1. "Baby I Love You"
2. "Baby I'm leaving You"
3. "Baby I'm Coming Back to You".
Somewhat limiting, but at least they were ABOUT something. Current lyrics, by Leona Lewis, Cheryl Cole etc, don't seem to be about anything. They read like they have been produced by a computer - and some people say they are! Age and memory play tricks, but to me, songs written before (about) 1995 could lay claims to being art. Not now. What views do we have?
Remember pop music in the '80s: Madonna, Bananarama, Wham!, Blondie, Duran Duran, Go-Gos, Human League, The Bangles, The Pointer Sisters.
ReplyDeleteOr the unforgettable pop music of the '90s/early '00s: Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, Alanis Morrisette, Madonna (again), Britney Spears, Backtreet Boys, 'N Sync, Spice Girls, Christina Aguilera.
And now? Um, who are our pop artists now?
Pop music has always incorporated current elements into the music of the time, whether it's new wave, punk, R&B, alternative rock, hip-hop, electronic or dance. This blurring of genres increased in the '90s when artists like TLC and Destiny's Child, Tupac, Notorious B.I.G. and Jay-Z began dominating the airways.
Shudder , shudder, I hate all that stuff ! I wonder what Pete waterman thinks about it now ? lets ask him ! He runs The London and North West Railway Company in Crewe (Glad he invested his money into something useful) We train his Welders and I am really impressed at how many apprenceships he is current running, Top man !
Actually, Chas, I have contacted Mr Waterman by email and invited him to comment here. I wonder how likely is that?
ReplyDeleteNext time we run a training course at his place I will get someone to ask him, I don't know him but one of my managers does.
ReplyDeleteI can remember my parents' generation complaining that modern (i.e. 1960s) pop music was just so much noise and not a patch on what had gone before. This came from diehard 50s rockers as well as 40s big band lovers and fans of Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby.
ReplyDeleteThe music business always wants to be in control to ensure music has a safe across-the-board appeal, but doesn't always manage, so pop oscillates between creativity and conformity. 50s rock & roll was tamed with the early 60s pop crooners, until the Beatles came along with many other bands in their wake. Mid-70s pop music was dominated by Chinn & Chapman until punk and new wave came along. Stock Aitkin & Waterman were similar music business control freaks in the 80s.
I don't know whether the pop song is dead or not, because music is now distributed by so many methods, some of which I don't access, and the pop charts don't mean so much nowadays: singles no longer sell in their millions. To me, what does get into the charts seems to be uninteresting and formulaic, but that doesn't mean creativity is stifled. It may simply mean there are different outlets than those we are used to.
Pronouncing the death of pop music is a risky business. Remember in 1962 that Decca said that "guitar groups are on the way out" as they turned down the Beatles.
I'm glad to hear it, Nev. I guess I don't listen to enough young groups to make a judgement. Moguls of pop have always existed and I think they always will. As long as we have groups like the Arctic Monkeys, FF and the Kaiser Chiefs, the Simon Cowells of this world won't completely dominate.
ReplyDeleteI'd just like to add that Stock Aitkin and Waterperson never produced a classic song like "You've Lost That Loving Feeling", possibly one of the best pop singles ever made. PLUS, it doesn't fit into Dampman's categories, as it's about feeling your relationship is beginning to fail, you don't want it to, but you can't see how to save it.
ReplyDeleteAlso, my band has done a pretty good cover of it on our 6-track EP "Daze". See lunchtime-legends.blogspot.com for details!