MetaFilter posts tagged with songs and pop

Laura Marling

threeants — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 17:45:43 -0800

Singer-songwriter Laura Marling will release her latest album, Once I Was an Eagle, this May. She's shared a first song off of it, "Where Can I Go?" This will be the fourth LP unassumingly put out by 23-year-old Marling, who cut her teeth in London's vibrant indie folk scene. Some of her songs sound rooted in the folk music traditions of the British Isles; others hearken back more, maybe, to Joni Mitchell and peers; still others feel right at home alongside Marling's folk-pop contemporaries. She's collaborated on performances and tracks with Johnny Flynn, Ryan Adams, Mystery Jets, Rajasthan's Dharohar Project, Mumford and Sons, and Noah and the Whale. (Previously on MeFi.)

The 100 Most Influential Singles of the 1960s

item — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 11:04:52 -0800

The 100 Most Influential Singles of the 1960s. [via mefi projects] Mefite jonp72 says, "I liked Pitchfork's list of the 100 best songs of the 1960s* for creating a canon of great 1960s songs instead of keeping the focus solely on albums, but I wanted to create my own revisionist take on such a list with the constraint that I limit myself to songs that were actually released on 45rpm singles. In addition, to make the list more interesting, I decided to focus on records that I thought were the most influential rather than songs that I considered the coolest or the best or the most pleasurable." *It's actually Pitchfork's 200 best songs of the 1960's, but who's counting? Besides, jonp72's list is far more interesting than smelly old Pitchfork's. It's an extremely well thought-out article that profiles each of the hundred songs in a well-written and informative fashion. I felt that it'd be nice to have links to the songs, as there were a few tracks that even a music supersnob such as myself wasn't immediately familiar with. Here's youtube links to around 99% of the tunes: 1. The Everly Brothers - Cathy's Clown / Always it's You 2. Roy Orbison - Only the Lonely (Know the Way I Feel) / Here Comes That Song Again 3. Johnny Kidd (& The Pirates) - Shakin' All Over / Yes Sir, That's My Baby 4. Wanda Jackson - Let's Have a Party / Cool Love 5. The Shadows - Apache / Quartermaster's Stores 6. Chubby Checker - The Twist / Toot 7. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - Shop Around / Who's Lovin' You 8. John Coltrane - My Favorite Things (Parts 1 & 2) 9. Bobby Parker - Watch Your Step / Steal Your Heart Away 10. Tony Sheridan - My Bonnie / The Saints 11. Bruce Channel - Hey! Baby / Dream Girl 12. Ray Cathode - Time Beat / Waltz in Orbit 13. Dick Dale - Miserlou / Eight Till Midnight 14. The Tornados - Telstar / Jungle Fever 15. Booker T. & The M.G.'s - Green Onions / Behave Yourself 16. The Ventures - The 2,000 Pound Bee (Part 1) / The 2,000 Pound Bee (Part 2) 17. The Rooftop Singers - Walk Right In / Cool Water 18. Bob Dylan - Mixed Up Confusion* / Corrina Corrina 19. The Beatles - Please Please Me / Ask Me Why 20. The Kingsmen - Louie Louie / Haunted Castle 21. The Ronettes - Be My Baby / Tedesco and Pitman 22. The Jaynetts - Sally, Go 'Round the Roses / Instrumental Background to Sally, Go 'Round the Roses* 23. The Beatles - She Loves You / I'll Get You 24. The Rolling Stones - I Wanna Be Your Man / Stoned 25. The Trashmen - Surfin' Bird / King of the Surf 26. The Beach Boys - I Get Around / Don't Worry Baby 27. The Animals - The House of the Rising Sun / Talkin' 'Bout You 28. Chuck Berry - You Never Can Tell / Brenda Lee 29. The Kinks - You Really Got Me / It's All Right 30. Nina Simone - Mississippi Goddam / Sea Lion Woman 31. Them - Baby Please Don't Go / Gloria 32. The Primitives - The Ostrich / Sneaky Pete 33. The Sonics - The Witch / Psycho 34. Yardbirds - For Your Love / Got to Hurry 35. The Byrds - Mr. Tambourine Man / I Knew I'd Want You 36. Gloria Jones - Tainted Love / My Bad Boy Is Coming Home 37. Kim Fowley - The Trip / Big Sur* 38. The Rolling Stones - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction / The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man 39. James Brown - Papa's Got a Brand New Bag (Parts I & II) 40. Bob Dylan - Like a Rolling Stone (Part I) / Like a Rolling Stone (Part II) 41. The Kinks - See My Friends / Never Met a Girl Like You Before 42. Yardbirds - Evil Hearted You / Still I'm Sad 43. The Who - My Generation / Shout and Shimmy 44. Monks - Complication / Oh, How to Do Now 45. Gypsy Trips - Rock 'n' Roll Gypsies / Ain't It Hard 46. The Great Society - Someone to Love / Free Advice 47. Prince Buster - Al Capone / One Step Beyond 48. The 13th Floor Elevators - You're Gonna Miss Me / Tried to Hide 49. The Byrds - Eight Miles High / Why? 50. Love - Hey Joe / My Little Red Book 51. The Rolling Stones - Paint It Black / Long Long While 52. The Beatles - Paperback Writer / Rain 53. The Creation - Making Time / Try and Stop Me 54. The Velvet Underground - All Tomorrow's Parties / I'll Be Your Mirror 55. Four Tops - Reach Out I'll Be There / Until You Love Someone 56. The Beach Boys - Good Vibrations / Let's Go Away for Awhile 57. Frank Zappa - Trouble Comin' Every Day / Who Are the Brain Police? 58. Godz - Lay in the Sun / I Want a Word With You 59. The Velvet Underground - "Loop" 60. The Ethix - Skins* / Bad Trip 61. The Doors - Break On Through / End of the Night 62. The Beatles - Penny Lane / Strawberry Fields Forever 63. Soft Machine - Love Makes Sweet Music / Feelin' Reelin' Squeelin' 64. Pink Floyd - Arnold Layne / Candy and a Currant Bun 65. Jimi Hendrix - Purple Haze / 51st Anniversary 66. Scott McKenzie - San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair) / What's the Difference 67. The Parliaments - (I Wanna) Testify / I Can Feel the Ice Melting 68. The Chambers Brothers - Time Has Come Today / People Get Ready 69. The Velvet Underground - White Light/White Heat / Here She Comes Now 70. Sly & the Family Stone - Dance to the Music / Let Me Hear It From You 71. The 1910 Fruitgum Company - Simon Says / Reflections From the Looking Glass 72. Bob Dylan - All Along the Watchtower / I'll Be Your Baby Tonight 73. Cream - Sunshine of Your Love / SWLABR 74. Larry Williams & Johnny Watson - Nobody / Find Yourself Someone to Love* 75. Les Yper Sound - Psyché Rock / Too Fortiche 76. Blue Cheer - Summertime Blues / Out of Focus 77. MC5 - Looking at You / Borderline 78. The Byrds - You Ain't Going Nowhere / Artificial Energy 79. The Rolling Stones - Jumpin' Jack Flash / Child of the Moon 80. The Crazy World of Arthur Brown - Fire! / Rest Cure 81. The Temptations - Cloud Nine / Why Did She Have to Leave Me (Why Did She Have to Go) 82. Desmond Dekker & the Aces / Beverley's All Stars - Israelites / The Man 83. Os Mutantes - A Minha Menina / Adeus Maria Fulô 84. Silver Apples - You and I / Confusion 85. Lothar and the Hand People - Machines / Milkweed Love 86. James Brown - Give It Up or Turn it a Loose / I'll Lose My Mind 87. The Inner Space - Agilok & Blubbo / Kamera Song 88. MC5 - Kick Out the Jams / Motor City Is Burning 89. James Taylor - Carolina in My Mind / Taking It In* 90. Dick Hyman - Topless Dancers of Corfu / The Minotaur 91. The Winstons - Color Him Father / Amen, Brother 92. David Bowie - Space Oddity / Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud 93. Funkadelic - I'll Bet You / Qualify and Satisfy 94. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Fortunate Son / Down on the Corner 95. Jackson 5 - I Want You Back / Who's Lovin You 96. John Lennon & Yoko Ono - Cold Turkey / Don't Worry Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking for a Hand in the Snow) 97. The Stooges - I Wanna Be Your Dog / 1969 98. King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King (Parts 1 & 2) 99. Led Zeppelin - Whole Lotta Love / Living Loving Maid (She's Just a Woman) 100. The Shaggs - My Pal Foot Foot / Things I Wonder and finally, I get to add one of my own because I just did a lot of computering to make this list. They're not really very good songs, and probably not all that influential, but who cares - I wanted it to be on this list and now it is: 101. Zager & Evans - In the Year 2525 / Little Kids *denotes shit that wasn't on youtube in an easily-findable spot. Feel free to prove me wrong. I did my half-assed best to try to link to the single versions of each song, but even in this infotainment superage I had trouble with some songs. Instead, I linked to the closest approximation of each single. I'm going to assume right here and now that there're likely a few mistakes in my linking, as I made this post while watching Dredd 3D (minus the 3D).

"Shine Brighter"

zarq — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 12:19:43 -0800

DJ Earworm has released his annual "United State of Pop" mashup of the year's 25 most popular songs according to Billboard's charts: Shine Brighter. Related * Lyrics Video * Download the MP3 on SoundCloud * Official Site The Videos * Gotye and Kimbra - Somebody That I Used To Know * Fun - Some Nights * Carly Rae Jepsen - Call Me Maybe * Maroon 5 - One More Night * Fun. and Janelle Monáe - We Are Young * Maroon 5 and Wiz Khalifa - Payphone (Explicit) * Ellie Goulding - Lights * Rihanna - Diamonds * Bruno Mars - Locked Out Of Heaven * Ke$Ha - Die Young * Kelly Clarkson - Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) * Flo Rida - Good Feeling * Nicki Minaj - Starships (Explicit) * The Wanted - Glad You Came * Adele - Set Fire To The Rain * Lumineers - Ho Hey * One Direction - What Makes You Beautiful * Flo Rida and Sia - Wild Ones * Phillip Phillips - Home * Bruno Mars - It Will Rain * Katy Perry - Wide Awake * Alex Clare - Too Close * PSY - Gangnam Style * Taylor Swift - We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together * Flo Rida - Whistle Past Remixes 2007: United State of Pop Previously 2008: Viva La Pop Previously 2009: Blame it on the Pop Previously 2010: Don't Stop the Pop Previously 2011: World Go Boom Previously Previously and Previouslier * Like, OMG Baby * Party on the Floor * Fly Bonus Rewind YouTube Style 2012. The site invited some of their members to star in an end-of-year mash-up. Included here solely for a moment of awesome: at 1:48 Felicia Day parodies "Call Me Maybe"

Diane Warren

MattMangels — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 09:39:26 -0800

"Blame it on the Rain" by Milli Vanilli. "Unbreak My Heart" by Toni Braxton. "Don't Wanna Miss a Thing" by Aerosmith. "How Do I Live" by LeAnn Rimes. "If I Could Turn Back Time" by Cher. "Because You Loved Me" by Celine Dion. "If You Asked Me To" by Patti LaBelle. What do all of these songs have in common? They were all written by Diane Warren, a member of the Songwriter's Hall of Fame whose songs have awards such as a a Grammy, a Golden Globe award, and several ASCAP awards for Songwriter of the Year.

Now is Strange

LSK — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 18:02:48 -0800

Given the seeming homogeneity of many hit songs, it might come as a surprise that some very strange and unconventional songs have found their way to the top of the pop charts in the past. Some are novelty songs, some are just weird... "They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!" is the perennial example of a strange hit, featuring a distorted voice and no musical instruments other than tambourines to keep rhythm. The 'song' reached #3 on the US charts and #4 on the UK charts. The single's b-side was a reversed version of the a-side, cleverly retitled "!aaaH-aH ,yawA eM ekaT oT gnimoC er'yehT". | Wikipedia | Youtube "Soul Makossa" is a strange proto-disco piece with lyrics in Duala, a Cameroonian language. A chant repeated through the song was adapted by Michael Jackson and used on the song Wanna Be Starting Something. A version of Soul Makossa hit #35 on the US charts. | Wikipedia | Youtube "O Superman" by experimental musician Laurie Anderson may be the strangest song in this list. With a repeated squeaky blip as a beat and vocoded lyrics, it recalls the more recent Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap. O Superman, however, towers above Hide and Seek in terms of sheer weirdness. The lyrics quote answering machine messages and the unofficial motto of the US Postal Service, and the song incorporates occasional strange instrumentation. The song reached an unexpected #2 on the UK charts. | Wikipedia | Youtube "Ant Rap" by Adam Ant isn't really a rap so much as an extended, almost structureless chant over rhythm sounds with a chorus (also not sung) to tie it together. Despite being described by its writer as "an attempt to do a record that had no fucking music on it, and take the piss", it reached #3 on the UK charts. (Previously) Wikipedia | Youtube "Star Trekkin'" by novelty act The Firm holds the dubious distinction of being the only filk song to hit #1 on the UK charts. It's an oddly patterned piece, with each verse introducing a new line, in the manner of the carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas." The tempo increases through the song. | Wikipedia | Youtube And it's easy to forget that the Flaming Lips' novelty single "She Don't Use Jelly" was a hit outside of indie circles, reaching 9 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and 55 on the Billboard 100. | Wikipedia | Youtube The Guardian has a good, but inevitably incomplete, list of strange hits.

The Belfer collection of old cylinder records

Kattullus — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 18:58:05 -0800

The Belfer Cylinders Digital Connection is a collection of old cylinder records at Syracuse University. The library has started to digitize them, both in mp3 and wav format. They have only 293 online yet but aim to have 6000 cylinders digitized by the end of next year. It can be searched either by genre, keyword or Here are a few that I really like: Bedtime at the Zoo, That Syncopated Boogie-boo, Mary, You're a Little Bit Old Fashioned, Fifty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong, Phoebe Brown, Was zu Gott ist zu Gott und was zu leute ist zu leute, Aberystwyth, Glada na lusch, I Love a Lassie and Pussy's in the Well.

A bay bay

whahappen?! — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 12:25:22 -0800

Speaking of 'highly virulent earworms,' today's NY Times suggests that searching for this year's 'song of the summer' may lead to "one sad conclusion." Have today's hitmakers failed to live up to the jams of yesteryear? Others have offered their opinions...

Kinky/kawaii new trend -- teen lesbian bands hit Japan.

son_of_minya — Fri, 30 May 2003 12:24:23 -0800

The Japanese Tatu clones are here: Juemilia and Suitei Shoujo (Presumed Girls). Do Rino and Lissa have a message for their fans? (via Geisha asobi blog)

Village Voice's 2002 Pazz & Jop Poll

boost ventilator — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 19:53:30 -0800

Pazz & Jop 2002 - The Village Voice has tabulated the top albums and singles from 695 critics (and 10,2002 LPs). Some of the ballot-fillers even got a little personal. The usual essays are included. If your fav CD didn't make the cut, perhaps it made it onto the dean's list.