1000 Greatest Songs - #970-#961

There have been a few adjustments to the list again, but bear with me. I'll post the full, final 1000 when they're all figured out.

#998 - "When A Man Loves A Woman" - Percy Sledge - When A Man Loves A Woman - The only Percy Sledge song to make the top 1000 (and by far his biggest hit), "When" is one of the greatest soul songs ever written and one of the few pre-Dylan songs I enjoy on a regular basis.

#992 - "Mannish Boy" - Muddy Waters - Hard Again - The only song in the top 1000 from one of the founding fathers of rock n roll, "Mannish Boy" features a great vocal and one of the most famous hooks in the history of music.

#972 - "Flathead" - The Fratellis - Costello Music - The first of two songs in the top 1000 from The Fratellis is the song that made them famous when it appeared in an IPod ad. The Fratellis are one of the best new bands to come around in a long time and "Flathead" is about as good of a debut single as a new band can hope for.

#971 - "Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam (Unplugged)" - Nirvana - MTV Unplugged In New York - The first album to put two songs on the countdown (and the second of 15 Nirvana songs on the list), Unplugged's Vaselines cover provides yet another fantastic track from the greatest set in modern rock history.

#970 - "Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)" - The Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) - One of the biggest New Wave hits of the 80's (and the only Eurythmics song on the top 1000) is also one of the darkest and creepiest songs to ever become a huge pop hit.

#969 - "A Certain Romance" - The Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not - The second-best song off of one of the greatest debut albums of all-time, "A Certain Romance" (the first of three Arctic Monkeys songs on the list), isn't quite in the league of "Dancefloor", but it's close.

#968 - "Worked Up So Sexual" - The Faint - Blank Wave Arcade - The only song on the charts from Omaha indie techno band The Faint is easily the best song from their decidedly weird but undeniably unique sound.

#967 - "Stan" - Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP - The first of three Eminem songs on the countdown is far and away is most mellow song, leaning heavily on a sample from Dido of all artists, this disturbing fan letter of a song is the closest Eminem ever came to creating something truly insightful.

#966 - "Human Being" - The Beta Band - Human Being - The first of two songs from the low-fi indie pop group The Beta Band gained my attention after I learned of the band the way most people learned of the band, on the High Fidelity soundtrack.

#965 - "Joker & The Thief" - Wolfmother - Wolfmother - The first of three songs from Wolfmother's debut album, which is excellent from start to finish and possibly the best metal debut since Black Sabbath.

#964 - "Apocalypse Please" - Muse - Absolution - The first of five Muse songs to make the top 1000, "Apocalypse Please" features a fantastic build and a style that could only be described as apocalyptic. I first discovered Muse when "Time Is Running Out" hit the modern rock charts in 2003 or 2004. Since then, they've been one of the biggest and best acts in Modern Rock.

#963 - "Blue" - The Jayhawks - Blue - One of many songs that I first discovered on a promotional CD given away at Target of all places, "Blue", the only song on the chart for The Jayhawks, is one of the rare alt country songs to break-out in my mind before Wilco busted the doors open in the late-90s.

#962 - "Modern Love" - David Bowie - Let's Dance - The first of ten Bowie songs to make the top 1000, this is one of the few of his from the 80s to make it to the list. It wasn't a great decade for Mr. Bowie, but it had it's moments.

#961 - "Zombie" - The Cranberries - No Need To Argue - The only Cranberries song to make the top 1000, "Zombie" was one of my favorite songs to listen to in junior high thanks to the Minnesota college rock radio station I managed to pick up at my house until their signal got weakened so much that it was no longer possible.