To me, a signature song is the one that even the most casual fan would recognize as being from that group. I don’t listen to the Stones at all, but even I would identify them instantly with Satisfaction. OTOH, I’ve listened to a lot of Beatles songs, and own several albums, so it’s harder for me to identify a signature song, but I agree that I Want To Hold Your Hand is probably the most easily recognizable to even the casual fan as a Beatles song.
Yeah, yeah, yeah!!!
Stones: Satisfaction
Beatles: I Want to Hold your Hand
Elvis: Love me Tender (though Hound Dog is a close runner-up)
I don’t know any of them well enough to even begin to make any claims about what’s their best, but these are the ones I most associate with them.
It should be 'It’s only rock and roll ", but it is Satisfaction . A case could be made for sympathy , start me up and rocks off, but you just end up back at satisfaction.
Agree completely.
I’m having trouble deciding on a “signature song” for the Beach Boys. “California Girls”? “Surfin’ USA”? “Fun Fun Fun”? “Good Vibrations”?
“Satisfaction”. There’s no other answer, really.
And for the Beatles, it’s gotta be “She Loves You”
It doesn’t matter, because all Beach Boys songs sound the same.
Hmm, Satisfaction is a good song, but I’ve always considered Can’t You Hear Me Knocking to be the song that says “Stones” to me.
Stones? Satisfaction, of course.
Beatles? She Loves You has their first hook, “Yeah Yeah Yeah”. But A Hard Day’s Night starts off with The Chord, too.
“Satisfaction” may come to most people’s minds but the song that really defines RS, and is most often used in (satanic) movies is “Paint it Black.”
Considering that I don’t even know " a day in the life" then I’d imagine it has to be something else for the Beatles. “She loves you” sounds about right.
“Satisfaction” for the Stones, without doubt.
Not sure what the OP thinks for Led Zeppelin but I’d go with “whole lotta love”
Pink Floyd - “wish you were here”
The Who - “My Generation”
Duran Duran - “Rio” 
Led Zeppelin is surely “Stairway to Heaven”?
For Floyd I could go with “Wish You Were Here” or “Money”.
An interesting discussion. Stones is Satisfaction, of course, but with scabpicker, I look at Can’t You Hear Me Knockin’ and Gimme Shelter as the songs I feel best represent them at their peak.
Same with Zep - I get Stairway and roll with it, but the “right” 
answer is Kashmir. Their light and dark bombast at its peak. Bonzo swings the plod like no other.
Beatles - if any band should be considered as separate bands in separate eras - packed into 7-8 years :eek:. Early is** I Want to Hold Your Hand or She Loves You** - old-school pop songcraft that sound fresh and blew things open. Middle era is Strawberry Fields - huge hit; intro for psychedelic rock; cryptic John lyric. End era is Something, because it is Perfect
The Who - My Generation is their Satisfaction. I Can See for Miles is them at their mid-era, 4-lead-players-at-once, angry Pete best, along with Behind Blue Eyes.
Floyd - as a single song, I would go with Wish You Were Here. But Dark Side and Wall in their entireties make sense, too
Not even close to their best song (or album) but Pink Floyd’s signature song is *Another Brick in the Wall. *
To me the concept of a signature song is not the best or even the song that encapsulates the essence of a band. It’s the song that even the casual or non-listener thinks of when they are asked about the band. It may not be the biggest or first or best song of the band but it is the one that has endured the most.
The Beatles are really hard to pin down because they had so many iconic songs that even casual listeners think of. Then you get into the whole “Well that was a Paul song…” I can’t think of Hey Jude as a Beatles signature song because I think it’s more of a Paul McCartney song.
“Satisfaction” was the first song that came to mind for me. Right behind that I would put “Honky Tonk Women”, “Brown Sugar”, and “Tumbling Dice”.
Well, other than Gimme Shelter, which is the real answer. 
In the US, at least, I would definitely say “Stairway to Heaven” is the song that would come to mind to most people when asked what song is Led Zeppelin most associated with. Hell, before I heard any Led Zeppelin I knew of Stairway to Heaven, and was the reason I bought my first cassette album – Led Zeppelin IV. I actually was a bit disappointed by Stairway, but the rest of the album made up for it and I was hooked as a Zep fan from there.
Agree.
For The Who, my first thought was “Who Are You” but then I leaned toward “My Generation.”
A couple more obvious ones:
The Kinks’ signature song is “You Really Got Me.”
The Moody Blues’ is “Nights in White Satin.”
Some big 80s bands signatures:
REM - “It’s the End of the World” (I think it just beats “Losing My Religion”)
U2 - this one is hard, but I’d go with “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”
Stones is definitely Satisfaction.
Beatles I’d agree is I Wanna Hold Your Hand.
Beach Boys, to me, is Fun Fun Fun.
Elvis, Hound Dog
Dylan, Like a Rolling Stone
Zeppelin, Stairway to Heaven
Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody
Moving on.
Van Halen, Jump
Doors, Light My Fire
CCR, Bad Moon Rising
Metallica, Enter Sandman
Pearl Jam, Jeremy
Nirvana, Smells Like Teen Sprirt