best teen-pop song actually written by a teenager?

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OMG I can't believe I forgot the all time best winner of this category ever -- Debbie Gibson, surely for Shake Your Love, Out Of The Blue, Foolish Beat.

She was a prefab dance-pop wave-rider who WROTE HER OWN SONGS. Now go write yr own...

Sterling Clover (s_clover), Wednesday, 28 August 2002 04:19 (twenty-one years ago) link

Sterling, I mentioned her in the third post of this thread!

Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 28 August 2002 12:16 (twenty-one years ago) link

Rockist answer: Teenage Kicks.

thom west (thom w), Wednesday, 28 August 2002 12:36 (twenty-one years ago) link

The Shirelles "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" (written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin when King was about 18).

Frank Kogan (Frank Kogan), Thursday, 29 August 2002 05:45 (twenty-one years ago) link

X-Ray Spex! X-Ray Spex!

Carey, Thursday, 29 August 2002 12:37 (twenty-one years ago) link

Michael Brown of the Left Banke was 17 when "Walk Away Renee" was a hit.

Curt (cgould), Thursday, 29 August 2002 13:53 (twenty-one years ago) link

MMMBop by Hanson

Jeff (Jeff), Thursday, 29 August 2002 16:40 (twenty-one years ago) link

didnt leslie gore and the shangri las have a hand in the writing. god leslie gore is good to grate.

anthony easton (anthony), Friday, 30 August 2002 00:54 (twenty-one years ago) link

"Going to Pasalacqua" by Green Day

Kris (aqueduct), Friday, 30 August 2002 03:02 (twenty-one years ago) link

I don't think any Shangri-La was ever involved in writing their songs, Anthony. They certainly aren't credited on any of the hits.

Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Friday, 30 August 2002 16:27 (twenty-one years ago) link

Bingo by Catch.

Slump Man (Slump Man), Friday, 30 August 2002 22:47 (twenty-one years ago) link

fifteen years pass...

Old thread! I came up with a list of favorites..., with several songs mentioned in this thread.

morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 12 January 2018 19:35 (six years ago) link

Surprised no one mentioned Laura Nyro here. She was 19 when her first lp came out and it contained three future top 10 hits by other artists.

btw I doubt Corina recorded "Tempation" as a teen - my source says she was born in '63

Josefa, Friday, 12 January 2018 21:13 (six years ago) link

just popping in to say that lorde sucks! kthx

#TeamHailing (imago), Friday, 12 January 2018 21:21 (six years ago) link

Soto's list seems p decent though, gj

#TeamHailing (imago), Friday, 12 January 2018 21:22 (six years ago) link

Beyonce was 19 when "Bootylicous" was released

AdamVania (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 12 January 2018 21:30 (six years ago) link

Lisa Lisa was 16 when "I Wonder If I Take You Home" and "Can You Feel the Beat" came out (did not write them, p sure)

Josefa, Friday, 12 January 2018 21:40 (six years ago) link

Van wrote "Gloria" when he was 18.

that's not my post, Friday, 12 January 2018 22:18 (six years ago) link

If Will You Love Me Tomorrow is the greatest pop song ever then it's also the best teen pop song written by a teenager.

abcfsk, Friday, 12 January 2018 22:27 (six years ago) link

Most of it ain't bubbly but do not sleep on Janis Ian's early material. Astoundingly precocious and legitimately good. She wrote 'Society's Child' at 13!

the smartest persin in the room (Old Lunch), Friday, 12 January 2018 22:37 (six years ago) link

('At Seventeen' was the middle-aged rumination she dropped at the crusty old age of 24, after a decade in the biz.)

the smartest persin in the room (Old Lunch), Friday, 12 January 2018 22:39 (six years ago) link

Absolute must for this thread: the Chantels (still 15 when their first singles were released in 1957). More obscure: Margaret Mandolph (13) and the incredible "I Wanna Make You Happy."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6voP88PZEk

clemenza, Friday, 12 January 2018 22:55 (six years ago) link

(I think that's Bread's David Gates with the production credit--the single came out in 1965.)

clemenza, Friday, 12 January 2018 22:57 (six years ago) link

If Will You Love Me Tomorrow is the greatest pop song ever then it's also the best teen pop song written by a teenager.

I think this might win, although Goffin was 21! I had no idea they were so young

Colonel Poo, Friday, 12 January 2018 23:15 (six years ago) link

"Gimme Some Lovin'"

Newb Sybok (Doctor Casino), Friday, 12 January 2018 23:17 (six years ago) link

What I meant to say above was that Arelene Smith of the Chantels was 15--the rest of them were older, I think.

clemenza, Saturday, 13 January 2018 02:48 (six years ago) link

Question Mark & The Mysterians - 96 Tears

AdamVania (Adam Bruneau), Saturday, 13 January 2018 03:54 (six years ago) link

Prince promoted the song by lip-syncing it with his band on The Midnight Special and American Bandstand, where he gave host Dick Clark an awkward interview, answering his questions with one-word answers.[4] Prince claimed to be 19 but was 21 at the time. Clark later said, "That was one of the most difficult interviews I've ever conducted, and I've done 10,000 musician interviews."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Wanna_Be_Your_Lover

was going to suggest Prince "I Wanna Be Your Lover" but

AdamVania (Adam Bruneau), Saturday, 13 January 2018 03:56 (six years ago) link

If Will You Love Me Tomorrow is the greatest pop song ever then it's also the best teen pop song written by a teenager.

I think this might win, although Goffin was 21! I had no idea they were so young

― Colonel Poo, Friday, 12 January 2018 23:15 (yesterday) Permalink

this is what immediately came to mind. the best. carole king is the absolute best.

the early / mid 1960s stuff is so so so essential.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kY3gr_d8kCg

and this brenda lee cover

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knrJDz05dcM

budo jeru, Saturday, 13 January 2018 04:09 (six years ago) link

Jackie DeShannon - Buddy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGoEH2Yve8w

she wasn't an established songwriter at the time, but I can easily imagine this becoming a hit if she'd pitched it to someone like Brenda Lee or Wanda Jackson. she wrote the underrated Brenda Lee song Funny Feelin a few years later when she was 19.

jesus and figs and science and the foo fighters (unregistered), Sunday, 14 January 2018 22:50 (six years ago) link

How 'bout "Shivers" by Rowland S Howard?

attention vampire (MatthewK), Sunday, 14 January 2018 23:51 (six years ago) link


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