Not one hit wonders by any means, but...

[swee'pea99]

Listening to an old compilation and bumped into Superstition, which I've always thought of as in a sense the Stevie Wonder track, just as Moondance is the Van Morrison track and Bridge Over Troubled Water the Simon & Garfunkel track.

Is it just me or do others also regard certain tracks as 'definitive' like this....by which I mean not necessarily the biggest, much less the best, (nor do all bands/artists have one) but sort of defining tracks in some vague sense. God Save The Queen by the Sex Pistols, I Don't Like Mondays by the Boomtown Rats, that 'sort of thing' (whatever that is)?

 

[ACS]

As in

Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin

Don't fear the reaper - Blue Oyster Cult

Free Bird - Lynyrd Skynyrd

Smoke on the water - Deep Purple

Bohemian Rhapsody -Queen

 

[swee'pea99]

Exactly! Excellent examples.

 

[TVC]

Riders on the Storm - The Doors

Waterloo Sunset - Oasis The Kinks

Sexy Boy - Air

That's Entertainment - The Jam

 

[ACS]

Signature Songs

 

[Midnight]

Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd (first time I heard the Scisssor sisters cover, I actually thought it was a wind-up)

All Along The Watchtower - Hendrix (even Dylan said he prefered Hendrix's version)

House Of The Rising Sun - Animals

Blueberry Hill - Fats Domino

 

[Archie_tect]

Virginia Plain - Roxy Music
I'm not in Love - 10cc
Killer Queen - Queen [prefer it to B Rhapsody]
Man with the Child in his Eyes - Kate Bush
Lippy Kids - Elbow

...there'd be hundreds more if only I could think of them all.

...me- stuck in the late 70s? How dare you!

It's just my recollection of 2 compilation tapes I had at the time.

 

[Dayvo]

Solsbury Hill - Peter Gabriel

Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd

The Logical Song - Supertramp

Blinded by the Light - Manfred Mann's Earth Band

Save a Prayer - Duran Duran

Bitter Sweet Symphony - The Verve

Tub Thumping - Chumbawamba


There are SO many

 

[TheDoctor]

Trans Europe Express by Kraftwerk.
It's the quintessential Kraftwerk soundscape IMHO.


Tarkus by ELP.
Pomp rock at its most overblown and nonsensical, with the possible exception of Karn Evil 9, which is the most baffling thing I've ever heard.

I have a very sad music collection...

 

[Dayvo]

Mr Blue Sky - ELO

 

[PBancroft]

Meat Loaf - I'd do Anything For Love (But I Won't do That)

Sure, he is known for the Bat out of Hell series as a whole, but I think this is his stand out tune. Great video too.

 

[Fnaar]

A lot of Dexys fans really can't stand Come On Eileen

 

[Andy in Sig]

Happy - Keith Richards (it's actually the Stones but he gets to sing a song on every album). Mind you, Run Run Rudolph is a close second.

How Soon Is Now? - The Smiths

Love Cats - The Cure

Won't Get Fooled Again - The Who

 

[ianrauk]

Riders on the Storm - The Doors

Waterloo Sunset - Oasis The Kinks

Sexy Boy - Air

That's Entertainment - The Jam

I would say Going Underground....

 

[ianrauk]

Ace Of Spades - Motorhead
Born In The USA - Bruce Springsteen
You're So Vain - Carly Simon
Paranoid - Black Sabbath
Gimmie All Your Lovin' - ZZ Top
All Right Now - Free