Radio One "redefines pop"

George Ergatoudis, the improbably named but highly influential head of music at Radio One, has done an interview with the Guardian where he heralds the "return of pop music" on the nation's favourite radio station.

But before you take to the streets, cheering and letting off party poppers from the back of a decorated pony, take a minute to read what he says.

"There's something of an increase in pop acts that I think are making really strong, quality new music. Ones doing really well for us at the moment are the Hoosiers, Scouting for Girls, the Wombats ... "

Now wait just a minute.

Scouting For Girls? The fucking Wombats? These second-rate unimaginative indie pissants are nowhere near the vast citadel known as pop. They're not even in the suburbs. They're about 500 miles off the coast, next to a sewer outlet on the seabed, slowly evolving into double-celled organisms.

In fact, when it comes to real pop, Ergatoudis admits he's only really ready to play Sugababes and Girls Aloud, who - great though they are - are getting a bit long in the tooth.

He glosses over the fact that Radio One chooses not to add similarly talented, quirky pop acts like Roisin Murphy, Alphabeat and Dragonnette to its hallowed playlist?

The Guardian also points out that Ergatoudis refused to play this week's (admittedly terrible) number one, Basshunter's Now You're Gone, until it hit the top of the charts and he was forced into an "embarassing climbdown".

Don't get me wrong - I'm all for the return of guitars in pop (and I'd have classed the Hooisers and Kaiser Chiefs as pop long before Ergatoudis had his Damascene conversion) but pretending that you're championing a genre by retrospectively re-categorising bands you already play is cuntery of the highest order.

Cheerio!

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