![]() Image Credit: Total Guitar/Future/Shutterstock “Letter From an Occupant” set the indie-rock world ablaze as the standout hit on their near-perfect debut LP, Mass Romantic. ![]() ![]() The members of the NPs had been kicking around the Vancouver music scene for a while (Newman fronted the fine Nineties band Zumpano, Dan Bejar was in Destroyer, and Case was becoming a star on the alt-country scene), and they came together to make something that felt thrillingly organic and exuberantly their own. “It sounds like it must mean something.” The finest power-pop band of the 21st century got off to a smashing start in 2000 with this haloed haymaker of swirling guitar static and overheated drum pump, driven forward by Neko Case‘s five-alarm lead vocal. “I don’t know what a ‘letter from an occupant’ is, but I’m hoping that I will figure it out at some point,” said Carl Newman of the New Pornographers. Image Credit: Wendy Redfern/Redferns/Getty Images The New Pornographers, “Letter From an Occupant”.Diddy,” gets a co-sign from the multihyphenate himself, who delivers some swaggy ad-libs on the first verse. Bonus points: The song’s opening-line tribute, “Feelin’ like P. It was a breath of accessible fresh air, kicking the era’s reigning pristine pop glamour to the curb with a thrifted cowboy boot. The song is the perfect time capsule of sleazy early-aughts electro-pop, with Kesha’s attuned rap-singing over a beeping club beat. That’s the basis of “Tik Tok,” her first official single (though she could be heard as the uncredited vocalist on Flo Rida’s hit from earlier in 2009, “Right Round”). The key to a Kesha party is simple: She has never needed too many accoutrements beyond cheap beer, cute boys, and good music. Image Credit: Fairchild Archive/Penske Media/Shutterstock “When I wrote and played ‘She’s Not There,’ the last thing on my mind was jazz or Miles,” said Argent, “but those things filtered through.” J.D. Colin Blunstone’s bleary delivery, Rod Argent’s spooky organ, and a spiraling jazz-steeped breakdown already seemed to hint toward the psychedelic possibilities the Zombies would explore a few years later on their classic LP Odyssey and Oracle. One of the catchiest British Invasion hits, and one of the most innovative, pushing outside Beatlesque cheer with its airy groove. Image Credit: GAB Archive/Redferns/Getty Images Those folks were clearly in the minority, since “Achy Breaky Heart” hit Number Four, went platinum, and helped shift the trajectory of country music. His recording of Don Von Tress’ “Achy Breaky Heart” - a goofy, smirking honky-tonk tune built off of two repeating chords - became a massive crossover smash and kick-started global interest in line dancing, to the dismay of staunch traditionalists. Lil Nas X knew exactly what he was doing when he recruited Billy Ray Cyrus for a remix of “Old Town Road.” Back in 1992, Cyrus had cracked things wide open for country music with his own debut single. ![]() The list we ended up with is heavily titled toward singles that became building blocks to great careers, though there are a couple of seismic one-hit wonders here as well - after all, there’s something to be said for perfecting your musical vision in three minutes, remaking the world, and getting out of the way to let future generations make sense of the mess you’ve created. We also gave a pass to a couple of artists who put out local records no one heard or promotional singles that weren’t available commercially. But singles by new bands that happened to include established artists (like Public Image Ltd) were fair game, as were bands that had released music under a previous name or in an earlier form, like the Grateful Dead, CCR, and New Order. We decided that solo debuts by well-known artists didn’t count (so classics like Lauryn Hill’s “Doo-Wop (That Thing)” or Snoop Doggy Dogg’s “Who I Am (What’s My Name)” weren’t eligible). Unlike debut albums, there’s some gray area involved in determining exactly what constitutes a debut single. ![]() A great debut single is the opening line in a conversation you never want to end, and hearing a band or artist get it right on their first try is one of the greatest thrills in music. ![]()
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