The sleeve of my "Honky Tonk Women" single.
Last week, I called into question the value of recent pop music. I was moved to do so by this feature on NPR, regarding “The Songs Of The Summer, 1962-2012,” which ran the gamut “from surf rock in the early 1960s through British then American rock ‘n’ roll, disco, power ballads, R&B, boy bands and hip-hop.”
I thought it particularly meaningful that it counted from what Gene Sculatti’s The Catalog of Cool described as “The Last Good Year.”
I listened to the Spotify mix that the story linked to (there’s also a version provided by NPR itself, but you don’t get to pick where you jump in — it’ more like conventional radio that way).
The list confirms me in my belief, that there hasn’t been a summer like that of 1966 since. As I said before:
Puts me in mind of the summer of ’66. I came back from the beach determined to go out and buy three singles: “Green Grass” by Gary Lewis and the Playboys, “I Am a Rock” by Simon and Garfunkel, and “Little Red Riding Hood” by Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs.
OK, so sue me. I was 12. At least “I Am a Rock” was cool.
But look at what else came out that summer:
PAPERBACK WRITER – The Beatles
WILD THING – The Troggs
PAINT IT, BLACK – The Rolling Stones (still my favorite Stones song)
SUMMER IN THE CITY – The Lovin’ Spoonful
HANKY PANKY – Tommy James & The Shondells
STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT – Frank Sinatra
MOTHER’S LITTLE HELPER – The Rolling Stones
AIN’T TOO PROUD TO BEG – The Temptations
DIRTY WATER – The Standells
WHEN A MAN LOVES A WOMAN – Percy Sledge
SUNSHINE SUPERMAN – Donovan
MONDAY, MONDAY – The Mamas & The Papas
Not to mention these forgettable items that I loved at the time:
RED RUBBER BALL – The Cyrkle
SWEET PEA – Tommy Roe
THEY’RE COMING TO TAKE ME AWAY, HA-HAAA! – Napoleon XIV
That was all just one summer.
Come on — what will today’s 12-year-olds have to look back to in the future?
The answer to that question doesn’t appear to be very encouraging.
Gradually, over the past week, I listened to that mix while doing a lot of other things. Here’s how I rated what I heard, on a scale from zero stars to five:
2012: Carly Rae Jepsen, “Call Me Maybe”
2011: Adele, “Rolling In The Deep”
2011: LMFAO, “Party Rock Anthem”
2011: Nicki Minaj, “Super Bass”
2010: Eminem featuring Rihanna, “Love the Way You Lie”
2010: Katy Perry, “California Gurls”
2010: Taio Cruz, “Dynamite”
2009: Black Eyed Peas, “I Gotta Feeling”
2009: Taylor Swift, “You Belong With Me”
2008: Coldplay, “Viva La Vida”
2008: Katy Perry, “I Kissed A Girl”
2008: Lil Wayne featuring Static Major, “Lollipop” – Only gets a 1 because, if you only hear a second of it, it’s catchy. After 2 seconds, you hate it
0 2007: Rihanna featuring Jay-Z, “Umbrella”
0 2007: T-Pain featuring Yung Joc, “Buy U A Drank”
2006: Gnarls Barkley, “Crazy”
0 2006: Nelly Furtado featuring Timbaland, “Promiscuous”
2006: Shakira, “Hips Don’t Lie”
0 2005: Gwen Stefani, “Hollaback Girl”
0 2005: The Pussycat Dolls featuring Busta Rhymes, “Don’t Cha”
0 2004: Juvenile featuring Soulja Slim, “Slow Motion”
2004: Usher, “Confessions Part II”
2003: Beyoncé featuring Jay-Z, “Crazy In Love”
2003: Chingy, “Right Thurr”
2003: Sean Paul, “Get Busy” – This would get a 2, but for the monotony.
2002: Avril Lavigne, “Complicated” – Almost it to a three in the middle part, but not quite.
2002: Jimmy Eat World, “The Middle”
0 2002: Eminem, “Without Me”
0 2002: Nelly, “Hot In Herre”
0 2001: Destiny’s Child, “Bootylicious” – What did this in from the start was the ripped-off sample from Stevie Nicks’ highly irritating “Just Like the White-Winged Dove.” It only got worse from there.
2001: Eve featuring Gwen Stefani, “Let Me Blow Ya Mind”
1999: Christina Aguilera, “Genie In A Bottle”
1999: Jennifer Lopez, “If You Had My Love”
0 1999: Len, “Steal My Sunshine”
1999: Smash Mouth, “All Star”
0 1998: Next, “Too Close”
0 1998: Vengaboys, “We Like To Party”
1998: The Backstreet Boys, “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)”
1997: Hanson, “MMMBop” – Bubblegum, but not bad bubblegum. The chorus almost raises it to 3.
1997: Notorious B.I.G. featuring Puff Daddy & Ma$e, “Mo Money Mo Problems”
1997: Puff Daddy featuring Faith Evans & 112, “I’ll Be Missing You” – How much credit should a sample get? Because without that, this is nothing.
1996: Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, “Tha Crossroads”
1996: Los Del Rio, “Macarena” – Yes, the craze became a joke, but at least it has some musicality.
1996: Mariah Carey, “Always Be My Baby”
1995: Seal, “Kiss From A Rose”
1995: TLC, “Waterfalls”
1994: Ace of Base, “Don’t Turn Around”
1994: All-4-One, “I Swear”
1994: Lisa Loeb, “Stay” – Keeps threatening to sound good, but doesn’t get there.
1994: Warren G & Nate Dogg, “Regulate”
1993: Tag Team, “Whoomp! (There It Is)”
1993: UB40, “Can’t Help Falling In Love” – Too bad Elvis never heard this version.
1992: Boys II Men, “End of the Road”
1992: Red Hot Chili Peppers, “Under the Bridge”
1992: Sir Mix-A-Lot, “Baby Got Back” – I agree with the sentiment, at least.
1991: Bryan Adams, “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You” – Not his best effort.
1991: DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, “Summertime”
1991: EMF, “Unbelievable”
1990: Mariah Carey, “Vision Of Love”
1990: New Kids on the Block, “Step By Step”
1989: Martika, “Toy Soldiers”
1989: Richard Marx, “Right Here Waiting” – Syrupy.
1988: Cheap Trick, “The Flame”
1988: Steve Winwood, “Roll With It” – Not as good as his work with Blind Faith, not by a long shot. But it’s catchy.
1987: Heart, “Alone”
1987: U2, “With Or Without You” – Perhaps their best song.
1987: Whitney Houston, “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” – Excellent example of the genre, but I’m not a big fan of the genre.
1986: Madonna, “Papa Don’t Preach”
1986: Peter Cetera, “Glory Of Love”
1985: Huey Lewis & The News, “The Power of Love”
1985: Tears For Fears, “Shout” – One of the best of the 80s.
1984: Cyndi Lauper, “Time After Time” – Not as good as “Girls Just Want to Have Fun”
1984: Prince & The Revolution, “When Doves Cry” – Not as good as “1999”
1983: The Police, “Every Breath You Take”
1983: Irene Cara, “Flashdance…What a Feeling”
1982: Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder, “Ebony & Ivory” – Just chock full of good intentions, though.
1982: Human League, “Don’t You Want Me”
1982: Survivor, “Eye of the Tiger”
1981: Rick Springfield, “Jessie’s Girl”
1981: Kim Carnes, “Bette Davis Eyes”
1980: Lipps, Inc., “Funkytown”
1980: Billy Joel, “It’s Still Rock & Roll to Me”
1979: Donna Summer, “Bad Girls” – It would be a 1, but I don’t want Bud to hate me.
1979: Anita Ward, “Ring My Bell”
1978: Andy Gibb, “Shadow Dancing”
1978: Frankie Valli, “Grease” – Sorry, Frankie, but there were better songs in that show.
1977: Fleetwood Mac, “Dreams”
1976: Starland Vocal Band, “Afternoon Delight” – An oddball little hit.
1976: Elton John & Kiki Dee, “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart”
1976: Wings, “Silly Love Songs”
1975: The Captain & Tennille, “Love Will Keep Us Together” – Perhaps a better song, done by someone else.
1974: Bo Donaldson & The Heywoods, “Billy, Don’t Be A Hero”
1974: George McCrae, “Rock Your Baby”
1973: Diana Ross, “Touch Me In The Morning”
1973: Jim Croce, “Bad Bad Leroy Brown”
1972: Bill Withers, “Lean On Me” – This just gets better and better.
1972: Sammy Davis, Jr., “The Candy Man” – How did this get in there?
1971: Bee Gees, “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart?” – I’m throwing the Bee Gees a bone here.
1971: Carole King, “It’s Too Late”
1970: The Carpenters, “(They Long To Be) Close To You”
1970: The Jackson 5, “The Love You Save”
1970: Edwin Starr, “War” – Good song, though it overstates its case (“absolutely nothing”).
1969: The Beatles, “Get Back”
1969: The Rolling Stones, “Honky Tonk Woman” – Not only a superlative summer song, it’s a great driving song, too.
1968: Simon & Garfunkel, “Mrs. Robinson”
1968: The Rascals, “People Got To Be Free”
1967: Aretha Franklin, “Respect” – Give her some.
1967: The Doors, “Light My Fire” – I probably would have rated this higher at the time.
1966: Tommy James & The Shondells, “Hanky Panky”
1966: The Troggs, “Wild Thing” — Elemental, proto-punk, garage band purity.
1966: The Lovin’ Spoonful, “Summer In The City”
1965: The Byrds, “Mr. Tambourine Man” — I’d have given the Dylan original another star.
1965: The Beatles, “Help!” — I feel bad that I didn’t give the Beatles five stars on anything, but none of their best songs were listed.
1965: The Rolling Stones, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”
1965: Sonny & Cher, “I Got You Babe”
1964: Dean Martin, “Everybody Loves Somebody”
1964: The Animals, “House of the Rising Sun”
1964: The Beach Boys, “I Get Around”
1963: Lesley Gore, “It’s My Party”
1963: Jan & Dean, “Surf City”
1962: Ray Charles, “I Can’t Stop Loving You”
1962: Neil Sedaka, “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do”
1962: Little Eva, “The Loco-Motion” – Had trouble deciding on this one; may only be a 3.
