Signature Songs

Dedman · Post by **Dedman** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 10:11 am

Most, if not al,l commercially successful bands have a song that is their signature. A short list follows:

Rush: Tom Sawyer
Led Zepplin: Stairway to heaven
Lynerd Skynerd: Freebird
Boston: Donâ??t look back
Kansas: Dust in the wind
Nirvana: Smells like teen spirit
Beatles (clean cut): I want to hold youâ??re hand
Beatles (psychedelic): Sgt Pepper

The list can go on and on.

What is your favorite signature song? By favorite I mean, itâ??s a song that you actually like (ignore radio overplay since most of these have been played into the ground) and you think it most closely captures the bands sound and spirit.

My choice: Boston: Donâ??t look back

Stryker · Post by **Stryker** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 10:22 am

Emerson, Lake, and Palmer: Welcome Back my Friends

Flabby Chick · Post by **Flabby Chick** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 11:14 am

Barclay James Harvest--The Hymn
Chuck Berry---Johnny B Goode
Frank Sinatra---New York (i hate My Way)
U2--Sunday Bloody Sunday
Boomtown Rats--I dont like Mondays
Prince--Purple Rain
The Clash--London Calling
Billie Holliday--god bless the child

......sh1t i could go on for ever.

I guess I wanna hold your hand would be The Beatles sig' tune in the States because it was there first big hit if i'm not mistaken. In the UK i think it would be "She loves you" or "A hard days night"

Even though Bowie's (my main man) "Space oddity" would be considered his signature song, for me it would be "Rock n Roll Suicide". Thats my personal fave'.

Pun · Post by **Pun** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 3:05 pm

Bahuaus - Bela Lugosi's Dead

TheCops · Post by **TheCops** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 3:47 pm

the rolling stones - satisfaction
digital underground - humpty dance
george clinton - atomic dawg
the kinks - layla
stevie wonder - sunshine of my life
jimi hendrix - hey joe
eagles - hotel california
joni mitchell - a case of you
bob dylan - like a rolling stone
pink floyd - money

Will Robinson · Post by **Will Robinson** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 5:44 pm

The Eagles - Hotel California
Ozzy - Crazy Train
Deep Purple - Smoke on the Water
Aerosmith - Walk This Way
Francis Scott Key - The Star Spangled Banner

woodchip · Post by **woodchip** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 5:56 pm

Fats Dominoe "Blueberry Hill"
Tennessee Ernie Ford "16 Tons"
Chubby Checker "The Twist"
Temptations "My Girl"
Smokey Robinson & The Miracles "Going to a Go-Go"

Hows that? Songs are older than most of you

Defender · Post by **Defender** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 5:58 pm

Will Robinson wrote:Aerosmith - Walk This Way

I'd argue that Dream On is/was more of a signature song.

Top Gun · Post by **Top Gun** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 6:17 pm

I'd also argue about Pink Floyd. I think that Time could be considered as a signature song, as well. In fact, in their case, I think you'd have to consider the whole thing as their signature album.

TheCops · Post by **TheCops** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 6:43 pm

well what does signature mean? the most recognizable or the defining point of their career?

Will Robinson · Post by **Will Robinson** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 6:47 pm

Patsy Cline - Crazy
Willie Nelson - On The Road Again
Cream - White Room

Defender · Post by **Defender** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 9:58 pm

I'd say signature is the most recognizable.
Probably the first song (usually most popular) that comes to mind when you think of the band.

For me, The Wall comes to mind for Pink Floyd.

Sirius · Post by **Sirius** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 5:08 am

Hmm.

Collective Soul - The World I Know.

That was a good one...

Aus-RED-5 · Post by **Aus-RED-5** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 5:28 am

What no Queen - We will rock you??
Its like the thing to play for any kind of sporting event! hehe

roid · Post by **roid** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 5:59 am

Red Hot Chillie Peppers - under the bridge
Dire Straights - money for nothing
Blur - coffee and tv
GreenDay - when i come around
Prodigy - firestarter
Rage Against the Machine - killing in the name of
The Cruel Sea - takin' all day
The Offspring - self esteem
Spiderbait - buy me a pony
Jane's Addiction - been caught stealing
President's of the United States of America - Peaches
Regurgitator - i sucked a lot of cock to get where i am
Violent Femmes - blister in the sun

signature songs are prettymuch dictated by radioplay yes? because when i think of the beatles i can't narrow down their sig song to hey joe - i was never exposed to the beatles via radio, but rather via file sharing. the internet screws with the very fabric of the music industry yet again

music thesedays is becomming a hell of a lot more personal for me. my personally chosen signature songs for all of the above would be different to what i've written there (which is more "signature songs - AND THE SURVEY SAYS!"). i hope that isn't what you actually wanted Dedman.

was John Lennon's "imagine" considered to be a Beatles song?

DCrazy · Post by **DCrazy** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 9:17 am

Barenaked Ladies - One Week
Billy Joel - Piano Man (or maybe Scenes from an Italian Restaurant)
Black Sabbath - Iron Man
Blue Oyster Cult - Don't Fear the Reaper
Bon Jovi - Livin' on a Prayer
Boston - More than a Feelin'
Chicago - 25 or 6 to 4
Coldplay - Clocks
Dire Straits - Sultans of Swing
The Doors - Riders on the Storm (The End? LA Woman? this one's tough)
Dream Theater - Home
Edgar Winter - Frankenstein
ELO - Don't Bring Me Down
Foo Fighters - Everlong
Godsmack - Alive
The Guess Who - American Woman
Guns N' Roses - Sweet Child of Mine
Hootie & The Blowfish - Hold My Hand
Kiss - I Want To Rock and Roll All Night
R.E.M. - Losing my Religion

TheCops wrote: the kinks - layla

That was Derek and the Dominoes, not the Kinks. The Kinks' signature song would be You Really Got Me. Maybe you were thinking of "Lola"?

Genghis · Post by **Genghis** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 9:59 am

I'll try to hit ones nobody else has yet:

AC/DC: Back in Black
Allman Bros: Melissa or Whipping Post?
Asia: Heat of the Moment
BTO: Taking care of Business
Bad Co: Shooting Star
Jackson Browne: Running on Empty
Elvis Costello: Alison
Cheap Trick: Surrender or I Want You to Want Me
Def Leppard: Photograph
The Doobies: China Grove
ELP: Karn Evil 9: 1st Impression - Part 2 (or as Stryker calls it: Welcome Back My Friends)
Heart: Barracuda
Hendrix: Purple Haze
Jefferson Airplane: White Rabbit
Jethro Tull: Aqualung
Living Colour: Open Letter to a Landlord
Night Ranger (heh!): Sister Christian
Lou Reed: Walk on the Wild Side
Simon & Garfunkel: Bridge Over Troubled Water
Spinal Tap: Big Bottom (heh!)
Steely Dan: Reeling in the Years
Steppenwolf: Born to be Wild
Cat Stevens: Wild World
STP: Plush
Styx: Come Sail Away
George Thorogood: Bad to the Bone
Van Halen: (I can't choose just one)
Joe Walsh: Life's Been Good to Me
The Who: Baba O'Reily? Pinball Wizard? Won't Get Fooled Again? Who Are You? Bastards were too good.
Yes: I've Seen All Good People
Zappa: Joe's Garage
Warren Zevon: Werewolves of London

WarAdvocat · Post by **WarAdvocat** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 10:05 am

The argument about signature songs is silly. Some bands/groups/artists have more than one "signature song". It's not that difficult of a concept...

Here's an example by analogy:

Burger King has The Whopper.

McDonald's has the Big Mac, chicken McNuggets, The Quarter Pounder and the Happy Meal.

Anyhow.. back on topic..

Simon & Garfunkel - "The Sound(s) of Silence"

TheCops · Post by **TheCops** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 10:47 am

DCrazy wrote:
TheCops wrote: the kinks - layla
That was Derek and the Dominoes, not the Kinks. The Kinks' signature song would be You Really Got Me. Maybe you were thinking of "Lola"?

you are right.
and i've been listening to the kinks perty heavy for a couple of weeks. i'm a jackass.

Will Robinson · Post by **Will Robinson** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 11:17 am

Genghis must be a bit younger than I am because I'd put Joe Walsh with Rocky Mountain Way instead of Life's Been Good and I'd put AC/DC with Highway to Hell instead of Back in Black.

TheCops · Post by **TheCops** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 11:46 am

i think chris is right. "signature" means different things to different people. like i would certainly put "the rain song" by zeppelin as their sig piece... but the light music fan would always say "stairway to heaven" or "black dog".

and don't even get me started on the "purple rain" thing... prince has such a varied catalogue of styles you can't pin down that ★■◆●.... funny thing is it's the same friggin' linn drum machine running the click from the 1999 album until like 5 years later. his bootlegs are so incredible compared to his released work you canâ??t really call â??purple rainâ?

DCrazy · Post by **DCrazy** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 12:12 pm

Yeah, I was actually going to pick a song from De-Loused and put it up there, but it was just impossible.

I think you'd have to split Zep up into two categories like the Beatles. Early Zep is heavily influenced by blues, whereas later Zep is, if anything other than creative, more influenced by funk. Early Zep would probably be defined by Communications Breakdown (or maybe Black Dog?) whereas later Zep would be Stairway, No Quarter, Rain Song, Kashmir, Ten Years Gone, Achilles Last Stand, etc. I would consider all of those songs equal.

You know, I can't say that I am entirely against the use of computers in music. Aside from synthesizers and stuff, there are legitimate uses for drum machines, etc. I mean, there's no way to play Pink Floyd live without pre-recorded tracks, and I know of a bunch of songs where the drummer would need five limbs to play the part.

TheCops · Post by **TheCops** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 12:45 pm

heh, since i'm a troll today...

i'm not against technology used in music. but it sure let's a lot of clowns with no rhythm or pitch get into the mix.

it's annoying that you don't have to be aware of rhythm and pitch to produce a sound. i am proudly old school... and don't expect people to understand my position. but unplug yourself, the power company shut you off, it's WW3 and you have to entertain. you are fucked. if you can't roll with an acoustic guitar or a piano and a voice, or just your voice you are a dependent.

thatâ??s my opinionâ?¦ but it ain't gonna change the world. they will roll right over me.

;-0

woodchip · Post by **woodchip** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 1:10 pm

I have to agree with Cops on this (don't go choke'n your chicken over this Copsy). Back in the fifties it was common for a group of guys to get togeather and sing acapella. No instruments, only vocal harmonics. In short when I grew up it was a persons ability to sing and then the musicals that sold records. My brother-in-law was the lead singer with the Reflections (sig. song "Just Like Romeo & Juliet") and when I hear him carry a long note it is really cool (he still sings with the "Laradoes"). Compare him to some of the "singers" of today and it is easy to see what is lacking.

TheCops · Post by **TheCops** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 1:19 pm

★■◆● woody,
we ain't typing bull★■◆● rightwing politics that don't include you. you are aware of the fact your right wing brothers could give a ★■◆● less if you live or die, right?

your brother in law is old school... that's cool as helll. if he wants to make the trip to minneapolis i can try to write something with him... but it is gonna end up sounding like duke ellington, or prince, or bob dylan.

woodchip · Post by **woodchip** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 1:29 pm

TheCops wrote:**** woody,
we ain't typing bull**** rightwing politics that don't include you. you are aware of the fact your right wing brothers could give a **** less if you live or die, right?

Sorry I said I agreed with you.

Fusion · Post by **Fusion** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 4:18 pm

Defender wrote:I'd say signature is the most recognizable.
Probably the first song (usually most popular) that comes to mind when you think of the band.

Rich Mullins- Awesome God
Carman- many songs come to mind, The Champion for one

Fus

Phoenix Red · Post by **Phoenix Red** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 8:56 pm

Iron Maiden: the number of the beast (maybe flight of icarus?)
Pearl Jam: alive
Disturbed: the sickness (even though their new stuff is better)
Judas Priest: breaking the law
Metallica: master of puppets (ick)

I think of Paint It Black before I think of Satisfaction but that's just me.

Dcrazy: I believe the Godsmack song you mean is Awake.

JMEaT · Post by **JMEaT** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 9:02 pm

Jimmy Buffett: Margaritaville

roid · Post by **roid** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 10:04 pm

cops, the trance i'm listening to right now dies in a power outage.

but it could theoretically be kept going. it's rare to see people bounce on tribal drums live, but i'm sure with some engineering it could be done eh.

tell me, what do YOU know about electricity-free amplification?

heh, not much more than me.

(ie: could a bullhorn be used to amplify a child-smooth voice)

heh, now i can't stop thinking contigency plans:
tribal drums - bullhorns - pipeorgans.

Beowulf · Post by **Beowulf** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 11:18 pm

The Doors - Light my fire (or 5 to 1)
Nine Inch Nails - Closer
I'd agree with Sgt. Pepper's for the Beatle's LSD years, but one could also argue Abby Road or Revolution Number Nine.

Prince - I think of 1999 as Prince's real "signature" song, though its by far not his best. I couldn't even think of my favorite Prince song because I can't think of one I dislike.

Pink Floyd is either Money or Another Brick in the Wall.

Bluesy Led Zepp would be Bring it on Home, When the Levy Breaks, Lemon Song.

There are lots more but I don't feel like typing it all out

Sirius · Post by **Sirius** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 1:05 am

Hmm... I'd say Metallica's "Enter Sandman" is probably a better known work than Master of Puppets...

...and honestly, for good reason. Master of Puppets was an awful sort of disconnected mish-mash of a song. Kind of like a failed attempt at the progressive genre...

Well, okay, it wasn't all that bad, but it certainly doesn't hold my interest very long. They've done much better works.

I would be tempted to enter Queensryche's "Silent Lucidity" in here as well, but I won't. It's a very good song, but it's simply stupid to say it was a signature considering 95% of their work didn't even sound similar. Unfortunately it's the only song, period, that gets any play time over here so I have no idea what to pick...

Lothar · Post by **Lothar** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 1:25 am

Bach - Toccata and Fugue in D minor
From Here to There - You can have my heart
Audio Adrenaline - Chevette
PfR - Goldie's Last Day
DC Talk - Jesus Freak
Room Full of Walters - Jeffrey Dahmer Went to Heaven
Petra - God Gave Rock and Roll to You (originally written by Argent, IIRC, and also performed by KISS.)
Mercy Me - I Can Only Imagine

World War Woodi · Post by **World War Woodi** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 2:54 am

Radio play ??????? pffffft

Slayer Chemical Warfare
Pantera Im Broken
Type o Negative Black number 1
Living Colour has got to be Cult Of Personality
Green Day Brainstew
Stevie Ray Vaughn Little Wing
Primer 55 Get Loose
Ratt Lay it Down
Mozart Greensleeves
Bethoven 5th symphony
Randy Travis On the other hand
Garth Brooks Rodeo
The Pixies Where is my mind
Sublime Badfish
Descent 1 Playstation one vers. Level 7

Metallica One , or For whom the bell tolls
The Ramones I wanna be sedated
Nine inch nails closer
Filter Trip like I do
and on and on

WarAdvocat · Post by **WarAdvocat** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 10:40 am

let me chime in: Barber's "Adagio for Strings", which was put to beautiful use in the video game "Homeworld" and is now featured in a techno remix.

Beowulf · Post by **Beowulf** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 6:32 pm

The Tetris Themesong!

Zuruck · Post by **Zuruck** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 1:56 pm

It's funny reading what people think they can say about Zeppelin. They were not a band with a couple good songs, every single album, every single song would pretty much destroy anything that is out there today. A lot of older bands for that matter, Pink Floyd, Thin Lizzy, the Stones, you name it. Seems like everyone just posts their favorite songs instead of what is the signature. Wouldn't you have to say Zep's "Rock n roll" would be signature. It's all over the tv and everything now.

DCrazy, Pink floyd played their music live. It's about having musicians that can actually play what you hear on the record, and not having the song written for you and pre-recorded with all the tracks. In other words, you're a musician, don't write what you can't play. If you must have something taped in, have it as keys or something, don't use extra percussion, it's gay anyways to do that. If you don't have a keyboardist, find one...they are out there. What did Pink floyd do on their animals tour when they finally started writing stuff that necessitated more guitar? They hired Snowy White to stand in the background and play. With that said, When the Levee Breaks or All My love, or maybe tea for one as the quintessential zeppelin song. but they are all good, crappy question.

JMEaT · Post by **JMEaT** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 4:00 pm

Beowulf wrote:The Tetris Themesong!

++

DCrazy · Post by **DCrazy** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 5:19 pm

Zur, try playing On The Run live. You're not going to blow up an airplane on stage every time.

What I'm saying is that pre-recorded effects have their place even in live performances. I can understand if you need a backup or synthesizer part to really complete the song, that doesn't bother me.

Phoenix Red · Post by **Phoenix Red** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 5:33 pm

Oh speaking of Prince, I always think raspberry beret first, then Kiss.

Sirius: Puppets isn't a very good song I know, but do you *really* think it's not their most famous?