A kung fu fighter in a disco

Freaky Trigger Readers' Poll 2014

2014-12-09T10:06:00Z

Posted by: katstevens.livejournal.com

It's that time of year again! If you have some favourite songs of the year, send them over to poptimistspoll2010 at gmail dot com by 31st Dec! All the details are here.

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Freaky Trigger Readers' Poll 2012

2012-12-14T16:17:00Z

Posted by: katstevens.livejournal.com

Already made your list and checked it twice? Why not submit it to this year's Freaky Trigger Readers' Poll!

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Poptimism presents... Club Action POPULAR SPECIAL!

2012-10-12T12:28:00Z

Posted by: katstevens.livejournal.com

To celebrate 60 years of the UK Charts, DJ Chlorine and The Barnet Ape will be playing all #1s all night – all the boshingest chart-toppers from Aqua to Zager & Evans.

Superstar Guest DJS: Tome Wing and Bob Stanley.

WHERE: Downstairs @ Ryan’s Bar, 181 Stoke Newington Church St
WHEN: Friday 30th November 2012, 8pm-1am
FREE ENTRY
(Facebook event link)

Seeya there dudes!

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Club Action! TONIGHT!

2012-09-14T10:04:00Z

Posted by: katstevens.livejournal.com

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Pop music! Dancing! Drill-n-bass remixes of Carly Rae Jepsen!
All the details here.

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Poptimism presents... Club Action!

2012-09-04T10:08:00Z

Posted by: katstevens.livejournal.com

Heads up, London dudes!

Poptimism presents... CLUB ACTION!
Friday, 14 September, 8pm-1am
Ryan's Bar, Stoke Newington Church St, N16 0UL

Pop music, dancing and proper beer. FREE ENTRY. Tell your friends!

(Facebook thing)

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ABBAnings forty years ago

2012-05-31T13:50:00Z

Posted by: dubdobdee.livejournal.com

Tom asked this question at One Week?/One Band: "Did people actually dislike ABBA in the 70s? The Brian Eno quote I posted yesterday paints a familiar picture - nobody could say they liked them, then gradually people could. But how were they really received in the music press at the time?"

Here's my initial reply (writing as someone who began reading the UK rock press extremely intensely from 1977):

NME Book of Rock (1976 edn, key para, author unknown):
"[ABBA] first came to international attention through winning the grisly Eurovision song contest in 1974, but have since acieved world-wide success with their albums, compilations of slick pop material tailored to the singles market, and all delivered in a kind of jarring Eurospeak. ABBA have compensations, however; the superb quality of the production (attained with aid of Stig Anderson, long-serving producer in the Swedish record industry), the strong melodies, and the vocals--sometimes plaintive, sometimes strident--delivered by the girl singers who are as decorative as Swedish girls are proverbially supposed to be."

The Rolling Stone Record Guide (1980 edn, author is Ken Tucker):
"This Swedish quartet (two women, two men) is an international phenomenon; their sound--a compendium of white American pop hooks welded to memserizing synthesizers and the permanently anxious lead singing of the women--is pleasant and forgettable. In their conscious conquest of Everywhere, they are determined not to offend: as fixed cheeriness pervades, and thus ABBA is best taken in small doses--i.e. Their singles. Given this every-song-a-smiley-smash approach, the Greatest Hits is of the highest quality, even if it is prone to induce both sleep and cavities."

[All LPs given 2/5 except Hits which as 3/5: by comparison David Gates's Bread's two Bests get 4/5 and a fair bit more leeway and enthusiasm -- albeit from a different entry-writer...]

The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, by Phil Hardy and Dave Laing (1990 edn):
Entry WAY too boring to write out, except for this weird claim: "Surprisingly (and in marked contrast to Fleetdood Mac), the strained personal relationships within the group -- both couoples parted -- were never reflected in Ulvaeus's anmd Andersson's songs."

Eno is of course highly parti pris within the context of the Brit discussion of rock and pop (as was glam generally): so when he skewers an orthodoxy, it's basically a summary of the foolish opinions of everyone he wants to dismiss as stupid, and sidesteps all those who'd already come over to his side of the argument. The "3-inch-singles are better than albums" was a well formed and boisterous faction already -- Greg Shaw was one of its cheerleaders -- and plenty of people were already wrestling with the issues of quasi-manufactured pop-for-younger-teens (cf anyone writing about the Monkees or Marc Bolan).

Of course the issue here is that ABBA weren't so evidently writing for younger teens: quite the opposite. And much of the pop/rock discourse in the 70s was often trying to argue that, well, TEENAGERS ARE THE NEW GROWN-UPS GRANDAD: to be young means you're exciting and sexy and CORRECT (politically), and you need to be taken seriously, unlike adults who are all boring squares. Which is is a whole raft of contradictory assumptions, especially as time passes.

Finally, despite Ken Tucker's review, ABBA were more or less unknown in the US: and for British rock writers, validation in the end still came from across the Atlantic. The British rock press was young, anxious, unformed and inexperienced in the mid-70s: the US rock press was its admired older brother, at least for a while. It wasn't really till the 80s that critics came along who wanted to break with this -- who treated the American imprimatur as, if not worthless, then not really something to bother chasing.

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Ghost Town DJ

2012-04-29T11:47:00Z

Posted by: skyecaptain.livejournal.com

Hello ~~Denizens of the Land of Ghosts and Shadows~~ Poptimists! Just finished a new mix some of y'all might dig -- Teenpop Lock and Drop Volume 2.

You can download and stream it here. Happy summer fun time!

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I'm A Bad Boy But I'm Nice (Boyband 15)

2012-04-18T12:13:00Z

Posted by: koganbot

Testing to see if we're still on anyone's dashboard.

Inspired by Christophe calling Big Bang's "Blue" the greatest boyband song since Backstreet Boys' "I Want It That Way," I compiled a list of fifteen boyband tracks. Not a best-of, not a survey, but some stuff I think highly of, and enough gaps to call forth lists of your own:

The Jewels "Hearts Of Stone"
Dion And The Belmonts "I Wonder Why"
The Marcels "Blue Moon"
The Miracles "You Really Got A Hold On Me"
The Beatles "She Loves You"
The Temptations "(I Know) I'm Losing You"
The Monkees "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone"
The Jackson 5 "I Want You Back"
The Moments "Love On A Two-Way Street"
New Kids On The Block "You Got It (The Right Stuff)"
Bell Biv DeVoe "Poison"
*NSync "I Want You Back"
Backstreet Boys "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)"
Big Bang "Tonight"
MBLAQ "I Don't Know"

I was extrapolating forward and back from early '90s usage; so, the male r&b vocal group taken to by kids and teens, with dancing. Orioles and Drifters not eligible, Frankie Lymon And The Teenagers are. "I Want To Hold Your Hand" eligible, "I Am The Walrus" not. "ABC" eligible, "Shake Your Body" not (among other things, vocals too much a Michael-only showcase). I count the Coasters, but I'd have chosen the Robins/Coasters' "Riot In Cell Block Number 9," which is a bit early and the content is probably insufficiently pre-teen (though I myself would've loved it as a tyke). I count the early Wailers, but my choice, "Jailhouse," is too late, and it reaches older than teen. I disqualified duos even though in my heart I'm sure the Everly Brothers belong for "Cathy's Clown" and "All I Have To Do Is Dream," and maybe even Simon & Garfunkel for the electric version of "Sounds Of Silence."

( Ignorance, missing sweet )

So have at it.

( Temptation )

(Crossposting on koganbot, as I fear poptimists remains a ghost town.)

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Ashlee fans of the world

2012-03-28T17:18:00Z

Posted by: skyecaptain.livejournal.com

Hello poptimists! I'm doing an informal survey of people who listen and/or listened at some point in time to Ashlee Simpson's Autobiography, in preparation for a manuscript I'm putting together on the album. It is brief and anonymous.

Please feel free to share this link with any pop communities that you think might be useful. Thanks!

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RLKTW8C

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Brit Awards 2012 Nominations

2012-01-13T10:29:00Z

Posted by: katstevens.livejournal.com

Morning poptimists! The Brit Award nominations are out and as usual there's plenty of dreck involved. But is there any wheat to this chaff?

( Big ol' poll under the cut )

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2011 Poll

2012-01-10T22:23:00Z

Posted by: katstevens.livejournal.com

Wotcher chaps - apologies for the radio silence for the last week but hopefully you will have noticed your top 97 tracks of 2011 appearing over on Freaky Trigger!

Here are the links in case you missed them:

#97-#51
#50-#41
#40-#31
#30-#21
#20-#11
#10-#1

Thanks to everyone who voted!

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2011 Poll - RESULTS (sort of)

2012-01-06T14:18:00Z

Posted by: katstevens.livejournal.com

Wotcher dudes and happy new year! Thanks for sending in your Songs of 2011 - tracks #97-#51 are now up at Freaky Trigger for your delectation. More to follow later today!

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The entire top 40, reviewed by me

2012-01-04T01:15:00Z

Posted by: meserach.livejournal.com

Hi Poptimists!

As in traditional at this time of year I am embarking on a way over-ambitious music related blogging project over on my Tumblr! It is: review every single in the Top 40 this year!

I hope this may be relevant to your interests! Thus far I am two reviews in (featuring ME being RUDE about COLDPLAY and COMPARATIVELY NICER BUT NOT MUCH to OLLY MURS) and have 38 more to do hopefully by Sunday - I need people to ~~shame me into completing it~~ offer support and perhaps comments!

Check it out!

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Poll: LAST CHANCE

2011-12-31T11:21:00Z

Posted by: katstevens.livejournal.com

Hi dudes! I haven't quite finished the big spreadsheet of DOOM yet so if you've forgotten to send your top 20 tracks to poptimistspoll2010@gmail.com then do it NOW. More details here.

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2011 Poll reminder

2011-12-23T09:37:00Z

Posted by: katstevens.livejournal.com

Dudes! A quick reminder to send your top 20 songs of 2011 to poptimistspoll2010@gmail.com by the witching hour of 30th December! More info here.

In the meantime here is Girls Aloud with some festive cheer:

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SONGS OF 2011 POLL

2011-12-12T15:11:00Z

Posted by: katstevens.livejournal.com

*dusts off cobwebs*

RIGHT DUDES now is the time to make a list, check it twice, and send me your favourite songs of 2011!

Send up to 20 songs of 2011 to poptimistspoll2010@gmail.com* by 1am GMT on ~~31st~~ 30th December (yes I am in the office that day and will need some distraction)

'Songs of 2011' can mean songs released this year, or songs that emerged this year, or singles taken from a 2010 album released this year. To be honest I will be pretty lenient about the whole business so put whatever you like.

The order of your top 20 is important! Your #1 will be allocated more points than #20. If you can't think of 20 songs then 10 or 14 or 2 is just fine.

Bonus points may be awarded for emails with amusing subject lines.

You don't need to be a poptimists LJ member (or even have an LJ account!) to vote.

I'll post the results in the first week of January.

*Recycling emails is good for the environment!
**I am an idiot - 31st is a Saturday so I won't be in work...

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the lioness in winter

2011-11-23T21:25:00Z

Posted by: dubdobdee.livejournal.com

I am the 0.00000001 percent: it’s taken me 19 years (and haha six Cate Blanchett movies)* to pin down my take on Whitney’s “I Will Always Love You” (initial discussion courtesy freakytigger's Popular review of same).

Seven if you count Elizabeth: The Golden Age, which even I don't...

Hullo LJ I am neglecting you!

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A day late and nineteen thousand nine hundred and ninety nine pounds eighty pence short

2011-09-07T10:30:00Z

Posted by: piratemoggy.livejournal.com

It's the Lex 20p indie poll!

(sorry for not posting it yesterday, I was busy shouting at people about Flo Rida)

[Poll #1776577]

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HANDPUMP THE VOLUME

2011-08-16T10:44:00Z

Posted by: katstevens.livejournal.com

What's that coming over the hill? Is it a club night? IS IT A CLUB NIGHT?

It is indeed! It's this Friday!

HOPTIMISM PRESENTS: HANDPUMP THE VOLUME
DJ Chlorine and The Barnet Ape present an evening of rave classics, chart bosh and euro bangers at Mason & Taylor E1 (near Shoreditch High St tube). M&T do good beer, hence the laboured booze puns.

All the info here: Friday 19th August, 9pm-2am, free entry and all the 2 Unlimited you can drink! All welcome! We also have a special guest DJ set from awesomewells which apparently will contain 'lots of piano house'.

(We're only doing this for one night so if you don't come you will MISS OUT FOREVER. JSL.)

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Lex 20p Indie Prize: yes, again and yes, late again

2011-08-04T22:39:00Z

Posted by: piratemoggy.livejournal.com

I refuse to join the rest of you stinkin' hippies over at Dreamwidth (not until I've consistently used Tumblr, anyway) so someone can x-post if they like. Or you could have a 2p Young Person's God Help Us If There's A War Prize. Whatever.

It is time for nominations to this year's highly-sought-after Lex 20p Indie Prize.

( some guidelines )

[Poll #1766864]

We can also discuss the fact there seem to be literally three or four listenable things on the Mercury shortlist if you would rather.

Edit: younger readers who do not know Lex may be unaware of his work; not only is he our longstanding chum alexmacpherson but also a real actual music journalist, a few of his recent pieces for the Graun covered homophobia in hip hop, Cher Lloyd's ambitions and Liechtenstein's disco scene.

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Welcome Poptimists!

2011-07-29T13:28:10Z

Posted by: katstevens

I have no idea if you can back up community archives from Livejournal to Dreamwidth, but after the recent LJ downtime I'm going to give it a go.

New posts are very welcome of course - tell us about a pop song you've enjoyed recently. Link to a video if you like!

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2011 In Pop: JUNE

2011-07-08T16:03:00Z

Posted by: katstevens.livejournal.com

Better late than never! I forgot to check the OCC one week in June so apols if the best song ever has been missed off - bung it in the comments if so and I'll tack it on to July's poll. As far as I can work out it's been either Jason DeRulo, Example or Pitbull at #1 for the duration.

[Poll #1760000]

Feel free to post your Top 20 lists for 2011 in the comments!

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Teenpop Lock and Drop Vol. 1

2011-07-03T17:39:00Z

Posted by: skyecaptain.livejournal.com

Hello Poptimists! Happy 4th of July to the Americans. Condolences for your loss of a few awesome colonies to the Brits.

For those of you not in the Tumblrverse (more specifically my Tumblrverse), here is a summer mix I made combining c. 98-01 teenpop and (mostly) current hip-hop. Felt it would be appropriate to share here as we continue to track and trudge through the last decade.

Britney! Waka! Dev! B*Witched! Rawse! Vitamin C! Wayne! 5ive! Robyn! A*Teens! Xtina! Fucking Drake! Etc!

Download:
http://www.mediafire.com/?5f639hma86cc6qm

Track list: http://www.cureforbedbugs.com/2011/06/teenpop-lock-and-drop-vol-1.html

Stream:
Teenpop, Lock, and Drop Vol. 1 by cureforbedbugs

Enjoy!

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2011 In Pop: MAY

2011-05-31T12:36:00Z

Posted by: katstevens.livejournal.com

What happened in May, then? Well, at one point Lady Gaga had four tracks in the top 40 (but then so did Adele), Blue solidly outperformed Jedward chart-wise and several boring songs by awful dudes were at number one.

[Poll #1747218]
Lower reaches watch: Charlie out of Busted got to #65; Sweden, Denmark and Azerbaijan's Eurovision entries made the top 100 while Jedward got to #82; Glee mopped up pretty much all the remaining slots.

*Charted BEFORE their Eurovision appearance! That's loads better than poor old Josh Dubovie who didn't chart at all last year.
**Charity single that charted one place below the Black Eyed Peas' totally unrelated "Just Can't Get Enough"
***Any ideas?

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2006: the heat winning finalists

2011-05-06T14:52:00Z

Posted by: piratemoggy.livejournal.com

Official heats for 2006 are now closed! Here is your current list of finalists, we will have a quick mop up of the also-rans tomorrow to get the last few places in the top 40 filled.

In the interests of meta-polling I draw your attention to the ~~two~~ three NOW albums of 2006:
Now 63
Now 64
Now 65

( mathematically safe )

See you next week to review my maths skills innit. [nb: do not review my maths skills]

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