I’ve always loved pop music.
It’s one of the reasons that my early journalism career was spent working on titles such as Just Seventeen and BIG! magazine.
Both were pop-heavy and it was thrilling, back in the day, to hang out with Take That, East 17, the Spice Girls, the Backstreet Boys, Kylie and all the other greats such as Deuce, Let Loose and Fuzzbox.
You think you’d grow out of pop music after a certain age but if it’s great, why would you do that to yourself?
I still love nothing more than a dance around the kitchen to Destiny’s Child, Pink, Rihanna, Britney, Harry Styles, Girls Aloud, Little Mix and Lady Gaga, who in my humble opinion is in a league of her own.
But step aside Gaga, because there’s a new kid in town and she’s phenomenal.
Yes, I’ve just discovered Chappell Roan.
I know, I know it’s probably three or four years later than all the cool kids but I don’t care. She’s absolutely brilliant and her song Pink Pony Club, has taken up permanent residence in my head.
Missouri-born, her real name is Kayleigh Amstutz but in honour of her grandad Dennis Chappell, she took his last name as her first, and the Roan, comes from a Marty Robbins cowboy song, The Strawberry Roan.
Her album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, is packed with ballads and absolute bangers including Femininomenon, Hot To Go, Casual and Naked in Manhattan.
She’s blown up this year in a way that you rarely see. Songs that were first released years ago are now charting all at once. In a ridiculously short space of time, the 26-year-old has gone from playing to 50 people and a hot dog cart at a local fair, to 100,000 at Lollapalooza last week. “I will remember this forever,” she said.
It almost didn’t happen. At one point, she moved back home and got a job at a drive-though. But she didn’t give up entirely. She kept writing and performing and decided to give it another shot.
Thank goodness because boy, can she write. And she has ‘it’.
She draws some of her inspiration from the drag community, echoing back to the spirit of the first lady of pop, Madonna, and also Gaga, who both frequently metamorphosed to keep things interesting.
Pink Pony Club is about Chappell’s rebellion against her upbringing. It’s a familiar refrain but written in a different, rather brilliant, font.
I suppose the fear now is that it could become too much too soon (after a decade of slog) but apparently Sir Elton is looking out for her (in his new role as pop patriarch). Hopefully, she also has a strong circle of friends and solid management around her too.
In the meantime, I’m going to keep on dancing to the Pink Pony Club as my summer anthem and I don’t care who knows it. It’s where I belong, oh mama.
We should all have pop music in our lives. From the Beatles to Chappell Roan, it’s a heartbeat that runs through our personal timelines.
Pop is a marker of the fun times, the yearning for something better, for community and a reminder that we all belong somewhere. Trust me, your tribe is out there waiting for you to find them.
If you can convey that with words, you’re doing a great job, and if you can also put it to music you’re a genius, and more than deserve the accolades and a mansion in Beverly Hills
Have a poptastic week, kids.
Lisa
OMG I’d completely forgotten about Big magazine!!x