Welcome to the pond

It's Friday again, and we can celebrate the weekend! What better way to do that than with some mindless pop music? That's the subject of this week's Top Five On Friday:

Top 5 "Pop" Songs

(And before you all start groaning, these don't have to be recent pop songs)

I think this is a great question. The one constant in music for the past fifty years has been the presence of "pop" or popular music.

Before I answer this question, we need to ask a simple question: What is pop music?

The meaning of "pop" is popular, so obviously these must all be songs that spent some time on the charts and were all over the radio. In my mind, pop music is NOT made by a band. That is to say, it's not made by people who get together on their own and play their own instruments. If the guitar is the main feature of the music, it's not pop but rock. Instead of instruments, singing is often the most featured aspect of a pop song. A lot of pop music is meant for dancing, so that's another thing to consider. Also, keyboards and other electronic means of making music will be much more important than typical stringed instruments.

Because there are so many great pop songs from the past fifty years, I'm going to choose one song from the past five decades, beginning with the present.

00s - We have a tie here, folks. The first song I'm picking is "Toxic" by Britney Spears. I don't like Britney's music or image, but even I cannot deny the power of this song. It's infectious and the sound of pure pleasure. The second song is "Destiny" by Zero 7. It's relaxing, and has the most sensual and wonderful vocals. It may not be quite as popular as "Toxic," but it's a very high quality song. I suppose I could also mention "Crazy In Love" by Beyonce, because it WAS very popular, but "Toxic" and "Destiny" are my choices.

90s - "I'll Make Love To You" by Boyz II Men. This song was EVERYWHERE in the year it came out, and solidified Boyz II Men's position as the Kings of slow R&B. They were already stars, but this song made them superstars for a while. It was a very popular song for weddings, proms and dates, making it a successful example of what a pop song can be. There are dozens of other songs I could have mentioned, because the 90s were great years for pop songs.

80s - "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson. There were also a lot of great pop songs in the 80s (even the rock songs ventured into pop territory), but there wasn't a bigger name in pop music than Michael Jackson during these years. Madonna is maybe second, but Michael really was the King of Pop back then. Honorable mention to "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper. Pop songs are meant to be fun, and that song has fun right in the name!

70s - "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor. Somewhere in the world, at this very moment, is a woman singing this song in a Karaoke bar. If it's popular in Karaoke bars, it's a legitimate pop song. I'm sure there are "better" pop songs than this from the 70s, but this one is the most memorable for me.

60s - "Good Vibrations" by The Beach Boys. I'm a little spotty on my knowledge of 60s pop songs ( Do the Beatles really count? I think they were a mix of pop and rock, and so not true pop). Why am I counting the Beach Boys as pop? Mostly because their main claim to fame are the vocal harmonies they made famous. They had some great songs during the 60s, but "Good Vibrations" is my favorite and I think it's a good balance of pop and trippy experimentation. Behind all the theremin sounds and studio effects, there's a great catchy pop song to be found.