All-Time Hookiest Song EVAH?

Recent Answers ho!

WHO YOU CALLIN' A HO?

I admit the cheese factor rating is high on both of these,

but sometimes there is such a thing as high quality cheese.

Abba - Knowing Me Knowing You

Bee Gees - Night Fever

Video Killed The Radio Star - and I mean, do I really need to describe the hooks? I'd need to describe every moment in the song.

"My Sharona" - the knack. Pnumatic white boy heaven.

"Dont fear the Reaper" - That descending/climbing riff is Zen.Then come the the soft-focus harmonies...

Kim- I only suggested something like this...

Monkees, "I'm a Believer"
1. 6-note organ hook
2. twangy guitar figure
3. "I thought love..." refrain
4. "A-hey-hey-hey-hey" backing vocal
5. Start of the chorus, "And then I saw her face..." (w. return of #1)
6. End of the chorus, "I'm in love..." (w. return of #2)
7. Fuzzy harmonium(?) solo

...but I realize hookiness isn't necessarily quantifiable.

Krome & Time's "The Slammer":
1) cool disjointed piano riff
2) weird but gorgeous recorder-like melody
3) excellent shivery oscillator riff
4) totally phased-to-fuck string-synth riffs
5) "Chop chop face up! Face up! Running to the head top!" (or whatever that guy is saying)
6) "Next I'll be dancing! Not losing control!" (or whatever that chipmunk diva is singing)
7) lovely dewy new piano riff
8) lovely dewy new recorder melody
9) repeat any component as necessary

Austin's "Unity In Dub" is even better ("Stop!....Go!", glitzy organ fills, bizarre dub sections, "Bitch all you like!") but I don't know if it was a hit or not.

"Hey, what's that song where the hook goes like this?"
"That's 'Funkytown.'"
"I thought 'Funkytown' was the one where the hook went like this."
"That's 'Funkytown' too."
"How does it get from that first one to this second one?"
"With this bit."
"I thought that bit was the Commodores."
"No, it's 'Funkytown.'"
"Damn, 'Funkytown' kicks ass."

Boston - "Peace of Mind"

1) opening da-da-da-chunka-chunka-da-na-na chords, immediately followed by
2) classic minor-key sports-car riff
3) the mood shifts once more with the laid-back debased-Southern-rock chords that open the verse
3) spaceship sound effects
4) the chorus that puts the "chorus" in "chorus"
5) scream-to-a-stop power chords and proto-Leppard "Take a look ahead" group wail
6) swoony twin-guitar twiddle that closes the guitar solo
7) highway-meeting-the-sunrise rising layered guitars that close the song

probably something by Dr Hook.

"In Between Days" has four separate hooks in the intro alone. However, I don't think it adds more than two or three new ones after Smith begins singing.

Yes' Roundabout:

1) Opening brrrring! harmonics on acoustic guitar 2) Descending acoustic guitar riff into main part of song 3) E-F#-G-F#-G-F#-E riff in the verses 4) G-C -F-C -F-C -G riff in the chorus (with accompanying 'fanfare' riff on Hammond organ) 5) "Call it morning...even in the valley!" vocal melody 6) "In and around the lake, mountains come out of the sky..." vocal melody 7) Salsa riff (middle of the song) 8) Rapid ascending and descending G and B-flat scales during the solos 9) Vocal scat melody (closing section of song)

Devo - "Girl U Want"

evidence:
1) fantastic distinctive geeky little opening. and then suddenly
2) the beat drops! one-two one-two
3) sing-songy shaky nonsensical singing begins: "She sings from somewhere you can't see/from the top of the greenest tree"
4) she's just the girl, she's just the girl, drums accenting "girl"
5) noodly "space-age" synth fill: classic.
6) "look at you with your mouth watering/look at you with your mind reeling/why don't we admit it's all over"--do I even have to explain this. the chorus/set-up chorus is great. and it's only made of 3 different notes. viva minimalism.
7) again accents: she's just! the girl! you Wa!-a-ant!
7) cheesy wondrous interplanetary guitar solo that consists entirely of playing the same riff in different octaves/keys: classic.
8) "She's just the girl!" mothersbaugh screams. with a yelp the song is done. the lack of resolution makes you wish the song wasn't over.

I want to say Meatloaf's "Paradise By The Dashboard Light." In quanity, if not quality.

Gee, I love pretty much all of these songs!

is teenage fanclub's sparky's dream any good t'you? i'm not exactly sure how to count hooks, but it seems like there must be lots in there...

also, stereolab - cybele's reverie

hmm... now that i think about it, there aren't exactly many hooks in those songs, but the ones that are there must be really pointy

I second "Girl U Want," because it's so hooky, it contains hooks which are implied, but not actually present in the song. Thus, you wind up humming these to yourself after the song is over, and eventually presume that they're in the song, until you listen again, and discover that Devo nefariously put them into your head without your explicit permission. That's what happened to me, anyway.

I have just rediscovered "Change" by Killing Joke, so that's all I can think of.

But "Love Barge" by Big Dipper would be it, if it had only been a hit.

Good Vibrations. I win.

Theme from S-Express ?

Best Friend's Girl - The Cars

(does anyone else have an overwhelming urge to hear Girl U Want right now?)

"Pump Up The Volume" - M/A/R/R/S

Tim: The weird recorder melody in "The Slammer" is a sample of the theme to the game show "Jeopardy!". This makes it even more brilliant. Other tracks in the same vein which are rife with hooks would have to include most of the Acen tracks, "Euphoria" by The House Crew, most of the Hyper- On Experience tracks, "Don't Go" by Awesome 3, most 2 Bad Mice tracks, and most Sons Of A Loop Da Loop Era tracks.

ted leo/pharmacists' 'the great communicator'

I don't know about all-time, but "Penelope" by Of Montreal hooks me in about 10 different ways. I don't have the CD with me, or I'd list them all.

heavy vegetable - song for wesley

if you've heard it, you'll know what i'm talking about. 3 or 4 distinct hooks (not just little individual instrumental parts, i'm talking "whole band" hooks). And they all repeat 2x and the song is not even 1 minute and 50 seconds long. Listen to this song and you'll be all "Pinback who?"

"Love Will Tear Us Apart"! Get it? Hooky? ha ha!? Actually, it's got quite a few actual hooks in there too. I know, I know the joke was hokey - ok I'll stop.

Get it On Bang a Gong,Getit on! HOOK CITY!

Song For Wesley has hooks aplenty, but doesn't quite match the just one big hookiness of Good Vibrations.

"The Perfect Kiss" and/or "Bizarre Love Triangle" by New Order, long versions of course. I used to find myself listening to those songs, just waiting for the hooks to change to another gloriously swooning one. Mmm. Even if they do sometimes sound a bit "what does this button do ?". In fact, because of that !

"Shoot Your Shot" by Divine

Rasputin by Boney M has 4 hooks before anyone even sings!(genius) In fact most of the Frank Farian Canon has more hooks than a very hooky hook holder belonging to Peter Hook.

Good Times by Chic. Most tracks by Daft Punk

The whole of T.rex's career after 1971 seems to consist of songs which are nothing more than I hook repeated and very fine they are too.