Top 50 Boston Songs

From Boston Magazine:

1. The Cars, Just What I Needed (1978)
2. Pixies, Debaser (1989)
3. Aerosmith, Dream On (1973)
4. Boston, More Than a Feeling (1976)
5. The Neighborhoods, Prettiest Girl (1991)
6. The Modern Lovers, Roadrunner (1976)
7. Til Tuesday, Voices Carry (1985)
8. Mission of Burma, That's When I Reach for My Revolver (1981)
9. The Lemonheads, It's a Shame About Ray (1992)
10. Throwing Muses, Delicate Cutters (1986)
11. Dinosaur Jr., Freak Scene (1988)
12. The Real Kids, All Kindsa Girls (1977)
13. Lyres, Help You Ann (1984)
14. J. Geils Band, Centerfold (1981)
15. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Where'd You Go? (1992)
16. Juliana Hatfield, My Sister (1993)
17. Donna Summer, Love to Love You Baby (1975)
18. Carly Simon, You're So Vain (1972)
19. James Taylor, Sweet Baby James (1970)
20. Tracy Chapman, Fast Car (1988)
21. Bonnie Raitt, I Can't Make You Love Me (1991)
22. Pixies, Where Is My Mind? (1988)
23. Dropkick Murphys, Barroom Hero (1998)
24. Boston, Rock and Roll Band (1976)
25. Robin Lane and the Chartbusters, When Things Go Wrong (1980)
26. Pixies, Gigantic (1988)
27. Extreme, More Than Words (1990)
28. Aerosmith, Mama Kin (1973)
29. James Taylor, Fire and Rain (1970)
30. Morphine, Cure for Pain (1993)
31. Buffalo Tom, Taillights Fade (1992)
32. Pixies, Dig for Fire (1990)
33. Human Sexual Response, Land of the Glass Pine Cones (1981)
34. The Atlantics, Lonelyhearts (bet. 1979-83)
35. Mission of Burma, Academy Fight Song (1981)
36. The Mighty Mighty Bostones, The Impression That I Get (1997)
37. Willie "Loco" Alexander, Mass. Ave. (bet. 1975-91)
38. Godsmack, Keep Away (1998)
39. SS Decontrol, How Much Art (1982)
40. Gang Green, Alcohol (1986)
41. Staind, It's Been Awhile (2001)
42. The Outlets, Knock Me Down (1999)
43. The Dresden Dolls, Coin-Operated Boy (2004)
44. J. Geils Band, Musta Got Lost (1974)
45. The Sheila Devine, Hum (1999)
46. Belly, Feed the Tree (1993)
47. Human Sexual Response, What Does Sex Mean to Me? (1980)
48. DYS, Wolfpack (1983)
49. La Peste, Better Off Dead (1996)
50. Letters to Cleo, Awake (1995)

46. Belly, Feed the Tree (1993)

From RI, not Boston. And Letters to Cleo should be much higher. The Sheila Divine? C'mon.

Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:
43. The Dresden Dolls, Coin-Operated Boy (2004)

i just threw up a little in my mouth

Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:
41. Staind, It's Been Awhile (2001)

Ooh! A kind of recent record! Boston mag's sly declaration of new classic-status slipped into a list of old classics! Nice!!

Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:
14. J. Geils Band, Centerfold (1981)

Glad to see they placed high, but there are certainly plenty of better J. Geils Band songs than that one.

47. Human Sexual Response, What Does Sex Mean to Me? (1980)

Nice, but I would have chosen "Jackie Onassis" over this one.

Dinosaur Jr. aren't from Boston, either.

And I thought this was going to be a ranking of the top 50 songs from the band Boston…

There should be a whole lot more Aerosmith songs on there.

Originally posted by redsock:
The Sheila Divine? C'mon.

I agree – they should be ranked much higher.

and Staind is from Springfield…

but didnt Dino Jr. (and Staind) while not FROM Boston actually get their start in the Hub?

Every single lame band in New England tries to claim they are from Boston, like it's going to help their following or something. Guster, Dispatch, etc. I wasn't a huge fan but at least Phish never bought into that crap.

Originally posted by frenchpiece:
Every single lame band in New England tries to claim they are from Boston, like it's going to help their following or something. Guster, Dispatch, etc. I wasn't a huge fan but at least Phish never bought into that crap.

so where you're "from".

is that where the band members were born, were they went to high school, where they met, where they formed, or where they played most of their shows en route to being signed and what not??

if you are a band from Bucksfucktown New Hampshire…you're playing most of your shows in Boston!!!

49. La Peste, Better Off Dead (1996)

i'm glad to see the ultra-obscure la peste even made this list, though "better off dead" should be in the top five, without a doubt. also, it originally came out in 1978; 1996 was the matador posthumous compilation.

it is also a crime that come – and to a lesser extent, their forebears uzi and dangerous birds – failed to make the list. thalia zedek is responsible for some of the best music made in boston.

where's galaxie 500? helium? damon & naomi? volcano suns? willard grant conspiracy? nervous eaters? DMZ?

extreme? godsmack? staind? james taylor? what a fucking joke…

the other bands they got right are mission of burma, pixies, modern lovers, real kids, human sexual response, the neighborhoods, morphine, and the lyres.

not sure, but i think throwing muses were mostly based in rhode island, and dinosaur jr have always been based in western mass.

yeah, i lived in boston for six years…

Phish were from Burlington, VT, making them a Montreal band, not a Boston band.

Originally posted by frenchpiece:
Every single lame band in New England tries to claim they are from Boston, like it's going to help their following or something. Guster, Dispatch, etc. I wasn't a huge fan but at least Phish never bought into that crap.

If your band is from BFN New Hampshire, you are probably not playing "most" of your gigs in Boston until you can afford the gas. The smaller NE college towns are way more convenient and cheaper for building an initial following.

Shouldn't the Del Fuegos be in their somewhere?

I remember in the Fall of my freshman year at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, there was a three band bill on campus; the Del Fuegos, the Neigborhoods, and I forget the third band. Good times.

Originally posted by Etan de Balzac, Footie Ball Player:
Shouldn't the Del Fuegos be in their somewhere?

I remember in the Fall of my freshman year at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, there was a three band bill on campus; the Del Fuegos, the Neigborhoods, and I forget the third band. Good times.

My best-friend went to WPI. When were you there?

Originally posted by snailhook:
not sure, but i think throwing muses were mostly based in rhode island,

Missed them on the list, they are also most certainly from RI. We don't have enough bands from little Rhodie, not gonna let Boston steal all the good ones.

Let's be honest – Rhode Island is really just a suburb of Boston.

actually, for the last decade, i think providence has had a superior, more vital scene than boston. i'll take lightning bolt, six finger satellite, and arab on radar over any band in boston recently.

another good boston band unmentioned is wheat. they had a couple of great songs on a couple of good albums.

Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:
From Boston Magazine:

5. The Neighborhoods, Prettiest Girl (1991)
8. Mission of Burma, That's When I Reach for My Revolver (1981)
13. Lyres, Help You Ann (1984)
28. Aerosmith, Mama Kin (1973)
35. Mission of Burma, Academy Fight Song (1981)

Wow, love that list. My faves are above. Gawd, I loved the Neighborhoods, so glad they made the Top 5. We all thought they would be HUGE. But wait, 1991? Don't think so. Gotta be 1981, right? I wish I had a way to listen to Prettiest Girl.