poptimists | Design of a (Half) Decade

Design of a (Half) Decade

FSVO "Define" (it certainly doesn't mean 'best') - and a lot of the early ones are obviously wild guesses!

1910-1914: "It's A Long Way To Tipperary"
1915-1919: "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles"
1920-1924: "Rhapsody In Blue"
1925-1929: "Makin' Whoopee"
1930-1934: "Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?"
1935-1939: "Over The Rainbow"
1940-1944: "In The Mood"
1945-1949: ?????? (honestly, I have NO idea)
1950-1954: "How Much Is That Doggie In The Window?"
1955-1959: "Jailhouse Rock"
1960-1964: "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?"
1965-1969: "A Day In The Life"
1970-1974: "Mouldy Old Dough" (UK only!)
1975-1979: "Stayin' Alive"
1980-1984: "Rio"
1985-1989: "Kiss"
1990-1994: "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
1995-1999: "The Macarena"
2000-2004: "Independent Women Pt 1"
2005-2009: "Don't Cha"

(Not at all persuaded on this last)

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45-49 We'll Meet Again? i have little idea either...

also:

1955-1959: "Peggy Sue"
1960-1964: "Telstar"
1965-1969: "Paint it Black"
1970-1974: "Get it On" (still UK only though!)
1975-1979: "I feel Love"
1980-1984: "Tainted Love"
1985-1989: "Love and Pride" (i do not know why, i'm trying not to think, just write)
1990-1994: "Step On"
1995-1999: "Three Lions"
2000-2004: "Sound of the Underground"
2005-2009: "I Bet That You Look Good On The Dancefloor"

I actually don't know if I've ever heard your choices from 1990 through 2004.

The whole list is "UK only" I'd have said, not just L. Pigeon

yeah, fair enough, i kind of realised that after i'd posted it...

haha I meant Tom's list not yours

step on by happy mondays:

three lions:

sound of the underground:

Lili Marlene? No, that was earlier.

1945-49: "We'll Meet Again"

1970-74: "Stairway to Heaven"

1985-89: "With Or Without You"

Actually WMA is '39-45. Oh well.

I thought about "Bluebirds Over The White Cliffs Of Dover" for 40-44 but decided to go with swing instead.

Hank Williams - Lovesick Blues (49)

Tom, that is remarkably good, considering. What I wonder, though, is what you do with something definitive for a period that is vastly different from another song that is just as definitive. E.g., for 1990-1994, "Nuthin' But A 'G' Thang" is at least as definitive as "Smells Like Teen Spirit." And for what it's worth, I wouldn't be surprised if, e.g., "Jeremy" was actually more definitive than "Spells Like Teen Spirit" as to what music at the time actually sounded like, even if it wasn't definitive for what people remember as a Big Deal. Ditto for "Sunshine Of My Love" over "A Day In The Life." Also, the '60s moving at warp speed from galaxy to galaxy, nothing from 1968 can feel definitive for 1966 or vice versa, so

carsmilesteve's pick "Paint It, Black" is obsolete by 1967, unfortunately.

Speaking of Jeremy, if I can fill the breach for US of A in 1970-1974, Three Dog Night's "Joy To The World" is my choice (though I'd have much preferred the Temptations' "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone"). And I'd think that even in the U.K., any hit by Elton John would be more definitive than "Mouldy Old Dough." But then, how would I know?

The one I disagree with the most is "The Macarena": too much of a novelty, not a big enough ongoing constituency. Not that I have anything that obviously belongs in its place, which perhaps tells us something about the late '90s. "Wrong Way" by Sublime? "Push" by Matchbox 20? "Waterfalls" by TLC? Maybe "Flagpole Sitta" by Harvey Danger, which I don't even remember, a fact that could well make it definitive of the late '90s.

Also, probably any random hit single by Rihanna over the last year and a half might do for the late '00s. As for the early, I'd like "In Da Club" or "Get Low" to be more definitive than "Independent Women," but you're probably right.

"Spells Like Teen Spirit"? Oh, the glorious typos.

I reckon that Sublime, Matchbox 20 and Harvey Danger (whatever, whoever that is) are as non-existent to us as Three Lions is to you.

harvey danger = peep show theme music!

Aaaah! My ignorance exposed.
(But in that case, it still had no traction here in the period in question, since Peep Show didn't start till the 2000s).

agreed, although i think mrs carsmile maybe had it on 7" (possibly even cassingle...), everyhit suggests it didn't even chart over here...

Hmmm, if not "Macarena" then how about "Baby One More Time" for 85-89?

What jumps out at me is the leap from "How Much is that Doggie in the Window" straight to "Jailhouse Rock".

1985-1989: Never Gonna Give You Up (or maybe I Should Be So Lucky)

Hmmm, I feel like Spice Girls would get the edge of "Macarena" AND Britney. Although I might ultimately give the edge to Hanson's "Mmmmbop" over "Wannabe," not sure.

*edge over

45-49 alternative: "Music, Music, Music" by Teresa Brewer?

(NB I don't really know what's going on here)

I'd go with one of the earliest rock'n'roll songs (or one of the earliest to mention the term, anyway) - "We're Gonna Rock" by Bill Moore or "Good Rockin' Tonight" by Wynonie Harris?

But perhaps more zeitgeisty would be something like "Confess" by Doris Day or "Mañana" by Peggy Lee.

All the above songs are from 1948 - this is because I once researched a 'design of 1948' or CD700Go!1948 if you will. What struck me most was that almost *everything* from that year seemed to be a 'novelty' song of some sort, either because of deliberately funny lyrics or some exotic musical arrangement. The other thing that struck me was that I could quite easily make a 67-minute cd with very diverse, highly entertaining and sometimes bafflingly forward-thinking music from that year.

Yeah, I thought about "Good Rockin' Tonight" but I decided it was probably too ahead of its time - tho it was a big hit. (I thought of Robert Johnson for the late 30s one but realised absolutely nobody was listening to him at that point!)

I also thought about "Zip A Dee Doo Dah".

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Design of a (Half) Decade

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45-49

Re: 45-49