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stupid pop

by puppeteer

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about

this song is about all the stupid pop out there. but it is also about the pull that sometimes pop has upon music fans who are striving for deeper creations and experiences. i am obsessed with what i consider rock that is particularly inventive, colorful, moving - 70s soul (and later progressive soul), progressive rock, psychedelic rock; art-rock, jazz-rock, post-punk, post-rock. these sub-genres of rock were among its most original. and yet it often happens that a pop band seduces because of some aesthetic quality that is difficult to resist - i have felt this with certain pop artists including prefab sprout (will paddy ever release those dozens of albums he allegedly wrote but never recorded? he should get another band to play them maybe), pet shop boys (first time I heard west side girls i was hooked), 70s disco (especially the more hypnotic - I remember my mom taking me shopping in the car with the disco bee gees on the radio heard for the first time, and me thinking how cool that sounded, although i would never tell a soul), david bowie (who once waved hello to me when i was a kid walking past a cafe he was in ), suede (in my mind the best britpop group even including the early smiths), microdisney (that anger and melody married together was exceptional), and others. so this song is about many things at once: the truly stupid pop that dominates the music marketplace which is for the lowest common denominator and we turn from; but also the stupid pop we cannot help but fall for now and then. after all, lots of great rock is also wed to pop melody very often, which can often be a limiting factor. It was without doubt recorded in a piss-take way though, a kind of joke while being serous at the same time. so here i am, using a disco beat, but also coloring the song with arrangements, vocal harmonies and a guitar solo that you don't typically find on a disco song. thus, serious, passionate, musicians, cannot be completely seduced by pop... or can they?

you might find it amusing to note that i videoed myself playing the guitar lead that actually ended up on this recording! thus, if you watch the video right here on this page, you'll see me actually playing the guitar lead that i decided to keep, warts and all - i played very carefully, so as not to make mistakes, but when i ran out of ideas at the end, i just banged some chords!

the image is of a painting called The Court Jester by David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl, the great Swedish painter (1628-1698)

lyrics

Stupid Pop by puppeteer C)2021


The Fab Four forged catchy but empty ditties long after rock grew up

Threatened by Beach Boys' melodies and harmonies borrowed from doo-wop

And even after Cream, Hendrix and Zappa made pop obsolete

You could still hear the Beatles, Turtles and Monkees prowling in the street


Stupid, stupid pop, oh stupid, stupid pop

Stupid, stupid pop, oh stupid, stupid pop


The 70s brought expertise with hard rock, prog rock, jazz fusion

Glam gave color and melodies asunder to co-opt the revolution

And in the 80s with post-punk and post-rock perfecting rock as art

You could bop to Michael, Madonna and Wham! riding high in the charts


Stupid, stupid pop, oh stupid, stupid pop

Stupid, stupid pop, oh stupid, stupid pop

credits

released April 18, 2021
song written, played and sung by puppeteer

song copyright with US Copyright Office, music performing and broadcasting rights managed by BMI, published digitally globally by CD Baby.

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puppeteer Chicago, Illinois

who is puppeteer? i grew up of American parents in Paris and London. i became a psychologist by career, remaining a music obsessive, writing songs when i could on bits of paper. raising a family prevented creative outlet of that nature. now, as a divorced skeleton, i spend time when i can writing and recording for this collection of songs, entitled Songs of Love and Earth. ... more

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