Popping the Question: Has pop gone poo?

I am supposed to be writing an essay (8000 words to write over the holidays and so far I’ve done none. Eek!), but all of the posting on Dirrrty Pop I’ve done lately has got me thinking about the state of pop music today. Compiling my top 100, I felt that while in previous years I had many songs deserving to be no.1, this year it was difficult to decide if anything deserved it. I considered each of my top 5 songs as the no.1, thinking about how I’d feel when I look back in years to come at what I’d chosen as 2008’s best pop song.

The fact that Just Dance still sounds brilliant 8 months after I first heard it is proof that it is the best song of the year, but I really didn’t expect it to be the only real contender. I kept waiting for its competition to be released, and it never came. Every song in my top 100 is genuinely great, but consider 2007’s top 3:

1. Rihanna ft. Jay-Z – Umbrella
2. Kleerup ft. Robyn – With Every Heartbeat
3. Alphabeat – 10,000 Nights of Thunder

Any of those would have beaten Lady GaGa, and the rest of the top 5 would have put up a fight as well. The whole top 10 is a list of absolute pop classics, and I think only Just Dance and No Air will be remembered as the pure pop classics of 2008.

So, now I’ve come to the conclusion that 2008 was not a great year for pop, let’s look to 2009. What am I excited about? Well, I can’t really think of anything. I’m glad that Lady GaGa is becoming successful, but we’ve had her album for ages so there’s not much to look forward to with her. The Alcazar album will hopefully be ace, and this year’s Melodifestivalen will certainly provide some fantastic pop, but that’s just Sweden – they’re always going to be making good stuff.

What about the rest of the world, namely the mega-markets of the UK and America? The only British act I’m excited about is The Pipettes, and I haven’t even heard anything from them in ages. It was in June I saw them do their new songs, and not even a single has been released yet. Anna has apparently left so things aren’t looking positive. As for America, I’m hoping for some more great r’n’b-pop after the recent vast improvements in this genre, but I can’t think of any particular act who I’m looking forward to new music from.

There are of course plenty of pop bands who are being tipped for the top in 2009, but most of them are electro-pop acts and unfortunately none of them have quite got the poptasticness I’m looking for. Little Boots impressed me with Meddle, but nothing else I’ve heard by her is as catchy. Frankmusik may be popular, but his unusual sound will only be a fad, if that. La Roux is interesting, but again I feel like my attitude to her, and many of the other acts, will more closely reflect how I feel about Goldfrapp or Ladytron than Annie or Bertine Zetlitz. I suppose they are just not Norwegian enough. But more importantly, they are too cool, and their efforts to retain that coolness by not making all-out pop songs are preventing them from being any more than ‘quite good’.

I want my faith in pop to be restored, and it will only take a few really amazing songs or albums to do it. If you know of any, please let me in on the secret!

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