Jop Tournament: The Final

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Following a draw in one of the semi finals we have a three-way clash for the title of "Best Track Ever To Be In A Pazz And Jop Poll". Madge, Missy and Michael - choose wisely!

[Poll #933501]

And that wraps up the era of the monster polls, unless anyone can think of a new idea. But why would they, with the League Of Pop almost upon us (and plenty of canons to be done).

Comments

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Poor Toxic :(

oh no! FITE! oh zzzzz!

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

in what sense is the sukrat poll not a "monster" poll!? MONSTERS HAVE TO SLEEP TOO SOMETIMES

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

I was only ever going to tick whoever won the first semi-final - am very pleased they both got through but I'm sticking with Missy.

[sbp.livejournal.com]

At this point it seems that it will be won by a pop song that I wouldn't recognise if it bit me in the proverbials. Oh well, put me down as an old school poppist. I have an idea for a canon too....

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Tell us this idea!

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Where were you in 2001?!

[koganbot]

Well "Groove" and "Billie Jean" were massive hits in their time and (unless you were my parents or someone) you were going to hear 'em lots no matter who you were or where you were in the western world (and prob'ly if you were in any city in Asia or Africa for that matter) (remember back in '87 someone in one of the early issues of my fanzine relaying a friend's complaint that in Bali everyone was listening to Madonna and that this was swamping "Gamelan"). In the U.S. "Freak On" only got to 7 on the Hot 100 (that's the kind of number that Ashley Parker Angel and Nick Lachey got recently) and 7 in rap sales and 3 on the hip-hop/r&b chart and didn't rule on Denver local radio; think it crossed big on both club and hip-hop dance floors and hit our particular demographic - whatever that is! - harder than it hit either club people or hip-hop people in general. So someone's 2001 could pretty easily miss "Get Ur Freak On." But what we're doing here is noticing crucial songs to "us" that also got critical cred, Madonna getting the least. In their respective Pazz & Jop polls "Billie Jean" was number one but with close competition from "Every Breath You Take" and "Back On The Chaing Gang," "Into The Groove" was number eleven, getting less than a third of the votes of winner "Sun City," and well behind world-famous tracks like "Old Man Down The Road" and "Makes No Sense At All," while "Get Ur Freak On" totally creamed its competition, number one over a very distant "Clint Eastwood." But the thing about pop is that it contains a whole lot of who-knows-what including oddities, one-shots, wonderful failures, subworld faves. My only real disappointment with the History Of Jop competitions is that people didn't search out and listen to "I Know You Got Soul" (far more important than "Freak On," though not better) and "Set It Off" and "Square Biz" and "Heartbeat" (which for proto-poptimist types in NYC in '81 was that year's "Get Ur Freak On") and "Jam On It." It's stuff like that where you can really test whether critics have merit as a distribution system that somewhat counters the radio. Yeah, I know, you guys have lives and all, and I hope League Of Pop will have people willing to champion a particular not-quite-ubiquitous genre (such as freestyle for instance, which never made the P&J lists), in other words willing to be such meritorious critics. (I didn't volunteer for the League owing to lack of time, but will be quite willing to give advice to anyone who wants it.)

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

what is it about the letter M then eh?

MMMMMM POP MUZIK

[koganbot]

I fear that my two favorites ("Billie" and "Freak On") will split their vote, each being more r&b than the disco-y "Groove" (though early returns show no sign of this, and it may be that the two '80s grooves cut into each other)(and why is "Groove" my least favorite of the three, since I tend to prefer disco to r&b?) (but is "Groove" more disco than "Billie" anyway?) (and I was calling "Freak On" the hardest rocker of the bunch, which'd be a good criterion except I voted for "Billie")(seems to me that "Billie" and "Freak On" rock harder than "Groove" emotionally, whatever I mean by that, probably just that they hit me as more intense, even if the "Groove" lyrics have the most classically intense story to tell; maybe it's just that I think there are a sea's worth of as good or better songs in the general '80s club style, whereas "Billie Jean" and "Freak" have stronger individual identities)(but since when do I think that "individual identity" beats "represents a great genre"?).

[pot80.livejournal.com]

Go team Madonna!

[dickmalone.livejournal.com]

I feel really boring voting for MJ or Missy, but I just don't like that Madonna song very much. Go team Madonna-got-better-as-she-went-along!

[koganbot]

And come on, people, what does it mean that these are "our" three songs? And who are "we"?

[pot80.livejournal.com]

We are people who like dancey pop tunes and enjoy the comfort of knowing that lots and lots and lots of people basically agree with us?

[koganbot]

The thing is, that could apply to lots of people who would be bored and baffled by our convo and who've never heard of "Get Ur Freak On," e.g., the average listener of Radio Disney. (And I'll bet you that most poptimists, even most of the American poptimists, have never heard anything in the KDIS top 8.)(And for the most part it's a relatively dull top 8 - though more dancey pop - in comparison to Disney top 8's from several years ago.)

[pot80.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but Disney's whole thing is to intentionally create a parallel pop universe that removes "objectionable" elements from songs, but keeps the general style of contemporary pop, right? That's the appeal both aesthetically and commercially...it's an island. It helps the brand that it's separate from the mainstream while also arguably MORE mainstream and MORE popular.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

OK now I've done the League I can reply to this:

It means...

- We love stuff that's very commercial but 'cutting edge' too (especially in production terms)
- We love charistmatic solo artists.
- We love people who can dance either well or memorably, or sing about it.
- We love music with rich emotional content, but that doesn't point too much at its own emotional content