Polly, I think you're not really making pop to pop comparisons.
Elton John, Fleetwood Mac, Jo Jackson, those were NOT really pop artists. Yes, their music crossed over to pop, but they still attempted to have artistic and rebellious credibility.
When I think generic pop to compare the Rebecca Black song too, compare it to the Rebecca Black's of the past:
Debbie Gibson, Tiffany, New Kids on the Block, Menudo, The Partridge Family, Andy Gibb, Sonny and Cher. All that stuff was just as "manufactured" as today's pop music, involving fake instruments, or sessions guys hired to record stiff performances, with the idea to appeal to as many non-musicians as possible for the quick buck.
Fair point, DED, but Rebecca and her ilk represent the lowest common denominator. I don't think we can judge today's pop by that standard. I'm not fan of today's pop but that song of hers posted here was the pits.
Actually, I quite like those old Bee Gees tracks so go easy on the Gibbs
Bermuda ... of your collection, I have stuff by Faith No More, Fatboy Slim, Ella Fitzgerald, Fleetwood Mac, Four Tops, Peter Frampton, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Aretha Franklin, Free (not pop), Springsteen, Santana ...
Some of the pop in my collection includes Anastacia, Macy Gray, Supertramp (love 'em), The Cure, 10CC, Bryan Ferry, Chris Isaac, Coldplay, Frente, The Go Gos, The Carpenters, Kate Bush, Nellie Furtado, Pointer Sisters, Sade, Simply Red, The Killers and Wham!
Just cos I'm into King Crimson, Uncle Frank, Henry Cow, Mahavishnu, Weather Report, The Who and Led Zep doesn't disqualify me from also being crazy about good pop.
All I ask is that artists write and play music from the heart and go easy on the formulas, samey-ness and machines! Hopefully all this mechanised pap will go away, but I doubt it will happen anytime soon. We'll have to wait for Gen Z's kids to rebel and p
1ss off their parents with "horrible" acoustic-sounding music