Number 17
Song & Artist: Baba O'Riley - The Who
Album & Date: Who's Next - 14th August 1971
Nationality of band: English
Members at release: Dave Arbus (Violin - English), Roger Daltry (Lead Vocals - English), John Entwistle (Bass Guitar - English), Keith Moon (Drums - English) & Pete Townshend (Vocals, Piano, Guitar - English

YouTube:

 

My rant;

To be honest, I was late getting into The Who despite Navy Jase constantly banging on about their awesomeness as we grew up. I knew of the band, and in my research for this RockBlog (many moons ago...) I noticed that this song is on a lot of peoples lists but because of my WhoPhobia I discounted even listening to the track.

Then one Tuesday watching Rockstar Supernova Ryan Starr busted out a fairly credible version of the song and not much later I started watching House on DVD and there is a great scene in season one where House and the black millionaire dude have a disagreement and this song is being played at the time.

From there I put it on repeat playlist and ever since then it has been creeping up the list to it's current position. In 10 years it might ever be higher, who knows....

This song is sensational, it starts off with a jingle and builds up with all manner of instrument as it heads into some of the most inspirational lyrics around. 'I don't need to fight, to prove that I'm right, I don't need to be forgiven'. I think that those lyrics alone are one of the reasons that this song is so high in my opinion. It's kind of how I live my life.

Also, given the teenage wastland line, it would have been really interesting to have been a teenager when it came out. Instead I was lucky enough to be teenager with Kurt Cobain being the main figure, which is also interesting because he once said 'I hope I die before I turn into Pete Townshend....

The way song ends seems like the mirror image of the beginning and I always want to play it again. I'm pretty sure there won't be any more of The Who on this list (It does change from time to time) but for the meantime, play the video above and just enjoy a moment of magical music.

Bands: (multiple band entrys ARE counted twice)

9 - England
8 - America

Band Members Country of Origin: (multiple band entrys ARE counted twice)

38 - England
29 - America
2 - Germany
1 - Tanzania

Decade Released

10 - 90's
4 - 70's
2 - 60's
1 - 00's

Year Released

2 - 1994
2 - 1997
2 - 1993
2 - 1995
2 - 1991
2 - 1971
1 - 1975
1 - 1965
1 - 1979
1 - 1968
1 - 2006


Genre:
5 - Alternative
4 - Grunge
4 - Rock
1 - Punk
1 - Glam Rock
1 - Post Grunge
1 - BritPop(Rock)