Pop music is in opposition to music that requires education or formation to appreciate, a defining characteristic of pop music is that anyone is able to enjoy it. Artistic concepts such as musical form and aesthetics are not a concern in the writing of pop songs, the mainobjectives being audience enjoyment and commercial success.... There's got to be more to it than that?! Surely!

Would anyone consider The Beatles intelligent pop or are they too superior to hold that title of music?

nope......

Oh, I don't know...

I can't off the top of my head think of any really intellgent pop artists, but there are a few individual songs that have a certain something.

Common People- Pulp- Britpop. it's You cannot say that that is not intelligent.

Stupid Girls- Pink- Punk Pop. Pink fuses punk and pop very well- her songs are pop but this song was standing up against the norm, laughing at convention... just like the best punk.

She's my Man/Mary- The Scissor Sisters- Disco Pop. SMM is very well written and it has good lyrics. It is also about something other than just partying. Mary was, if I remember, dedicated to soembody who had died, so it has personal meaning to the band. This is what I like about the Scissor Sisters- they are a camp pop band who operate like a rock band- working themselves up rather than being manufactured, getting their own image rather than just following the trend, and thinking about their music rather than having it written for them or going for soem easy 'get on the dancefloor' theme.

All the things she said- TATU- Pop. It's quite deep really, and it annoyed me when the singers called it a 'bit of fun for their husbands' because it's actually a very emotionally charged song.


I think the reason pop music lacks intelligence is becasue most successful pop bands are manufactured- so they get given safe songs about love or partying and are styled in the latest fashions. To big record labels there is no room for anything risky or controversial that might lose buyers or upset the censors, so the same old stuff gets churned out.
As I said, this is why I have a lot of time for the Scissor Sisters- because they've done it themselves rather than get moulded by a record label. How many other high-profile pop bands do you know who have their own guitarists and drummer?

Pure pop music wise, "intelligence" is virtually non-existent. But the sub and crossover genres like indie pop, alt pop, pop punk, power pop etc; it's quite common, and in fact fundamental.

Buy a copy of Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys, if you want an album that defines the term "intelligent pop".

A lot of songs pretend to be intelligent but just sound stupid (Razorlight - America for example... YAWN!)

The Cheeky Girls - Touch my Bum is really intelligent, dontchaknow?

She's so luvvaleeee shes so luvvaleeeeeeeee She's so luvvaleeee shes so luvvaleeeeeeeee She's so luvvaleeee shes so luvvaleeeeeeeee She's so luvvaleeee shes so luvvaleeeeeeeee She's so luvvaleeee shes so luvvaleeeeeeeee.....

Hmmm wonder what that songs called, there is a band with a lot to say.

I can't think of any decent lyrics from the past 10 years so intelligent pop is pretty much dead these days. They don't want singers that actually have something to say do they.

No, because that way it'll make people think and in turn make them understand that most of the stuff they listened to is uber tripe.

As I said, Pink has some good lyrics and makes statements.

I would class her as being pop-punk though.

I've gotta say I think Mika might be classed as intelligent pop. I know he gets a lot of stick and everything but his lyrics are quite clever really. When he's not singing about lollipops and big girls.

Yeah, Mika gets a lot of stick for different reasons, but I think the pop songs he makes are fairly credible (and far removed from being "manufactured", like most of today's pop).

All pop means is popular so therefore any group that writes intelligent songs and is popular would fill the criteria .
The Doors - People Are Strange
Alice Cooper - Elected
Billy Bragg = "A New England", which was a big hit for Kirsty MacColl
Billy Joel - We Didn't Start The Fire.

There are loads of intelligent well written songs by popular artists.

yes - Squeeze.

Agreed Up The Junction is a perfect example.

I don't particularly think there's such a thing as intelligent music...

Another group that had sucess with well written songs with social and political weight are the Boomtown Rats.
I Don't like Mondays and this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qup6zeY0H6o are classics.

Pet Shop Boys.

well I'd class intelligent pop as any artist who has a knack for being a great lyricist and has an interesting way with words to tell a story which isn't just about Bleeding Love ot Touching Someones bum!

Morrissey, Pet Shop Boys, Kirsty Maccoll, Beatles, Squeeze,Pulp, Manics and thousands of others are what I may describe as intelligent pop if pushed.

I don't think there's as much of it as there used to be.

Listen to almost any Sixties Motown song and you can hear the intelligence behind the lyrics. The same with anything written by Pete Townshend or Ray Davies or Bacharach and David or Goffin and King. I'm not sure I agree about Brian Wilson, though. Some of his lyrics were dreadful.

Ironically some of the cleverest lyrics nowadays are found in areas not widely associated with intelligence - hip-hop for instance. Even Eminem produced some pretty smart stuff in his time.

What an excellent example! I love the scissor sisters. I think that thier sincerity comes accross in their music even though it's very camp and pop-tastic something about it rings true.
Perhaps pop that is earnest is the most intelligent pop regardless of lyrics and composition... pop that is produced by people purely for monetary gain or "stardom" comes accross in an empty way...

[quote=brunolover;21441179]well I'd class intelligent pop as any artist who has a knack for being a great lyricist and has an interesting way with words to tell a story which isn't just about Bleeding Love ot Touching Someones bum.QUOTE]

LOL!!!!!!!! That just made my day!

Can include:

1960s - Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Richard Thompson

1970s - Springsteen, Squeeze (Difford/Tilbrook) and the guys from Queen (lots of wit there)

1980s - Lloyd Cole, All About Eve (forgot her name), Joan Armatrading, Eddie Reader

1990s - some Blur/Pulp/Oasis is witty, some is just nonsense

2000s - perhaps too recent to judge properly

Yes - The Smiths, St. Ettienne and British Sea Power.

Pet Shop Boys and the Smiths

That's a good point!