All Up to Date and 80s Like

Blender magazine has come up with a response to last year's Rolling Stone list of "500 Greatest Songs of All Time." It's called "The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born," and I guess the idea is that it's the scrappy, with-it alternative to Rolling Stone's arguably out-of-touch heavy-on-the-classic-rock list. I couldn't say whether Blender editor Craig Marks is right when he claims his list is an answer to RS "in the great tradition of rap records." And I'm not sure it's the height of paradigm-shattering iconoclasm to put "Billie Jean" as #1 rather than "Like a Rolling Stone." (Isn't there some song from the 80s or 90s with the word "blender" in the title? Because that would have been the perfect counterpart. What's that one about that guy who wants to put his tender heart in a blender? That'd work.)

Anyway, Joe Levy, defending the RS list, says:

"The way pop music works, is that it makes an immediate impact, and often an awesome impact, but that doesn't mean it stays with you," Mr. Levy said. "Somewhere out there is someone whose life was changed by 'Yummy, Yummy, Yummy, I've Got Love in My Tummy,' but I don't know if that would make anyone's list of the Top 500 songs. The way rock 'n' roll works is it's trivial and awesome at the same time."
Joe, I'm that guy. "Yummy, Yummy, Yummy" would be near the top of my personal list of the all-time great songs, and I like it way, way more than either "Like a Rolling Stone" or "Billie Jean."

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