… whether intentionally or accidentally.
Endless Love by Lionel Ritchie and Dianna Ross comes close,
As does Fairground by Simply Red.
But they’re not “slam dunk” examples…
Lissie’s When I’m Alone (album cut starts at about the 0:30 mark) has some fun syncopation in the verses that make the chorus seem rather drab in comparison. After the second main verse I sometimes find myself skipping to the next song because the fun parts are over.
(edit: I don’t know if syncopation was the correct term but it should be obvious on listening what I meant)
Some songs just have a really awful chorus. I’m thinking of “Hey Ya”, for instance.
“We Didn’t Start the Fire”-Billy Joel IMO, the listing of events is more interesting than the chorus.
“Message in a Bottle” - The Police
A few more examples of weak choruses:
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“Boo Hoo Hoo” by Dino, Desi & Billy.
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“Minstrel Boy” by Dylan, off Self Portrait.
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“Come On Queenie” by Every Mother’s Son.
Nick Lowe’s “They Called It Rock” is pretty catchy throughout, but the chorus is just minimal.
Not pop, but…
She Was A Fast Machine
She Kept Her Motor Clean
She Was The Best Damn Woman I Had Ever Seen
She Had The Sightless Eyes
Telling Me No Lies
Knockin’ Me Out With Those American Thighs
And also not from the chorus:
Working Double Time
On The Seduction Line
She Was One Of A Kind, She’s Just Mine All Mine
She Wanted No Applause
Just Another Course
Made A Meal Out Of Me And Came Back For More
buh buh bum
Jeremiah was a bullfrog!
buh buh bum
Was a good friend of mine!
buh buh bum
The current “We are Young” song. I like the sing songy talky verses but find the “we are young” part grating.
Even Ray Davies pokes fun at the chorus to ‘Autumn Almanac’ – after singing, ‘Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes!’ he’ll pause in concert, and say some variation on, ‘They don’t write any lyrics better than that!’
R.E.M. sometimes pooped out on the chorus… “Try Not to Breathe”, among others.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ Mary Jane’s Last Dance. Terrific bluesy verse. treacly chorus.
Not exactly what the OP is looking for, but another one for Lionel Richie is "Say You, Say Me. It slowly trudges along as a saccharine ballad, but then all of a sudden the bridge starts kicking ass at 2:49. One DJ remarked that it’s like the bridge was beamed in from outer space.
I’ll go with Michael Jackson’s “Stranger in Moscow”. At least, when I hum it, I hum the verses. The chorus doesn’t feel as if it belongs in the song. I can see what he was going for - a ray of sunshine amidst the gloom - but it feels underwritten.
Same with “Something” by The Beatles. The chorus is fine, but it’s overshadowed by the mighty bridge. “Cars” by Gary Numan; everybody sings the verse, the chorus is instrumental.
“Ghostbusters” has an odd structure - it has mini-choruses (“who can-you-call / GHOSTBUSTERS!”), but the actual chorus (“I ain’t 'fraid of no ghost”) feels like a bridge. A bridge to nowhere.
Huey Lewis & the News’ “Power of Love” has an awesome build-up to the chorus, but it seems to evaporate when it gets there.
Do you mean: “I don’t take money, it don’t take fame”? One could reasonably argue that is the chorus - ending on “That’s the power of love” and going back to the verse. But you’re right, that part (with the keyboard chords) is way, way better than the guitar driven verse/whatever.
More than This, a lovely song by Roxy Music with a great verse melody, but an unremarkable refrain.
Neil Young - “Heart of Gold”
I agree that the bridge is the coolest part of this song, but “Something” doesn’t really have a chorus. It’s just verse and bridge. If you look closely at Beatles songs, most don’t fit into the usual pop structure of verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge/etc…
Never My Love, by The Association.
One may argue about whether the verse or the chorus is better, but I would say the chorus is definitely a lot CATCHIER.