The Alberti bass comes to mind. Pop genre music didn't invent annoying repeated motifs they have always been there.
ha ha yes, i sort of thought along both those lines but the alberti bass isn't so much a melodic motiff so much as it is an accompanying or texture tool, not too unlike use of basso continuo in baroque style right? I should have expressed better by saying a melodic fragment maybe there is some ubiquitous little doo dad that I've overlooked. I certainly don't believe pop is unique or groundbreaking in being 'annoying' quite the contrary, knowing pop can borrow is an off shot of past elements, i'm trying to examples by which they are derived or inspired by/from.
I have to suspect given the incredible popularity of opera and the huge amount of literature there (and only a fragment of which are remembered or performed today) that there has to be tons of operatic examples, i'm just not familiar enough w the literature on that side of the pool to effectively look for them.
although my research into opera boufoon /french comedic opera led me to Russian comedic opera (as much as we generally associate the French with loving Opera, the Russians loved/love it more).
This gem of course came up in my search, i'm not sure how i feel about it, but i suspect there is some vocal cliche techniques being used....
which seems to pay homage to to