---

The Miami Sound Machine injected a burst of color into popular music during one of its already liveliest eras. But that made their sound all that more exhilarating. “Conga!” is a masterpiece of Latin dance. A controlled frenzy of percussion and horns, but it’s Gloria Estefan’s melody that pulls them along.

---

Donna Summer is the Queen of Disco. After making history with extended club jams like “I Feel Love” and “MacArthur Park,” she channeled her powers into this incredible hook-laden bop for the ages. “Bad Girls” has an incredible guitar riff, pops of horns, and a textbook disco beat. But it’s hard to deny how every second of when Donna sings is an earworm of some sort. “Toot toot, beep beep” …like come on!

---

Nicki Minaj took on hip hop and pop music at the same time in a way that has only been replicated in her image. “Super Bass” wasn’t just a hit, it was a game-changer. The kind of rap verses everyone knows the words to, but also fire. Oh, and a chorus that sounds like it explodes into the sky. So seldom does that kind of confidence and vigor manifest into something comparatively controlled. And pop music history is all the better for it.

---

Released just a couple years before his untimely death, “Sexual Healing” was Marvin Gaye’s final hit. It’s one of the silkiest, smoothest songs that have ever been, for starters. Like so many babies have been made to this track, there should be a scientific study. But damnit is it catchy, from start to finish. And no one can work a melody like Marvin. Despite being decades into his career, this sounds like an artist still very much at their peak; although it sadly became an epilogue.

---

Much like its titular beverage, one shot of this and you’re hooked. Like a comet in the sky, only so often does a song like “Espresso” come along. A sugary confection of a melody, with a cheeky side, that will build a home in your head and claim squatters rights. It’s light and bouncy, and impenetrably flawless as a pop song. Not to mention, a rare occurrence of a second verse being more famous than the first.

---

Ok yes, some problematic things about “TiK ToK” – see: the opening line – that have nothing to do with Kesha herself. This song made too much of an impact, and we can also celebrate what pop’s true party animal did here. This could have been a one hit wonder, but looking back… all of what makes this track endure is echoed throughout Kesha’s career. It’s boisterous, but it’s harmless. It’s unapologetic, but it’s not doing anything to apologize for. Fun is valid. And great hooks live on forever.

---

Forever the Queen of Country Crossover, Shania Twain’s dominance in the late 1990s was a time and a place. This unapologetic feminist anthem lassos you in from the blare of the horn intro and her i c o n i c “Let’s go girls!” Then it has its way with you from there. It’s the perfect sing-a-long, the perfect moment for any kind of party, and a caution-to-the-wind experience only pop music can curate.

---

Only Prince would make a funk song without a bassline. “Kiss” has stood the test of time in a catalog that has collectively aged deeper into perfection. With his screeching falsetto and breathy allure, this was simply an artist just showing off…but it somehow became one of his most accessible. The groove is just too captivating!

---

The Pet Shop Boys have one of the tightest catalogs in all of pop history, even if they don’t often get that level of praise. “West End Girls” kicked things off for them, and despite decades of success to follow, it remains their greatest contribution. Neil Tennant’s deadpan, spoken verses feel almost mystical as they seamlessly transition into the sung chorus. And that synth bass line is breathtakingly simple, but impactful.

---

A pop song by accident, but a glorious one nonetheless. This is such a beautiful composition, all structured around that insanely iconic piano part and uplifting strings. As an instrumental, this would honestly be great, but that vocal melody is truly worthy of the the track it narrates. What a gorgeous song, still going strong today.

---

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5