Do you love pop music, or do you listen because you have to?

I think that pop music is usually pretty bad, but it's "got a good beat, and you can dance to it."

It's also important to be able to look back and hang your head at the fact that you still know all of the words to "Blame it on the Rain."

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

Answers

I enjoy the hell out of pop music, mostly because it is mindless, has a good beat, and I can . . . well, think about dancing to it. I have a fairly eclectic taste in music, but in my car, I'm listening to top forty. It's peppy, it keeps the spirits up. Pop music is what it is. It's catchy and not too complex. I don't think it's any worse now that it was in the past.

And I can still sing "Too Shy" note for note. Whee!

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

So wait, what you're saying here is the guy from High Fidelity is also in Dynamite Hack and sings the Boyz in the Hood remake?

Or do I need to go have more coffee and reread that entry?

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

I lament the sad state of pop music every night as I fall asleep. Really, I do. I cry into my pillow as confusingly identical images of Britney, Mandy, Jessica, and Christina swirl through my subconscious mind and taunt me with their tan, flat stomachs and their yellow, board-straight, Rachel Green hair. I actually find myself missing grunge.

Which doesn't explain why I jumped -- spasmodically -- at the chance to see 'N Sync in concert in New Orleans this weekend when someone offered tickets yesterday. I'm going, and I've stopped denying it. So listen up, people. Let me just make my ugly confession: I've sat spellbound in front of my television during their latest "Making the Video" special not once, but twice. I know all of their names.

I've stopped fighting the feeling. I will shake my twenty-five-year- old ass right along with the screaming pre-teens who will inevitably surround me in the Superdome. I will imagine running my fingers through Justin Timberlake's blond 'fro, and I will feel warm and tingly inside.

words diminish

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

No. No.

Tenacious D and Dynamite Hack are two different things. Tenacious D is a sketch comedy thing with music, and Dynamite Hack... well, they're an Austin band, I guess.

It was a dis on Dynamite Hack, but the song is so much like Tenacious D that even the Lily Taylor/Liv Tyler people behind me at the play didn't know the difference.

Jack Black (in high fidelity) is in Tenacious D. You might recognize Tenacious D as the drug-smuggling flight crew from the Foo Fighters' "Learning to Fly" video.

sorry i didn't make that clearer.

I think I'm gonna start a pop culture advice column.

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

I've always been a semi-fan of pop music. I can take it in small doses. But a few songs out there right now REALLY bite ass - pamie mentioned most of them, but one I didn't see on the list is that one I can't tell what he's saying - sounds like "Waco my airplane, Waco my airplane, my skin is thin, my skin is in. IIIIIIIIII feel like a little booooyyyyyyy.. and you wanna take my picture, 'cause I won't remember".. AAAAAH! That song sucks so bad. And the lyrics - I won't even start with that. I would rather listen to an entire CD of Savage Garden (the most whiny, yawn-worthy group I've ever heard in my life) than hear that stupid Waco song ever again.

I will admit to having seen *Nsync in concert... but see, I bought two tickets as a gift to my cousin, and she drove out to where I live, and we both went. So, I was just playing martyr. I didn't enjoy it or anything. I was not grabbing at their hands when they flew over our heads, and I did not groove along when they sang a Jackson 5 song, and I CERTAINLY did not scream for an encore when they went off stage.

bye bye bye.

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

I think you're wrong about the Britney Spears/Christina Aguilera comparison. You see, Christina is a good girl pretending to be bad. The hair, the belly, the "rub me the right way"- it's just a marketing ploy to hide the fact that this is a girl who'd give her right leg for a chance to play Eponine in Les Mis. Cause she would. Give her right leg. Now, Britney...Britney tries to be all regal, like she's the Aretha Franklin of kiddie pop. She's just trailer trash though. And I love her. And maybe she is the Aretha Franklin of kiddie pop.

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

my first reaction is to say "it all sucks" - but i have to admit, dancing is a different story. i can dance to some things that i would never be able to sit through listening on the radio.

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

I listen to the radio about an hour a month. Pam will confirm the following as an accurate transcript of our POP Music conversations.

PAM
"That fucking Eminem is stuck in my head!"

Me
"Do you want some water?"

PAM
"What?

Me
"For that peanut stuck in your throat, or did you get plain?"

PAM
"Eminem is a rapper"

Me
"Oh...I thought you had chocolate. Great..just great."

mical

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

If Christina Aguilera is ever in Les Miz....well, I don't know what I'll do, but it'll be bad. That girl is seriously skanky. Her idol is Mariah Carey, hello! I love Britney, though -- props to her for making fun of her boobs on SNL last week.

And I can't get enough of that Thong Song. Pamie, could you perhaps record your version of that for us all, a la your beat boxing?

I listen on the radio, but I would never own any of this stuff, I promise.

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

Jeff, Maybe you're onto something with Christina's secret aspirations. So help me God, though, if she ends up on Broadway, I might stick a spoon into my year. (This from the girl who endured Debbie Gibson as Eponine and still hasn't quite recovered.)

I just can't stand Christina. And I think it's because she has begun to close her eyes and writhe around and wave her hand in the air when she sings just like Mariah Carey. And that's just so wrong.

Britney is from my home state, so I've got to give the girl her Louisiana props. While praying that the rest of the country doesn't believe that we're all just like her.

words diminish

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

I never listen to the radio. I am so out of touch it's not even funny. I know I'm old because I refuse to move past the music that was considered cool in punk scenes in 1991. Luckily, this includes a pretty broad variety of jazz, country, classical and no one makes fun of me too much for loving Prince with teenage devotion. The new pop though I know nothing about.

This wouldn't be an issue except that my brother is 14. Suddenly I am required to know which popular CDs are acceptable gifts. I think I might have scarred him for life when he pointed out some boy band he liked and I cried out, "my brother loves chick bands!"

I know I'm off topic here but I seriously need help with this--his birthday's next week. What do you get a boy who thinks 'N Sync (sp?) is lame, but likes these two guys that look like Wham! for the Millenium? I've already forgotten their name. Is there a guide to what kind of pop music 14 year old boys like?

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

Oh, I LOVE talking about pop music. That and movies. Oh goody.

I like Cristina over Britney simply because she has the better voice. She's tiny and skanky, but at least she can sing without sounding all modulated and robotic.

I read in Newsweek that Eminem is back with his wife/ex-wife/Kim and that he's all sorry he sang that he wanted to kill her. She must be okay with it because she's sleeping with him. I think the newsweek article goes a little overboard, basically proclaiming him as the king of pop music, but I do think he's got talent. He did some really good stuff on Chronic 2001.

The Thong Song does crack me up because he just seems so earnest about it. I didn't even know thongs were still a viable topic of discussion (it seems so S. Florida, 1995), but here they are again, opening up a great debate for all of us.

And yeah, I'm pretty tired of Santana. I do really like that Mana/ Santana song though, "Corazon Espinado." But lest we have another Buena Vista Social Club fiasco, I won't be recommending anybody go out and buy the CD just for that.

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

i'm with pamie. christina is head and shoulders above britney. christina has real talent, regardless of her mariah carey-like mannerisms. it's SO OBVIOUS that all britney wants to be is the next janet jackson (maybe even michael jackson ... come on, look at her dance moves) and she's not doing that great of a job living up to that. her voice is terrible.

i'm firmly convinced that each of these teen pop stars has her eye on being the next "janet" or the next "mariah" or the next whatever. that other teen chick, who sings the terrible "i wanna be with you (i listen to top 40 radio, OK?)," is desperately trying to be an 18-year- old (or however old) celine dion.

i'm ready for the next pop trend to take over the airwaves. this teen and boy-band stuff is getting tiring (maybe not as tiring as santana, though).

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

Britney wants to be Madonna, not Janet Jackson.

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

i have to admit to preferring NPR in the morning, and "all things considered" for the drive home... some botty pop/rap in between if they're just talking about stocks.

oh, and i LOVE 'car talk.'

off to houston on under an hour... i wonder if it still smells... * sigh*

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

i meant BOOTY/pop rap.

whatever. you know what i'm talking about- underaged slut girls talking about gettin' they boyz money.

god, i am so white.

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

I love pop music, and I'd crash and burn without it. It's my outlet, my window, my Ambassador o' Coin, y'all.

Where would I be without my twenty-CD Celine Dion collection? Without Aqua's good morning sunshine? Without Britney's hitting me baby one more time? I'd have cut my wrists open a long, long time ago. They get me through.

It's not just pop music, either. It's Lords of Acid, Kittie, Save Ferris, and about three dozen others. It's all about the music, babes.

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

I'm almost not ashamed anymore about my love of "Bye bye bye." I am freely admitting now that when my 14 year old sister's box from amazon.com came the other day, I squealed just as loud as she did when we discovered that her N'Sync CD was there (In defense of my sister, this is her first ever boy band CD, and she is also ashamed of her love for this song). When the song comes on when we are in stores, I make my friends stay there until they are gone. Yes, I'm 24, so what? Pop music is just so much fun, how can you hate it? Those people who say that they hate it, they are just so ashamed that they involuntarily dance to it that they have to proclaim their hatred to the world. Oh, and my sister's friend Bobby says that "Christina can sing better, but Britney is finer" -- I'm just telling you what the 14 year old boys out there say.

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

Hoo, boy.

Who *are* those people Pamie was talking about? They don't play them on the old-fart radio stations I listen to. Except Santana (he was good back in the day, y'know).

After reading Pamie's journal entry, and then this thread, I have realized that I'm so far from being With It that the light leaving With It at this moment will not reach me for several years.


-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

oh, my god ... if britney wants to be madonna then she's got another thing coming. madonna is constantly reinventing herself and her music ... something that britney can't seem to do very well ("oops!" is a perfect example of that). i still think she's pining away to be janet ... her dance routines certainly pay homage to janet's "rhythm nation" stuff, especially all of those robotic dance moves.

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

I have enthusiastically Embraced the Cheeze that is teen-pop (I don't count Kid Rock and Eminem as teen pop, mind) with one exception... Christina. MAN, does that girl look like she's fresh out of the trailer park, scrubbed down with a Brillo and slathered with some makeup to make her seemingly more palatable! Little Junior Hootchie Mama....

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

I suspect that our elders are to blame on the Santana issue not because they did encourage him, but because they did not encourage him enough back when he used to make some good music. If they had just bought some more of his albums, he never would have had to make a comeback in the first place. What makes it even more embarrassing is that is that he is so obviously jumping on the Matchbox Twenty Bandwagon. But then again I think, isn't everybody?

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

yeah, yeah, I like some pop music. I find myself bopping my head to "bye bye bye" ..hah! I just wouldn't go out and buy their albums. I'll listen to it if it's on the radio and hum along, but that's that. haha.

I try to stick with stuff they don't play as much so I don't get sick of it as easily. I am about ready to die over that santana song. mom loves it and I'm about ready to bang my head in the wall. the first time was fine...even the second time, but the billionth time..it's gotta goooo!

I was sorta sad to see you didn't have good comments about the pearl jam song. aah...I like to mope with that one.

as for which is better...christina or britney...aah, I'd go with britney since I liked that 'drive me crazy' song of last fall. I never liked one christina song..it makes me go bleeh...ugh.

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

wait, matchbox twenty has a bandwagon?

whose ass is it in?

(and yeah, i was telling mom that if her generation hadn't forgotten about santana in his obvious time of need, he wouldn't have been pandering to the kids of today).

no, really. where is the matchbox twenty bandwagon? whose got a ticket to ride?

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

Strictly in terms of music, Christina Aguilera is seriously, horribly, undeniably overrated. That "Genie in a Bottle" song drove me up a damn wall, whereas I can still listen to "... baby one more time" without cringing.

Let's hope Britney is NOT trying to become another Madonna. Madonna was a cute kid, and her early poppish stuff was great, but then she grew up, got dawg ugly, and started singing to adults, which pushed me away immediately even though I'm twenty-five. Neither Madonna nor her music has aged well.

As for who's the hottest, well, that all depends on whether or not you prefer blondes. Christina's got that whole sunk-in eyes look, and I don't care what people say about Britney -- they're real.

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

i hate everyone!!!!

i'm nothing - i'm a zero!!!!

the world is a vampir!!!

I love stevie nicks!!!

I'm going to miss myself. Say what you want. Nobody played the asshole and made you love it better than me. I'm am God. I'm a fort of Zero God.

Alas, alas...

siamese dream - one of the best all time albums

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

Pop? Uuuuughh. However, it is *so* sad that I actually know many of the songs at the top of the charts. I blame 14 y.o. demographic embracing MTV, and my SO, who makes me listen to her crappy "Mix of the 80's and 90's" station whenever she drives. And "Boy Bands". "Bands"? How does one qualify as a "band" when one doesn't write the music, play the music or even pick the music. Nope. "Showboys" is a much more appropriate term.

Per Britney. All I'm saying is that in 4-5 years when she does a spread in Playboy whilst trying to re-jump start her long dead career, I *will* buy a copy. I'll even read the accompanying words - eventually. "Oh Baybeh, Baybeh" was fun, but let's face it, it's all about her strokability factor. Thank God she's legal now and I can't go to jail for saying that. Stay hot, B., stay hot.

Finally, as of tomorrow, I am an Arbitron diarist and I *will* faithfully log each and every minute that I listen to our alterna- station, KDGE in Dallas. In a month or so, the new owners will take over and I may be forced to learn to tolerate pop. The new guys are a Christian group who, according to advance word are interested in keeping the station just as it is now. Yeah, right. Just wait until they play LB's "Break Stuff" the first time. I understand that even non-English speakers have little difficulty filling in the numerous blanks on the radio friendly version.

Dallas radio. n'Sync, cowboy songs, and "What A Friend We Have In Jesus". -sigh-

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

They were playing NIN's "Starfuckers, Inc." on the radio yesterday afternoon, and I kept thinking, "Do they not know what Trent is screaming?"

Afterwards they said that was the radio version: "Starsuckers, Inc."

I swear you couldn't tell a difference.

They rarely even bother with the occasional "fuck" anymore (Pearl Jam's "Jeremy" and Beastie's "Sabotage" come to mind). And you can hear every single "shit" in "Break Stuff."

When did that start happening? I can't even remember. They still bleep out Salt N' Pepa's "shoop" when the guy raps that he'll do stuff to her until she's sounding "like a retard."

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

You all are, like, hurting my feelings... My song, "Oops... I did it again," sounds nothing like my previous song, "...Baby One More Time," and if any of you had like two ears on your head, you would know that...

And why is everybody comparing me to Christina Achihuahua? I totally respect her Latin roots... I took Latin in high school and if I see her at next year's Grammy's, maybe we'll even speak the same language... I even respect her other roots -- the ones coming out under her bleach blonde hair.

See!?! I can be funny... We kind of have a Whitney/Mariah thing going except we're young and prettier and we can dance... Well, I can dance, at least. Christina just moves her hands around while she sings... If I see her, I'll tell her to get a dance instructor...

As for my strokability... Ewww... Just... Ewwww....

................. Um.... What was I saying?...

Oh yeah, watch for my next song, "Hey... third time's the charm!" coming soon to TRL.

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

ticket to ride on the matchbox twenty bandwagon. fucking hilarious.

as for pop music - i just had a *huge* discussion with a co-worker about this yesterday (eavesdropping *again* pamie?) regarding the definition of "pop" etc. my point basically was that the perfect pop song can make your whole damn day. he didn't quite agree and decided to get hung up on the whole what constitutes pop deal.

i say that "learn to fly" is a pop song. it's catchy, happy, makes me feel good. doesn't matter what the lyrics say, it hooks you, you turn it up and enjoy it.

but then, "... baby one more time" is what most people see as pop. but then isn't it the same?

and it was just a few years ago that i finally decided if i like a song, i'm not going to give a damn who sings it. this is after many many years of being an total music snob (i dated a musician at the age of 16 okay?).

so now i will freely admit that "i want it that way" is one of my favorite "pop" tunes. and actually when my brother and i hang out (he's 13) it's "our" song. we sing along in the car at the top of our lungs. it's our in joke. and blame it on the rain - hahaha - i used to love that tune - and i just found the tape a friend made for me with that song on it! oh that and that OMD tune --- what is it called... "touch you once, touch you twice, won't let go at any price..."

anyway - pop music kicks ass. hell the monkey's are one of my favorite bands of all time, and that's some primo bubblegum pop.

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

I can't believe that we're still hearing from Celine Dion. If there is anything wrong with pop music, she's it. And Mariah Carrey. I try to ignore Britney Spears and Christina and all these others, except that my next door neighbor is in love with Britney's new CD. I just find it all so bland.

My boyfriend's neice is a huge fan of Steps. I'm ambivalent.

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

I. Cannot stand. Christina Aguilera, and if I had my chance, I have a handful of choice words for the little wench.

First of all, honey, pick a note. You ain't been around long enough to slide through the scales and expect anybody to take you seriously. Secondly, yes, you sure do have a cute little flat belly, now put on a goddamned shirt. Thirdly, get the organ grinder and his monkey, you know, the ones who've been writing all of your songs? And tell them that what your skanky little self wants, needs, whatever from a boy, ain't necessarily what the rest of us grrls want. And, addenda, "I'm everything I am because you love me," was kinda pathetic but understandable coming from Celine "Schlockmaster 2000" Dion, but the same codependent message from a little girl like you is just nauseating. And how the hell does somebody give you the "strength to be strong." Is that the same as another chance to repeat yourself again?

On the other hand, repetitive or not, I think Britney Spears is adorable in that cross-eyed japanime puppy kinda way. I dance in my car to her songs, whee!

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

travis doing brittney's "baby baby....whatever" is freakin' brilliant. They claimed to do it just to highlight the fabulous lyrics that miss spears came up with. sheesh , and i thought those boys were just glum.

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

on the NSYNC front, when i heard their new song, I totally thought it was Britney Spears. Until the DJ said it was NSYNC, and then I thought "well, maybe she's doing a cameo."

Nope. No Britney. That guy just sounds like her.

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

I listen to the radio so seldom now, I barely know any of the songs. My cd and cassette collection keep me happy.

I do remember the words to "Blame it on the rain" though, and "Wishing Well" by Terence Trent D'arby, how sad is that?

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

I've actually never heard a song by N'Sync. I've heard two songs by the Backstreet Boys, but that's only because they were on SNL. I guess I just tend to avoid radio stations that play that kind of crap.

The one I listen to tends to play a lot of Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, Sinead O'Connor, Steely Dan, and that theme song to the Sopranos. It's kind of eclectic, but no teenybop, which is okay by me.

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

We occasionally have fights here when one idiot stands up and accuses everyone else at the message board of being too cool to like music that is popular, only liking indie/alternative stuff that no one else likes, and generally equating popularity with shit. Said idiot is incapable of understanding my stock answer that I don't have a problem with popularity. I do have a problem with the fact that so much shit seems to become popular, however.

I read an interview with Morrissey back in 1992 where he said he no longer paid any attention to pop music and had no idea what was number one on the chart, etc. At the time I thought this was really strange and incredible, but I'm in the same position now myself. Such encounters with modern chart fodder as I have are usually accidental and almost always depressing. Which is not to say that I don't like pop music per sepop music is a pretty broad term and I do like some of the stuff that could be fitted under that heading. But an awful lot of it is, frankly and sadly, bollocks

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

Oh this shit is making me laugh.

Pop music is designed (yes, I said designed) to please the masses. The problem with it, is that it's so fucking bland. Everything sounds the same. I haven't listened to the radio regularly in years. Turn on a pop music station and I swear, I can't tell the difference between Britney, Christina and Mandy. I refuse to watch TRL anymore, even though Filter sold out with "Take A Picture" to get on it. Then there's the boy bands. They. Are. All. The. Same. Totally interchangeable, they're just public image tools by the music moguls.

If I must listen to radio, I look for the KKRO (Sioux Falls, SD) since they tend to play more cutting edge alternative/hard/classic rock. Otherwise I stick to my CDs. Can't wait to get a CD burner for my computer, then I can convert all of my mp3's.

But I will admit that on occasion, that pop music does turn out a decent song. I really like one song by Matchbox Twenty (but it's the only one - does that qualify me for the bandwagon?), "Back To Good".

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

I'll get on the matchbox twenty bandwagon, I absolutely love "Bent."

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

Eh pop music. If it has a good beat and I can dance to it, fine with me. I'm not looking for pop music to be the be all end all. As far as the Christina, Brittney, Mandy, business. Eh they're all interchangeable.

For someone who really hates Christina, read this

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

I think it's really funny that people use "talent" to try to validate Cheesy-Pop Music. I've got my office here at work all rigged out with (among other things) my N'sync and BSB and Spice Girls trinkets, and every so often, someone will walk by and do a double-take. "Oh, you like ____?" "Sure," I'll say. "It's Cheeze-Wad Pop at its best." "Well, um, ___ does have a nice voice/can dance/sings pretty love songs," the person will rationalize, obviously trying not to say "You're a thirty year old professional woman! Why are you listening to stuff that my 14 year old niece does?" ... and completely missing the point of Cheezy-Poof-Pop Music entirely.

Please. I don't think Justin or Mel or Brit or Nick are impressively talented... it's just total Kraft-American-Processed-Cheese-Food- Slices-On-Wonder-Bread music and it makes me giggle. "D'ya think I'm really cool and sexy and I know you wanna get with me" indeed!

-- Anonymous, May 25, 2000

I think it was stee (and I could be totally wrong) who pointed out that they have to have some talent. Compare Backstreet Boys to Karaoke Night at your local bar (or, if you can't get into the local bars, the contestants on MTV's Say What Karaoke.) The BSBs aren't gods or anything, but they are at least acquainted with the concept of finding the proper notes. (And Nick Carter is so cuuuuuuuuuuuuute. If only he wouldn't talk, he'd be perfect. That mumbly little street speaking voice totally ruins the image. . . )

Oh, and only tangentially related - I think Macy Gray sounds like she swallowed a box of cat litter, I cannot wait until her 15 minutes is up.

-- Anonymous, May 25, 2000

I hate to admit it, but I'm pretty fond of Shania Twain. I've never actively disliked one of her songs (although the new Revlon theme song is now starting to get on my nerves). I don't switch the radio/TV when they come on. Unlike, say, that creepy Faith Hill song that's out right now. I can hear you...watch the Weather Channel until it's over.

I like to imagine Britney Spears whacking Christina Aguilera in the kneecap with a tire iron out back of Divas 2001...

-- Anonymous, May 25, 2000

Oh, man, I feel so out of it. I mean, I knew I was getting old, and I'm not working these days so I don't listen to the radio much (I used to listen in the car and occasionally at work)...so I expected not to know many of the "pop" songs, but not to know so few of the "modern rock" ones is bizarre! I am so out of touch!

I do wish the Chili Peppers would retire already. They haven't been the same since Hillel bought the farm. (Although some of the stuff on "BSSM" isn't THAT bad. But that was a loooong time ago.)

While I have little use for the new teen pop stars, fortunately (like I said) I don't listen to the radio that much, and almost never to the stations that play their music, so I'm not to the point of wishing they would go away. However, I do seem to hear a lot of "lite rock" played when I'm in public (our Sunday night Chinese restaurant plays that crap exclusively), and I really wish we could put a few of those "artists" and all their music on an island and nuke it. It would take too long for me to list them all, but the one who most gets under my skin (besides Celine Dion, and why hasn't she retired already?!) is Shania Twain. (I actually got a little shiver of nausea as I was typing her name!) I'm sorry, but that girl cannot sing! She is only on-key about 50% of the time! And that "Feel Like a Woman" song? She BARKS!!! One of my dearest friends used "From This Moment" at her wedding, and I thought I was going to have to stop being friends with her because of it -- have you noticed that Shania TAKES A BREATH IN THE MIDDLE OF A WORD in that song?? ("Becaaaaaaaaau -breathe- se of youuuuuuu") Egad, if you can't hold the note, maybe you should find something else to sing. Or do with your life, preferably.

OK, now I have seriously upset myself and must think about something else!

The good news is, we have a ton of stations that don't play ANY new music around here, so I never have to listen to it if I don't want to! I never thought I would get to the point where I sounded like my parents used to, where I just don't "get" much new music anymore (I do like that "Kryptonite" song though, and a bunch of stuff like Marilyn Manson that would probably surprise you), but I don't really think it's me. I think it's the music. There hasn't been much new to come out that's gotten me as excited as punk did in the '70s and grunge did back in the early '90s. So until they start making some good new music again, I'll stick with my "jammin' oldies" and "super hits of the '70s", thank you very much!

-- Anonymous, May 25, 2000

I hate almost all of it and feel my IQ drizzling away when I am exposed to it for any length of time.

In high school, I lived in a place that played Elton John 400 times a week. I spent most of my time ignoring the radio and buying albums, some of which were 10-20 years old at the time, some of which were imports. I wasn't being an indie snob, I lucked out and had a sympathetic clerk-pal who worked in a record store who decided to help me avoid the torments of Reg. I still listen to 80% of the albums I bought 20 years ago. Watched lots of Night Flight on USA. I was equally passionate about Nina Hagen, the Who, Bowie, Doors/Jim Morrison and Duran Duran at this time. Listened to local urban contemporary station, ergo Sugar Hill Gang, etc.

Example of bad taste: Foreigner albums. I have some hiddy singles, too. I knew that Patrice Rushen did "Forget Me Nots" before "Men In Black" co-opted it. Color me embarrassed.

I was all OVER pop music, the fluffier the better, in college. But I went to college in a town with great indie/college radio stations, so my concept of "pop" was flawed. The big news at the time = Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, Prince (and I used to like him before Purple Rain), Madonna. Hated them all violently. That's an understatement!

Watched massive amounts of MTV, back when it showed actual videos. Listened to a lot of Squeeze, Todd Rundgren, XTC, Ultravox, more Duran, Kate Bush, Split Enz, Japan, funk, early goth stuff, yet more Bowie and Bowie buddies like Eno, and VU and VU members.

Also recall still hanging on to Pink Floyd albums at this time, as "Dark Side" was excellent to study to...and my stupid roommate decided I was suicidal because of this. PLEASE, woman.

Example of bad taste: Bought--and later rid myself of--Residents albums. Bluh. Also, didn't like Jimbo's "American Prayer". I also have enough time to read liner notes and music magazines compulsively at about this time, so my most obscure trivia references were probably reinforced at this time.

When I moved to Atlanta, there were some decent stations (remember Jellyfish? huh? Anyone?!), but now they've been co-opted by Rage Against Everything, KORN Biskit, that sort of poo. 9 times out of 10, I hate what I hear when I try to give it a go.

I've tried to be down with the new stuff, and I do have a lot of it. But I quickly figured out that if BMG or Columbia have it, I probably won't like it all that much...or eventully I'll never listen to it again. I kinda liked En Vogue, for example. That lasted all of three months. I figure I buy 50% old stuff and 30% new stuff and 20% local bands. (Part of the reason that the old stuff rates so high is that some of my vinyl, after 20-30 years, is finally pooping out.) I still pull out old New Wave stuff (X, Cramps, Buzzcocks, etc.). I love Britpop (Blur, Elastica, Pulp, Rialto, Muse--yeah!); good driving music like the Dandy Warhols, Crystal Method, Black Grape; acid jazz (that's what Tower classifies Massive Attack, Lo Fidelity All*Stars, Mazzy Star, Portishead et al as), etc. I recently bought a whole mess of Brazilian music. I'll probably continue to delve into psychedelia and mod stuff (re-discovering the Kinks) as well as catchy pop stuff like the Merrymakers and Tender Idols (local)...I like supporting local bands when I can, too: Kathleen Turner Overdrive got name- checked in High Fidelity, apparently.

Examples of bad taste: aforementioned En Vogue CD, Bush, Moxy Fruvous (maybe I just need to give them another chance), Savage Garden (damn BMG card! #$^@!!). With me having more expendable income these days, I sometimes take someone's word that I'll like something--and I don't. But it's happening less often, as I've found people I can take advice from and have learned who is less in tune with my tastes. Also, I have kept every album I ever bought, and have accepted albums donated to me (Black Sabbath! Woo!) that I'd never actually BUY. So there's plenty o' shame to go around if you flip through my stashes. (The real clue is to see what records/CDs live in my stereo, car etc.)

My co-workers are all over the "Thong Song" and Ricky Martin and etc., and thus going to lunch with them exposes me to this new stuff in a very unfavorable environment: top-blast in an enclosed space. My neighbors are also really into boom cars, so anything with heavy bass, I hear it in the worst possible setting (4 AM on a work night, for example...BOOM ba-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!). I'd probably dig on it more if I had a choice in the matter. I never (well, hardly EVAH!) complain, though, because lord knows people hate a lot of what I love. (I did mention Nina Hagen, right? I also own a lot of 40's and 50's era 45s, and used to use them in college to politely shoo people out of my room when I was too tired to be sociable and they were failing to get a hint.) You can be my friend if you hate my music, but you can't get busy with me unless you know and love a few of my musical heroes and heroines. There's a saying: 'a man falls in love through his eyes, a woman through her ears'. S'true for ME!

I have no problem with stuff that's fun to dance or exercise to, actually, but I don't kid myself and think it's high art. I own several 'novelty' collections, like those MTV dance CD things (has Skee-Lo et al on it) and the Grammy Awards (MMM-Bop is on it). I was given and have enjoyed a Spice Girls karaoke CD (much more than the actual album).

I don't know the words to "Blame it on the Rain", actually...but I annoy people by picking out stolen lyrics, melodies, samples in current hits. (Have done so since "Vanilla Ice" ripped off Bowie/Queen and then had the nerve to claim that it wasn't the same bassline. Call it a nerdly hobby.)

Pop music isn't life or death, and whatever someone else likes, that's cool by me, as long as I have the option not to be subjected to it in an enclosed space with no hope for escape. :) I'll try anything once, no matter what critics have said, and if I still don't like it, well, I tried it. I can be talked into giving something a second or third chance, and I can see why someone might like something that's essentially poo if it has a kickin' beat...but I can't be talked out of something I have decided I love. I have mellowed on my anti-Madonna stance in recent years, for instance. I still generally don't like her stuff, but it's often better than 90% of the other crap that comes out.

Anyway, my taste is weird, but I have tried to err on the side of good taste. :) I may not know all the lyrics to "Blame It On The Rain", but I did get dragged to a Bon Jovi concert in 1986 or 1987. Oy. (I had almost blocked that out until I saw Bon Jovi in the latest issue of JANE. It all came back to me then.)

What's YOUR most embarrassing concert?

-- Anonymous, May 25, 2000

Well, at least you're admiting to the Spice Girls Karaokee CD I sent you, Milla.... *snicker*

For the record, I don't listen to the radio (well, I do, but only talk stuff), so I've been lucky enough to miss Kid Schlock and Eminerm unless I happen to be flipping by MTV. And thus, I haven't been subjected to ALL Santana, ALL day, and can still enjoy "Smooth" to a degree....

-- Anonymous, May 25, 2000

I caught a few moments of Christina's vocal gymnastics on the Christmas in Washington special. I can't remember what carol she was singing, but she absolutely destroyed it with her "style." The angel on top of my Christmas tree had blood streaming out of her golden ears.

Now, as for the new groups, I think the only hope youngsters have is Hanson. I'm serious! No, I don't own any of their music, but I think they are the only young band out there with any talent.

-- Anonymous, May 25, 2000

I will admit to agreeing with Muffet and thinking that those Hanson pretty boys do have some talent. If they can steer themselves in the right direction as they grow up, they have the potential to make better music than the rest of the poppy kids.

-- Anonymous, May 25, 2000

Hey, i just want to point out that the reason Tool has a song on the pop charts under a different name is that they're involved in a huge legal battle with their record company right now, and probably can't record anything as Tool if they wanted too.

In fact, while the singer is ostensibly the only one from Tool in the new band, it sounds SO much like Tool that i find it hard to believe it isn't the whole band recording under pseudonyms.

Of course, Stee and I are probably the only folks around here who actually give a damn:)

-- Anonymous, May 25, 2000

God, I was just reading this and thinking how sometimes I go on a pop music binge. Like right now. My friend left *NYNC's "No Strings Attached" at my house when she last visited, and I found it and put it in my Discman and ended up listening to it on the subway back and forth to work for like 4 days straight. Do you know that clocks in at EIGHT hours? I know every sappy, insipid lyric!

Okay, so after that happened, I started earnestly debating the merits of *NSYNC vs. Backstreet Boys, and Britney vs. Christina (I vote Britney) and finally I pulled my head out of the water, disoriented, and fumbled for CDs by Zeppelin, the Clash, the Beatles and other content-saturated bands.

Loving pop music doesn't make me feel ashamed. I just can't do it for too long. It's like, say you eat Special K every day. Yummy, healthy, can't say anything bad about it. You're still gonna get that Froot Loops craving. Give in. They have blue ones now.

-- Anonymous, May 25, 2000

well said, melissa! sometimes you just need to remind yourself about the green clovers, yellow stars and purple horseshoes.

-- Anonymous, May 25, 2000

So, let me get this right. Britney wants to be Madonna. Well, if that's the case I'm wondering when she'll get that British accent that sticks in everyone's craw. And, Dora, I am live in New Orleans so I cannot give her props for being from Louisiana, she like the rest of them ie, the Cash Money Crew, all make us out to look like fools. When she said in Rolling Stone a year or so ago that on Saturday nights she and her friends like to hang out at Pat O'Briens on Bourbon that said to the world that we let jailbait minors into bars. Thanks Britney, by the way the red latex catsuit says modesty in way that no one could ever do it.

As for Christina, stop being a VJ whore. It's unfl

-- Anonymous, May 25, 2000

Blue Froot Loops? No way! I *have* been living under a rock.

I have seen and I don't like the new green Apple Jacks, though. That's just...wrong.

Yeah Dwan, I 'admit' I have the Spicies. *glee* Actually, it's worse than that! We used to have the Spice dolls on display in the living room, because everyone got such a huge kick out of them when they saw them in the stores, and then they were so excited to be able to touch and play with them when they came to visit. Toys R Fun. Right now we have an Audrey Hepburn doll in the living room and a skajillion other little toys all over the house. *shrug* Lowers my blood pressure to have goofy stuff around me. I get given toys all the time. I have a stuffed Sanrio Chococat sitting in front of a squeezy computer and both are on top of my work computer. Kawaii!

Actually, as far as embarrassing artists go, I will give anyone who wants it a run-down of at least twenty embarrassing songs/artists I have in my collection... I.e., Deeee-lite, Skee-Lo, Spicies, Hanson...um...I know there's more...uh, I was given a Leif Garrett record when I was eleven and I gave it away, but I guess he counts..._Xanadu_? Uh...Perry Como? the Smothers Brothers? Hoku, daughter of Don Ho? (I didn't buy that one, it was a freebie and it sucks.)

I don't pop a sweat over it. Some just happened to be on some compilation. Others I actively sought out. Parents just don't understand. Word.

Re: Hanson--yep, my snotty-musician-type ex-boyfriend actually admits that wee Drummer Boy Hanson has got the groove. That's high praise from him. He does not suffer bad musicianship gracefully AT ALL. I nearly fainted when he said something complimentary about a fluffy pop band. He has NO love for Kid Biskit Rages Against Marilyn Korn, though. Hee. He gets so tense. I may have to send him a Kid Rock CD just to make his forehead veins pop out, it's fun.

I'm still trying to remember who sang "Blame it on the Rain". Damn it, I should know that, shouldn't I? It wasn't Milli or Vanilli, was it?

-- Anonymous, May 25, 2000

This has just made me realize how little awareness I have of the current music scene... I had been listening to one of those rock stations (99.7 The Edge) that my kids liked, lots of Alanis and Phish and Butt Hole Surfers and RedHot Chili Peppers, etc. and then that station got bought out and my kids moved their music interests to stuff not played very often on local stations so they either have mix tapes that they stuff in the deck or they are tuned into MP3 or mini-disc players (DefTones and Chemical Brothers and Nine Inch Nails and various assorted grunge/punk rock, etc. plus my son likes TechnoRock)... so my radio is usually on NPR (for morning edition and all things considered... but in the evening the Boston Public station plays jazz so I switch to a local classical music station) or on the local oldies station...

My most recently purchased CDs are by Garbage (Version 2.0) and some old stuff by Joan Baez and Bob Dylan (and some classical music -- Vivaldi).

Two or three times on weekends while trying to find something to listen to on my car radio I have come upon a hits-of-the-week countdown show... "and the number one song in the nation for the third week in a row is..." and they then play a song I've never heard performed by a "famous" star whose name is totaly unknown to me.

Pamie, your list brought this home to me... yes, of course I know the Red Hot Chili Peppers (I even bought a CD of theirs a couple years ago) and I have seen pictures of Brittany Spears and Christine whats-her-name and those boy groups on magazine covers at supermarket checkouts... but I don't think I've listened to a single song that you listed in your entry.

But I can sing along with The Roof Is on Fire ("We don't need no water let the M-F burn!")... so I'm not totally out of it, am I?

Jim

-- Anonymous, May 25, 2000

Pamie, they also distort the bit in Shoop when Sandi says 'super sperm' ('Not fall-ing in love/but I'm fallin' for y'sup- ah sperm').

I don't know. Your entry just made me very glad that I don't live in America anymore; it seems like, even if you don't listen to the radio or watch MTV, the existence of pure shit becomes known to you anyway. BSB, Britney, Christina, et al are popular here, but as America's so much larget, I think that kind of popularity/cultural infiltration is always going to be on a smaller scale over here.

Thank fuck.

-- Anonymous, May 25, 2000

The radio stations here, of course, play nothing but the blonde bombshells, but at least we have DJ's that express their contempt..

"Give me some Valium. First we had Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and this lady - like we need another one - Jessica Simpson... I'm having a hard time getting through all these records.. Jessica Simpson is about 18 or 19, and like Britney Spears, she has said she would remain a virgin until she got married. Yeah, yeah. Why do they all say that? Does it sell more records or something?"

:)

-- Anonymous, May 26, 2000

I think what you said about RHCP was unfair

that song is good. and I did NOT list them next to my undying love to NSYNC (whatever) because I think they are boyband. I have heard their old records, and I love their songs because of that. You have generalized anyone who lists them next to boybands to be a silly teen or something.

that is very unfair.

and yes I like pop.

-- Anonymous, May 26, 2000

Anthony...is that YOU?!

-- Anonymous, May 26, 2000

so when I was in college, I was totally anti-pop (like a college guy was supposed to be I guess). Did a little grunge a lot of rap but next to no pop.
About a year ago, I found myself buying all of these cd's that would have motivated myself to cut my ears off 4 years ago. Whitney, Jennifer Lopez, Smash Mouth, Suger Ray, a lot of crap and I was seriously worried that I had somehow lost all of my taste and didn't recognize "real" music. Recently I realized that only know do I recognize it.
Example: what's more respectable Brittney Spears dressing and singing like a ho to get horny buys (and men) to buy her cd, or Anthony Kleidis dying his hair and getting all serious about the mysteries of life and love (when you know he just wants to wrap a sock around that dick and shove a needle in his arm)? at least Brittney up front. She all "Im a ho, look at my red jumpsuit now kindly hand over your money". In a weird way I find that much more respectable.
i dont listen to the radio at all, but wtach allot of mtv. Personally I think TRL is the funniest damn show on earth. I love how everything any viewer has to say eventually meshes into this piercing scream. And I think the Thong Song is the best. Everytime I hear it I crack up. I love the fact that Cisco thought it was necessarry to clearly state in it's title that it's a Thong SONG, otherwise we'd all be like "what? a thong what? what is this mysterious thong thing?

-- Anonymous, May 26, 2000

It disturbs me that I'm in that target market and haven't a clue about most of these songs you mention. Not the current ones, anyway. I quit listening to commercial radio regularly, what...two years ago now? I'm with the NPR folks now. I'm all about news and blues and a crapload of mp3s to play when the bad jazz comes on in the afternoons.

Pop music? Scares me. I think the Spice Girls are funny, but it took me a long time to come to terms with that. Everything else is really a blur.

Of course, there are sometimes songs that just stick in the back of my head for some reason. For example, I like Madonna. I don't know why. I like some royally cheesy pop music from before I existed. I have an mp3 of Roxette's "It Must've Been Love" and it damn near makes me cry as I bop to it sometimes. It's an illness, I think.

Modern Rock? I shudder to think of what it's become. Err, what it always was that I could just ignore. Whatever. Old bands just release new crappy stuff, and new bands are lame and not worth investigating. There are about 50 years of pop/rock musicians I know little or nothing about that I can and should seek out instead, y'know? Local music scenes to peruse. Indie zines to read. People from across the globe to tell me about some other band I've missed in my quest to hear something new and interesting.

I usually don't like bands that "sound like" another band. Don't tell me X band sounds like Radiohead because I like Radiohead and you want me to try them. Don't tell me they're kinda like Portishead or Tool or Pulp or anything else. That's not interesting enough. I have those bands; why do I want the derivative? (Have I wandered off topic enough yet?) I guess the only exception to that is I enjoy some noisy art rock bands that sound vaguely similar and punk rock. Not Blink 182-Offspring punk rock, mind you; I'm thinking Dead Kennedys and Unwound (unrelated? beats me), the former of which I only discovered in the past year. sad.

Anyway. Yeah. Pop music. I ignore it. Too much other stuff around to make it worth my time.

-- Anonymous, May 26, 2000

Dammit. I forgot one relevant thing:

I'm still incensed that I ever had to hear that fucking "Discovery Channel" song by the Bloodhound Gang. Pissed. Angered. Revolted. Perturbed. Bleh. I avoid commercial radio, but I still got trapped in the computer lab with the pop music-lover who didn't have headphones.

-- Anonymous, May 26, 2000

Ok, I know who Britney, Christina, BSB and *NSync are, but who the fuck are Jessica Simpson and Mandy and Steps? I heard there were some other boy bands too, like 98 Degrees and Youngstown. Who can tell any of them apart? I sure as hell can't.

Please tell me I didn't like music that fluffy when I was a pre-teen. Wait a minute, I used to looove Donny Osmond and Shaun Cassidy (yes, I am that old).

Never mind.

Never

-- Anonymous, May 27, 2000

I love Macy Gray! So what if she swallowed the cat litter. It's nice to know that if I keep smoking for another 10 or 20 years I can develop a sexy singing voice.

I hate Britney "Nipples" Spears. I hate Christina "Blow-up Doll" Augillera. I hate N' Fucking Sync. I hate the Back Street Boys.

I hate them because they perpetuate sterotypes in society. I hate them because they're liars. I hate them because there are as shallow as a puddle in a desert. I hate them because the only reason they got their damn record deals is because they look hot in spandex.

Go be models. Go be parking valets. Hell, go be McDonald's employees. Just get the fuck off my radio.

I can't believe no one has mentioned how all of this is just a big rehash of New Kids on the Block! Just think how ashamed you'll be in 5 years that you actually listened to these people!

-- Anonymous, May 27, 2000

I love the thong song, in a very unhealthy way.

At the end, where he's like, "Your butt's, UNIQUE!" It's great! And all the strings? Yes, I laugh and giggle when I hear the thong song. I actually saw travis do an instore in Boston where they did a little acoustic version...it was so cute!

i only hear Macy Gray when Im in high class shopping stores. Needless to say, she makes me think of shopping.

-- Anonymous, May 27, 2000

I've always been a big pop music fan. I was a NKOTB fanatic in 7th grade like every other 7th grader on the planet. I love Britney Spears. Christina Aguilera is ok. I love the Backstreet Boys and I love 'NSync. I own their CDs. My boyfriend tells me that he is ashamed to tell his friends what kind of music I listen to. I love pop alternative. As a matter of fact, I am listening to my new Matchbox Twenty CD right this minute, and I'm lovin' it. I love Eminem. I think "The Real Slim Shady" is a brilliant song and I proudly admit that I know the chorus and am learning some of the lyrics. My boyfriend has opened my eyes to the likes of the Grateful Dead and Widespread Panic and I am happy to add them to my list of beloved bands/groups/singers.

I do, though, want y'all to know that I hated "The Thong Song" before I ever heard it, and that once I _did_ hear it, I just hated it more.

-- Anonymous, May 28, 2000

I love Say My Name, it's my number one caning it on the treadmill at the gym song.

And as for the Thong Song - the bit that cracks me up is the way he likes it when the beat goes 'duh-duh duh duh'. What a load of bollocks.

-- Anonymous, May 30, 2000

The one and only definition of pop music: '1962-1967' (the red double album) by the Beatles. No contest whatsoever.

-- Anonymous, May 31, 2000

God. I never had a teenybop pop phase. The most I can claim is a deep and abiding love for twee synth pop and new wave throwaways like Toto Coelo. And I still like Duran Duran. :) Hey. Whoa. Does this mean I'll, like, be all into Brittany-like music when I'm 60 years old? *fear*

On the other hand, I went through a Teenage Boy Music Taste phase (Duuuuude!), which is, in my mind, probably worse. For one, I'm not a Teenage Boy...

-- Anonymous, May 31, 2000

I used to only listen to country. I was in 7th grade and then i only listened to some country, but mostly pop, well.... becasue it was pop (popular). Soon after my favorite pop station started playing R&B and hip hop. Now i love pop, r&b, and hiphop and i listen to no country, it sucks. The r&b has influenced my dateing life and now i am dateing african americans and i have a whole new out look on life, Thanks pop music

-- Anonymous, April 24, 2001

...zzzzzzzz........

-- Anonymous, March 03, 2002