Jim “The Critic” Voigt will tell you he has hundreds of favorite songs. We asked him to narrow it down to his top 100 now. “I’m not saying they’re THE greatest,” he qualifies.
“But they’re MY favorites.”
To make the exercise a challenge, we asked for the songs in order of preference. His list includes 20 songs from the 1950s and ’60s as well as 20 each from the four decades that followed.
Enjoy the Critic’s playlist here.
100. “Evil” – Interpol
99. “Alone again or” – Love
98. “Favorite shirt” – The Figgs
97. “Stay with me” – The Dictators
96. “The new world” – X
95. “Inside of love” – Nada Surf
94. “Simmer down” – The Wailers
93. “Haven’t got a clue” – Dramarama
92. “Radio radio” – Elvis Costello
91. “Everyday things” – The Plimsouls
90. “Baby goes to 11” – Superdrag
89. “Break on through” – The Doors
88. “American music” – Violent Femmes
87. “Dreaming” – Blondie
86. “Touch me I’m sick” – Mudhoney
85. “King of diamonds” – Motopony
84. “Jailhouse rock” – Elvis Presley
83. “It’s a shame about Ray” – The Lemonheads
82. “Down on the street” – The Stooges
81. “Absolutely sweet Marie” – Jason and the Scorchers
80. “Keg on my coffin” – The Push Stars
79. “I’ll feel a whole lot better” – The Byrds
78. “Jimmy’s fantasy” – Redd Kross
77. “Ridin’ in my car” – NRBQ
76. “In between days” – The Cure
75. “Hate to say I told you so” – The Hives
74. “I saw her again” – The Mamas & the Papas
73. “Time bomb” – The Old 97’s
72. “Marquee moon” – Television
71. “If I should fall from grace with God” – The Pogues
70. “Better off now that you’re gone” – Will Hoge
69. “Hot fun in the summertime” – Sly & the Family Stone
68. “Evangeline” – Matthew Sweet
67. “Dance the night away” – Van Halen
66. “How much more” – The Go-Go’s
65. “She doesn’t like weed” – The Dugans
64. “Sunday morning” – The Velvet Underground
63. “Breed” – Nirvana
62. “Roadrunner” – The Modern Lovers
61. “Another nail in my heart” – Squeeze
60. “I need love” – Courtney Jaye
59. “It came out of the sky” – Creedence Clearwater Revival
58. “Backwater” – The Meat Puppets
57. “Don’t come close” – The Ramones
56. “Everyday is like Sunday” – Morrissey
55. “That’s me trying” – William Shatner and Ben Folds
54. “Folsom Prison blues” – Johnny Cash
53. “The wagon” – Dinosaur Jr.
52. “On your radio” – Joe Jackson
51. “I could never take the place of your man” – Prince
50. “Ball and biscuit” – The White Stripes
49. “Roll over Beethoven” – Chuck Berry
48. “There you are” – Goo Goo Dolls
47. “No matter what” – Badfinger
46. “Gardening at night” – R.E.M.
45. “I never knew you” – The Avett Brothers
44. “Sweet thing” – Van Morrison
43. “Blue canoe” – Blue Mountain
42. “Hanging on the telephone”
– The Nerves
41. “Makes no sense at all” – Husker Du
40. “You’re no rock n’ roll fun” – Sleater Kinney
39. “Subterranean homesick blues” – Bob Dylan
38. “Sooner or later” – The Feelies
37. “Safe European home” – The Clash
36. “Monkey gone to heaven” – Pixies
35. “Portland, Oregon” – Loretta Lynn and Jack White
34. “So sad about us” – The Who
33. “Radiation Vibe” – Fountains of Wayne
32. “Cruel to be kind” – Nick Lowe
31. “Sink hole” – Drive-By Truckers
30. “19th nervous breakdown” – The Rolling Stones
29. “The long cut” – Uncle Tupelo
28. “God save the Queen” – The Sex Pistols
27. “Fisherman’s blues” – The Waterboys
26. “Small doses” – Watershed
25. “Waterloo sunset” – The Kinks
24. “Baby what’s wrong” – The Cynics
23. “Girl of my dreams” – Bram Tchaikovsky
22. “Sometime to return” – Soul Asylum
21. “South” – Hippo Campus
20. “God only knows” – The Beach Boys
19. “Cut your hair” – Pavement
18. “Teenage kicks” – The Undertones
17. “Kid” – The Pretenders
16. “I wanna know girls” – Portastatic
15. “You just may be the one” – The Monkees
14. “Blue” – The Jayhawks
13. “Another girl, another planet” – The Only Ones
12. “Judas kiss” – The Del Lords
11. “Portions for foxes” – Rilo Kiley
10. “A hard day’s night” – The Beatles
9. “Born with a tail” – Supersuckers
8. “Ball and chain” – Social Distortion
7. “Take the skinheads bowling” – Camper Van Beethoven
6. “Chasing Heather crazy” – Guided By Voices
5. “Communication breakdown” – Led Zeppelin
4. “September Gurls” – Big Star
3. “Left in the dark” – The Vertebrats
2. “Starry eyes” – The Records
1. “Bastards of young” – The Replacements
What the Critic Missed
The beauty of lists of favorites is they are personal choices informed by a life of listening. A value of lists is that they may open new tunes and bands for you to experience, just as The Critic exposes listeners to every week through his Sunday “The Critic’s Choice” radio show (105.5 FM, The Bridge). For example, we’d forgotten how good some songs are (“God only knows,” “Gardening at night”) and we found some bands not on our radar (Blue Mountain, Will Hogue, The Hives).
So we hope the list sparks some thought — and some discussion — about what songs or artists The Critic failed to include. For example, where are tunes from The English Beat, XTC, Foo Fighters, Cake, The B-52s, The Jam, the Allman Brothers, Romeo Void and The Police? But then again, what would you omit?
You can listen to the Critic’s 100 top picks online at charlestoncitypaper.com.
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