The essential components of a good pop song, in no particular order – (Note – in order to be a good pop song, the song need not contain all of these components, but without a doubt, the more the merrier.)


1. #1 rule, trumps all others – If you like it, it is a good pop song. If you get pleasure from listening to it, singing along with it, dancing to it, etc., it is a good pop song.

2. Basic structure – verse 1, chorus/hook, verse 2, chorus/hook, bridge/instrumental break, portion of verse 2 repeated, chorus/hook, fade. (Be My Baby)

3. A hook so catchy you are singing along with it the first time you hear the song. (I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend)

4. Background vocals are so strong, so present, and so infectious that you sing along with them as opposed to with the lead singer. (I’m Ready For Love)

5. Hand clapping – extra credit for double-time clapping inserted at regular intervals. (1, 2, 3, Red Light, Stacy's Mom)

6. Real instruments – e.g. no drum machines, and very, very, very limited use of synthesizers.

7. Anything by Annette Funicello, and just about anything by Shelley Fabares. Period.

8. Is it really a pop song if you can’t sing along to it? Lyrics must be intelligible, regardless of whether they are simple (Tracy) or somewhat meaty with a bit of a message (1985). Extra credit for predictable rhymes from line to line e.g. told you/hold you, maybe/baby, dance/romance, everything about you/can't live without you, etc. Important note - song is immediately disqualified if composer rhymes "sturgeon" with "virgin" as Sonny Bono once dared to do.

9. Requited love. (You Baby)

9 1/2. As opposed to unrequited love, of course. This doesn’t mean that every good pop song has to have a happy ending (or, for that fact, beginning or middle), but there needs to be, at the very least, the hope for someone to be happy, even if that someone might not be you. (This Diamond Ring)

9 3/4. If the love is not yet requited, the longing must be so palpable that you just know that something will happen. (Wait A Million Years)

10. Mentions dancing – extra credit for mentioning a certain dance, and extra-extra credit if said dance leads to #9 above, requited love. (Blame It On the Bossa Nova, I Like to Polka)

11. A pop song about pop music – extra credit if the pop music caused your baby to fall in love with you. (Who Put the Bomp)

12. Title of song is also the hook, so you don’t have to guess the name of the song the first time you hear it on the radio and then go down to Sam Goody to buy the 45. (I Wonder What’s She’s Doing Tonite)

13. Pays homage to The Beatles (I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend), The Beach Boys (She Did It) or The Rolling Stones (Bohemian Like You) without ripping them off.

14. A cover version that respects the importance of the original, while at the same time adding a little extra spice (I’ll Be Satisfied), or a slightly different twist (You Don’t Own Me) that was not in the original version.

15. “So bad it’s good.” This is a tricky area to venture into, not recommended for the pop song novice, because there are many recordings that cross the line into "so bad, it's really bad," case in point being Charlene's disastrous I've Never Been To Me, without a doubt one of the worst pop records of the 80s, if not of all time. (How that song ever reached #3 on the pop charts remains one of the great unexplained mysteries of my life.) However, more often than not, an enjoyable pop song can fall into the former category, with many factors to consider here, such as the “kitsch” factor or the pop-culture appeal of the singer, but still, the song must at least have a good enough hook to render it, at the very least, marginally palatable on occasional listenings. (Tell Mama)


Currently in heavy rotation on my “Good Pop” playlist, in no particular order – okay, okay, alphabetized by the name of the artist. (I like structure, so sue me, okay?) E-mail me for MP3 files.

1. 1, 2, 3, Red Light – 1910 Fruitgum Company, 1968
2. Blame It On the Bossa Nova - Annette Funicello, 1963
3. Jamaica Ska – Annette Funicello & Fishbone, 1987
4. Sugar, Sugar – The Archies, 1969 (To see the original video for Sugar, Sugar featuring Ron Dante on lead vocals, go to www.rondante.com/multimedia/Mov88.rm
5. Think For Yourself – The Beatles, 1965
6. The Word – The Beatles, 1965
7. You Don’t Own Me – Bette Midler, Diane Keaton and Goldie Hawn, 1996
8. 1985 – Bowling For Soup, 2004
9. Girl All the Bad Guys Want – Bowling For Soup, 2002
10. Tracy – Cufflinks, 1969
11. Bohemian Like You – Dandy Warhols, 2000
12. She Did It – Eric Carmen, 1977
13. Stacy’s Mom – Fountains of Wayne, 2003
14. This Diamond Ring – Gary Lewis & The Playboys, 1965
15. Wait A Million Years – Grass Roots, 1968
16. Temptation Eyes – Grass Roots, 1970
17. Sooner or Later – Grass Roots, 1971
18. I’m Ready For Love – June Pointer, 1982
19. Dyer Maker – Led Zeppelin, 1973
20. The Ocean – Led Zeppelin, 1973
21. Scotty Doesn’t Know – Lustra, 2004
22. Tell Mama – Maureen McCormick, 1995
23. Who Put the Bomp – Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, 2001
24. I’ll Be There – Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, 2003
25. Baby It’s You – Phil Seymour, 1980
26. Precious To Me – Phil Seymour, 1980
27. I Like To Polka – Ron Romanovsky, 1992
28. Be My Baby – The Ronettes, 1963
29. I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend – The Rubinoos, 1979
30. I’ll Be Satisfied – Shakin’ Stevens, 1982
31. Teen Dream – Shaun Cassidy, 1977
32. It’s Been A Long, Long Time – Shelley Fabares, 1962
33. I Wonder What She’s Doing Tonite – Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart, 1967
34. Alice Long (You’re Still My Favorite Girlfriend) – Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart, 1967
35. You Baby – The Turtles, 1966

Thanks for listening, have a great day!

KA