baba o'riley

last week, i went to the first of this summer's twilight concert series. it was all very impressive. from the flannel shirts to the crystal spiders to the solitary blonde effectively blocking the view of a whole wad of people by standing on a chair and trying to nonchalantly see who was looking at her (answer: all the people who can't see the stage because you're standing on a chair. that's who's looking at you).
by far the most impressive part of the whole thing was jenny lewis, whose voice is much more powerful than rilo kiley ever led me to believe.

i like music (possibly the most daring opinion anyone has ever posted on any website ever)(i'm a maverick) but having as many audiophile friends as i do, i don't feel i can claim anything more than that. as it is i'm worried i might have to prove my likeage through a series of trivia questions and karaoke challenges.

please. never put me through that kind of mental torture.

the other day, one of the little candy packaging balls of angst came into my office to brag about the class he'll be taking during his first semester of college.
"history of rock and roll".
now i know and you know this class is not going to be what he thinks it's going to be (coughcougheasyAcough) and that's okay. but you know what's not okay? the blank expression on his face when i jokingly offered to lend him some cds (the specific cds aren't important (coughcoughzeppelincough)). you know what else was not okay? his long pause and his earnest response, "um... no thanks. i'm pretty sure this class is basically going to be about, like, elvis."
this was the moment my new project (read: "new mix cd" (read: "rock 101: know it, don't blow it")) was born. a compilation of rock songs i really, just... like.

here's the question:
what's the first song you would think of to include in your own "know it, don't blow it" mix?

mine was the beatles "helter skelter".
i don't know why.