Pure pop, fun to listen to, not necessarily deep or classic or long-lasting except as one-hit wonder/pure pop selections, but you crank the car radio up when they come on.
I reserve the right to add the one that’s on the edge of my brain and I just can’t remember.
Sorry, the category is too broad if you know a lot of songs.
Kelly Clarkson “Breakaway”
Journey “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)”
Corey Hart “Sunglasses At Night”
Night Ranger “Sister Christian”
Wilson Philips “Hold On” (in honor of Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle)
(I’m sure all five songs could change on further reflection. There’s just so much fun disposable pop)
<Off Topic Story>
I was in college when that song hit big. My school had previously booked them to play a small concert, so obviously they were thrilled to have a hot new band at a bargin basement price, and promoted the heck out of it. The night of the concert the band showed up, looked at the venue and decided it was too small, and cancelled the concert due to “security concerns”. Ever after, they were known locally as “Deep Blue Nothing”.
</OTS>
You didn’t miss much. Their CD was so bad that when I tried to sell it back to a used record store, they wouldn’t take it. They said they had too many of them.
Terry Jacks- Seasons in the Sun
Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods- Me and You and a Dog Named Boo
Hoyt Axton- Della and the Dealer (and a dog named Boo)
Tom T. Hall- I Love(Little baby ducks)
Cheryl Lynn- This Will Be
Minnie Ripperton- Lovin’ You
I don’t listen to the radio, and these would never get played anyway, but here are some I like. They’re pop songs that should have been hits all over the world for weeks and weeks and weeks.
Kate Bush - The Big Sky
Jane Siberry - Extra Executives (or Symmetry or Map of the World Pt 2)
Komeda - Our Hospitality (or It’s Alright Baby or Happyment or Flabbergast)
Happy Rhodes - Collective Heart
Kirsty MacColl - My Affair (or Eighty-year old Millionaire or so many others)
Eddi Reader - Honeychild
Tons more. I love pop music, but none of the pop music I love ever gets airplay.
Cyndi Lauper - Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
Bananarama - Cruel Summer
Kim Wilde - *Kids in America *(where the hell is East California anyway? 
)
Depeche Mode - Just Can’t Get Enough
Outkast - Hey Ya - finally, something that’s not from the 80s! 
and a couple more that are more disco than pop, but I just have to turn up the volume when they’re on:
The Weather Girls - It’s Raining Men
Tapps - Forbidden Lover
Yeah, you’re right that I chose from the Top 40 station, not the oldies one.
Like Equipoise, I like pop music, but not what’s played on the radio (at least not here). Here are some of mine:
“Montana” by Venus Hum
“Barco a Venus” by Mecano
“Harebrained Scheme” by Freezepop
“Let’s Get Out of This Country” by Camera Obscura
“Galaxies” by Laura Veirs
“Don’t Stop 'Til You Get Enough” - Michael Jackson
“Straight Up” - Paula Abdul
“Never Say Never” - Romeo Void
“Rich Girl” - Gwen Stefani
“When I Come Around” - Green Day
Natalie Cole, not Cheryl Lynn
Lobo, not Bo Donaldson 
They don’t play them on the radio very much anymore, but:
Good and Linger still get played sometimes and are well-known and well-remembered by many. Kiss Me gets written off as sappy, but musically it’s a well-made song (the opening guitar chords have a great, mysterious sound) and the singer has a unique voice. Summertime is a good song to hear while driving on a nice day, and original-sounding enough that a few people I’ve played it for thought that it came out in the past year, even though it’s almost a decade old.
Lovefool is just an all-around amazing song, with a very creative structure, and exhibits a great deal more studio ingenuity than the average pop song. The many things which make it a cut above:
* Great glissando and reverb on opening notes.
* Driving, melodic bass line throughout.
* Excellent use of keyboards in melody.
* Great lead line in second part of verse 1 - not sure if it's a modulated synth or
a guitar with an effect pedal, but the bending notes are awesome.
* Rockin' rhythm guitar line over "So, I cry, and I pray, and I beg..." lines.
* Awesome theremin-sounding line in the background of same section.
* Awesome rhythm guitar part over "Love me, Love me" chorus.
* Great distorted and dissonant guitar over "I don't care about anything but you" line.
* Spoken words ("Say that you love me," "I know that you need me," etc) over final chorus.
* Seductive and sexy female voice.The Archies – Sugar Sugar
This record was by Lobo. BD&TH did “Billy Don’t Be A Hero” and “Who Do You Think You Are.”
Brass In Pocket by the Pretenders
Call Me and Heart of Glass by Blondie (probably all of Blondie is pure pop.)
Breathless by The Corrs
Happy Together by The Turtles
And, yes, I realize my pop songs span the decades.
The first song that pops into my mind when I hear ‘truly great pop songs’ is the Jackson Five’s “I Want You Back”…though maybe it’s just because I’ve had the damn thing stuck in my head for a week.
I have always considered a pure pop song to be more “bubblegum”, like the aforementioned “Sugar, Sugar” by The Archies. A song that was lyrically simple, full of pleasing chord changes and pretty much just one hook after another. Fairly fast with a strong driving beat.
That being said, my nominees for two prime examples of the ultimate pop song are “Mickey”, by Toni Basil, and “Queen of Hearts”, by Juice Newton.
Sure, a lot of people despise them now, but they were very popular in their day and infectious earworms. I think they are still good examples, it’s just that they have been played so much over the years, many people are just tired of hearing them.