Fear of Pop

Pop is a term that has seen many a different definitions and connotations attached to it over the last 50+ years of recorded music. In it's essence, a "pop song" is the most basic and familiar of all. Upbeat, melodic, under four minutes, verse-chorus structure, emotional, and most of all, fun. Buddy Holly and Fats Domino were 50's pop. In the 60's the Beatles and their ilk took over the title. By the mid 70's, those guys were out, and disco had become pop. But beginning with disco, pop became synonymous with cheap, easy, unauthentic and unartistic music. Pop punk, pop metal, teenybopper, alt-pop, brit pop and countless others dominated the charts in the 80s, 90's. So by the time we hit 2007, marking a band or song as pop is like calling a sexually confident young woman a slut. Where did we go wrong? Here are a few recent songs by great artists who should wear the pop moniker proudly.

"Big Drag" by Limbeck
"Love Song" by Sara Bareilles
"People Have a Way" by Matt Pond PA
"Same Jeans" by The View
"See You At the Lights" by 1990s
"Two for My Seconds" by Operator Please
"Dead End" by The Format
"Ole Black 'n' Blue Eyes" by The Fratellis
"The Underdog" by Spoon