February 2012
36 posts
5 tags
This Must Be Pop brings you Future Pop! (Issue... →
This week’s Future Pop features Madeon, AlunaGeorge and fun.
2 tags
Sunday night quiz: Guess the album cover! →
Can you recognise these album covers?
4 tags
Song of the Day: Charlotte Perrelli - The Girl
Click here to watch
If there has been a more gleefully POP moment on TV anywhere in the world this year than this, I’d be very surprised. And definitely want to see it! Charlotte was one of the entrants to last night’s Melodifestivalen (Swedish Eurovision qualifiers) and shocked viewers by failing to make it through to the final or even the second chance round. It’s not...
5 tags
Carly Smithson/Hennessy in The Guardian
Just found this interesting section about Carly Hennessy in a 2006 Guardian article. Carly reappeared with the surname Smithson in American Idol in 2007 and is now in a band with Ben Moody from Evanescence.
“Only about one-fifth of artists end up making money for the label, and a few make so much that they subsidise everyone else, but you can’t tell in advance which ones will do well....
4 tags
Song of the Day: Danny Saucedo - Amazing
Click here to listen
This is Swedish himbo popstar Danny’s entry for Melodifestivalen, the country’s Eurovision qualifiers, and will be performed in tonight’s semi-final. Like his entry from last year the lyrics are totally pointless and could have been written by a child, but musically he’s definitely stepped up and I think he stands a good chance of being chosen to...
4 tags
Popping The Question: How Much Control Should An... →
My latest pop debate is all about an artist’s right to decide their own destiny. Who should make those career-defining decisions?
5 tags
Thank You For The Music: Alexander Bard →
For the latest in my series of interviews with great pop songwriters and producers, I got the chance to ask a few questions to one of my all time favourites.
5 tags
This Must Be Pop Live: The line-up is complete! →
It’s time to announce the final act set to perform at next month’s This Must Be Pop Live alongside A*M*E and Queen of Hearts…
4 tags
Song of the Day: Selena Gomez - Summer's Not Hot
Click here to listen
Some may say that Naturally was the first sign of Selena’s pop potential, but I always thought it was just OK. Instead it was this euphorically fun and silly track (a collaboration between RedOne and Rock Mafia) from her second album A Year Without Rain which first opened my mind to Selena being a great pop star in waiting. And it all came together on her amazing...
5 tags
Future Pop: Time for a catch-up! →
So how are things going for my Future Pop predictions so far?
5 tags
This Must Be Pop brings you Future Pop! (Issue... →
This week’s Future Pop features Becky G, Carly Rae Jepsen and Yuna.
2 tags
"A hankering for something less cynically... →
This new Guardian article about Ed Sheeran suggests Alexis Petridis was asleep throughout 2003.
4 tags
Sunday Night Quiz: Guess the talent show! →
How well do you know your TV talent shows?
3 tags
Song of the Day: Rita Ora - R.I.P. (featuring...
Click here to listen
Rita reveals in her new SBTV interview that R.I.P. is going to be her first proper single (not Party and Bullshit as previously thought) and you can listen to a snippet of the chorus at the link above. It’s much more similar to Hot Right Now so makes more sense as the next release, but since Party and Bullshit is far more poptastic I hope it will still be released...
4 tags
Song of the Day: Rachel Adedeji - Club Lights
Click here to watch
It’s generic dance-pop but actually quite catchy and well-produced, and I like the video. Not a bad effort considering she’s done it totally independently.
4 tags
Taylor Swift: It's a love story →
If you’ve ever wondered why I’m so fascinated with Taylor Swift, this recent feature from American TV show 60 Minutes should give you some insight.
2 tags
3 tags
Song of the Day: Christina Milian - Us Against The...
Click here to watch
I still don’t understand how this wasn’t a hit. Amazing R&B power ballad.
5 tags
This Must Be Pop Live: The Next Act Announced! →
And the second performer announced for March’s This Must Be Pop Live is…
3 tags
Song of the Day: Nicki Minaj - Starships
Click here to listen
Lots more money for RedOne.
4 tags
Tennis: Better than football →
Last night I went to see one of my favourite new (or new to me, at least) bands live, an American indie-pop group called Tennis.
5 tags
This Must Be Pop brings you Future Pop! (Issue... →
This week’s Future Pop features Phlo Finister, Electric Guest and Clement Marfo & The Frontline.
2 tags
Future Pop →
Last chance to sign up for the Future Pop mailer before today’s arrives at 2pm!
6 tags
The Gossip →
Here’s some of the gossip I’ve picked up on my recent travels around Planet Pop!
2 tags
Song of the Day: School Gyrls - I'm Not Just a...
Click here to watch
When they introduced LA Reid on The X Factor, they forgot to mention the teen musical film he was executive producer of, School Gyrls… maybe because it has an incredible 1.5/10 rating on IMDB, the lowest I’ve ever seen! I watched it anyway and it wasn’t that bad (well, at least a 2!) and there were even some quite good songs in it, including this one which...
5 tags
Song of the Day: The Wonder Villains - Zola
Click here to listen
Fans of 90s Scottish indie-pop group Bis will absolutely love The Wonder Villains, their 2010s Irish teen equivalent. Their single Zola is this week’s BBC Introducing track of the week, which means it’s playlisted on Radio 1, and it’s a brilliant piece of DIY electro-pop. I wasn’t so impressed with the live performance of the song which is also on...
4 tags
Song of the Day: Darin - Nobody Knows
Click here to listen
I was disappointed with Darin’s new single at first as I felt it was a bit too much of a Guetta bandwagon-jumper, but after a few listens it has grown on me massively. Another triumph for Swedish pop’s head boy!
4 tags
This Must Be Pop Live returns on March 20th! →
The first act for March is announced - click above to find out who it is!!
4 tags
Song of the Day: Christopher - Nothing In Common
Click here to watch
Christopher is a new Danish pop boy who I think has great potential. I like the sound of his music, very Idol winner-ish, even though he actually wasn’t on any TV talent shows as far as I know. His two singles Against All Odds and Nothing In Common have both been strong boy-pop tracks - he just needs to step it up 10% more to take his place among the Olas and Darins of...
2 tags
Song of the Day: Gotye - Learnalilgivinanlovin
Click here to watch
I feel stupid for not really getting the love for Gotye’s current hit Somebody I Used To Know. It’s got a good chorus but the quietness of the verses just makes me want to shout HURRY UP AND GET TO THE GOOD BIT! So here’s a Gotye song that does just that - well, it doesn’t have any bad bits. Apart from the drum solo, but we can ignore that as...
5 tags
This Must Be Pop brings you Future Pop! (Issue... →
This week’s Future Pop features Ed Drewett, Lilygreen & Maguire and Friends.
3 tags
Sunday night quiz: Guess the no.1! →
Can you recognise which videos for UK no.1 hits these screengrabs were taken from?
5 tags
Song of the Day: Pietro Lombardi - Call My Name
Click here to watch
Pietro (a German Idol winner) is terrible at singing in English and the lyrics for this song sound like he may have actually made them up himself, but there’s still something very enjoyable about it. It’s sweet, smiley, uninhibited pop, just what I want from my Europop.
4 tags
This Must Be Pop: Hire Me As Your Pop Consultant! →
If you’ve got some spare pennies and need some advice on pop-related matters, this may interest you.
6 tags
Popping The Question: Is Bad Pop Better Than No... →
The depressing new midweek no.1 by Alyssa Reid has inspired my latest pop debate.
3 tags
Song of the Day: Amanda Mair - Sense
Click here to watch
The latest Swedish pop girl to be declared acceptable by the indie bloggers has a new single. It’s not as strong as Doubt or House in my opinion, but it’s quite pleasant and the video is great.
January 2012
40 posts
4 tags
Song of the Day: Bob Sinclar ft. Pitbull - Rock...
Click here to listen
I never thought I’d see the day I’d be choosing either of these artists for single of the day, but I like to imagine this is actually the demo for the next J-Lo single. This would be a huge worldwide no.1 hit for her, and I think it could be pretty big anyway, but just imagine what could have been with Jennifer at the helm!
4 tags
Top of the Poptastic! →
My top 20 singles of January 2012…
5 tags
This Must Be Pop brings you Future Pop! (Issue... →
This week’s Future Pop features three exciting new major label acts.
6 tags
What I learned from Take That: For The Record and... →
This weekend I watched both of the big documentaries Take That have made since their break-up, and it was quite revelatory!
3 tags
Sunday night quiz: Guess the flop star! →
For this week’s quiz, can you remember the names of these unsuccessful pop acts?
5 tags
What I learned from Girls Aloud: Off the Record →
I recently realised that I hadn’t actually seen all the episodes of Girls Aloud’s 2006 E4 documentary series, so I decided to watch the whole thing again. I saw quite a few familiar faces from the music industry and there were some interesting connections to the band members’ futures…
2 tags
Song of the Day: St Etienne - Tonight
Click here to listen
The electro-pop trio are back with their first album in seven years and it includes the line “maybe they’ll open with an album track, or a Top 5 hit, no turning back” - what more do you need to know?
6 tags
Signs of the Apopcalypse →
Weird things are afoot in the world of pop…
5 tags
This Must Be Pop brings you Future Pop! (Issue... →
This week’s Future Pop features a hip-hop heiress, some Swedish loveliness and yet another new Craig David. Click here to subscribe: http://bit.ly/futurepop
2 tags
Song of the Day: Annaca - I am an Aeroplane
Click here to watch
I just discovered this jaunty pop number released about a year ago, and I’m quite surprised I haven’t heard it before as Annaca is actually British. She and her band of blokes are even based in the town where I used to live, Brighton! They still seem to play lots of gigs so if you like the song look out for them playing near you soon.
3 tags
Sunday night quiz: Guess the popstar! →
Can you guess the identities of these forgotten former popstars?
6 tags
New Pop On The Block →
New singles from Wonder Girls, Dappy and Heyhihello.
4 tags
Song of the Day: Juliet - My First Hardcore Song
Click here to watch
Willow Smith, you’ve been outdone. I love the roaring dog!
5 tags
Review: This Must Be Pop Live ft. Oh My!,... →
Find out what happened at this week’s This Must Be Pop Live and check out some great pics from the night!