At any given moment, pop music has a center. At the moment, it's probably somewhere to the Bieber side of Macklemore and Lewis, doesn't matter, the point is, that as the center floats around, it tends to orbit an artist or band. This artist or band is the Center of the Pop Universe
The best example of a Center of the Pop Universe would have been the Beatles in the 60's. Every artist was judged relative to them, and pop music radiated in degrees from their center. As they moved, the pop world moved.
So here is my list of reigning Centers, going as far back as I can up to more recently. More recently is hard to judge because we don't have the clarity of temporal distance (
After their breakup, other bands filled the void.
I'd be interested in hearing other ideas about this.
1956-1959 Elvis Presley
1960-1961 The Drifters
1962-1963 The Beach Boys
1964-1970 The Beatles
1971-1972 The Moody Blues
1973-1976 Elton John
1977-1980 ABBA
1981-1986 Journey
1987-1990 U2
1991-1993 Nirvana
1994-1999 Oasis
2000-2006 Destiny's Child / Beyonce
2007-2008 Kelly Clarkson
2009-2011 Lady Gaga
2012-2013 Train
--Listmeister
Cymro2011The Beatles were objectively averageProfile In a deep, dark bubblegum graveyard
That's an interesting idea, though it's hard for me to say if artists were judged relative to a certain band, since I wasn't around during the 60s.
However, I'd think that Stevie Wonder was probably the center between 73 and 76 (he did win 3 album of the year grammys during this time). Elton John makes sense though.
This is an interesting idea, and it kind of makes sense if you limit it to one genre. I mean, Bob Marley has pretty much always been the "center of the reggae universe" (except for maybe The Specials at a time). _________________ 51 Washington, D.C. albums!
JasonconfusedIf We Make It We Can All Sit Back and LaughProfile California
1956-1959 Elvis Presley
1960-1961 The Drifters
1962-1963 The Beach Boys
1964-1970 The Beatles
1971-1972 The Moody Blues
1973-1976 Elton John
1977-1980 ABBA
1981-1986 Journey
1987-1990 U2
1991-1993 Nirvana
1994-1999 Oasis
2000-2006 Destiny's Child / Beyonce
2007-2008 Kelly Clarkson
2009-2011 Lady Gaga
2012-2013 Train
Not sure what we're meant to do here but I guess I'll just critique your list.
I think you're giving Journey way too much credit here. 5 years is probably a bit of stretch for them to have been the center for that long. Also, if you're going to have Beyonce, you have to include Madonna. Also, I'm not sure Train is the center of anything right now. I've barely heard their name mentioned once or twice. Not saying they aren't good, but center of the pop universe makes me think that I'd be hearing their name all the time. _________________
Cymro2011The Beatles were objectively averageProfile In a deep, dark bubblegum graveyard
Not sure what we're meant to do here but I guess I'll just critique your list.
I think you're giving Journey way too much credit here. 5 years is probably a bit of stretch for them to have been the center for that long. Also, if you're going to have Beyonce, you have to include Madonna. Also, I'm not sure Train is the center of anything right now. I've barely heard their name mentioned once or twice. Not saying they aren't good, but center of the pop universe makes me think that I'd be hearing their name all the time.
I agree with this and Britney Spears would have to be on this list somewhere.
Also, I disagree with the Justin Bieber comment. He isn't the center of the pop universe. Well, maybe for preteen girls. His place in music is probably more like Leif Garrett's in the 70s.
EDIT: Also, Michael Jackson has to be in there somewhere for the 80s. _________________
Though I like seeing a little bit of Journey recognition, everyone's right about Michael Jackson. He owned not only the 80's, but all music that is called "pop" by any definition whether it be popular music in general or the genre "pop." Also, if you're going to just include pop music as in the first definition, popularity, then Moody Blues should be replaced with Led Zeppelin or The Who. If you're going with the second, still kick off Moody Blues because they're more folk-rock to me than anything.
Also, Destiny's Child must be kicked off. I like the album "Survivor" but there were far more popular people. Plus, I'm very sure Kelly Clarkson was more popular in 2004 because of her hit album, Breakaway. Kelly Clarkson was all the rage after she won the first season of American Idol.
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