Paul McCartney

The Beatles should be on every list with the words “rock music” in it. Check out the scream at the beginning of “Helter Skelter.” The song is one of their most rockin’ but the yell is that much better because Paul seems to run out of breath and lets fly with a furious “Yeeeeeeah.”

Bruce Springsteen

Number two might be hard to come by. It’s off of Bruce Springsteen’s Live 75-85 box set. His “Darkness on the Edge of Town” was a great mid tempo track from his 1978 album, but this live version is worth waiting until the end to hear Bruce hold that lost note as he bellows “Tooooooooooooown.” A great rocker proving that his live show is always worth the price of admission.

(This version isn’t from Live 75-85, but it is from the same tour as the one used on the box set.)

Roger Daltry

Finally, the top of the list belongs to Roger Daltrey and The Who on “Won’t Get Fooled Again.” The song is a little long but it’s worth it for your kids to sit through the whole thing. The scream comes at the end of the breakdown. Roger releases an anthem with his “Yeeeeeeeeah” as Pete Townsend replies with his windmill guitar. There’s a quick final verse about meeting the new boss after that works perfectly with his yell. The scream is so long that I let my kids see if they can mimic the length (something my wife is not too fond of).

What, no Axl Rose, no Robert Plant? No Demon of Screamin’ Stven Tyler, fer cryin’ out loud? Check back for Part Two, coming soon! Name your favorite rock scream in the comments.

“Mommy’s alright, Daddy’s alright, they just seem a little weird.” Truer words have never been spoken.

Remember growing up and thinking that your parents just didn’t get it? Well, Cheap Trick was telling the truth all along with their 1978 hit “Surrender.” The song shows how parents can be a lot cooler than kids give them credit for.

Even though I’m a parent now with two kids, I don’t feel any different than I did B.C. (Before children.) Of course, my kids look at me like some sort of authority figure, the guy who puts the kibosh on all the fun (which usually entails doing head first dives off the couch.) I’m holding on to this song to play for them when they’re a little older to help explain that their parents aren’t as square as they might think. In the song the mom and dad are even found “rolling on the couch.” Maybe in a few years Cheap Trick will help to explain to my kids that I’m alright, if nothing else “Surrender” is a great song to get your young ones rockin.’

Teachers complain that most teenagers today rely on Spell Check instead of learning proper spelling, but I would argue that the true culprit is Prince. Born Prince Rogers Nelson in 1958, the man is responsible for some of the greatest pop music of the last 30 years. He’s given us “Purple Rain,” “Let’s Go Crazy” and “When Doves Cry.” He also wrote “Nothing Compares 2 U” and “I Would Die 4 U.” For some reason Prince does not like to spell things out.

It began with his 1982 album 1999, with a track called “All The Critics Love U in New York.” Since then it has gone downhill, even calling his 1999 album Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic. The worst example of Prince reworking the English language was probably his latest album in 2009 which he called LOtUSFLOW3R. At this point it seems Prince has given up on letters altogether and is attempting to spell using numbers. Prince’s reach has spilled over to the next generation as Fall Out Boy took it to another level when they released “Thnks fr th Mmrs” off their 2007 album, Infinity on High. That doesn’t even sound correct.

It is safe to say that no other musical performer alive today is able to make a guitar do what Prince can make it do and for that reason alone it’s worth letting your kids hear his awesome music (but make sure it’s the clean songs.) Just try and keep them away from the track listings and album covers when listening to UR music.