Belfast Spånga Monopoli Zurich- Everybody talking bout pop music.

Whatever our musical tastes in 2016, for most of us it was probably a pop song that started our interest in music.

There are doubtless exceptions. Those of us who heard Coltrane’s A Love Supreme while lying in our cradles and immediately developed a love for experimental jazz. The ones who at the age of three were saving their pocket money to buy Miles Davis albums.

This is a thread in celebration of the pop song. From Acker Bilk to Tove Lo, from Taming Parlour to Billy Fury. Please post your favourites. Not only the ones that became megahits but also the neglected pop gems that unjustly fell by the wayside.

Pop has had a chequered career. Back in the 60s many musicians were all too happy to be described as a pop star.

And then pop became a dirty word. It was rock music’s commercial, ephemeral, superficial relative.

Andy Partridge from XTC, commenting on his song This is Pop? “In 1976 I read a tiny review of a group called The Sex Pistols and the journalist was looking for words to describe them and their music. I thought how stupid » Continue Reading.