Popular by Nada Surf
Release Date : 1996
Album : High/Low
Now this is one that I'll bet a few people have heard before, perhaps even the most well known of all the songs I have written about so far. Popular is not just a teen anthem, it is THE teen anthem, at least for the teens in the mid-1990's who were still reeling from the death of Kurt Cobain. The quest for popularity amongst teenagers certainly has its place in pop culture history, from films like Heathers to television shows like Beverly Hills 90210, it always seems to rear its ugly head. This song by Nada Surf is the perfect audio example of that pop culture phenomenon.
Formed in the early 1990's by Matthew Caws and Daniel Lorca, Nada Surf was a band just struggling to get along in the era of grunge and flannel shirts. After splitting with original drummer Aaron Conte, Caws and Lorca recruited Ira Elliot, former drummer of the Fuzztones, a popular NYC band during the 80's. With their lineup set and demo in hand, the trio headed off to promote themselves.
A chance meeting with former Cars frontman Ric Ocasek led to him getting his hands on their demo and subsequently producing their first album, "High/Low". Following a hectic 19 day recording session the album was finished and the band was off to play a tour with fellow alterna-rockers Superdrag. It was while on this tour that the song "Popular" was released, and it quickly set the charts on fire, peaking at Number 11 on the Billboard 100. It still stands today as their signature song.
The song itself is a great piece of music with an incredibly catchy chorus and an intricate lyric pattern that lends itself more to spoken word than singing. The bleak attitude of the 1990's teenager is encapsulated perfectly within the minds of the fictitional characters populating the song. Everything from dealing with boyfriends, cheating girlfriends, jocks and nerds is covered here in earnest detail.
While Nada Surf never really had another hit like "Popular", they continued to work together as musicians and have released three critically acclaimed albums since 2002, "Let Go", "The Weight Is A Gift", and "Lucky".
Kevin Fever
To read more about Nada Surf please check the following links....
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