If you were going to introduce someone to the music of Zeppelin...

[timeaisis]

I think Over the Hills and Far away exemplifies Zeppelin the most. I dunno...it just does it for me. The problem I had when I was a teenager is I only had heard their hits, which don't get me wrong, are all great, but I didn't even know some of their other stuff existed till I hit my 20s. Everyone's heard Rock and Roll, Black Dog, Stairway, if you really want to get someone hooked on them you're gonna have to get them to listen to their unique stuff. OTHAFA, Down by the Seaside, In My Time, Song Remains the Same. And then I'd say Bring it On Home, because you gotta see what they can do with the blues. And once you hear that, you'll be hooked.

[ally]

The best way to discover Zeppelin is album by album, imo.

[Cecil.]

Yeah, I feel that way too. Rather play DJ or hold someone's hand track by track, stick on a album...

[hf21]

If you had 5 songs to introduce Zeppelin to someone, which songs would it be and why?

Good topic. I think the answer really depends on your target audience. If you are picking songs for someone who likes top 40 or light music, maybe you want to go with:

All of my Love

The Rain Song

Thank You

Stairway

Fool In The Rain

Tea For One

etc...just to ease them into it

If you are trying to hook a younger person who's into heavy music, you might want to with:

Heartbreaker

Whole Lotta Love

D&C

The Rover

Immigrant Song

My wife, for example, doesn't understand my Zeppelin obsession. I want to make a CD for her, but I'm not going to put a live Dazed and Confused on there. I'm going to stear clear of No Quarter (don't want ot scare her off). I'm unsure of Stairway because I'm sure she's heard it thousand times before. She likes more vocally driven songs and will not want to listen to extended jams or long songs.

If I had to pick just 5 for her:

Heartbreaker (maybe with LLM attached?)

Thank You

All Of My Love

Babe I'm Gonna Leave You

Whole Lotta Love Or Immigrant Song

But I'd probably just make her a CD and let her jump from track to track.

I played Physical Grafitti for my parents in 1990 when I was 19 when we went on a raod trip to Florida. They liked it. So I go with PG.

I am the same age as you. My parents introduced ME to Led Zeppelin back in the 70s. I remember being intrigued by the Zeppelin III cover with all the pictures and the wheel.

[hf21]

In some cases, you can't guess which songs will catch the ear of a new listener. My kids didn't care for LZ or any of "Daddy's music", but once they heard The Song Remains The Same, they loved it. They still ask for that "God Zeppelin song". (My one son insists it's "God Zeppelin" and not "Led". LOL!)

The first time they heard TSRTS, they were sitting in their car seats banging their little heads along with the opening riff. I was so proud that day!

[DewieCox]

I think steering them away from the heavy hitters is about the worst idea possible. There's a reason those are heavy hitters...b/c alot of the general public enjoys them, along with the more hardcore fans. Not saying you can't sneak in a deep track or a few but you could stick with the standard classic rock radio tracks and have a pretty good cross section to choose from.

I'd try to get a feel for what they are into and play them stuff that's as similar as possible to wherever their tastes lie.

[The Rover]

In some cases, you can't guess which songs will catch the ear of a new listener. My kids didn't care for LZ or any of "Daddy's music", but once they heard The Song Remains The Same, they loved it. They still ask for that "God Zeppelin song". (My one son insists it's "God Zeppelin" and not "Led". LOL!)

The first time they heard TSRTS, they were sitting in their car seats banging their little heads along with the opening riff. I was so proud that day!

The stuff that great YouTube videos are made of !!!