The Naff

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

What is the relationship between coolness and naffness in pop history.

A version of it wd describe pop history as essentially a story of a thread of coolness constantly besieged by naffness. This seems deeply unsatisfactory to me.

Comments

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

because otherwise you spend all yr time arguing about definitions, rather than the relationships.

[plumsbitch.livejournal.com]

Not if you're not wedded to the definitions, but instead regard them as contingent/useful shorthand-that-obscures-the-complexities.

You can still look at relationships between wobbly/oscillating terms.

Hmm. with that in mind

'Naff' - a certain lack of self-consciousness regarding/complete disregard for what is currently 'cool'?

My icons of naffness would be stuff like Barry Manilow, which is enormously popular music, but isn't really chart pop, exists kind of alongside it. The longevity involves a shifting relationship to the 'pop mainstream'. Sometimes (eg late 70s) it is/fits well in chart pop, sometimes it's miles away from.

(arghh scare quotes but hopefully it makes sense)

random: are Right Said Fred naff?