[Bonjoy]

That avatar is dynamite

[Houdini]

Supremes - Where Did Our Love Go?

Rolling Stones - Satisfaction

Elvis Presley - Suspicious Minds

Get in the queue w/AndyR, Sam   

Arethra Franklin - Respect

[Houdini]

99 Red Balloons - Nena

Still going very strong here in the Reich.

Alas Trio are not  . . .

Trio - Da da da

[Jaspersharpe]

If we're going Aretha then for me it's gotta be.............




Awesome.

[SA Chris]

But they don't fit the bill.

in your opinion

[SA Chris]

If we're going Aretha then for me it's gotta be.............

Awesome.

Indeed. As is Say a Little Prayer.

[Houdini]

Pop quality is not and never has been dictated/limited by track length.  There have been many pop successes over 4 minutes, sometimes it has been the extended 12" version that has made the wave.  Punk, now there is a short song genre.

Get a grip.

And Snuff's version of Tiffany's schmee effort is far superior.

What about Cathy Dennis?

[Monolith]

Haven't scouted through if these have been mentioned. Actually 2 of my desert island discs:

1. Club Tropicana - Wham
2. Physical - Olivia Newton John

[Sam]

Supremes - Where Did Our Love Go?

Rolling Stones - Satisfaction

Elvis Presley - Suspicious Minds

Get in the queue w/AndyR, Sam   

although I was talking specifically about the early Presley stuff as had so much impact which is surely a tenet of the term great

Rolling Stones - Satisfaction & Aretha Franklin - Respect; word, although latter was a cover of a Otis Redding song

[Johnny Brown]

In my opinion, neither Sa Chris or Houdini have quite grasped what we are talking about here. Songs that you like that were in the charts are rarely great pop songs. We're talking total cross genre appeal, a timeless quality, has to be catchy bordering (but not quite) on annoying. The best of these don't need to be longer than three minutes, and rarely are. Longer songs like Blue monday or Don't you want me may still fit the bill, but they make their statements inside the first minute.

Sam - you're right about Motown but don't forget The Jackson 5 were on Tamla.

[Jaspersharpe]

What about Cathy Dennis?

 

[Houdini]

The word pop has been undefinable since the last 60's.  It had lost all meaning by the 80's.  Business aesthetic @ best these days . . .

[SA Chris]

In my opinion, neither Sa Chris or Houdini have quite grasped what we are talking about here. Songs that you like that were in the charts are rarely great pop songs. We're talking total cross genre appeal, a timeless quality, has to be catchy bordering (but not quite) on annoying. The best of these don't need to be longer than three minutes, and rarely are. Longer songs like Blue monday or Don't you want me may still fit the bill, but they make their statements inside the first minute.

In my opinion from the words

The Greatest Pop Singles In The World

that is quite an interpretation of what we are talking about. If we are making a list of catchy bordering on annoying songs we may have to start a seperate thread, as I (and I guess a couple of other people) don't interpret that as a great pop song.  

[Houdini]

Exactly JB, can't just be about the hooks now can it?

[Johnny Brown]

SA - you missed the (but not quite)

Houdini - yes it is about the hooks. That and the production mostly. We're talking songs you could take anywhere in the world, to folk who've never seen a stereo, and instantly get them dancing. The best have the same effect whether at your uncle's wedding or a trendy night in Shoreditch.

I recommend Bill Drummond's autobiog '45' as a good basic text.

[Houdini]

JB if you are bang on, then it's a grand illustration to why I consider popular culture to be a moribund gargoyle on the arse of art.

Someone say snob? 

[Jaspersharpe]

Houdini - yes it is about the hooks. That and the production mostly. We're I am talking songs you could take anywhere in the world, to folk who've never seen a stereo, and instantly get them dancing. The best have the same effect whether at your uncle's wedding or a trendy night in Shoreditch.

That's not the only definition of a great pop song. One but not the only one.

[Houdini]

Jasper knows.


For me pop, if anything, is about forgetting the drudge of the daily grind; it's something that for a moment or 9 pulls a sugary Wizard of Oz-esque veil over your eyes before ending and throwing you straight back into a waking nightmare.

This is just one interpretation.

[Johnny Brown]

You guys think too much, everyone else has grasped it intuitively. There's no snobbery in a great pop song, no artifice, no 'cool', it should transcend all that.

Houdini, you're bang on with Suspicious minds. But the way you denounced Dancing queen and Come on Eileen smacked of snobbery. These are great pop songs. Rock me amadeus isn't.

[Houdini]

the way you denounced Dancing queen and Come on Eileen smacked of snobbery.

And proud, commoner 

Rock me amadeus

This is my joke, sorry you didn't appreciate it.  Irony, geddit?

[Jaspersharpe]

What the fuck is snobby or cool about Kylie, Cathy Dennis or Nathalie Imbruglia? I believe it is you who is thinking too much JB in attempting to pidgeon hole "pop" into your definition of it. "Everyone else" appears to be posting pop singles they consider to be great. 

Enough of this shit. More tunes please.

[Houdini]

Q:  Anyone else spot the tautology in Jasper's post?



A:  Cathy Dennis is Kylie.   She wrote CGUOOMH & others.

[SA Chris]

We're talking songs you could take anywhere in the world, to folk who've never seen a stereo, and instantly get them dancing.

So Jolene and Good Vibrations will have this effect? Hmm.

[SA Chris]

Q:  Anyone else spot the tautology in Jasper's post?

A:  Cathy Dennis is Kylie.   She wrote CGUOOMH & others.

A bloke who used to be in Mud (or some glam band) co-wrote CGYOOMH. If he is Kylie too, then I have cause for concern.

[Jaspersharpe]

A:  Cathy Dennis is Kylie.   She wrote CGUOOMH & others.

As posted above that is far from my favourite Kylie tune.

She's written loads of hit records for other people too. Toxic etc.

I still like Too Many Walls though.