Single-line melodies in modern pop songs?

'Take My Breath Away', 'Another Day In Paradise', 'Axel F', 'Smooth Criminal', 'The Model', 'Careless Whisper', 'Crockett's Theme', 'Got To Have Your Love', 'Ghostbusters', 'I Can't Wait'by Nu Shooz...
,,,these are all songs I remember standing out to me when I was really young and before I became a discerning, prejudiced music fan.
Even back then, I remember being drawn to particular sounds and musical elements. When I heard those sounds, I felt something bordering addiction. I'd carry these sounds around with me, unable to wait until I could hear them again on the radio or out and about.

It struck me that a common theme running through these songs is they all feature a strong single-line instrumental melody that isn't part of the sung vocal, usually a synth or other monophonic instrument like a sax, or in the case of 'Smooth Criminal'/'Take My Breath Away' a synth bass. In many cases this melody is the key part of the song, the bit people recall best when they're asked to sing or hum it, over and above the verse or chorus.

These were the melodies that grabbed me and shook me up and stuck in my head as a kid. They seemed especially prevalent throughout the eighties, maybe because of the proliferation of FM synths and saxophones. In the 70s you'd have also had big memorable guitar riffs, like Smoke On the Water. Eurodance tracks by 2Unlimited and Nightcrawlers dominated the charts in the early 90s while the late 90s had those big trance anthems like '9PM til I Come' getting in the charts.

But then I was trying to think of some more recent examples and I hit a stumbling block. I asked my friends on Facebook to name some big hits from the last ten years that featured strong instrumental top-line melodies and we came up clutching straws.

A lot of people mentioned 'Seven Nation Army' and 'Toxic', certainly strong riffs, but well over ten years old now. Then there was the usual David Guetta school of EDM which is more-or-less a throwback to the days of Ibiza trance.

One undeniable example though, was 'Rather Be' by Clean Bandit, a track with such an unabashed amount of topline, that it's been relicensed as an advertising sonic for M&S. And while repurposing famous songs for TV ads is de rigueuer these days, it's normally just a slowed down acoustic version of the sung track - not an 'Intel Inside'-style repurposing of the topline melody.

Meanwhile, on listening to the big tracks of the day by Taylor Swift, Little Mix, Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, Adele and many many others, I'm noticing that there are very very few songs that could be discernible by any other element than the vocal on the chorus or verse.

This feels a bit strange to me, because as I say, when I was younger, it was this element that would grab me and keep me coming back for more. But now it seems the attention is much more focused on the voice and perhaps the personality behind that voice. I'm not saying that today's pop doesn't have hooks or memorable bits, rather that the focus and structure has shifted.

There must be some good examples people here can think of, and I'd love to be proved wrong: that the one-note melodic vamp is alive and kicking. But if it's not, why not? Are producers more reluctant to use them? Do they detract from the other elements of the song? Is it something to do with production values - no more FM synths and saxophones?

Or please, tell me I'm wrong here !

"What Do You Mean?"

From the top of my head, this year alone: "Worth It, "Lean On", "Goin Down For Real" "One Last Time" "Bills" "Cheerleader"

Edward Maya & Vika Jigulina – Stereo Love

lol at two biebs tracks so early but "where are you now", definitely

but yeah the fact that people produce around the fact that people listen to music via YouTube on earbuds means that it's mostly drums and vox these days, with the harmonic content mixed low

Disclosure - White Noise.

ups Honestly, I hear 'Cheerleader' about 5 or 6 times a day at work and I'm having trouble recalling whether it has a topline hook. It's the sung chorus that sticks out the most when I hear it in my head.

'What Do You Mean' - yes there's a little bit of call and response between Biebs and that twiddly synth on the chorus, but I'm not sure how much it compares or counts, since it's more of a production embellishment than a segment away from the vocal that people would sing if asked to recall the song.

'Worth It' - definitely counts, and catchy because it sounds reminiscent of about 20 other things.

'Lean On' - yeah alright I'll give it to ya, even though it's more of a cool squirly noise than a melody

'Goin Down For Real' - not familiar with this one but it's definitely one.

'One Last Time' not sure - maybe? kind of trance, although the refrain is almost identical to the chorus line

Not to hop too heavily on the Biebs train, but "Sorry" is a clear example as well. I can barely remember how the rest of the song goes, but the little instrumental hook during the chorus, that I remember

I think the takeaway from the weird bieber dominance here is that nowadays u can find instrumental hooks mostly in "the drop"

Also is topline not a misnomer - I believe that term refers to the main vocal melody?

topline is the main melody, vocal or instrumental

yeah, you might be right. what should i be saying? one-note line? vamp? wordless hook?

Well, since everyone knows what you're talking about I guess it doesn't really matter. I feel no need to derail… But "instrumental hook" makes sense to me.

'One Last Time' not sure - maybe? kind of trance, although the refrain is almost identical to the chorus line

DJ Snake does it with all his tunes, the Alunageorge one and Turn Down For What? both have instrumental hooks (well, cut-up vocal snippets as melody) as the chorus.

Alex Adair Make Me Feel Better is a legit hit and has a cool (marimba?) hook but maybe too much of a club track. Barbra Streisandm Gecko or Sigma Nobody To Love too?

It's more tropical house than anything really - it's kind of interesting because the chorus is essentially the topline melody again, but sung.

Yeah, so I'm not sure it counts, since it's not quite a distinguishable melody from the vocal. Yeah that noise is DJ Snake's trademark. Not sure if I've heard Alex Adair track yet or the others.

Uptown Funk

how bizarre - omc

rap beats seem like the obvious answer, although often the instrumental hook is the only melodic element and it never stops, so i guess it's not quite the same thing. thinking of tracks that milk a super-catchy hook for everything it's worth like 'new slaves', 'i don't like', 'hard in da paint', etc

UOENO has one of the catchiest tunes in current hip hop. Not sure if it counts as chart pop in the UK or not tho.

not that that's a stipulation of course.

there are def a lot of hip hop examples. then again more recent stuff by Future and Young Thug feels a bit like the melodic elements are definitely there, but they're withdrawn into a relatively subtle production style. I only really notice them on third or fourth listen, and then I get hooked.

Anything MUSSAONDABEAT does the job.

That synth part of "What Do You Mean" IS the part I always get stuck in my head!

Feel like the dominance of EDM in pop music the last few years more than makes up for the non-EDM songs that don't have instrumental hooks. It never even occurred to me that it was lacking because I can recall so many EDM-type songs on the radio with strong instrumental hooks.