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The roots of pop music can be located as far back as the 19th century, but it has gripped the mind only recently. Although the term “pop music” has been coined only in the late, popular songs, appealing to mainstream audiences, are of much older origin.
It might be said that the music hall songs of Victorian England were the first real popular songs. The simple, tuneful ditties were commercially produced and designed to titillate the public. As recording technology advanced in the early parts of the 20th century, an ever broader range of the public could experience music due to the ready availability of records and gramophones. Popular music now had an easy time reaching people over large geographical areas.
In both America and the UK, songwriting hubs would emerge to write commercial chart hits. New York’s Tin Pan Alley, and on the other side of the Atlantic, London’s Denmark Street, were launching pads for many gifted tunesmiths’ careers. While crooners like Bing Crosby could be heard playing on all the nation’s airwaves, it was Frank Sinatra, in particular, who was igniting “Beatlemania” levels of fandom among adoring female fans.
The rise of such genres as swing and big bands in the 1930s-40s opened the floor for bigger sets to flex their musical muscles. Some classic numbers from the greatest contributors, like Glenn Miller, go on to thrill audiences today. By the 1950s, after the Second World War, rock, and roll became a cultural explosion with such pioneers as Elvis Presley.
The 1960s are remembered as the “Age of Aquarius” partly due to the phenomenal success of The Beatles. It was John, Paul, George, and Ringo who, between them, reinvented pop with self-penned material and a sense of style that would be inspiring fashion. All major subsequent acts were held up against the bar of peerless songwriting talent and commercial dominance.
The 1970s truly had it all from glam rock to punk. Elton John became one of the finest singer-songwriters of the decade. At the same time, more and more manufactured pop acts appeared- very few of which produced lasting careers. The 1980s still toiled for icons until Wham! eventually broke through. Then boy bands dominated the 1990s before fading into obscurity.
Since the new millennium, pop still clings to R&B and hip-hop influences while it continues to identify the superstars of the day. The digital tune now jumps in real-time across global streaming. In general, changes in pop continue to develop as colorfully as the cultures and technologies that shape it.
