I've been disolutioned with the last decade of mainstram pop, I am begining to wonder if it will improve. When I think back to the pop from 20 years ago, it was still "just" pop, but love it or hate it, it had some integrity in comparison. compare Justine & Brittney and all the boy bands/dancing girls etc to the likes of Duran, Culture club, wham, simple minds, prince, blondie and many more. Love them or hate them they atleast created there own stuff, unlike the homogenised pruduction line "make me famous whatever it takes" mentality of todays performers- i really cant call them musicians. I relaise these kind of performers have always been around, but theres just SO MANY lately!so is real pop music gone, replaced by this whole new form of entertainment? and what do we call this...."puppetry" although fitting is an insult to real puppets.

Pop music peaked in the sixties with Baccarach/David, the Beatles,etc, . I don't hear many songs today that I believe will stand the test of time and maybe the degeneration is linked somehow to declining financial renumeration for songwriters.

ok music in general peaked with the Beatles, but then I dont expect Justine to to write the next "a day in the life", i just expect a musician to have something more to add to their music other than just a mediocre singing voice. My point was that pop (I use this word in its original form-popular), was relevant to the music industry, now it's not, as it is less music and more a disposable form of entertainment of some sort.

I guess you could say it "popped."

I think that in several different threads on this site, we've been dancing all around a cluster of reasons that the music has suffered. One is definitely the music industry's greed and inability to nurture music creators. I also think that the public schools have de-emphasized the performing arts to the degree that today's young musicians aren't getting the kind of training that results in the kind of music that past generations enjoyed.

Another thing, I believe, is that rock music, the predominant popular music genre for the last half-century, has lost its creative edge and has followed jazz and blues into an era of imitation of past triumphs and general self-parody. But the difference this time around is, there doesn't seem to be anything waiting in the wings to replace rock. So we're stuck with recycled junk music.

20 years ago, I thought that the next big thing was an international pop music, which I thought was being created by such artists as Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel, Sting, and the myriads of musicians making new and fresh sounds in the pop music scenes of Brazil, west Africa, Ireland, etc. I was excited about this new music becoming the foundation for a pop rennaisance not unlike the 1960s. Well, I'm afraid I didn't factor in the greed of the American music industry when I was making such projections.

Like several of us have said on this forum time and time again, there's great music out there if you're willing to dig for it. But as far as "pop" as we've known it goes, I think that's over. We'll never see anything like the pop music of the late 20th century again.

so where does Pop go? in my opinion and I hope im wrong,I really do, but with the "success" of those idols programmes, it seems there isnt even any shame in producing these clones anymore. and the public love it. Music is part art and part formula/science. Art has been completely removed and all we are left with is a formula, and the most bland ones at that. I know the guy that wont the Aussie idol has given us 2 of the most cliched boring songs of rubbish...and went straight to number 1. doh.

As a related thought, would anyone care to mention any songs written since ,say,1980 that will be remembered as SONGS,standing apart from the particular group or artist's performance...songs of the calbre of " Someone to Watch Over Me", "Anyone Who Had a Heart", "You Are the Sunshine of my Life," "Here,There, and Everywhere" to name a few?

I could name many good pop songs since 80 but none from the last 10yrs.

Algernon, the songs are around, but they're not going to be remembered because they're not on the radio. The great songwriters of our time aren't getting airplay. I think of David Wilcox, who wrote one of the finest songs I've ever heard, "Show The Way", that is considered a classic by a rather small group of people who admire his work. But of course, very few people have ever heard it.

Good point. Jimmy Webb is still writing wonderful songs as well, but not getting the hits.