Rolling Teenpop 2006 Thread

Although Ch!pz are more like Steps than Toybox were, I'd say Ch!pz are really the true descendents of the Vengaboys while Toybox were just Aqua wannabes. There were a few other acts around the time doing the same, one I particularly remember being called Daze. They were Danish too and had a song called Superhero Lover. I'm downloading it now, as well as another of their songs called Tamagotchi! Some of their videos are here.

As for Sita, she is one of the acest pop stars ever and yet so unknown it's ridiculous. As K-otic were the Dutch equivalent of Hear'say, she became quite uncool despite her music being very good rock/pop (she also had songs written by Robyn, Alexis Strum and... Nik Kershaw!!) and is now doing music for much younger kids and it varies in quality.

I'm listening again to Jessica Simpson's "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'," which could be eligible for three of these rolling threads (teenpop, country, and reggaeton). I love the track, and interestingly for a dance number it has almost no bottom - for most of the song you only get one deep thump per measure. The rest of the rhythm is provided by handclaps and high-pitched elecroscrapes. Several people have criticized Jessica's breathy vocal, but I think if she'd sung in her normal warm, rich voice she'd have overpowered the track, which needs everything thin and high. And the rhythm itself is effective but perplexing (and unexpected for a country-leaning pop song). There are parts where at least part of the rhythm goes like this: Something close to the basic two-bar clave pattern, except that in the second bar, while the handclaps finish the clave, other percussion repeats the first bar (so you've got second bar and first bar going at once). The basic clave is "ONE and two AND three and FOUR and one and TWO and THREE and four and" (beats on the capitalized numbers; and note that this is a frequent Bo Diddley rhythm, too). "These Boots" basically does this clave but hits the ONE in the second bar: "ONE and two AND three and FOUR and ONE and TWO and THREE and four and" - but in that second bar, some of the percussion simply repeats the first bar, so we've got "ONE and TWO and THREE and four and" going simultaneously with "ONE and two AND three and FOUR and," which is unsettling. Oh, and this is only part of what's going on, and it's all played fast and light, so it's like mosquitos dancing.

I gotta take issue! If you can call what Aqua and Toy-Box were doing a genre (I'd call it a movement or a revolution or something but OK), then they both have merit. One thing that strikes me about Toy-Box in particular is the passion with which they follow silly ideas down rabbit holes. There are entire universes in (most of) their songs...like they say, they've created twelve adventures. And they were adventurous...and so were Aqua, and maybe so are Daze (haven't heard). But not Steps; they were just goofy (which isn't a bad thing, just safer). (xpost)

U.S. music has helped feed Europop - some Europop could be considered a simplified version of the Miami sound, and maybe the Bobby O sound is the U.S. version of Europop, 'cept he never hit big on the pop charts. A Europop song will come in and hit as a novelty ("Blue Da Bee" or "Mambo No. 5"), but it will never lead to a string of similar hits, and those songs will disappear everywhere but on Radio Disney. (At least they'll disappear in Denver, which doesn't have an official "dance" station. Radio Disney is the only place you hear Europop and techno.)

Frank, did you know that the Veronicas actually co-wrote All About Us? I'm not sure of the exact story but I guess it was probably meant for the Veronicas then they decided it would suit t.A.T.u better.

And Daze - I found the video for their Tamagotchi song, it's quite brilliant.

Melissa still exists and is still making music, according to the woman who'd done promotion on Melicious (which was Lefton's second album; first one met exact same fate: was slated for release and then shelved).

Sigh. I soooo wanted her to pick Pink Bulldozer. But good manifesto (as manifestoes go).

[That is from Skye Sweetnam's MySpace profile, as if you couldn't tell.]

Any thoughts about what the tour title should be?

And fer cryin' out loud I leave for three days and she names her damn album!!! At least someone (including her) could still use Pink Bulldozer in the future (silver lining).

Angry Samoans now in her top 8 myspace friends; also, in the photo captioned "oh oh food" she's wearing an Angry Samoans T-shirt. New bio (excerpted by Frank above) is very wacky. Is there a release date for the album yet?

Album still due in mid to late August as far as I know (last info said it was slated somewhere around Aug 13, ...checking caldendar more likely the 14th).

http://www.alyandaj.com/boards/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=7104

(This from someone in Germany who wants to see it and thinks it will be a good movie because it's romantic.)

Results 1 - 2 of about 3 from myspace.com for +"Donovan's Reef" +"Ashlee Simpson".

Results 1 - 1 of about 2 from myspace.com for +"Ludwig Wittgenstein" +"Ashlee Simpson".

Your search - site:myspace.com +"unknown tongue" +"Ashlee Simpson" - did not match any documents.

If you mean me (I'm not a Francis), the only e-address I've got is this one.

edcasual at earthlink dot net

Also take yer picture with a Frosty from Wendys and get it posted on Brie Larson's Myspace page.

IM more spelling than speech, though there are prob'ly effects on speech patterns, mainly white incorporating black (e.g., "foo" for "fool," "lub" for "luv," "iz for r," "datz" for "that's," "fosho" for "for sure").

Then of course there's the title of the second Fannypack album, which is spelled in reverse IM-speak, words substituted for single letters rather than vice versa See You Next Tuesday.

I've always heard it like that. There's a Busdriver song (not teenpop[?]) that has L-O-L but he makes the mistake of following it up with "laugh out loud." Whereas Ashlee follows it with "Oh, V-E." Nikki/Brittney translates the IM-speak when necessary for the rhyme but otherwise lets it go (and she knew that everyone would know what LOL stood for five years ago, unlike Busdriver who is clever but not as clever as Nikki Cleary).

Since it's not written out in the liner notes, here's the real life conversation Brittney has with two random girls in the studio whose names are Carly Bartelsen and Alyson Madell (credited with "girl talk")...for posterity's sake. Translated into IM-speak and then partially backtranslated.

Brittney: wassup QTs ;)
girltalker1 [carly or alyson, "stephanie" in this exchange]: not much here :)
girltalker2 [alyson or carly, not "stephanie"]: same here :)
Brittney: did u c that note stephanie got from mike? :O
girl2: no what did it say
girl1: omg[osh] he said our relationship wasnt going newhere
girl2: he doesnt evn no what thatmeans >:O
[girls roffle]
girl2: did u get yr hw done?
girl1: i was tryin 2 but realy iming
Brittney: OMG[osh] hes such a hottie ;)
girl2: hey guys i g2g
girl1: yea me too my mom was yellin
girl2: bye babe lyl
Brittney: ok ttyl sweetie [actually spelled out t-t-y-l] ;)
girl2: ttyl :)
girl1: bye

From Brittney: "Hi! My name is Brittney and if you're anything like me, you LOVE to instant message your friends. When my producers asked me what I wanted my first single to be about, I knew right away. I wanted to sing about talking to my girlfriends online. I love I.M.ing and I even have my own website where you can learn more about me and my music. Listen to my new song and let me know how you like it! Check out my website: www.brittneycleary.com I'm waiting to hear from you! ♥ Brittney"

The Platinum Weird album is due on Aug. 22. On June 29 there's going to be something about Platinum Weird on VH-1 (don't know if it's going to be a full-scale mockumentary or just a teaser). Platinum Weird is Dave Stewart and Kara DioGuardi, but also seems to have been originally conceived as the story of a fictional band from 1974 featuring the mysterious and elusive Erin Grace. Look upthread for further info. The (comparatively mediocre*) "Loneley Eyes"** is streamed on one of several Platinum Weird sites.

*mediocre in comparison to "Avalanche," the one other Platinum Weird song I've heard, not to mention in comparison to "Fly" and "Come Clean" and any Ashlee song ever and most Lindsay songs and "Sweet Dreams" and "Sexcrime (1984)" etc. etc. I suppose since this was conceived as fiction, the mediocrity of the lyrics could be DioGuardi and Stewart's way of being true to the character or Erin as they conceived her, but still... Here's the first verse and chorus, and the second verse is just as so-what:

"What kind of world stays upside down
What kind of river won't let me drown
What kind of road just won't connect(?)
What kind of life have I found
It's hard to face the future when you're movin' backward

"I've got lonely eyes and they've seen better days
I've been lost before but not without a trace
What I'm looking for is somewhere in my past
And these lonely eyes will never take me back"

**"Loneley" is their spelling (at least on that site).

What's up with the fictional little back-story about Erin Grace...is Kara going to be voicing Erin?

I hope not! Kara: you deserve need the spotlight! I don't want to see you lending your voice to some other girl so she can walk around on stage lipsyncing (see: Hilary Duff).

I just want to see a performance! Please! :D

Anyway, I'm guessing people who like Avril and Kelly (and Michelle and Vanessa and ???) more than I do might also like Cori Yarckin more than I do. She sounds okay I guess, better in power ballad mode ("My Ever After", "Everything You Said") than more r&b-ish mode ("Gratitude," "Nothing Matters Now"), though I might be completely wrong about those songs belonging to those modes. Here's her page:

http://cdbaby.com/cd/yarckin

So, my nominations for EXTREME POP would include:

Mariah Carey (esp. her 1991 peak) because she's just fuckin' extreme, and 'cause she squeaks.
Napoleon XIV's "They're Coming to Take Me Away" because it's extremely silly and irritating and because the flipside is the same song played backwards which causes people to shoot themselves in the head.
The Veronicas' "4ever" for its deliriously gorgeous harmonies.
Boney M for being guilelessly eclectic.
Richard Harris' "MacArthur Park," because someone left the cake out in the rain.
Lindsay Lohan's video for "Confessions of a Broken Heart (Daughter to Father)"
Johnny Ray
The Shangri-Las
Little Richard

You can figure out what's extreme about the last three. This list is just to get the concept going.

Poison for the "I Want Action" video, which is extreme candy-colored transvestitism.
Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar On Me" for being extremely on MTV all summer long, 1988.
Hilary Duff's "Rock this World" and "Girl Can Rock," because they're there.

(Except the title would have to be in pink; and it would probably end up as a Website rather than a magazine. Metal Mike Saunders could interview Skye Sweetnam, and Dave Bedbug could review the record. Brie Larson would publish promo tour diaries. Reports from Europe on Marie Serneholt, Eurovision, Iranian disco.)

I am currently convinced that the Vanilla Ninja album, "Love Is War" is in fact a minor masterpiece. Having ditched David Brandes (of E-Rotic fame! Max! Don't have sex! With your ex!) as their producer and songwriter, they sound really fantastic - invigorated, definitely.

One song sounds like "Cool Vibes". But LOTS better! Another sounds like The Rasmus covering Tenacious D! And there's a gigantic mega closing power ballad to die for. The rest sounds like Pat Benatar. There are handclaps on two songs. There's a song called "The Band That Never Existed". Genius!

Teens across Mitteleurope should be going apeshit over this. Best bubblegum rock album since Ashlee, def.

Immediate search: "Kingdom Burning Down" (vicious! Lenna is doing lots to make up for the lack of Maarja in the line-up), "Battlefield" (basically, Pat Benatar, as said above), "Silence" (preposterous power ballad with ominous strings and hefty faux-guitar crunch squall).

Gillian Welch, Joni Mitchell, Fiona Apple, The Beatles, Ryan Adams, The Dixie Chicks, Rufus Wainwright, Bob Dylan, Radiohead.

I've never heard Gillian Welch. I don't think I've heard Rufus Wainwright either, come to think of it.

(I'm afraid that none of those colors has high enough name recognition.)