thats like asking to pick out the most beautiful woman in the world?
the greatest pop song ever?
apropos of absolutely nothing, i just listened to the song "five o clock world" by the vogues for the first time in perhaps 20 years. i heard it on a really good lexus (levinson) sound system and have concluded that it's arguably the greatest pop production ever--the damn thing's incredible. in the space of a quick two minutes you get 12 string guitar, marimba, horns, incredible drumming and a really wild honky-tonk piano, all on top of those weird doowop harmonies. add to the mix a really tight melody and sorta meaningful lyrics and you have something that makes phil spector look unambitious and timid.
also from left field, i've been touting a song called "i can see you" by someone or something called june and the exit wounds as the single most beautiful tune ever written. as far as i know, it's only been released on a sampler by parasol records (an indy label out of urban il). this song sounds like some lost brian wilson masterpiece and is well worth finding for those in search of audio nirvana.
also from left field, i've been touting a song called "i can see you" by someone or something called june and the exit wounds as the single most beautiful tune ever written. as far as i know, it's only been released on a sampler by parasol records (an indy label out of urban il). this song sounds like some lost brian wilson masterpiece and is well worth finding for those in search of audio nirvana.
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It's funny you should mention 5 O'Clock World. I recently heard this song in my car and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed listening to it. I guess I will have to purchase a copy of it. This may not be the most beautiful pop song but I thought it was pretty good back in the day: "Quick Joey Small" by Kasenetz Katz Singing Orchestral Circus from 1968. It's a real toe tapper. |
"Five O'Clock World" is a great song that got a second life as the theme song for Drew Carey's sitcom. Loved it before that, loved it even more afterwards. For me, "Would't It Be Nice" can't quite match "Good Vibrations". Talk about production values! Theremin anyone? Or, in the immortal words of Dewey Cox in "Walk Hard" - More Digideroo! I need fifty Digideroos! On the beautiful side of the contest, if picking from the Brian Wilson songbook, I'd personally opt for "God Only Knows". Maybe even if I'm picking from everyone's songbook. The Rolling Stone list looks more RnR than pop to me, so: That said: Perfect Pop Song - "Crybaby" by Todd Rundgren/Utopia. The mother of all vocal harmonies and an irresistable melody. Although Nick Lowe's "Cruel To Be Kind" is awfully perfect. Most beautiful tune: Gotta think about "Moon River", "Maria" (West Side Story) and "Beeswing" by Richard Thompson to cover some ground. Maybe "The Wrong Girl" by The Showmen (General Johnson). There are a bunch of painfully beautiful Doo Wop melodies to choose from, as well. I guess that's more than one. Marty |
Whichever has sold the most records. That's what pop music is all about. Once the answer is found, no further debate is required. However, finding a definitive answer is problematic due to RIAA certification rules. Bill Haley's "Rock Around the Clock" is the unofficial winner having reported selling 25 million copies since 1955, but it does not qualify under current RIAA certification rules. The present official RIAA winner is Elton John's "Candle in the Wind" with 11+ million sales. |
Ras 422, I always thought that The Showmen were overlooked. Everyone hailed Brian Wilson when he fused vocal music (doo wop) with Chuck Berry, Cal sunny lyrics and his own lunatic production vision. Meanwhile, over on the East Coast, Allen Toussaint was doing something similar with Johnson and The Showmen - but in a low key manner that lacked the production values. Even though the music had IMHO more emotional resonance, no-one seemed to notice. Johnson got his due later with The Chairmen of The Board and a more Motown approach. He also wrote "Patches", my nomination for the best truly bad song ever written. IMHO, Johnson's a great singer and generally cool guy who had a great, largely unappreciated contribution to RnR over its first two decades. |
I know 4 songs that aren't the greatest pop song ever: "Love Will Keep Us Together" and "Muskrat Love" by Captain & Tennille "Afternoon Delight" by Starland Vocal Band "The Night Chicago Died" by Paper Lace |
02-26-10: TvadI'd also say most covered song would qualify as best pop song. There has to be a reason why it's covered the most. I think for decades, that title was held by "Louie Louie" by Richard Berry circa '55/'57 but made infamous by The Kingsmen in ~1963. There have been something like 1,500 covers/versions of that tune recorded. |
In the somewhat obscure, yet I definitely love category: Reading about Five-O'Clock World (which I love) reminded me of The Zombies and "Tell Her No". I also like "She's Not There" a whole lot too. Fun thread. Not pop, and not *that* obscure, but, if I could nominate a somewhat obscure rock/blues song, it would be "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed". |
Reading this list, I'm no longer sure what a "pop" is. It sometimes (especially when spelled out as "popular music") seems to mean "everything but classical," or "everything but classical and (most) jazz," in which case most everything on the thread counts, even things I'd have thought of as rather unlikely, like the B-52s or the Stones. Anyone have a definition? Sales is one possibility,as Tvad notes, but the we get things like Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon," which seems a very different animal than, say, Madonna. John |
@Jdoris - DSOTM on Billboard top 200 for 741 weeks From wikipedia: "The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine. The two primary charts - the Hot 100 (top 100 singles) and the Top 200 (top 200 albums) factor in airplay, as well as music sales in all relevant formats." Not sure of the OP's constraints for methods of determination, however you get what you get when asking such a question in an audiophile forum - grab some popcorn. |
02-28-10: ShadorneFunny to hear how much of that style was carried over into Seal's work, just updated with better syntehsizers. The really impressive thing is listening to the 1985 studio original and then hearing this 2005/6 live version. Not always easy to do such a highly polished/produced studio dance tune live and catch the essence of it. |
Also dig Friday on my mind. There are so many good poppy flavors available. Can't help thinking how much better radio could have been: See Emily Play/ Pink Floyd (the Bowie one is good too) Yellow Pills/ 20/20 I Can see For Miles/ The Who Go All The Way/ The Raspberries Sister Havana/ Urge Overkill Little Green Bag/ George Baker Selection The Move/ Do Ya She's A Sensation/ The Ramones Here Comes My Baby/ The Tremeloes Sunshine Superman/ Donovan Summer in the City/ Lovin' Spoonful Just What I Needed/ The Cars That Thing You Do/ Dwight Twilley Breakup Song/ Greg Kihn Strangers When We Meet/ Smithereens Modern World/ The Jam You Really Got Me/ Kinks Look Sharp/ Joe Jackson Speedy's Coming/ Scorpions Walk Don't Run/ Ventures Sleepwalk/ Shadows Fleetwood Mac/ Albatross Seven and Seven is/ Love Too Much To Dream Last Night/ Electric Prunes (Like the Stiv Bators one too) Procol Harum/ Whiter Shade Of Pale Jimi Hendrix/ Wind Cries Mary She's a Rainbow/ Rolling Stones Adventures in a Yorkshire Landscape/ Be Bop Deluxe Space Oddity/ David Bowie Backwater/ Meat Puppets Where is My Mind (and lots of others)/ Pixies Radiohead/ Creep I Will Follow/ U2 Eddie and the Hot Rods/ Do Anything You Wanna Do Never Say Never/ Romeo Void Gobs of glaring omissions, but gotta stop somewhere |
