Bubblegum pop

Bubblegum pop (bubblegum rock, bubblegum music) is a genre of popular music and rock and roll. The defining characteristics of bubblegum pop include catchy or hummable melodies, simple three-chord structures, and repetitive riffs or "hooks." Bubblegum pop is also characterized by its lightweight lyrics - often with nonsense or romantic themes.

Origins

Bubblegum could not have emerged without rock and roll and the American musical forms that preceded and accompanied it, such as rhythm and blues and doo-wop. Bubblegum rock can also be reminiscient of pre-rock novelty songs such as "Abba Dabba Honeymoon" and "The Hut Sut Song," which hit the charts in the late 1940s, and hipster foolishness like Slim Gaillard's "Cement Mixer (Puti Puti)".

Related Topics:
Rock and roll - Rhythm and blues - Doo-wop - 1940s - Hipster - Slim Gaillard

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Seminal rock and roll numbers, such as Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti" with its nonsense rhyming couplets (replacing the original vulgar lyrics), also influenced what would come later. This hybrid of R&B, garage rock, novelty songs, and nursery rhymes later surfaced in the post-Beatles era in songs like "Wooly Bully" (by Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs, 1964), which emphasized a hard-driving Tex-Mex beat and nonsensical lyrics.

Related Topics:
Little Richard - Tutti Frutti - Garage - Beatles - Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs - 1964 - Tex-Mex

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Despite criticisms that bubblegum music is devoid of artistic merit, record sales continue to thrive, targeting primarily young, often pre-teen, audiences. However, the songs themselves typically have a fairly short life span on the charts.

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