Perfect Pop Songs
@davehg - I was just listening to "Nilsson Schmilsson" and was going to post the same. So here it is...... The 1973 Grammy award for Best Pop Vocal, Male...... Harry Nilsson - "Without You" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dnUv3DUP4E |
"To Love Somebody How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" As good as Bee Gees were, and good they were, these two songs have (to me) even better interpretations. Rod Stewart and To Love Somebody (with Booker T. and you will know it without me saying it). Al Green and How Can You Mend a Broken Heart. Not to go into vinyl/digital debate, but on the record is even more touching. Once my record develops clicks and pops it may become the ultimate version. |
Before someone beats me to it....... Don McLean - "American Pie" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iX_TFkut1PM |
I think of the early to mid 1970s as a key time for pop. With the Beatles no more, it opened up the doors for a myriad of artists and influences. Singer songwriters, arrangers, R&B and Soul and gospel influences, so much pop goodness. Heck, Al Green was a one man pop/gospel/soul hurricane (and among my top 5 artists). To the above list of perfect pop I’d include: Baker Street -Gerry Rafferty Treat Her Like a Lady - Cornelius Bros and Sister Rose Pretty much any hit by the Staple Singers She’s Gone - Hall & Oates I’ve Got the Music in Me - Thelma Houston Shining Star - The Manhattans Pretty much any hit by the Temptations Cruisin - Smokey Robinson |
@dayglow I think Michael Jackson was the biggest pop sound of the early 80s who was not new wave. “Don’t Stop till you get enough” is just a perfectly crafted pop tune that holds up better than anything later except maybe Man in the Mirror.. Unlike her early to mid 80’s stuff, several of Madonna’s 90’s tunes hold up well, as do certain George Michael cuts. I’m a big Prince fan too. But after Hanson’s “mmmBop”, which I still think is a well crafted pop tune that suffered from over exposure, I agree it’s hard to find enduring stuff in the early 2000s. |
