Which songs do you think most represented the early, middle, and late parts of their respective decades?  I don't necessarily mean whichever songs were the most popular at the time, but rather which ones contained all of the identifiable traits of their musical era.

Here's my take:

Early 60s: (Surf Rock, 50s Holdovers)
+ Surfin' U.S.A. / The Beach Boys
+ Wipeout / The Surfaris
+ Louie Louie / Kingsmen
+ Stand By Me / Ben E. King

Mid-60s: (British Invasion, Motown)
+ Baby Love / The Supremes
+ (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction / The Rolling Stones
+ Help! / The Beatles
+ You Really Got Me / The Kinks

Late 60s:  (Psychedelic Rock, Bubblegum Pop)
+ Light My Fire / The Doors
+ All Along the Watchtower / Jimi Hendrix
+ Sugar Sugar / The Archies
+ Piece of My Heart / Big Brother & the Holding Company

Early 70s:  (Conscious Rock, Singer/Songwriter, Early Hard Rock)
+ What's Going On / Marvin Gaye
+ Black Dog / Led Zeppelin
+ ABC / The Jackson 5
+ Rocket Man / Elton John

Mid-70s: (Funk, Disco, Glam Rock, Progressive Rock)
+ Play That Funky Music / Wild Cherry
+ The Boys are Back in Town / Thin Lizzy
+ Dancing Queen / ABBA
+ Have a Cigar / Pink Floyd

Late 70s: (Punk, Post-SNF Disco, Primitive New Wave)
+ My Sharona / The Knack
+ Tragedy / Bee Gees
+ My Life / Billy Joel
+ Blitzkrieg Bop / The Ramones

Early 80s:  (Post-Disco, Arena Rock, New Wave)
+ Eye of the Tiger / Survivor
+ Let It Whip / Dazz Band
+ Jessie's Girl / Rick Springfield
+ Physical / Olivia Newton-John

Mid-80s:  (Synth-Rock, Hi-NRG, Gated-Drum Pop)
+ Summer of '69 / Bryan Adams
+ Like a Virgin / Madonna
+ Dancing on the Ceiling / Lionel Richie
+ Sussudio / Phil Collins

Late 80s: (Gated Drum New-Jack Swing, Early Commercial Hip Hop, Teen Pop)
+ Girl You Know It's True / Milli Vanilli
+ Straight Up / Paula Abdul
+ Hangin' Tough / New Kids on the Block
+ My Prerogative / Bobby Brown

Early 90s: (Grunge, House, Non-Gated Drum New-Jack Swing)
+ Come As You Are / Nirvana
+ Get Ready for This / 2 Unlimited
+ Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg / TLC
+ Informer / Snow

Mid-90s: (Gangsta Rap, Britpop, First Wave Pop Punk)
+ Gangsta's Paradise / Coolio
+ Just a Girl / No Doubt
+ Wonderwall / Oasis
+ One Sweet Day / Mariah Carey feat. Boyz II Men

Late 90s: (Teen Pop, Rap/Rock, Glam Rap)
+ I Want It That Way / Backstreet Boys
+ Genie in a Bottle / Christina Aguilera
+ Gettin' Jiggy Wit It / Will Smith
+ Bawitdaba / Kid Rock

Early 2000s: (Neptunes Productions, Eminem, Second-Wave Pop Punk)
+ What's Luv? / Fat Joe feat. Ja Rule & Ashanti
+ Lose Yourself / Eminem
+ How You Remind Me / Nickelback
+ Sk8ter Boi / Avril Lavigne

Mid-2000s: (Crunk, 80s Revival Alternative, R&B, Emo)
+ Yeah! / Usher feat. Lil' Jon & Ludacris
+ We Belong Together / Mariah Carey
+ Just the Girl / The Click Five
+ Somebody Told Me / The Killers

Late 2000s: (Timbaland Productions, Snap)
+ Promiscuous / Nelly Furtado feat. Timbaland
+ Crank That (Soulja Boy) / Soulja Boy
+ Buy U a Drank / T-Pain feat. Yung Joc
+ Glamorous / Fergie feat. Ludacris

Early 2010s: (Electropop, Dubstep)
+ Teenage Dream / Katy Perry
+ Born This Way / Lady Gaga
+ Party Rock Anthem / LMFAO
+ DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love / Usher feat. Pitbull

Mid-2010s: (EDM, Trap)
+ Uptown Funk! / Paul Ronson feat. Bruno Mars
+ Fancy / Iggy Azalea feat. Charlie XCX
+ Blank Space / Taylor Swift
+ Royals / Lorde

Here are my thoughts:



Early 60s: (Surf Rock, 50s Holdovers)
+ The Twist / Chubby Checker
+ Walk Like A Man / The Four Seasons
+ Be My Baby / The Ronettes
+ Stand By Me / Ben E. King

Mid-60s: (British Invasion, Motown)
+ My Girl / The Temptations
+ Reach Out (I'll Be There) / The Four Tops
+ A Hard Day's Night / The Beatles
+ Like A Rolling Stone/ Bob Dylan

Late 60s:  (Psychedelic Rock, Bubblegum Pop)
+ Respect / Aretha Franklin
+ Purple Haze / Jimi Hendrix
+ Here Comes The Sun / The Beatles
+ Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In / The 5th Dimension

Early 70s:  (Conscious Rock, Singer/Songwriter, Early Hard Rock)
+ O'Jays / Love Train
+ Stairway to Heaven / Led Zeppelin
+ Maggie May / Rod Stewart
+ It's Too Late / Carole King

Mid-70s: (Funk, Disco, Glam Rock, Progressive Rock)
+ The Hustle / Van McCoy
+ Rock 'n Roll All Nite / KISS
+ Bohemian Rhapsody / Queen
+ Boogie Fever / The Slyvers

Late 70s: (Punk, Post-SNF Disco, Primitive New Wave)
+ Just What I Needed / The Cars
+ Y.M.C.A. / Village People
+ I Will Survive / Gloria Gaynor
+ Anarchy In The UK / The Sex Pistols

Early 80s:  (Post-Disco, Arena Rock, New Wave)
+ Tainted Love / Soft Cell
+ Don't Stop Believin' / Journey
+ Don't You Want Me / Human League
+ Celebration / Kool & The Gang

Mid-80s:  (Synth-Rock, Hi-NRG, Gated-Drum Pop)
+ Miami Vice Theme / Jan Hammer
+ Take On Me / a-Ha
+ Relax / Frankie Goes To Hollywood
+ Get Into The Groove / Madonna

Late 80s: (Gated Drum New-Jack Swing, Early Commercial Hip Hop, Teen Pop, Hair Metal, S/A/W pop)
+ Here I Go Again/ Whitesnake
+ Never Gonna Give You Up / Rick Astley
+ Smooth Criminal / Michael Jackson
+ Miss You Much/ Janet Jackson

Early 90s: (Grunge, House, Non-Gated Drum New-Jack Swing)
+ Smells Like Teen Spirit/ Nirvana
+ The Power / Snap
+ Ice Ice Baby/ Vanilla Ice
+ Everybody Dance Now / C + C Music Factory

Mid-90s: (Gangsta Rap, Britpop, First Wave Pop Punk)
+ California Love/ Tupac
+ Waterfalls/ TLC
+ Another Night / Real McCoy
+ One Sweet Day / Mariah Carey feat. Boyz II Men

Late 90s: (Teen Pop, Rap/Rock, Glam Rap)
+ Fly Away / Lenny Kravitz
+ Wannabe / Spice Girls
+ Hypnotize / Notorious B.I.G.
+ Believe / Cher

Early 2000s: (Neptunes Productions, Eminem, Second-Wave Pop Punk)
I DON'T LISTEN TO MUSIC MADE AFTER THE LATE '90s!

I agree with this. Kind of makes me depressed about the mid 2010s though.

I'm going to do bits and pieces because I don't feel like making a long list...for now.

Late 1960s
For What It's Worth - Buffalo Springfield
Incense and Peppermints - Strawberry Alarm Clock

Early 1970s
American Woman - The Guess Who
Joy to the World - Three Dog Night

Late 1970s
Stayin' Alive - The Bee Gees
I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor