On the other hand, not all pop is stuffed. In fact I think my appreciation for pop is at a high water mark, at least in terms of the ratio of songs I like to those I don't. I even like the sickeningly saccharine "Reach" by S Club 7! (It's all in 'dem drums, baby)
There's too many likable pop songs in the charts right now to list. Well, okay: "Life Is A Rollercoaster", "Try Again", "Lucky", "Jumpin' Jumpin'", "I Think I'm In Love With You", "Fill Me In", "Most Girls", "Sing Along", "Faded" (by some American band whose name I forget - Soul Decision maybe? Anyway, think straightahead whiteboy pop-rock, only produced by Stardust... weird), "Groovejet", "Out Of Your Mind", and various others that I can't remember right now. My favourite pop moment at the moment is the slamming bass bridge in Britney's "Lucky", with her arch-nasal "oh, oh, o-o-oh" on top. So over the top! So brilliant!
And just on the controversial "Groovejet" by Spiller, I'd say what makes this track good is not the disco guitar or the Moloko resemblance or Sophie Ellis-Baker's "am I using an accent or not?" singing, but rather the delicate nuances of the four-four beat, which springs and topples about like nobody's business. Which makes it the most interesting straightahead commercial disco house since Groove Armada's "If Everybody Looked The Same". I'm sure I'm going to get very tired of it, but perhaps the secret is not to get overly excited, as happened in the UK. It ain't the single of the year, but for now at least it goes down very smoothly indeed.
Pop Tim emphatically does not like: Christina Aguilera's "I Turn To You"; Mel C's "I Turn To You"; anything by Leah Haywood; anything by Vanessa Amorosi; anything by Sister 2 Sister; anything by Girl Thing; anything by Jennifer Lopez; anything by 98 Degrees; anything by Coco Lee; anything by Westlife (a favourite of the guy I'm seeing...I guess no one's perfect); anything featuring Spanish lyrics, a Spanish guitar, the word "Spanish" anywhere, someone (pretending to be) Spanish, Santana, or any combination of the above; duets; anything sung by people under age of sixteen.
