What's your 100 best?

I read a book a while back and in the story the main character had received an iPod for Christmas (tells you how old the book was), with a gift certificate for 100 downloaded songs. As a running theme throughout the book, the character added and removed songs from his list, which he was characterizing as the 100 Best Songs of the Rock Era.

He would consult with his partners and others as the story proceeded, and everyone had strong feelings about what should and should not be on the list. At the end of the book, the author listed the final selection. I copied it and took a look.

Of the 100, I was familiar with probably 90 of them (there were a few artists included that did not hit their stride until the '80s and '90s (so tell me when I stopped listening to radio). Of the 100 I agreed with about 50.

So I set out to compile my own list, and it has been quite a nostalgia trip. My "free" music source is currently Amazon Prime, and I can't always find the artists and versions of the songs I want, but somehow I have managed to download around 110 songs, though the list changes every few days as I listen and think of other music I want to include. If I consider 100 as the firm limit, I have some trimming to do.

Since I am of the generation that invented Rock and Roll, that genre dominates the list. And even if the artist's career spans several decades, I favor the "early" years, like Chuck Berry and "Maybellene" or "Memphis Tennessee." But I have to include some Peter, Paul and Mary, and Tina, (Proud Mary, of course).

And, of course, early Don and Phil and Buddy Holly in honor of all the times Bobby Knight, Phil Dye, Jerry Gibson and I spent sitting on the horse lot fence, smoking cheap cigars and singing, "Wake Up Little Suzy," and "Peggy Sue," and "Bye Bye Love." We were actually pretty good. Or so we thought.

No 100 Best list is complete without ZZ Top, Aerosmith, Hollies, Allmans, CS&N, Guess Who, Dylan and Janice. And I even included Bruce Springsteen's "Fire," the only song of his I can abide. My problem is, once I think of an artist, I want several of their songs. Sort of causes list bloat.

And then there are the anomalies; Tracy Chapman, the Pointer Sisters, the Police, John Lee Hooker, and my one concession to the modern era, Sarah McLachlan's "Angel," best listened to in the dark, along with Arlo Guthrie's "Train They Call the City of New Orleans." Lights out, for sure.

Give it some thought. What songs would be on your top 100?