On 2002/11/15 04:40 PM or thereabouts, Andrew Stiller
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> intoned:
> I beg to differ, but Rock (of which Pop, for the past 40 years, is a
> synonym, not a different genre)
I initially read the above as "symptom," not "synonym." [grin]
While I absolutely agree with your main point about most popular music not
being "tonal" in any recognizable sense (the culmination of this trend is in
hip hop -- I mean, what "key" is "Welcome to the Terrordrome" supposed to be
in?), I would beg to quibble with the rock=pop part of your equation.
In one sense, "pop" means "whatever is broadly popular in the mass media,
especially with young people" and in the past 40 years that has included a
lot of rock, yes, but also genres that have little to do with heavy
straight-8th backbeats, distorted guitars, and three-chord triadic harmony
(or, even better, omit the 3rds) -- including soul, R&B, new wave, hip hop
(including DJ turntablism), electronic dance music (much of which was never
intended to be danced to), etc etc etc. I'm comfortable calling all of this
stuff "pop music," but "rock"? That's just not how the word is used. (cf.
all the "Is Rock Dead?" or "Can Band X [usually Radiohead] save rock?"
articles from a couple of years ago....)
In another sense, "pop" is narrower but still distinct from (though
sometimes overlapping with) "rock." Britney Spears isn't rock, she's pop.
Same with (working backwards through the years) Celine Dion, the Pet Shop
Boys, Abba, Burt Bacharach, the Beach Boys, and about half the stuff the
Beatles recorded. I don't know anyone today who would use the word "rock"
to describe the above artists. Especially not as an intransitive verb.
Finally, just to throw a spanner into the works, I would argue that "pop" as
I describe above is more likely to include aspects of traditional tonality
(like authentic cadences, or at the very least chords with thirds in them)
than rock, and that this is one of the principal ways it can be
distinguished from rock.
- Darcy
------
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Boston, MA
"You know, they say people get the government they deserve, but I don't
recall knife-raping any retarded nuns."
- Jared Andruss, Shipping Clerk
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