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Time picks the Top 100 All-Time Greatest Pop Songs

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lupinko

Member
http://entertainment.time.com/2011/10/24/the-all-time-100-songs/?hpt=hp_c2

Since we had a recent rash of music threads, I figured what's gaf's take on Time's All-Time choices?

I'm actually going through this right now, so no overview/synopsis at this time.

EDIT: It's an unranked Top 100:

Tightrope - Janelle Monae
Get Ur Freak On - Missy Elliott
Hey Ya! - Outkast
99 Problems - Jay-Z
Wake Up - Arcade Fire
Gold Digger (featuring Jamie Foxx) - Kanye West
Georgia...Bush - Lil' Wayne
All My Friends - LCD Soundsystem
Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) - Beyonce
Bad Romance - Lady Gaga
Nothing Compares 2 U - Sinead O'Connor
Being Boring - Pet Shop Boys
Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
1952 Vincent Black Lightning - Richard Thompson
C.R.E.A.M. - Wu-Tang Clan
Scenario - A Tribe Called Quest
Juicy - Notorious B.I.G.
California Love (Remix) - Tupac Shakur
Common People - Pulp
Paranoid Android - Radiohead
Love Will Tear Us Apart - Joy Division
He Stopped Loving Her Today - George Jones
Billie Jean - Michael Jackson
Blue Monday - New Order
Kiss - Prince
Master of Puppets - Metallica
It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine) - REM
Pineola - Lucinda Williams
Fight the Power - Public Enemy
Borderline - Madonna
Rivers of Babylon - The Melodians
Get Up (I Feel like Being a) Sex Machine - James Brown
Immigrant Song - Led Zeppelin
Iron Man - Black Sabbath
A Case of You - Joni Mitchell
Baba O'Riley - The Who
Superstitution - Stevie Wonder
Jolene - Dolly Parton
September Gurls - Big Star
Angel from Montgomery - Bonnie Raitt
Zombie - Fela Kuti
Thunder Road - Bruce Springsteen
Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
I Feel Love - Donna Summer
Stayin' Alive - Bee Gees
Heroes - David Bowie
I Wanna Be Sedated - Ramones
Dreams - Fleetwood Mac
Equal Rights - Peter Tosh
One Nation Under a Groove - Parliament/Funkadelic
Rock & Roll - Velvet Underground
Coal Miner's Daughter - Loretta Lynn
Subterranean Homesick Blues - Bob Dylan
Crazy - Patsy Cline
Crying - Roy Orbison
Be My Baby - The Ronettes
I Wanna Hold Your Hand - Beatles
The Girl from Ipanema - Astrud Gilberto
Where Did Our Love Go? - The Supremes
God Only Knows - The Beach Boys
I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You) - Aretha Franklin
I Heard It Through the Grapevine - Marvin Gaye
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down - The Band
Ball 'n' Chain - Big Mama Thornton
I Want You Back - Jackson 5
Gimme Shelter - Rolling Stones
Suite: Judy Blue Eyes - Crosby, Stills and Nash
I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now) - Otis Redding
Folsom Prison Blues - Johnny Cash
How High the Moon - Les Paul and Mary Ford
It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels - Kitty Wells
Jailhouse Rock - Elvis Presley
Take This Hammer - Odetta
Tutti Frutti - Little Richard
I've Got You Under My Skin - Frank Sinatra
That'll Be the Day - Buddy Holly
Johnny B. Goode - Chuck Berry
What'd I Say - Ray Charles
This Land Is Your Land - Woody Guthrie
Stormy Weather - Lena Horne
Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy - Andrews Sisters
Der Fuehrer's Face - Spike Jones
White Christmas - Bing Crosby
It Had to Be You - Betty Hutton
Move On Up a Little Higher - Mahalla Jackson
Cold, Cold Heart - Hank Williams
Baby It's Cold Outside - Ella Fitzgerald
Sentimental Journey - Doris Day
I Got Rhythm - Ethel Merman
Minne the Moocher - Cab Calloway
It Dont Mean A Thing (If It Aint Got That Swing) - Duke Ellington
Star Dust - Louis Armstrong
Cheek to Cheek - Fred Astaire
Where or When - Ray Heatherton
Over the Rainbow - Judy Garland
Strange Fruit - Billie Holiday
My Mammy - Al Jolson
St. Louis Blues - Bessie Smith
Ol' Man River - Paul Robeson
Wildwood Flower - Carter Family

Ordered by Decade:

thefro said:
I'm going to type up the list... will edit this post as I go

2010s
Janelle Monae - "Tightrope"


2000s
Missy Elliott - "Get Ur Freak On"
Outkast - "Hey Ya!"
Jay Z - "99 Problems"
Arcade Fire - "Wake Up"
Kanye West (featuring Jamie Foxx) - "Gold Digger"
Lil Wayne - "Georgia... Bush"
LCD Soundsystem - "All My Friends"
Beyonce - "Single Ladies"
Lady Gaga - "Bad Romance"

1990s
Sinead O'Connor- "Nothing Compares 2 U"
Pet Shop Boys - "Being Boring"
Nirvana - "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
Richard Thompason - "1952 Vincent Blank Lightning"
Wu-Tang Clan - "C.R.E.A.M."
A Tribue Called Quest - "Scenario"
The Notorious B.I.G. - "Juicy"
2Pac- "California Love [Remix]"
Pulp - "Common People"
Radiohead - "Paranoid Android"

1980s
Joy Division - "Love Will Tear Us Apart"
George Jones - "He Stopped Loving Her Today"
Michael Jackson - "Billie Jean"
New Order - "Blue Monday"
Prince - "Kiss"
Metallica - "Master of Puppets"
REM - "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"
Lucinda Williams - "Pineola"
Public Enemy - "Fight the Power"
Madonna - "Borderline"

1970s
The Melodians - "Rivers of Babylon"
James Brown - "Sex Machine"
Led Zeppelin - "Immigrant Song"
Black Sabbath - "Iron Man"
Joni Mitchell - "A Case of You"
The Who - "Baba O'Riley"
Stevie Wonder - "Superstition"
Dolly Parton - "Jolene"
Big Star - "September Gurls"
Bonnie Raitt - "Angel from Montgomery"
Fela Kuti - "Zombie"
Bruce Springsteen - "Thunder Road"
Queen - "Boehemian Rhapsody"
Donna Summer - "I Feel Love"
Bee Gees - "Stayin' Alive"
David Bowie - "Heroes"
The Ramones - "I Wanna Be Sedated"
Fleetwood Mac - "Dreams"
Peter Tosh - "Equal Rights"
Parliament/Funkadelic - "One Nation Under a Groove"
Velvet Underground - "Rock & Roll"
Loretta Lynn - "Coal Miner's Daughter"

1960s
Bob Dylan - "Subterranean Homesick Blues"
Patsy Cline - "Crazy"
Roy Orbison - "Crying"
The Ronettes - "Be My Baby"
The Beatles - "I Wanna Hold Your Hand"
Astrud Gilberto - "The Girl from Ipanema"
The Supremes - "Where Did Our Love Go?"
The Beach Boys - "God Only Knows"
Aretha Franklin - "I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)"
Marvin Gaye - "I Heard It Through the Grapevine"
The Band - "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down"
Big Mama Thornton - "Ball 'n' Chain"
Jackson 5 - "I Want You Back"
The Rolling Stones - "Gimme Shelter"
Crosby, Stills, and Nash - "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes"
Otis Redding - "I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)"

1950s
Johnny Cash - "Folsom Prison Blues"
Les Paul and Mary Ford - "How High the Moon"
Kitty Wells - "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels"
Elvis Presley - "Jailhouse Rock"
Odetta - "Take This Hammer"
Little Richard - "Tutti Frutti"
Frank Sinatra - "I've Got You Under My Skin"
Buddy Holly - "That'll Be the Day"
Chuck Berry - "Johnny B. Goode"
Ray Charles - "What'd I Say"

1940s
Woody Guthrie - "This Land Is Your Land"
Lena Horne - "Stormy Weather"
The Andrews Sisters - "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy"
Spike Jones - "Der Fuehrer's Face"
Bing Crosby - "White Christmas"
Betty Hutton - "It Had to Be You"
Mahalia Jackson - "Move On Up a Little Higher"
Hank Williams - "Cold, Cold Heart"
Ella Fitzgerald - "Baby It's Cold Outside"
Doris Day - "Sentimental Journey"

1930s
Ethel Merman - "I Got Rhythm"
Cab Calloway - "Minnie the Moocher"
Duke Ellington - "It Dont Mean A Thing (If It Aint Got That Swing)"
Louis Armstrong - "Star Dust"
Fred Astaire - "Check to Cheek"
Ray Heatherton - "Where or When"
Judy Garland - "Over the Rainbow"
Billie Holiday - "Strange Fruit"


1920s
Al Jolson - "My Mammy"
Bessie Smith - "St. Louis Blues"
Paul Robeson - "Ol' Man River"
The Carter Family - "Wildwood Flower"

thefro said:
 

Clegg

Member
I saw Janelle Monae on the front page.

Everything is right with the world.

Although a lot of those songs on the list aren't really 'pop'.

Edit: Since when is Master of Puppets a pop song?

I know it means popular music but these days I associate artists like Gaga and Beyonce with pop music, not Metallica.
 

CloudWolf

Member
Saw a Lil Wayne song and Single Ladies and was about to give up on this list, but then I saw Common People and all was forgiven.
 

Fersis

It is illegal to Tag Fish in Tag Fishing Sanctuaries by law 38.36 of the GAF Wildlife Act
Master Of Puppets ? LOL WUT? Maybe they mean popular?

Inmigrant Song? THE HELL WITH THIS LIST! >8(
 

Meier

Member
Clegg said:
I saw Janelle Monae on the front page.

Everything is right with the world.

Although a lot of those songs on the list aren't really 'pop'.

Edit: Since when is Master of Puppets a pop song?
Pop has a bit of a different meaning nowadays. Usually rock and pop are grouped together at record stores and the like and since Time is an old publication, they're probably operating under this perview.
 

Peru

Member
Can't be bothered to

a) click through endless page loads
b) probably see lots of shit and the usual boring choices
c) read this thread to find people hating on classic pop song / artists and then
d) hail some shitty indie appropriation of good pop and rnb instead
 

wenis

Registered for GAF on September 11, 2001.
Fersis said:
Master Of Puppets ? LOL WUT? Maybe they mean popular?

Inmigrant Song? THE HELL WITH THIS LIST! >8(

They do...that's what a "Pop" song is...not what you think it is.
 

linsivvi

Member
Peru said:
Can't be bothered to

a) click through endless page loads
b) probably see lots of shit and the usual boring choices
c) read this thread to find people hating on classic pop song / artists and then
d) hail some shitty indie appropriation of good pop and rnb instead

5 songs in and it's Arcade Fire. It can't be that bad, right?
 

Meier

Member
Okay, clicked through the 90s. Some good tunes but am a bit shocked that Live Forever, Cigarettes and Alcohol, Wonderwall or Don't Look Back in Anger aren't on there... these are bonafide classics. They're also oddly enamored with rap from that decade. I don't think I've ever heard of Richard Thompson.. huh.
 

Meier

Member
blame space said:
classic Meier
I aim to please. ;) I am genuinely surprised that at least 1 of those 4 songs wasn't included though.

The list is absolutely destroying my old ass work computer though and doesn't work on my phone. Stopped after the 80s. Expected a Stone Roses track. Nice to see New Order well represented.
 

linsivvi

Member
Meier said:
Okay, clicked through the 90s. Some good tunes but am a bit shocked that Live Forever, Cigarettes and Alcohol, Wonderwall or Don't Look Back in Anger aren't on there... these are bonafide classics. They're also oddly enamored with rap from that decade. I don't think I've ever heard of Richard Thompson.. huh.

Shouldn't be surprised, and nothing wrong there. Just a matter of an American magazine putting more emphasis on American music. Take a look at the top 100 list of any mainstream British magazine and you'd find the result very different.
 

thefro

Member
I'm going to type up the list... will edit this post as I go

2010s
Janelle Monae - "Tightrope"


2000s
Missy Elliott - "Get Ur Freak On"
Outkast - "Hey Ya!"
Jay Z - "99 Problems"
Arcade Fire - "Wake Up"
Kanye West (featuring Jamie Foxx) - "Gold Digger"
Lil Wayne - "Georgia... Bush"
LCD Soundsystem - "All My Friends"
Beyonce - "Single Ladies"
Lady Gaga - "Bad Romance"

1990s
Sinead O'Connor- "Nothing Compares 2 U"
Pet Shop Boys - "Being Boring"
Nirvana - "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
Richard Thompason - "1952 Vincent Blank Lightning"
Wu-Tang Clan - "C.R.E.A.M."
A Tribue Called Quest - "Scenario"
The Notorious B.I.G. - "Juicy"
2Pac- "California Love [Remix]"
Pulp - "Common People"
Radiohead - "Paranoid Android"

1980s
Joy Division - "Love Will Tear Us Apart"
George Jones - "He Stopped Loving Her Today"
Michael Jackson - "Billie Jean"
New Order - "Blue Monday"
Prince - "Kiss"
Metallica - "Master of Puppets"
REM - "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"
Lucinda Williams - "Pineola"
Public Enemy - "Fight the Power"
Madonna - "Borderline"

1970s
The Melodians - "Rivers of Babylon"
James Brown - "Sex Machine"
Led Zeppelin - "Immigrant Song"
Black Sabbath - "Iron Man"
Joni Mitchell - "A Case of You"
The Who - "Baba O'Riley"
Stevie Wonder - "Superstition"
Dolly Parton - "Jolene"
Big Star - "September Gurls"
Bonnie Raitt - "Angel from Montgomery"
Fela Kuti - "Zombie"
Bruce Springsteen - "Thunder Road"
Queen - "Boehemian Rhapsody"
Donna Summer - "I Feel Love"
Bee Gees - "Stayin' Alive"
David Bowie - "Heroes"
The Ramones - "I Wanna Be Sedated"
Fleetwood Mac - "Dreams"
Peter Tosh - "Equal Rights"
Parliament/Funkadelic - "One Nation Under a Groove"
Velvet Underground - "Rock & Roll"
Loretta Lynn - "Coal Miner's Daughter"

1960s
Bob Dylan - "Subterranean Homesick Blues"
Patsy Cline - "Crazy"
Roy Orbison - "Crying"
The Ronettes - "Be My Baby"
The Beatles - "I Wanna Hold Your Hand"
Astrud Gilberto - "The Girl from Ipanema"
The Supremes - "Where Did Our Love Go?"
The Beach Boys - "God Only Knows"
Aretha Franklin - "I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)"
Marvin Gaye - "I Heard It Through the Grapevine"
The Band - "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down"
Big Mama Thornton - "Ball 'n' Chain"
Jackson 5 - "I Want You Back"
The Rolling Stones - "Gimme Shelter"
Crosby, Stills, and Nash - "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes"
Otis Redding - "I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)"

1950s
Johnny Cash - "Folsom Prison Blues"
Les Paul and Mary Ford - "How High the Moon"
Kitty Wells - "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels"
Elvis Presley - "Jailhouse Rock"
Odetta - "Take This Hammer"
Little Richard - "Tutti Frutti"
Frank Sinatra - "I've Got You Under My Skin"
Buddy Holly - "That'll Be the Day"
Chuck Berry - "Johnny B. Goode"
Ray Charles - "What'd I Say"

1940s
Woody Guthrie - "This Land Is Your Land"
Lena Horne - "Stormy Weather"
The Andrews Sisters - "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy"
Spike Jones - "Der Fuehrer's Face"
Bing Crosby - "White Christmas"
Betty Hutton - "It Had to Be You"
Mahalia Jackson - "Move On Up a Little Higher"
Hank Williams - "Cold, Cold Heart"
Ella Fitzgerald - "Baby It's Cold Outside"
Doris Day - "Sentimental Journey"

1930s
Ethel Merman - "I Got Rhythm"
Cab Calloway - "Minnie the Moocher"
Duke Ellington - "It Dont Mean A Thing (If It Aint Got That Swing)"
Louis Armstrong - "Star Dust"
Fred Astaire - "Check to Cheek"
Ray Heatherton - "Where or When"
Judy Garland - "Over the Rainbow"
Billie Holiday - "Strange Fruit"


1920s
Al Jolson - "My Mammy"
Bessie Smith - "St. Louis Blues"
Paul Robeson - "Ol' Man River"
The Carter Family - "Wildwood Flower"
 
At the very least, it's less predictable and has a wider reach than an equivalent list from the Rolling Stones of the world.

Also, I get the feeling that the 70s are overrepresented and the 80s are underrepresented.

Soulscribe said:
"Tightrope?" So random.

Random is that Richard Thompson song. There are half a dozen songs off that particular album I like more.
 
Soulscribe said:
"Tightrope?" So random.
Well deserved
3b9ed532.gif


No Since U Been Gone = flop list, however.
 

Plinko

Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
So basically the decade of the 2000s produced only hip-hop.

Well done, music industry.
 

GoutPatrol

Forgotten in his cell
Meier said:
Okay, clicked through the 90s. Some good tunes but am a bit shocked that Live Forever, Cigarettes and Alcohol, Wonderwall or Don't Look Back in Anger aren't on there... these are bonafide classics. They're also oddly enamored with rap from that decade. I don't think I've ever heard of Richard Thompson.. huh.

If you're going to represent one song for all of Britpop, most critics would probably choose Common People over anything else.

Plinko said:
So basically the decade of the 2000s produced only hip-hop.

Well done, music industry.

Well done on reading the list. Because we all know Arcade Fire is Canada's largest hip-hop collective.

First of all, people should stop posting about "pop" songs. TIME magazine didn't say anything about "pop", they just said SONGS, in all caps. So shut the fuck up about it.

Secondly, besides the strange amount (to me) of female country singers, the list is damn comprehensive for a mainstream publication. Good for you, TIME. Has something for everyone, which means people will complain that it has too little of x and not enough of y.

Basically the only thing they left out was jazz and classical compositions, but those musical styles are usually thought of different than the rest of modern music because then rely so heavily on live performances to gauge the strength of the music, something that many critics think is "lost" in the recorded medium. I mean, they could have selected 4'33'', probably the most important "classical" music released after 1923, but that would have caused an uproar.
 

Plinko

Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
GoutPatrol said:
Well done on reading the list. Because we all know Arcade Fire is Canada's largest hip-hop collective.

Oh, come on. 2/3 of the songs are hip-hop. You know I wasn't implying literally every song created in that decade was hip-hop.
 
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