Top of the Pops (TOTP) might seem like an unlikely topic for our Webzine, but it’s role in the evolution of popular music has been so important that it would be heinous not to mention it. Pop is a word shuddered at by most music nodes nowadays and wrongly so. Mass produced and unintelligent, it’s clever in its construction, appealing to the masses and proves that the writers are good at what they do.
In a televised show that ran from 1964 to 2006, TOTP has allowed some of the best musicians of the past five decades to perform on TV. Bands like The Kinks, The Specials, David Bowie and Blondie who, despite miming their songs (a whole other article) actually made pop music that was meant to be seen live. So, this year’s Christmas Special left me wondering, what is current pop music meant for?
People like Olly Murs and Pixie Lott were in the running for Christmas Number One and their performances were appalling. They had musicians backing them, desperately attempting to recreate the studio sound that had been so heavily edited, mixed and remastered that their songs just didn’t work live. When music is so heavily edited in post-production it makes the sound very hard to produce on-stage - it’s why many musicians play simple riffs then layer them with other harmonies. I was at a loss. Clearly these performers had been too manufactured; they weren’t wordsmiths or musicians and their prowess left much to be desired. Having learnt at a young age that one of life’s greatest pleasures is seeing a band you love perform live and discovering that actually, although their music is good on CD it wasn’t meant to be heard that way, this conclusion left me cold. The Pop music being produced now won’t make your chest vibrate the moment the bass kicks in, the crowd won’t bounce up and down around you unable to control themselves as the carefully thought out riffs are heard for the first time on a guitar. If you go to see any of these bands, you won’t be able to do what you once could – lose yourself in a cause that unites everybody there. Good music.
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