Not just Rock or Pop. Any piece of music you like the “hook” for.
Some of mine:
The William Tell Overture bit used for The Lone Ranger
The basic riff in Pink Floyd’s Money
The riff in the Beatles’ Day Tripper
The intro to the Doors’ Riders on the Storm
There are at least 50 I could name without slowing down.
What makes a hook catchy? The beat? The melody? What?
The intro hook, repeated throghout, to “Genius of Love” by the Tom Tom Club.
[QUOTE=Zeldar]
What makes a hook catchy? The beat? The melody? What?
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It’s short; it’s distinctive; it’s repeated.
I’m not a huge fan of Aerosmith, but I just love the little guitar riff in “Walk This Way.”
Mancini: Peter Gunn Theme, Pink Panther
Ed Norton’s intro to every song: Swanee River
You really got me
The intro to the White Stripes’ Seven-Nation Army (which is carried through the whole song)
Led Zeppelin’s Heartbreaker
Black Sabbath’s Iron Man
I’ve got more…I just have to think about it.
A few more:
The piano figure in Dave Brubeck’s Take Five
The riff in the Classic 4’s Spooky which is very close to the one in Stormy
The break in the Four Seasons’ Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You
The intro to Elton’s Bennie and the Jets
The riff in Gregg Allman’s Midnight Rider
The intro to the ABB Whipping Post
The riff in Gino Vannelli’s People Gotta Move
The intro to ELO’s Fire on High for a weird sentimental reason.
The bass line in *Come As You Are * by Nirvana
The bass line in *Come Down * by Bush
The guitar riff in *Back in Black * by AC/DC
The acoustic guitar intro on *Over the Hills and Far Away * by Led Zeppelin
The guitar riffs in Gasoline and *Show Me How to Live * by Audioslave
The part in “Take Me Out” by Franz Ferdinand where the song shifts. It took me a long time to get sick of that.
It’s short, it’s simple, it’s obvious, and it’s totally perfect; that little chromatic four-note line in Patsy Cline’s “Crazy” (written by Willie Nelson) from the C to the A7:
“Crazy… bah-bah-bah-bahhh… I’m crazy for feelin’ so lonelyyyy…”
The bass part in Thorazine Shuffle by Gov’t Mule.
the intro to Smoke on the Water and Day Tripper
Most ingenious musical intro ever goes to My Girl, sung by The Temptations. The music was actually composed and played by The Funk Brothers.
Other good ones include:
Intro to Light My Fire, by The Doors.
Intro to Heard It Through The Grapevine, by Marvin Gaye (also done by The Funk Brothers, who composed for most of Motown’s hits).
Intro to Satisfaction, by the Stones.
[QUOTE=Chefguy]
Most ingenious musical intro ever goes to My Girl, sung by The Temptations. The music was actually composed and played by The Funk Brothers.
Other good ones include:
Intro to Light My Fire, by The Doors.
Intro to Heard It Through The Grapevine, by Marvin Gaye (also done by The Funk Brothers, who composed for most of Motown’s hits).
Intro to Satisfaction, by the Stones.
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Good ones, Chefguy, and you’ve helped me remember another favorite:
The intro to Chain of Fools. The chain-chain-chain thing with the bass line to boot.
Stevie Wonder has some of the better hooks, too.
Sir Duke
Superstition
Warren Zevon’s riff in Lawyers, Guns and Money
Dum, dum dum dum dum dum dum dah, Dum dum dum dum dum…
It goes so well with the lyrics, it’s insistant and almost menacing, it stays with you.
Pacelbel’s Canon - Sweet and layered, yet stately. (though now my wedding music has become a ringtone, rather disconcerting, that, I thought it was so original 24 years ago)
Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Dosed the combination of wistful chorus, touching harmonies and Flea’s melodic bass effectively hook the listener in.
Broken Social Scene’s Cause =Time It’s a dreamy meandering song, yet the refrain about “the cause” adds a sort of punctuation that you can’t get out of your head.
Good call on Seven Nation Army, Gail.
The hook for “Hook” by Blues Traveler, which is based on Pachelbel’s Canon in D (although I believe it’s transposed to a different key).
The guitar sound made in ‘let me show you the way to go’ by The Jacksons, reminds me of being on a desert island, in a daze, stoned. 
[QUOTE=Available Jones]
The bass line in *Come As You Are * by Nirvana
The bass line in *Come Down * by Bush
The guitar riff in *Back in Black * by AC/DC
The acoustic guitar intro on *Over the Hills and Far Away * by Led Zeppelin
The guitar riffs in Gasoline and *Show Me How to Live * by Audioslave
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Your first one makes me think of the intro to
…I think it’s a classic.