MicShazam

Inspired by 'The Official "Music Was So Much Better in the Glorious Days of Yore" Thread', I'd like to start a discussion of top 40 hits released anywhere between 1930 and now that were actually very good. I'm not the biggest fan of mainstream music, but now and again, something really good did attain a high degree of popularity. Except, not everyone in here seems to think so... Which is why I'm interested in making this thread!

EDIT: Due to reasons and such I'm pointing out that I'm really thinking of the singles charts. Album charts are a whole other breed, especially these days where rather non-mainstream albums can chart well due to that being the sort of listener public that actually still buys albums.

Rules:

Either
A) Post one or more top 40 tracks from whatever year, that you think are legitimately good or great tracks. not just music you can just about endure. Youtube links are more than welcome, but please use spoiler tags if you post a whole bunch, just so the page doesn't become a bitch to scroll through.
B) Compalin about how mainstream music sucks and how it always has.

A link to a pretty good site to get an overview over the hits of various years, although it stops at 1998: Top 40 Hits - 1930-1998

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A couple random picks of my own. I love all of these songs:

Phil Collins - In the Air Tonight (#19 in 1981)


Carly Simon - You're So Vain (#1 in 1973)


Carole King - I Feel the Earth Move (#1 in 1971)

Zer0

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MicShazam

b&!

Zer0

It was a number one hit in Finland in 2007. What's the issue here?

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Frownland

Phil Collins fans have no place calling something boring.

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Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth.

MicShazam

Leave it to the Fins to do something like that. I thought you were just joking!

Charts get really weird sometimes these days because the numbers are a lot smaller than when people still bought CD's, which means sometimes a track or album hits the charts despite being far from something you'd think of as a mainstream hit song.

I doubt it would have charted if people still actually bought albums widely.
I looked it up and the above track was specifically on the album charts, which is different from singles charts.
Singles charts was more what I was thinking of, but I should have specified that (fixed!).
Anything could end up on an album chart in this day and age, since music nerds are the only people really buying albums anymore.

MicShazam

In my defence, I think that was his only non-boring song.

Frownland

That actually hurts your case.

__________________

Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth.

MicShazam

"this video is not available"

???

Frownland

Edited.

And another

__________________

Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth.