Whatever happened to all those silly summer pop tunes?

It’s that time of year. You know the moment when it hits. The sun is shining and the breeze is warm. You’re in the car, the windows are down, and that song, one you haven’t heard in forever, comes on the radio. And, all of a sudden, life is very good.

But what ever happened to those silly pop tunes? Granted, at the time, an awful lot of them seemed really annoying. There would always be some tune that got played incessantly, and it would usually be the most inane thing out there.

But it struck me recently that there really are no more new happy, mindless tunes to hum along to on the radio. Unless you actually like the very narrow list of old hits that get played endlessly on the canned, preprogrammed digital loops that pass for radio these days, you are out of luck.

I found myself pondering the death of good pop over a microbrew at one of my favorite Easton establishments recently. The bar’s house CD player, which holds about 100 of the owner’s picks, shuffled to a song I haven’t heard since I was in grade school—“Mr. Blue Sky” by the Electric Light Orchestra.

It had been so long since I’d heard it, I wasn’t sure I was really hearing it, and I wasn’t even sure at first it really was ELO, despite the distinctive sound.

But the experience hit a nerve, and I went out and bought a “best of” CD. While I was at it, I stumbled over Yes’ 90125 album, which was popular when I was in high school.

Okay, so I’m dating myself here. Both bands and albums are ancient history, right?

Yup, it’s true. But I’ve noticed something interesting while I’ve been basking in the complex vocal harmonies and sounds of analog synthesizers of yesteryear.

This music is actually designed to put one in a good mood. And it succeeds admirably, which is why it was so popular in the first place, even if it has been buried by Clear Channel today.

This is a concept that is missing from most of the currently popular stuff I hear on TV and the radio. While some of the best of today’s music is designed to make one think, TV and radio don’t generally play what I consider to be the best, and the message is more than just generally negative—it’s downright toxic.

I started to think even more about it, and I tried to remember the last popular, relatively new tune I’ve heard on the radio that specifically makes me feel good.

The most recent I came up with was “Give a Little Bit.” But interestingly enough, it’s a remake of a “silly pop tune” written by Supertramp in the 1970s.

So I thought a little bit more. The closest thing I could come up with was a few Green Day tunes, but much as I like them, they really don’t qualify because they’re cynical, even if the melodies are relatively happy.

I still can’t trace back exactly when the last time I heard a new purely “feel good” pop song is, but I think it may go back to the beginning of the war in Iraq, if not even before that. But really, can you think of any new, original hits with a positive tone that have come out since 9/11?

They may have been headed out for even longer than that. Silly pop tunes are by nature happy, bubbly creatures, but the world is pretty far from that mentality right now.

However, it may be just what we need. I’ve been playing that ELO CD in my car a lot lately, and it’s been pretty nice out. You know, the weather’s fine, the breeze is warm and the windows are down most of the time. And, as I drive by, I have noticed that the music makes just about everyone smile, just like it was written to, three decades ago.

“Sun is shining in the sky
There ain't a cloud in sight
it's stopped raining
Everybody's in the play
And don't you know it's a beautiful new day, Hey-hey
Running down the avenue
See how the sun shines brightly
In the city
On the streets where once was pity
Mr. Blue Sky is living here today, Hey-hey

Mr. Blue Sky,
please tell us why,
you had to hide away for so long,
Where did we go wrong?”
—“Mr. Blue Sky,” by Jeff Lynne of the Electric Light Orchestra