TMS Discussion: What Makes a Pop Group Iconic?
(Fox Photos / Getty Images)
For as long as we can remember, pop has always been viewed as the music genre where new performers are manufactured or established artists go to sell out. Even though, when you dive into the ins-and-outs of the recording industry, you’ll find there’s plenty of PR and marketing used in every genre. But with pop, it’s transparent. Neither the label nor the stars are hiding the catchy beats, shallow lyrics, polished production, glossy cover art and glammed up public image. Yet, the genre still maintains relevancy and sales with listeners. I think rock and alt/indie snobs are generally a case of being a loud minority. But at the same time, pop has historically done better with fans than critics, although the bias has loosened up within the past decade. Every once in a while, I’ll ponder what the perfect formula is to gain pop superstardom and who succeeds at becoming a legend. A couple weeks ago, I was in a thread where everyone was sharing their favorite pop groups. Since I listen to a lot of pop music, I ended up settling on the Spice Girls, the Beach Boys, the Monkees and the Ronettes. My favorite band of all time is the Beatles, but since they’re one of those hybrid groups who are as much rock as pop, I decided to go with four who are primarily pop.
(Ray Avery)
Even looking through my choices, there isn’t an obvious similarity or hint to why these very famous acts continue to endure with music fans. Spice Girls and the Monkees are obvious examples of a record company [or TV network in the Monkees’ case] manufacturing a pop group through auditions and the ultimate bandmates fortunately having natural chemistry together. The Beach Boys and the Ronettes are rare instances where the pop group has organic roots. In these cases, both consist of band members from the same family. The Beach Boys are brothers Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson, their cousin Mike Love and former school friend Al Jardine; while the Ronettes are sisters Ronnie Spector and Estelle Bennett with their cousin Nedra Talley. So if it’s not a specific origin story that guarantees the road to success, then maybe it’s the aesthetic. The Beach Boys with their comb-overs and Pendleton board shirts, the Monkees with red, double-breasted tops and grey pants and the Ronettes with the beehive hairdos. Spice Girls took a step further and leaned into whole personas where they were given ‘Spice’ nicknames. For kids and teenagers [i.e. the biggest demographics for pop songs], this is a goldmine of potential for groups of friends to play dress up and identify which group member is your fave or your crush. Thus influencing the tweens and kids to want to buy more records and merchandise of the pop group, which definitely worked on little girls who were obsessed with the Spice Girls in the mid-1990s.
(Michael Ochs Archives)
Of course, a pop music group is nothing without earworm tunes, and all four acts had plenty of those, from various sources. The Beach Boys have one of the most gifted songwriters in pop history, Brian, along with Mike for occasional lyrics. Later on, Dennis and Carl also pitched in their efforts, and the band was always open to covering other musicians’ songs too. The Monkees were a mix of studio songwriters and Monkees Mike Nesmith and Peter Tork; while the Ronettes were essentially vocalists who worked with producer Phil Spector and songwriting duos like Jeff Barry & Ellie Greenwich and Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil. People are shocked when I reveal this, but nearly all of the Spice Girls’ songs were co-written by the girls themselves and the production team Absolute.
(Everett / Columbia Pictures)
It’s not a groundbreaking opinion, but to me, really all you need is talent and charisma to be a superstar. The classic ‘it’ factor. There are plenty of rock and folk music artists who are talented, but aren’t global celebrities like popstars are. And plenty of popstars who are flashes in the pan after a hit or two. But with the Beach Boys, the Ronettes, the Monkees and Spice Girls, we still consistently hear and recognize classics from ‘Good Vibrations’ and ‘Be My Baby’ to ‘I’m a Believer’ and ‘Wannabe.’ Fans still show up for every anniversary, reunion and new release related to their faves. It ultimately doesn’t matter how organically the group is formed or how much exposure a record company forces on the public. It comes down to how the listener accepts the music and its performer. In my case, to paraphrase Jeff Spicoli, all I need are some good tunes, a cool buzz and I’m fine.