The Savage Animal 08.19.09: The Not So Embarrassing Side of Pop

Posted by Mikey MiGo on 08.19.2009

From Justin Timberlake to Michael Jackson, 411's Mikey MiGo looks at the not so embarrassing side of pop music and lists his top 9 pop artists that he isn't afraid to admit he likes!


The NFL season is approaching and some things seem to be on a loop now. Brett Favre is going to comeback more times Ric Flair. Seriously, I grew up a Bears fan so I'm bred to hate this guy but I'm not blind to his talents and accomplishments. This guy has thrown more interceptions than ANYONE. With him back in the division, I hope THAT monumental streak continues.

Lots of work this past week on current and future projects. STILL in production with this third movie, but it's getting closer. We had a final rehearsal and should be having our last official day of shooting soon. Early fall is STILL going to happen for this release. Preproduction for the next is on its way and as tired and worn out as I am, I couldn't be any more excited about it.

---

THE NOT SO EMBARASSING SIDE OF POP
Don't Tell Anyone I Wrote This…
It's hard to really define what "pop music" is. One side of the fence will go the easy cynical route and be all "it's popular music! Pop is anything that's liked by the masses!" I don't agree with that at all. While, pop music IS popular, there's much more to it when defining a musical genre. Pop music is for children and those who don't care to put in any effort towards their musical tastes. Pop music is the McDonalds fast food chain at the end of your street. You could drive a few miles out to a better restaurant, but McD's is so close that your lazy ass just goes and gets your normal "Number Three" from the Value Meal list.


Pop music, for the most part, is disposable and clean fun. The songs are simple, catchy, and musically crisp. The themes often talk of love, parties, and other upbeat themes. More times than not, there's no musician within the marketed product. They might have a back up live band, but it's all about the product be it a solo artist or group. Usually, the pop performer doesn't even write their own songs. In terms of talent, pop music is the shallow end of the kiddy pool.


Just look at the 90's pop rise. We got boy bands. A group of "pretty boys" are packaged together as a product; a product that just so happens to sing and dance. We got Backstreet and NSync from jump street, but then we got knock offs like 98 Degrees, O-Town, and LFO. I'm sure that some of the poster boys I mentioned are nice guys and maybe even DO have some sort of talent, but they pretty much sold their self respecting soul for these projects. I can really only think of one exception. On the flip side, we were also given Spears and Christina. They were the same as a boy band, but just gender reversed. Instead of pretty boys, it's sultry and voluptuous young ladies to sing, dance, and be sex symbols. And just like the boys, there were knock offs. We got Jessica Simpson, Pink (yeah, I said it!), and a good half dozen more "B class" and many many even lower than that. Millions of albums are sold, arenas are full, and MTV shows their videos on a constant loop. Mission accomplished.


That's really just the 90's, but it seems that pretty much the same thing has been going on for nearly 50 years. Still, there ARE some legitimate musicians and artists who are grouped with the "pop" label. They do technically fit the description of what a pop artist is, but they have that extra something. By that, I mean that I personally like them. I am not close minded and can appreciate pretty much any well written piece of music outside of country, because let's face it, that's not music. Country is more of a subliminal call for the reorganizing of the confederacy.


That's neither here nor there though, this is about pop music. Like I said, there's some "pop" artists from other the years that I can openly admit to enjoying or at the very least tolerating.


9.) Madonna
The 411: Not new Madonna, old Madonna. When she had a little bit of edge to her and wasn't British. I'm talking about "The Material Girl" that wore wedding dresses and fishnets. Back then you could still see a soul in her eyes. Now, not so much. If you lived during the 80's and didn't at least enjoy "Papa Don't Preach", "Like a Virgin", and "Material Girl" then you're pretty jaded.


8.) The Beach Boys
The 411: Before they started being a bit more experimental, their brand of surf rock was easily associated with "pop". They get extra points with me because they can actually play instruments and wrote for themselves. "God Only Knows" is good enough to get them on this list, but then there's even more hits that we all know and probably love.


7.) Elvis
The 411: I'm not a huge Elvis fan. I fully acknowledge that he completely stole his style and music from better artists. Still, I appreciate a small handful of his timeless hits. My grandmother was a huge Elvis and Motown fan so I got exposed to it a lot as a child. Songs like "Don't Be Cruel", "Love Me Tender", and "Jailhouse Rock" are good tunes no matter what era you're from.


6.) Whitney Houston
The 411: Like Madonna, I'm talking about the old Houston. Not the cracked out crazy lady that she's become. Now, I'll admit it. I enjoy her insane antics and am hoping for her to have a huge comeback. To me Whitney Houston's vocal work was always the better of the two when comparing to Madonna. The song got a bit, that's a sarcastic understatement, how you say… overexposed, but her cover of "I Will Always Love You" is really a beautifully sung song. She has more upbeat songs, but her voice is meant for tracks like that.


5.) Lionel Richie
The 411: When I was a kid, I was obsessed with the song "Dancing on the Ceiling". Don't mock me for it. I was like five or six, but I still remember singing along to it and really enjoying it. As I got older, I was more open to songs like "Hello" and with that he pretty much cemented his place in my musical lexicon.


4.) Usher
The 411: This is a half joke/half serious pick. Him singing a little too close to Michael Jackson's coffin aside, I really can't deny how talented Usher is. For the past few years I've made cracks like "smoother than Usher", but the joke is that NOTHING is smoother than Usher. NOTHING.


3.) Mariah Carey
The 411: She's got more hits than a bong at Tommy Chong's house. I'm not a fan of all of them. Hell, I'm not even a fan of seventy five percent of them. That still leaves around a hundred and seven big hits. I dare you to listen to her work on the MTV Unplugged album and tell me she's not ridiculously talented.


2.) Justin Timberlake
The 411: I suppose you could say that Mr. Timberlake is the exception to the 90's boy band rule. I don't agree. I'm putting him on the list based off his solo work alone. Of all the current pop stars out there right now, I anticipate JT's releases most. Granted, that's still not THAT much anticipation… its still anticipation. I remember reviewing his last album when it came out because NO ONE ELSE wanted to. Hell, I got mocked for it. Now that people acknowledge this guy's awesomeness they act as if they've always been in on it. This guy made "Sexy Back". That's good enough for me.


1.) Michael Jackson
The 411: Yeah, who else would be number one? Michael Jackson wasn't just called "The King of Pop" as a witty moniker. He really was and still is the king of the entire genre. I've made Jackson jokes over the years like everyone else, but I never stopped enjoying his music and appreciating his talent. "Thriller", "Off The Wall", "Bad", and the majority of Jackson's work is considered classic. By the way things are going on the charts currently; I'm not the only one who feels this way. Great songs, great performances, and just the greatness of this man's talent easily make him the best total package music has ever seen. I really don't see him being dethroned anytime soon…


What pop artists do you like? If you're going to post "pop sucks!" then you're in denial. You'd of HAD to of listen to it to form that opinion. Man up. Admit to your demons.

---

RANDOM VIDEO(s) OF THE WEEK
"The hunt for new shit brings us here…"
"Lakeside" by BLK JKS

The 411:I've heard a little about this band. They're being cited as "The African TV On The Radio" and getting some good buzz lately. This is my first time hearing or seeing them and I like it. It's nothing earth shattering and I probably won't go out and buy their album in a rush. I can easily hear the TV on the Radio reference based on their harmony, but then I hear some ska in here too. It's got more soul than TV on The Radio, but it doesn't grab you nearly as much. This song didn't really do it for me, but I do see they have a lot of potential. Maybe there's better on the album. Shit, maybe I will rush out to get it.

---

RANDOM MOVIE REVIEW IN 411 WORDS OR LESS
"FUNNY PEOPLE"
STARRING ADAM SANDLER, SETH ROGEN, LESLIE MANN
I'm an Apatow fan. I'm a fan of his writing, producing, and overall body of work going back to "Larry Sanders", "Freaks and Geeks", and all the way to "Pineapple Express". Sure, there are some movies and projects that I watch once and then never again, but for the most part I appreciate his brand of humor. That being said, I'm not a fanboy and still feel I can be objective towards his work. Pretty much the same exact thing can be said for Rogen and Sandler. So obviously I was personally looking forward to this movie. I didn't go out and see it on opening night, but I knew our paths would eventually cross. This past weekend, it did. The movie is pretty damn good. It's not JUST a "dick and fart joke" movie as a lot of douche bag critics would want it to be. It was a huge mature step forward. Sandler plays a famous comedian who's diagnosed with a deadly illness. Rogen plays an upcoming, not so funny comedian. Their paths cross and Rogen ends up being hired to be Sandler's assistant and writer. They really don't go back and forth much at all. Rogen is pretty much Sandler's bitch and pretty much sucks at life. I fail to mention that his character lies to friends, steals jokes, and has no spine. In the end, he's still the same person but is magically "cool" and gets the girl. That's enough for one movie right there, but there's another whole plot that involves Leslie Mann. She's the "girl who got away" for Sandler and he turns to her when diagnosed. She comes back around, but now is married to Eric Bana and has two kids (Team Apatow). I liked the movie, I REALLY did. I want to watch it again and again, but its Apatow's third best of his three projects. That's still at a high regard, but this did feel like two movies. I can deal with movies that are long, but ones that feel long are the problem. I found myself checking the time to see how much had past. That's never a good thing. That's my biggest complaint. Too long and too many dull places that really didn't make me laugh or develop anything within the story. It's good for what it is, but what it is is like a half hour too long. B

---

WRESTLING WITH PILLOWS
Looking Out From the Inside.
I only caught the last hour or so of RAW, but it felt easy to catch up. The clip of Freddie Prinze Jr. seemed good. He projected his voice, was coherent, and you could just tell that he's been practicing wrestling promos in the mirror for a good portion of his life. He took a move from Orton and then did the big comeback at the end. If I had a vote, I'd definitely bring the guy back for future hosting gigs. That's a good question. Who's going to be the first two time host?

I have really no interest in Summerslam this year. I'm glad Michaels is back and can't wait to see him wrestle, but I'm sure the DX/Legacy match will have the roughness of a mid card house show match. It'll be DX going over and blah blah crotch chop blah. And if not, I can pretty much already see the match in my head. I normally don't care about Cena matches so that takes care of the Main Event. Jeff Hardy is just the same, but with much more distain. The TLC match gives me about as much excitement as a new season of Grey's Anatomy…and I hate that show. So really, what do I personally have to care about? My favorite performers are Kofi, Morrison, and a lot of mid card guys. There's no US Title match, no Morrison, no Miz, no MVP vs. Swagger, no Bourne, and really no reason to care. The Jericho Show vs. Cryme Tyme is really the only match I'd be interested in seeing. Nonetheless, I still might watch the show.

---

CHECK THIS OUT! [CHEAP PLUGS]
Things I do while not writing this column.

Add "UPPING THE ANTE" on Myspace!

I'm thinking about doing a "First Impression" for next week's column. I have a few ideas of bands I'd like to check out, but am open to suggestions. Remember, 3 to 5 album discographies. Until next time… Have a Great Week!