Buffalo Springfield - For What It's Worth 1967

UCRs top 100 classic rock songs list brings us to #75 is Buffalo Springfield "FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH"

Despite the fact that they were only originally active for an approximate two-year span (1966 to 1968), the impact of Buffalo Springfield's song "For What It's Worth" continues to resonate today, decades later.

Released approximately 12 years into the Vietnam War, the song has often been interpreted to be an anti-war anthem, when in fact "For What It's Worth" was originally written by Stephen Stills as a reaction to escalating unrest between Los Angeles law enforcement and club-goers on the Sunset Strip.

The unrest started when officers, bowing to pressure from both business and home owners in the area, chose to begin enforcing a strict 10 PM curfew that dated back to 1939 in an effort to curb the number of people hanging out there. The Los Angeles County board of supervisors decided that getting tough was the best tactic, and rescinded the "youth permits" of 12 of the clubs frequented by youth on the Sunset Strip, deeming them off-limits to anybody under 21 years of age.

The Sunset Strip riots were born when arrests for curfew violations began escalating. There were six consecutive weekends where young people protested the enforcement of the bylaw. Most of the damage was done, however, on Nov. 12, 1966, the first night demonstrations were held. Before the evening was through, store windows had been smashed, a city bus disabled and more than 200 arrests were made.

"For What It's Worth" peaked at the No. 7 position on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1967, and has since been covered by the likes of Keb Mo, Rush and Ozzy Osbourne. It has also been sampled by hip-hop group Public Enemy for their track "He Got Game."