THE GREATEST POPULAR MUSICAL SONG LEAD-INS OF ALL TIME:A HUMBLE OPINION
There is nothing like a great introduction. It helps when you meet new people and it helps when you hear a song. I decided to pick song introductions for this piece. I have picked a handful of tunes with great introductions and they are submitted for your approval.
Actually, I am not really looking for approval on this one.
Here are my humble choices...
No list would be complete without ‘Baker Street’ by Gerry Rafferty. Any song that opens with a blast of great sax like the introduction to ‘Baker Street’ wins every time. The rest of the song could suck, but that haunting saxophone intro would have pulled it out of the scrap heap. Incidentally, the rest of the song is also great, even if it lost out to ‘Copacabana’ as best song in the Grammies. That was the exact moment when the Grammies lost their last thin thread of credibility and atheism rates started a rapid climb.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkS169P_Eeo
‘American Woman’ has one of the best opening guitar riffs ever devised for a tune. Put a dozen beers in any guy and he will not be able to resist a blazing air guitar solo when ‘American Woman’ blasts through the nearest available speakers. Not the weak-ass Kravitz version either, this song is all Guess Who for a legitimate introduction to ‘American Woman’.http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=PnluciYGFXg&feature=related
The first time I heard ‘Whole Lotta Love’ by Led Zeppelin was at 100 plus miles per hour as a passenger in a car during the Summer of 69. We were 14 year old hitchhikers and the driver was trying to impress his girlfriend with some high speed driving in a GTX. ‘Whole Lotta Love’ was blasting on the radio and I will never forget that blazing Jimmy Page/ John Paul Jones guitar assault that opens this rock classic. And I will never forget that ride either.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_-k8A9aAlE
There was an era when giant orchestras dominated movies. One of the best opening sequences was ‘Exodus’. This instrumental classic opens with a powerful horn segment that leads into a full-on army of instruments from strings to brass. It all starts with a great beginning and ‘Exodus’ ranks among the best ever. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVZpeNGFrB8&feature=PlayList&p=AD9E3860E03560A1&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=12
The opening to ‘I Heard It Through The Grapevine’ sets the tone for the rest of the song. The opening sounds like trouble ahead, and Marvin Gaye has plenty of trouble to sing about in this song. The combination of percussion, piano and guitar is blended into an opening masterpiece with ‘I Heard It Through The Grapevine’.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hajBdDM2qdg
Let me close this piece with my final opening: ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine‘ by Guns and Roses. Slash was right on his game with the intro to this song. It was destined to be the best song ever done by these guys with a signature sound in its opening riff that stands the test of time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=P-AYAv0IoWI&feature=relatedWell done boys.
COMMENTS
ANGUS:""Notable exclusions: You Can't always get what you want-RS, One Night in Bangkok - Murray Head, Hook on a feeling - Blue Swede and last, but certainly not least, Proud Mary - Ike and Tina. "
