The greatest Pop song yet written and recorded.

@bdp24 

We certainly agree on that one! I have been listening to their eponymous disc since I was in high school and saw them at the Schaefer Music Festival in NYC. It's a real gem.

@loomisjohnson: That Seatrain album (their second) is a real good one. Also on it is the first version of the Lowell George song "I’m Willin" I ever heard.

The album was produced by George Martin, and features the second line-up of band members, now including fiddler Richard Greene (formerly of The Jim Kweskin Jug Band, from which also came Maria Muldaur) and Peter Rowan, a pretty well known Bluegrass guitarist and singer. Richard and Peter had both earlier been in Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys. Excellent musicians.

@tylermunns theres a great obscure Carole King song called creepin midnight on the s/t album seatrain (70s hippie band that got some brief attention. Check it out and lettuce know.

@hce1
“Thanks for that list of Carole King songs.”

You bet! 😉
My (nerdy) pleasure.

“It’s incredible and I’ll be listening to them all week long.”

I love to hear that!

@tylermunns 

Thanks for that list of Carole King songs. It’s incredible and I’ll be listening to them all week long.

@bdp24 

Thanks for initiating this thread. I’m enjoying it thoroughly!

I haven’t the understanding of music theory to approach a list like this with the learned perspective some of you bring to this discussion. I do, however, consider more than a few songs to be perfect pop songs, songs that rip me out of the world and into their own magical realm. Here are a few off the top of my head:

1. Beach Boys, God Only Know; A Day in the Life of a Tree; Feel Flow
2. Harry Nilsson, driving along
3. Kinks, Waterloo Sunset
4. Norman Greenbaum, jubilee
5. Jimi Hendrix, wait till tomorrow; one rainy wish
6. Beatles, in my life; one after 909
7. Van Morrison, sweet thing
8. Jazz butcher, Sweet water
9. impressions, people get ready
10. Curtis Mayfield, Move On Up
11. Zombies, tell her no
12. Small Faces, Itchicoo park
13. Simon and Garfunkel, Kathy’s Song
14. Brian Auger & Trinity, A Word About Color
15. Thunderclap Newman, Something in the Air
16. Funkadelic, Can You Get to That

And on and on! Haven’t even touched the American songbook, 50s RnR, Motown, Stax/Volt, Fame studios, blues, etc. Thankfully, there’s lots of songs to love!

You are right about text....

I guess the best pop music and song is the last one on the hit chart...😁

Sometimes though there is a motivation in the song that make it more meaningful that to be just another hit...

I like this one even it it is more folk than pop :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqSA-SY5Hro&t=99s

Anyway they give the Nobel to Dylan for being a bit more than the writer of songs on the hit chart...

These days we need meaning at least more than just rythm and melody...

Well, I’m pretty much an ignoramus regarding music theory, though much more conversant in literature/poetry. But to me, a great pop song requires both a great melody, and great lyrics/depth of meaning. So, at least by my standards, “God Only Knows”, which has pretty pedestrian lyrics, can never quite achieve greatness.

Well, I’m pretty much an ignoramus regarding music theory, though much more conversant in literature/poetry.  But to me, a great pop song requires both a great melody, and great lyrics/depth of meaning. So, at least by my standards, “God Only Knows”, which has pretty pedestrian lyrics, can never quite achieve greatness.

It seems that successful "pop" music is that which firmly rivets itself to the popular culture of the day, The way we feel about ourselves, the world ... and each other. There are several "tests" that determine how well songs will stand up to the test of time.

The Weddng Reception test:

How often is it played at wedding receptions? Which songs impacted lives, and relationships? Being danceable is a key element here. God Only Knows gets a 2.7 on the "dance scale." Then again, Suite Judy Blue Eyes and A Day in a Life are not on the mobile DJ’s most requested list, either.

The Shower Test:

Can you sing it in the shower? Or, would you even want to? God Only Knows is not the easiest song to sing in the shower. Nor are the vast majority of BeeGees songs. Most mortals can sing 97% of Unchained Melody in the shower. It’s that 3% that makes you happy no one is around to listen. There’s also the special list of songs you can successfulyl sing while highly intoxicated. Quicksilver Messenger Service’s Mona tops my list. I’m sure you have your own.

God Only Knows is beautiful on a level possibly unmatched in popular music history. It also make have catapulted itself to a level where it can be best appreciated by music geeks (or, those who drive the speed limit, or use the stovetop instead of the microwave). Patience is not a requirement for popular music appreciation. In my early 20’s, I painstakingly painted my car.  While it was quite obvious to me that it was, indeed, Lime Gold Candy Pearl, most people saw it as a pretty green Camaro. As long as it made them smile and not compelled to take 80 grit sandpaper to it ... mission accomplished.  God Only Knows may be viewed as just a beautiful song by many.  I made a reference to "we're ants on a Rembrandt" in a prior topic, where ants are scurrying around seeing textures and colors change beneath their feet, totally unaware of the masterpiece below them.  This may be the case with God Only Knows where "the masses" hear chord changes and beautiful harmonies, but not aware of the music masterpiece in front of them.

I think alot of us just don’t want to work very hard to appreciate popular music. It reminds me of a Management Boot Camp conducted by a guy named Harry Friedman. Harrry asked the audience a question, and received a high detailed response from a participant. After several seconds of quiet, respectful, listening, Harry interrupted her and stated: "Save me the labor pains. Just give me the baby!" I think alot of us "just want the baby" when it relates to popular music.

4 guys from Wichita had some profound thoughts about their music. They referenced the term "hooks" to describe elements of the music that got the listener’s attention and pulled them into the song. Carry On My Wayward Son has 4 such hooks -- per the sony writer.

As always I appreciate @bdp24 ’s deep dive into music. Some of the chords of God Only Knows are "half diminished", but I feel a litte smarter after viewing the video.

Thanks for sharing.

In the general era most of these songs are falling in, the definition of 'pop' is a good question. I tend to attribute four basic genre styles to that period. Hard rock was starting to come of age with songs like Steppenwolf's 'Born To Be Wild', and Jimi Hendrix's 'Purple Haze'. Because of the Vietnam war, almost all the popular groups had politically motivated protest songs that pushed an agenda. British progressive rock was also in it's infancy during this period. The last group is where pop resides. They were the songs that had no real agenda and were most often about the trials and tribulations of young love. They were the songs that made you reach for the volume knob and the ones you loved to sing along with even if you couldn't carry a tune in a bucket. They were the ones that even got our rock hating older generation tapping their toes when they thought no one was looking! Any songs considered rock and roll before 1965 were just that; good old rock and roll. No agendas, no messages, just a new generation exploring a new style of music. We really did get to live during one of the most interesting periods of musical history. It's where our hobby/obsession with audiophilia was born as well. 

Mommas and Pappas. Monday Monday and California dreaming. 

"Thriller"

Michael Jackson

Carnival by Natalie Merchant

@tylermunns 

That’s hilarious!  And “Time After Time” is a seriously underrated song.  Miles was a master of melody, so he got it,

@bdp24 
I suppose I consider the records of Charley Patton, Leadbelly, Son House etc. etc…to the records of Elmore James, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Howlin’ Wolf etc. etc…and the records of The Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, etc. etc…to the records of Bill Monroe, Bob Wills, Hank Williams etc. etc…all in conjunction with the pop masterpieces of the early-20th century and gospel music to be the primary building blocks of modern pop music, or, perhaps, the “rock n’ roll era” (‘55-to-present day).

@mdalton 

Do you remember that episode of Seinfeld where Elaine’s boyfriend would suddenly enter an impenetrable trance-like state whenever he heard, “Desperado?”  
I kind of turn into that guy whenever I hear “Time After Time” by Cyndi Lauper.

@jssmith My "happy tune" is "Rythm of the Night" by El Debarge. 😊

Miles Davis knows:  it’s either “Bye Bye Blackbird”, “My Funny Valentine”, or “Time after Time”.  

Honorable mentions (cuz Miles didn’t cover them): “Daniel” by Elton John, and “Angel From Montgomery” by John Prine.

I consider Stairway To Heaven the best song ever written, but while it was played extensively on the radio, I consider it album rock rather than pop rock. Pop music is not complex. I consider it mood music more than something that can be meticulously analyzed. As a 17-year-old going to the ocean I listened to The Beach Boys' Endless Summer non-stop and this is the age group that most pop is written for. Most people remain emotionally attached to the music they listened to during ages 15-20. That didn't happen to me. For pop rock, nothing gets my happy emotions going as much as I'm Walking On Sunshine by Katrina and the Waves. No, it's not complex, but no pop song is complex.

Lots of good and thoughtful selections.  I vote for "Dirty Water" by the Standells (I hear you rolling your eyes out there).  Great rhythm, good guitar hook, simple lyrics and it sounded good on a portable transistor radio or in the car, where people listened when it was released.  And it still sounds good. 

Good one @tylermunns. Yeah, Rock music can just be considered one branch of Pop music. How about Blues? My focus on Pop songs started in the late-60’s, when the album format replaced the 45 RPM single as the dominant format for Pop music.

I heard album after album with no really good songs, which is my first love in non-Classical music. Rock bands in the late-60’s and 70’s were more interested in exploring improvisation (often in pale imitations of Jazz), and in becoming virtuoso musicians, rather than writing good songs. So my attention moved on to singer/songwriters like Randy Newman, Jackson Browne, Neil Young, etc. I reserved my admiration of superior musicianship for the likes of The Band, Ry Cooder, and studio musicians (the L.A. guys of course, but also those in the Muscle Shoals studios---the recording team now known as The Swampers).

And like you, I consider the song "form" (verses, choruses, bridges, etc.) the determining factor in what makes for a Pop song. So when the debut album by The Dwight Twilley Band came out in 1976, I was stoked! They were a Rock ’n’ Roll band, but they wrote fantastic Pop songs, combining Memphis R & R with Merseybeat, an unbeatable combination. Their Sincerely album sounds as exhilarating today as the day it was released. Their follow up Twilley Don’t Mind has some great Pop songs, including the irresistible, hook-filled "Trying To Find My Baby", a great, great Pop song.

And then in 1977 Dave Edmunds’ Get It album appeared, and I discovered "The Master". 😉 Not just a great Rock ’n’ Roll guitarist, but one hell of a producer. He recreates the Sun Records sound like no other, as well as Spector’s Wall-Of-Sound. His albums with the Rockpile team (Nick Lowe, Billy Bremner, Terry Williams) are as good as Rock ’n Roll gets, with the emphasis on songs.

These days there are more good songwriters active than ever before. My musical taste leads me to the Americana genre, which is filled with great songwriters and singers, creating music as good as I have ever heard. It's a great time to be alive!

If it ain’t classical and it ain’t jazz (I don’t consider vocal recordings of pop songs by the great songwriters of the early 20th century I posted previously to be ‘jazz’), it’s pop.

- verse/chorus
- repeat
- A middle section (either bridge, solo, interlude, etc.).

Though obviously some exceptions, generally in the 3:00-range.

That applies to everything from Al Jolson to Frank Sinatra to the Carter Family to Jimmie Rodgers to Bill Monroe to Hank Williams to Chuck Berry to James Brown to Kraftwerk to Bob Marley to The Ramones to the Sugarhill Gang.

The more “out-there” part of pop (the prog-y stuff, math metal, Zappa, Beefheart, etc.) is just the outer reaches of pop. It still ain’t classical or jazz. It’s just exploring the farthest outer reaches of the pop universe.

bdp24 

yes what do we call or categorize the music that doesn't' fit neatly into a box ?    

Maybe a better question could have been  "my favorite song, and imo the "best" song ever written "  Then I would not have answered with Windy , or Vacation or Walk Like An Egyptian , all Poppy songs but not my quite my favorites and definitely not the best songs ever written .

As all album forum questions I enjoy reading what others think and listen to , I've discovered new music that I wouldn't have otherwise , so thanks for this discussion.

I agree, "What is Pop music?" is an interesting question, one perhaps without a definitive answer.

It originally referred to songs written in the classic two verses, chorus, bridge (middle 8 in England), third verse, chorus, out form. Or a close approximation of it. Also with a sing along melody and "hooky" chorus. That’s how The Beatles started out, not surprising as they based their music on the American Pop music of the 50’s and early-60’s, with some Rock ’n’ Roll thrown in. They pretty much stuck with that formula through the Rubber Soul album (with some exceptions), after which there were no more rules.

ABBA was obviously a Pop Group, but in my opinion so were The Ramones, and so are Weezer (hooks galore!). The Stones never were, nor were The Yardbirds (though in the 1960’s the British press referred to all the bands---including The Stones, The Who, even Cream---as Pop Groups. That was to differentiate between music for teenagers, and the adult music: Jazz and Classical). The Kinks are a tough call; Ray Davies wrote Pop Songs, but most of them didn’t sound Pop ("Waterloo Sunset" being one notable exception, but there are plenty of others). The line between Rock and Pop is not so clear, and as much an opinion as anything else. Is a "Pop" song performed by a Rock band Pop music, or Rock? Like Van Halen’s version of "California Girls".

When it comes to "God Only Knows", I use the term Pop in reference to the non-Pop music it shares many musical "devices" with: Classical music. It’s certainly not a Rock song, so whatta ya call it? There is a sub-genre amongst Pop music aficionados, called Baroque Pop. I suppose that’s the best we can do. That term works for Brian’s pal Van Dyke Parks too.

vair68robert, I used to consider everything I listened to as "rock," which was where it was located in the record store bins. Along came the internet, and the Steve Hoffman forum, where I was informed that most of my favorites (the Beach Boys, Linda Ronstadt, Motown, the girl groups) were actually considered "pop." I was alright with that, as I’d never listened much to the one-word-name groups, or any hair metal, or hard metal, or John Mayall, or pre-Lindsey and Stevie FM. Except for Satanic Majesties and Let It Bleed, I don’t even like post-Between the Buttons Stones. So I’ve continued to hie to that definition, as long as we’re talking about the pop music of our generation. (Begone, Shawn Mendes, Barefoots, Britney, Taylor Swift, etc.)

But if you want to go back to calling it all "rock," I have no problem with that.

P.S. The only version of "Walk Away, Renee" I like is the original.

@vair68robert - Good question - I think your categorization is perfectly correct for you - take a category and put in what you think belongs there, and nobody should tell you you are wrong. 'Pop' is just short for 'Popular' and all kinds of music can be so considered by somebody. That's why I think the 'Rock and Roll Hall of Fame', if such a thing should even exist, with everything that is in it, should be renamed the 'Pop Music Hall of Fame' - that would cover it all, I should think. 

@bdp24 

I have to ask you this What is a Pop song ?  

I'm seeing all kinds of music being listed as Pop songs , I wouldn't consider the Beach Boys " Only God Knows " as Pop or John Lennon's " Imagine " or Jefferson Airplane's  " Comin Back to Me "  , but " Walk Away Renee " ( I like Rickie Lee Jones version )  maybe all of what ABBA did or Diana Ross and the Supremes  or all the Beach Boys surfer songs or all the Beatles up to Revolver is the type of music that I would think of as Pop .

Am I way off base with my categorization ?

In the words of the Highlander "There can be only one".  Written by Mick at the tender age of 25, the song is as powerful today as ever.  There are plenty of pretty pop songs, and then there is the one that towers above them all IMHO 🤣

Please allow me to introduce myself
I'm a man of wealth and taste
I've been around for a long, long years
Stole million man's soul an faith

And I was 'round when Jesus Christ
Had his moment of doubt and pain
Made damn sure that Pilate
Washed his hands and sealed his fate

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name
But what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game

Stuck around St. Petersburg
When I saw it was a time for a change
Killed Tsar and his ministers
Anastasia screamed in vain

I rode a tank
Held a general's rank
When the blitzkrieg raged
And the bodies stank

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name, oh yeah
Ah, what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game, oh yeah

I watched with glee
While your kings and queens
Fought for ten decades
For the gods they made

I shouted out
Who killed the Kennedys?
When after all
It was you and me

Let me please introduce myself
I'm a man of wealth and taste
And I laid traps for troubadours
Who get killed before they reached Bombay

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guessed my name, oh yeah
But what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game, oh yeah, get down, baby

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guessed my name, oh yeah
But what's confusing you
Is just the nature of my game

Just as every cop is a criminal
And all the sinners saints
As heads is tails
Just call me Lucifer
'Cause I'm in need of some restraint

So if you meet me
Have some courtesy
Have some sympathy, and some taste
Use all your well-learned politnesse
Or I'll lay your soul to waste, mm yeah

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guessed my name, mm yeah
But what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game, mm mean it, get down

Woo, who
Oh yeah, get on down
Oh yeah
Aah yeah

Tell me baby, what's my name?
Tell me honey, can ya guess my name?
Tell me baby, what's my name?
I tell you one time, you're to blame

What's my name
Tell me, baby, what's my name?
Tell me, sweetie, what's my name?

Carole King "You've Got a Friend"

How about "Pretty Ballerina" by The Left Banke, written by Michael Brown? Also their "Walk Away Renee", done in a great version by The Four Tops as well.

@roxy54, both of those songs are standouts, two I often sing in my head.  Just wonderful songs.  

"Wichita Lineman" Jimmy Webb 

sung by Glen Campbell 

@ericsch 

"Comin Back to Me" is one of my all-time favorite songs, but I wouldn't call it pop. It was never a hit, and it's just a piece of art. as is the song before it on the same disc, "Today."

Even though I'm in the "classic vinyl' age group with the majority of posters on this thread, I'm going to go a little more recent and say Michael Morales "Who Do You Give Your Love To?", and Thomas Dolby's "She Blinded Me With Science" both stand the test of a little less time. Back in my becoming an audiophile days, "Baby, Now That I Found You" by the Foundations, and "Red Rubber Ball" by The Cyrkle always made me reach for the volume knob. In the surf genre, "New York's a Lonely Town" by The Trade Winds gets a nod as well.

I've had to give a thumbs up to pretty much every tune listed on this thread so far. We got to grow up during a time when music itself was growing up. Being able to say, "I remember when that song came out on the AM radio" puts us in an especially privileged group of music lovers, because in those pre MTV days, the AM radio station DJ's were ultimately the ones who decided which songs were hits. Air time was expensive, and they wouldn't waste it on songs that didn't have what it took to stay on the charts, or even songs that ran over a certain time limit.  When Phil Spector produced The Righteous Brothers "You've Lost That Loving Feeling", a song that ran almost four minutes, he knew it was a chart topper. He also knew that most stations wouldn't play a song that long, so he deliberately misprinted the label time as 3:05 to make sure it got the air time it deserved. By the time the DJ's figured out the scam, it was too big of a hit to stop playing it. That's always been one of my favorite stories from the halcyon days of rock music. I'm glad I got to be a part of that special era.

@tylermunns: Does your copy of the Song Cycle LP have the beautiful gold Warner Brothers center paper label? Both my copies (one has the rear cover with lyrics, the other without them but full musician credits) have the later ugly green WB label. I’ve been looking for a gold label copy in Mint condition for a few years now, to no avail. I’m a patient guy. 😉 The LP was reissued by somebody a few years ago.

I have the Speakers Corner Records reissue of Nilsson Sings Newman, but haven’t gotten around to listening to it yet. Thanks for the reminder.

George  Harrison - While My Guitar Gently Weeps

Yeah, and a few ABBA songs, including this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tW3HN_pvbE4&list=FLHAEL8Iwz684WaGFx1rQchA&index=394&ab_channel=AbbaVEVO

@bdp24 

My original US copy of Song Cycle is one of my more cherished records.  
Was re-watching the Twin Peaks series (again) the other day and whaddya know…I always forget Van Dyke Parks has a small role in season 2 (attorney in courtroom scene).
Van Dyke Park’s version of “Vine Street” is awesome but no version of that song holds a candle to Harry Nilsson’s version as track 1 on the Nilsson Sings Newman LP. 
Like the Van Dyke Parks version, it has a small mini-song unrelated to “Vine Street” open the LP and segues into “Vine Street.”  
Harry proceeds to weave a tapestry of some of the most awe-inspiring, exquisite vocal overdub arrangements you’ll ever hear, accompanied by only Randy himself on the piano.  
I could provide a list similar in length (and similar in musical quality - arguably superior) to the huge Carol King one I posted earlier regarding the number of knockout songs Randy wrote in the ‘60s. If I get the gumption, maybe I will…

@tylermunns: A songwriter/bandmate and I discovered Randy Newman’s first album through Van Dyke Parks and Brian Wilson. Because of Van’s work with Brian on the Smile recordings (I discovered the Smiley Smile album in early-’68, and turned him on to it. He became as obsessed with it as I), we got his debut album (Song Cycle, an amazing piece of work) as soon as we learned of it (it was released in late-’67). Listening to Song Cycle on acid is an experience unlike any other. 😉

Song Cycle opens with "Vine Street", a song credited on the album’s back cover to R. Newman (he is credited with the arrangement as well), and a little investigation revealed the R to be Randy. Van performs "Vine Street" in a somewhat surrealistic manner, so I didn’t know what to expect when I got Randy’s 1968 s/t debut album (it was released with two different covers; I of course have both 😉). The album credits production to Van Dyke Parks and Lenny Waronker, so getting it was a no-brainer. The album was engineered by Lee Herschberg, so it sounds great.

What a breathe of fresh air! In the midst of psychedelic horsesh*t, power trios (with which I was growing tired), and album side-long jams, here was an album of superb two and three minute long songs, recorded not with a Rock band, but an orchestra. Randy’s vocal abilities were obviously limited, but his delivery served the songs well enough. I became a life-long fan, though I wasn’t happy when he hired the members of Toto to record with him. I have his entire catalogue, Good Old Boys being a particular favorite. It was through Randy’s albums that I first became aware of Jim Keltner, Randy’s preferred drummer (he is also on Maria Muldaur’s 1973 solo debut, another favorite album of mine).

Whiter Shade of Pale—Procol Harem,,lyrics and that

                                      cadence

And Your Bird Can Sing—Beatles,,,my favorite Beatles song

I’ll think of more shortly.  Long list when other’s mention a good one  

My turn...

1  Imagine  John Lennon

2  No Regrets  Tom Rush

3  Triad  Jefferson Airplane (think David Crosby wrote it)

4  Don't Make Me Dream About You  Chris Isaak

They're all tied for first in my estimation

The greatest pop song written and recorded ....  Lots of interesting opinions here - but I think the answer to this question was not even mentioned !  (Unless I missed it in this lengthy thread ! ).....

The greatest pop song one could argue is the song that has remained on the top 40 charts the longest - meaning it resonated with the largest group of music fans.  It is:   

"All I Want for Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey.  It holds the record for the most weeks in the Top 40 history with 86 weeks.   86 weeks !!!   

FYI - she has also earned more than $50 million in royalties for this single song.  And no matter your age, religion, or musical taste, the song is a pop masterpiece.

Phil Spector’s vision was original. He was a producer, not an arranger/transcriber.  

He was also no dummy when it came to pop songs.  
“To Know Him Is To Love Him,” with it’s clever bridge chord progression/melody was written solely by Spector.  
He wrote one of my favorite songs ever, “Spanish Harlem” with lyricist Jerry Leiber.
Randy Newman played the “Jack Nitzsche role” on the brilliant Nitzsche-produced music for the soundtrack of the film Performance.  
In that same role as arranger, Randy Newman wrote the absolutely brilliant orchestral arrangement for Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller’s masterpiece, “Is That All There Is?” with brilliant vocals by Peggy Lee.

On the list;

Kinks - Waterloo Sunset

Devo - Gut Feeling

I. Berlin - Blue Skies

Zappa - Stevie's Spanking

Joni Mitchell - Edith and The Kingpin

G. Greshwin - Summertime

^ Spector was Spector. I'm glad he made all his music before he became what he became. I've never heard anything bad about Jack Nitsche, though.

Spector and Nitzche produced some truly great music, but in their personal lives they were not nice people.

One of my very favorite early-60’s songs/records is "On Broadway", sung by The Drifters, written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin’s Brill Building songwriting team competition: Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann. The song/recording is very haunting, and hearing it never fails to "return me to" the time of it’s release. I remember hearing it coming out of the transistor radio under my pillow at night. 😊 By the way, playing the guitar solo in the song is none other than Phil Spector!

@loomisjohnson: Speaking of Phil Spector, you may know he didn’t write the orchestra charts for his recordings/productions, that was done by his arranger Jack Nitzsche. Guess who wrote the orchestral/string arrangement for "Expecting To Fly", and produced the whole recording? Jack Nitzsche. Jack in one reason Neil’s Harvest album is as good as it is, as well as the 1971 s/t Crazy Horse album, produced by Jack and Bruce Botnick.

@tylermunns: I absolutely loved Bobby Vee’s recording of "Take Good Care Of My Baby" and "Go Away Little Girl" by Steve Lawrence. I had them on 45 RPM singles back then, and still do. That’s one reason I could never own only a Linn Sondek. 😉

I can’t tell you what a pleasure it is to be surrounded by fellow song and songwriter lovers! I’m tempted to start a thread dedicated to a related topic: Power Pop. That idea came to me after listening to the one Fastball album I own, which opens with a killer Power Pop song: "The Way".

Has anyone else heard "One Hit Wonders Of The World Unite" by the Canadian group Badger? Here ’tis, but be forewarned: the sound quality is terrible.

bahttps://youtu.be/yjfqmK_xPPI?si=JIyIG-rJc162izNknd

@noromance Carol was the music, Gerry was the lyrics. 
I don’t listen to that music for the lyrics. I don’t wish to diminish Gerry’s contributions, but that’s just how I see it.

@tylermunns 

Great list. Carole King is an impressive songwriter, although it is fair to mention she co-wrote with her husband until 1969, Gerry Goffin.

@teboerio I feel compelled to note that Glen Campbell’s 1970 version of Jimmy Webb’s masterpiece “MacArthur Park” is hard to beat.  
IMO, Waylon Jennings’s 1976 version is right behind.  
Harris’ version is probably somewhere behind Donna Summer’s version.

This may not be a Pop song, but "Comin' Back To Me" written by Marty Balin performed by Jefferson Airplane always gets to me.

Thank you, rpeluso, for the Madeleine Peyroux "Desperados." She does it right. I imagine you've heard her version of Leonard Cohen's "Dance Me to the End of Love" (perhaps a good choice, perhaps a bad, on Rosh Hashanah).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REmk1EaaIzo

And yes, I love "He's a Rebel." "Da Doo Ron Ron" as well.

By chance, do you have a relative named Marlene.

- jay15206

p.s. I like "Hey, Jude."