Your favorite Pop Music thread.

[Surfah]

Volume II, was a great album. I remember the first time I hear "Can I get a..." on the radio I chuckled.

Jay should have stopped after the Black Album.

Volume I and II are epic. The Black Album is ridiculous. He should have kept to his word in Encore.

[MarkGrace]

No love for The Blueprint? Hova's masterpiece if you ask me.

[TripletDaddy]

I think there are a litany of possibilities, but two main definitions seem to arise in this thread. The first is what Robin suggested, and that is mainly derived from popularity. Top 40 stuff, mega-hits, etc. The other is pop in the structural sense, which is defined by substance and not status on a chart. Hooks, melodies, verse/chorus/verse, theme, length, etc. To me that is the "traditional sense," but I could just be high. The Beatles and Beach Boys are the quintessential pop artists, and it has nothing to do with popularity and everything to do with sound. If not one of their songs had ended up on a chart, they'd still be the "perfect" pop sound to me. I think 8BR did a terrific job of finding songs that capture the purest sound of pop in the structural sense.

But as I said above, to me pop is possibly the broadest categorization of music, and every song posted in this thread is a pop song. Some may be less pop than others, and they may be a bit experimental, but they are still with the basic boundaries of pop music.

Pop is short for popular. Most of the bands you are talking about are not popular, not on the scale of The Beatles, Madonna, Prince, Bruce Springsteen, etc. The "pop" charts as monitored by Billboard, etc would not include Animal Collective because AC doesn't sell anywhere near the amount of records necessary to be considered pop artists.

So in the traditional sense, pop would mean popular. The term became part of mainstream use probably around the 50s as a means of tracking record sales by category. People in the 20s that listened to ragtime did not lay claim to "pop music."

Also, if you consider lyrics from musicians themselves, references to the "pop charts" always are a reference to the mass appeal of mainstream musical success, again as measured by a Madonna or Michael Jackson. A good example of this is in NWA's "Express Yourself," where they lambast people that create rap for the pop charts simply to sell a lot of records.

In a very broad sense, I think most of the stuff all of us listen to is pop music.

Which is why I think it would be impossible to compile such a list. A better title for this thread would be, "list any of your favorite songs"

[Surfah]

No love for The Blueprint? Hova's masterpiece if you ask me.

The Blueprint is up there too as Izzo and Takeover are some of his best, but much of the rest didn't resonate with me.

I understand that the Blueprint is one of the all-time classics. I think that one of the reasons I never got into that album like the Vol 1 and 2 (which I concede were inferior - except perhaps commercially) because I was still a recently returned missionary and I had packed up most of gangsta rap as it was not conducive to the Spirit (as my father puts it). Vol. 1 and 2 though were in my discman routed through my cassette adapter into my '91 Nissan Stanza XE baby pre-mish. Aw yeah.

[il Padrino Ute]

I am still wondering what people mean by, "pop."

I still think it would be impossible to compile such a list.

Why don't we try to narrow it down. Do you mean "pop" in the traditional sense, as in Michael Jackson, Madonna, Britney Spears stuff? I think EPU stated Top 40 as the criteria (then went on to post a slew of non-Top 40 music).

Actually, Pop Muzik peaked at #1 in '79; Jenny at #4 in '82; The Breakup Song at #15 in '81; Driver's Sweat at #15 in '79; My Girl at #22 in '81. All on Billboard and info courtesy of Wikipedia.

I think these songs charted that high because most rock stations pretty much played all the same music.

[Guest]

Madonna or Michael Jackson.

If Thriller was only played on underground radio or in clubs, but never reached Top 40 status, would it be any less a pop album? I say no. Its format and style are pop. Maybe pop R & B, but it's a pop album for more than just its chart status.

Many pop artists produce material that is not pop, i.e. The Doors - "The End", "Riders on the Storm", etc. The same holds true for the Beatles, Springsteen, et al. But the inverse is also true....The Dead or Warren Zevon are not pop artists, but they've produced pop songs in their careers.

A factor in defining music as pop has to do with its public reception, but it's only one factor. There are others that have to do with its format and structure.

[creekster]

'When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone,' it means just what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less.'

'The question is,' said Alice, 'whether you can make words mean so many different things.'

'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master - that's all.'

[Mormon Red Death]

No Cheap Trick Surrender?

If you want cheap trick I'd go with "I want you to want me"

[cougjunkie]

Not sure if these are considered pop but I think of pop as something that gets stuck in your head all day.

So a few:

[YOUTUBE]No7jdP2A0N0[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]CjyZ3nCiURc[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]5hmOMuhA1g0[/YOUTUBE]

[Surfah]

Not sure if these are considered pop but I think of pop as something that gets stuck in your head all day.

So a few:

[YOUTUBE]No7jdP2A0N0[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]CjyZ3nCiURc[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]5hmOMuhA1g0[/YOUTUBE]

Those guys wouldn't consider their songs pop so I am going to have to say no it doesn't qualify.

[Babs]

[YOUTUBE]Tzy38qbvrZk[/YOUTUBE]

[CardiacCoug]

I'm also stunned that you love Human and dismiss other Killers songs. Human is just awful.

I'm with you on this, MG. You couldn't pay me to listen to Human any more.

Spaceman is OK, but Dustland Fairytale is my favorite from the new Killers CD. That is a great song.

[il Padrino Ute]

I'm with you on this, MG. You couldn't pay me to listen to Human any more.

A case of radio overplay?

And Babs, great choice. Fun stuff there.

[Surfah]

A case of radio overplay?

And Babs, great choice. Fun stuff there.

I think this is the case. Human is a great song, but I think it's getting played out.

Speaking of which my daughter loves this annoying Mickey Mouse CD of nursery rhymes and songs and The Alvin and the Chipmunks Soundtrack. These two CDs are on repeat and the other day I had enough. So I explained it to her that if you listen to a song too much it gets played out.

She cried, "I want to play it out."

Kids say the damnedest things don't they SU?

[il Padrino Ute]

I think this is the case. Human is a great song, but I think it's getting played out.

Speaking of which my daughter loves this annoying Mickey Mouse CD of nursery rhymes and songs and The Alvin and the Chipmunks Soundtrack. These two CDs are on repeat and the other day I had enough. So I explained it to her that if you listen to a song too much it gets played out.

She cried, "I want to play it out."

Kids say the damnedest things don't they SU?

Small children have a way of controlling adults. Did it play out?