There are four things in my life I love: Football, my girlfriend Sally, Pebbles my cat and Music. And if I could only have one of those four things for the rest of my life, well, Pebbles would be living with Sally and I wouldn’t be playing any sport.
However, I have a guilty secret. A secret that those of you who know me through my slightly elitist DJ persona may find hard to believe. Even now, writing it down I find it hard to admit. I LOVE POP MUSIC. It feels so good to finally get that out in the open. I don’t just want to listen to obscure British hip-hop or new sub-genres of Drum & Bass, Fidget House or Dub-Step, Electro or Nu-Funk hold no excitement for me without the counterpoint of popular mainstream music. When I say pop I mean POP, proper pop; Elvis from the 50s, The Beatles, Stones and Motown from the 60s and 70s, 80s electro-pop, Blur, Oasis and Pulp and the whole Brit Pop scene in the 90s and then in the early 00s we had the rebirth of contemporary RnB with artists like Justin Timberlake, Kelis, Missy Elliot and 50 Cent.
But this year I have had an uneasy feeling creeping over me, a terrible feeling that the standard of pop music is sadly on the slide. It is with a sense of trepidation these days that I dare turn on that bastion of “new music” Radio 1. It was while I was braving one of Radio 1’s daytime shows that the Black Eyed Peas “Dirty Bit” came on. There are plenty of things that can be written about the Black Eyed Peas and the music they are currently making, but I want to stay well clear of commenting on their chosen career path (except to say I do love “Behind The Front” as it’s truly a brilliant piece of work). I have since had sleepless nights trying to work out what it is about this song that upsets me most, and I have come to this conclusion.
The artists that I mentioned earlier all had a spark of creativity. With the notable exception of Motown, they didn’t set out to make popular music. They set out to make good music. They pushed boundaries, they experimented with the sounds and instruments available at the time and produced music that the public embraced. Today’s pop artists are too concerned with shifting units to concentrate upon producing innovative music. They are constantly repeating the last big idea, and we find ourselves in a creative abyss, a never-ending loop of re-hashed ideas.
Even so, it’s not all doom and gloom in the world of pop. This year there have been some genuinely great and innovative records. Katy B has taken dub-step to the mainstream, Tini Tempah came with a new approach to hip-hop but then ruined it by repeating the formula, and Ceeloo Green brought soul back to the charts. These few artists gave me hope that pop music might regain its creativity, but then I heard Dirty Bit and felt the hope ebb away.
For your interest here’s a list of my top ten pop albums. You don’t necessarily need to rush out and buy them all but give them all a listen:
The Beatles – Abbey Road
Stevie Wonder – Songs In The Key Of Life
Pulp – Different Class
The Beach Boys – Pet Sounds
Blur – Parklife
Oasis – (What’s The Story) Morning Glory?
Pet Shop Boys – DISCO
Justin Timberlake – Justified
De La Soul – 3 Feet High And Rising
Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On*
*In my opinion the best record ever made.
Phil Cooper
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