I find this song absolutely infuriating, but from a safe distance I can see that it gets the unselfconscious tweeness of love spot on – baby talk, fond banter, silly nicknames and all. That’s admirable, and the Ofarims are good comic acto[…]

Beginning a hot streak for mentalist bubblegum hits: I always think of this one as a children’s song, because I heard it when I was 7 or 8 and thought it was enchanting, mysterious and funny. As a grown-up I was surprised to learn it was a Bob […]

I don’t normally go into the “making of” stuff on Popular, but this one is a great little snapshot of the 60s pop biz at work. The band formed as a rich man’s present to his aspirational drummer son – all photogenic teen[…]

And so to 1968. Recently I read a book called 1968 – Mark Kurlansky’s breathless tour of that year, which touched dutifully on all the accepted counter-cultural highpoints without really bringing them to life. It didn’t talk much ab[…]

Your chance to vote on the songs you would have given 6 or more out of 10 to from 1967’s chart-toppers.

Number Ones of 1967: Which would you have given 6 or more to?
The Monkees – “I’m A Believer”
Petula Clark – “This Is My […]

Someone on I Love Music recently asked the sharp question, when someone says a song is “Beatlesque”, which Beatles records are they actually thinking of? (more…)[…]

Brazenly unconvincing love-lost flummery by the same people who wrote the previous Number One. Baldry, wearing his serious bluesman’s hat, later professed to hate the record but listening to it I don’t believe him for a second: this sound[…]

Few acts have got poorer from doing Motown knock-offs – at least since Motown themselves stopped doing stomp-stomp-clap (which would be round about now). The stomp here much outweighs the clap, and the big chugging riff just ups the stomp even […]

An answer record of sorts to “San Francisco”, but this time a place – or placename – chosen for its delicious phonemes, not its youth-historical weight. So the longing that suffuses “Massachusetts” is really un-pla[…]

After the write-up of “Release Me” I got several comments and emails from Engelbert fans. They ran along familiar lines: Engelbert is a superb performer, he has a remarkable voice, his fame and renown will far outlast your puny blog.
The […]