# Most "rocking" guitar in nonrock song **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 10, 2011, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-rocking-guitar-in-nonrock-song/577839 "2011-04-10T04:43:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2011, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-rocking-guitar-in-nonrock-song/577839/1 "2011-04-10T04:43:36Z")
I heard Donna Summer’s 1979 hit “Hot Stuff” on the radio this morning. One thing that struck me is that the guitar solo on the song [(starts at 2:24)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27-TM3q5-Cc)was louder and more raucous than much AOR guitar of that era. So I started thinking which soul/jazz/country/easy listening/etc. songs have guitar that sounds like it belongs on a rock record. Got any candidates? ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2011, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-rocking-guitar-in-nonrock-song/577839/2 "2011-04-10T05:09:18Z")
The song mentioned in the OP was the exact song I thought of when I saw the title of the thread. “Hot Stuff” and “Bad Girls” both have amazing guitar solos. But both songs are arguably “rock”, albeit rock with a heavy dance beat. My nominee is Kazumi Watanabe’s amazing solo on Ryuchi Sakamoto’s “Thousand Knives”. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2011, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-rocking-guitar-in-nonrock-song/577839/3 "2011-04-10T05:10:06Z")
\*Classical Gas Dueling Banjos \* Come to think of it, a bunch of bluegrass music. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2011, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-rocking-guitar-in-nonrock-song/577839/4 "2011-04-10T05:12:06Z")
I vote for Stevie Ray Vaughn’s guitar in Bowie’s “Let’s Dance”, because that particular Bowie song is pop. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2011, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-rocking-guitar-in-nonrock-song/577839/5 "2011-04-10T05:25:27Z")
Pretty much anything by Parliment or Funkadelic. Won’t even start with the blues since that should be self evident. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2011, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-rocking-guitar-in-nonrock-song/577839/6 "2011-04-10T05:34:48Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > I vote for Stevie Ray Vaughn’s guitar in Bowie’s “Let’s Dance”, because that particular Bowie song is pop. Maybe we ought to talk about what “rock” is, because I would have thought “Let’s Dance” would be rock, even if it is also pop. If something is pop, is it automatically not rock? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2011, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-rocking-guitar-in-nonrock-song/577839/7 "2011-04-10T07:22:15Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Maybe we ought to talk about what “rock” is, because I would have thought “Let’s Dance” would be rock, even if it is also pop. If something is pop, is it automatically not rock? Yeah, I would put “Let’s Dance” somewhere in the rock spectrum. Well, dancy kind of rock. “Pop” is not automatically rock, though. Pop can be anything. It’s just popular music. ---
**Author:** ![Kilmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a6a055/32.png) [@Kilmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilmore)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2011, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-rocking-guitar-in-nonrock-song/577839/8 "2011-04-10T07:49:01Z")
Eddie Van Halen rocking out in Michael Jackson’s “Billy Jean” ---
**Author:** ![BDoors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BDoors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BDoors)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2011, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-rocking-guitar-in-nonrock-song/577839/9 "2011-04-10T08:07:05Z")
> [@Kilmore](#): > > Eddie Van Halen rocking out in Michael Jackson’s “Billy Jean” “Beat It”, as I’m sure you meant. Probably the prime example of a famous rock guitarist appearing on a pop track, but again it is at the rockier end of the Michael Jackson spectrum. ---
**Author:** ![Kilmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a6a055/32.png) [@Kilmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilmore)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2011, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-rocking-guitar-in-nonrock-song/577839/10 "2011-04-10T08:14:10Z")
> [@BDoors](#): > > “Beat It”, as I’m sure you meant. Probably the prime example of a famous rock guitarist appearing on a pop track, but again it is at the rockier end of the Michael Jackson spectrum. Please allow me to formally submit my “D’oh!”. ---
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2011, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-rocking-guitar-in-nonrock-song/577839/11 "2011-04-10T09:59:46Z")
I hope these qualify: Ernie Isley of The Isley Brothers, and Tony Peluso on The Carpenter’s ‘Calling Occupants Of Interplantery Craft.’ ETA: and ‘Goodbye To Love’. ---
**Author:** ![multimediac17](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@multimediac17](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/multimediac17)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2011, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-rocking-guitar-in-nonrock-song/577839/12 "2011-04-10T09:59:51Z")
These Michael Jackson songs fit my personal definition of rock but I’ll put them forward because Michael himself is not generally considered a rock artist: ‘Beat It’ from _Thriller_ - guitar by Eddie Van Halen ‘Dirty Diana’ from _Bad_ - guitar by Steve Stevens ‘Give In To Me’ from _Dangerous_ and ‘D.S.’ from _HIStory_ - guitar by Slash plus ‘Black Cat’ from _Rhythm Nation 1814_ by his sister Janet. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2011, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-rocking-guitar-in-nonrock-song/577839/13 "2011-04-10T12:28:50Z")
> [@NineToTheSky](#): > > Tony Peluso on The Carpenter’s ‘Goodbye To Love’. This is what I thought of when I saw the thread title. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2011, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-rocking-guitar-in-nonrock-song/577839/14 "2011-04-10T12:51:44Z")
> [@NineToTheSky](#): > > Tony Peluso on The Carpenter’s ‘Calling Occupants Of Interplantery Craft.’ The one I first thought of. Comes out of nowhere, and is totally out of place with the rest of the song. But definitely fits the criterion of the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2011, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-rocking-guitar-in-nonrock-song/577839/15 "2011-04-10T16:07:23Z")
> [@NineToTheSky](#): > > Tony Peluso on The Carpenter’s ‘Calling Occupants Of Interplantery Craft.’ [nitpick] That’s a cover of a **Klaatu** song. They were a rock band (ostensibly). [/nitpick] ---
**Author:** ![Ichbin\_Dubist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ichbin\_Dubist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichbin_Dubist)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2011, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-rocking-guitar-in-nonrock-song/577839/16 "2011-04-10T16:09:09Z")
[The Summer The Slum](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUJieUDf0RU) by the Five Royales, an R&B tune from 1958, specifically the solo beginning at 1:17. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2011, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-rocking-guitar-in-nonrock-song/577839/17 "2011-04-10T16:19:11Z")
The first thing I thought of was Eddie Van Halen on “Beat it.” Kind of the canonical example (and EVH was seen as edgier at that time than he is now).