Pop Songs
I read an article in the New Yorker, years ago, which outlined how most popular songs could be classified by ~5 variables, and the “hits” would be clustered in groups when arranged in a 5-dimensional space. Evidently, this was integral in convincing the producers of Gnarls Barkley’s Crazy bring the driving bass line to the forefront of the song. Which sounds like a fine theory - except, how the fuck do I hear the same ten shitty 80’s pop songs when I’m shopping at Whole Foods (I’m not linking to them, they’re already too mind-boggling popular for my taste), and never once do I hear 52 Girls by the B-52’s? Clearly that article was bullshit. Not to mention, there’s no accounting for changing styles - Devo (I assume) was thought to sound awesome back in the day, but now only a few people would bother listening to them, and most of the listening would be ironic. Not me, though. I’m through being cool.
Anyways, I think the take home message is that I’m not over New Wave music; not quite yet.