Impact: Songs That Changed the World

- Season 1

(2007)

"Respect" reflected a shift in the tone of the Civil Rights Movement. At that time, there wasn't a black woman who was prominent. So, when Aretha Franklin came along and sang, "give me some respect and here is why I deserve it" it caused women to start swinging banners. It was the soundtrack of the times. The emotion, the sound and the memories makes Respect as significant a record now as it was in 1967.

"Do They Know It's Christmas?" was the single that gave birth to Live Aid, the world's biggest rock concert and TV event. This was organized by Bob Geldof in the Fall of 1984 for the sake of charity to raise money for people starving in Ethiopia. The project would become the template and the inspiration for a number of other charitable recordings and live events to benefit various causes around the world and marked a new era of raised social consciousness for many entertainers as well as their fans.

"I Shot The Sheriff" became a direct response to political oppression. By the mid '70s, Bob Marley and reggae music had broken through internationally and by the late '70s, reggae and punk would in fact unite under the banner of Rock Against Racism.

"Maybellene" was recorded on May 21, 1955 and is referred to as the birth of rock 'n' roll history. Berry took an old Western swing-style song, gave it an extra kick with his signature electric guitar licks, and renamed it Maybellene. Berry's guitar style influenced an entire genre of musicians and the song had a tremendous social and cultural bearing in the transitional environment of the 1950's.

"Heartbreak Hotel" was not Elvis Presley's first single but it was destined in many ways to define the Elvis persona and arguably become the first rock 'n' roll record. It was a song of teenage angst. It established rock 'n' roll as an attitude -- brash, rebellious and sexually-charged -- as much as a musical style and gave it life as the soundtrack for alienated youth even during American boom times in the '50s.

"Like A Virgin" was the song that thrust Madonna into the media spotlight. It's ironic that "Girl Power," a term that became a media catch phrase in the late '90s with the emergence of the Spice Girls from England, had its beginnings in a song that even remotely suggests that abstinence makes the heart grow fonder.

"Smells Like Teen Spirit" became the unofficial anthem for "Gen Xers." Combining a punk sensibility with hard rock to create a unique sound that would come to be known as "grunge", the three-man group would soon find themselves the voice and obsession of the disenfranchised youth of the early '90s that the media would soon dub "Generation X."

"Walk This Way" became the original rap/heavy metal video crossover song. With their gold chains and Adidas, they were the first rappers to earn gold, platinum, and multi-platinum albums; the first to have their videos played on MTV; the first to appear on American Bandstand; and the first to grace the cover of Rolling Stone.

"Any Man Of Mine" appealed to women everywhere because of the sassy and assertive tone of the lyrics. It was a new form of feminism. She turned the tables with her "I love my man, but I love me too" lyrics. She combined country songs with pop style production and marketing, using video to create a dynamic image, injecting country with a more uptown style, and taking control of her career like no female had ever done in Nashville before. Shania set new benchmarks for everybody in country music.

"I Want To Hold Your Hand" was the biggest-selling British single of all time, and introduced The Beatles to America in early 1964. It was to be the start of a remarkable journey for the "Fab Four" from the Beatlemania of those early years to the culture-altering presence of the group, collectively and individually, through the '70s and beyond.

"Stayin' Alive" launched a boogie-down fever which has endured in various guises through the last quarter of the 20th century and into the new millennium. The movie Saturday Night Fever starring John Travolta, released in the mid-70's and the accompanying soundtrack was dominated by the songs of The Bee Gees, including the number one hit "Stayin' Alive."

"I Wanna Be Sedated" was a new simplified music unlike the disco music of the mid 70's. The punk movement instigated by the Ramones helped to launch a new musical and aesthetic style known as New Wave, which couldn't have been more opposite from the stripped-down, back-to-basics approach of the fathers of punk. By the early '90s, the original punk style of the Ramones would break in the mainstream.