RoyalTea

keep it to pre-2000 to avoid just going to the current top 100 list and finding a song you haven't heard yet.

Sessa17

There are probably a lot of popular Nirvana songs I've never heard, they are my least favorite band of all-time.

Pretty much any top selling rap music I've never head (maybe pieces of songs but I don't know who they are).

Jason

It's going back quite a ways, but I really don't think I've ever heard "Ben" by Michael Jackson all the way through.

The Cow

Well, I took a look at a top 10 of 1999 list. Never heard of 2 thru 9:

2. No Scrubs, TLC
3. Angel of Mine, Monica
4. Heartbreak Hotel, Whitney Houston
6. Kiss Me, Sixpence None The Richer
7. Genie In a Bottle, Christina Aguilera
8. Every Morning, Sugar Ray
9. Nobody's Supposed to Be Here, Deborah Cox

Based on that, it's waaaay to big of a list to research.

Is there a most popular songs of all time list to work off to get this thread going?

Buttmunker

Try the Top 10 Songs of 1972, for any given week. Betcha there's at least three you never heard before.

In fact, I'll post the 10 best-voted songs of the year, not just the week, and you see how many you know:

01. The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, Roberta Flack *I knew this one, just because.
02. Alone Again (Naturally), Gilbert O'Sullivan *a personal favorite of mine.
03. American Pie, Don McLean *duh
04. Without You, Nilsson *one I remember hearing as a kid, not liking too much because of the "WEAKNESS OF THE MAN NOT BEING ABLE TO LIVE WITHOUT A WOMAN!! But, since I was a kid and not interested or knowledable about girls, I forgave it once I matured.
05. The Candy Man, Sammy Davis Jr. *knew of it, didn't particularily care for it. It's cute, that's all I'll say about it.
06. I Gotcha, Joe Tex *I have no idea what this song is, but I'll take a wild guess and say it's got "hillbilly spirit" all over it.
07. Lean On Me, Bill Withers *too famous, but people may only remember the remake in the 80's.
08. Baby Don't Get Hooked On Me, Mac Davis*another personal favorite of mine
09. Brand New Key, Melanie *I know this from "Boogie Nights," which came out in 1997.
10. Daddy Dont You Walk So Fast, Wayne Newton - never heard, probably because I tend to stay away from Wayne Newton. Danka Schoen is good enough for me.

Fist of Doom

Every hit song the Andrews Sisters ever recorded.

JP5683

I know all of those.

Trying to find an old list online is hard. Newer lists are all over the place.

Buttmunker

Do you consider my list a "newer list" or an "old list?"

j123vt_99

I imagine if you heard the song, you would recognize it. Particularly 2, 6 and 7.

JP5683

An old list... all that stuff was before I was born, but I still know it. As for the other list, I know 2, 6, 7 well, don't know the Monica, Whitney or Deborah Cox songs.

nothingfails

I still hear 6 and 8 on radio. TLC and Christina's songs were both quite popular too. I'm surprised Heartbreak Hotel was so huge for Whitney, I remember it but even in 1999 I heard My Love Is Your Love and the dance remix of It's Not Right But It's Okay more than that, and still to this day those two songs seem to be better remembered.

nodeerforamonth

"We Are The World". Well... haven't heard it in its entirety. Whenever it's on and I hear the chorus (I wouldn't be able to identify it otherwise), I turn it quickly.

terrible chong

anything by the Dave Matthews Band

redhenry

You've never heard "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy"? - you gotta check it out!!!

Rypro 525

you've prob heard this song
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Numanoid

There's no way to answer this thread. It's a paradox. If you've actually never heard of a particular song, how would you know that is true unless you're familiar with the tune enough to know that you've never heard it before. And if you know the tune, then you've heard it.

The best you can do is guess that you have not heard a tune based on the artist and title, but there is no way to know unless you actually hear it. I've heard a lot of tunes in my life (in restaurants, while driving, etc) that I wouldn't know was called what and performed by whom until you put those together for me somehow.

And now my brain hurts.

mndtrp

I'm not really sure how to go about replying to the question. I'm sure I've heard most of these songs somewhere, but don't know the artist and title off the top of my head.

But, I'll go out on a limb, and guess that I haven't heard all of the most popular R&B songs from 1999.

atlantamoi

This thread would make more sense if we listed a Top 40 list from a particular year. I wouldn't even have to go back that far. I'm pretty sure there are many songs from 2009 I've never heard.

redhenry

We were asked about popular songs we have not heard, not popular songs we have not heard of - there is a massive difference. Hence, it's not a paradox at all.

There are 100s of songs I have heard OF but not heard.

RyoHazuki

What he's saying is that if you've never heard the song, how would you know you didn't hear it already? Do you know the title of every song you hear in resturants, bars, stores, etc?

Red Medicine

I've never "heard" a song by 2Pac, Puff Daddy, TLC, or any other member of the mall-hip hop collective. (I mean, I may have heard them playing on commercial radio while I was out doing my groceries, but I have no idea what their songs are called or how their recorded voices sound, so I couldn't identify them.)

Still recovering from having to do an assignment on a Pink video for a university course last year.

Buttmunker

By that admission, you must also have never watched an Abbott & Costello film, one of which featured the Andrew Sisters singing Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B.

Wow, I'm so glad Rock and Roll came along to change the landscape of music. lol.

Hiro11

GAH! Consider yourself lucky. Never, ever name The Song That Must Not Be Mentioned again! This song is pure, unadultered evil. They took everything that was good about the Sundays, dumbed/watered it down about ten notches, substituted cutesyness/preciousness/mealy-mouthed saccarine sweetness and a bunch of folksy accordian. I fucking hate that song.

Ginwen

Based on this list I found of the all time best-selling songs, Diana by Paul Anka is the most popular song I've never (knowingly) heard. The number is sales in millions, and the list is old but for this question that shouldn't matter.

1 Candle In The Wind '97 Elton John 37
2 White Christmas Bing Crosby 30
3 Rock Around The Clock Bill Haley and His Comets 17
4 I Want To Hold Your Hand The Beatles 12
5 Hey Jude The Beatles 10
5 It's Now Or Never Elvis Presley 10
5 I Will Always Love You Whitney Houston 10
8 Hound Dog Elvis Presley 9
8 Diana Paul Anka 9
10 I'm A Believer The Monkees 8
10 (Everything I Do) I Do It For You The Bryan Adams 8

Based on Wikipedia it's this:
Teixeirinha "Coração de Luto" which is a folk song from 1954,

but if limiting to pop/rock and a bit more recent it's this:
Baccara "Yes Sir, I Can Boogie" which apparently sold 18 million copies in 1977.

Finally if I limit to the US it's this one:
"Low", Flo Rida featuring T-Pain none of which I've heard of but which sold over 5 million copies in the US (behind only a couple of crap tribute songs--Candle in the Wind 77 and We Are the World).

Buttmunker

I know the song Low because it was featured PROMINENTLY in the hysterically funny Tropic Thunder...........Tom Cruise dancing to this song was something I viewed in utter disbelief! He was great!

If you saw "Tropic Thunder," then you heard "Low" by Flo Rida.

Same situation with the example set with Abbott & Costello and The Andrew Sisters.