By Greg Carannante
City & Shore Magazine
We asked you to tell us what song the Hard Rock’s Giant Guitar Hotel should be playing when it opens this month, and you responded with a 50-plus-song playlist that truly lives up to the name of the place.
We thank our readers and social media followers who sent in dozens of song ideas. We could have heard almost any of them coming from the new hotel at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.
However, Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven received the most first-place votes — just beating out Chuck Berry’s Johnny B. Goode, Prince’s Purple Rain and the Beatles’ While My Guitar Gently Weeps. Stairway is no surprise winner, considering that our imagining is for the song to be played by a 450-foot guitar and considering that the song topped Guitar World magazine’s “100 Greatest Guitar Solos in Rock and Roll History.” From the untitled 1971 album known as Led Zeppelin IV, the song is also considered one of the greatest, most popular and most played rockers of all time.
The winning entry, drawn at random from among the entrants who named the song as their top choice, was submitted by Dawn Palughi of Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. She wins two free passes to the party of the year, the Men of Style bash honoring Broward County’s leading men, Dec. 5 at The Galleria in Fort Lauderdale, sponsored by City & Shore magazine.
Here is a playlist of the entries, in alphabetical order and each followed by the names/handles of the entrants. Because we received so many entries, space limitations prevent us from listing them all. Also, though many people submitted multiple song ideas, we were only able to list everyone’s first choice.
A Hard Day’s Night, the Beatles
Nikki @nikdan30
Anastasia, Slash, Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators
Manny @_esdlr
Born to Boogie, Hank Williams Jr.
Jennifer Yazejian
Cease to Exist, Charles Manson
carmen petaccio @CarCarPetach
Celebration, Kool & the Gang
Michael Colonna, Boca Raton
Cocaine, Eric Clapton
Chris McDonald @saratogahorse
Come Together, the Beatles
Joe Signorelli, Fort Lauderdale
Daniel Mendel, Winter Springs
Deb Mendel, Cooper City
Desperado, the Eagles
Daisy and Ray Lopez,
Pembroke Pines
Devil With a Blue Dress On, Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels
Mark Vasko @mark_vasko
Do It Again, Steely Dan
Richard DeVivo @RichDeVivo
Dream On, Aerosmith
Marilyn Franz, Miramar
Jeff Doan @topscorer1
For Those About to Rock, AC/DC
Tracy J. Schuldiner
Free Fallin’, Tom Petty
Donna McWilliams, Boca Raton
Get Lucky, Daft Punk
Glenda Diaz, Cooper City
Ghost Riders in the Sky, The Outlaws, Johnny Cash
Lawrence Jay Davis, Davie
Gitarzan, Ray Stevens
Maxine Kaplan Delray Beach
Guitar, Prince
Michael Sierociuk
Hell Awaits, Slayer
Pork Chop Kings @ChopKings
Here Comes the Sun, the Beatles
Gary Fish, Miramar
Higher Love, Steve Winwood
Raquel Dunn, Boca Raton
Hotel California, the Eagles
Bee, Boca Raton
It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll, the Rolling Stones
Betty Greeson, Coral Springs
Stephen Picardi
Johnny B. Goode, Chuck Berry
Kathy Hawxhurst, Boca Raton
C of CJ’s @CJsCafeLasOlas
Laura Myers, Boca Raton
Gail Cohen, Hollywood
Juke Box Hero, Foreigner
Wendy Pool, Coral Springs
Jumpin’ Jack Flash, the Rolling Stones
Anne Nebenzahl
Layla, Derek and the Dominos
Hal Dunn, Boca Raton
Lonely Tonight, Blake Shelton
Emptynestliving1
Long Live Rock, The Who
Joe Loish
Luck Be A Lady, Frank Sinatra
Edward Shankman, Plantation
Old Time Rock and Roll, Bob Seger
Florida Bride @FloridaBrideMag
Oye Como Va, Santana
Beth L. Raiola, Davie
Purple Haze, the Jimi Hendrix Experience
Darin Darst @jdarindarst
Ellen Anderson, Coconut Creek
Purple Rain, Prince
Hobnail Boot Cobbler Inc. @theschmooz
Bill @NoleFan66
Rosemary Taylor-Searles
Jeannie Murphy, Davie
Right Now, Van Halen
Gregg Forgea, Coconut Creek
Rock and Roll, Led Zeppelin
Frank Cirillo @FrankCirillo
Diane High
Rock and Roll All Nite, Kiss
Debra Finney @Debrainla
Marty Vitelli, Coral Springs
Rock Around the Clock, Bill Haley & His Comets
Debbie Horvath, Cooper City
Rock On, David Essex
Betty Bailey, Fort Lauderdale
Rock With You, Michael Jackson
JoAnn Fine, Hollywood
Rumble, Link Wray
Diane Roberts, Miramar
Run to the Hills, Iron Maiden
Russell305 @russm305
Sleep Walk, Santo & Johnny
Steve Lipthay
Smoke on the Water, Deep Purple
James DiLenge @ratpack5161
Stairway to Heaven, Led Zeppelin
Dawn Palughi, Lauderdale-by-the=Sea
Mark Vasko @mark_svasko
Jeff Bushek, Coral Springs
Herbert Glasser, Boynton Beach
Maris Dunn, Boca Raton
Start Me Up, the Rolling Stones
Roxanne Rossiter, Hollywood
The Great Gig in the Sky, Pink Floyd
Sharon Oorbeek, Cooper City
The Star-Spangled Banner, Jimi Hendrix
Mary C. Geldi, Tamarac
They Call Me Guitar Hurricane, Stevie Ray Vaughan
Suzanne E. Higgins, Lauderdale
Two Tickets to Paradise, Eddie Money (RIP)
Tami Livnat Ruddy
Michael Knapp, Miramar
Walk This Way, Aerosmith
Miriam Castillo
Whole Lotta Love, Led Zeppelin
Kevin Marzilli, Weston
We Built This City, Starship
Gentry Chambers, Fort Lauderdale
miami $30k-millionaire, @30kmillionMIA
We Are the Champions, Queen
Joseph Bianco, Boca Raton
We Will Rock You, Queen
Jessica Atkinson, Sunrise
Rebecca de la Zerda
Sandy Pitt, Hillsboro Beach
While My Guitar Gently Weeps, the Beatles
Clif Post @ClifPost
Charles West
Susan Kerns, Cooper City
Diane Roberts, Miramar