# Absolutely perfect Pop Muzik Masterpieces **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 29, 2018, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolutely-perfect-pop-muzik-masterpieces/815097 "2018-05-29T23:07:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2018, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolutely-perfect-pop-muzik-masterpieces/815097/21 "2018-05-30T17:30:20Z")
> [@K364](#): > > [ABBA - SOS](https://youtu.be/cvChjHcABPA) > > Pete Townshend claimed S.O.S. was maybe the best pop song ever written. Possibly, those boys know a toe-tapper sure enough but two snippets of pop perfection for your consideration. “[the whole of the moon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TON3PORRDQ)” by the Waterboys and “[in between days](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scif2vfg1ug)” by The Cure ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2018, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolutely-perfect-pop-muzik-masterpieces/815097/22 "2018-05-30T17:39:20Z")
“Kiss Me” by Sixpence None The Richer ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2018, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolutely-perfect-pop-muzik-masterpieces/815097/23 "2018-05-30T17:41:21Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > … > > “[in between days](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scif2vfg1ug)” by The Cure Gah. I was just about to post that. OK then, from the same era… [Lightning Seeds - Pure](https://youtu.be/6myNbk15sMs) ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2018, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolutely-perfect-pop-muzik-masterpieces/815097/24 "2018-05-30T18:18:25Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Possibly, those boys know a toe-tapper sure enough but two snippets of pop perfection for your consideration. > > “[the whole of the moon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TON3PORRDQ)” by the Waterboys > > and > > “[in between days](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scif2vfg1ug)” by The Cure Love both of these. Some post-punkish contributions [The Only Ones - Another Girl Another Planet](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvO7HNQPFRI) [Buzzcocks - Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51OB2YoC4sg) (Actually there’s tons of Buzzcocks that fit here) [Martha And The Muffins - Echo Beach](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpqDTQOFvf0) ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2018, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolutely-perfect-pop-muzik-masterpieces/815097/25 "2018-05-30T20:36:18Z")
John Peel openly stated that the following song was the most perfect expression of youth culture of the 80’s - not one wasted second, get in, get out and don’t stay a moment too long , it does need to be played loud Teenage Kicks - Undertones For complete pop muzik its hard to beat Neil Sedaka - Breaking Up is Hard to do Randy and the Rainbows Denise You got the wrong Todd Rungren song, it should have been this one - I believe he wrote this as a reaction to being criticised for his music being too esoteric, and this was his way of showing that he could do easy disposable music and actively chose not to do so. Edison Lighthouse - Love Grow When My Rosemary Goes White Plains - Julie Do You Love Me Andy Kim - Rock Me Gently Lou Rawls - You Never Find Jackie Wilson - You Love Keeps Lifting me Higher and Higher Isley Brothers - This Old Heart of Mine I could come up with a hundred more but these are high up on my list ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2018, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolutely-perfect-pop-muzik-masterpieces/815097/26 "2018-05-30T20:46:56Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Most perfect pop song ever: > > [The Kinks - Waterloo Sunset](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_MqfF0WBsU) > > Strong contenders: > > The Beatles - I Feel Fine… Don’t get me wrong - If you want to argue that Waterloo Sunset is the best song ever written, I won’t pick an argument - but is it flat out _poppy_ enough to qualify? (Or am I reading more into the OP than I should - Pop Muzik Masterpieces?) If it’s about the perfect _Pop_ song… Sugar Sugar by the Archies? [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9nE2spOw\_o](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9nE2spOw_o) Leader of the Pack by the Shangri Las? [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8UKf65NOzM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8UKf65NOzM) j ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2018, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolutely-perfect-pop-muzik-masterpieces/815097/27 "2018-05-30T21:03:06Z")
[She’s So Young](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M64u7i_EemM) – Pursuit of Happiness ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2018, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolutely-perfect-pop-muzik-masterpieces/815097/28 "2018-05-30T21:13:12Z")
‘I’m so Dizzy’ Tommy Roe ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2018, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolutely-perfect-pop-muzik-masterpieces/815097/29 "2018-05-30T21:45:45Z")
To me, a great Pop song doesn’t need to be an important moment in music history. It doesn’t have to be a complex and masterful work of composition. It just has to make me smile, and have a catchy hook that sticks in my head for at least a little while afterward. Many songs fit this criteria, but for now I’ll offer up two one-hit wonders and one of Pop’s all-time greats: [Walking On Sunshine](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPUmE-tne5U) - Katrina and the Waves [Do You Know What I Mean](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fymw5ie9Zd4) - Lee Michaels [Jackie Wilson Said](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1R8MP3GGGs) - Van Morrison ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2018, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolutely-perfect-pop-muzik-masterpieces/815097/30 "2018-05-30T21:49:45Z")
Tough to beat 1976’s Boston hit _More Than a Feeling_ as a perfectly-crafted pop song: (In addition to others already mentioned, of course. I'm very fond of the OP-mentioned "They Don't Know," too.) ---
**Author:** ![blob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blob/32/489_2.png) [@blob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blob)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2018, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolutely-perfect-pop-muzik-masterpieces/815097/31 "2018-05-30T22:25:27Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > Wow. A little Smokey Robinson influence, you think? I think they were channeling all of the fabulous Motown “boy bands” in the video, I’m not sure of their influences, they had a lot of hits, also as 10cc Great suggestions here, I’ll be hitting up youtube for a while 🙂 Another I like: Freda Payne Band of Gold [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lnoyv4NGJzg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lnoyv4NGJzg) ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2018, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolutely-perfect-pop-muzik-masterpieces/815097/32 "2018-05-30T22:44:08Z")
A few that still make me deliriously happy whenever I hear them: Nick Lowe, [Cruel to be Kind](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0l3QWUXVho) The Vapors, [Turning Japanese](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR4XNqrqxrU) (also, Kirsten Dunst’s surprisingly competent version) XTC, [Generals and Majors](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZuMB2e4pfs) Ting Tings, [Shut up and Let Me Go](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tolm-07if3c) ---
**Author:** ![blob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blob/32/489_2.png) [@blob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blob)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2018, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolutely-perfect-pop-muzik-masterpieces/815097/33 "2018-05-30T22:58:18Z")
Another one from around the same time as Nick Lowe, Jonah Lewie [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62eTq8ErUOQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62eTq8ErUOQ) ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2018, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolutely-perfect-pop-muzik-masterpieces/815097/34 "2018-05-30T23:17:04Z")
It’s not my favorite song (I’m a classical music guy, so I don’t really have a “favorite song”), but I think Billy Joel’s “Uptown Girl” is very elegantly constructed. > [@Treppenwitz](#): > > Sugar Sugar by the Archies? [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9nE2spOw\_o](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9nE2spOw_o) That’s the other one I came in to mention. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2018, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolutely-perfect-pop-muzik-masterpieces/815097/35 "2018-05-30T23:46:00Z")
Regina Spektor - [Ne Me Quitte Pas](https://youtu.be/mi6j48HOLBI) ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2018, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolutely-perfect-pop-muzik-masterpieces/815097/36 "2018-05-31T00:57:12Z")
[Hey Julie](https://youtu.be/DtKhFaW2Z1E) – Fountains of Wayne What, no Monkees songs yet? I’ll fix that: [Pleasant Valley Sunday](https://youtu.be/klU01gYb6F0) ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2018, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolutely-perfect-pop-muzik-masterpieces/815097/37 "2018-05-31T03:37:29Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > [Hey Julie](https://youtu.be/DtKhFaW2Z1E) – Fountains of Wayne > > What, no Monkees songs yet? I’ll fix that: [Pleasant Valley Sunday](https://youtu.be/klU01gYb6F0) Good one. Also [Daydream Believer](https://youtu.be/xvqeSJlgaNk?t=19s) ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2018, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolutely-perfect-pop-muzik-masterpieces/815097/38 "2018-05-31T17:54:08Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > What, no Monkees songs yet? I’ll fix that: [Pleasant Valley Sunday](https://youtu.be/klU01gYb6F0) Good one! Ok, they were a surrogate band, but most of their output was superb nonetheless. And I thought of one more, because this thread also needs some Byrds: The Byrds -[I Feel A Whole Lot Better](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to-RVV_3anw) When Tom Petty covered it on _Full Moon Fever_, he didn’t change much. He knew that it is a perfect song. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2018, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolutely-perfect-pop-muzik-masterpieces/815097/39 "2018-05-31T19:23:13Z")
Just about any track off **Beulah** ’s _The Coast is Never Clear_ is pop music refined to a razor’s edge; standouts are “Popular Mechanics for Lovers” and “What Will You Do When Your Suntan Fades,” but for “perfect pop” I’ll go with “[Hey Brother](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTbKcrt2L0o).” **Letters to Cleo** - [Co-Pilot](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_na0tu5km0) Another brilliant pop band is **Rilo Kiley**. They have a ton of really great stuff but here I will submit “[It’s a Hit](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MjcLdQJB_c)” (ironically, it wasn’t a hit, but that’s not really the point). ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2018, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolutely-perfect-pop-muzik-masterpieces/815097/40 "2018-05-31T19:23:52Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > The Byrds -[I Feel A Whole Lot Better](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to-RVV_3anw)… I love the Byrds, but I know their stuff so well, I can listen to them in my head. But “Feel A Whole Lot Better” is worth actually dragging to my exclusive “Tunage” playlist\*… Along with Roger McGuinn’s [“If We Never Meet Again”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VQ_tK872qA) (and Jules Shear’s original). Another perfect song… \*A lot of what’s been mentioned is Their Only Song on My Phone… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolutely-perfect-pop-muzik-masterpieces/815097.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolutely-perfect-pop-muzik-masterpieces/815097.md?page=3)