I’m trying to make a CD for driving in the car, and I really want very catchy, hook-filled songs. They don’t have to be pop, but upbeat is good.
I’ve just been sifting through my piles of MP3s, and coming up short. Lots of KMFDM in here, Razed in Black, Assemblage 23… catchy in their own right, but not… quite… what I’m looking for. You know? Sure you do. I want something that when you hear it, it stays with you. Instantly engaging.
So far, the only things I’ve been able to dredge up is this meagre list:
Naked Eye - Luscious Jackson
*Feel Good Inc * - Gorrilaz
*Lovely Day * - Bill Withers
Universal Traveller - Air (just because it’s one of my favourites right now)
Cherry Lips - Garbage
And two J-Pop tunes (*Kocci wo Muite * from CCS and *Be My Angel * from Angelic Layer, for anyone interested)
I don’t want to fill the whole thing up with J-Pop ('cos you know… I could). I want catchiness, hooks… think of Blur’s album Parklife. I love bands like Air, Stereolab, Pet Shop Boys, Garbage… I’ll give any band a chance. They have upbeat songs, too, but I just feel braindead - I can’t think of any right now. Tell me your most engaging tunes! Repeats of any of the bands I listed are fine, too.
Aheh… added Ladyfingers - Luscious Jackson.
Smiths/Morrissey suggestions also extremely welcome.
I think you’d do better with other Bill Withers songs, namely Ain’t No Sunshine or Use Me. In fact, anything off his second album is brilliant.
“You’re the one for me, Fatty” by Morrissey is pretty catchy. I find “Only” off of the new NIN to be pretty damn infectious, too.
Let’s see … “Standing Still in Time” by Neuropa … “Living in Oblivion” by Anything Box … Dismantled has a nice new cover of “Straight Up” by Paula Abdul. That’s all I can come up with off-hand.
More in the way of J-pop - Utada Hikaru’s Simple and Clean, and Colors.
If you don’t mind Rat Pack, Sinatra’s More and Dean Martin’s Besame Mucho are catchy as hell.
Two that’ve had their hooks in me the past few days:
Bulldog Mansion - Happy Birthday To Me (Korean pop)
Reanimator - Move Your Dead Bones (techno)
The latter is way, way too hilariously upbeat for a song about necromancy.
Anything by Jack Johnson would probably fit the bill too.
ELO’s “Don’t Bring Me Down.” I have it on repeat on my car’s cd player. I’ve also got a bunch of those *Super Hits of the 70’s * albums and they’ve got a lot of fun, hook-filled songs.
Oh, and “Time Warp.” Gotta love your Rocky Horror. 
Ash’s “Girl From Mars” is quite catchy. Gotta be one of the best pop songs ever.
What about Outkast’s “Hey Ya”?
As usual, I’m late to the thread, but here are a few other thoughts:
Psychic TV:
“Infinite Beat”
“I C Water”
“Godstar”
“Roman P”
Anubian Lights:
“Valiant Thor” (and pretty much anything else off the “Explaining the Unexplained” album)
Hawkwind:
“Silver Machine”
“Robot”
“Orgone Accumulator”
Wimme:
“Texas”
Nik Turner:
“Opa-Loka 2000”
“Audio Energy”
A Midnite Choir:
“Happy Hour in Hell”
“Amelia”
“The Drunken Elephant March”
Stellastarr:
“My Coco”
Diamond-Fist Werny:
“Snowfallingthrusmoke”
The Standard:
“Baptiste”
Green Pajamas:
“Kim the Waitress”
The Dresden Dolls:
“Missed Me”
“Coin-Operated Boy”
Let me see…
Non J-pop:
“The Things That You Say That You Do” and
“New Song,” both by Dressy Bessy
“Bombing at the Midnight Showing” by
From Bubblegum to Sky
J-pop:
“1999” by Akino Arai
“Instant Music” by The Pillows
“K2G” by Puffy AmiYumi
“Mijikai Kousatsu” by Swinging Popsicle
And you can’t forget “Groovy” from the CCS soundtrack.
The Time of Your Life–Green Day
Down on the Corner–Creedence Clearwater Revival
Dancing Queen–ABBA
She Drives Me Crazy Fine Young Cannibals
Girls Just Want To Have Fun Cyndi Lauper
Put the top down and sing along.
Luscious Jackson’s 'City Song or
Madonna’s ‘Ray of Light’
Len’s ‘Steal My Sunshine’ or
Flash & The Pan’s ‘Hey, Saint Peter’
Air’s ‘Surfing On A Rocket’ (Just 2 tracks below on Walkie Talkie)
or Stereolab’s ‘Transporte Sans Bouger’
Tom Tom Club’s ‘Wordy Rappinghood’
or Saint Etienne’s ‘Only Love Can Break Your Heart’
or Le Tigre’s 'TKO’ & 'Deceptacon’
or even Kirsty MacColl’s ‘Walking Down Madison’
Dreaming of You – The Coral