"Freak like me" by "The Sugababes" is the greatest "Pop" song of the last 20 years

[Boris Sprinkler]

I actually looked up singles sales in the last 20 years. That is purchases of that song. Not streaming.

 

[Spandex]

I actually looked up singles sales in the last 20 years. That is purchases of that song. Not streaming.

Shape of You = 754,754 sales, 2,121,706 streaming equivalent: 3,006,404 combined sales

Happy = 1,921,805 sales, 707,851 streaming equivalent: 2,629,657 combined sales.

From wiki

 

[Boris Sprinkler]

Shape of You = 754,754 sales, 2,121,706 streaming equivalent: 3,006,404 combined sales

Happy = 1,921,805 sales, 707,851 streaming equivalent: 2,629,657 combined sales.

From wiki

That’s United Kingdom only.

 

[Plumdaff]

Found this while searching for songs and it's cheesy as fuck but I genuinely love it. What a time capsule

 

[tommers]

Reducing the wonder of pop to numbers is not what this thread is about.

 

[Boris Sprinkler]

From Wikipedia definition of pop music “although pop music is seen as just the singles charts, it is not the sum of all chart music. The music charts contain songs from a variety of sources, including classical, jazz, rock, and novelty songs. As a genre, pop music is seen to exist and develop separately.[6] Therefore, the term "pop music" may be used to describe a distinct genre, designed to appeal to all, often characterized as "instant singles-based music aimed at teenagers”

We need the opinions of teenagers. No matter how much we kid ourselves, we are not the demographic.

 

[ManchesterBeth]

lol.

behave yourselves

It's quite clearly this.

especially after three quarters of a bottle of ouzo has been consumed

 

[stavros]

lol.

behave yourselves

It's quite clearly this.

especially after three quarters of a bottle of ouzo has been consumed

Whut?!

 

[tommers]

Whut?!

I think I've given up at this point.

 

[Orang Utan]

Push the button is the best one they did

 

[scifisam]

From Wikipedia definition of pop music “although pop music is seen as just the singles charts, it is not the sum of all chart music. The music charts contain songs from a variety of sources, including classical, jazz, rock, and novelty songs. As a genre, pop music is seen to exist and develop separately.[6] Therefore, the term "pop music" may be used to describe a distinct genre, designed to appeal to all, often characterized as "instant singles-based music aimed at teenagers”

We need the opinions of teenagers. No matter how much we kid ourselves, we are not the demographic.

Yeah, but apart from people who are taking the piss, you have at least a vague idea of what pop is.

 

[ManchesterBeth]

Whut?!

crunk was in the charts in 2002

 

[Orang Utan]

Well, that's one year - but in any case, that just means they were in the charts. Doesn't mean they were pop. There's tons of pop that isn't popular, and tons of popular music that isn't pop.

Is this pop in your opinion? Deffo is to me (though not from the last 20 years, granted)

 

[Orang Utan]

Pop is more of an adjective than a genre - so there are plenty of rap, rock, punk, reggae etc records that are pop as fuck

 

[ManchesterBeth]

Pop is more of an adjective than a genre - so there are plenty of rap, rock, punk, reggae etc records that are pop as fuck

yep agreed. Pure pop is basically nnearly always white. Frank scinatra, european tango, stuff like that.

 

[scifisam]

Is this pop in your opinion? Deffo is to me (though not from the last 20 years, granted)

Video won't play.

Of course some rap, reggae, techno etc is also pop. Lots of music fits into more than one genre.

 

[stavros]

I think I've given up at this point.

crunk was in the charts in 2002

I was quoting the man himself, in one of his two standard shouts.

For reference, Crunk Juice is one of my favourite albums of the early part of the century.

 

[tommers]

Sabrina Carpenter covering Chappell Roan.

 

[Spymaster]

Sabrina Carpenter covering Chappell Roan.

Not sure who smashed pop better this year, but it was either Sabrina Carpenter, or Post Malone.

PM fans won't admit it but F1-Trillion is more than cross-over from Country:

 

[8ball]

That Sugababes song isn’t even the best Sugababes song, and none of them are a patch on Britney/Cathy’s “Toxic”.

 

[Favelado]

That Sugababes song isn’t even the best Sugababes song, and none of them are a patch on Britney/Cathy’s “Toxic”.

People absolutely love 'Toxic' and it's fine but HMBOMT has a better verse, amazing bridge, and huge chorus -perhaps it suffers from overfamiliarity.

 

[tommers]

That Sugababes song isn’t even the best Sugababes song, and none of them are a patch on Britney/Cathy’s “Toxic”.

See page 1.

Toxic is about the Supervet btw.

 

[Johnny Vodka]

Can't really beat Jessie Ware and Biig Piig for current makers of pop music.

 

[kabbes]

An interesting analysis by a fascinating (if somewhat irritating) musician about what makes Toxic such a great song.

 

[8ball]

See page 1.

Toxic is about the Supervet btw.

View attachment 456745

Yeah, timelines seem to fit. I half-remember reading something contradicting this but would have to Google…

 

[Spandex]

Both Freak Like Me and Toxic are now over 20 years old so will have to be exiled from this thread. Sorry, but thems the rules.

But that's okay cos there still plenty of excellent pop music.

The Weeknd's Blinding Lights has gotta be a contender:


Winner of 2024 is Sabrina Carpenter: