A statement of intent

First of all; a confession.

My name is Ben, and I like pop music.

Not all pop music, I hasten to add.  One Direction and all that X Factor tripe can go swing, as far as I'm concerned.  No, I like good pop music.

Of course, I'm aware that "good" is entirely subjective.  There are people out there who absolutly adore 1D, and fair play to them.  It's not for me, I think it's lowest common denominator rubbish, but each to thier own.  They're making somebody a shit-ton of money, so who am I to say it's wrong?

Well, hopefully, I am.

This may seem a bit odd.  I mean, I'm listening to Strapping Young Lad as I type this.   Not the most reknowned of pop bands, I admit, but...  there are pop elements to them.

To me, pop music isn't exclusivly the domain of mass-marketed corporate groups/singers who've been plucked from obscurity because some record executive has decided that they'll sell a few CD's.  To me, pop music can be much more than that.  I'd call The Beatles a pop band.  I'd call The Wildhearts a pop band.  I'd call Nirvana a pop band.  And despite the fact that I now realise I like pop music, that last sentence was really rather hard to write.

Pop music isn't a genre.  It's a hook.  It's a chorus you can sing, a melody you can hum.  Something that sticks with you.  

The onset of maturity has a lot to do with this confession.  I'm not going to be too ashamed of the things I like, and I'm not going to hate too much on the stuff I don't.  What's the point?  I disagree with 1D's existence, the reason why they exist as a group.   For much the same reason as I'll despise the X Factor, in that the music being made is not for the sake of making music.  It's to make money, and I consider that to be a shallow and somewhat crass endeavour, at least the way these go about it.  But I'm not going to tell you you're an idiot for liking them, I'm just asking you to think about why these things exist.  If someone on the X Factor says that singing is their life, then why are they working in McDonalds? Why are they sitting on the dole, watching TV and applying to the X Factor in the first place?  If singing was your life, you'd be out, pushing yourself, playing all the gigs you could, every shitty little dingy club, pub and back room.  Doing it because that was all you knew how to do.

I'm not saying making money is a bad thing.  I'm not saying musicians/singers/poplets shouldn't get paid for what they do, shouldn't have recognition.  I just want them to be more honest.  Tell people that they want to be rich and famous.  I'm certainly not going to think any the worse of them.  Hell, it might make me like them a bit more.  

Okay, deep breath.

So, what is the point of this?  

I guess this is a blog where I'm going to talk about stuff. Where I'll babble on about whatever I happen to have seen, read or listened to recently.  And I just want to put it out there that it's not all going to be "cool" or anything.  It's just going to be me, and whatever I think about the stuff that happens to be in my life, for good or bad.

Hopefully, it won't be One Direction.