How Pop Songs Work

Margo Guryan Died in 2021. Her Music Keeps Getting Rediscovered. “Words and Music,” a new anthology, shines light on a little-known but increasingly beloved master of pop and jazz songwriting. In the late summer of 1970, Elton John arrived at Los Angeles International Airport for his debut U.S. shows and was greeted by another wildly talented piano-playing singer-songwriter: Margo Guryan. Her husband, David Rosner, worked for the company that signed John, and together they helped him get sorted in the run-up to his legendary performances at the Troubadour, kicking off a long, spectacular career. Guryan’s career proved less of a spectacle. After modest success as a jazz-pop songwriter, she recorded one album of her own, with Rosner’s encouragement. “Take a Picture” was alive with dazzling melodies, lyrical wit, strikingly intimate vocals and marvelously florid arrangements — a small masterpiece of the microgenre known as sunshine pop. But Guryan was a reluctant performer who refused to tour, and her album, released in 1968, was a commercial flop, after her label barely promoted it. And yet, in a unique twist on a familiar story, the 11 songs of “Take a Picture” became a shared secret around the world; pirate pressings overseas earned her the sobriquet “The Soft Pop Queen of Japan.” In 2000 the LP was officially reissued, followed by others collecting her demo recordings — lean performances that could pass for 21st-century indie-pop.

Stuart Davis is an american musician and songwriter from Minnesota, currently residing in Boulder, CO. His music contains elements of folk, punk, rock, pop, haiku, and progressive rock. He describes his musical style as 'Post-Apocalyptic Folk Punk Rock' or 'Dharma Pop'. Davis is also a member of the art branch of Ken Wilber's Integral Institute, and in recent years has become more active in multimedia endeavors that showcase his comedic writing and interviewing skills, and his passion for Eastern and Western spirituality. Costellonews described Davis as a singer/songwriter…known on the indie circuit for his Buddhist-Muslim-Hindu-Taoist-Jew-Christian-infused brand of biting pop/folk… He has been performing throughout the United States and Europe since 1993. To date, Davis has sold over 40,000 albums worldwide.

PCD is the 2005 debut album by the female vocal burlesque "sextet" The Pussycat Dolls, with "sextet" in quotes because the majority of the vocals were done by Eden's Crush singer Nicole Scherzinger. This featured the hit songs "Don't Cha", "Buttons", "Beep", "Stickwitu", "I Don't Need A Man" and "Wait A Minute". This was released by A&M Records on 13 September, 2005.

A collection of 21 CD, which includes all the studio albums by Al Stewart at the moment, as well as a compilation of his best songs. Al Stewart (born Alastair Ian Stewart, 5 September 1945) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and folk-rock musician. Stewart came to stardom as part of the British folk revival in the 1960s and 1970s, and developed his own unique style of combining folk-rock songs with delicately woven tales of the great characters and events from history. He is best known for his hit 1976 single "Year of the Cat" from the platinum album Year of the Cat.

Kurt Baker is an American musician, songwriter, and Rock & Roll performer, who is a founding member of the notable pop/punk outfit The Leftovers. Kurt's signature unique blend of ultra catchy Beach Boys and Beatles styled melodies under a relentless wall of high energy guitars and pounding rhythms have earned him the praise of Lookout Records' founder Larry Livermore and Screeching Weasel's leader Ben Weasel. After the release of The Leftovers last album, Baker decided to focus on going solo. For his debut release, Kurt takes on some of his favorite Power Pop songs of the 70's and 80's covering tracks from Blondie, Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, The Knack, Nick Lowe, Rick Springfield, and The Vapors.

A collection includes: 'Faith' (1987); Listen Without Prejudice (1990); 'Older' (1996); 'Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best Of George Michael' (1998); 'Songs From The Last Century' (1999); 'Patience' (2004); and 'TwentyFive' (2006).

Eclectic singer, songwriter, and social activist, the one-time Boomtown Rats leader became a progressive force in the 1980s. Great Songs of Indifference: The Anthology 1986-2001 brings together 4 solo albums: Deep in the Heart of Nowhere, the Vegetarians of Love, the Happy Club and Sex, Age and Death, with a wealth of bonus material, some previously unreleased.

Madonna (born Madonna Louise Ciccone) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, dancer and entrepreneur. She has sold more than 300 million records worldwide and is recognized as the world's top-selling female recording artist of all time by Guinness World Records. Considered to be one of the "25 Most Powerful Women of the Past Century" by Time for being an influential figure in contemporary music, she is known for continuously reinventing both her music and image, and for retaining a standard of autonomy within the recording industry. Critics have praised her diverse musical productions which have also served as a lightning rod for controversy. This collection of the Japanese first pressed CDs contains the albums: Madonna (1983), Like A Virgin (1984), True Blue (1986), and Who's That Girl (OST from 1987). Nice uncompressed sound.

The third full-length and Atlantic Records debut from Shaina Taub, Songs of the Great Hill came to life over the course of countless daily trips to the enchanted spot of its title. In the bleakest days of lockdown, the New York City-based singer/songwriter would head to the North Woods of Central Park with notebook in hand, then set to work on the incandescent batch of songs that now comprise the album. “It felt very much like a metaphor for the time we were all living through—trying to trudge up this great big hill with some sense of grace, looking for some kind of hope in all the dread and isolation,” recalls Taub, also a multi-award-winning composer and actor in musical theater. “After a while, it felt like I was writing into existence all the songs I needed to hear.”