Needles & Grooves AoTM /// Vol. 3 - September 2019 /// Nicole Atkins - Goodnight, Rhonda Lee

But with these guessing games, I like the mysteriousness and the flirting around with the clues! I want that ‘play hard to get’ kind of feel with this guessing game! I don’t like ‘too easy’ because it’s not as cheeky and fun and rewarding. I like the build up and suspense! I want to strike when the time is right 😚
 
Alexander said:
I'll throw a random guess into the mix: Kate Bush 'Hounds of Love'.
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One of my favourite pop albums ever! Definitely in my top 10 pop albums of all time!

@Joe Mac - Would you put this in your top 20 pop albums of all time? Let’s say The Beatles and The Smiths are pop in this instance! (Anything that’s generally pop = rock pop, indie-pop, art pop, progressive pop etc is pop).
 
NathanRicaud said:
One of my favourite pop albums ever! Definitely in my top 10 pop albums of all time!

@Joe Mac - Would you put this in your top 20 pop albums of all time? Let’s say The Beatles and The Smiths are pop in this instance! (Anything that’s generally pop = rock pop, indie-pop, art pop, progressive pop etc is pop).
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Let me do some figuring it’s probably in 20-40 of all time but I need to subtract the rock and decide say for example if while Hunky Dory is pop is Low? And like oasis broke the record at the time for weeks in the top 10 but is that enough to make it pop? Is pop a genre of ifs own or is it “popular music”.
 
Joe Mac said:
Let me do some figuring it’s probably in 20-40 of all time but I need to subtract the rock and decide say for example if while Hunky Dory is pop is Low? And like oasis broke the record at the time for weeks in the top 10 but is that enough to make it pop? Is pop a genre of ifs own or is it “popular music”.
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OMG!!! I can’t believe it’s in the 20-40 range of all time!!! That’s amazing! I’d say it’s in my 17-30 range! I absolutely loooooove the album! ♥

I don’t even know what’s pop to be honest though! It’s so broad because David Bowie and The Beatles are pop but so is Beyoncé...🤔
 
NathanRicaud said:
OMG!!! I can’t believe it’s in the 20-40 range of all time!!! That’s amazing! I’d say it’s in my 17-30 range! I absolutely loooooove the album! ♥

I don’t even know what’s pop to be honest though! It’s so broad because David Bowie and The Beatles are pop but so is Beyoncé...🤔
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I mean it did just mean popular music so whatever the teenagers were into and was the cultural zeitgeist of the time. I wonder if The Beatles and Bowie would be considered pop if they arrived today. It seems that at some point it almost became used as a label for a a type of music instead.
 
Joe Mac said:
I mean it did just mean popular music so whatever the teenagers were into and was the cultural zeitgeist of the time. I wonder if The Beatles and Bowie would be considered pop if they arrived today. It seems that at some point it almost became used as a label for a a type of music instead.
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Hey, @Teeeee what are your thoughts on the pop/rock split or lack thereof? Im here to learn as well as blindly guess and provide hot taeks
 
supahypeag said:
Hey, @Teeeee what are your thoughts on the pop/rock split or lack thereof? Im here to learn as well as blindly guess and provide hot taeks
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It's a fun question/topic. What is pop?

Aretha was pop when she was first releasing stuff. But looking back at it from 2019, I would call it soul (or gospel where appropriate).

Beatles are pop. But rock pop.

In the old place, we did a pop death match - we chose our favorite pop albums from each decade and then put them head to head until we had a winner. Prince - Purple Rain was named the best pop album by the VMP forum. Is it pop? I dunno. It was. But would it be now?

Pop means/meant popular. So yeah, Aretha, the Beatles, Prince, Bruce Springsteen even, are all pop if we go with that definition. But Bruce is not at all what I think of when I say I love pop (although I also love Bruce).

But when I say pop, I mean that particular sound. Britney, Whitney, Christina, Mariah, Backstreet Boys, Ariana, Robyn, Trainor, Demi, N Sync, O Town, One Direction. You get the point. That's what I think of when I say pop.

Lots of random thoughts. Maybe someone else can say it better.
 
Joe Mac said:
I mean it did just mean popular music so whatever the teenagers were into and was the cultural zeitgeist of the time. I wonder if The Beatles and Bowie would be considered pop if they arrived today. It seems that at some point it almost became used as a label for a a type of music instead.
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And you said it better, actually. At some point, it became a label for a type of music.

It's like how alternative or indie was a genre with a particular sound. But those terms have kinda lost meaning now.
 
Teeeee said:
Who said it WAS pop?

:unsure:
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Then based on a comment you made in the general AOTM thread (IIRC, you wrote "CANNONBALL!!!"), I'm going with:
Breeders - Last Splash
Murfocakes said:
Have you bought our past 3 AOTMs @NathanRicaud ? That’s what all the cool kids are at these days...
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I have not. I'm not a completist and the first album did not grab me at all. I streamed it several times on the Bandcamp page. I tried.
 
Teeeee said:
It's a fun question/topic. What is pop?

Aretha was pop when she was first releasing stuff. But looking back at it from 2019, I would call it soul (or gospel where appropriate).

Beatles are pop. But rock pop.

In the old place, we did a pop death match - we chose our favorite pop albums from each decade and then put them head to head until we had a winner. Prince - Purple Rain was named the best pop album by the VMP forum. Is it pop? I dunno. It was. But would it be now?

Pop means/meant popular. So yeah, Aretha, the Beatles, Prince, Bruce Springsteen even, are all pop if we go with that definition. But Bruce is not at all what I think of when I say I love pop (although I also love Bruce).

But when I say pop, I mean that particular sound. Britney, Whitney, Christina, Mariah, Backstreet Boys, Ariana, Robyn, Trainor, Demi, N Sync, O Town, One Direction. You get the point. That's what I think of when I say pop.

Lots of random thoughts. Maybe someone else can say it better.
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That's interesting! Branching off of that, I think it's interesting when some bands/musicians find themselves in the pop culture, when they had this vision of themselves as outsiders or rebels. For example, Nirvana invaded "popular music" in the early 90s and seemed pretty confused about it and were definitely defensive about the "sell out" label/insult thrown their way. It could be argued that Nirvana was pop music then, but it would be weird to call them that now.

And I find it interesting that a lot of the pop you identified as pop -- Britney, Whitney, Christina, Backstreet Boys, Ariana, etc. -- are all pretty different and combine so many genres! Just checking out the wiki entry for "Dance pop" (where a lot of those artists are listed), it contains a dizzying array of influences, including R&B, soul, funk, EDM, hip-hop, bubblegum, rock, new jack swing, etc. It's funny that a genre that is generally derided by some snobby folk as being devoid of artistic merit and driven by profit has a LOT of sophistication.
 
supahypeag said:
That's interesting! Branching off of that, I think it's interesting when some bands/musicians find themselves in the pop culture, when they had this vision of themselves as outsiders or rebels. For example, Nirvana invaded "popular music" in the early 90s and seemed pretty confused about it and were definitely defensive about the "sell out" label/insult thrown their way. It could be argued that Nirvana was pop music then, but it would be weird to call them that now.

And I find it interesting that a lot of the pop you identified as pop -- Britney, Whitney, Christina, Backstreet Boys, Ariana, etc. -- are all pretty different and combine so many genres! Just checking out the wiki entry for "Dance pop" (where a lot of those artists are listed), it contains a dizzying array of influences, including R&B, soul, funk, EDM, hip-hop, bubblegum, rock, new jack swing, etc. It's funny that a genre that is generally derided by some snobby folk as being devoid of artistic merit and driven by profit has a LOT of sophistication.
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Nirvana is a perfect example, @supahypeag !! They definitely were popular. But yeah, are they pop? As an aside, I find it an attack on me personally when radio stations play Nirvana and call it classic rock. I AM NOT THAT OLD! Lol

We all know what my favorite Bey album is. (Lemonade guys, it's Lemonade). I've said it is my top pop album of the decade. But I'm not even sure it is truly "pop". Which is exactly what you're getting at. Bey has pop songs but I struggle to place any Lemonade songs firmly in the pop category.
 
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