BBC Radio 2 - vote MFN for greatest guitar rift ever.

[vgonis]

Oh, and by the way, I really don't understand why ZZtop are not in the list. I would trade anytime How soon is now (although i love the riff) with any well known ZZtop song from the 70ies. The poll has way too many UK bands(all but 1or 2?-some consider AC/DC a British band and Derek , well...) , which I prefer as well, but still...

[JF]

yes ZZTop is a definitively riff band, as well as the Stones.I don't understand why Keith Richard isn't in the list. He is THE riff guitar man

Sweet child of mine and Layla are not really a "riffs" to me, they are more "lead themes" I may say.

I remember that Aapache was in the list, it's not a "riff" to me


to me, typically riffs are :
Hiwgway to hell
Back in Black
smoke on the water
start me up
brown sugar
bitch
jumpin' jack flash
etc..

[yontwocrows]

I agree with ZZTop and TheStones  , but i disagree with Status Quo (although i like the very beginning of Down Down). I admit that they are a riff band, but the riffs have alway been very standard to me. It's not very difficult to play them. These are often exactly the riffs you learn when you start with rock guitar. But of course it's always a point of view. I'd have the same problems with Quo like the guys in the Live Aid documentary (starts at 13:00)  

[Pottel]

I agree with ZZTop and TheStones  , but i disagree with Status Quo (although i like the very beginning of Down Down). I admit that they are a riff band, but the riffs have alway been very standard to me. It's not very difficult to play them. These are often exactly the riffs you learn when you start with rock guitar. But of course it's always a point of view. I'd have the same problems with Quo like the guys in the Live Aid documentary (starts at 13:00)  

but the contest is not about the riffs being difficult, right?

[ds1984]

Yes, but vgonis the riffs of Status Quo are standard rock riffs, whereas MFN-riff is an example of musical finesse. It's an creation, not an imitation. To me finesse counts more! And MFN is certainly a guitar-riff! No, i can't agree with you, sorry...

MFN is Mark imitating Billy Gibbons guitar sound.

[yontwocrows]

but the contest is not about the riffs being difficult, right?

Ah, if the contest was to choose the most simple one then status quo is underrated 
The point is, that apart from the introduction, it's not a Status Quo Riff. It's a riff played by many rock - guitarists before, so why should go the honour to Status Quo? It's like saying you copied it well.

@ds1984: But it's not a riff that Billy Gibbons played before, right? It's a riff that nobody played before.

I'm not talking about imitating sounds, i'm talking about playing well known old rock patterns. It's ok to do that for the song,  but it's simply strange that you reach in a contest with 100 rock riffs the Top 10 with a riff that was played at least a hundred times before, exactly the way they do it. No way, guys, you'll never convince me that the Down Down riff is a better riff than Money for nothing. No,no, thinking about it... that's too funny 

[vgonis]

yontwocrows, I can agree with you that they play easy riffs that other bands might have used during their songs as part of a solo, although that is a more of a generalization. But, making a song out of such a riff, and a good one, at least  until 1977-78, (by the way rockin all over the world is a cover song by CCR,  John Fogerty, so although everybody might have a point at the documentary about them playing the same riff for 20 years, it does not stand with that song). And anyway, I still believe that their first 10 years of  albums are more than interesting, they contain original riffs and very nice songs. And I am not  even a fan. Their last record I bought was in 1991, (the previous was from the late 70ies) and haven't listened to it in ages.   

[yontwocrows]

Vgonis, i don't want to attack Quo. It's a good Rock band, they have been playing together for years. I've listened to several albums. They did a good job. Still i don't think that any of their songs has a better rock riff than money for nothing.
Anyway, i don't like polls that much, and there were no categories defined what a "good" guitar riff is. So it's not clear wether a good riff is (1.) a riff that is easy to play so that everyone can replay it (2.) a riff that shows musical creativity (3.) a riff that requires high technical skills (4.) a riff that makes people move (5.) a riff that is getting famous and copied by many follow bands (6.) a riff that is immediatly recognisable (7.) a riff that brings nice memories (8.) a hard, soft, romantic and so on riff.
in my opinion a good riff should be created by the artist, should be iconic (recognisable) for the song and should have a wow effect. This Wow-effect i had when i first listened to the Money for Nothing - Riff, i don't have it all when i listen to Down Down. (Whole lotta love, Back in black, Smoke on the water, Layla are good and iconic riffs, very recognisable), Sweet child o#mine is a good riff but imho a little bit overrated. So i don't have a problem that these songs are under the top10. - But Down Down and How soon is now? - Am i the only one that thinks these two are overrated (better than Money for Nothing? in comparison with all the other named riffs) - I can't believe it... 

[vgonis]

I like your list of what a good riff can be! 
I think that it is all the above and then more.
Down down is not even one of my favorite SQ songs, but if I remember correctly it was atheir very big hit in the UK. So memory of fans and common people might have been "tempered" with . 
I love how soon is now, although the riff is a two note riff, because the song is superb and atmospheric. And in my opinion this is an other rule: No matter how good a riff is, the song has to be equally good or better and also a hit to appear in such lists. Ted Nudgent has gret riffs but many of his songs are not up there...

[yontwocrows]

Vgonis, convincing you costs effort 
I try it one more time. You're sitting in a taverna beside the sea. You're reading a magazine. There is a poll with only two choices, and the question is

Which song has the better guitar riff?
(a) Down down
(b) Money for nothing

You would really choose (a)  Be honest!

[vgonis]

Ha, ha! Sitting in a taverna beside the sea! I wish I had! 
Well MFN, it is. But if it was MFN or Brown sugar, well I would think twice! 
Anyway, I totally get your point, and although MFN doesn't do it for me anymore, I would vote for it, since it is one of the few DS songs lead by a riff. 
Enjoy exchanging emails with you yontwocrows!

[Pottel]

mfn. no doubt about it. as much as i like status quo and down down...
now if the question would be "in the army now" vs. mfn...

[vgonis]

Pottel, I never cared much for the SQ cover version,  I always loved the original. Maybe because I danced to it in the childhood 80ies parties. Silly I know, but we could barely say our name in English back then. Or Greek.   

[yontwocrows]

Oh God! Finally! It's really hard to convince all the Knopfler fans in this forum, that Mark Knopfler is really able to write good riffs and that MFN is not so bad, either. Puh!
I like the conversations with all of you, it's funny and it's also interesting. It's really astonishing what you guys know! I haven't listened to MFN too, it became a skipper. Overplayed it a bit! But nevertheless it's a hell of a riff! And i could never listen to Down Down as often as MFN. Brown sugar is clearly the better riff than Down Down, no protests if it had been under the TOP 10. There are so many more riff-songs that are better than Down Down.
In the army is a good song, one of my favourites of Quo, but riffwise, Hm?

[yontwocrows]

Shame on me! I thought the original was by Quo... Thanks for teaching me