Stones Had Best Rock Song

The competition between the Beatles and the Rolling Stones rages on.

The Beatles placed nine entries on a list of rock 'n' roll's 100 greatest songs, as compiled by music-TV channel VH1 in a poll of 700 people in the music industry. The Stones have five.

But it's the Stones' celebrated ode to frustration, (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction, that topped the list. The Beatles could do no better than ninth, with Hey Jude.

The Stones' 1965 hit has one of the most recognizable guitar riffs in music, which Keith Richards said came to him one night when he was sleeping.

"It kind of sticks up as an anthem for the time it was released and for every generation that came since," said Todd Schwartz, VH1 programming director. "It strikes a chord with every teen-ager."

After Hey Jude, three other Beatles songs made the top 25: Yesterday, A Day in the Life and I Want to Hold Your Hand.

"The Beatles had so many songs that the vote got divided," Schwartz said.

Elvis Presley, who had four songs on the list as did Led Zeppelin, couldn't crack the top 10. The best he could do was No. 18 with Jailhouse Rock.

A lot of big names were shut out of the top 100 entirely, among them Madonna, Fleetwood Mac, Neil Young, U2 and R.E.M. Aretha Franklin's Respect came in second and Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven, a staple of FM radio in the 1970s, was third.

Rounding out the top 10 are Like a Rolling Stone by Bob Dylan; Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen; Hotel California by the Eagles; Light My Fire by the Doors; Good Vibrations by the Beach Boys; Hey Jude; and Imagine by John Lennon.

The list's oldest song was Rock Around the Clock by Bill Haley & His Comets, released in 1954. The newest was Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit, from 1991.

Nirvana's hit was the only one from the 1990s to make it. Schwartz said it may be because VH1's voters were even older than the network's usual audience. VH1 aims at age 30 and up.

VH1 will count down the list in a special that runs over five nights, starting Jan. 17.