Once upon a time, pop and rock came together and made a baby, and its name was Pop-Rock. Very strictly speaking, Pop-Rock is a fusion genre that mixes a catchy pop style and light lyrics in its (typically) guitar-based rock songs. Other genres that bear similar traits would be Powerpop, Melodic Rock, Soft Rock, Jangle Pop, Glam Rock, New Wave, Indie Pop and of course, Rock ’n’ Roll.

To put it simply, any guitar rock music that features memorable melodies, harmonies and hooks would in our view, come under the umbrella of Pop-Rock. This definition would differentiate Pop-Rock from other modern-day genres like K-Pop, Hip-hop, Rap, heavy rock and metal sub-genres, Indie-Folk, Post-Rock, EDM etc.

Though not a definite science, this approximation of what Pop-Rock sounds like would in our opinion include the music of the following seminal 60s artists/bands –

The Beatles – “Nowhere Man”

The Beach Boys – “Fun Fun Fun”

The Who – “The Kids Are Alright”

The Byrds – “Feel A Whole Lot Better”

The Velvet Underground – “There She Goes Again”

Pop-Rock would be developed further in the following decades, with the quotient of pop and rock components varying according to the stylistic bents of subsequent artists/bands. Although, Pop-Rock has lost its commercial allure in the last decade or so (or perverted from its course into something hideous like pop-punk), there is no doubt that contained within its inherent nature is the ability to charm and seduce once again.

Power of Pop is dedicated to exploring how this can be done, at least in the context of the Singapore music scene.

… still there’s more …