@lufthans @futurebird From one Rush fan to another (clearly!) — I love this, it could be my answer too.
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@futurebird 1. Under pressure - Bowie & Mercury
2. Lazarus Drug - Meg Washington (not tragically little known, I’ve just never heard anyone else loving it, as much as I do)
3. I choose you - Haven Paschall (sounds innocuous, until someone looks up the source. It’s from a Pokémon movie)
@futurebird 1. Silversun Pickups - Lazy Eye. Was on both Guitar Hero and Rock Band and won a Grammy, and deservedly so.
2. Cutouts - Paw of the Monkey. My song of the year, even if it was actually released as a single in 2024.
3. Boyzone - Gave It All Away. It was never cool to like Boyzone. It's even less cool to like reunited Boyzone, as you don't have the excuse of being very young. But I like the effects/distortion on the keys, and one of the last songs with Stephen Gately, so poignant.
@futurebird
1. Pink Floyd, Wish You Were Here
This is an absolute classic and a very accessible song from them but it's perfect
2. Cult of Luna & Julie Christmas, Cygnus
It might be a 3 because of the growl parts but there are so many people listening to metal it has a potential to be popular. The way the song is built and the last third of the song with its riff intertwined with the layers of Julie's voice is really something
3. HangedUp, No More Bad Future
There's no singing, so is this even a song? Anyway, it starts with 3' of noise and breaks in the middle with more noise. It's just drums and a violin. I've been obsessed with this for 15 years
@futurebird
1. Jamiroquai: “Virtual Insanity”
An absolute banger, almost 30 years later, with a video that aged beautifully as well.
2. Moloko: “Over & Over”
Róisín could sing the 1956 phone book of Oldenburg (IN) and it’d still be enchanting. But to me, this song really is the culmination of the band‘s discography. Too long to be a single, but it’s spacious and dense at the same time. And the sound!
3. Vulfpeck: “Christmas in LA”
Lighthearted, whimsical Christmas funk song. What’s not to love?
@futurebird
1. "Superstition" - Stevie Wonder
2. "Mr. Wright" - The Claypool Lennon Delirium
3. "The Mud Shark" - The Mothers live at Fillmore East in 1971
1. These Boots Are Made For Walking - Nancy Sinatra
2. Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft - Klaatu
3. Doctorin' The Tardis - The Timelords (The Jams)
1. More Than a Feeling, Boston
2. No One But You, Daniela Andrade
3. Goodbye Girl, Go West
@futurebird
1: "Forever Young", Bob Dylan ( Specially The Last Waltz-version )
2: "In Wien hab' ich einmal ein Mädel geliebt ¨. Richard Tauber
3: " Let Beauty Awake", Ralph Vaughan Williams
@futurebird Hmmm,
1. Tori Amos, Baker baker
2. Morphine, Yes
3. Housemartins, He Ain't Heavy
@futurebird how do you pick just 3?
@futurebird This is one of the best threads, I'm getting so many good songs out of it.
@futurebird
1. black and blue https://youtu.be/ePg7tQWysos?si=bs66VgfvnLPSTBEn
2.https://youtu.be/xC-q3houri4?si=5WxyW2zjf3KbO876 abjeez demokrazy
3. all I want for xmas :-D
@futurebird what a great question, thank you!
1. Guns of Brixton - Clash
2. Mr Integrity - L7
3. Antiworld - Nina Hagen (just like you said: like a worm, it lives there 40 years now)
what about your three songs?
1. "Bohemian Rhapsody," Queen. It just rules.
2. "Another Holiday," The Other Ones. They were maybe a little late to ride the new wave, being from the later '80s, but I really love the female vocalist's voice, and this is a real bop. (I almost went with "Down for Whatever," by Ice Cube, because it never was a single?!?, but I think he and the song are too popular to fit the spirit of the question.)
3. "Woman Sing to Me," REO Speedwagon. One of my favorite Gary Richrath songs from a band that I still call my favorite. I know most people won't follow me down, but dammit, they rock. https://youtu.be/RX8dCQRq61g
@futurebird ✨Fun!✨
1. Calm Down - Réma
2. Say What You Will - James Blake
3. # FreeTitties - Emmalyn
@futurebird
1. why so many people love Solsbury Hill by Peter Gabriel so much to put it here? I was protesting a motorway being built literally cutting into Solsbury Hill in the 90s, Peter Gabriel did nothing to speak out in support and I have hated him and the song ever since.
But an option for this for me is New Order - Blue Monday
2. Tim Minchin - If I Didn't Have You. One of my favourite songs ever and not widely known ime.
3. Cool Patrol - Ninja Sex Party. This was on rotation on a portable speaker I had, and a friend literally looked at me like I was insane when he listened to it. It's kindof awful but I sortof still love it.
@futurebird 1) Free by Florence and the Machine, 2) something by The Beths and 3) Cracking by Suzanne Vega.
@futurebird
I tried, but I'm not sure any of my favourite music can be classified as "should be popular" 😅
@futurebird "What a Wonderful World"--Louis Armstrong
"All This Before"--County Down
"Baby Lemondae"--Syd Barrett
1️⃣🔘 The Beatles - Hey Jude
2️⃣🔘 Weather Report - Between The Thighs
3️⃣🔘 Ed Sanders - The ABM Machine
@futurebird 1. Personal Jesus by Depeche Mode 2. Rage in Eden by The The 3. Country Club by The Associates
@futurebird@sauropods.win
Kinda hard to narrow it down this much, but as of tonight I'll go with:
- "Champagne Problems" by Taylor Swift
- "Sailor's Heart" by Zyke or "Girlfriend" by Maxwell Luke
- "Clean It Up!" from Hazbin Hotel Season 2 performed by Kimiko Glenn & Erika Henningsen
@futurebird
1. Black Velvet
2. Ina Flew the Coop by Marian Call
3. Cornflower Song by Al Dimond
I unironically love “Don’t Stop Believin’”, though I recognize it’s managed to be overplayed for more than 40 years now
“Between A Rock And A Stone” by The Hermitt. It’s got a laid-back Suicidal Tendencies vibe.
“Brudmarsch från Östa”, as performed by the Kronos Quartet.
1. Nightswimming by REM
2. Rising Seas by Midnight Oil
3. Never There by Cake
@futurebird
1. Make You Better by Decemberists
2. Daughter of the Light by Urthboy and Kira Puru
3. Dig It Up by Psalters
1. a hit from 1959, but widely loved just the same —
Broken Hearted Melody by Sarah Vaughan
3. i have had to delete so many songs from playlists …
but i can’t delete my fave buffy ste marie tracks because… she is right about so much stuff.
🎶 No No Keshagesh 2008
2. Love Comes and Goes by Xavier Rudd 2010
1. Purple Rain by Prince
2. Country Girl by CSNY
3. I Know A Song That'll Get On Your Nerves by that bloke with the squeaky voice
@futurebird
I could do this a bunch of ways but here's one 😅
1. Bad Religion, A Walk
2. Cave In, Brain Candle
3. Parquet Courts, Stoned and Starving
@futurebird So… I was thinking a bit more and there’s a song that is little known, is very old , but it’s not exactly Christmasy 😹
It’s called “King Orfeo” … Malinky has a nice recording
The history about it is fascinating too!
@futurebird
1. Ants Marching by Dave Matthews Band
2. Antmusic by Adam & The Ants
3. Five Hungry Ants by The Kiboomers
@futurebird I'll try this with songs from a single band.
1. Baba O'Riley (from Who's Next)
2. The Rock (from Quadrophenia)
3. Squeeze Box (from The Who By Numbers)
@futurebird Now I'll go broad spectrum.
1. 将爱 (Jiang'ai) by 王菲 (Faye Wong): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVy_-gF5M48
2. Natural Science by Rush: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBu8uKhDKTM
3. Dancing Queen by Abba represents my "guilty pleasures" that don't suit the image most people have of my musical tastes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sVB91NTa4A (Also insert the entire soundtrack to Xanadu here.)
1) Don’t Look Back in Anger, Oasis
2) Unemployed in Chicago, Felsen
3) Rainbow Flag, Matmos
I could do this a few times but I will settle for this as an opening salvo.
1) Kashmir - Led Zepplin
2) Long Way Home - Moreland & Arbuckle
3) But You Don't Care - Mi-Sex
1) I Will Always Love You, Dolly Parton
2) Unemployed in Chicago, Felsen
3) Rainbow Flag, Matmos
@futurebird
1️⃣ Journey/Don't Stop Believing.
2️⃣ Queen/Radio Ga Ga ("little known" might be debatable, but it's rarely played... and I love it)
3️⃣ Weird Al Yankovic/Chicken Pot Pie (This might be a stretch. As I understand it, it's a 'bootleg video' and was never released as a song. But corny and living rent free in my head? You betcha!)
@DaveMasonDotMe @futurebird
1️⃣ Bohemian Rhapsody
2️⃣ Stay Naked's Tony the Plankton. It's a song about a plankton named Tony. He's very important.
3️⃣ Seatbelts: Cats on Mars. I don't know, maybe this belongs in #2? What do you think?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTVn6Mse_xQ
1. "Hallelujah" - Jeff Buckley (possibly the greatest cover version of any song ever)
2. "Sugarcube" - Yo La Tengo (a perfect pop song)
3. "Sons of 3rd Bass" - 3rd Bass (Serch is a bastard and the idea of 3rd Bass dissing the Beastie Boys is ludicrous, but...sigh...I wore out the Cactus Album)
@futurebird I'm making a lot of assumptions about what you define as popular to hit the lowest common denominator.
Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody. As far as I can tell, it's one of the last songs of its kind to gain enough popularity that I could sing the first line and be pretty confident the other person will know the song.
Fuck, this is a hard one to decide on since the most popular band I listen to barely breaks into the million views/listens/etc category. Animal's As Leader's The Problem of Other Minds. I regret part of it is a desperate wish to see more diversity in my favourite genre but also because I think they're pushing the genre is ways that are highly technical while still sounding beautiful to people who aren't trained musicians in a way we rarely see outside of Classical music.
You wouldn't think it if you listened to some of his newer music (his sound got a lot more accessible as time went on IMO) but in an effort to not spend too long on this one, I'm going with Igorrr's Melting Nails. I'm a sucker for someone taking something batshit, seemingly just throwing shit at the wall, and making it into something that works. And that's like 75% of his sound. Aside from Savage Sinusoid, his music is usually too weird for me to recommend.
@futurebird 1) "Crazy" whether sung by Patsy Kline, Linda Ronstadt, Willie Nelson, or my mother while doing the dishes.
2) "Late for the Sky" by Jackson Browne
3) "The Midget's Lament" by Dory Previn in
So many choices for each that I just have to go with the first one that pops into my head:
1. I legit love "Fairytale of New York."
2. I feel like Boston local stalwarts Hallelujah the Hills could be HUGE but somehow aren't, 20 years into their time as a band, so I'll name "Rebuilding Year" from their 2025 quadruple album Deck.
3. Tristan da Cunha were a hard sell and "Strong Candidate/New Regime" is a sprawling math rock epic that I adore but get why it's not more widely known.
1. Midnight City by M83
2. Alien by The William Blakes
3. (hard to find one that I really think belongs here, but hmm) Fashion is Danger by Flight of the Conchords (meant to be a cheesy parody but just GOOD and I love it)
1. Beyonce and Kendrick - Freedom
2. The Beatles - Hide your love away
3. Laura Brannigan - Ti Amo
😍😍😍
@futurebird
1. Smooth- Santana/Thomas
2. Get Here- Oleta Adams
3. Let's Unite for Christmas- James Brown
1. sweet caroline - neil diamond
2. brand new key - melanie
3. bring me to life - evanescence
@futurebird LOVE THIS GAME
1. Used to be popular: Wicked Game by Chris Isaak
Currently(?) popular: Anti-Hero by Taylor Swift
2. Rich People by Carsie Blanton
3. PoP! goes My Heart by Hugh Grant
@futurebird This is an interesting challenge, especially for 2 and 3:
1. Solsbury Hill, Peter Gabriel. This lives rent-free in my heart, just because.
2. '39, Queen. Such music, such lyrics, but. Even I didn't get it until I paid attention.
3. "My Neighborhood Totoro" opening theme (Japanese original). The entire movie and its music live rent-free in my heart but there's a whole collection of reasons it'll never be popular (at least outside of Japan).
@lufthans @futurebird From one Rush fan to another (clearly!) — I love this, it could be my answer too.
@acsawdey @futurebird and it's a great excuse to listen to them again!
As is just having them in the music library :)
Gonna take a break for Driven, then finish the trilogy at spot number 1
1. Gimme Shelter by the Rolling Stones, with those amazing backing vocals by Merry Clayton
2. It's Never Too Late to Have a Happy Childhood by Marshall Chapman
https://youtu.be/iAx7Lt-aRWY
3. Farther Along, sung by an impromptu choir in a small Baptist church
https://library.timelesstruths.org/music/Farther_Along/
"Farther along we’ll know more about it,
Farther along we’ll understand why;
Cheer up, my brother, live in the sunshine,
We’ll understand it all by and by."
A scientist's hymn.
@futurebird
1. Shake It Off, Taylor Swift
2. Been to Canaan, Carole King
3. Want You Gone, from Portal 2
@futurebird Tomorrow the answers might be different but today:
1. Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock – It Takes Two https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phOW-CZJWT0 closing in on forty years since it was love on first listen.
2. Ainslie Wills – Drive https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_JL0zn7dK0 because every time I listen to it I'm bewildered that it isn't better known.
3. Joanna Newsom – Have One On Me https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DACSH7QIQsM it's eleven minutes of harp music, there's no easily identifiable structure, her voice verges on squeaky at times, she almost yaps and yowls in places and it took several listens for me to even like it, but there was something compelling in there that drew me back.
1: Radar Love by Golden Earring
2: Hasta Mañana Iguana by Billy Bacon And The Forbidden Pigs
3: Heisenberg by BCR
3.14: Okoboji by The Linoma Mashers
@futurebird @MaryAustinBooks
Christmas edition
1: “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”: The Temptations
2: “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”: 11 Acorn Lane
3: “Christmas Is the Time to Say I Love You”: Billy Squier
@futurebird my entry for number three would be “It Still Fits (My Pikachu T-Shirt)”, which is too silly to share with most people but delightfully earnest. My partner and I sing it around the house regularly.
@futurebird
1. Danger Zone - Kenny Loggins
2. Danger Zone - Quiet Riot
3. Hollywood Freaks - Beck
"Istanbul Not Constantinople" by They Might Be Giants. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XlO39kCQ-8 It deserves its popularity.
"On the Painted Desert" by Boom Boom Satellites. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNSzdmO-eAg It shows what a good composer can do with alternating between two chords.
"Time to Be Awesome" from MLP: The Movie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rgBWhNIDOE This song is PURE corny. It's from a movie about multicolored ponies. But... every time I hear it, I smile.
"Istanbul Not Constantinople" b y They Might Be Giants. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XlO39kCQ-8 It deserves its popularity.
"On the Painted Desert" by Boom Boom Satellites. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNSzdmO-eAg It shows what a good composer can do with alternating between two chords.
"Time to Be Awesome" from MLP: The Movie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rgBWhNIDOE This song is PURE corny. It's from a movie about multicolored ponies. But... every time I hear it, I smile.
1. Let's Go Crazy - Prince
2. Fleez - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
3. Streetcleaner - Godflesh
@futurebird 1. "I Wanna Be Sedated" by the Ramones. Probably hated by a ton of people, too, but they're no fun.
2. "Hymn To The Local Gods" by Shriekback. All of Shriekback should be better known and loved, but this one is often overlooked even by people who do know them. ( Which seems to be a kind of neurodivergency test IME, though I've never figured out why.) Definitely deeply resonates with me as a pagan who loves the Small Gods, though.
3. "Harry Houdini" by Kon Kan. It's entirely tacky crap but it's just a blast to dance to. :)
@futurebird
1. Pokerface by Lady Gaga
2. Surrounded by Chantal Kreviazuk
3. Wet Dream by Kip Addotta
1. Chapell roan - pink pony club
2. Show eating rabbits - no more trouble no more
3. 2 unlimited - no limit
1. Crash - Dave Matthew’s Band
2. Great Unknown- Better Than Ezra
3. Laid - James (it’s probably fairly well known but I don’t think super popular)
@futurebird
1) Hotel California, Eagles
2) Shine Your Light, Tina and the B-Sides
3) Kiss Me on the Bus, Proclaimers
@futurebird 1. Peter Gabriel - Solsbury Hill
2. Dota Kehr - Für die Sterne
3. Adrian Sherwood - Boogaloo
For lovers of music hashtags and challenges, @futurebird has something fun here.
Megahahit
Jain - Makeba
https://youtu.be/59Q_lhgGANc
Should be popular
Magik Markers - Taste
https://youtu.be/VrYS9FW73EA
Hard to love
Boss Hog - I'm Not Like Everybody Else
https://youtu.be/nygVFokjuWg
1. Queen & David Bowie - Under Pressure https://youtu.be/a01QQZyl-_I
2. Devon Cole - Sugar Daddy https://youtu.be/M4VTDtdQv1o
(I listened to this repeatedly until I could successfully sing the lyrics "I-N-D-E-P-E-N-D-E-N-T can you spell it")
3. Ultra Happy Alarm - Little Spider https://ultrahappyalarm.bandcamp.com/track/little-spider
LITTLE SPIDER, by ULTRA HAPPY ALARM
ultrahappyalarm
- Hit me baby one more time - Britney Spears
- Samantha Black - Anastasia Screamed
- Not if you were the last junkie on earth - The Dandy Warhols
2 even at the time (90s) was beyond obscure, but this should have been as big as Black by Pearl Jam...
@futurebird Ohh my gosh where to begin!?
I will limit myself to Christmas carols and songs for the winter season 😹(which unfortunately if I’m not careful will be a VERY long list 😹)
Okay no.1
On Christmas Night or the Sussex carol, arranged by Ralph Von Williams (if you have ever watched the Tailor of Gloucester by Beatrix Potter there are multiple variations of the tune in it🩷)
No. 2
Carol of the Bells
I will have to give a group mention of all the wassails , because there are quite a few 😹
1. Hammer to Fall, by Queen
2. You'll Never Be Famous, by Hussalonia. Actually a lot of Nightvale fans will be aware of this song, but I don't know how generally liked it is.
3. Somebody Else, by Kubb. The premise of the song is kind of whiny but I think the guy's voice sells it.
@futurebird
1. "Flying Dreams" from the Secret of NIMH
2. Caroline Keating, "Billy Joel." I love it even though it brings back very painful memories. Dang, this kind of stuff should be on the radio.
https://carolinekeating.bandcamp.com/track/billy-joel
3. Gangnam Style still makes me laugh my ass off every time I hear it.
Billy Joel, by Caroline Keating
Caroline Keating
@futurebird here are my 3:
1. "Season of the Witch" by Donovan (I liked it before it was cool to be "witchy" [again])
2. "Money for Bombs" by Alyssa Bray
https://alyssabray.bandcamp.com/track/money-for-bombs
(full disclosure, Alyssa is a neighbor of mine, also she is donating all proceeds from this song to war refugee relief efforts)
3. "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)" by Rupert Holmes (I am not taking questions at this time)
Money for Bombs!, by Alyssa Bray
Alyssa Bray
@futurebird
1. Darling Nikki by Prince
2. The cover of Darling Nikki by The Foo Fighters
3. The cover, and video, of Darling Nikki by Rihanna
@futurebird Ooh for me 1 & 3 are easy, but 2 requires research.
1. Killing me Softly (With His Song) –particularly the Shirley Bassey version
2. Song of the United Front – fairly obscure in English, if not in its original German (Das Einheitsfrontlied), my favourite English cover is Kaiser Cat Cinema's.
3. Bad Squire – by Chumbawamba, a song version of the Kingsley poem about the Inclosure Acts.
@futurebird Can we go with 1a: Song that was popular back in the day but is now relegated to dustbin of history?
@futurebird ooh, fun game!
1. Hard to pick just one, but let's go with Bohemian Rhapsody. It's got gentle piano, big multilayered harmonies, a bangin' guitar solo, and the ever-enchanting voice of Freddie Mercury.
2. The Way Old Friends Do by Abba. It's a warm, relatable homage to friendship, set to a simple a capella tune. Not nearly enough people have heard of it. It is my New Year's Eve song.
3. Hmm. Yeah. There's one I learnt as a student that will always have a fond place in my memories. The words will ever be etched into the deeper parts of my brain. It could probably bring me out of a coma. But. Well. It's called Titfuck and does not get better from there.
1a) "Midnight Train to Georgia" Gladys Knight & The Pips
1b) "Tears of a Clown" Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
2) "As Yet Untitled" Terence Trent D'arby (now Sananda Maitreya)
3) "Wynona's Big Brown Beaver" Primus...yes, I'm a menopausal 12-year-old boy.
@futurebird Japanese music warning:
Under 1. So many... Just grabbing a recent(ish) random catchy one: Tick Tock Boy sung by RIM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXpdOr7mx7U Also hecking neat video chock full of retro references.
Under 2. should be popular I can name so many songs I want to list, but we'd both die of of old age... Just picking a random:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cREwBZitZoE
(Actually I want to recommend EVERYTHING Hanatan/YuRiCa ever sang...)
Under 3. probably shouldn't be popular but darn it I still like it, "world.execute(me);" by Project Mili is my guilty pleasure. It says very NSFW things, but oh geez when that guitar really kicks in I lose it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESx_hy1n7HA
I have another guilty pleasure for an artist who uses very dark lyrics I won't list here unless someone asks.
@futurebird To do this properly, I would have to spreadsheet this out, but in the interest of keeping from becoming a six-month project.
1) Great Gig in the Sky, Pink Floyd. https://music.apple.com/ca/album/the-great-gig-in-the-sky/1665303755?i=1665303763
2) I'm in love by The PepTides. https://music.apple.com/ca/album/im-in-love/541686000?i=541686002
3) I have no idea how to answer this.
@futurebird
1. coldplay: charlie brown
2. johnny cash: hurt
3. flogging: molly devils dance floow
1) “Juice” by Lizzo
2) “Marcus Garvey” by Burning Spear
3) “The Truth” by Handsome Boy Modeling School
1 Ticket to Ride by The Beatles. Loved by all
2 Rockets by Eg and Alice. A lost classic
3 Fairground by Simply Red. Terrible. But an absolute earworm.
@keefeglise @futurebird I have always loved Ticket to Ride, but I prefer Karen Carpenter's version. ☺️✌️🤘🖖
1. We Built This City - Starship. Yes I know it's loved and also loathed by many but I don't care. It's there and hit me when I was *the* age for it to embed itself. It's popular for a reason that works for me.
2. Luxury Cruiser - T-Ride. Should be a classic like the best of Led Zep, Bowie, Stones, etc.
3. Hubba Hubba Zoot Zoot - Caramba. I love this with more adoration than all other loathing for it combined.
Hubba Hubba Zoot Zoot is honestly one of my favorite songs.
@futurebird
1} Nine To Five, Dolly Parton
2} We're All Alone, Makoto Ozone
3} Chimerical, BER
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