Music / Pop Culture "puzzle"

[QuikSand]

Okay... I just flashed across a magazine article accompanying that mag's ratings of the 500 greatest songs of all time. While there's probably a plenty long thread in there just by posting the list and than all standing around and making fun of it... I noticed a separate tidbit that seems like a worthy puzzle.


In their "fun facts" section, they mention that four of the songs on their lists were by artists who appeared on the recent TV show Hit Me Baby... One More Time.

Four of the all-time great songs, by someone's reckoning, were done by that particular group of musicians. Four. It sounds like a Mount Rushmore, sort of. I'm still staggered by the count.

Anyway -- without doing any cheating on the magazine and its list... who are the four artists, and what were their songs that were worthy of such immortality?

[sabotai]

I knew not watching that show would come back to haunt me. :)

[Ksyrup]

Off the top of my head...

Loverboy - Working for the Weekend
Flock of Seagulls - I Ran


I would hope not, but...

Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby

??

[QuikSand]

(I have not yet done the digging necessary to see what the correct answers are, by the way)

I actually watched the shows, but my recollection of the bands is imperfect... but I'll take a stab at it.

Cameo - Word Up - would be a crime if this isn't on the list
Arrested Development - Tennessee
Irene Cara - What a Feeling (from Flashdance)
...and I am at a loss for the final one, really...
Howard Jones - No One Ever Is To Blame


I'm sure I am forgetting some of the performers from that show... but there's a stab at it.

[QuikSand]

Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby

That has to be on the list. I completely forgot about him, thankfully.

[Vince]

Vanilla Ice -- Ice Ice Baby
Loverboy -- Working for the Weekend
Tommy Tutone -- 867-5309/Jenny
Wang Chung -- Everybody Have Fun Tonight

[QuikSand]

Damn, I fogot about Loverboy being on there, too -- maybe Weekend is on there after all. I think Howard Jones is a longshot... I knew there would be better entries, I just blanked.

I think Word Up belongs in the top 25 or so, though. Heh. They got robbed on the show, too.

[Vince]

That's just from popping up the NBC site to see who was actually on the show, and then guessing from there.

[gstelmack]

I'd be willing to try and pitch in if I had any clue what the TV show was about. This thread is the first I've ever heard of it.

[QuikSand]

Good list, Vince. I think you probably have more than me, but maybe we're 2-2.

[QuikSand]

I'd be willing to try and pitch in if I had any clue what the TV show was about. This thread is the first I've ever heard of it.

In the event you actually care... (http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~fof/forums/showthread.php?t=39478)

[Vince]

Yeah, I think you're right on Cameo, though I'm not sure what I'd drop on my end. I don't particularly like any of the songs, but they seem to have their own 'popularity.'

I think Flock of Seagulls probably has a pretty good shot at being one of the four as well.

[Vince]

You know, looking over the bands and the number of 'one-hit-wonders' that are on the show, then thinking about how hackneyed and quickly people put together such 'Top XXX' lists...

...I'm surprised there's only four on that list from these artists. As much as I disagree with there being even four of them on the list.

[QuikSand]

Tennessee was a really critically acclaimed song (rightfully so, in my book) -- so I wouldn't be surprised to see it make someone's list like this.

From the section I read, they are picking songs (at least at the top of their list) that either were particularly unforgettable, had some broad impact, defined a genre, and the like -- it's certainly not just what songs sold the most copies or any such thing. There is certainly a slant toward the more modern, as well. I think OutKast is the only band I saw with two in the top twenty.

FWIW.

[Swaggs]

What about "Jenny?" The 867-5309 song?

I would also go with "Tennessee" and "I Ran."

[FF]

the knack - my sharona
tommy tutone - 867-5309/jenny
tiffany - i think were alone now
a flock of seagulls - i ran

[Ksyrup]

Forgot about My Sharona. That's got to be one.

[KWhit]

FYI: I think the list was the 500 best songs "since you were born" or something like that (assuming we're talking about the same list). So, judging from their demographic, we're talking about the best 500 songs in the past 30 years or so.

I thought the list was pretty interesting, FWIW. I hate to threadjack here (but here it goes anyway), but can anyone guess what the #1 song was? And no, it wasn't from one of the bands on Hit Me Baby... One More Time. And no, I have no idea of the answer to QS's question.

[QuikSand]

the knack - my sharona

Cannot possibly be off this list. Big oversight.

[QuikSand]

but can anyone guess what the #1 song was?

Well, I have glanced at the article - and only seen about the top 50 songs listed.

Flying blind, I think I would have guessed Pride/In the Name of Love from U2 for this. But it hasn't surfaced so far in the top few dozen, though two other U2 songs have.

[Ksyrup]

OK, we probably need to rethink some of these - particularly My Sharona, which was from the 70's, given that I believe this is the article QS is talking about:

Blender's "500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born: The Best Songs of the '80s and '90s."

And if it's Blender, then you can expect more rap/hip hop and underground-type artists than your normal "top X "list.

[albionmoonlight]

FYI: I think the list was the 500 best songs "since you were born" or something like that (assuming we're talking about the same list). So, judging from their demographic, we're talking about the best 500 songs in the past 30 years or so.

I thought the list was pretty interesting, FWIW. I hate to threadjack here (but here it goes anyway), but can anyone guess what the #1 song was? And no, it wasn't from one of the bands on Hit Me Baby... One More Time. And no, I have no idea of the answer to QS's question.
"One" by U2?

[gstelmack]

In the event you actually care... (http://dynamic.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/showthread.php?t=39478)
Thanks! Actually, I was interested, although I guess I shouldn't be trying to participate in a "pop culture" puzzle where I failed the basic pop culture test by not knowing about the show http://dynamic.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/wink.gif

[KWhit]

"One" by U2?
That was in the top 10 (maybe as high as 5 or so) and was the #1 U2 song. But it wasn't #1 overall.

[QuikSand]

Blender's "500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born: The Best Songs of the '80s and '90s."

Yes, that's the list. (I had just checked to see if that was their title -- I get the mag for free, and just chuck it in my office bathroom)

[KWhit]

I get it for free too. It's strange, I never subscribed to it - it just started showing up one day.

[QuikSand]

And if it's Blender, then you can expect more rap/hip hop and underground-type artists than your normal "top X "list.

Good to know -- I don't read it enough to know their slant, but that's fair. There were a couple rap songs pretty highly rated that surprised me, but that connection makes it a bit more understandable.

On that note -- I love the song B.O.B by OutKast, but I have no idea how much of a pop hit is ever was (I don't listen to radio much). Was it a big hit - the sort of thing that makes it less of a surprise to others than it was to me that this song was so highly rated? I would have guessed that the OutKast masterpiece is/was Ms. Jackson, but B.O.B. is my favorite song of theirs.

[albionmoonlight]

That was in the top 10 (maybe as high as 5 or so) and was the #1 U2 song. But it wasn't #1 overall.
I would guess that it would be a song that was critically well regarded as well as very popular. U2 seems to fit that bill as well as anyone.

Maybe "Losing my Religion?"

Or if they are just going by sheer popularity--maybe "Thriller?" or whatever Madonna's best song is?

(I'm much better at the threadjack puzzle than the real puzzle).

[QuikSand]

I get it for free too. It's strange, I never subscribed to it - it just started showing up one day.

It comes to me in the same name that I used for one of those "free magazines, no hitches" web thingies that were posted around here. I get that and a few of the "porn for sissies" mags as well, all for free, all in that phony name.

[QuikSand]

(I'm much better at the threadjack puzzle than the real puzzle).

It's probably a better puzzle.

And good guesses, by the way. *stifling self from giving hint*

[albionmoonlight]

Ohhh.. I could see a Prince song, too, considering the audience. I don't really know Prince all that well. I'd guess "Purple Rain." Maybe "When Doves Cry."

[KWhit]

You're on the right track, but haven't gotten it yet.

[JasonC23]

Where does "Do the Bartman" appear on the list?

[QuikSand]

Okay, for the original question -- I like this foursome so far:

My Sharona
Ice Ice baby
Tennessee
867-5309/Jenny

I shudder to leave off Cameo... and would liek very much to put them back.

Maybe My Sharona is too old? 1979, I think, but certainly the oldest of the lot.

[albionmoonlight]

You're on the right track, but haven't gotten it yet.
And I really need to get some work done. I'll check in later and see if anyone has gotten closer. Your "on the right track" comment and the Blender thing makes me think that it is probably a rap/hip-hop pioneer, which is an area about which I don't know much.

[Ksyrup]

My Sharona is technically in the 70's, but maybe they let borderline songs slide? I don't know. Given that this is Blender, I'm going with a song by PM Dawn being one of the four. I don't know anything by them - including the song they did on the show, but it's just a gut feeling.

[korme]

Okay... I just flashed across a magazine article accompanying that mag's ratings of the 500 greatest songs of all time. While there's probably a plenty long thread in there just by posting the list and than all standing around and making fun of it... I noticed a separate tidbit that seems like a worthy puzzle.


In their "fun facts" section, they mention that four of the songs on their lists were by artists who appeared on the recent TV show Hit Me Baby... One More Time.

Four of the all-time great songs, by someone's reckoning, were done by that particular group of musicians. Four. It sounds like a Mount Rushmore, sort of. I'm still staggered by the count.

Anyway -- without doing any cheating on the magazine and its list... who are the four artists, and what were their songs that were worthy of such immortality?
Blender... worst list ever.

[Raiders Army]

Journey.

[Ksyrup]

It's Blender, though - most of its charm (I hear :p ) is in making those who are part of underground movements feel good about themselves. So on this list, I would expect a combination of obvious songs no one can get away from (Michael Jackson, Madonna, Prince, Metallica, Pearl Jam, R&B stuff I couldn't name if you held a gun to my head, etc.), a bunch of hip hop/rap, a ton of 80's/90's alternative/new wave bands, most of them relatively unknown except to Blender readers (Beck, Gang of Four, Joy Division, etc.), probably more 00's songs than should be on this type of list (from "hot" new bands like The Strokes, Franz Ferdinand, etc.), and a bunch of songs that tie into the wave of 80's nostalgia, like Journey, Foreigner, Night Ranger, etc.

Am I close?

[Ksyrup]

Journey.
...wasn't on the show.

[Raiders Army]

Uhhhh...REO Speedwagon?

[Ksyrup]

Nope. Loverboy was, and Night Ranger was going to, but they had a falling out with the show's producers.

[Raiders Army]

Sister Christian would've been great.

[Vince]

Looking over that list a little (found it on a message board via google search), I think we'd all be disappointed by what eventually made it on there. As if this is a newsflash, but hey.

[kcchief19]

This is difficult. There are a number of songs by artists featured on the show that would make my top 500 pop songs of the '80s and '90s.

Based on that criteria, I think you have to leave off My Sharona.

And given the inference above that the magazine may be tilted toward R&B, I think we're overlooking Club Nouveau, CeCe Penniston and Shannon and underrating Cameo. In that regard, I think we're overrating Vanilla Ice. He has zero artistic credibility and is largely regarded as a novelty artist rather than a legitimate rapper. I think Irene Cara is a bit too sugary pop.

If I were to look at this from an R&B flavor, I think I would go with

Word Up-Cameo
Tennessee-Arrested Development
Lean on Me-Club Nouveau
Let the Music Play-Shannon


I think Tommy Tutone should be on any list of the '80s, but that's me. If the list is a bit less R&B centric, I think it's a can't-miss pick. Jeopardy by the Greg Kihn Band should also be considered. I think my sleeper pick would Only the Lonely by the Motels.

[Karlifornia]

Blender isn't exactly R&B centric...It's more alt-rock centric than anything else.

[kcchief19]

Looking over that list a little (found it on a message board via google search), I think we'd all be disappointed by what eventually made it on there. As if this is a newsflash, but hey. Without giving away any spoilers, I'll concur with this statement after a first glance.

I'll withhold comment on the four selections from our list until we've all given up and decided to spoil it for everyone else. I will say that the list in general is a patchwork of music tastes and styles that immediately goes downhill as soon as Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton appear with their rendition of "Islands in the Stream."

[Vince]

I just can't believe they have Kenny Rodgers and Dolly Parton on the same list as R Kelly. I find it incredibly difficult to rate music across genres -- especially as radical a difference in genre as Dolly Parton and R Kelly.

[QuikSand]

Since this never actually got "solved" -- I went back to the copy of Blender still inhabiting my office restroom. Here's what I found:

#129 - I Ran, A Flock of Seagulls
#136 - Word Up, Cameo

...and I can't find the other two, at the moment.

Was De La Soul on the show? I'm not clicking here...

[Celeval]

You're on the right track, but haven't gotten it yet.
Before this comment I would have guessed Sweet Child of Mine (GnR), but after... gotta be one of the early Michael Jackson songs, right?

[QuikSand]

... gotta be one of the early Michael Jackson songs, right?

getting very warm...