Back at the turn of the century, there were millions of "nice" pop acts in the charts. I'm talking Spice Girls, Westlife, Hear'Say etc. They were simply nice and wholesome, generally aimed at a younger market, but they appeal to me regardless of my age.

But this kind of thing seemed to disappear in the mid 2000s and I can't remember seeing anything like that in the charts for a long time. "Pop" acts today either seem to fall into the category of being either ultra serious and moody (which I find pretty depressing and do not appeal to me at all), or being dark, sleazy and "evil" like Little Mix, which I simply cannot stand and actually find quite offensive.

Just about the only contemporary music I am able to enjoy these days is either American country singers or foreign acts. To me, western popular music has become incredibly dark and depressing.

Does anyone know of any modern day acts that are just simply nice and fun and wholesome?

Little Mix 'dark sleazy and evil'?! And you find them offensive? Your opinion fair enough but of all the acts you could pick to find offensive, dark, sleazy and evil choosing Little Mix is just laughable.

On what planet are Little Mix dark and sleazy?

What about One Direction? 5 Seconds of Summer? The Vamps? Ariana Grande? Fifth Harmony?

There's plenty of acts out there who are suitable for kids. It's just their sound isn't as cheesy as it was in the late 90s/early 00s.

Smilar comments were made back in the 50s when Elvis turned up. He was contrasted with wholesome acts such as Pat Boone or Perry Como. I guess the sleaze bag won out then.

The idea of Little Mix being dark, sleazy and evil is fascinating, especially when you mention The Spice Girls who are a great part of LM's inspiration. I'm not sure how wholesome 'Wannabe' is?

Olly Murs seems to be a nice guy singing inoffensive songs. Susan Boyle, Daniel O'Donnell, Andrea Bochelli, Alfie Boe....quite a number really.

And if you want something less secular try some of the Christian artists like Matthew West, Avalon, Chris August etc

Little Mix, Selena Gomez, Hailee Steinfield, Britney, Hilary Duff, Troye Sivan, Carly Rae Jepsen...

....it's easier to name 'bad' people; chris brown, robin thicke..that's it.

Jesus, all those acts were bloody woeful. Steps and S-Club 7 too. Thank God them and their ilk are no more.

Hey! There's no need for that. You leave my cheesy pop (not so) guilty pleasures alone Hear Say we're ****ing shite though

You mean the group that gave us Myleene Klass and that one off Corrie? How could anyone possibly hate them...?

Haha I'm with you on that one. Love a bit of Westlife though

Little Mix, Jess Glynne, and the likes of Taylor Swift are nice acts who seem genuine and do a lot for their fans. Years & Years are another act I'm really liking at the moment, again they seem really genuine and a good group; I hope they become really well known soon, as Communion is a great album and I hope that their new single Eyes Shut is a hit.

Taylor Swift is as wholesome as they come these days

OP the unwitting irony of your post is that there is a vocal contingent of LM fans who are desperate for them to become "dark, sleazy and "evil" Little Mix.

"Conehead" posted this link on another thread. I find these make a "refreshing change" to some of the manufactured pop we get today. "What you see is what you get."


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj8LEL4gbQU

I'd say The Vamps come across a group of sweet guys. They made a big thing of their dads being at the concert we were at and let them come out on stage and mess about with instruments and it was cute. I'm pretty sure there hasn't been any scandal about them at all.

Olly Murs is the first person that springs to mind. Young girls love him, as do their mums. Plus Olly is a lad's lad so I guess there are other young lads who don't mind his music.

Little Mix, contrary to the OP, are the best other example right now of a pop group that appeals to both young kids and parents.

Little Mix are evil and offensive? I have a house full of sloshed people trying to work out which one of them would best survive a zombie apocolypse, but that is the most ridiculous thing I've heard today

The Spice Girls were many things, but wholesome? Pur-lease!!!

Case or point Geri Halliwell was a former nude model. You would have to be very naive to think she wasn't always falling out of her dress at the Brits on purpose. The appeal of the Spice Girls was they were a flawed, unpolished, rough and ready girls that did fun trashy songs and didn't take themselves too seriously.

As for the other two acts and indeed most of the other 90's manufactured bands on the surface they were nice and wholesome. Underneath that fakery they were all ruthless back stabbing careerist people that would happily kill their own families if it would have made them famous. The blandness of the music they made reflected their shallow personalities.

That's what I hated about all those 90's manufactured acts. None of them believed in what they were doing. If you met them down the pub and got them drunk enough they'd no doubt freely admit their own songs were crap and they were embarrassed performing them. Robbie Williams essentially made a solo career out of making that admission in public.

Maybe there aren't many truly "wholesome" family friendly acts these days but I agree with that comment about the ones that are like The Vamps at least coming across as genuine and seem to enjoy making their music.

Carly rae jepsen and meghan trainor would be my top 2

I know you are on about the music but I don't think Britney Spears could say a bad word about anyone.

Thanks for the few suggestions. You have basically confirmed what I thought, that there is not much around to my tastes at the moment.

Sure, there is Olly Murs and the odd American act. Not a really lot though, especially here in British music. Yet 15 years ago there seemed to be millions of them in the charts. Virtually every boy or girl group was nice and wholesome by default and generally made pleasant pop music. That's all changed in recent years.

It seems a lot of people particularly disagree with me about Little Mix being dark, sleazy and evil. Well what can I say? You're entitled to your opinion, but it would seem to me that a lot of people can't see the plain difference between good and evil. Little Mix act like villains, snarling and gritting their teeth. I would say that one would have to be quite naive not to know that the directors tell them to act that way. Do nice girls act that way? The Spice Girls were never anything like that, they were relatively sweet.


Sure, I don't disagree. I'm not saying I can't enjoy music sung by evil people, I can, I just don't want evil in the music itself, that's all. The tone of the act is not determined by the artist but by the producers and directors. It has always been entirely in their hands. Little Mix could have been another Spice Girls if the producers had chosen them to be that way, or the other way round.

I'm not asking for music sung by "good people", that would be virtually impossible, since there is evil in everyone's heart. Whether they admit it or not, all men and women are basically evil and selfish, and I have never met anyone who was truly good and pure, (aside from a few rare people who admitted they were bad, turned to Jesus Christ for salvation from their sin, and were born again of the Holy Spirit—but I'm not here to preach). On a side note, although I'm obviously a Christian, I do not like contemporary Christian music. I find most of it pretty dark and depressing. I am a joyful, peaceful person and I like happy, sweet music.

Since I am always being attacked, I would like to point out (in anticipation) that I am not here demanding that pop music conforms to my particular tastes. I don't really care what kind of music is popular right now. I am merely here asking for recommendations for people with (apparently unusual) taste like mine. I am also noting that things seem to have changed quite a lot in recent years, which I'm sure most will agree with? I mean music is not cute any more, right?


Sure. I don't have a problem with sexy acts and I love beautiful women. But there is a big difference between sexy and slutty. I am not offended by a little nudity, but I think most people can tell the difference between a girl being playful and one acting like a whore. Sadly sluttiness seems to be the default for female singers these days (and it's not the girls' fault, they are just being used as meat, as always).

For the record, though I haven't watched it, I am not against things like the Blurred Lines video. At least not on the basis of "sexism". Women are beautiful and there is nothing wrong with their beauty being celebrated and appreciated. What I have a problem with is feminism (ie subversive anti-male propaganda), which is huge right now in music and all across all the media. Feminism is evil. But I'm not here to complain. People are entitled to watch and listen to whatever they like. Watching an image won't turn someone good or bad—good and bad come from what is inside your heart. I don't believe anyone can make themselves good by trying, but through following Jesus, God can truly change a person. (OK, that last bit was preachy. Flame away.)

C'mon no one has gone for Sam Smith and George Ezra yet? Surely you can't get more bland and inoffensive than those two.

Wholesome?!!!! Bands like 5ive and 911 were all high on drugs throughout their careers. I remember them being interviewed not long ago where they said they use to turn up to SM:TV Live and CD:U.K high as a kite on Coke. Then there was the boys from S Club 7 who got caught with cannabis at an airport.

Well there's the problem. You're a Christian trying to judge music on those daft principles. If you think Little Mix are evil then end of thread. There is no point in trying to argue with you.
Anyway I'm going back to my Black Sabbath album.

If you really think this, it reflects much more on your own views than it does on LM or The Spice Girls.


Yeah, unfortunately the Devil has always had the best tunes. I would like to hear your explanation for how 'evil' the lyrics of LM's 'Wings' or 'Little Me' work out?


Well, if you are being honest about your Reformed theology and your 'Born Again' Christianity (I'm from Northern Ireland, so I know this stuff backwards as Christians are pretty thick on the ground here) then it might be advisable to listen to more traditional 'Praise' music or Gregorian Chant (probably too Catholic for you ). I say that as you seem to find modern Christian music a bit depressing.


Actually, there is some truth in that. You may remember that in 1985 the Parents Music Resource Center tried to get music censored for explicit lyrics, that worked when you could put stickers on CDs but it's not so effective when music went online. Some of the lyrics in Death and Doom Metal are beyond obscene. However, we are mainly concerned with pop music here. I would suggest that there is more in the way of confessional music these days (Amy, Adele, Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran) and these artists are very popular. Admittedly when I first heard Adele sing 'hello from the other side..' i did find that disconcerting.


The thing is with what you have said here reflects more of your own views than it does about the women you are objectifying. You might want to check Matthew 5:28 on that. Of course, your 'Born Again' Christianity probably lets you off the hook on that one! (Proverbs 24:16)


If you haven't watched the video, it's probably better not to talk about it.
Your understanding of feminism is also rather weak, it's actually a method of analysing/understanding inequality in society based on gender. It isn't always right much in the same way that Christians are not always right. Christianity is a bit bigger in terms of the grand issues it deals with (e.g., the purpose of Man within the Universe created by God) but they are both frameworks or perspectives.

Your point about images is interesting. You may want to convey your views to those Christians who pray in bare churches/places of worship and those Muslims who destroy Ancient Christian monuments describing them as 'idolatrous'.

I don't think good and bad come from your heart they come from your mind and the influences on it. All this is leading to my recommendation which is really simple, if you want to listen to some beautiful music try Van Morrison ('Beautiful Vision', 'No Guru, No Method, No Teacher', 'Enlightenment').

Except that's not really the meaning of the lyric, from what I can tell her song is asking forgiveness from someone from her childhood who is far away distance Wise and on the other side of the Atlantic.