You'd never know of the legendary influence of Neil Young just by looking at his track record on the Top 100. Young has had an interesting career over the decades, beginning in 1965 with his time in the Mynah Birds, which featured Rick James on vocals. From 1966-1969 he was in Buffalo Springfield. Outside of adventures as a part of Crosby, Stills & Nash, he's been primarily a solo artist (sometimes with his band, Crazy Horse), earning him adoration from more recent acts like Pearl Jam, who christened Young as the "Godfather of Grunge." Young first hit the charts as a solo artist in 1970 when "Cinnamon Girl" went to #55. His breakthrough hit arrived in 1972 when the classic "Heart Of Gold," which features Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor on backing vocals, soared to #1. He followed this up with what would become his last Top 40 hit to date: "Old Man," which got to #31 later that year. His last chart appearance was when "Little Thing Called Love" stalled at #71 in 1983. Despite not breaking onto the charts, many of Young's rockers and ballads have become familiar classics, including "Down By The River," "The Needle And The Damage Done," "Southern Man," "Rockin' In The Free World," and "Harvest Moon." "Philadelphia" showcases Young's softer side and may just be one of the most beautiful songs ever written that most people have forgotten about or never heard. It can be found on the soundtrack to the 1993 movie of the same name.
Mother Love Bone was a band at the forefront of the grunge movement in Seattle in 1990. The untimely death of their lead singer, Andrew Wood, inspired Chris Cornell of Soundgarden (Wood's roommate) to form a band in tribute called Temple of the Dog. The project's name is lifted from a Mother Love Bone song called "Man of Golden Words." Composed of Cornell, who wrote most of the songs, members of Mother Love Bone, and guest spots by Eddie Vedder, Temple of the Dog produced a single album that went nowhere when it was initially released in 1991. Some members of Dog formed Pearl Jam with Vedder soon thereafter. After the wild success of Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, the album received a bit more attention, but not enough to produce a charting single. There are a lot of great contenders on this record, too. It's rather amazing that "Hunger Strike" didn't see chart action, as well as "Say Hello 2 Heaven," "Pushin Forward Back," and "All Night Thing."
Pearl Jam may be one of the last great rock bands. Formed after the demise of underground grunge pioneers Mother Love Bone, and helping to define the sound of the 90s, Pearl Jam were one of the few bands that managed to sustain a career that is still going strong today. The Seattle-based band formed in 1990 and quickly found success with their debut album, "Ten," with non-charting hits like "Alive," "Even Flow," and "Black." Strongly resistant to making music videos, they did make a phenomenal one for "Jeremy," which climbed to #70 in 1993. The song is a R&R Hall of Fame winner and the video won a ton of awards and haunts people to this day. For a band of its popularity, Top 40 appearances have been scarce. Their most notable ones include "Better Man" (#13), "I Got Id" (#7), "Given To Fly" (#21), and "Last Kiss." "Last Kiss" went all the way to #2 in 1999, but ironically was not written by the band (it was penned by Wayne Cochran). "The Fixer" is Pearl Jam at their best: energetic, gritty, and smart, but also melodic and memorable. The song can be found on their brilliant 2009 record, "Backspacer." Amazingly, the tune only went to a shocking #56.
