I’ll see Peter Robinson’s Gene Krupa “Sing, Sing, Sing” and raise him one Duke Ellington “Cotton Tail,” although I prefer the faster-tempo version of the latter that Ellington recorded with Louis Armstrong.
Speaking of Armstrong, Robinson posted an email from a reader who cited a duet of his with Danny Kaye (“When the Saints Go Marching In,” I believe) with reference to the literacy that the pair exhibited. One would be hard pressed, I believe, to argue that we haven’t dumbed down the popular culture in the decades since those two entertainment giants roamed the Earth. Isolated instances have persisted, of course; Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire” comes to mind.
I’m sure there are more recent examples, but my drift toward fogeyism leaves me unable to cite them.