Welcome back to the show! We're counting down the Top 40 hard rock songs of all time, according to Billboard (sort of...). I'll take a moment to recap Nos. 40-31.
40. "Don't Tell Me You Love Me," Night Ranger 39. "Cumbersome," Seven Mary Three 38. "Trampled Underfoot," Led Zeppelin 37. "Back In Black," AC/DC 36. "Sweet Emotion," Aerosmith 35. "One," Metallica 34. "Black And Blue," Van Halen 33. "Live And Let Die," Guns 'N Roses 32. "Everybody Wants You," Billy Squier 31. "Metal Health (Bang Your Head)," by Quiet Riot
If you're in the dark as to what's going on, please refer to Tuesday's first half of the show for the qualifications and my self-imposed limitations during the selection process and breakdown of my results.
REWIND: The Top 40 Charting Hard-Rock Songs: Part 1
30. "Cat Scratch Fever," Ted Nugent "Comedown" by Bush is fantastic song, but that swaggering riff from Uncle Ted remains one of the best ever.
29. "Are You Gonna Be My Girl," Jet Much better than the Gunners "You Could Be Mine" and Autograph's "Turn Up the Radio."
28. "Foolin'," Def Leppard While Cream's "Crossroads" is hard to pass over, I think Joe Elliott and crew beat both it and Metallica's lackluster "The Memory Remains."
27. "Kickstart My Heart," Motley Crue It stomps out its contemporaries "Down Boys" by Warrant and "Up All Night" by Slaughter.
26. "I Can't Drive 55," Sammy Hagar I'll take this one over Winger's "Seventeen" and Foreigner's "Juke Box Hero."
25. "Rock You Like a Hurricane," Scorpions I could only find this one and the KISS classic "Christine Sixteen." There could have been 100 eligible for this position to go up against this riff and it wouldn't have mattered.
24. "Fat Bottomed Girls," Queen This one trumps the other eligible stadium-rocker released in the same year, Heart's "Heartless."
And now it's time for our Long Distance Dedication. This letter comes from A&M records in Hollywood, Calif., and it reads: Dear Casey -- during the '90s, Billboard had an Airplay chart that tracked songs that were getting heavy airplay but not released as singles. Although this song topped the Album Rock chart for seven weeks and earned song of the year on Modern Rock tracks, it failed to make the Top 40 due to timing issues regarding the release of the single.
Despite all this success, it only charted at No. 24 on the Airplay chart. Casey, would you please play "Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden and dedicate it to all their fans as an apology from us for depriving them of what would've been their only Top 40 hit? We know it would have represented that position here if it were No. 24 on the Top 40 charts.
A&M, here's your Long Distance Dedication.
The countdown continues on the next page.
