Dave Marsh: Song of the Year (1951-1998)

First posted 4/8/2020.

Dave Marsh Song of the Year, 1951-1998

Rock critic Dave Marsh published Book of Rock Lists in 1981. It included lists of the best songs each year from 1955 to 1980. You can see the full lists for each year here. The #1 songs from each year are listed below. In 1989, Marsh published The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made, the book I attribute to starting my fascination with music lists. A new edition in 1998 added another 101 songs to the original list. To determine the songs of the year from 1951-1954 and 1981-1998, the songs appearing in either addition of Heart of Rock & Soul were ranked based on overall status in Dave’s Music Database. Here are the results: 1951: The Dominoes “Sixty Minute Man” 1952: Lloyd Price “Lawdy Miss Clawdy” 1953: The Drifters “Money Honey” 1954: Elvis Presley “That’s All Right, Mama” 1955: Little Richard “Tutti Frutti” 1956: Elvis Presley “Heartbreak Hotel” 1957: Jerry Lee Lewis “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” 1958: Chuck Berry “Johnny B. Goode” 1959: Ray Charles “What’d I Say” 1960: Maurice Williams & the Zodiacs “Stay” 1961: Ben E. King “Stand by Me” 1962: Little Eva “The Loco-Motion” 1963: The Beach Boys “Surfin’ U.S.A.” 1964: The Righteous Brothers “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” 1965: The Rolling Stones “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” 1966: Four Tops “Reach Out (I’ll Be There)” 1967: Aretha Franklin “Respect” 1968: The Rolling Stones “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” 1969: The Jackson 5 “I Want You Back” 1970: Creedence Clearwater Revival “Who’ll Stop the Rain”/ “Travelin’ Band” 1971: The Who “Won’t Get Fooled Again” 1972: The Rolling Stones “Tumbling Dice” 1973: Dobie Gray “Drift Away” 1974: The Raspberries “Overnite Sensation (Hit Record)” 1975: Bruce Springsteen “Born to Run” 1976: Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes “Wake Up Everybody” 1977: Fleetwood Mac “Go Your Own Way” 1978: Bee Gees “Stayin’ Alive” 1979: Donna Summer “Hot Stuff” 1980: Bruce Springsteen “Hungry Heart” 1981: Joan Jett & the Blackhearts “I Love Rock and Roll” 1982: Michael Jackson “Billie Jean” 1983: The Police “Every Breath You Take” 1984: Prince “When Doves Cry” 1985: U.S.A. for Africa “We Are the World” 1986: Run-D.M.C. with Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler & Joe Perry “Walk This Way” 1987: Guns N’ Roses “Sweet Child O’ Mine” 1988: Tracy Chapman “Fast Car” 1989: De La Soul “Me, Myself and I” 1990: Sinéad O’Connor “Nothing Compares 2 U” 1991: Nirvana “Smells Like Teen Spirit” 1992: R.E.M. “Everybody Hurts” 1993: Sheryl Crow “All I Wanna Do” 1994: Boyz II Men “I’ll Make Love to You” 1995: Coolio with L.V. “Gangsta’s Paradise” 1996: Fugees “Killing Me Softly” 1997: Puff Daddy with Faith Evans & 112 “I’ll Be Missing You” 1998: Shania Twain “You’re Still the One” Resources and Related Links: Dave Marsh: Book of Rock Lists (1981) Dave Marsh: The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made (1998)