Top 40

Brandon has requested specific examples of what's so great about recent top 40. I'll begin with his examples:

Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl"
Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone"
The Pussycat Dolls's "Don't Cha" (though I prefer the original Tori Alamaze version)

Plus I'll add:

Amerie's "1 Thing" (better than "Crazy in Love")
Natasha Bedingfield "These Words" (I haven't liked a pop song so much since Aaliyah's "Are You That Somebody?")
Green Day "Holiday" (the only time you're hear "sieg heil" on the radio, thankfully)
Missy Elliott's "Lose Control" (I hope this makes Cybotron rich, though my guess is Juan Atkins already has plenty of dough)

Most of the real crap is, of course, by rock bands I thought broke up months ago: Lifehouse, Nickelback, Papa Roach ... I guess Rob Thomas can't ever break up, can he?

Anyway, maybe top 40 is the wrong scope. I'd say top 40 minus most of the rock and plus a host of hip-hop and r&b. Granted, I don't listen to the radio that much, thanks to DJ iPod, but hearing something good on the pop stations these days is probably as likely as hitting a block of AC/DC or Led Zeppelin on the classic rock stations. Which means it's always worth a shot!