Mondeo Pop

Teenage Fanclub

I thought about them but... too good. Not mainstream enough.

No Andreas Johnson, no credibility.

The Bluetones? Hmmm. Can Britpop ever really be Mondeo Pop? I'm not sure. Some Britpop song - yes, Britpop acts probably not, if you see what I mean. I think that is a very important distinction. For instance the back catalouge of Manic Street Preachers is on the whole not Mondeo Pop but a few songs of theirs are prime Mondeo Pop. I was thinking that Man Who era Travis are not Mondeo Pop but Invisible Band era Travis are Mondeo Pop. Which seems almost counter-intuitive.

The Mondeo is called Taurus in the US I believe.

Can we get a final ruling on Dodgy? Too pop, not enough Mondeo?

Y know "Good Enough" or even "In A Room" could make the cut, "Staying Out For The Summer" is just too Shine to make the cut. The trouble with this line is that we then have to include "Wake Up Boo", which is OK but then we get onto "Me and You Versus The World", Catatonia and that Tom Jones meets hot new indie bands album. Which is a very dangerous, very slippery slope.

So can we lay down some OFFICIAL TENETS for Mondeo Pop then?

1. Has to be aimed at an adult audience
2. Has to show some sort of maturity, ie: Genesis or Orson aren't Mondeo Pop, they were born aged 32.
3. Some concession to the non-mainstream , but on the other hand the music is specifically aimed at local radio

Space is VW Golf pop.

"Pulling Mussels from a Shell": Mondeo Pop
"Tempted": Mondeo Pop
"Cool for Cats": not Mondeo Pop
"Up The Junction": UP FOR DEBATE

Sidenote: "Up The Junction" probably has the worst lyrics of any top 10 single ever

Lotus Eaters 'First Picture Of You' = overqualified
Halo James 'Could've Told You So' = just the job

I think Squeeze are White Van Blues

I think we need to agree that "Mary's Prayer" is the greatest Mondeo Pop song ever.

Mike & The Mechanics 'Over My Shoulder' Y/N?

Squeeze's MOST Mondeo-ish song is probably 'Black Coffee In Bed'. Their best song is 'Goodbye Girl', which is not Mondeo.

harmonica solo = bit out there for MP

Consider Squeeze's 90s stuff tho - 'This Fucking Summer' etc.

Mike and the Mechanics probably _just_ sneak under the barrier, although they're a little too AOR I think. Dire Straits aren't Mondeo Pop, neither are Sting or anything like that.

Steve Harley wasn't Mondeo to start off with, but gravitated towards it alarmingly with age.

"If I say TEN-HAIL-MAR-EEZ, leave the light on in heaven"

Aztec Camera, Danny Wilson, Del Amitri, Deacon Blue: why is so much Mondeo Pop Scottish?

Wet Wet Wet. Belle and Sebastian could have been but never had the guts. Well they nearly did. But they sort of blew it. I think Squeeze and Steve Harley despite being car radio staples are not quite right. Too early, too rockin'.

More Offical Tennents
4. Can on occasions be slow, but Power Ballads are very rarely Mondeo Pop.
5. It's sprightly, it has the kind of bounce that gets you through the working day.

Wetx3 and B&S were not full blown Mondeo Pop, but "Goodnight Girl" and "Wrapped Up In Books" are. I don't make the rules.

I think the idea of Mondeo Pop being WORKPLACE MUSIC is a good one, it's not really got any life outside of the 9-5.

I'd kind of agree. It's morning show to drive time and all in between. But there's a lot that played between those times which isn't Mondeo Pop of course. I think The Feeling are kind of the nearest we have to true modern Mondeo Pop.

I'm really torn about Joshua Kaddison. He was a local radio stalwart but hardly fits the Mondeo Pop mould.

Wx3 were Mondeo Pop par-excellence maybe a bit lacking in the wry / indie side but you can't fuck with Sweet Little Mystery.

Wet Wet Wet were, perhaps like Dodgy, a Mondeo Pop band that were a little too singles-oriented.

At the end of the day, is Mondeo Pop indie grown-up? Like, you meet a girl, you settle down, you change your dress sense, drink less, but there's still that kinda youthful urge in you submerged under it all.

I think the idea of Mondeo Pop being WORKPLACE MUSIC is a good one, it's not really got any life outside of the 9-5.

It's the music that plays in the nearest pub to work, where you (reluctantly) join colleagues for a lunchtime/after work pint.

Nah Mondeo Pop is totaly singles or at least song based. I'm not talking b-sides I'm talking "King of Rock 'n Roll".

xp dom p

james blunt: so obvious he hasn't been singled out yet? or too downtempo?

I don't think Mondeo Pop exists anymore. It's subtle but the sort of cultural collapse that's going on at the moment, the way the NME, radio 1, local radio etc are all drawing into line with each other amkes these distinctions harder to draw. Blunt makes sense in that he is one of the few acts that are beyond the pale, has Paul Connolly in the London Lite done a "hipsters hate him but actually he's good" piece about him yet? But yeh too down tempo. Also I'm not sure Mondeo Pop can ever be played at funerals.

if James Blunt was played at one of my relative's funerals I would actually leave

If anyone comes close to capturing the Mondeo Pop aesthetic these days, surely it's people like Razorlight and The Hoosiers? Although, sadly, both bands are awful.

xp

xpost to Acrobat: You have a good point, though; pop's registers are being homogenised, hence the Radio One 40 Years shitness fiasco.

Alisha's Attic "I Am, I Feel" = Mondeo-driven-by-liberated-single-woman pop

Not sure about Razorlight; they're not quite innocent or sunny enough to be Mondeo pop. They're dirge-like.

Ronan Keating - at least the jauntier ones (Life Is A Rollercoaster, Lovin' Each Day), the rest is for the Grans

Alisha's Attic, like The Supernaturals, are borderline. A lot of this stuff was Virgin Radio playlist material back in 97, 98, although if we take that as a baseline then we have to say that "Scooby Snacks" is Mondeo Pop.

"Life Is A Rollercoaster" was written by dude from New Radicals: "You Get What You Give" is surely too bratty to be Mondeo Pop?

What about damien gray/david rice?

there must be some cross-pollination and overlap with Magic FM Mum Pop, of which Gabrielle's 'Sunshine' is the zenith

The Hoosiers? God, even the name is enough to put me off. Thank god I don't listen to daytime radio anymore. (I have unfortunately been subjected to Generator by The Holloways on more than one occasion though.)

many xposts, minor derail

for reference: CD80: Yuppie Pop!

David Gray I suppose so, but... Mondeo Pop is very male, I think? Especially the Beautiful South/Del Amitri axis it all revolves around. Women can like Mondeo Pop, they're just not... welcomed by it.

just reading the BS (as opposed to B&S) lyrics on the FB group has made reconsider Heaton's songwriting prowess :/

In an up or down direction?

xxpost: Yeah, hence why I tried to invent a new, female category for Alisha's Attic. There's something very faintly macho about Mondeo pop, the affirmation of successful aspirant working-male lifestyle, the pleasant sounds in the head of someone who's just bought his first, well, Mondeo, and is showing it off to his mates.

(thus, I can see why Rice and Gray are perhaps a bit too soft)

Oh I listened to 0898 for the first time in years the other day, some of the lyrics are awful, especially the anti monarchy one. Decided only Ol Red Eyes and Bell Bottomed Tear were worth saving - perhaps a little harsh.

In an up or down direction?

it's more that i knew he was 'good' in a certain sense but my feeling towards that is now a little warmer than it was. not that i'm actually going to pick up a copy of Carry On Up The Charts for £1.47 on Amazon marketplace or owt

Alisha's Attic aimed at teenagers/students more I thought. My First 2nd Hand Nova Pop.

'Independent Love Song' = probably too grandiose to be Micra Pop

Sophie B Hawkins, Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover

My dad, whose taste is normally classical/alternative (he introduced me to Talk Talk, Mogwai and Yes for a start) loved "I Am, I Feel" when in his late-forties. I have not yet worked out an explanation for this.

Unless he's gone all Kogan on us... :-/