Dave Marsh

Opinionated rock critic and prolific author Dave Marsh died this past Friday at the age of 76.

 

While I enjoyed his two early Bruce Springsteen bios (Born to Run: The Bruce Springsteen Story and Glory Days: Bruce Springsteen in the 1980s), for me they pale in comparison to The Heart Of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Every Made, which is one of my favorite books of all time. It’s still in print, available from Amazon and presumably elsewhere.

 

Marsh’s opinions of various musical acts were always fun to read, whether you agreed with them or not. According to his Wikipedia entry, he wrote that “Queen may be the first truly fascist rock band,” characterized Journey as “a dead end for San Francisco area rock,” and dismissed the Grateful Dead as the “worst band in creation.” I do have to give him bonus points for his evaluation of Air Supply as the “most calculated and soulless pseudo-group of its kind.”

Shuffle #193 (July 19, 2026)

Hot Pants – James Brown

A Different Corner – George Michael

Hot Rod Heart – John Fogerty

Do You Love What You Feel – Rufus & Chaka Khan

The Sweet Escape – Gwen Stefani

Stars On The Water – Rodney Crowell

Human Touch – Bruce Springsteen

Midnight Confessions – The Grass Roots

He's Guilty (The Judge Song) – Steel Mill

Six Man Band – The Association

Sister Golden Hair – America

Common Man – The Blasters

The Ballad Of John And Yoko – The Beatles

Things We Do – Indigenous

Only Sixteen – Sam Cooke

Bad Reputation – Joan Jett

Going Down to Liverpool – The Bangles

In Dreams – Roy Orbison

19th Nervous Breakdown – The Rolling Stones

Feel Like Makin' Love – Bad Company

The Last Time I Saw Her – Gordon Lightfoot

I Want Candy – The Strangeloves

(You're Gonna) Hurt Yourself – Frankie Valli

My Mistake (Was To Love You) – Marvin Gaye & Diana Ross

Ramblin' Gamblin' Man – Bob Seger

Sally – Sade

When You're Young And In Love – The Marvelettes

Tracks Of My Tears – Johnny Rivers

Hell Is For Children – Pat Benatar

I Love You 1000 Times – The Platters