What is the most POP song of all time?

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and include a definition of Pop, and why your choice fits perfectly.

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Tuesday, 11 March 2003 17:28 (twenty-three years ago)

Archies 'Sugar Sugar'

fits the two most common perceptions of pop music - the manufactured/calculated aspect and the infuriatingly catchy hook/melody

― stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 11 March 2003 17:30 (twenty-three years ago)

its also ludicrously simple and about love

― stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 11 March 2003 17:31 (twenty-three years ago)

Also the first song ever played on KUCI. Woohoo!

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 11 March 2003 17:36 (twenty-three years ago)

"don't stop til you get enough" by mj.

1) by the King of Pop/Artist of the Millenium
2) actually is a POPular song
3) lyrics about abandon & desire, innocently sexy & not just a little spooky
4) has a good beat, you can dance to it
5) sounded familiar and from outer space at the same time the first time you heard it

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Tuesday, 11 March 2003 17:38 (twenty-three years ago)

good points Fritz, i think if you take that line on pop as a magical force for good then thats a great choice. 'Sugar Sugar' is perhaps the cynical choice?

― stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 11 March 2003 17:41 (twenty-three years ago)

6) also, like sugar sugar, it's about "you"

(sugar sugar is surely also a magical force for good!)

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Tuesday, 11 March 2003 17:41 (twenty-three years ago)

I think Steve nailed it.

― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Tuesday, 11 March 2003 17:43 (twenty-three years ago)

Kylie Minogue - Can't Get You Out of My Head

― jel -- (jel), Tuesday, 11 March 2003 17:43 (twenty-three years ago)

(you need to say why)

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Tuesday, 11 March 2003 17:44 (twenty-three years ago)

because it was the first thing that came into my head when confronted with the question, and therefore must be the most pop song I know!

― jel -- (jel), Tuesday, 11 March 2003 17:49 (twenty-three years ago)

(sugar sugar is surely also a magical force for good!)

i dunno, its not clever enough to be a true transcendental pop moment - it doesnt feature the elements you describe of 'DSTYGE' really. most people over 12 are more likely to find it irritating rather than loveable i'm figuring. In short you can see how someone could hate 'Sugar Sugar' but I can't believe there's anyone out there who loves music but does not like the 70s Jacko output at all - even if its not their thing they could at least appreciate the genius aspect of so much of it.

― stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 11 March 2003 17:52 (twenty-three years ago)

'Baby One More Time' vs 'Cant Get You Out Of My Head' is interesting

― stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 11 March 2003 17:56 (twenty-three years ago)

the lord's prayer is the most popular song of all time

― schnell schnell, Tuesday, 11 March 2003 18:10 (twenty-three years ago)

stevem pretty much nailed it first time but bottled it!

if not 'sugar sugar' then maybe madonna's 'borderline'.

― michael wells (michael w.), Tuesday, 11 March 2003 18:15 (twenty-three years ago)

Probably S Club 7's "Reach."

― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Tuesday, 11 March 2003 18:31 (twenty-three years ago)

'Cease to Exist'

― dave q, Tuesday, 11 March 2003 18:32 (twenty-three years ago)

DIE S CLUB 7 DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE LIKE DOGS

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 11 March 2003 18:32 (twenty-three years ago)

ahem

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 11 March 2003 18:33 (twenty-three years ago)

ave maria = it is so gorgeous, so magnificent... it is a classic around the world for centuries.

abba - dancing queen = it is so gorgeous, so magnificent... it is a classic around the world for decades.

andrew wk - she is beautiful = it is so gorgeous, so magnificent... it is a classic around the world for months.

casiotone for the painfully alone - number ten = it is like all of the above (plus merzbow) in about 2 minutes.

― gygax! (gygax!), Tuesday, 11 March 2003 18:36 (twenty-three years ago)

i go along with dancing queen. maybe "wannabe" as well.

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Tuesday, 11 March 2003 18:41 (twenty-three years ago)

i like stevem's choice -- and the Archies were the perfect pop band.

― Bosse-De-Nage (Bosse-De-Nage), Tuesday, 11 March 2003 18:43 (twenty-three years ago)

i changed my mind because Fritz, or rather Michael Jackson, suggested what pop COULD be - it can be more than just a cute little ditty which is ALL 'Sugar Sugar' is, no real element of genius. how much is the notion of genius necessary to create something that is the MOST pop thing rather than the BEST pop thing? i guess its not too important, so now i'm coming back to 'Sugar Sugar' again! but 'Dancing Queen' is also an excellent suggestion...

tiers of pop music then

'Sugar Sugar' - lowest common denominator? as simple as a traditionally structured song can get?

'Dancing Queen' - more emotional depth, nostalgic element, timeless but very much a 'here and now' track too - nothing else matters etc. - almost punk in that respect! well crafted songwriting and composition, intelligent but still populist, but does anyone really think Abba were genius as opposed to just extremely talented artists?

'Billie Jean' - just as popular as 'Dancing Queen' if not more so but gets referred to as a work of genius ALL THE TIME. as a result, kind of transcends the notion of a pop song and becomes something else - as Jackson himself was not just a pop star but 'something else' - because to class him as a 'mere' pop star would not do justice to defining the gulf between him and anyone else.

so which is the most pop? i can't decide.

― stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 11 March 2003 18:56 (twenty-three years ago)

Shanice. I love your smile. Do do do do do do-be do; do do do do do do do etc. Infectious, sweet and inspired. It just bloody works, the way pop is meant to. Another point is that the song bounced straight into my head when I saw the question.

― Daniel (dancity), Tuesday, 11 March 2003 19:04 (twenty-three years ago)

Sugar Sugar seems to be the definite winner. Dancing Queen is a great thought too .. but since Abba was a real band, they lose points. The Archies score major bonus points for being cartoons.

So on that premise, "I'm a Believer" I nominate for second place.

Billie Jean - no way...

― dave225 (Dave225), Tuesday, 11 March 2003 19:19 (twenty-three years ago)

Men Without Hats, "Pop Goes the World" - really bad pop song about really bad pop songs! Plus it's been stuck in my head since Jen's party.

― hstencil, Tuesday, 11 March 2003 19:28 (twenty-three years ago)

Pop, as in melodic in a diatonic way, with considerably more European than American/African influences, and a rather soft production with the vocals in the forefront.

The best pop song IMO would be "Bohemian Rhapsody". If "suites" are excluded, then I'd go for The Beatles' "From Me To You" as the perfect pop song.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 11 March 2003 20:32 (twenty-three years ago)

bohemian rhapsody is the least *pop* song ever.

(i know what i'm doing here, foax. honest.)

― michael wells (michael w.), Tuesday, 11 March 2003 20:38 (twenty-three years ago)

Btw. nothing called "pop" by the general audiences after the mid 80s has anything to do with "pop". The ultimate pop song probably remains "From Me To You".

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 11 March 2003 20:39 (twenty-three years ago)

The La's, "There She Goes"
Pure heaven.

― Jazzbo (jmcgaw), Tuesday, 11 March 2003 20:56 (twenty-three years ago)

"From Me to You" actually is a pretty good choice.

Still gotta go w/ the Archies though.

― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Tuesday, 11 March 2003 21:04 (twenty-three years ago)

No contest. Fischerspooner's "Emerge." Either that or it's the best PUNK song ever.

― maria b (maria b), Tuesday, 11 March 2003 21:35 (twenty-three years ago)

My first thought for this was "Yummy Yummy Yummy" - Ohio Express.

― Carey (Carey), Tuesday, 11 March 2003 21:36 (twenty-three years ago)

"Emerge" is sort of the modern-day "Sugar, Sugar" yes.

― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Tuesday, 11 March 2003 22:00 (twenty-three years ago)

why does the stupid punk thread have twice the responses of the infinitely more interesting pop one?

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Tuesday, 11 March 2003 22:30 (twenty-three years ago)

I would lean toward "Dancing Queen" on the following really unimaginative basis: just as a cleaned-up soulful version of American rock'n'roll mutated into an international pop template in the 60s -- becoming one of the first sounds to serve as a nearly global lingua franca -- something very much like "Dancing Queen" fills that role now. I'm not sure there's a single portion of the world where there isn't some denominator of ABBA-like pop -- although the one hole in this theory is that it's usually more ballady than chuggily danceable like that.

The international lingua franca on the rise: pop trance. (Just waiting for an older generation to fade out, really.)

― nabisco (nabisco), Tuesday, 11 March 2003 23:53 (twenty-three years ago)

"You get what you give" New Radicals, instant classic.

― Sami (Sami), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 00:05 (twenty-three years ago)

Peter, Paul and Mary "Puff the Magic Dragon" - catchy and simple (really the two most important elements of good pop songs)

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Wednesday, 12 March 2003 00:38 (twenty-three years ago)

The La's - "Son of a Gun"

I don't know why everyone loves "There She Goes" so much. I think it's the worst song on the album!

HONORABLE MENTIONS: "I Saw Her Standing There," "Good Vibrations," "Last Train to Clarksville

― Evan (Evan), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 03:05 (twenty-three years ago)

What am I, a dumbass? It's a universally accepted fact that the most POP song of all time is "September Gurls"!

― Evan (Evan), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 03:10 (twenty-three years ago)

Waterloo, ABBA. Because The were two couples! And one female was a blonde! And the other brunette! And they were from Sweden!

― jm (jtm), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 03:16 (twenty-three years ago)

"Theme From S'Express." - S'Express.

― maria b (maria b), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 04:20 (twenty-three years ago)

Kylie Minogue - Can't Get You Out of My Head

I agree on this one. Great great dance pop song. Instant classic.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 05:09 (twenty-three years ago)

"Theme From S'Express." - S'Express.

Not even close to pop. This is dance. Dance is not pop.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 11:14 (twenty-three years ago)

Not even close to pop. This is dance. Dance is not pop.

Why not?

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 12:15 (twenty-three years ago)

Anyway, I'm going to go for Into The Groove by Madonna because it has:

A - A girl singing.
B - A kick-ass riff
C - A kick-ass bassline
D - Lyrics about dancing
E - Lyrics about love

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 12:17 (twenty-three years ago)

F - It has inspired me to use the phrase "kick-ass" without any apparent irony. Twice.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 12:18 (twenty-three years ago)

"September Gurls" is great, but it's a bit inward-looking to be the greatest pop song ever.

I always thought the Four Seasons were pretty pop--mindless and irritating yet somehow great.

"Tears of a Clown" is up there.

"California Girls" would be a good choice, something that is so specific yet completely universal, sweeping yet very homely, actually.

Abba--too Eurovision Song Contest Winner for me, but I can hear the appeal.

All the attempts to write a perfect pop song, like "Shake Some Action," fall short.

"Everybody Wants to Rule the World"?

I think the perfect pop song has to be catchy yet a bit oblique and mysterious (like Lowe's great "Cruel to Be Kind"--what ARE those little noises in that song exactly??) , or something so obvious that its essential weirdness and even WRONGness is obscured at the time of its initial release. Like the Four Seasons, for example, horribly wrong music that is somehow--to me anyway--fascinating and irresistable.

I dunno, there are a million most pop songs of all time.

― Jess Hill (jesshill), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 14:59 (twenty-three years ago)

No question about it:
Escape(the Pina Colada Song) by Rupert Holmes

― oops (Oops), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 15:53 (twenty-three years ago)

It would have to a Goffin/King song and of those it would have to be "Locomotion"

Also it's been a hit for many different people [Kylie, Ike & Tina, OMD, Little Eva [the biggest], Grand Funk Railroad, Chiffons] which is a testament to its catchiness and mutability. Didn't Tiffany or Bananarama do it, too?

It also started a dance "craze" and was very popular in different decades... It must be: "Locomotion!"

― david day (winslow), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 16:07 (twenty-three years ago)

It is also a veiled reference to sex?

― david day (winslow), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 16:11 (twenty-three years ago)

"I don't know why everyone loves "There She Goes" so much. I think it's the worst song on the album!"

(Clutches heart, falls backward.)
WHHAAATTT?
There's a point starting at 1:30 into the single version of the song (a better mix, I think), where I'm in ecstacy.
But "Son of a Gun" is great, too.

― Jazzbo (jmcgaw), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 22:18 (twenty-three years ago)

'Justified and ancient' had everything as far as I'm concerned.

― Ian SPACK (Ian SPACK), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 22:46 (twenty-three years ago)

I would pick Everybody by Madonna before Into the Groove because it's more populist. It also fits statements A through E.

― disco stu (disco stu), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 22:53 (twenty-three years ago)

Not even close to pop. This is dance. Dance is not pop.
Why not?

Pop is supposed to keep the old Tin Pan Alley alive, while it rejects a lot of what 50s rock'n'roll and early blues was about. For those who like putting skin colour on music (I don't), you could say that pop is "white" while rock is "black"

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 23:26 (twenty-three years ago)

Erm.... Geir, I don't know what the fuck yer talkin' about dood.

― maria b (maria b), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 23:41 (twenty-three years ago)

what color is skiffle?

― gygax! (gygax!), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 23:43 (twenty-three years ago)

Dance isn't necessarily pop, but I wouldn't say that all dance is not pop. I think that today danceability is overemphasized as a crucial element in pop.

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Thursday, 13 March 2003 01:56 (twenty-three years ago)

I don't know why everyone loves "There She Goes" so much. I think it's the worst song on the album!

YES ! ! ! "Failure" and "I Can't Sleep" are way way way better...

erm well anyway I was going to vote "I Saw Her Standing There" as poppest of the pop, but Evan already mentioned it in that very same post, so ne'mind.

― Poppy (poppy), Thursday, 13 March 2003 03:50 (twenty-three years ago)

Kylie -- Lucky
Vengaboys -- Up and Down

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Thursday, 13 March 2003 06:21 (twenty-three years ago)

Nah, you're all wrong. "Jerusalem" is the most pop song ever. Big, inspiring, everybody loves it. Easy to sing along to, and lots of notes that pissed people can miss when falling out the pub.

― Johnney B (Johnney B), Thursday, 13 March 2003 09:28 (twenty-three years ago)

so, 'Sugar Sugar' then...

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 13 March 2003 10:19 (twenty-three years ago)

Oh if we're talking dance too, I think my pick would change to "Groove is in the Heart."

― Evan (Evan), Thursday, 13 March 2003 10:20 (twenty-three years ago)

Only one winner: "Do You Beleive In Magic", The Lovin' Spoonful

― Dadaismus, Thursday, 13 March 2003 13:57 (twenty-three years ago)

I think that today danceability is overemphasized as a crucial element in pop.

What is called "pop" by the business and the kids today has nothing to do with pop at all.

Unless you say that pop=popular, but that is not a correct use of the term. Pop is a musical term, not a sociological one.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 13 March 2003 16:26 (twenty-three years ago)

I thought pop was a cultural term.

― disco stu (disco stu), Thursday, 13 March 2003 16:38 (twenty-three years ago)

pop as short for "popular" seems to be the only definition of pop that has remained constant, but in the context of this question it is whatever you want to define it as - and you're supposed to include that definition.

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Thursday, 13 March 2003 16:46 (twenty-three years ago)

my take: pop can encompass several genres/styles, Electric 6, Junior Senior, Sugababes, St Etienne, New Order, Pet Shop Boys and Moloko to me have all made good pop records, however different they are from each other - they either possess instinctive pop traits or they BECOME pop - either way is fine

of course alongside this is a fixed notion of pop that consists of Britney, Justin, S Club, Gareth Gates etc. - 'pop' as a term suits these artists better than anything else precisely because of its ambiguous connotations...oh and the fact that they sell a lot of records of course

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 13 March 2003 17:35 (twenty-three years ago)

Geir, are you always like this or does it take practice? Pop is "white" - tell that to Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson.

― Dadaismus, Thursday, 13 March 2003 17:38 (twenty-three years ago)

i think the indie idea of "pop" - like applied to everything from big star to the vaselines or elephant six - is interesting because it's so ambiguous and removed from the pop as popular equation and so firmly based on punk as year zero, it's kind of an alternate reality thing

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Thursday, 13 March 2003 17:42 (twenty-three years ago)

Third Eye Blind -Never Let You Go
Magnetic Fields - Beach a Boop Boop
The Beatles - Penny Lane
Ja Rule and Ashanti - Mesmerize

― theodore fogelsanger, Thursday, 13 March 2003 18:21 (twenty-three years ago)

one month passes...

I change mine to "Bang A Gong (Get It On)"

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Thursday, 17 April 2003 01:20 (twenty-three years ago)

Pop is definitely not R&B anyway. R&B is R&B and pop is pop. And, yes, pop is very much a kind of music with most of the R&B elements removed, which may make it "white" for those who insist on putting skin colour on music.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 17 April 2003 10:46 (twenty-three years ago)

R&B has been dissolved into what currently makes up the majority of pop music out there. unless you think Coldplay is pop music as well...obviously its all popular, and pop music isnt really a genre anyway

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 17 April 2003 10:55 (twenty-three years ago)

bizarrelovetriangleneworder

― piscesboy, Thursday, 17 April 2003 11:37 (twenty-three years ago)

"Le freak" by Chic is another perfect pop song, and "What do you want from me" by Monaco too.

― Sami (Sami), Thursday, 17 April 2003 11:45 (twenty-three years ago)

R&B has been dissolved into what currently makes up the majority of pop music out there.

True pop doesn't make the hitlists anymore. R&B has taken over completely. (And I would say Coldplay is a bit too depressive and "indie" to be considered pop too)

The last time true pop would make hitlists was during Britpop in the mid 90s.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 17 April 2003 15:02 (twenty-three years ago)

Cripes, do you have to mention Coldplay in every post?

― matt riedl (veal), Thursday, 17 April 2003 19:21 (twenty-three years ago)

Fernando!

― SplendidMullet (iamamonkey), Thursday, 17 April 2003 19:40 (twenty-three years ago)

five months pass...

I change mine to the Super Mario Brothers theme song.

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Sunday, 5 October 2003 19:11 (twenty-two years ago)

"welcome, and enter the center, of my super mario adventure..."

how did the rest of it go?

― stevem (blueski), Sunday, 5 October 2003 21:29 (twenty-two years ago)

I meant the video game, but that's all right too.

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Sunday, 5 October 2003 22:59 (twenty-two years ago)

Someone needs to mention I Want You Back by the Jackson 5 and Daydream Believer by the Monkees

― mentalist (mentalist), Monday, 6 October 2003 07:04 (twenty-two years ago)

Fifth Dimension - "Up, Up and Away"

...because who doesn't want to fly away in a balloon? Everyone can agree with that sentiment! Plus it's pop without being even vaguely rock, so your granny can sing along. Join hands around the world people!

― Nag! Nag! Nag! (Nag! Nag! Nag!), Monday, 6 October 2003 08:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Never thought I'd say this, but:
Geir: You are OTM about 'From Me To You'. It is the most direct, pretty, catchy pop song ever.

― Jay Kid (Jay K), Monday, 6 October 2003 09:27 (twenty-two years ago)

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