Pop Love Will Save the World!

For a while now I've been plotting to extend our business here at The Rain Fell Down to the more established medium of radio broadcasting. Those who know me may know that I was one of several people behind the Tandem Pop programme on Radio AF in Sweden. It got its name from the fact that it was a twin programme, it's twin Tandem Modern went to its death prematurely however. Now it's about to get a new twin, hopefully, on Subcity Radio here in Glasgow. For better or worse, I've decided to post our manifesto here. It's not at all certain that it's going to happen, but this is what I'm going to send to Subcity, and they can't turn this down can they? And if they do, you'll be sure to fill their mailbox with letters of complaint, right? So here it is:

Pop music is not about creating perfect records - it's about creating perfect moments. So said Tim Vass. The Rain Fell Down is a radio show solely dedicated to pop music. And when we say pop music... we don't mean pop music! We mean POP! music, in the sense that Tim was trying to get at. Pop music was born in the sixties. Already then it was all about moments, the frivolous and the throwaway. Its medium was the 45 and it came in three-minute burst into which all your frustration, hate, ecstasy and hope was concentrated, canalised. That moment, when you had written that song and you knew that this was It, it was never going to get any better. That moment, when you heard a song and it made you feel alive for the first time. That moment that, though never experienced in the same way ever again, would always stay in your heart. It was about being young and foolish, when every day had its perfect moments. Some people stay young, even when they get old. Pop music is still young, even though it has 40 years weighing on its shoulders. It has always been there, whether it was The Subway Sect in 1976 or Primal Scream in 1986 or Belle & Sebastian in 1996 or maybe Your band in 2006. It may have gone from chiming Rickenbackers to sparkling laptops, from flexis to mp3s, from fanzines to blogs but it's still the same. So, The Rain Fell Down is about pop music, and all that comes with it. It's about staying independent. You've got advice for Us? We Don't Want To Hear It! We will make our own records, our own ideas, our own haircuts, our own perfect moments. It's not about being Different. It's not about being Superior. It's about being Ourselves. It's about politics in the same way Sarah Records was about politics. It's about putting a Chelsea boot to the fat behind of the establishment. It's about fashion and style in the same way Mike Alway's él records was about fashion and style. It's about getting stared at when you walk down the street. It's about making art and destroying art. It's not about pretensions, but ambitions - like The Creation saying their music is red with purple splashes. It's about joy and empathy. It's about wearing a badge to show your delight. It's about making the world more loveable. Anything bad can be made in to a song. Every week The Rain Fell Down will bring you perfect moments. From the past, from today, for the future. Perhaps a band, like The Clouds, only recorded one single and that was their perfect moment. That might be the song that changes your life, your perfect moment. Some of them might be gone forever, but We like discovering them, blowing off the dust and giving them to You. Have you heard "Deeper Than the Ocean" by The Mayfields? Yes? Then you understand what we're trying to say. No? Then you've missed something, but we will see to that. Some of these moments may be happening right now, getting lost in today's overload of information. We will pass you the word on what we come across, and we trust you to do the same. Have you heard Bubblegum Lemonade? We will play them for you. Maybe you would like to play something for us? The Rain Fell Down is about making something pretty while you can. If we're lucky, it might inspire You to do the same. Stay happy, be friends, and be our friends!