# Pop: the shameless appreciation thread



## fbjim (Mar 8, 2021)

Yup. Pop.

Pop is kind of a dumb term since it can theoretically encompass anything intended for general consumption- i.e. virtually all of mainstream rock, a lot of hip-hop, and even a bit of jazz. But this is about the type of heavily produced, "artificial" music that usually gets associated with the term "pop music".

So why like this? Why do _I_ sometimes like this? Well-

>Production: Pop sometimes features some amazingly inventive production techniques. Of course, an enormous amount of it is copycat stuff, enormously uninventive, or boring- and a lot of times, the "inventive" production is actually appropriated from non-mainstream sources (remember when trap beats got big in pop music?). But even then, seeing the process of that sort of sound getting adapted into something suitable for "the masses" can be interesting in itself.






I mean- isn't that production fascinating? Listen to that instrumental bridge with that acid-like squelching- that's reeeealy adventurous in a song which was a ginormous hit! A lot of my favorite pop hits actually fall under this category - Prince, and 60s "Girl Group" music, for instance.

>Emotional manipulation: This is usually considered a bad thing- and yet emotional manipulation is arguably the goal of art. I'm personally not a fan of a lot of pop ballads, my love of production generally comes from my love of electronic music, so stuff that doesn't make me want to dance has less appeal- but one of my favorite sub-genres of pop is the "crying on the dancefloor" song, which ABBA were the unquestioned masters. They are the J.S. Bach of the Sad Dance Song. 





>Fun: Fun is when music bypasses all your critical faculties and makes you want to get up and skip down the sidewalk listening to your headphones, or get on the floor and make a total idiot of yourself trying to dance. I'd say more but there's not much to say about music which just totally gets past all my higher levels of thinking and hits me in my lizard brain.






Anyway this is a tribute to the least reputable of music genres. Also, *this isn't another debate thread about "objective badness" or whatever, so please don't bring that up*. Also please try to keep examples to what people generally would regard as "pop"- I realize that a lot of rock falls under a wide category of "crossover" pop music, and I'm not going to yell at someone for posting like, "Helter Skelter" by the Beatles- but this is about that sort of constructed, produced earworm that sometimes just works on you.

Or maybe it's just me. Anyway, post your favorite pop songs here! I mean, it's more fun than Bruckner, anyway.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

My 202 favourite pop/rock songs.


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## Conrad2 (Jan 24, 2021)

I have a "diverse" taste in pop, so my sample of songs I like may overlap with different genres, if that's all right with you.

Jens Lekman - A Postcard To Nina





Milk - Sweet Trip





The Book Of Love - Magnetic Fields 





Part 1 - Fisherman (part of the album Long Season)





John Wayne Gacy, Jr. - Sufjan Stevens





...
There are many more, but these are the ones I can think of right now and there is a limit.


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## nikola (Sep 7, 2012)

IMO, the pinnacle of pop were 80's and the pinnacle artist/band of pop are ABBA. They made the most complex and at the same time catchiest pop.

I mean, listen to this... it's hard to tell how many bridges and choruses this song has.. what is exactly chorus here, what is verse... I don't know... really complex construction for a pop song:






Two vocal melodies overlapping in the chorus... also, the whole melody is really challenging and exciting to listen to:






And this is probably my favorite ABBA song (although almost all of their songs are brilliant). To be honest, a song like this can make me cry.


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## fbjim (Mar 8, 2021)

Sufjan is lovely.

That mid-00s period of indie pop was really, really formative for some of my tastes- Belle and Sebastien were always some of my favorites.





Here's one of the most "indie" hits ever made- a big UK hit that was literally made by one dude in his bedroom- off the strength of a fantastic earworm of a beat.


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

I like some pop


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## fbjim (Mar 8, 2021)

nikola said:


> IMO, the pinnacle of pop were 80's and the pinnacle artist/band of pop are ABBA. They made the most complex and at the same time catchiest pop.


ABBA are like, the pop equivilent of a joke I recently heard about Berg's _Violin Concerto_ and serialism (how's that for a connection?)- it's the one group people who hate pop can't bring themselves to hate, just like the Berg violin concerto is the one serial work that people who hate serialism can't fully deny, hah.

ABBA was best in that melancholy, dancey mood- nobody in the pop field was better than them at that. Their last albums- Voulez Vous, Super Trouper, and The Visitors are the peak of that aesthetic.


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## nikola (Sep 7, 2012)

To be honest, I don't like modern pop that's on top charts today. 99% of it is horrible, predictable, derivative and soulless to me. 
Since MTV changed its politics through the mid 90's they probably decided that music isn't important anymore. Only image and young bands and singers for teens were important. IMO, everything went downhill since then, but there's still great music out there.

Some great pop hits from the 80's:

R.I.P. Jim Steinman


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## nikola (Sep 7, 2012)

fbjim said:


> ABBA are like, the pop equivilent of a joke I recently heard about Berg's _Violin Concerto_ and serialism (how's that for a connection?)- it's the one group people who hate pop can't bring themselves to hate, just like the Berg violin concerto is the one serial work that people who hate serialism can't fully deny, hah.
> 
> ABBA was best in that melancholy, dancey mood- nobody in the pop field was better than them at that. Their last albums- Voulez Vous, Super Trouper, and The Visitors are the peak of that aesthetic.


'Arrival' is also brilliant pop album. Those 2 guys really had 'knack' for composing memorable songs and girls had gorgeous vocals. Some people think that ABBA's music is simple trash just because it's very catchy and memorable, but it's actually very complex for pop music and if it's memorable and likeable that doesn't mean it's 'bad' or 'inferior'. To compose a good pop song is actually one of the hardest thing to do.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Glad to see the love for ABBA. Apart from their imo best song (The winner takes it all), I also love Eagle, Fernando, One of us, Our last summer, S.O.S., and The day before you came. Of course being 16-23 during their active years helped to make this music with a lasting effect.


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## nikola (Sep 7, 2012)

Jim Steinman died a month ago. He was composing over the top dramatic pop-rock music that was almost like opera and I really think that he was brilliant at it. Many critics never liked him.
I already shared in previous post his composition 'Holding out for a Hero' by Bonnie Tyler.


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## fbjim (Mar 8, 2021)

I believe Peter Gabriel said something similar about the difficulty of working in the constraints of the pop song when he was talking about his transition from a progressive rock artist to a pop music artist. 

Gabriel did make some fabulous pop music, by the way. So did Phil Collins and 80s Genesis generally, funny enough.


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## Red Terror (Dec 10, 2018)

Simon & Garfunkel. Perhaps the best duo in modern pop music history.


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## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

Art Rock said:


> Glad to see the love for ABBA. Apart from their imo best song (The winner takes it all), I also love Eagle, Fernando, One of us, Our last summer, S.O.S., and The day before you came. Of course being 16-23 during their active years helped to make this music with a lasting effect.


Oh, love to see the Eagle and Fernando being mentioned, both exceptional songs! With Eagle they crossed towards more soft/art-rock style. I keep their complete albums boxset (the black box) and I wouldn't call it "a guilty pleasure".

A couple of high-quality pop songs that I find irresistable:

Mylène Farmer, Jean-Louis Murat - Regrets





Janis Ian - Society's Child





Not sure if the latter qualifies as pop (an early form of that maybe) or just folk but whatever floats your boat.


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## Red Terror (Dec 10, 2018)

nikola said:


> To be honest, I don't like modern pop that's on top charts today. 99% of it is horrible, predictable, derivative and soulless to me.
> 
> Some great pop hits from the 80's:


Tanita Tikaram's Ancient Heart doesn't sound at all dated. Truly one of greatest pop albums ever.

By the way, she's still a looker.


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## nikola (Sep 7, 2012)

Red Terror said:


> Tanita Tikaram's Ancient Heart doesn't sound at all dated. Truly one of greatest pop albums ever.
> 
> By the way, she's still a looker.


Yes, she looks like she almost doesn't get old at all. Strange. 
The music that wasn't too synthetic back then doesn't sound dated, but if the song is good, I even like dated production then.


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## nikola (Sep 7, 2012)

I'll share some really catchy pop songs by Elton John that I love. Elton really has a knack for composing in many different styles of songs.

Right here I'll share only his 80's catchy pop stuff:


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## nikola (Sep 7, 2012)

Even though I'm not a fan on new trendy pop, these are some of the songs from the last 10 years that I actually think are good.






Brandi Carlile - this brilliant musician deserves her own thread. My most favorite female vocal and songwriter ever:


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

St. Vincent is one of my favourite current pop/rock artists, excellent albums.


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## nikola (Sep 7, 2012)

Mika is truly a shameless catchy pop.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

I love his Grace Kelly - but never got the feeling I needed to explore him further.

In case anyone is interested, here are my favourite pop/rock albums of the twentyteens:

2011 Let England Shake - PJ Harvey
2011 The King of Limbs - Radiohead
2011 Passion - Pendragon
2011 So Beautiful or So What - Paul Simon
2011 300 Days at Sea - Heather Nova
2011 Rites at Dawn - Wobbler
2011 Grace for Drowning - Steven Wilson 
2011 Heritage - Opeth
2011 Night of Hunters - Tori Amos
2011 Strange Mercy - St. Vincent
2011 All Rights Removed - Airbag
2011 New Blood - Peter Gabriel
2011 The Night Visitor - Anna Ternheim
2011 50 Words for Snow - Kate Bush
2012 Born to Die - Lana Del Rey
2012 Coffee In Neukölln - Barock Project
2012 Ballast der Republik - Die Toten Hosen
2012 Storm Corrosion - Storm Corrosion
2012 Valtari - Sigur Rós
2012 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend! - Godspeed You! Black Emperor
2012 Genesis Revisited II - Steve Hackett
2013 Shrine of New Generation Slaves - Riverside
2013 The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories) - Steven Wilson
2013 The Next Day - David Bowie
2013 Modern Vampires of the City - Vampire Weekend
2013 Trouble Will Find Me - The National
2013 Invisible Empire // Crescent Moon - KT Tunstall
2013 Kveikur - Sigur Rós
2013 The Weight of Your Love - Editors
2013 Ceremony - Anna von Hauswolff
2013 A Feast of Consequences - Fish
2013 Aventine - Agnes Obel
2013 Seasons of Your Day - Mazzy Star
2013 The Greatest Show on Earth - Airbag
2013 Tookah - Emiliana Torrini
2014 Burn Your Fire for No Witness - Angel Olsen
2014 St. Vincent - St. Vincent
2014 L'Enigma Della Vita - Logos
2014 Natalie Merchant - Natalie Merchant
2014 The Road of Bones - IQ
2014 Unrepentant Geraldines - Tori Amos
2014 Ultraviolence - Lana Del Rey
2014 Avonmore - Bryan Ferry
2015 Bridges - Eivør
2015 Hand. Cannot. Erase. - Steven Wilson
2015 The Way It Feels - Heather Nova
2015 Skyline - Barock Project
2015 Honeymoon - Lana Del Rey
2015 Love, Fear and the Time Machine - Riverside
2015 Slør - Eivør
2015 The Miraculous - Anna von Hauswolff
2016 Blackstar - David Bowie
2016 A Moon Shaped Pool - Radiohead
2016 Disconnected - Airbag
2016 Stranger to Stranger - Paul Simon
2016 My Woman - Angel Olsen
2016 Citizen of Glass - Agnes Obel
2016 Until the Hunter - Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions 
2017 Under Stars - Amy Macdonald
2017 Mental Illness - Aimee Mann
2017 Cigarettes After Sex - Cigarettes After Sex
2017 To The Bone - Steven Wilson
2017 Luciferian Towers - Godspeed You! Black Emperor
2017 Native Invader - Tori Amos
2017 Masseduction - St. Vincent
2018 Seas of Change - Galahad
2018 Dead Magic - Anna von Hauswolff
2018 Lost Souls - Loreena McKennitt
2018 Wasteland - Riverside
2019 Bobbie Gentry's The Delta Sweete Revisited - Mercury Rev
2019 When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? - Billie Eilish
2019 Storm Warning - Andrew Roussak
2019 Father of the Bride - Vampire Weekend
2019 Pearl - Heather Nova
2019 Norman ******* Rockwell! - Lana Del Rey
2019 Resistance - IQ
2019 All Mirrors - Angel Olsen
2019 Cry - Cigarettes After Sex
2020 Love over Fear - Pendragon
2020 Myopia - Agnes Obel
2020 A Day at the Beach - Airbag
2020 Sadako e le mille gru di carta - Logos
2020 All Thoughts Fly - Anna von Hauswolff


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## nikola (Sep 7, 2012)

Oh yes, I love those:


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## nikola (Sep 7, 2012)

Agnes Obel is interesting...


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## nikola (Sep 7, 2012)

Oh yes, not so popular band 'Other Lives' has some very interesting songs.


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## nikola (Sep 7, 2012)

Don Brownrigg is so unknown:


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## Malx (Jun 18, 2017)

I often wonder how a lot of the modern 'pop' would be regarded if there were no videos attached. In the early days of pop/rock music the songs/music stood up purely on their/its musical merit - now I sense many people like the video as much as the song.
Does that change to a video + music interdependence make people less inclined to arrive at their own interpretation of the song's lyrics, with the video often guiding the meaning?
Just wondered.....


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## fbjim (Mar 8, 2021)

Music videos are something of their own medium by themselves. I'm actually unsure how much of a role they play nowadays versus when MTV played them with more frequency- I still see significant hype when an "interesting" one by a major artist gets released, though. 

I do think a great video can elevate a song, just as a timely appearance in a TV show, or film, or even a commercial can (remember when Feist's '1234' became a mega-hit from an iPod commercial?)


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## Malx (Jun 18, 2017)

fbjim said:


> Music videos are something of their own medium by themselves. I'm actually unsure how much of a role they play nowadays versus when MTV played them with more frequency- I still see significant hype when an "interesting" one by a major artist gets released, though.
> 
> I do think a great video can elevate a song, just as a timely appearance in a TV show, or film, or even a commercial can *(remember when Feist's '1234' became a mega-hit from an iPod commercial?*)


I guess I'm in the wrong generation - I can barely remember what an iPod was  and I've never heard of Feist.

I suspect a good video can 'elevate' a songs awareness with the general population but if it necessarily 'elevates' the songs quality I doubt.


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## nikola (Sep 7, 2012)

Malx said:


> I often wonder how a lot of the modern 'pop' would be regarded if there were no videos attached. In the early days of pop/rock music the songs/music stood up purely on their/its musical merit - now I sense many people like the video as much as the song.
> Does that change to a video + music interdependence make people less inclined to arrive at their own interpretation of the song's lyrics, with the video often guiding the meaning?
> Just wondered.....


Modern pop is mostly made only for profit and videos are almost all horrible kitsch IMO. It's almost same with the music.

I really don't understand what happened to pop music, but all this derivative crap is musically so bad and superficial just like horrible videos that go along with this so called 'music'. It all sounds the same - tasteless, derivative, emotionless, empty and degeneric. It's almost like aliens occupied human bodies, so 'people' started to process emotions in a different way. I think all that is actually caused by wild capitalism which wants more and more profit and it wants it now.

A few examples of everything I don't like about modern so called 'pop'.

Obnoxious:





Lame and retarded:





Horrible video and stupid song on otherwise not so horrible pop album:





Lame and pathetic:


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## Shaughnessy (Dec 31, 2020)

Growing up in Chicago during the 1960's there were two great 50,000 watt stations - WLS and WCFL - and they played everything - the most astonishing array of pop tunes ranging from Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin and all four of the "Bobbys" - Darin, Rydell, Vinton, and Vee - to The Beatles and the Stones and Herman's Hermits and from Motown to Stax to Colgems along with everything else that would fall into the "Other" category from bubblegum to country to psychedelic and onwards beyond to early progressive rock.

Both stations would occasionally "spotlight feature" a song that was so popular that *they played it twice in a row.*

In that spirit from days long past, allow me to present

"The Godfather of Soul" -

"The King Of Rock n' Roll" -

"The Crazy Uncle of Punk"...

None other than...

Mr. Rick Astley - singing not once, but twice in a row - what Bob Dylan called "the single greatest pop song ever written in the history of pop music not counting "Like A Rolling Stone", "Mr. Tambourine Man", or even "Lay Lady Lay" for that matter" -

* "Never Gonna Give You Up"...
*


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## nikola (Sep 7, 2012)

I don't think that 2 same videos of 'Never Gonna Give You Up' are enough :lol:


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Rick Roll for Dummies...............


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## Shaughnessy (Dec 31, 2020)

Art Rock said:


> Rick Roll for Dummies...............


Please don't refer to my audience as "dummies" - "rubes" - sure - "yokels" - you bet - but they're far too intelligent - far too sophisticated - to be considered "dummies"... except for one, maybe two... okay, make it three - but they don't count.


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## Conrad2 (Jan 24, 2021)

Part 2:

Ya Ya Breathe - Bruno Pernadas





Hey, Ma - Bon Iver





Everyday - Weyes Blood





Ahhhh, These Chains! - Mid-Air Thief





Bros - Panda Pro


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## BrahmsWasAGreatMelodist (Jan 13, 2019)

OK, y'all already know this song, but it's a great one:


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## Serge (Mar 25, 2010)

BrahmsWasAGreatMelodist said:


> OK, y'all already know this song, but it's a great one:


Coincidentally... The Russian singing sensation Diana Ankudinova has recorded her take on this song. (And what's more, some people who used to hate the original love what she did with it.)

2020.05.24. "Take On Me". Диана Анкудинова. Diana Ankudinova. (Home studio recording. Arrangement by Alexander Stepin.)


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## nikola (Sep 7, 2012)

Who can hate 'Take on Me'? Ah, those posh people :lol:

There's more great 80's pop hits to hate:


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Ahh... Kim Wilde. 

Her first two albums (especially the second) were surprisingly good as well.


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## pianozach (May 21, 2018)

*Spin Doctors - Two Princes






.

Klaatu - Sub-Rosa Subway






.

Beatles - Eight Days a Week






.

Elton John - Levon





*


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## pianozach (May 21, 2018)

*O-Zone - Dragostea Din Tei*

I rarely listen to any non-English-based pop, but when I do, it's this song.

You might know this song by a different name . . .


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## nikola (Sep 7, 2012)




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## nikola (Sep 7, 2012)

Some great depressing and sad pop songs:


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## nikola (Sep 7, 2012)

Album 'The Lady Killer' by CeeLo Green is one of the most perfect pop albums ever...

**** you (



)


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## fbjim (Mar 8, 2021)

Been listening to some Bee Gees lately. Even more than the Monkees, they're probably the most historically critically dismissed pop music band of the rock era, except maybe the Carpenters- they're absolutely lovely, all the way through their disco phase.

I'd post my favorite pop hits by them, but it'd turn into just me basically posting their greatest hits album ("New York Mining Disaster", "Got to Get a Message to You", "To Love Somebody", god) - instead, here's their dalliance with proto-progressive post-Sgt. Peppers baroque pop with some lyrics that absolutely destroy me with their childlike quality.






from Bob Stanley (and lifted from the hilarious "500 Worst Rolling Stones Reviews of All Time" RYM page)



> "Through it all, they were never fashionable. They made some diabolical mistakes, so bad that you'd think it was some kind of cosmic joke. Take 'Fanny (Be Tender with My Love)'-no one else could have come up with such an ugly title (why not 'Annie', for God's sake?) for such a beautiful song...None of this makes any sense until you remember their upbringing: cocooned, with extreme arrested development, they had no instincts for cool pop moves. With ill grace, they'd always point the finger when things went wrong...Blaming anyone but themselves. Blaming it all on the nights on Broadway. They would walk out of interviews on a regular basis and, until the end, found it hard to understand their place in history after the almighty eighties backlash. *So they were childish and childlike. Forgive them. They wrote a dozen of the finest songs of the twentieth century."*


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## Eclectic Al (Apr 23, 2020)

Eurovision this weekend, folks: the apotheosis of pop


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## Shaughnessy (Dec 31, 2020)

Deleted post... 

It's bad form to critique someone's work when they're no longer here to defend themselves.


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## pianozach (May 21, 2018)

fbjim said:


> Been listening to some *Bee Gees* lately. . . .


The *Bee Gees* crack me up. Always wanted to be appreciated as artists. They tried so hard, but their instincts were odd. They started out covering so many Beatles songs, then spent years trying to shake the image that they were Beatles copycats and wannabees.

Then they got lucky and caught the crest of the short-lived Disco craze. They were on top of the world - so much so that they agreed to star in a film based on the music of the Beatles. Ironically, the album did well until the film premiered, a poorly conceived "tribute", poorly directed, and poorly acted. The album sales then tanked, and it became the first record to "Return Platinum", with over four million copies of it taken off store shelves and shipped back to distributors.

There were a few of their pre-Disco songs I liked (like *Lonely Days Lonely Nights* and _*To Love Somebody*_), but mostly I DIDN'T like their overly-nasal vocals.

Here's one I did liked a lot: *Mr. Natural*. No reason why. Maybe I just enjoyed the groove. Here they are lipsynching to the studio recording . . .


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## Shaughnessy (Dec 31, 2020)

*The Bee Gees Legacy -*

Brian May of Queen said: "Of course I was, and am a huge fan of the Bee Gees' creations in music. Undoubtedly at the pinnacle of song-writing considered over the last-30 years, is it?! My fondest recollections are not of the SNF days, which were really a re-birth in the Bee Gees' popularity, but the early ground-breaking songs ... I remember singing these [songs] with my pal Tim Staffell [of Smile] and Freddie [Mercury] in the real old days." May also praised the song "You Win Again" as one of the greatest songs of the '80s.

In his 1980 Playboy magazine interview, John Lennon praised the Bee Gees, "Try to tell the kids in the seventies who were screaming to the Bee Gees that their music was just the Beatles redone. There is nothing wrong with the Bee Gees. They do a damn good job. There was nothing else going on then".

Michael Jackson, who was also influenced by the Bee Gees, said, "I cried listening to their music. I knew every note, every instrument".

Paul McCartney recalled, "It was the 'Mining Disaster' song that Robert Stigwood played me, I said 'sign them, they're great'".

Ringo Starr said, "The Bee Gees from our era were quite important, especially the harmonies."

Kevin Parker of Tame Impala has said that listening to the Bee Gees after taking mushrooms inspired him to change the sound of the music he was making in his album Currents.

Barry Gibb once said: "When we first came out, Jimi Hendrix said we were two-year old Beatles. He was just giving an opinion at the time. People just like to have a go at other artists. But we are very good friends with Jimi now". Years later, Gibb recalled: "He was a great mate of mine. He came to my twenty-first birthday. He was an extremely polite bloke. I never knew about the drugs then. I thought he was acting a bit weird and saying kind of remote things, but I was too naive to even consider that it might be drugs, I never caught on with Jimi and the drugs. I saw him drunk a few times because I remember thinking he was always really quiet until he had a few drinks".

Following Robin's death on 20 May 2012, Beyoncé remarked: "The Bee Gees were an early inspiration for me, Kelly Rowland and Michelle. We loved their songwriting and beautiful harmonies."

At one point in 1978, the Gibb brothers were responsible for writing and/or performing nine of the songs in the Billboard Hot 100. In all, the Gibbs placed 13 singles onto the Hot 100 in 1978, with 12 making the Top 40. The Gibb brothers are fellows of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA). At least 2,500 artists have recorded their songs.

All three brothers (including Maurice, posthumously) were invested as Commanders of the Order of the British Empire in December 2001 with the ceremony taking place at Buckingham Palace on 27 May 2004.

On 27 June 2018, Barry Gibb, the last surviving member of the Bee Gees, was knighted by Prince Charles after being named on the Queen's New Years Honours List.


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## Serge (Mar 25, 2010)

Indila - Dernière danse (Ho My Session! Acoustique)


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## Amadea (Apr 15, 2021)

I absolutely LOVED Britney Spears when I was 10. If one of her old songs plays, I still sing it as I remember all the words 16 years after. 
*Runs away in shame*


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## pianozach (May 21, 2018)

Amadea said:


> I absolutely LOVED Britney Spears when I was 10. If one of her old songs plays, I still sing it as I remember all the words 16 years after.
> *Runs away in shame*


I'm not much of a *Britney* fan, but I do appreciate the work that went into her albums . . . the writing, the recording the producing, arranging, engineering.


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## Amadea (Apr 15, 2021)

pianozach said:


> I'm not much of a *Britney* fan, but I do appreciate the work that went into her albums . . . the writing, the recording the producing, arranging, engineering.


Yes, that's exactly what caught my attention when I was a child: all those sounds, the production etc. It was excellent from that point of view. All big pop stars have excellent production, otherwise I think they wouldn't sell much.


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## nikola (Sep 7, 2012)

This 2 songs were written by Bee Gees:


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## nikola (Sep 7, 2012)

Elton John & Leon Russell - great bluesy song, great energy. Studio version is longer and slightly different, but also great.


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## Eclectic Al (Apr 23, 2020)

nikola said:


> Elton John & Leon Russell - great bluesy song, great energy. Studio version is longer and slightly different, but also great.


The album they did together was great.


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## nikola (Sep 7, 2012)

Eclectic Al said:


> The album they did together was great.


Yes, I'd say it was very good - 8/10. 
What Elton did after 'The Union' didn't impress me much, but there were still some great songs there:


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## Serge (Mar 25, 2010)

2020.06.02. "Havana". Диана Анкудинова. Diana Ankudinova.


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## fbjim (Mar 8, 2021)

pianozach said:


> The *Bee Gees* crack me up. Always wanted to be appreciated as artists. They tried so hard, but their instincts were odd. They started out covering so many Beatles songs, then spent years trying to shake the image that they were Beatles copycats and wannabees.


Yep. But the thing is, I could try for years and not write a Beatles ripoff track as good as "New York Mining Disaster". They always did have pop craftsmanship in them. I think the actual Beatles loved that track, for what it's worth.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

A pop singer/songwriter that I like is *Stephen Bishop*. His most famous song was released in 1977, "On and On" but he's also written a Phil Collins hit "Separate Lives." But on his recordings he has some gems which are for me more interesting.

Here's one, "Picasso Played a Blue Guitar"






He's also been a success singer for studio work and film songs, like the theme from Tootsie, "It Might Be You".

"Never Letting Go" is another great pop song he wrote:






He's an interesting guy, some of his songs get into social comment stuff like domestic abuse, one song featured Eric Clapton playing an intense solo: "Hall Light"






In the '80s he released an album Bowling in Paris which featured some of L.A.'s A list musicians. The production is dated 80s sound - but the songs are so catchy I don't care: "Parked Cars"






And finally a song of his that features Michael McDonald another great pop singer, overdubbing background harmonies: "Dive Into the Pool of Love"


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## nikola (Sep 7, 2012)

I really love Chris Rea 1979-1991 period. 
I'll post here only a few great songs from 'On The Beach' - probably the best summer albums ever. In 2000 he released 'King of the Beach', but that was really bad and boring album IMO. 
'On the Beach' is brilliant - great arrangements, great playing and great songs.

This isn't the version that appears on that album:






Simply beautiful dreamy piece:











I really love this one:


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## Eclectic Al (Apr 23, 2020)

Who watched it? Admit it.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-57216194

As ever the pride in the UK for receiving our customary nul points knows no bounds.

Interestingly the French entry did quite well - chanson-style. However, there is always a bonus for singing in French, which the Swiss entry also benefited from. The strong showing from the Swiss entry is otherwise inexplicable.

I liked the Bulgarian entry. However, why Malta didn't win is puzzling: classic Euro-pop, which you can already imagine pumping out from clubs in Ayia Napa and the like. I assume there was some sort of social media campaign supporting the Italian entry (which wasn't even the best camp rock and roll song, that honour belonging to Finland with their Lordi-esque entry).


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## mikeh375 (Sep 7, 2017)

I watched the first 11 entries. When I heard the UK effort which I thought was bloody awful, I switched off. Of the ones I heard, I particularly liked the Russian entry. Do you remember the old Russian ladies and their brooms a few years ago, dancing around? I was hoping they'd make a comeback. I've not heard the winning song and I probably wont bother hunting it out.

I hope science has taken advantage of such a gathering to glean more about possible avenues of recovery from CV19.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

The last time I watched it was in the seventies. They actually had some good songs then, such as:





Mocedades - Eres Tu

The winners from Italy this year are all over the internet, because one member of the band was caught on camera snorting cocaine during the live transmission.


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## nikola (Sep 7, 2012)

Art Rock said:


> The last time I watched it was in the seventies. They actually had some good songs then, such as:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


They're not able to compose a good pop song anymore. The criteria also changed - everything can be a song today, even a fart.


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## Eclectic Al (Apr 23, 2020)

mikeh375 said:


> I watched the first 11 entries. When I heard the UK effort which I thought was bloody awful, I switched off. Of the ones I heard, I particularly liked the Russian entry. Do you remember the old Russian ladies and their brooms a few years ago, dancing around? I was hoping they'd make a comeback. I've not heard the winning song and I probably wont bother hunting it out.
> 
> I hope science has taken advantage of such a gathering to glean more about possible avenues of recovery from CV19.


Yeah, the UK song was a bit like fake Rag n Bone Man. Let's lure Cliff Richard back - he's only 80.

I find the scoring the best bit, so have to stay with it until the bitter end. The joy of Cyprus and Greece exchanging 12 points is always a reliable highlight. The suspense as we wait to hear the beneficiary of Cyprus' 12 is huge: will they, won't they? And then they always do.


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## nikola (Sep 7, 2012)

My review and rating of every song. I didn't watch it. I only heard a few songs, so I'll listen to it now. I hope I won't listen to the wrong songs. I don't know why all that flashes of lights in every video and live. Some people are sensitive to lights. What about people with seizures? Trends can be really moronic. I can't even watch that crap.

Albania:




Eastern sound that some people from my country also like (I'm from Croatia), but I'm not a fan of it. This sound is also actually part of our modern folk, although we were never part of that eastern sound and our real Croatian folk music never sounded like this.Dramatic ballad. The chorus actually has a nice melody. Overally, not bad at all. 6/10

Australia:




It has potential, but the song is nothing special. 4.5/10

Austria:




Quite lame ballad. Weak melody. 3.5/10

Azerbaijan:




Modern pop sounding trash with some eastern-ish sound. This is like a combination of every crap that we can hear on pop charts. 100% style, 0% substance. 2.5/10

Belgium
:



Some interesting chords. Darker song. Kinda unusual for Eurosong. Not bad at all. 6.5/10

Bulgaria:




I like this style. Very nice. Melody, though, could be better and stronger. 5.5/10

Croatia:




From my country. It's a typical, yet listenable pop song. Chorus is pretty catchy and likeable, though. Not great, but I still don't know why it didn't make it to the finale considering the large amount of indigestible crap on this Eurosong. 6/10.

Cyprus:




'Bad Romance' by Gaga? Not bad for a pop song, yet it's a pretty much derivative piece of music. 5.5/10

Czech Republic:




Very good rhythm, but overally, pretty much lame piece of music. 3.5/10

Denmark:




This is like an intro to some late 70's/early 80's TV show - 'Magnum' or 'Hart to Hart' :lol: Pretty catchy I must admit. ABBA-ish piece of music.. not ABBA quality, but it tries. It's really the right stuff for people who like shameless melodic pop. Pretty weak vocal. Dated, but still... 6.5/10.

Estonia:




Predictable linear melody, powerful pop production - nothing special. Generic and listenable. 4/10

Finland:




Musically boring crap for teens with too much testosterone. 2.5/10

France:




It's fine. Nice arrangements. 6.5/10

Georgia:




Pretty boring indie song that goes nowhere. 4/10

Germany:




This is actually really fun. If I remember correctly, the public gave them 0 votes? Catchy song! Really catchy and simple little song with some very ineresting and fun bits. I like it. 7/10.

Greece:




Generic pop song. 4/10

Iceland:




Some synth pop... not very interesting to me. 4/10

Ireland:




Generic pop song. 4/10

Israel:




Pop trash without anything new or interesting. 3/10

Italy:




They won? Oh well. It's only some kind of energy... some ok guitar riff... and the guy talking. That's it. 3/10

Latvia:




Pretty much horrible trash. 2.5/10

Lithuania:




Weird song. More annoying than being good 4/10

Malta:




Good vocals. Not that bad pop trash. Nice 'trumpet' solo. 5/10

Moldova:




Generic and pointless pop trash. 3/10

North Macedonia:




Pathetic tuneless ballad. 3/10

Norway:




Pretty much generic and uninteresting pop song. 3.5/10

Poland:




Pretty much generic and uninteresting synth pop song. 3.5/10

Portugal:




Interesting vocals and a song. It reminds me of something else. it could be stronger. Still, not bad. 5.5/10

Romania:




Romanian clone of Billie Eilish on almost every level possible? That's weird. Not too bad, but not my style of music. 4/10

Russia:




This is one of the most horrible things I've heard on this Eurosong. 2/10

San Marino:




Generic pop trash. 3/10

Serbia:




Generic pop trash: 3/10

Slovenia:




Not a bad power ballad. Strange and interesting vocals. Nice melody in a verse, but not much of a melody development. 5.5/10

Spain:




Boring and generic ballad. 3.5/10

Sweden:




Listenable pop song. Nothing special. 4.5/10

Switzerland:




Not a bad song, but I don't like this whiny type of vocals that sound like Sam Smith etc. Kinda interesting melody that actually goes somewhere unlike many other similar songs. 6.5/10

The Netherlands:




Strange and uninteresting song. Doesn't do anything for me. 3.5/10

Ukraine:




Some Slavic folk mixed into some dance rhythms!? I'm mostly confused while listening to this hybrid. Generic folky melody is kinda ok, but production doesn't fit. Didn't they do this type of mixed genres crap some 20 years ago? It's dated. 4/10

United Kingdom:




So, that's 0 points song :lol:It's for sure not worse than the rest of the crap from this list. It's really nothing special, but not even that horrible. 5/10.

I survived!


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## nikola (Sep 7, 2012)

I even like my music more than this horrific kitsch festival... though, there are still some decent songs


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## pianozach (May 21, 2018)

nikola said:


> My review and rating of every song. I didn't watch it. I only heard a few songs, so I'll listen to it now. I hope I won't listen to the wrong songs. I don't know why all that flashes of lights in every video and live. Some people are sensitive to lights. What about people with seizures? Trends can be really moronic. I can't even watch that crap.
> 
> . . . .
> 
> I survived!


Gawd, that's some lousy scores. Nothing over 6.5/10, and most in the failing grade category. Yikes!


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## fbjim (Mar 8, 2021)

Man, I love pop and even I generally can't muster anything other than an ironic kitch-based love for Eurovision :lol:


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## Eclectic Al (Apr 23, 2020)

pianozach said:


> Gawd, that's some lousy scores. Nothing over 6.5/10, and most in the failing grade category. Yikes!


You missed the mighty 7/10 for Germany. :lol: That was a bit of a novelty song, but I would agree with nikola that it was quite good of its type.

We always score the songs at home as the programme plays out, and from memory our most common score was 2/10 this time round. Graham Norton, the voiceover guy on UK television coverage, said it was a particularly strong year - and in terms of representing the true heart of Eurovision perhaps it was.


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## nikola (Sep 7, 2012)

pianozach said:


> Gawd, that's some lousy scores. Nothing over 6.5/10, and most in the failing grade category. Yikes!


Unfortunately lousy scores, but I was only honest. I can really love some good bubble-gum pop, but Eurovision songs in the last 20 years or so really lack some good tunes. I could probably lower by half points some songs and even give higher points to some other songs. It's all rated after 1st or 2nd listening. I can change my opinon with time, but not much considering that I learned with time how to listen to music, especially the music that is simple like these 3 minute long jingles.
Someone posted Johnny Logan's 'Hold Me Now' in 'song of the day' thread I think... it was a Eurosong winner song long time ago and I think it's really a perfect polished pop ballad with really REALLY good chords/melody and emotion that it carries. Also Celine Dion back in the 80's Eurosong - great pop song.
This new era of music opened an opportunity to many so called musicians who doesn't even have to be able to compose something good and it will still be accepted by crowd simply because the top charts in the last 20 years really managed to drop the quality of songs and those charts trained young listeners to accept 'new lows'. There was always bad pop music out there, but only these days a really bad song can become #1 hit. The whole top 100 can be really horrific place filled with utterly horrible songs today. Eurosong only reflects that.
Only 10 decent songs out of cca 40 songs is really bad result, I agree. That's only my opinion, of course. I've heard so many brilliant pop-rock music throughout my life and I really don't have prejudice towards pop music. After hearing thousands of songs, this Eurosong music looks really bad and sad. 
Italy won probably only because it sounds like the antidote for Eurosong. I think that people voted for it because they actually hate Eurosong. If they really think that song is 'good' only because it's kinda more agressive rock - the joke is on the public then because the song is pretty much crappy. It's 100% style, 0% substance. So, it is unfortunately the type of music that people like to listen today.


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## nikola (Sep 7, 2012)

This is the last thing I composed a few months ago. I like it more than anything from Eurosong, but that's just me :lol:

https://mp3.fastupload.co/files/1621787357


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## Gargamel (Jan 5, 2020)

Why so much "hating" (excuse the pun) on Germany? They had one of the catchiest songs. Shame about the singer, whose english pronounciation is severely lacking, and besides, he's too old to dress like that.


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## nikola (Sep 7, 2012)

Gargamel said:


> Why so much "hating" (excuse the pun) on Germany? They had one of the catchiest songs. Shame about the singer, whose english pronounciation is severely lacking, and besides, he's too old to dress like that.


Yes, song is extremely catchy, but catchy songs aren't enough 'manly' or 'whiny emotional' to succeed these days.


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## Gargamel (Jan 5, 2020)

nikola said:


> United Kingdom:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


You wouldn't expect anything when your leading man looks like farting is the one thing he's good at.


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## Red Terror (Dec 10, 2018)

Art Rock said:


> The last time I watched it was in the seventies. They actually had some good songs then, such as:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


My parents listened to this when I was a kid. I had no idea where it came from or who the singer/band was until now.


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## Serge (Mar 25, 2010)

I am not into Eurovision at all and don't really understand fascination with it, considering that rarely anything lasting and memorable, with a few exceptions - like ABBA, say - comes out of these competitions. Listened to the Russian entry awhile ago because of all the controversy, and thought it was a bloody eclectic mess. Here's the last year's Russian contestants, who didn't get to participate unfortunately, and who expressed no desire to go this year, with one of their songs:

LITTLE BIG - HYPNODANCER (Official Music Video)


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

One of the pleasant surprises (well for me at least) of recent years is Billie Eilish. It's a cracker of a debut album.


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## nikola (Sep 7, 2012)

Even though Eilish is interesting, I'm not impressed by her music, but to be more aware what she is doing I should listen to all of her albums.
This one I like probably the best:


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## pianozach (May 21, 2018)

Art Rock said:


> One of the pleasant surprises (well for me at least) of recent years is Billie Eilish. It's a cracker of a debut album.


I've discovered that i seem to enjoy her stuff as well.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

One of the most impressive projects to come out in ages, *Inara George* (Lowell's daughter) lately of *The Bird and the Bee* band and Pop legend *Van **** Parks* (wrote Smile with Brian Wilson) create a Pop song cycle for adults.

*inara george | van **** parks | an invitation*






*from the Pitchfork Review*



> A 28-piece orchestra, heavy on strings, evokes both the Technicolor wonderlands of the Sherman Brothers and the rambling urbanity of Kurt Weill. And, for songs that touch on yearning and love's blindness ("Tell Me That You Love Me", "Rough Design"), the large orchestral sound strangely suits the intimate, introspective words: they match the size of the emotions. Recorded in two days at LA's Sunset Sound studio -- the room where Parks and Lowell George first worked together-- the album was produced by Mike Andrews, who considers An Invitation the father-daughter record the Georges never got to make. Lowell died of a heart attack when she was five.
> 
> With her steady, crystalline voice, the only voice heard, George sounds like the still center of a swirling one-woman musical. In "Idaho", she tells the story of people running away to the Potato State, sounding a bit like Keren Ann over the sharp-edged strings, a moody piano, and Parks's accordion. "Drink the same drink, think the same thing," she says elsewhere, about either a post-breakup refuge in ritual, or the descent into lonely monotony. Everyone here is trying to work something out with themselves. "We're on our way to what we are," George sings on "Rough Design", describing not only her characters' complex interior lives, but her own thrilling growth as an artist. An Invitation adds a new chapter to that story, told in an unmistakably American idiom fusing Broadway and Tin Pan Alley and Copland, spotlighting Inara George as a sophisticated new voice and confirming Van **** Parks, at 68, as an inexhaustibly vital national treasure.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Two of the best Pop artists, IMO, are *Inara George* and *Imogen Heap*.

Again and Again | The Bird and the Bee






Hide and Seek | Imogen Heap


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Another Imogen Heap track

Imogen Heap - Goodnight and Go


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Frou Frou

Frou Frou - Let Go


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## Serge (Mar 25, 2010)

Take a pop song and make it better, or shameless appreciation through annihilation, one might possibly say...

ALEX TERRIBLE BAD GUY by Billie Eilish COVER (RUSSIAN HATE PROJECT)


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## nikola (Sep 7, 2012)

I like St. Vincent's approach to music. She seems pretty much 'unadjusted'.


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## fbjim (Mar 8, 2021)

"Cruel" was one of my favorite indie-pop hits back when I listened to that with more regularity. I haven't been too much of a fan of her releases since then, unfortunately, though I should definitely give the latest album a shot.


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## nikola (Sep 7, 2012)

fbjim said:


> "Cruel" was one of my favorite indie-pop hits back when I listened to that with more regularity. I haven't been too much of a fan of her releases since then, unfortunately, though I should definitely give the latest album a shot.


Yeah... she went retro with a new album


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## nikola (Sep 7, 2012)

Katie Melua


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## pianozach (May 21, 2018)

*Dream Baby
Janet Robin*


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## Shaughnessy (Dec 31, 2020)




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