(188 comments)

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

The recent Now polls have been total blockbusters in terms of comments - and lots of votes too. This runs us up against the technical limits of LJ, i.e. that an over-50 comments thread is a chore to read, and a 2-page one requires particular dedication even beyond that. Not much we can do about that, other than pass the thematic ball forward more often (i.e. start new threads).

So why's it happening? Well Poptimists is bigger now, and this is a period we all remember, and a lot of us were online then and fighting various crucial ideological pop battles (ahem) and so there's an urge to either defend territory hard-won - or complicate history by asking questions which Pop Fervour made us less likely to pose at the time.

It's interesting* that there's a definite hard kernel of a 00s Pop Canon there - after poll after poll with winning scores in the 70s, Britney, Kylie, S Club, Destiny's all post scores of 90%-ish, and I can think of a few more tracks that are likely to do similar. (Obviously a lot of this is a quirk of demographics - we've set up a community where ppl who like that sort of thing can wander in.)

*especially cos of the relative lack of majority-votes and high-scorers for the current month polls stevem runs - has pop got worse, or just more diverse?

Comments

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

i think more time needs to pass perhaps. i wonder if 'Crazy' would get over 50 ticks, 3 or 4 years from now. not that my polls attract that many people :(

as discussed last week this is partly because people seem to have trouble keeping up to date with the chart and it's contents now. because they've grown increasingly intolerant of radio and press practices and because they're older/busier it seems.

but i think we may be in a period akin to a 'middle of album dip' - many of the bigger stars are in decline now inc. Britney, Beyonce and esp. Eminem. GA, Madonna and Sugababes released album tracks from '05 this year. There's been no real massive anthems from big stars (old or new) this year, yet - but i suppose that does tie in with Summer aspect.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

I think every year feels like this a bit - there are good singles in the first half but they mostly seem to be either a) hangovers from last year's albums eg 'Whole Lotta History' OR b) time-lagged US hits from the previous year eg 'Goodies'. But 2006 is already kicking into gear! Xtina obv, and I suspect Beyoncé has something up her sleeve too...

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

i still haven't heard the Xtina altho i did download the YSI on ILM before removing it, heh

[bengraham.livejournal.com]

i wonder if 'Crazy' would get over 50 ticks, 3 or 4 years from now

I think it probably would. I'd liken it to Outkast's Ms. Jackson, which as proven in the most recent Now poll still holds plenty of appeal. 'Crazy' is the sort of tune that will sound fresh for a very long time (as long as they stop playing it constantly now that it's been knocked off the top of the charts).

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

but it does have a greater ubiquity than 'Miss Jackson' which was big but since overshadowed by 'Hey Ya', which everyone DID get sick of!

can see 'Crazy' being thought of more along 'Hey Ya' lines basically, altho perhaps retaining a bit more favour as it's somehow more 'credible' and cooler.