Buttmunker

There are hundreds of artists with memorable songs under their belts - but, nine times out of ten, there is one song that defines the group/artist. The Signature Song, if you will. It doesn't always necessarily mean that their chart-topper is their Signature song. Two quick examples would be:

1) Sisqo's Signature Song is Thong Song, which peaked at #3 in 2000. A few months later, he scored his first No.1 with Incomplete.

2)ELO had their Signature Song with Evil Woman, although it was not their highest-charting single (the song went to #10).

Naturally, most Signature Songs were also the artist's No.1 hit, and will always be remembered for that one song, even if they had others.

1) Baby Come Back by Player (also hit #10 with "This Time I'm In It For Love," a song I've never heard on the radio)

2) Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice (also hit #4 with "Play That Funky Music")

What other one song do you associate as a band/artist's defining song?

For some, it would be hard: people like Billy Joel, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Elton John, etc have so many popular songs, but to every person in this forum, each must have a defining song - not necessarily their best song, but a song that you hear most often on the radio.

fallow

I've always associated Billy Joel with "Uptown Girl" and "Piano Man."

The Beatles and The Stones are tough; maybe "Brown Sugar" for The Stones? The Beatles, hmm, I'm not even going to try because it will probably end in me being flamed.

Elton John might be "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road."

The Kinks? Ummm, "You Really Got Me."

Buttmunker

EX-BEATLES:

For John Lennon, it would have to be Imagine.

Ringo Starr? It Don't Come Easy.

George Harrison: My Sweet Lord (his first solo single, and the first ex-Beatle to achieve a #1 hit with this).

Sir Paul McCartney (who's real first name is James, btw): Maybe I'm Amazed by a neck, closely followed by the drippy ballad My Love.

Jason

KISS - Rock and Roll All Nite

Aghama

Rush - Tom Sawyer (Which is a shame, since aside from the drumming I don't really like the song)

Iron Maiden - Number of the Beast (OMG satanic metal!)

Yes - Owner of a Lonely Heart (Shudder)

Buttmunker

Survivor - I Can't Hold Back (this is a surprise, considering the single didn't crack the top 10. I hear it more than their #1 smash "Eye of the Tiger").

John Cougar Mellencamp - Jack and Diane (his sole chart-topper). Although most of his hits are rotated heavily, I still think "Jack and Diane" leads the pack.

Hollowgen

Devo - Whip It
Depeche Mode - Personal Jesus
Led Zeppelin - Stairway To Heaven

The Cow

Weird, I always think of:

Don't Bring me Down (or Turn to Stone) for ELO
Piano Man for Billy Joel
Flight of Icarus (or Run to the Hills) for Iron Maiden
Roundabout for Yes

Agree with others except I would never think of Vanilla Ice, at all!

Rypro 525

Just out of curisity, what other songs did the kinks have besides "you've really got me"
the stones- satisfaction

jk4w

Cannibal Corpse : Stripped, Raped & Strangled

Goatwhore : Invert The Virgin

gutwrencher

Joe Satriani....Surfing With the Alien

Frank Zappa.....Joe's Garage

Grateful Dead....Truckin'

Loggins and Messina....Angry Eyes

Bruce Cockburn....Call It Democracy or If I Had a Rocket Launcher

Cheech and Chong....Earache My Eye

Outlaws...Green Grass and High Tides

Head East....Never Been Any Reason(live)

Donnie Iris...Ah Leah!!!

Micheal Stanley Band...He Cant Love You

Kansas...Dust In the Wind or Carry On Wayward Son

Jethro Tull....Aqualung or Bungle In the Jungle

Manfred Mann...Blinded By the Light

Blue Oyster Cult....Dont Fear the Reaper

Heart...Magic Man

Alan Parsons Project....The Raven or I Wouldnt Want To Be Like You

Todd Rundgren...Hello It's me

Moody Blues.....you know this one....I'm sure.

....OK....I'm tired.


edited to add:

Lola

fallow

Lola, Nothin' In This World Can Stop Me From Thinking About that Girl, Destroyer...those are just off the top of my head, but I think they are one of the best bands of the British Invasion.

Buttmunker

The Kinks had hits with All Day And All of the Night, Tired of Waiting For You, A Well Respected Man, and my personal, absolute favorite: Come Dancing.

chowderhead

No one-hit wonders please.
IMHO:
Richard Marx- Right here waiting
Bryan Adams - Everything I Do
Toni Braxton - Unbreak my heart
Blondie - Heart of Glass
Ace of Base - The Sign
Journey - Open Arms
Phil Collins - Against all Odds
Bette Midler- The Rose
Erasure - Always
Savage Garden - trulymadlydeeply
Nikki French - Total Eclipse of the Heart
Eric Clapton - Tears in Heaven
Bangles - Eternal Flames
AlphaVille - Forever Young
Roxette - It must have been love
Hanson - MMMBop
Expose - Seasons Change
Celine Dion - My heart will go on
Boys2men - On Bended Knee
Whitney Houston - I will always love you
The Cranberries - Dreams
MANY MANY More .

the aftermath

Ja Rule - Holla Holla
DMX - Ruff Ryders Anthem
Jay-Z - Big Pimpin
K-Ci and JoJo - All my life
Will Smith - Gettin Jiggy with it
Notorious BIG - Juicy
Outkast - Rosa Parks
Aaliyah - *tie* One in a million/Are you that somebody
P Diddy - I'll be missing you
Ma$e - Feel so good
Marvin Gaye - Let's get it on
The Roots - You got me
Usher - You make me wanna

Cusm

The Cure - Just Like Heaven
Depeche Mode - People are People (Even though this is not their best or my favorite, this is the one that jumps out at me when I hear/think DM)
New Order - Bizzare Love Triangle or Blue Monday
Bauhaus - Bella Legosi's Dead (Too bad they do not own the rights to this)
Jane's Addiction - Mountain Song
Deftones - Change (In The House of Flies)
James - Laid
Radiohead - Peronoid Android
Duran Duran - Rio
Blur - Girls and Boys (or Song #1)
Danzig - Mother
Misfits - Where Eagles Dare
Slayer - Reign in Blood or South of Heaven
Pantera - Broken
Beastie Boys - Sabotage or Fight For Your Right
De La Soul - Me, Myself and I
NWA - F The Police
Ice T/Body Bag - Cop Killa
Eazy E - Boyz In Tha Hood
Ice Cube - Good Day
Dr. Dre - Nuthin' But a G Thang
Pixies - Wave of Mutilation
Breeders - Cannon Ball
Hank Williams Jr. - Rowdy Friends

Rypro 525

Joe Cocker a tie between with a little help from my friends and you are so beautiful

Brain Stew

To most non fans Rock The Casbah is the signature Clash tune.

fallow

I'd go with "Blue Monday" for New Order, and say that "Debaser" is probably the most nominal of Pixies tunes (even though it isn't my favorite).

Cusm

I said Wave because it has been featured in several movies and this is what most people know of them (aside TGYM and Monkey) as they never reached the wide play of other great alternative bands.

BTW I always think of the intro to Vamos - the spoken "Or you F'ng die..." when I think or hear the Pixies.

fallow

I hadn't realized that it was used in movies...which ones?

I say "Debaser" because most people I've talked to consider it the indie-rock anthem (next to "Teenage Riot" by Sonic Youth). But this doesn't really matter.

Thumbs up on the intro to "Vamos." Surfer Rosa is my all-time, no-second-thoughts favorite album. Ever.

junior

Frank Sinatra "New York, New York"
Harry Connick Jr "It Had to Be You"
Tony Bennett "I Left My Heart in SF"
Eddie Murphy "Party All the Time"

junior

CUSM- I'd say Jane's Addiction has got to be "Been Caught Stealing".

junior

Aerosmith "Walk this Way"
AC/DC You Shook Me All Night Long"

Aphex Twin

Kelly Osbourne - Papa Don't Preach