“At an incredibly divisive point in pop history, Donna Summer managed to create an undeniable across-the-board experience of mass pleasure - after 'Bad Girls,' nobody ever tried claiming disco sucked again. It set the template for what Michael Jackson would do a few months later with 'Off The Wall.'” GirlPleasureWallMonthsSummerMassPopsBoardsDiscoBad GirlOff The Wall Author:Rob Sheffield
“Being a pop fan is a lot like Catholic devotion - lots of ritual, lots of ceremony... We touch the icon to enter the sacred space, genuflecting to reliquaries and ostentatoria that make something splendid of our most secret desires and agonies.” DesireSpaceSecretFansCatholicSacredPopsDevotionRitualAgonyCeremonySplendidIconsSacred SpaceSecret Desire Book:Talking to Girls About Duran Duran: One Young Man's Quest for True Love and a Cooler Haircut Source: Talking to Girls About Duran Duran: One Young Man's Quest for True Love and a Cooler Haircut
“Davy Jones was the grooviest of the Monkees, which makes him one of the grooviest pop stars who ever existed. He was the best dancer in the Monkees, the Cute One, the one with the coy English accent, the bowl-cut boy-child who shook those cherry-red maracas and always got the girl. He was also the guy who stole David Bowie's original name.” ChildrenGuyGirlNamesStarsBoysCuttingRedOriginalsPopsCuteDancerBowlsAccentsCherriesPop StarsBowieBowl Cuts Author:Rob Sheffield
“In their heyday, the Pet Shop Boys were the Interpol of the Eighties, dressing up to sing really weird pop songs about lust and loneliness in the big city. They're low-pro now, not retro-worshipped in the manner of Depeche Mode, New Order, or The Cure, but you can hear the reason why - these guys are too sad.” ReasonBigsGuySongOrderCitiesBoysLonelinessLowsPopsLustCuresReason WhyShopsPetDressingsEightyDressing UpBig CitiesReally WeirdPop SongRetroHeydayDepeche Mode Author:Rob Sheffield
“Like many other touchstones of twenty-first-century pop culture, 'The Sopranos' was hatched in the late Nineties, predicting a future that never arrived. It was designed for a decade that would be just like the Nineties, except more so, in an America that enjoyed seeing itself as smarter and braver and freer than ever before.” FirstsWould BeAmericaCultureSeeingCenturyLateTwentiesPopsDecadesEnjoyedSmarterPop CulturePredictingTouchstonesSopranos Author:Rob Sheffield
“Rebecca Black might sing like a robot, but that's just proof she has evolved beyond us. Her vocal is just a slightly exaggerated version of the robot glitch-twitch stutter that's been mainstream pop vocalese for the past 10 years or so.” YearsMightPastBlackPopsProofVersionsMainstreamRobotsVocalExaggeratedRebeccaGlitches Author:Rob Sheffield
“Seeing Taylor Swift live in 2013 is seeing a maestro at the top of her or anyone's game. No other pop auteur can touch her right now for emotional excess or musical reach - her punk is so punk, her disco is so disco. The red sequins on her guitar match the ones on her microphone, her shoes and 80 percent of the crowd.” GamesSeeingEmotionalRight NowPercentRedGuitarMusicalShoesCrowdsPopsExcessPunkMicrophonesDiscoMaestroAuteursSequins Author:Rob Sheffield
