I swear I had no idea that Marcello had laid into 1985 when I put Red Box in my Top 12 just now. He really has a go at that particular single, as well. Maybe I’m the only person who likes it: I’ll admit I gulp slightly at its bug-eyed positivity when I play it but I’m also a big fan of positivity too (“Lean On Me” slots nicely into my life next to “You Get What You Give” by the New Radicals, a favourite of Marcello’s if I remember rightly). I even downloaded “For America” too which is perhaps less defensible and “Chenko” where even I must draw some kind of line.
Speaking of positivity I suspect I’m one of those “Poptimists” Marcello (and apparently Simon R.) has a tiny go at. I can only plead guilty, though I slightly resent the hints that we’re just making it all up, forcing ourselves to enjoy the music: that’s not the case at all. I get the opposite impression sometimes from other critics, though – that their severe insistence that now is an awful, dark time for pop music becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Taking Sides: Eeyore vs Tigger? Away from the big picture the everyday business of finding enjoyable music and writing about it is much the same for all of us, I’m guessing.