The perfect pop song
Posted by Patrick Crowther on 3 January 2008 - 11:37am.
I have decided that 'Be My Baby' by The Ronettes is the greatest pop song ever recorded. It is perfect. Phil Spector might look like something out of the Hair Bear Bunch and be a little unhinged, but my God did he know about pop music. Just wanted to share that.
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Of course it is
Of course it is.
But a little credit too to Ronnie, Estelle & Nedra. Not to mention the great Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry. Then there's Hal Blaine and the rest of the gang. Phil Spector wasn't a one man band.
Sure!
Absolutely... I wasn't suggesting he was. Walls of sound require a lot of bricks and mortar...
I think
that the greatest pop record ever is another of Spector's works, You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'. It has that wonderful dual agenda: it uplifts you tremendously until you study the lyrics, which chart in far too realistic detail a dying love affair, presented nowhere better than in the opening lines:
You never close your eyes any more when I kiss your lips
And there's no tenderness like before in your fingertips
You're trying hard not to show it
But baby, baby I know it...
What makes this so wonderful is that it's completely irrelevant if you just want to enjoy the immediacy of the moment and have a bit of a singalong. It's like Withnail & I: to some it's an incredibly bleak, dark film about failed dreams and the human condition; to others, it's just about two pissheads drinking lighter fuel. Doesn't matter. The depth is there if you want it to be, but it's not in the way if you don't. This dual level ethos to me is the essence of perfect pop. Other examples are Ticket To Ride, The One I Love and Every Breath You Take.
Every Breath You Take...
...is, to me, more of an exercise in rhyme generation than anything else, but I take your point about the 'dual level' thing. However 'The One I Love' is surely just an example of (lazy) listeners not listening properly to the lyrics? Bit like 'Born in the USA'?
The best example of this I can recall is at an Elvis Costello concert back in the day - two lovebirds in front of me while Elvis was playing 'The Beat', holding hands, looking deep into each other's eyes and singing to each other "I don't want to be your lover, I just wanna be your victim".
Bless.
I agree
You're right about The One I Love. Although I reckon it's catchier than Born In The USA. And I don't really like Every Breath You Take, I just think that it's quite cleverly executed in the context of what I'm talking about.
The perfect pop song
is, and always will be, 'Sugar Sugar' by The Archies. Dumb and sweet, sticky as hell and there's a shaggy dog on it too for God's sake. I declare this debate over.
Feel good factor
Also manufactured pop - Monkees I'm A Believer
Or - Beatles I Feel Fine
both feel good songs that don't get on your nerves ever - not mine anyway
You got the wrong Spector...
The actual perfect pop song is River Deep, Mountain High by Ike & Tina.
Perfect pop song
Big seconds for "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" - far and away the best spector production. "River Deep" is an epic, to be sure, but you can't dance to it, can't smooch to it - it demands to be listened to. Most hits of the 60s were perfect pop songs - hence the birth of "Top Of The Pops", while virtually the entire Motown back catalogue comprises perfect pop songs. Great tunes, great lyrics and great performances. Apart from the obvious bands, other exponents of perfect pop songs included The Hollies, Manfred Mann, Gerry & The Pacemakers et al. The definition of a perfect pop song? Surely any tune your average milkman can whistle!
Over the top
I love Phil Spector. And Ike & Tina Turner. But I find "River Deep" a bit over-the-top, to the point of being slightly ridiculous. I think he over-egged the pudding and I'm not that surprised that it flopped in America (not least because it fell between the various radio formatting stools).
People who try to emulate Phil Spector tend to buy the myth that his productions are all about ladling on tons of instruments and sounds. But his best productions, Loving Feeling being a prime example, are largely empty: their power is in their space.
What
about exceptional milkmen?
LOL!
Yeah... let's hear it for the milkmen, be they average or otherwise!
Here are some perfect pop songs
Simon and Garfunkel - America
Dire Straits - Romeo and Juliet
John Lennon - Jealous Guy
Brian Hyland - Sealed with a kiss
Bob Marley - One Love
Tim Hardin - Reason to believe
Procul Harum - Whiter shade of pale
Billy Bragg - Tank park salute
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Proud Mary
The Old Grey Whistle Test
I was in Tesco the other day when California Dreaming came on, and everyone around me started mouthing the words or tapping a foot. Add that to the list. Waterloo Sunset has a similar effect in company of a certain age.
The Pop Song
Todd Rundgren: I saw the light.
I Too Have Seen The Light
I would heartily endorse that.
My Old School
I can still recall being in Terrapin in Crouch End one Saturday morning when The Best Of Steely Dan had just come out. It was almost like being in a pop video watching everyone flicking through the racks and mouthing along to My Old School.
Everley Brothers
Pretty much anything by them or Roy Orbisons' Pretty Woman. Oh, and Latest Flame by Elvis.
Something a bit more recent, The Sints are coming, the U2 Green Day collaberation - lifts me up to giddy heights, everyone taps their feet. Great.
Since you've been gone, all that's left is a
Band Of Gold.
Bet you're humming it right now. The perfect pop song. 'nuff said.
Eddie G.
Exceptional milkmen would whistle classical tunes, of course!
What about the Lovin' Spoonful?
I've always thought Do You Believe In Magic? is the ultimate perfect pop song, as it's actually a song about perfect pop songs:
"Just go and listen, it'll start with a smile
It won't wipe off your face no matter how hard you try"
Hanged I will be
(On a bit of a provocato-binge today, for which I offer unreserved apology)
By the Albion Country Band.
Perfick.
Murder, retribution, power chords and the most frightening vocals in pop, Martin Carthy.
(Pop? Well he is in my house. Sorry, in my car, wife and kids can't abide him either.)
You are the generation that bought more shoes
and you get what you deserve - Johnny Boy.
Take on me - Aha takes some beating too. Who doesn't start tapping their foot and smiling when that tinny synth riff kicks in?
Or, possibly...
Cream?
I reckon we could all compile a 10 track album...
...comprising 10 flawless, weapons-grade, gem-bright pop nuggets, and the overlap bit in the middle of the venn diagram wouldn't have to be too big and still be able to accommodate us all.
I mean, personally I'd rather have things like It's Getting Better, Wichita Lineman or This Old Heart of Mine, none of which might be as default (hesitate to use the word "obvious") as the Spectorisms, but if I whacked 10 such songs together, or indeed if pretty much any of us had a dart at it, the albums'd be monumental and there'd not be a duffer in sight.
It's a great track to be sure, and I love it, but I can't see what elevates "Be My Baby" over so many of the other tracks mentioned, and not yet mentioned, on here. But then again opinions are like...well, you know what they're like.
There's nothing so life affirming as a good pop song done well, IMO. Even the slightly less cheerful ones.
Can I just say
that's nicely put
Another thought
......going back through the vinyl and finding XTC - Senses Working Overtime - catchy, clever - the perfect "English" pop song?
Endless possibilities
Wichita Lineman for sure.
A Kinks alternative for the perfect "English" pop song - Shangri-La???
RIP Dan Fogelberg and Same Old Lang Syne
Nils Lofgren's Shine Silently
Paul Williams' Waking Up Alone
These I love
The perfect pop song?
Mmm, let me think.
Just stick a pin in the Brian Wilson back catalogue
The Purple One
Does Prince's 'Raspberry Beret' count? It's always been my favourite.
Also
The aforementioned (in another thread, that is) Hindu Love Gods do a cracking version of it.
Something from the modern
Im not sure that its the perfect pop song or not but the first time i heard "bet you look good on the dancefloor" by The Arctic Monkeys, i thought that might have come pretty close. Every part of the song just sounded fantastic.
has to be
the Buzzcocks 'ever fallen in love...'