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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.
loomisjohnson
jdoris
852 posts
 
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
slothman
311 posts
 
@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.
jdoris
852 posts
 
Slothman: Exactly. DSOTM definitely popular and music, but I have a hard time featuring it as "pop." J
ras422
182 posts
 
Martykl--could not agree more with your views on the Showmen--great R&R and also beach music group--CH of the board did expose his music nationally with motown--another group the Tams were also great----Rich
shadorne's avatar
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shadorne
7,333 posts
 
This pop song is a highly polished production by Trevor horn that will sound better than any other pop song when really cranked.

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