What is the greatest pop song ever written?

#31
#31
Hmm... Anything Michael Jackson would have to be considered. Completely reset and changed the pop genre.
Yesterday by the Beatles and Billie Jean by MJ would be my two.
 
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#32
#32
Peradox1K said:
Hmm... Anything Michael Jackson would have to be considered. Completely reset and changed the pop genre.
Yesterday by the Beatles and Billie Jean by MJ would be my two.
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Thumbs up on MJ. He should be on first page.


Think John Lenon would punch you in the nose for including their work in 'pop'. That is probably a Paul song, so he might let it slide.

John was all serious...especially with Ono singing.
 
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#33
#33
Jax_Vol said:
Thumbs up on MJ. He should be on first page.


Think John Lenon would punch you in the nose for including their work in 'pop'. That is probably a Paul song, so he might let it slide.

John was all serious...especially with Ono singing.
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It was both, so maybe I just get slapped instead of a punch.
You're right though.
 
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#37
#37
bigdaddy said:
Ill
Put a vote in for jimmy eat world in the middle
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If you like it that much, then you have to listen to this pod episode. When they talk about what this song meant to kids at the time, it's kind of incredible and takes it to a whole new level.

www.theringer.com

“The Middle”—Jimmy Eat World - The Ringer

It’s Jimmy Eat World Day here at 60 Songs, and in typical Rob fashion, we take the scenic route to get to “The Middle.” Before we talk Jimmy Eat World’s smash hit, we discuss the time…
www.theringer.com
 
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#39
#39
Brave Volunteer said:
I mean, it has to be this one, right?

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It's a good one. Some music journalist was interviewing Freddie Mercury once and asked him, "How does it feel being the best rock vocalist alive?" and Freddie said, "I don't know, dear, you'll have to ask Steve Perry."

I will posit an argument for God Only Knows by The Beach Boys though. Brian's lyrics are sorta terrible, but the melody and arrangement of that song is pure genius.
 
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#40
#40
Peradox1K said:
Hmm... Anything Michael Jackson would have to be considered. Completely reset and changed the pop genre.
Yesterday by the Beatles and Billie Jean by MJ would be my two.
Click to expand...
Took this long for someone to mention Billie Jean? I’m not a big MJ fan but this is definitely the first song that came to mind
 
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#41
#41
Peradox1K said:
Hmm... Anything Michael Jackson would have to be considered. Completely reset and changed the pop genre.
Yesterday by the Beatles and Billie Jean by MJ would be my two.
Click to expand...
Everything on the radio today is deriviative of Michael in some way. And the songs that have the most influence on modern pop music might surprise non-musicians. Look on YouTube about the songs that were inspired by Human Nature. And Michael didn't even write that song. Toto's keyboardist did and it happened to be on the flip side of a tape he was playing Quincy Jones for another thing they were working on for Thriller. Quincy heard it and said "We have to have that for Micheal." The guy was planning on saving it for a solo project because he was planning on leaving Toto I believe, but gave it up.

Another fun story: Michael sent Prince the completed version of Bad to see what he thought about it. My man went to his studio and reproduced all the tracks, all the instruments, and did what he thought Bad should have sounded like and sent it back to Michael. I would LOVE to hear that song! I doubt it will ever see the light of day, but we can cross our fingers.
 
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#42
#42
Flogballs said:
Took this long for someone to mention Billie Jean? I’m not a big MJ fan but this is definitely the first song that came to mind
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Billie Jean is great, but for my money, Human Nature is the best song on that album and Michael didnt write it! That melody is magical, and the guitar parts that Steve Lukather plays are exquisite!
 
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#43
#43
Duran Duran .... Hungry Like the Wolf

DD was often dismissed as being a pretty boy band. It was never cool to like them .... but I've always loved that song. It's infectious.
 
#44
#44
RandomUTfan said:
It's a good one. Some music journalist was interviewing Freddie Mercury once and asked him, "How does it feel being the best rock vocalist alive?" and Freddie said, "I don't know, dear, you'll have to ask Steve Perry."

I will posit an argument for God Only Knows by The Beach Boys though. Brian's lyrics are sorta terrible, but the melody and arrangement of that song is pure genius.
Click to expand...
Good Vibrations would be a very strong contender as well. For my money though, Surfs Up is my all time favorite Brian Wilson composition (the Smile version, not the self titled album version). That falsetto he sings makes the hair on my neck stand up!
 
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#45
#45
Brave Volunteer said:
Good Vibrations would be a very strong contender as well. For my money though, Surfs Up is my all time favorite Brian Wilson composition (the Smile version, not the self titled album version). That falsetto he sings makes the hair on my neck stand up!
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I have heard that before but I can't recall it just now. Good Vibrations is a great tune, another brilliantly-arranged song. Curious story Brian tells about the genesis of that song from something his mother said when he asked her why a dog was barking at them as they passed it on the street. She had already drilled into him the importance of vibrations but this stuck with him. She said, "Son, dogs can pick up bad vibrations," and he asked about good vibrations and she said those too. Pretty sure there's a dang theramin in that song. I love the Surfs Up album. I'm going to go look for the version you're talking about. I've probably heard Smiley Smile more times than Smile.
 
#47
#47
BowlBrother85 said:
Duran Duran .... Hungry Like the Wolf

DD was often dismissed as being a pretty boy band. It was never cool to like them .... but I've always loved that song. It's infectious.
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This one does get me on my feet if I'm at a wedding or whatever. I always think about the Andy Dick scene from Old School, LMAO
 
#48
#48
n_huffhines said:
This one does get me on my feet if I'm at a wedding or whatever. I always think about the Andy Dick scene from Old School, LMAO
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The first exposure I had to Duran Duran was Ordinary World and Come Undone which were in heavy rotation on MTV. I had a friend just after HS who was really into Duran Duran and I was exposed to other stuff but didn't like any of it as much as those two songs. And that was their "Swan Song" supposedly.

He also was really into Gary Numan and all I knew was that Car song and wasn't really into it. Years later and I dug into Numan and Tubeway Army and fell in love with a lot of that catalog. I'd recommend anyone into that era of music when synthesizers were taking lead roles in pop songs to check that stuff out.
 
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#50
#50
Vincent Price was offered a choice: a $20,000 check or a cut of the royalties for the Thriller album sales. He took the check. That's just one account though. Another was that Vincent agreed to the $20,000 but called a year later and was like, "Look, this album is selling a lot of records." But was rebuffed for any additional pay. That's the way the music industry often worked back then. Eddie Van Halen played the Beat It solo for a case of beer. He was interviewed later and said he was completely fine with the arrangement. Eddie toured until 5-years before his death.


"How do you afford that Rock 'N Roll lifestyle?" -Cake

Clearly the answer is you have to keep working. How many make it so big they can stop touring? Heck Reznor is still touring with Nails and he and Atticus Ross have done at least a half-dozen film scores at this point. Last few were weak tho.
 
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