Yep, there was an actual science study to find out what was the catchiest song ever. You know, if your favorite and catchy song is on the radio and you won’t leave the car until the song is over. Dr. John Ashley Burgoyne of the University of Amsterdam, who is a computational musicologist, teamed up with the University of Manchester to create an online game called Hooked on Music to help determine what elements make music memorable. The game had four different modes, and after 12,000 people, the most catchy song is, drum roll please, “Wannabe” from the Spice Girls.
The second most catch song is “Mambo No. 5” from Lou Bega, l like this song!
The third most catchy song is “Eye of the Tiger” from Survivor.
And just because you wanted it, here is the entire top 20 list. The time next to the song is the amount of time it took an average person to recognize the song.
- “Wannabe,” Spice Girls – 2.29 seconds
- “Mambo No. 5,” Lou Bega – 2.48 seconds
- “Eye of the Tiger,” Survivor – 2.62 seconds
- “Just Dance,” Lady Gaga – 2.66 seconds
- “SOS,” ABBA – 2.73 seconds
- “Pretty Woman,” Roy Orbison – 2.73 seconds
- “Beat It,” Michael Jackson – 2.80 seconds
- “I Will Always Love You,” Whitney Houston – 2.83 seconds
- “Don’t You Want Me,” The Human League – 2.83 seconds
- “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing,” Aerosmith – 2.84 seconds
- “Poker Face,” Lady Gaga – 2.88 seconds
- “MMMbop,” Hanson – 2.89 seconds
- “It’s Now or Never,” Elvis Presley – 2.91 seconds
- “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet,” Bachman-Turner Overdrive – 2.94 seconds
- “Billie Jean,” Michael Jackson – 2.97 seconds
- “Karma Chameleon,” Culture Club – 2.99 seconds
- “Baby One More Time,” Britney Spears – 2.99 seconds
- “Devil in Disguise,” Elvis Presley – 3.01 seconds
- “Rivers of Babylon,” Boney M – 3.03 seconds
- “Candle in the Wind,” Elton John – 3.04 seconds
So, I know many of the songs on the list above. But, I also have a few catchy song favorites that were not included on the above list. First off, who can forget Gangnam Style, with now over two billion views on YouTube,
Another favorite from the 2000’s is the Baha Men song “Who Let The Dogs Out.” Since I am an animal lover, I like this song!
Who can ever forget the Los del Rio song “Macarena”, a classic!
Another favorite is the Haddaway song “What Is Love.”
Another classic song is the Wang Chung song “Everybody Have Fun Tonight.”
One of my favorite rock songs is the Korn song “Coming Undone.”
A great favorite of mine is the OutKast song “Hey Ya!”
Since I also like roads and travel, this song from the B-52’s called “Roam” is great!
Another classic and geeky song is the Soundgarden song “Black Hole Sun.”
And to wrap it up, another favorite is the Missy Elliott song “Lose Control.”
Those are some of my favorite and catchy songs. If you want to view more of my favorite songs, take a look at my favorite music videos thread on Pinterest. Click it now, you know you want too!
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