Music poll reveals wide North Idaho tastes

Wow, you’re really into this thing.

The first-ever Press Pop Music Poll seems to have struck a chord (pun intended) with folks in North Idaho.

Unless the internet stops working in the next few minutes, we’re going to blow way, way past 400 full ballots submitted — which is a bunch, when you’re asking people to sit down, think of all the songs they’ve ever liked, then narrow a list to 10 and send off an email.

This is where I remind you that voting goes on until 5 p.m. on Wednesday. You can still submit your 10 favorite songs from the rock era onwards (the last 60 years).

Email those lists to me at [email protected].

NOW THEN, quite a few people scanned my list of 50 songs and asked me to explain some picks — especially No. 1.

Here’s all you need to know about “Satisfaction,” by the Rolling Stones:

The song was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards 52 years ago, it’s been popular for all five decades since, and when the Stones wrapped up their Latin America tour last year before an audience of 700,000 in Havana, “Satisfaction” was their encore finale. Cuba was waiting for it, and the ageless Mick boogied and shimmied as the whole city went nuts.

There’s never been anything quite like the guitar riff that leads into “Satisfaction.” Richards actually dreamed about it in a motel room, got up and strummed the sound, then fell back into bed. When the band added a fuzz-box blend on top of the guitar, it turned into a riff for the ages.

As for the band itself, guitar genius Ronnie Wood is the new boy — having joined the crew 43 years ago. The other three (Jagger, Richards and drummer Charlie Watts) have been together since 1963. And they’re still banging away at a million miles per hour.

Case closed.

RIGHT, SO much for my top song.

Meanwhile, what have I learned from the ballots and various comments so far?

I’m not going to tell you what songs comprise our current top 10, or what others are within a breath of making the list – but I will give you some insights I’ve acquired from the voting.

FIRST: It seems that everyone in this part of the world saw “Titanic” — and sings that theme song in the shower every single morning.

SECOND: Only a miracle can push an Elvis Presley song into our top 10. But the Elvis puzzle has been repeated with several artists that are household names.

Bob Dylan, Michael Jackson, Santana, Bruce Springsteen, Barbra Streisand ...

They’ve each had so many hits that your votes have been divided. I’ve got 11 Beatles tunes nominated, but to this point it looks like only one will crack the list.

The same phenomenon, surprisingly, applies to the Beach Boys. Apparently, an awful lot of you moved here from California and still have fond memories of the good old days.

THIRD: Depending on how the votes break out between now and Wednesday night, both the Eagles and the Righteous Brothers could have two songs each on our list — yep, 40 percent of the total.

But as I said, it still depends ...

FOURTH: This sounds wacky, but the venerable “My Way” by Frank Sinatra isn’t far from squeezing into our magic 10.

It’s true that “Old Blue Eyes” was at the peak of his career in the 1940s and ’50s, but “My Way” made our cut-off with surprising ease. It was released in 1969. Yes, I was startled at that, too.

FiFTH: Was Harry Chapin’s music banned in Idaho? I don’t understand the staggering lack of votes for one of the great musical storytellers of the rock era.

No? “Cat’s in the Cradle,” anyone?

Sheesh!

SIXTH (and finally): You all seem to be having fun with this.

And your No. 1 song — barring a late miracle — will not be the same as mine.

Happily, “Satisfaction” is certain to make our list, but not as king of the hill.

Nope, your top song is most likely going to be…

Hah!

Did you think I’d tell you?

Steve Cameron is a special assignment reporter for The Press. Reach Steve via email at [email protected].