Slingshot Records Blog

I grew up loving hard rock, metal, jazz, funk, and fusion. But, to me the best of those genres must have one common thread… a “POP” sensibility. So, that’s why I’m often just as content to listen to a song by Lionel Ritchie, Toto, Little River Band, or Earth Wind Fire. Below is a list of songs (in no particular order) that I feel set the standard for a quaility POP song - Do you agree with my list?

Dreaming - Blondie (well… many of their early songs were just plain genius, but this one ROCKS.)

Waterloo, Mama Mia, Take A Chance - Abba (Yes, they set the standard. No, I didn’t see the movie.)

Easy/Lady/Sail On - Commodores (What can be said…? And, Lionel just kept writing hit after hit.)

I’m Only Happy When It Rains - Garbage (could use different lyrics, but still a great tune.)

You Should Be Dancin’ - Bee Gees (It had a guit solo - ha! There are a few of their other songs that I’m not in the mood to list because I have a love/hate relationship with their music. They could’ve sung more like men… that’s my one complaint… their Alvin and the chipmonks vox.)

Sister Havana - Urge Overkill (A contender for my all time favorite. Killer melody, tinges of hard/pop rock, fun lovin’ lyrics, good vox, MASSIVE BRIDGE!!, great record production!, cool video.)

Positive Bleeding - Urge Overkill (see the notes on Sister Havana above. Except, not a true top contender… just a dang cool tune).

Object Of My Desire, Restless - Starpoint (This 80’s disco band sort fell through the cracks, but it wasn’t because of a lack of talent. May Renee Diggs rest in peace… she had an AMAZING voice)

Tell It To My Heart - Taylor Dane (What voice. I hope to produce a “Super Diva” song one day with Taylor and a few other women with strong vocals… maybe - Anne Wilson, Linda Perry, Johnette Nepolitano… any other suggestions?)

I Can’t Help Myself/Sugar Pie Honey Pie - The Four Tops (Well, to me it just totally captures the era.)

Ironic - Alanis Morrisette (I just dug the harmonies in the chorus… lush, and popish.)

Ballroom Blitz/Foxy On The Run - Sweet (Early glam pop/metal… way fun stuff.)

Cool Change - Little River Band (Amazing melody, vox, production.)

Praise You In This Storm - Casting Crowns (Theologically correct lyrics, great production/vox… and whoever made the Saving Private Ryan video version on YouTube nailed it.)

Any Kind Of Pain - Frank Zappa (Well, well… didn’t think a good Christian boy could go there, did ya? In my youth I was Zappa fan. And, bet you didn’t think Zappa could go “pop”… well, he didn’t quite. Anyway… Obviously, his lyrics are usually not for the kids… but, this song SOOOOO… MELODICALLY POP… it’s weird. Also, I think it’s HILARIOUS how later on this CD he introduces Sting’s guest appearance on the Murder By Numbers cover “How would you… “Mr. Sting”… like to come out onstage…. and perform with us?”)

Lido Shuffle - Boz Skaggs (just try to remain sad, bummed, depressed when this one starts up.)

Alone (another top contender), What About Love, How Can I Refuse You - Heart (We all think Heart… WOMEN OF ROCK. But, technically it was mostly pop/rock… gooooood pop/rock.)

Joy - Newsboys (What can I say… a well done, modern pop/praise song that gives props to our ETERNAL KING and God).

Disney’s Alladin Soundtrack - Disney (OK… this is actually one of Trish’s fav’s. Gotta keep mama happy.)

Funky Town - Lipps Inc. (OK… gotta represent my daughters too.)

Express Yourself/Like A Prayer - Madonna (Great production … her best era? Sadly, she appears to be WAY out of touch with reality now… kind of like MJ. She better come to grips with Sarah Palin… cause Sarah rocks too.)

Someone Saved My Life Tonight - Elton John (Prolific career. To me this is another contender for the top pop song.)

Champagne Supernova - Oasis (The brothers have the melody and nuevo Beatles thing down… now they need to stop drinking so much ale and take a lyric writing course… or speak better English?)

Beautiful Day - U2 (1 chord movement throughout most of the song… they beat Tom Petty and the Boss at their own games… oh, and it has great lyrics).

Lift Me Up/All Over Me - The Benjamin Gate (Most of you won’t know this band, but I love their 1st CD so much, and because Adrienne’s voice is so cool I had to give props.)

Something About You/Let Me Take You Home Tonight/Feeling Satisfied - Boston (Ok they’re rock… but, it’s POP/rock… harmonies to the moon (Alice?)! Kudos to Stryper’s Michael Sweet for filling Brad Delp’s shoes at a tribute show that I saw on YouTube.)

Feels Like The 1st Time/Cold As Ice - Foreigner (I remember that all us kids were into Alice Cooper’s greatest hits and KISS Alive! when somebody got a copy of the 1st Foreigner album… jaws hit the floor.)

Sailing/Ride Like The Wind - Christopher Cross (I was so into Metal in the 80’s that this is one of the few pop artists that caught my ear at that time.)

Jaded - Aerosmith (Well… it’s a sort of a pop song. Besides, Trish and I dig ‘em.)

Winter - Tori Amos (OK, this one is a little off the “mainstream pop” path but it doesn’t really fall in any other genre. The 1st time I heard this song I cried. It had been a LONG time since music did that to me, so it made an impact. Lyrically, the story line seems to be about a father preparing his daughter to face life in the face of his impending death… powerful.)

Undo Me - Jennifer Knapp (OK, this one is also a little off the “mainstream” path but it doesn’t really fall in any other genre either… other than Christian. The this song also touched me and brought me to tears… hey, it’s that Passion Of Christ. Again, a big impact).

Baby Love - Mothers Finest (The vox, the lyrics, the funk, the rock… simply massive.)

Just A Girl/Spider Web - No Doubt (This is back when Gwen cared about writing a fun lyric THAT MADE SOME SENSE… not that silly Holla Back Girl/Keep On Dancing stuff.)

Day After Day/No Matter - Bad Finger (solid 70’s pop stuff)

Certainly there’s other Classical/40’s/50’s/60’s/Elvis/R & B/Beatles/Soul/Disco/Fleetwood Mac/Journey/Eagles/etc songs that should be mentioned… but, I’m tired… Dare I say that no one can argue against my list - IT’S THE GREATEST!… OK, I’m baiting you. got any to add to the list?????

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 8th, 2009 at 9:34 pm and is filed under Life, Music Industry, Humor, Misc, Rick. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.