They don't write pop songs like they used to

[HappyFace2025]

Just listened to 'i'm a believer' by The Monkees and it got me thinking that nobody writes toe tapping pop songs like this any more.

I think Miley Cyrus, Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran all write good toe tapping & sing along songs. Good to see Blue making a comeback too.
We usee to live for Thursday night's Top of the Pops back in the day. I watch episodes that they're rerunning now & some of it is terrible shite! It wasn't all great back in the day

My 15 yr old listens to the be my be my baby .... Frank I did it my way lol

There may not have been social media back then but anyone watching Mick Jagger would have been aware of his charisma by watching Top of the Pops, also Elvis when he was filmed.

This ^ just shows that you're not really listening to very much. There are a lot of good music acts out there right now, and there have been some very good songs out over the past few years.

Likewise but that double whammy of 1976 with the mainly same songs repeated was very disappointing

Oh yes, plenty of performers did have huge charisma; but if anything, they stood out because of it, rather than it being the expected norm. Then again, I'm aware that this may be controversial, but I don't think Mick ever had the very best voice to start with, so the stage-presence must have helped.

Maybe there's also a difference between male and female artists nowadays, whereby male singers like Lewis or George can get away with being ordinary-looking and not being overly charismatic on stage; whereas female singers are expected to look beautiful and glamorous and dance and move as well, and often wear very skimpy outfits on-stage too. Artists like Raye, Lana Del Ray and Amy Winehouse are/were considered sultry and different because they don't do that.

Raye, Taylor Swift, Gaga, Chappell. The women are smashing it. Billie Eilish has two Oscars. One for her Bond theme. Which she worked on with Johnny Marr. Which leads me to The Smiths…
My teen went to a Johnny Marr gig. And pointed out he changes Morrissey’s lyric ‘Now I know how Joan of Arc felt’ to ‘Now I know how Johnny Marr felt’. 😂

@suburburban Agree that was disappointing this week. 😂 There was definitely some shite in the 70s and 80s too. Have you noticed that there are some bands in the charts on the 70s episodes where you can almost guarantee they will be on! Darts for example.

There was a lot of dirge in the 80,s too
Look at all the Stock,Aitken, and Waterman " Hits"?

They did also give us Kylie and Rick Astley though. Who among us in the 80s could have predicted they’d end up on the main stage at Glastonbury?!!

Apart from everything else, I think we have to acknowledge how very much streaming has impacted and changed the music business and the charts forever.

Long gone are the days when you would have maybe 100 at most current singles available to buy in shops, then 40 of them would make the charts. It must be so much tougher for current artists - not only having to accept free sharing of/tiny revenues from their music; but also having to compete on an equal footing with every single track that has been released in the last 80+ years, rather than just those from the last few weeks.

True!

There was good and bad lyrics in the 70s and 80s (and in fact 50s and 60s) just as there is good and bad lyrics today. Some of the most popular chart toppers of the 70s (those that were number one's for several weeks) had awful, repetitive, basic lyrics. I think it's nostalgia talking for the OP really. She probably forgets all the crap songs and only remembers the good, after all, it's the good ones that are timeless classics. Lots of even the number one's are long forgotten. Also need to remember that good lyrics don't make a hit record - there are lots of amazing songs on albums that were never even released as singles so only really listened to by those who bought the albums, never played on the radio, etc. That's as true today as it was 50 years ago.

There was a Top of the Pops end of year review on over the Christmas holidays which apparently featured the best music from 2025. My Husband and I admittedly only saw around the last 15 minutes or so, but what a load of beige shite it was! When they did the countdown at the end everything sounded exactly the same and it just felt dreary and depressing.

It’s possibly fair to say that Gen Z are being exposed to older stuff through TV and Spotify or TikTok; Kate Bush and Sophie Ellis Bextor are recent examples. So they’re having an impact still.
Chappell Roan covers Heart at her gigs. Stevie Nicks duetted with Harry Styles and advises Taylor Swift. I would say our oldies are influencing current music too.
ETA: I agree with you!

@taxguru I haven't forgotten the crap songs of way back when. But it is interesting to hear that songs from the mid - late 20th century are still listened to not just for nostalgia's sake. Incidentally my favourite 'recent' track (I know 10 years old!) is Disturbed's 'Sound of Silence' which is even better than the original,

I think music is in a really good place at the moment actually. I’m loving CMAT, the last dinner party, Sombr and Wolf Alice’s albums. If you want something more poppy, Chappel Roan, Sabrina carpenter and Taylor swift all writing great songs. The woman are smashing it. Pulp also brought out a great album last year.

Yes true

i watched the 1978 Christmas special and poor Den Hegarty who sang on Boy from New York City earlier on had been replaced by another singer on Christmas special but I think they were miming

i wonder with the 1976 episodes if it saves royalty payments if they play similar episodes on a night .

however I enjoyed Slick with young Midge Ure sounding very bay city rollersish

We need more melodic rock bands, there are so many female singers who are bland, beige and average. I don't mind Taylor Swift though her music isn't really my thing, but the endless list of mediocre girl singers who rely on a particular image to sell their wares is depressing. Thinking particularly of Sabrina Carpenter, her oversexed appearance and all the songs slagging off men.
There were bad songs in the past, 1976 springs to mind, apart from the Sex Pistols who woke everyone up but at the moment music TV programmes tend to focus on oldies from last century. Who will we be getting nostalgic about in forty years time, Dua Lipa, Ed Sheeran?
It's very telling that MTV has now gone for good as latterly nearly all their music channels played old songs. Back in the past you didn't need to look for good music it came and found you, now you have to look long and hard to find anything inspiring.

Thanks @AmadeustheAlpaca I agree that it's the looking for decent music that is the issue for me. Some interesting ones to try from pp.

That's one point I tried to make that everything sounds beige and uninspiring now.

Something huge needs to come along and shake things up, the next punk/grunge/hip hop/house. When Nirvana hit big they made all the hair metal bands look past it overnight.

Half of Spotify is AI shite these days. It is completely ruining the music economy so do 't expect anything more than derivative dribble going forward

female singers are expected to look beautiful and glamorous and dance and move as well, and often wear very skimpy outfits on-stage too.

Cilla, Dusty, Sandie Shaw, Judith Durham, Maddy Prior et al just wore a frock, stood there and sang. The folk singers sat there with a guitar and sang. Suzy Quattro jumped around a bit with her guitar, but she dressed and moved much the same way a male rock guitarist would have. In fact at that time many male artists were far more glammed up than she was.

I remember Eurovision 2022 - all the competing acts with light shows and lots of leaping around, then in the interval Gigliola Cinquetti came on in a little black dress and just sang.

Would Mama Cass have made it today?

As you read song titles you should instantly hear the music, whatever your age, and for quite a few of these, I don't. I had to look a couple of them up. I'm not a Taylor Swift fan and couldn't even think what "Blank Space" sounded like, I only recognised it when I played the video. Couldn't think what Espresso was either till I played the video. That song is ok, I suppose, not got a lot about it, it's a bit bland. I don't really understand why Sabrina Carpenter is so massive tbh. Just blandness.