U2 is Sunday Bloody Sunday.
Procol Harum - A Whiter Shade of Pale
Eric Clapton - I Shot the Sheriff
Don McLean - American Pie
The Archies: Suger, Suger.
Some more as yet unmentioned artists and what I think their signature songs are.
Michael Jackson - “Beat It”
James Brown - “Please, Please, Please” (I know there’d probably be more votes for “I Feel Good” but if you went to one of his concerts, “Please, Please, Please” and its trademark cape-routine was the knock-out closer.)
Pink Floyd - “Money”
Bruce Springsteen - “Born to Run”
Ray Charles - “What I’d Say”
"Jumping Jack Flash. "
“Yes, It’s a gas, gas, gas. I AM British, you know”
Hit The Road, Jack.
Joe Cocker - With A Little Help From My Friends
Jimi Hendrix - Purple Haze
Beach Boys - Surfin’ U.S.A.
Everly Brothers - All I Have To Do Is Dream
Byrds - Mr. Tamborine Man
Doors - Light My Fire
Damn, am I ever stuck in a time warp, eh?
The Kinks: It could be Lola, although a strong case can be made for You Really Got Me (as Thudlow Boink points out above…
I doubt that Ray Davies is happy about that.
The only song I know from the Stones is “Satisfaction”.
Beatles - She Loves You. It has to be one of the early rockabilly numbers, and as plenty have said here - ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah’*** is ***the Beatles.
Duran Duran (mentioned above) - surely ‘Hungry Like The Wolf’
I always associated Elvis with ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ - yes, it’s a pretty rubbish song and nowhere near his best, but you can almost use the phrase ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ as a synonym for Elvis.
If you really want to get involved in a knock-down internet-board fight, head over to some classical music forums and argue what is the signature work for various composers. Those guys really take it seriously.
That is not a good thing.
The Correct answer is Waterloo Sunset, as I’m sure Ray would agree.
As already stated, it’s surely Rio for Duran Duran.
Now wondering how many artists’ signature songs are actually cover songs? I can think of:
Elvis Presley: “Hound Dog”
Great White: “Once Bitten Twice Shy”
Nightwish: “Over the Hills and Far Away”
Van Halen: “You Really Got Me” (maybe?)
Jimi Hendrix comes close with “All Along the Watchtower”, but “Purple Haze” is clearly the better choice.
Nah, it’s gotta be “Girls on Film”, one of the first music videos to be banned by MTv.
I might agree. Certainly more representative of Davies’ songwriting. But would a casual fan even recognize Waterloo Sunset? I don’t know. But everyone knows Lola, and everyone knows You Really Got Me (even if they think it’s a Van Halen song).
Any one-hit wonder: their one hit
Satisfaction, without a doubt. First thing I thought of when I read the topic title.
I’d also say Hey Jude or maybe Let It Be for The Beatles.
For me it’s “Jump”…
…although “Right Now” is pretty close.
Both can work. One is signature for the Roth era, and the other signature for the Hagar era.