Dr. Mick Grierson from Goldsmiths, University of London took the “all time best” lists produced by the likes of Rolling Stone, VH-1 and Q magazine and used software to analyse the similarities between them. He discovered that most of these songs all had around 500 beats and their chord changes were low.
50. “Best Of My Love,” The Emotions
49. “River Deep Mountain High,” Ike and Tina Turner
48. “A Change Is Gonna Come,” Sam Cooke
47. “When Doves Cry,” Prince
46. “Dancing In The Street,” Martha Reeves and the Vandellas
45. “My Generation,” The Who
44. “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling,” The Righteous Brothers
18. “I Will Always Love You,” Whitney Houston
17. “Live Forever,” Oasis
16. “The Twist,” Chubby Checker
15. “Stairway to Heaven,” Led Zeppelin
14. “Your Song,” Elton John
13. “Hotel California,” The Eagles
12. “Waterloo Sunset,” The Kinks
11. “London Calling,” The Clash
10. “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” Guns N’ Roses
9. “God Save the Queen,” Sex Pistols
8. “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction,” Rolling Stones
7. “Like a Rolling Stone,” Bob Dylan
6. “Hey Jude,” The Beatles
5. “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Queen
4. “Billie Jean,” Michael Jackson
3. “One,” U2
2. “Imagine,” John Lennon
And the big winner is… “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” by Nirvana.
All of this was commissioned by FIAT so they could utilize the information to select a song to promote their new car.
After the hard work, Dr. Grierson admits “even by applying scientific process, what is considered iconic is ultimately up to the individual. My conclusion is that if you want a formula for creating great music, there is one: you just have to make something that sounds great.”
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#24 “Respect,” Aretha Franklin
#26 “Creep,” Radiohead
... need swapped ;)