I used that opening riff as my ring tone for awhile. It drew lots of attention.

I always thought for a second it was Peace Frog by the Doors coming on.

I’d never made that association

Greig's Piano Concerto in Am ???

Maybe not as famous and the 5ths opening but definitely one of the most recognizable openings.

Editing because I almost forgot another of my favs....

Careless Whisper by George Michael.

Aka - Should I Say or Should I Go

The marvelous Wilson sisters.

The Rolling Stones

Guess Who had a lot of great songs.

Al Stewart

Rod Stewart

and,
-'Billy Jean'... M. Jackson
-'Gimme Shelter'... Stones
-'Ride Like the Wind'... Chris Cross

Alice in Chains

all his old stuff with Spencer Davis, Traffic, and Blind Faith. 'Love it.

They didn't waste a lot of time getting right to the point of the song.

Just a few:

Let it be
Imagine
Day tripper
Hey bulldog
Yesterday
Here comes the sun
Blackbird

My parents have always been heavy into classical music and some show tunes and maybe a few folk songs. I tried to get them into the Beatles a few times over the decades but no luck.

Then they told me they were rehearsing Norwegian wood for chorus, and of course they had never heard the song before (50 years after it first come out lol) but thought it was a beautiful song. Never too old to learn!

European/american song, or at least the first major European /american song to feature a sitar.

Ten Years After. "Piece of My Heart" Big Brother and the Holding Company. "Pusherman" Steppenwolf. "Whipping Post" Allman Brothers Band. "Let's Live for Today" The Grass Roots. "Touch of Grey" Grateful Dead. "White Rabbit" Jefferson Airplane. "Let It Rain" Derek and the Dominos Live at the Fillmore. "Roll Me Away" Bob Seger. "La Grange" ZZ Top. "No Woman, No Cry" Bob Marley and the Wailers. "A Pirate Looks at Forty" Jimmy Buffett. "Operator (That's Not the Way it Feels)" Jim Croce.

There are, of course, many others I could name. Stairway to Heaven, More Than a Feeling, You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet, etc...

Another great opening riff that just came to mind!

One of my favorite tunes:

My wife is really good at this too.
She'll hear 2 notes, but (after all she's married to me for 44 years) can identify a song by the guitar tone.
There are tons of songs that apply.
The whole premise of "Name That Tune" was based on quickly ID'ing a song. I admit, though, that on that show, there were clues, too.
We do this when listening to the radio in the car, all the time.

When The Levee Breaks by Zeppelin.
All I need is that first kick drum. The slapback echo with the natural reverb is all I need to hear. It's not even a note. Just a thump. No mistaking it!

among so many others

Wasted Years

the videos. It exposed me to a different type of music, Thank you

By The White Stripes.

I've always had a good ear for music and can recognize many tunes after the first few notes. But this one is the first that comes to mind.

The Kinks.

Cream

SongPop is one of my favorite time killers, and I particularly like the Intros categories (it’s a game app similar to Name That Tune which uses actual clips of each song).

The first one that came to mind, though, is Wilson by Phish:

25 or 6 to 4

Aqualung - Jethro Tull
Golden Brown - The Stranglers
Watching the Detectives - Elvis Costello
Are Friends Electric - Gary Numan
YYZ - Rush
Fly by Night - Rush
Pretty much any Rush song, if I’m honest.

Sonny and Cher

Really just about every song that I like.

Head Over Heels - The Go Go's
Raindance - The Guess Who

Rawer
Heaven and Hell - The Who (Entwhistle)
The Real Me - The Who Quadrophrenia
Drums of Heaven - Midnight Oil

Dreamy
City of Blinding Lights - U2
Everybody Wants To Rule The World -
Tears for Fears

Before I acquired the albums way back when each of these songs' opening sequences would come on the radio - my ears would "pick up" metaphorical like an animal hearing a certain sound! 😄🩷

I'll recognize it within the first 2 seconds. Just unmistakable.

Theme from Friends. love that song!