Foreign pop hit songs

Do they have to be recent, OP?

I love this one.

This one too

Anything YOU LIKED that was foreign is fine.

Rita Mitsuko

i just cant hear French.

Fwench

Perfect for a rainy day.

i love German

Then for you R8

I enjoy traveling around the word and listening to the pop hits in every country. So much never gets heard in the US

R10 not unless its CUNTry or Rap

Jolin Tsai’s Honey Trap. She’s a Taiwanese.

HYUNA - 'Bubble Pop!'

Isaac Delusion - "She Pretends"

An oldie: "Is dit alles?" by Doe Maar (the Netherlands)

L'Imperatrice - Agitations Tropicales

Vaya con dios - Nah neh nah

Tu vuò fa L'Americano Remix

Probably not everybody's cup of tea, but this one of my favorite songs. It is what I listen to when I am stressed. I also love how joyful the conductor is. By the second week of Top of the Pops, he was not enjoying it as much.

good pop song that didn't get attention

Thank you! R17

you're welcome, this is actually the remix I meant to post.

The Fabulous Kessler Sisters doing Quando, Quando, Quando and in Scopitone.

Aventura - Obsesion

Lol @ OP’s link!

Those lyrics are h y s t e r I c a l.

Amaral - El Universo Sobre Mi

Yelle again

This is the original version of Tanze Samba mit Mir. It was quite controversial because the original Italian lyrics are about women taking the lead/control of sex.

bump for more suggestions

Talk to the hand, OP (featuring Yelle!)

And if we’re listening to Doe Maar, at least let’s listen to a catchy tune

This yelle woman is a talentless twat.

R26: Amaral had a lot of hits in Spain. I loved their version of Miguel Bosé Si tu no vuelves made with argentinian band Chetes

An probably the most popular singer in Spain for quite some years is Pablo Alborán (who is one of those guys whose sexuality is theme of debate and he doesn't say a thing about it, some years ago he was linked to Ricky Martin but they were recording a duet so basically is the same kind of rumour who linked Ricky with Maluma).

His music is not my cup of tea, but i like some of his songs (and he is a very nice guy)

And one of my favourite portuguese hits in recent years

Sergey Lazarev and his entry for Eurovision 2016 representing Russia. Cheesy as hell (it is Eurovision after all) but it is also catchy.

Not only catchy, that performance in eurovision was amazing. He is a really good singer

A song for sequestering to.

Germany's Element of Crime: 'Kopf aus dem Fenster'

R38 this is a prime example of where knowing the meaning of lyrics makes a song better because the vocal sound alone is a bit abrasive.

Probably not a hit per se, but I love it anyway.

I like this one, by Singaporean Mandopop singer Stefanie Sun.

September -- "Resuscitate Me" (Sweden)

Serge Gainsbourg et Brigitte Bardot "Bonnie and Clyde"

R4=, I guess it helps to know Max Raabe. He is famous for singing in the style of German big bands of the 20s and 30s.

Dutch singer Roxeanne Hazes with her retro song/video 'Verdovend Middel'

Requin Chagrin

One from my gayling years...

And another one from high school. I loved this song!

YATTA! by Pony Canyon

Helena Paparizou - Gigolo

På Slaget 12 - Ta' Kæresten I Hånden (Take Your Lover By The Hand)

Sweden's Nanne Grönvall

GRÉGORY LEMARCHAL : LE FEU SUR LES PLANCHES

Francesca Gagnon

Julio Iglesias Jr. singing "Por la mitad". Spanish version of Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time".

This kitsch gets me every time: Joe Dassin, Et Si Tu N'Existais Pas

THIS is dope!

Mysterious Times by Tina Cousins

Julie Zenatti - Si je m'en sors

I used to like this a lot: Mia/Hungriges Herz

R5 especially for you and all french haters on DL

Ondes sensuelles- M

A few years old now.

OBK - Falsa Moral

Anxiété - Pomme

Charlotte Cardin - Faufile

from Norway

Angèle - Balance ton quoi

Aya Nakamura - Djaja (french),

Madonna adores her

Aya Nakamura - Pookie

Eros Ramazzotti - Adesso Tu.

Ultimate 80s torch song that got me into the rabbit hole of Italian pop I've never been able to leave.

Blümchen, "Heut' Ist Main Tag"

Angélique Kidjo, "Batonga"

OMG Blümchen is the worst, but I still can't hear the word "Satellit" without singing this:

Cesaria Evora "Carnival de São Vicente"

I love French kitsch: Louane "Je vole"

Stromae - Alors on danse

The dramatic drag-esque stylings of Spain's Rocio Jurado, "Dejala Correr"

Dulce Pontes, the Portuguese Celine

Stromae - Papaoutai

Probably my favourite Italian hit of the last few years. Felicità Puttana by Thegiornalisti. Super infectious. I couldn't get it out of my head in the best summer of my life when I happened to be in Italy and it was blasting everywhere all the time. And the video is kickass too.

Viva l'Italia! 🇮🇹

Röyksopp, "Remind Me"

Sandra, "Hiroshima"

casseurs flowters - bloqué

if you need to laugh watch this clip

The mushroom-wigged multitalents of Hungary's Cserháti Zsusza, "To Deserve You"

R84 this is not a foreign language

Cesaria Evora - Amor Di Mundo. Beautiful!

edith piaf - l'accordéoniste

Mylène Farmer, «Pourvu qu'elles soient douces»

From Kyu Sakamoto and a hit in the U.S. (1963)

Yé-yé, gurl!

The best French-language pop hits seem to have a strong African influence. Check out Belgian superstar Stromae's androgynous video for his hit Tous les memes.

Axel bauer - cargo

Heidi Brühl, "Das kann mir keiner nehmen„

R94 Stromae was here R78 and there R81

^R95

The hot tranny glamma of Turkey's Bülent Ersoy

Rita Mitsouko - Marcia Baila

Yes, r96. But the one at r93 is my fave Stromae song. Structure and rhythms lifted straight from his roots in Central Africa.

The pretend-lesbionic pussy pops of t.A.T.u.

Daniel Balavoine and Frida Lyngstad (from ABBA) singing "Belle". Three years after this clip was recorded, Balavoine was killed in a helicopter crash.

Papaoutai is much more from Rwanda and Congo than 'tous les mêmes', but i love them both anyway

Yasmin Levy - Intentalo Encontrar

Ofra Haza, henny

Some Spanish flamenco for you. Niña Pastori - Vagabundo

Dana International

Mathieu chedid - je dis aime

[quote]Papaoutai is much more from Rwanda and Congo than 'tous les mêmes', but i love them both anyway

You're actually correct. But yes, both are great.

R109 agree, both are amazing, he's a genius

Umberto Tozzi - io camminerò

Olivia Ruiz - j'traine des pieds

Umberto Tozzi - Ti Amo

Umberto Tozzi - Tu

"Meera Naam Chin Chin Chu," Geeta Dutt (vocals), Helen (lip sync)

Mina - Ancora. Great voice. She's like the Italian Streisand, Aretha and Whitney all into one.

whoever shared that Belgian Singer's song Nah Neh Nah, thank you. Now i can't stop listening to it.

This was my pick for song of the year last year. Not just the French speaking world, not just the non-English speaking world, but anywhere. Love it, and love the look of the video too.

Listen to this Bowiesque Italian classic about a menage a trois. Patty Pravo - Pensiero Stupendo.

I love the musical and vocal arrangement.

Georges Moustaki’s ‘Les eaux de Mars’:

"Bangır Bangır" – Gülşen (Turkey)

(Hot guy alert at 0:25)

When I was living in Istanbul for a a short while in '94 this was a huge hit and was in heavy rotation on radio. There's something so catchy and trashy about it and I couldn't help but fall in love with it. It would've worked well in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Nilüfer - Eğrisi Doğrusu

Laura Pausini is the queen of foreign pop songs.

She's great both on the Italian and Spanish versions.

My favorites are Invece No (En Cambio No)

And a very vintage from hers: Non Ce (Se Fue)

Spanish Version of the first one.

As you can see from the views, she's is huge in Latin America. She has 10 times more views for her Spanish version .

Helene Fischer’s “Atemlos” was playing everywhere the last time I was in Germany. It’s very catchy.

Danish Pop Group Alphabeat. Love their music.

Scouting for Girls. So many great songs, this is one of my favs.

Winner of the French version of American Idol, cute video

Zazie - Zen

Benjamin Biolay - Les Cerfs-Volants

This video is the epitome a brief Parisian dance craze called "tecktonik"

Etienne Daho - Ouverture

Therapie Taxi - Coma Idyllique

Thanks for reminding me about Alphabeat R127. My favorite song of theirs was "Boyfriend".

French summer pop: Diving with Andy's "Sugar Sugar"

I am kind of surprised that nobody has posted this yet.

Elli Medeiros, formerly of the duo Elli et Jacno went solo in the mid-80s and had a sizeable hit with this song where she sings of her love of 69ing.

Another Ofra Haza song, this was her biggest hit from back in 1987. I adore her voice.

A couple of years ago this Greek song was a summer hit. If you like this at all, I highly recommend checking out more of Marina Satti's music; this one below is more on the pop end of the spectrum (as requested); a lot of what she does is a modern/traditional mix with polyphonic vocals, it is really beautiful. Her full performance on KEXP is a great place to start for those interested.

Pet in German

Work Your Magic by Dmitry Koldun

Malena Ernman - La Voix

Yolka - Provenance.

R65: OBK had at least one gay song in every album, and their first single was about a coming out and accept your homosexuality. Curiously the singer was married to a woman and had two children. He said in an interview that they would make a song about the theme till equal rights were conquered..

Of course techno pop was pretty gay in the 90's so they knew their audience, but they were very popular, and the only band of that style that survived the 90's in Spain

R143: One of the biggest faliures of Sweden in eurovision (there were tough years for them). Greta's mama was not very successful on the song contest

Gregory Lemarchal - A corps perdu. It's sad the listen a song of a young guy who sings about enjoy every day because he knows he is going to die soon

Espen Lind - When Sussanah cries. The cynism of the lyrics is simply amazing

R125: She was a coach on the spanish version of The voice. She is loved here too and popular since her first single. She sang in spanish since the beggining of her career. Something very common in italian singers, from Eros Ramazzotti to Tiziano Ferro, ater being successful in Italy they try in Spain, and if it works then they go to lationamerica.

One of the spanish classics of the 80's (the song was used in the soundtrack of Amores perros). Antonio Vega was the classic tortured artist (things never end well on those cases) and the lyrics are the kind that people guess what it is about. The consensus is that the song is about Antonio's addiction to drug but for me it is about mental illness and depression. Anyway the song is amazing

Anouk - Nobody's wife. Her only hit in my country

I love Yelle

[quote] Gregory Lemarchal - A corps perdu. It's sad the listen a song of a young guy who sings about enjoy every day because he knows he is going to die soon

And he did die soon, of cystic fibrosis...mucoviscidose

Australia almost won Eurovision with this song from Dami Im.

Amy Macdonald - I Wish I Knew You Before

YOHANNA "Is It True"

None of the songs shared here is catch as the one shared by r17, Vaya con dios - Nah neh nah.

The song's energy is infectious and the song is the catchiest i have heard in the recent memory.

How come it's not known here in the US ?

Some of you bitches have Madonna, but I grew up with Gloria Trevi!

Like Madge, she has a laundry list of hits, and is super cringe as she's gotten older and the plastic surgery has started to turn her into Charro, but I will stan her until I die!

Clara at r58 can do sweet and gentle too:

Carla and her unique style of singing:

Pre-Quarantine Paris:

Why doesn't the US participate in Eurovision?

Oversaturated?

I liked this one.

OP's video totally stole the music from Gillette's "Short Dick Man."

Why wouldn't I want the original in English?

French Lesbionic Angoisse:

How foreign is ‘foreign’, OP? May we post songs in English? Do U.K. songs count?

As far as I know, pop-band McFly only had a tiny window of popularity stateside c.2006 thanks to their cameo contribution in the Lindsay Logan classic JUST MY LUCK. The song the band recorded for that movie, ‘Please Please’, is a lot of fun, and happens to be on the subject of a silly raunchy encounter the band’s drummer had with LiLo herself (she fucked him while stoned, dragged him to an event as her date then ditched him a day later). The group garnered a niche little following of American girls but never hit the big-time there after.

But McFly kept a career & fan base going in the U.K. as well as in other countries long after this fleeting taste of American fame, and had many other songs and many other hits -most of which did not get any airplay in the U.S. Here is one of my personal favourites of their lesser hits, titled ‘Friday Night’. It’s a thunderously upbeat bar-hopping singalong that is humorously written from the POV of a club bouncer in what seems to be a gay district. Listen closely to the lyrics, especially the call-and-response, and check out the video with its comedic campy nudity - it’s a stealth gay song that did relatively well on commercial radio and music TV, hilariously.

*Lindsay LoHan, is of course what I meant to type.

I have no idea who Lindsay Logan is, but I’m sure she’s no match and threat to our girl.

What ever you like r166. Good songs not usually heard on American tv or radio is what I was going for.

R164 in rap that is called a sample and the choice is relevant to the lyrics. “Cuizinier” is the name of another rapper.

[Verse 1] Cuizinier, with your small penis surrounded by red pubes I can't believe that you believe that we want you I don't believe it, even if it's in the dark Even if you keep your pajamas on Even if you keep your nightshirt on, shaped like a tacky T-shirt Keep your shirt on, that will limit the damage, bastard!

[Chorus] I want to see you In a pornographic flick In action with your dick Shaped like potatoes or french fries To know everything About your anatomy About your cousin Teki And your fetish accessories

Cuizi, what is Your favorite position? Your Olympic renditions But there's nothing orgasmic about you You are all naked Under your apron Ready to whip it out But I swear, there's nothing there

[Post-Chorus] You dream of a fluorescent Hummer Designed by Akroe But you don't have a license You always take the metro

Cuizinier is in TTC, right?

Oh here he is.

I hear Mylene Farmer is good but I can't find a catchy song of hers

I get it! That fat man in TTC is the cousin Teki.

99 Luftballons. Isn’t that Germany’s most famous song?

That's song is so overplayed.

Noisettes - Never Forgot You

I love this African hymn Lizela But all of the versions on YouTube are a bunch of honkies singing it. Still pretty, but repetitive.

I’ve recently gotten into retro West African music. So soulful. This one’s from Guinea: Missia Saran - Soron M’ba Titriba

My all-time fave from Senegal. Ismael Lô - Tajabone.

French-Algerian hit Khaled - Aicha

O Canto da Cidade from get off my lawn years ago...

Inshallah - Latifa

R174: But that song was in fact a hit in the USA (the same for Mocedades Eres tú)

Hatari - Hatrið mun sigra. Fun!!!

Asaf Avidan - Reckoning song

And how to forget spanish ultimate modern gay diva. She became famous in Mexico first and now is almost more known as a tv host but she was very successful during a while.

This was her first hit in Spain

A while back, this song was number one all over Latin America for weeks.

Gipsy Kings 'Bamboleo"

Sash 'Encore Une Fois' - a big hit in the 90s

I always loved Spagna 'Every Girl and Boy'. Pure1980s Italian camp.

Mory Kanté - Yeke Yeke

Me & my kid sister still bump Xavier Naidoo’s spooky-cool ‘Wo willst du hin?’ when driving with the top down on summer nights,18 years after it came out.

Darin Zanyar from Sweden "F. Your Love"

Not really pop, or is it?

Last hit of Tino Casal before dying in a car crash was this version of Barry Ryan's Eloise. He was very ahead of his times and very different from other spanish singers of the 80's

One of the first Arabic pop songs that I fell for, El Kebeer Kebeer by Amr Mostafa

Though this has a French name "C'est La Vie", it's Arabic pop by Cheb Khaled and...

...it (R197)was such a hit around the world that Marc Anthony recorded a Spanish version of it called Vivir Mi Vida

Crap... I should have linked to the pop version of R198, not the official version. Pop version below.

The queen of Russian pop, Alla Pugacheva. She went through a phase of duets with Maksim Galkin.

Cumbia Tribal from Mexico- this was a huge hit a few years ago:

Thanks for all the recommendations--I now have a great French pop playlist.

This is one of my favorite Shakira songs: the unplugged version of Inevitable.

La Vecinita by Vico C- Dominican Republic

Oh dear 😳

Colombian folk-pop. Aterciopelados have almost a Brit-pop sound.

Carlos Vives- La Gota Fría

Love Carlos Vives, r206!

Fruta Fresca is my favorite song of his.

Marta Kubišová - Magdaléna

More for your French playlist:

R172, I'm the same as you mostly, but I do enjoy this one:

Canadian hit from 1991 by Mitsou with a controversial video that was banned from TV (in Anglophone Canada, not Francophone) around the time of "Justify My Love" and had people comparing the two at the time.

Mexican pop band Motel

And the only spanish successful boyband in history, and probably the gayest mainstream boyband ever (i think only one of them is straight), one of them was the spanish singer in eurovision this year (and it seems he'll be the one next year too). Here singing with Anastacia in one of their last hits before split

Thanks R211 for reminding me of Mitsou. I remember the first time I heard of her was on a show called "Earth to MTV" which played music videos from outside of the US. They played this one of hers.

^Ooh, I like that, it's fun!

Gülben Ergen - Lay La Lay Lalay (2006)

EXO - Obsession

A young Enrique Iglesias

¡Señorita Eydie Gormé!

Belinda didn't need a duet partner for her version R44....

This is one of the few French songs that I've heard growing up (but it wasn't Belinda's version).

I have no idea who the original artist is.

Jezebel by Edith Piaf....

Jezebel by Belinda Carlisle (2007?)

R221 it was originally sung by Brigitte Bardot and written by Serge Gainsbourg:

I love this catchy little tune by French singer Jain, "Makeba":

O M G....it's Gina G !

ooh ooh ah ah sexy eyes...I'm gonna take you to paradise

R226: But that song was a hit in the USA. It was top 5 on the pop chart back in 1997

While it's not restricted to pop music alone, this subreddit is a valuable source for finding music you ordinarily wouldn't, from all around the world. Thought others may be interested:

Not technically foreign since they're all Puerto Rican New Yorkers, but Hector Lavoe and Fania All Stars' "El Día de Mi Suerte."

The catchiest salsa song ever written, with an iconic Willie Colón brass intro that sends shivers up your spine.

New song from Yelle that I'm really enjoying. I will say I don't enjoy this obvious autotune effect that most music uses on the vocals nowadays, but this song is still pretty sweet.

Lele Pons & Guaynaa - Se Te Nota (Official Music Video)

Komplicerad

Victor Leksell - Svag (Lyrics)

Rita Lee, "Ovelha Negra."

Is Guaynaa a homosexual?

Feast on Monaco’s Princess of Pop

This was my gateway to the demonic pit that is K-Pop. (And yes, it’s about Her.)

All dogshit. For whatever reason, only native English speakers make the best pop music ( at least they used to).

This old Dutch number

Tanz der Moleküle

I love this Italian ballad "Misere." The kid grew up to be a homo.

Rauw Alejandro - Algo Magico. The spanish version of The Weeknd.

This girl, Monetochka, has been doing very well in Russia, I believe. I don't speak the language, but apparently she's quite a good lyricist, smart-aleky and cynical. I've been enjoying listening to the whole album every now and then.

Don't forget the German folk singer Heino!

R225, I recently just randomly had the YouTube algorithm recommend another of her songs to me which I've been enjoying (and from the video looks like it might chronologically come before yours):

R 238,

Another devil in Hell for you.

🌞 🌞 🌞

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