his absolute favorite.

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