Pop music did not exactly start in 1953 but that is the farthest that my modest knowledge of it goes. Which makes it 70 years. To celebrate this, here is my list of the greatest songs year by year. From 1953 to 2022, from Big Mama Thornton to Florence Welch. Sometimes the choice was agonisingly difficult (like preferring "Sunny Goodge Street" to "Sinnerman" for 1965) but overall I would say I did not lose sleep over it.
1953. "Hound Dog" by Big Mama Thornton
1954. "Sh-Boom" by The Chords
1955. "Thirteen Women" by Bill Haley & The Comets
1956. "Downbound Train" by Chuck Berry
1957. "Peggy Sue" by Buddy Holly
1958. "Rumble" by Link Wray
1959. "Sligo River Blues" by John Fahey
1960. "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" by The Shirelles
1961. "(Marie's The Name) His Latest Flame" by Elvis Presley
1962. "Tous les Garçons et les Filles" by Françoise Hardy
1963. "Girl From The North Country" by Bob Dylan
1964. "She's Not There" by The Zombies
1965. "Sunny Goodge Street" by Donovan
1966. "I'm Only Sleeping" by The Beatles
1967. "(Do I Figure) In Your Life" by Honeybus
1968. "Summertime" by Big Brother & The Holding Company
1969. "Candy Says" by The Velvet Underground
1970. "Waiting For The Sun" by The Doors
1971. "Jesus Was A Crossmaker" by Judee Sill
1972. "Reelin' In The Years" by Steely Dan
1973. "In Every Dream Home A Heartache" by Roxy Music
1974. "The End Of The Rainbow" by Richard & Linda Thompson
1975. "Free Money" by Patti Smith
1976. "Achilles Last Stand" by Led Zeppelin
1977. "Blank Generation" by Richard Hell & The Voidoids
1978. "Another Girl, Another Planet" by The Only Ones
1979. "Jumping Someone Else's Train" by The Cure
1980. "Going Underground" by The Jam
1981. "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye" by Soft Cell
1982. "Leave It Open" by Kate Bush
1983. "Musette and Drums" by Cocteau Twins
1984. "Androgynous" by The Replacements
1985. "Field Of Glass" by The Triffids
1986. "Brilliant Mind" by Furniture
1987. "The Clarke Sisters" by The Go-Betweens
1988. "New Big Prinz" by The Fall
1989. "Nothing To Be Done" by The Pastels
1990. "Queen Elvis" by Robyn Hitchcock
1991. "Фа-фа" by Auktsyon
1992. "I Know It's Gonna Happen Someday" by Morrissey
1993. "Razzamatazz" by Pulp
1994. "Me And My Charms" by Kristin Hersh
1995. "When We Were Young" by Whipping Boy
1996. "Unsolved Child Murder" by The Auteurs
1997. "Downer" by Edwyn Collins
1998. "Louisiana" by The Church
1999. "Pink Cigarette" by Mr. Bungle
2000. "The Facts Of Life" by Black Box Recorder
2001. "Never Work" by Luke Haines
2002. "The Good Old Days" by The Libertines
2003. "Murrow Turning Over In His Grave" by Fleetwood Mac
2004. "The One You Love" by Rufus Wainwright
2005. "The Bleeding Heart Show" by The New Pornographers
2006. "Bird Of Cuzco" by Nina Nastasia
2007. "The Magic Position" by Patrick Wolf
2008. "Soul On Fire" by Spiritualized
2009. "Ave Maria" by Rowland S. Howard
2010. "Deep Blue" by Arcade Fire
2011. "Under Cover Of Darkness" by The Strokes
2012. "I'm Not Talking" by A.C. Newman
2013. "Picacho Peak" by Howe Gelb
2014. "Living Signs" by Cold Specks
2015. "Nobody's Empire" by Belle & Sebastian
2016. "Rings Of Saturn" by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
2017. "Prince of Tears" by Baxter Dury
2018. "The Gypsy Faerie Queen" by Marianne Faithfull
2019. "Big" by Fontaines D.C.
2020. "Fine" by Will Butler
2021. "The Constable" by Sloppy Jane
2022. "Free" by Florence + The Machine
