IT was a tough job, but after months of debating, MTV and Rolling Stone have named the “100 greatest pop songs of all time.”
The Beatles’ “Yesterday” crowns the list, followed by The Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” and Nirvana’s grunge anthem “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”
The Fab Four, the Stones, Madonna (No. 4 with “Like a Virgin”) and Michael Jackson (No. 5 with “Billie Jean”) are the only artists with three songs in the top 100.
Rounding out the top 10 are The Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand” (No. 6), Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” (No. 7), U2’s “With or Without You” (No. 8), the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” (No. 9), and, surprisingly, the Backstreet Boys’ 1999 hit “I Want It That Way” (No. 10).
The songs had to meet certain criteria – the tune’s influence on pop culture (“Yesterday,” for instance, has been covered more than “Hold Your Hand”), how the hit stood the test of time as well as artistry and songwriting involved. When it came to a tie-breaker, the decision-making team of 20 turned to the charts.
The group first came up with a list of 300 songs, then whittled it down.
“That’s when it got ugly,” said Tom Calderone, the head of MTV’s music department, who worked with Rolling Stone music editor Joe Levy on the effort. “We were here till midnight, yelling at each other. It almost came to fisticuffs.”
MTV was sorry to see Duran Duran get cut. Rolling Stone wanted a little more soul (Gladys Knight and the Pips’ “Midnight Train to Georgia”). Both sides were sorry to see one-hit wonder Kajagoogoo’s “Too Shy” drop off.
Rolling Stone’s newest issue (on newsstands next week) is devoted to the tops in pop. And Next week, MTV will air “100 Greatest Pop Songs” with stars like Sir Paul McCartney, the Backstreet Boys, Jennifer Lopez and *NSYNC, which is the only band in 2000 on the list (for “Bye, Bye, Bye”).
While the list spans the decades, moving from The Beatles, through the Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Soft Cell and Britney Spears, the MTV-Rolling Stone group decided The Beatles’ arrival in America was the starting point of the modern pop era.