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What are the most memorable synth hooks?


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Nick Rhodes' recurring eastern-sounding pitch-bend flourish on Duran Duran's "Save a Prayer" is very distinctive.

 

[video:youtube]

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A few other modern offerings:

 

(Starts on strings but goes to synth, then to AP before cycling back)

 

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Many to pick from here, although they are moreso fantastic writers/producers than prodigious players, so it's a lot of great interlocking little hooks and riffs

 

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A modern classic, again so much to choose from here

 

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Always loved the post-chorus line, intricate enough for the average listener to probably consider it a solo, plenty of great synth work in the rest of her material as well

 

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One of the biggest songs of the past twenty years, got both the saw stabs and the post-chorus octave thing

 

[video:youtube]

 

The definition of late 00's synthy indie rock

 

[video:youtube]

 

Somewhat off the top of my head, there are obviously plenty more out there.

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Well, the 80's is also when synth was king.

 

It's king today. What little I've heard of today's pop music sounds synth-dominant. I mostly just hear it when I'm flipping through radio stations when driving out for a grocery run or other quick errand. When I'm home I've got too many other options for music listening.

 

I just can't think of memorable synth hooks from current (less than 5 year old) US pop music.

 

Ah, but '80s music still cherished melody - both in vocal and instrumental terms. That's not quite the case today, with only a handful of exceptions.

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Okay most of the iconic '80s tunes were already mentioned...yet there's still so many not yet mentioned:

 

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[video:youtube]

 

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For more modern selections:

 

[video:youtube]

 

[video:youtube]

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Well, the 80's is also when synth was king.

 

It's king today. What little I've heard of today's pop music sounds synth-dominant. I mostly just hear it when I'm flipping through radio stations when driving out for a grocery run or other quick errand. When I'm home I've got too many other options for music listening.

 

I just can't think of memorable synth hooks from current (less than 5 year old) US pop music.

 

Ah, but '80s music still cherished melody - both in vocal and instrumental terms. That's not quite the case today, with only a handful of exceptions.

 

I'm learning some melodies that I cherish and find quite beautiful, that are found in certain music titles released sometime in 2015 and later, but they're not American pop music melodies. Also, none of this music has synth hooks, and this is not on-topic.

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Just remembered this one. I don't recall hearing it on the radio. I was turned on to it by my bandmates, years after I stopped relying on regular radio to find music. The hook seems to fit the description of a "hook" in the below article.

 

What is a Hook? article on NPR.

 

Released in the US around 2010 as I recall.

 

[video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZupOMeyzgI

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Kansas - Song For America

Billy Preston - Space Race

Midnight Star - No Parking On The Dance Floor

The fact there's a Highway To Hell and only a Stairway To Heaven says a lot about anticipated traffic numbers

 

People only say "It's a free country" when they're doing something shitty-Demetri Martin

 

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the region for this song is like, every single setting in which a DJ (or band with a frontperson who can rap) is employed to entertain a crowd ever on Earth in the US.

 

corrected ;)

 

Of course we knew the song here in EU, but it was more like a one-season hit and it's pretty much forgotten now... and here Usher was just "another one of those rappers-DJs" (they all sound pretty much the same to our ears) and not the divinity he's in the States.

Just imagine that in these parts Taylor Swift or Kanye are not really that big...meaning that you will find LOTS people who've simply never heard of them.

The world is still a big place, fortunately.

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the region for this song is like, every single setting in which a DJ (or band with a frontperson who can rap) is employed to entertain a crowd ever on Earth in the US in the the US and internationally.

 

re-corrected ;)

 

Not wanting to start an international incident, but sharing the below from Usher's Wikipedia page. Accepting your point he's not that big in the EU, then the international sales must be elsewhere, i.e. other parts of North & South America and APAC.

 

"Usher has sold 23.8 million albums and 38.2 million digital songs in the United States. Internationally, he has sold 80 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time."

Some music I've recorded and played over the years with a few different bands

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My memory failed me and I forgot to perform an analysis on the premise of this thread.

 

One needs to define "memorable" in order to correctly and accurately respond. As such, the definition of memorable is "worth remembering". Applying that definition to this thread, the most memorable should equate to the most sold, or the most viewed. This is an appropriate application, as memorable can be short and/or long term.

 

Applying this equation, the most memorable synth hooks are as follows:

- Thriller (most albums sold all time)*

- Baby Shark Dance (2nd most youtube views)**

 

I am pleased to provide this service to the community for no charge. This has now been definitively and scientifically proven, so this matter can now be considered closed, as there is no other possible response. Moderators, please lock this thread.

 

 

*I didn't drill down to singles, as that would have taken at least 1 more minute of research, and I don't have that time

**Despacito is #1, but I didn't hear any synth in the first 30 seconds, which is all I could take

Some music I've recorded and played over the years with a few different bands

Tommy Rude Soundcloud

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the region for this song is like, every single setting in which a DJ (or band with a frontperson who can rap) is employed to entertain a crowd ever on Earth in the US in the the US and internationally.

 

re-corrected ;)

 

Not wanting to start an international incident, but sharing the below from Usher's Wikipedia page. Accepting your point he's not that big in the EU, then the international sales must be elsewhere, i.e. other parts of North & South America and APAC.

 

"Usher has sold 23.8 million albums and 38.2 million digital songs in the United States. Internationally, he has sold 80 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time."

 

Yeah, I mean, there's plenty of songs in this thread that I don't recognize either, particularly some of the older material :idk: Like I said, everyone can't know everything, but this song is clearly a huge hit in many places, including all over the US, where the original posters all are. I don't live in the US, but I suppose I can understand getting lumped in on a pop culture basis.

 

Regardless, here's a little copy-pasting from Wiki (sorry if I'm belabouring the point, I'm clearly just procrastinating from real life here):

 

"Yeah!" became the best-performing single of 2004 in the United States.[31] The single ranked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Songs,[32] and second on the Hot 100 decade-end chart, behind Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together".[33] By September 2013, the song had sold 4 million copies in the US.[34]

 

Internationally, "Yeah!" received a similar response, topping several charts. In Australia, the song topped the chart on the week of April 4, 2004 for one week. It remained on it for only seven weeks before dropping out, and was certified 5× platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for selling 350,000 units.[35] In New Zealand, "Yeah!" had a better chart performance, peaking at number one for four non-consecutive weeks. It remained on the chart for twenty-seven weeks before dropping and was certified two times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ).[36] In Switzerland and Austria, "Yeah!" peaked at number one and remained on the charts for thirty-eight and thirty-six weeks, respectively, and was certified gold in both countries.[37][38] The song topped the charts in Denmark for three weeks, remaining on the chart for seventeen weeks.[39] In Netherlands, "Yeah!" remained number one for four weeks,[40] and in Norway for seven weeks.[41] The song remained number one in Ireland for two weeks,[42] and number one for one week in France[43] and the United Kingdom.[44] In the latter country, by March 4, 2010, "Yeah!" had sold 434,739 copies.[45]

 

Compared to other countries, "Yeah!" under performed in Finland, where it stayed on the charts for four weeks and peaked at number seventeen,[46] and Spain where it peaked at number thirteen.[47] The song did not top the charts in Italy and Sweden where it peaked at number three and four,[48][49] respectively, and Belgium (Flanders) and Hungary where it charted at number two.[50][51] Overall, the single remained on several charts worldwide for one year, from early 2004 to 2005.[28][52] On the 2004 year-end charts, "Yeah!" became the twenty-eighth best-selling single in Australia,[53] and twenty-sixth in France.[54] It peaked in the top-ten on the year-end charts in Austria,[55] Belgium (Flanders),[56] Belgium (Wallonia),[57] Netherlands,[58] Ireland,[59] Switzerland[60] and the United Kingdom.[61]

 

There's more info on there about US performance and certifications per country, awards, usage in movies and all that but I hope my point is made...

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One needs to define "memorable" in order to correctly and accurately respond.

Yeah, people have definitely interpreted the question in different ways.

 

To me it meant, you play this synth bit a gig, and the majority of the audience thinks "oh yeah, I recognize that." (Though even then, yes, it is from a U.S. perspective.)

 

Anyway, coincidentally, I came across this...

 

https://flypaper.soundfly.com/discover/songs-with-iconic-synth-sounds/

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