The best driving music is a topic that has been debated since the moment that the Galvin Brother’s Motorola AM radio found its way on the dash of a Model A Deluxe coupe in 1930. Back then, the battle raged between Irving Berlin’s Puttin On The Ritz and Benny Meroff’s Happy Days Are Here Again. At that time, adventurous young drivers sped away at a top speed of 75 mph.

Tawny Kitaen became the Whitesnake girl in the videos, and then became the wife of lead singer David Coverdale. Without Kitaen, this power ballad may not have made our top ten.

Times have changed… dramatically. The only thing you find on AM radio stations is talk radio, and the FM stations aren’t much better. Modern technology has brought satellite radio and iPod song lists to faster cars with better tunes. Of the wide variety of songs that get piped into our driving environment, there are that rare few that make it impossible to lift your right foot off of the go-faster pedal.

We took it upon ourselves to select the top ten “go fast” songs of all time, rank them in order from number ten to number one, and present them in groups of two over the next five days. We start with a list of honorable mentions of those that did not make the final cut, but deserve credit for being top-ranked driving songs:

• Black Betty by Ram Jam
• LaGrange by ZZ Top
• Highway Star by Deep Purple
• Life is a Highway by Rascal Flatts
• Born To be Wild by Steppenwolf

While these fast cuts make it to the top of many other “best driving song” lists, they simply did not have the beat that makes your foot press harder on the gas pedal. Our top-ten list is compiled of the best rockin’ tunes that are proven accelerator creators.

The video made this song the hit that it became and the mental image of Twany Kitaen makes us push on the pedal harder.

Number Ten: Here I go Again by Whitesnake

Ok. We’re going to be honest here. Every time we hear this song, a mental picture of Tawny Kitaen in sheer white lingerie, writhing on the hood of a Jaguar XJ as the wind blows her red hair and white gown seductively, is forever etched in our psyche. We’re not talking about the aged, drug abused, worn out Kitaen either.

The mental image of the youthful Kitaen along with the hard driving chorus of this metal ballad makes it impossible to drive slow. We wonder how many tickets Kitaen is responsible for (other than her own).

Number Nine: The Distance by CAKE

Sacramento’s alternative rock band CAKE has made an entire career with the deadpan voice of lead singer John McDrea. Most of the bland vocals from their work would not be considered “hard-driving” by any stretch of the imagination, no matter what substance you were under the influence of (we not suggesting that alcohol or drugs mix with driving, because they do not. We’re just saying that you couldn’t be baked enough to mistake CAKE for an up-tempo band).

No one will ever confuse CAKE as a heavy metal band, but “The Distance” can be considered a true driving work of art.

Oddly enough, the strange style of CAKE that is influenced by country music and light rock, produced one jewel on their Fashion Nugget album. The Distance became one of CAKE’s most popular songs and in our opinion, one of the top ten driving songs in the past twenty-years.