From the dawn of civilization until the early 1900's C.E. analog was the one and only choice for making music. Then humans harnessed electricity and went about making things behave in ways traditional knowledge says they shouldn't. It was just a hop and skip from lightbulbs to electronic music. Today it's fairly easy for a musician to use an array of equipment to be a one-person orchestra, but the road to modern electronic music is a long, meandering one. All of the constituent pieces of the puzzle fell into place with a combination of laborious research and old-fashioned serendipity. The sounds we associate today with a musical entity all its own grew up alongside pop, rock, avant garde and the cinema. This is the story of that journey, achronological and piecemeal.

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These guys are non-stop pop songs...digest.

Throughout his whole life, Michael Jackson was in the limelight. No amount of allegations (whether true or not), bad jokes or facial surgeries will ever change the fact that he was an enormous chunk of pop history all on his own, and that he will forever be remembered.

Since age 11, Michael has been entertaining the American public. With his unique dancing style, powerful vocals and all-around popularity, it’s no wonder he was dubbed the King of Pop during his music career. Artists who get inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame one time consider themselves blessed; Michael was inducted twice. Holder of the “Most Successful Entertainer of All Time” entry in the Guines World Records, Michael sold over 750 million records globally.

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Michael Jackson is dead. In the BEST tribute ever, once again and without further ado, the Phillipino prisoners performing the Thriller Video....

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Michael Jackson, my Hero?OMG! Michael Jackson, pop hero of my youth, and the quite possibly the strangest American in the ENTIRE history of our nation has just been rushed to the hospital and is now DEAD.

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This is one of the fastest and most punky versions of this track that I've come across..."Shut up or get cut up..."

The organizers of the Glastonbury festival make a habit of booking the biggest names to play. I’ve been a couple of times, and I managed to catch the Pet Shop Boys, David Bowie and REM. And to miss Radiohead, but that’s another story. Its storied stages are such a draw to the big names that when Michael Eavis calls, they answer. Even Jay-Z.

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A Cherry from BerryWhat defines ‘pop music’ is its popularity. And while no one reading this probably has any idea who Richard Berry is – and no, he’s not related to Chuck – one of his songs counts as the very top of rock and roll tracks in its ability to define, distill and inspire. That one song might be his legacy, but that doesn’t man that Berry was a one shot wonder. Well, he actually didn’t really have any hits. His one song only gained its acclaim in the hands of some Northwest bands a few years after its initial release.

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NKOTB

My all time favorite boy band from the 80’s, New Kids On The Block, cancelled their Australian tour blaming the recession and low ticket sales.  NKOTB started their boy band back in 1984 in Boston with the original members: Jordan Knight, Jonathan Knight (brothers), Joey McIntyre (my fav), Donnie Wahlberg (also my fav) and Danny Wood (the badass). 

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One of my first articles here on the Pop Music Club blog was an artist profile on The Raveonettes. The band is currently in their Copenhagen studio finishing up their next album, so I thought this would be a good time to condense their work thus far. They're an interesting band, if only for their strangely synergistic influences. Take doo-wop, 50's rock and some early desert country, then mix it with noise and a little modern electronica, and that's The Raveonettes.

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