KSloan writes:
Why not include a best video list per year as well?

What we do is keep a running tab of the ever-changing "requests".
Songs can come in and out of style. A movie can make an old song a "hit" again, even a commercial can.
Music videos, once out of the "current" rotation, just become played in revival type shows on VH1 and whatnot.
The shelf life of a video simply doesn't compare with the actual song.
We have no real way of tracking that type of popularity.
Good question though.
I hope I answered it correctly!
-Music Guy

You people really need to grow up. Do any of you actually play an intrument? Seriously, saying Stairway to Heaven is the worst song of all time doesn't make you smart. It shows me that you think being "different" and non-conformist is cool, which it isn't. And don't say, "Oh no, I can't understand the lyrics to Smells Like Teen Spirit!!!". Who cares, it's a good song and it's not supposed to make sense. Rock and roll is about just rocking out and having a good time, not being an idiot like John Lennon and trying to "change the world" by getting high on LSD and writing songs about how we should be communist Athiests. I know the site owner didn't post those, but put this in your hate mail section or something for all your idiot VH1-watching
-metalriff88

metalriff88 -
ummm...
No, I happen not to play an instrument, but several people on the PCM staff and associates are professional musicians and singers, not that it would matter to you.
"Non Conformist"? I'm not sure how old you are, but I've been a conservative questioning authority since 1975. It started when my panicky HS Physics teacher was warning us about global cooling (the "ICEHOUSE EFFECT"), and that we wouldn't be able to see the stars by 1985.
Perhaps I should have conformed and believed the naive doctor.
Stairway to Heaven is not on our official 75 tune worst song list.
Several (actually, hundreds over the years) people have expressed that they don't like it via e-mail, and we allowed them to share their opinions.
With "Teen Spirit", many people said it spoke for that generation. For them, in spite of what you say, IT DID MAKE SENSE. Again, we have a pretty open forum.
That whole "free country" expression thing gets on both closed-minded liberal & conservative people's nerves. I must be doing something right.
I happen to agree with you about Mr. Lennon. I've never done LSD and I'm a God-fearing capitalist.
For someone I think I basically agree with, you wrote me a pretty nasty letter.
Did you wake up on the wrong side of bed today?
The site owners let us publish just about anything we'd like. Your humorous letter is right here.
-Music Guy
PS: I spend about 60 minutes a year watching VH1. Sometimes it has the only interesting thing on the 175 channels I have to choose from. Besides, how else would I have found out about the third member of "Captain & Tenille"?

Unless any of you VERY opinionated folks have ever attempted to write (or sing) a song for the consumption of anyone but your children, ease up a bit. A song can be inspired by ANY subject, monumental or trivial, and if it's heard, someone, somewhere will probably relate to it. And remember, if you're talking about it up here, it had a lot of impact at one time, and it also made lots of money! EL

... Its funny how we have maybe a dozen pages of "worst" songs sent in by visitors, and hundreds of "best of" song list pages, yet the "worst of" pages are 90% of our mail! Thanks for writing EL!
-Music Guy

Anita15136@aol.com writes:
Hello, my name is Anita and I am in desperate search of a song but the problem is that I can only remember a line of the song which is "when love walks out that door". I believe that it was either the mid to late 80's or early 90's but can't be sertain. Please help by sending me the name and artis if available. thanks so much.

Hi Anita,
Hmmm.
Love walking out the door.
That narrows it it about 650,000 songs.
I'll bet you can give me a few more hints.
Was it Rock? Fast? Slow? Country?
A Girl singer? Guy? Whole Band?
Did you see the video?
Messy? Punky? Soulful?
Did you hear it once? Many times? On the Radio?
Only on the local college station?
Hear it in a nightclub?
Dingy bar jukebox?
:-)
Phrases we get are usually not quite right, and often the opposite of what is suggested.
The first "impression" I get is "Love Walks In" by Van Halen, but I'm not a very good psychic.
Please tell me anything you can recall and I can hopefully be more help.

-Music Guy
Hate to sound CRANKY, but Anita never got my e-mail response. She didn't accept e-mail, even from our AOL account (she was also an AOL user) . If you know her, tell her that we are using her as the "bad example".
PLEASE - If you want us to look up, research and answer your questions, please be able to recieve a reply!

ena_paketo_ writes:
I need to find a song..don't know the name nor the title, I do know a few of the key phrases...what I'd like to see is a complete list of popular songs of the '90's
what the hell ..
why is this so difficult?
lol thanks Sue D. a_skyla
please reply

Dear Sue D,
We have ten pages of the most popular (requested) songs of the 90s.
That's 400 songs listed there.
We aso have dozens more listed on our "90s music" page.
Probably 500 songs from the 90s all told.
I'm sorry that you dont know the name or title of the song you are looking for.
We help hundreds of people every year with that kind of stuff, for free.
We still get complainers.
We even get people who complain, tell us that they know phrases from the song (but don't share them with us), apparently looking for answers.
THEN, they send e-mails with different "return" e-mails within the text of the letters.
What the heck?
Why do they make it so difficult?
:-)
-Music Guy

Sometimes you have to step off the cliff to see if you really know how to fly. How does one become a butterfly? You must want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar.
-Garnet110

I often think that Superman flies all the time, but he's not really flying free as we would think of it. Work. Work. Work.
I'll bet he flies when he dreams though. Really Flies.
-Music Guy

D.Rozier writes:
How about a list of songs with gay themes of the 1980s like
Homosapien by Pete Shelly, Johnny Are You Queer, Karma Chameleon, Glad to be Gay, Tainted Love
These are just a few that I can think of.

... I never thought of Homosapian & Tainted Love (A Motown original) as "gay" songs. I'll have to dust them off & give another listen. Hmmm.....
I'd have to think of a clever title, to keep my "all ages" site for all ages!
Off the top of my head I can think of the following songs...
Kissed A Girl,
People Are People,
A Boy Named Sue (well, sorta),
I Am What I Am,
I Will Survive...
If I do open a GAY section, I guess I'll also have to include a whole file on Queen, Liza Minelli, Diana Ross, Cher and Judy Garland, not to mention all those show tunes.
Then again, if I lean a little on the humorous side, that would probably offend some super straight religious zealot or a flamingly gay person.
Then I'd end up on CNN and Jerry Springer, and get totally spammed, and sued.
But, I'll think about it! - Music Guy

I have a little suggestion...
If you haven't realized, pop music isn't really "in" anymore....so instead of focusing on music most everyone wants to shut their ears too, why not change with the times and focus on people like:
smile empty soul, cold, the ataris, the alkaline trio, godsmack, linkin park, the starting line, default, disturbed, green day and many others that are actual "bands" with real music people can relate too...now I know that a lot of people do like this and your website is on worst songs, but basically, everyone is repeating themselves on these lists....maybe its time for a change.
-Tiffany (2006)

Hi Tiffany,
Thank you for your thoughtful letter.

While I agree with you in preferring bands and artists who write, produce and record their own words and music, the reality is that Madonna, Britney Spears, Beyonce, Nelly and Puff Daddy make the magazine headlines and front covers.

The same is true for CD sales. Yeah, Green Day had a hit album a few years back, and Linkin Park refreshed the teen-rock sound.
Four years ago.
Britney, Christina and Justin outsell them all, and get more radio play.
By definition, they rule pop culture, on the music side.
Nice people like yourself account for about 10% of the letters we get.
Most of it is about the people I mentioned above. Most of it positive, but a good chunk negative.
Looking at history, I can't discount the negative. Many people hated Elvis when he was new. Same with the Beatles, Led Zep, the Who, Nirvana, Run DMC, and Aerosmith (Rolling Stones wannabe's)
Even Frank Sinatra, Glenn Miller and Eminem today. Myself? I find I like (In no particular order) Dido, Pink,Franz Ferdinand, the Killers and Eminem.
I miss Sublime.
Back when I was younger, it was the Kinks, Neil Young (the Godfather of Grunge), the Clash (The foster dads of Punk), Devo (the band that invented alternative), and REM (before lead singer Michael Stipe became an artiste).
Believe it or not, I like some old "cowboy tunes" - IT'S NOT COUNTRY! - by Marty Robbins and Folk stuff by the Kingston Trio.
And there is, of course, some of those early 80s, late 70s import CDs. I just got by band like the SpizzEnergi, the Fools, "M", the Flying Lizards, the Normal and Fischer-Z.
I'd like to get some Philly New Wave band like Robert Hazard, Beru Revue and the "A's" on CD as well.
I think you're at a point in your life where you've found the bands that are singing directly to you at this moment. That is a good thing, and will, in all likelihood, change over time.
That's a good thing too. At some point, today will become the past, and you don't want to be stuck there.
Thanks for writing!
-Music Guy

Hi there,
I just wanted to let you know what a wonderful site you have created. It is amazing. I was trying to find songs from the year my step mother and my father were born to make them a cd for their birthdays and was having a horrid time. Then I found your site. It is incredible. The work that went into this must have taken ages. Thank you so much for sharing this with the world. I am going to put a link on my websites to this site if it is ok with you. I know that alot of my online and offline friends will find this an invaluable cedar chest of info.
Thanks again and waiting for your answer as to whether to link to here or not.
Love this place and I will be back again and again, for sure.
Jane
"Do what you feel in your heart to be right - for you'll be criticized anyway."

NEW RULE: Anybody with an all ages site can link with us! If you let us know, and send us a link, we may, just maybe, link back!
-Music Guy

Hello Music Guy,
I'm having a 50th anniversary party for my parents, and am trying to find music from 1953 which I can play during the party. Do you have any suggestions as to where I can find this music?
Thank you,
Nancy (Neeski22@aol.com)

ANOTHER CRANKY MOMENT - Gee,we'd love to help you Nancy, but after compiling a list & links to 10 different CD's we thought would help, it turns out you are "not accepting mail" from us, even via our AOL account.
It wasn't really wasting my time though, it just delayed my trip to the park, poisoning the pidgeons.
If anyone else has questions, we're more than happy to help. But, PLEASE, be able to accept our e-mailed answers!
Also, we'd like to point out that nearly every page has suggested CD's for that particular year or genre.

Okay, I heard the last fifteen seconds this song on the radio today that I recognized, but haven't heard for about five years. I tried to call the radio station, but the line was busy all freakin day. I guess radio isn't what it used to be. The lyrics go something like "I was meant for you and you were meant for me" My guess would be Jewel, but the voice seems a lot higher pitched. Jewel has more of a gutteral thing going on in her voice; in this song, the female sounds very shrill, for lack of a better word.
- Zee (EGRE CAN SPELL)

It was Jewel.
Her first album was much softer than she sounds today.
-Music Guy

I'd like to know where you got your information that you list on your site. Just to list some of the best songs of all time as the worst songs is irresponsible. And the information you give about some of those songs is blatantly wrong! For an example, you list that "I've never been to me was written by Kirsch and Miller. This is more wrong than I care to think! My best friend "Jeniece" wrote the song with input from Mary MacGregor! Besides, why would two men write such a song? Have you even listened to the words? As far as I'm concerned your site is completly invalidated by this and other errors listed.
-Jill

Hello Jill,
I'm sorry that you feel that the opinions of thousands of people being expressed is being irresponsible.
Our main lists (1920 through today) consist of the most requested songs of all time.
Many bands, dee-jays, and people looking for songs from those eras find them useful.
We have about 250 pages listed of "good" and/or "requested" songs.
All suggested by visitors.
The dozen or so pages listed as "worst" songs have almost entirely been written in by visitors from the site, although I have listed half a dozen of my personal non-favorites.
Thousands of suggestions, from millions of visitors.
Some people, unfamiliar with the songs, may find it helpful to know that thousands of people spent the time writing in and voting for songs that they didn't like. The consensus is, many of these songs would have been forgotten.
Benny Mardones, Charlene, and Richard Harris are the best selling CD's off our pages.
All are on the "worst" list....

... There is a saying in show business.
"There is no such thing as bad publicity".
As for "Never Been To Me", the names "Kirsch & Miller" are the ones I've seen credited for writing the sing.
They get the royalties. On the actual record, and on copywrite notices, and according to Billboard magazine, Ken Hirsch and Ron Miller wrote the song.
If your friend and Mary wrote it, they should get a good lawyer and sue those other guys for the royalties, not to mention the writing credit!
The perfectly lovely singer, Charlene, has visited our site. She had nothing bad to say, and was happy the song was remembered.
She didn't correct us on the writers either.
I have listened to the song, MULTIPLE times while transcribing it, not to mention hearing it every 15 minutes for most of 1982.
I was surprised two guys wrote it too.
On a side note, there is a group called the Waitresses. All girl songs, written from a girl's perspective, YET ALL WRITTEN BY A GUY!
Who would have thought it possible?
While I'm aware that some speeling erroes exist on Pop Culture Madness, I'm not sure what other "errors" you are talking about.
We try very hard to be factually correct.
We appreciate any real errors being brought to our attention!
Thanks for writing,
Music Guy

I think you should take the "God Bless The USA" off of that list. That's horrible how you can put that on "The worst songs of all time" some American you are.
-eko47Falcon

It's not on the official list.
it's someone's (actually many people's) opinion.
Somebody didn't like the song.
As a matter of fact, dozens of people suggested the song.
I ignored the first few requests, when I had a lot, I figured they had a right to say so.
Freedom of speech is a pretty cool thing.
I'm not shutting people down just because I don't agree with them.
That's what kind of American I am.
-Music Guy

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