bubblegum

You know the kind of thing I'm talking about-even if you don't realise it yet-the kind of music that gets masticated, digested, and then spat out onto the pavement by the music industry. Mainly one-hit-wonders, these groups of sad induviduals use hyyyawwwge promotion and advertising strategies to get your attention years before the have even started to get voice and dance lesson, pictures of themselves appearing on Chupa Chup barrels, local radio roadshow line-ups (they don't turn up of course-they haven't learned how to sing/mime yet) and ikkle kiddies crisp packets. They then do tours of primary schools and show the girl townies all they're worth (which is, of course, the dinner hall's banana cake and some squash for payment). After that comes the CD:UK, Live and Kicking and Nikelodeon 'live' performances (which means that they are alive, not actually singing, of course), where they get a lot of screaming Townie attention. Then....they release the single. Which appeals to the under-9 age group. They get to No.3 in the first week-then the next they slide all the way down to.....the sale bin in MVC.

UnLuCkY.

Examples of Bubblegum Pop:

Hey! Do you remember:

Toybox (Denmark)
Sister2Sister (Australia)
Scooch (Up North)
Next Of Kin (Essex)
Lolly (I don't think anyone knows...)

?? These are some of the groups that appeared, and disappeared, in 1999/2000. It took me ages to find the names, as I'd forgotten they'd ever existed, fortunately-the source: Twix pop tour thing that happened at Portsmouth Guildhall, in 1999.