It is frequently said that music is a great leveller, an artform that can unite individuals and communities with a universal message, profound delivery or even a simple cadence. The musical landscape of the last century has been one of discovery and unimaginable change, with the birth of countless genres and the release of epoch-defining songs by a wide variety of talented and revered musicians-turned-global sensations.
Many publications have made it their task to rank and qualify the greatest songs of the twentieth century, seeking to quantify the creativity of the 1900s and pinpoint its pinnacle. But for many, ranking music is something of a crime, belying the subjective, qualitative nature of music itself. As such, this miniscule sample of recent history’s heaviest hitters appear in no particular order, all sharing in common the profound effect they had on critics, fans and music itself in the last 70 years. With the continued resurgence in popularity of vinyl records, not to mention a thriving second-hand market, the availability of the following hits in vinyl format is assured, meaning they can still be enjoyed in the way they were likely designed to be.
Wouldn’t It Be Nice – The Beach Boys
Wouldn’t It Be Nice is one of The Beach Boys’ defining works, and the opening track to the album widely considered to be Brian Wilson’s finest work: Pet Sounds. The album as a whole was directly inspired by another popular band with whom The Beach Boys had been vying for the charts at the time, being none other than The Beatles. Their album Rubber Soul gave Wilson the inspiration to write a cohesive concept album from start to finish, chock-full of ground-breaking instrumentation and arrangement, and heart-breaking lyricism. Wilson’s efforts had an incalculable effect on music, and Wouldn’t It Be Nice stands today as one of the most effective love songs ever written.
Smells Like Teen Spirit – Nirvana
Nirvana had been making waves for some time before the release of their totemic single Smells Like Teen Spirit in 1991. The single built on their brand of abrasive, riff-laden rock music, which itself was born out of a rich and diverse countercultural music scene in America in the late 1980s. Then-obscure acts like The Melvins had been experimenting with heavy alternative sounds to critical acclaim; Nirvana brought that dynamic, spiked with the energy of The Pixies and Smashing Pumpkins, to the charts with an unexpected hit that immediately altered the future of music, paving the way for contemporary rock artists to thrive.
Respect – Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin’s Respect made it to the coveted number 1 spot on Rolling Stone’s Top 500 Songs of All Time list – an impressive feat that belies its sheer importance to music history. The song was originally Otis Redding’s, but Franklin’s performance of it in 1967 divorced it from Redding and rendered it an instant hit. It is commonly attributed to the true birth of soul music, having distilled the raw emotional energy of the blues and the breakneck musicianship of big-band Motown to create something vibrant and new.
