Fire Burning
2009
RedOne produced it with Bilal Hajji, a dance-floor emergency that peaked at number five and opened Miss Universe.
★ 1.2
The Songs canon
Sourced and sung.
Every song chosen by hand, with the recording to play it.
Browse all 2,393 songs or filter by genre, subject, artist, and year.
Browse all 2,393 songs or filter by genre, subject, artist, and year.
You Got It (The Right Stuff)
1988
Maurice Starr wrote and produced it, Jordan Knight and Donnie Wahlberg took the leads, and Britain crowned it a year later.
★ 1.3
Turn Me On (David Guetta)
2011
Ester Dean's writing put Minaj on a hook rather than a verse, and matched Guetta's best American chart placing.
★ 1.6
Sexy Chick
David Guetta and Akon
2009
A chance meeting, a rented London studio, one night's work, and Guetta's first American top five.
★ 1.8
Replay
2009
Sean Kingston's team turned it down, so Iyaz took it to number one in Britain and number two at home.
★ 1.9
Every Little Thing I Do
1994
Heavy D and Poke and Tone looped the Gap Band's "Outstanding," and the eldest brother took the lead vocal.
★ 2.1
Only In My DreamsDebbie Gibson
Only In My Dreams
1986
Gibson wrote it in 1984, Fred Zarr produced, Louie Vega mixed, and she was sixteen at its release.
★ 2.1
Hey, Soul Sister
2009
Espen Lind swapped a ukulele in for the guitar line, and Monahan's Burning Man daydream became Train's biggest hit.
★ 2.5
Bubbly
2007
American Idol turned her down twice, once with this very song, and MySpace made her a star instead.
★ 2.6
DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love
2010
Rihanna's team turned it down for Loud, and Usher took it to number four with Pitbull along for the ride.
★ 2.7
You and Me
2005
Cut at John Alagia's home studio in Maryland, it topped Adult Pop Songs for nine weeks and became a wedding standard.
★ 2.7
All for You
1997
Cut at Ardent Studios in Memphis, re-recorded in 1997 for the band's second album, and a number eleven hit.
★ 2.9
E.T.
Katy Perry and Kanye West
2011
Dr. Luke and Max Martin built the dubstep stomp at Conway; West's verses took it to number one.
★ 2.9
DizzyTommy Roe
Dizzy
1969
Eleven key changes, Hal Blaine and the Wrecking Crew behind them, four weeks at number one.
★ 3.1
Cooler than Me
2010
Recorded on cheap gear in a college dorm room, co-written with Big Sean, and a number six hit.
★ 3.1
Hungry Eyes
1987
Previte and DeNicola wrote it in 1984; Carmen cut it in an Ohio studio and Dirty Dancing did the rest.
★ 3.2
Diggin' on You
1995 · From CrazySexyCool
Babyface wrote and produced it at the Music Grinder, and T-Boz makes a summer crush sound effortless.
★ 3.3
I Love Your SmileShanice
I Love Your Smile
1991
Branford Marsalis blowing a jazz solo across Narada Michael Walden's production, and Shanice sounds like she is actually smiling.
★ 3.9
MickeyToni Basil
Mickey
1982
A Racey album track called "Kitty" until Basil switched the gender, added the cheer chant, and directed the video herself.
★ 4.0
My Boo
1996
Bass from Atlanta, an R&B vocal on top, and a 2016 dance craze that beat its 1996 chart peak.
★ 4.1
Take My Breath Away
1986
Whitlock met Moroder by fixing his Ferrari, then wrote the lyric driving home; Nunn took it to number one.
★ 4.2
I Want CandyBow Wow Wow
I Want Candy
1982
Criteria Studios in Miami, Kenny Laguna producing, the Strangeloves' 1965 hook over Barbarossa's Bo Diddley drums.
★ 4.2
Hey Lover
LL Cool J and Boyz II Men
1995 · From Mr. Smith
Trackmasters looped Michael Jackson's The Lady in My Life, Boyz II Men sang the hook, and LL won a Grammy.
★ 4.2
Candy Girl
1983
Maurice Starr built New Edition as an answer to the Jackson 5, and this hit number one in Britain.
★ 4.2
867 5309 Jenny
1981
Alex Call says there was no Jenny, just a backyard afternoon, four chords and seven digits America dialed for decades.
★ 4.3
Cool It Now
1984
A LinnDrum, five Boston teenagers, and a spoken bridge calling out Ronnie, Bobby, Ricky and Mike by name.
★ 4.4
She Blinded Me With ScienceThomas Dolby
She Blinded Me With Science
1982
Dolby storyboarded the video before writing a note, then had TV scientist Magnus Pyke shout the title's last word.
★ 4.5
Crush
1998
Eight minutes on the album, four on the radio, and Tinsley learned his violin solo the day before.
★ 4.6
Fascination
1983 · From Fascination!
Martin Rushent's last Human League production for seven years, with four band members trading lines over a restless synth hook.
★ 4.7
A Thousand Miles
2002
Carlton built that piano figure in about an hour and titled it Interlude; her label insisted on something catchier.
★ 4.8
Centerfold
1980
Justman, the band's keyboardist, wrote it, and his synth hook took a Worcester blues band to six weeks at number one.
★ 5.0
Stacy's Mom
2003
Schlesinger owned up to this one, chasing the Cars; Ocasek assumed the intro was sampled from Just What I Needed.
★ 5.1
Tell Me
1995
Larrieux's feathery lead over Bryce Wilson's interpolation of the Mary Jane Girls, and neo soul had its blueprint.
★ 5.2
Earned It
2014
Stephan Moccio's piano under strings that swing in six-eight, and Tesfaye's first Hot 100 top five.
★ 5.2
Call Me Maybe
2012
A folk song on tour until Josh Ramsay poppified it, then nine weeks at the top of the Hot 100.
★ 5.5
Lisztomania
2009 · From Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Heine coined the word for Liszt's swooning fans, and Philippe Zdar gave these guitars their chrome shine.
★ 5.5
Lucky Star
1983 · From Madonna
Written on a Casiotone the DJ Mark Kamins gave her, finished by Jellybean Benitez, and Madonna's first top five.
★ 5.5
Girl
2005 · From Guero
Thirteen seconds of chiptune open it, and the Dust Brothers built the rest around Beck jamming acoustic guitar.
★ 5.6
Dilemma
Nelly and Kelly Rowland
2002
Bowser's beat interpolates Patti LaBelle, Kelly Rowland sings the hook, and it spent ten weeks at number one.
★ 5.7
Closer
2012
Greg Kurstin's four-on-the-floor and mid-nineties Erasure worship turned the Quins into a dance-chart number one.
★ 5.7
Upside Down
1980
Rodgers and Edwards wrote the groove, Ross remixed the album to lift her vocal, and it topped the Hot 100.
★ 5.7
Spanish Harlem
1960
Cut at the October 1960 session that also produced Stand by Me, with Stoller's marimba triplets carrying everything.
★ 5.8
Me Gustas Tu
2000 · From Proxima Estacion: Esperanza
Three guitar chords, spoken city names saluting Havana's Radio Reloj, and a list of small pleasures that lands on you.
★ 5.8
Instant Crush
2013 · From Random Access Memories
A vocoder over a Strokes drawl: Casablancas welded two Daft Punk demos together and sang about a chance he missed.
★ 5.8
Scarlet Begonias
1974 · From From the Mars Hotel
Hunter set his lyric in Grosvenor Square, and from 1977 the Dead ran it straight into Fire on the Mountain.
★ 5.9
Honey
1997
Puff Daddy shaping the hook, the Ummah programming the drums, Carey's third record to debut at number one.
★ 6.0
I Ran (So Far Away)
1982
Battery Studios, London: the echoing riffs were written for a guitarist who had just joined, and they still sound airborne.
★ 6.1
How Will I Know
1985 · From Whitney Houston
A demo Janet Jackson's camp turned down, which Houston rode to number one over her cousin Dionne Warwick.
★ 6.2
Head Over HeelsTears for Fears
Head Over Heels
1985 · From Songs from the Big Chair
Ian Stanley wrote the motif, Orzabal added melody and words, and the chorus arrives like a door kicked open.
★ 6.3
Crimson and Clover
1968
Five hours on brand-new sixteen-track, with a vocal fed through an Ampeg amp's tremolo for that shimmering close.
★ 6.3
Fantasy
1995
Tom Tom Club's Genius of Love, flipped by Dave Hall, and Carey the first woman to debut at number one.
★ 6.3
Linger
1993
Stephen Street produced it, the Duke Quartet supplied the strings, and O'Riordan wrote the melody at her audition.
★ 6.5
Super Bass
2011
Kane Beatz's synth bounce, a bonus track buried on the Pink Friday deluxe, and Minaj's first solo top ten.
★ 6.5
Just Can't Get Enough
1981 · From Speak & Spell
Daniel Miller sequenced it on a Roland MC-4, Vince Clarke's last single for the band and still a terrace chant.
★ 6.6
I Can't Explain
1964
Straightforward Kink copying, by Townshend's own admission, with the Ivy League on harmonies and Shel Talmy at the desk.
★ 6.6
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
1981 · From Ghost in the Machine
Four years in Sting's drawer before The Police cut it, and Jean Roussel's piano overdubs are why it soars.
★ 6.8
There She GoesThe La's
There She Goes
1990
Bob Andrews cut it in 1988 to no interest; Lillywhite's remix made it Britpop's founding jangle.
★ 6.8
I Saw Her Standing There
1963 · From Please Please Me
Martin spliced McCartney's count-in from take nine onto take one, and rock and roll never had a better doorway.
★ 6.8
Da Doo Ron Ron
1963
Nonsense syllables meant to be replaced by real words, La La Brooks on lead, and Spector's Gold Star thunder.
★ 7.0
Like a HurricaneNeil Young
Like a Hurricane
1977 · From American Stars 'n Bars
Young wrote it on doctor-ordered voice rest, whistling the melody, then chased Sampedro's Stringman chords for eight electric minutes.
★ 7.0
Cinnamon GirlNeil Young
Cinnamon Girl
1969 · From Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
Written in Topanga during a 103-degree fever, double drop D tuning, and a solo that stays on one note.
★ 7.0
Be-Bop-A-Lula
1956
Cut in Nashville as a B-side, flipped by radio, and Cliff Gallup's guitar breaks took it to number seven.
★ 7.1
All Shook Up
1957
A shaken Pepsi bottle gave Blackwell the title, and Presley's version held number one for two solid months.
★ 7.3
Why Do Fools Fall In Love
1956
Herman Santiago built it from a neighbor's love letters; Lymon, thirteen, took the lead and the credit fight ran decades.
★ 7.3
Killing Me Softly With His Song (Fugees)Fugees
Killing Me Softly With His Song (Fugees)
1996 · From The Score
Pras suggested the cover, the beat lifts Tribe's Bonita Applebum, and Hill sings it like she wrote it herself.
★ 7.5
Wild Thing (The Troggs)
1966
Ten minutes at the end of somebody else's session, and an ocarina solo standing in for a hand whistle.
★ 7.5
Can't Take My Eyes Off of You
1967
Two quiet verses, then Artie Schroeck's brass kicks the door in, and Valli's solo single stalled one place from number one.
★ 7.6
Peggy SueBuddy Holly and the Crickets
Peggy Sue
1957
Cut in Clovis as "Cindy Lou" until Allison's girlfriend got the title, and his paradiddles never let up.
★ 7.7
I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)
1965
Dozier lifted the title from his grandfather flirting in a beauty shop, and Stubbs sings it like a plea.
★ 7.7
Just Like Heaven
1987 · From Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me
Smith traced it to a day at Beachy Head with Mary Poole; Williams sped the tempo, adding the opening fill.
★ 7.7
You Send MeSam Cooke
You Send Me
1957 · From Sam Cooke
Cooke credited it to his brother L.C. to dodge his publisher, then carried it to number one on both charts.
★ 7.8
When a Man Loves a WomanPercy Sledge
When a Man Loves a Woman
1966
Sledge gave the writing credits away to two bandmates, and Atlantic pressed the take with the out-of-tune horns.
★ 7.9
Oh, Pretty Woman
1964
Claudette said she was going out, Dees answered that a pretty woman never needs money, and the riff followed.
★ 8.2
You Really Got MeThe Kinks
You Really Got Me
1964 · From Kinks
Dave Davies took a razor blade to his little Elpico amp's speaker cone, and distortion arrived on British radio.
★ 8.3
Crazy in Love
2003
Rich Harrison looped a Chi-Lites horn fanfare; Jay-Z turned up at three in the morning and improvised his verse.
★ 8.8