Top of the pops

What is the best-ever pop song? We all have our favourites, but scientists believe they can produce one that everyone will like. An algorithm developed at the University of California after studying 500,000 songs that made the UK top 100 singles charts between January 1985 and July 2015 has concluded that the optimum components are a female singer, a relaxed feeling and a rhythm that listeners can take to the dance floor. The team found that, over the years, there have been fewer happy songs but those that made it to the top of the charts tended to be more upbeat and sung by women. But had their research gone back far enough, they would have found the formula in Lulu’s 1969 Eurovision Song Contestwinning entry, Boom Bang a Bang. That would have saved them listening to half a million songs.