The 18 Greatest Rock Songs of the 1960s
Fuzz-box riffs, orchestral crescendos and singles that broke every radio rule of their decade. Cast your vote.
1Like a Rolling Stone
Bob Dylan's six-minute 1965 single that broke the three-minute radio rule and his own folk contract at once.
1000pts
2(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
The 1965 Rolling Stones single built on Keith Richards' fuzz-box riff, written half-asleep in a hotel room.
771pts
3Hey Jude
The Beatles' 1968 single, seven minutes long with a four-minute singalong coda, and their biggest-selling US hit.
679pts
4Strawberry Fields Forever
The Beatles' 1967 single, two takes in different keys and tempos spliced into one recording.
647pts
5Purple Haze
Jimi Hendrix's 1967 breakthrough single and the sound of the electric guitar being rewired in public.
560pts
6Gimme Shelter
The Rolling Stones' 1969 opener to Let It Bleed, with Merry Clayton's vocal cracking on the second chorus.
485pts
7Fortunate Son
Creedence Clearwater Revival's 1969 two-minute broadside against inherited privilege.
485pts
8For What It's Worth
Buffalo Springfield's 1966 single, two harmonics and a warning that outlived its own decade.
485pts
9You Really Got Me
The Kinks' 1964 single, whose slashed speaker cone gave rock its first distorted power chord.
397pts
10All Along the Watchtower
Hendrix's 1968 reading of a Dylan song, so definitive that Dylan started playing it Hendrix's way.
397pts
11A Day in the Life
The closing track of Sgt. Pepper, two unfinished songs joined by a 40-piece orchestral crescendo.
397pts
12Sunshine of Your Love
Cream's 1967 riff, Eric Clapton's answer to hearing Hendrix play live for the first time.
291pts
13White Rabbit
Jefferson Airplane's 1967 bolero that turns Alice in Wonderland into a psychedelic manifesto.
291pts
14Waterloo Sunset
Ray Davies' 1967 Kinks single, the most English three minutes of the decade.
291pts
15My Generation
The Who's 1965 statement of intent, complete with a stutter and John Entwistle's bass solo.
291pts
16Whole Lotta Love
Led Zeppelin's 1969 calling card, with a theremin breakdown dropped into the middle of a blues riff.
162pts
17Light My Fire
The Doors' 1967 number one, carried by Ray Manzarek's organ and a two-minute instrumental centre.
162pts
18Good Vibrations
Brian Wilson's 1966 pocket symphony for the Beach Boys, assembled from sessions at four studios.
162pts
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