Is nostalgia good for pop music

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�A.� People who study history are of the opinion that in order to see where we are going, we need to see where we've been. That may be true in terms of avoiding military conflict; it doesn't necessarily apply to popular music.

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Q.� Why not

A.� Music is a living thing�- it evolves and adapts itself constantly, that's part of the equal measures of innovation and consolidation that make popular music what it is. On the one hand, it needs to find common forms that create genres, and find common ground that people enjoy because of its familiarity, and on the other hand, it needs to innovate and break through boundaries, to move forwards and find new ways of expressing constant themes, and nostalgia falls uneasily between those two ideas.

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Q.� But nostalgia is big business isn't it

A.� Huge in fact. The package tours of artists from the 1960s make a good living from touring the nation's theatres and concert halls, both here and abroad. However, the news that the nostalgia circuit is about to embrace the 1980s should set alarm bells ringing.

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Q.� What's the difference between a 1960s nostalgia package and a 1980s nostalgia package

A.� The 1960s bands are simply continuing to do what they've always done�- setting out with half a dozen acts revolving the top-of-the-bill slot depending on the territory in which they are playing, and the relative popularity of the bands involved in those particular cities and countries.

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If Helen Shapiro goes on tour with several acts of a similar age, she's only continuing to make her living in the way she started, back as a 15-year-old with a hit single, and a bunch of hopefuls and wannabe's like the up-and-coming Liverpool beat combo known as The Beatles.

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That was the way pop was presented to people in those days, and the generation of teenagers then have grown older with their pop stars, and everyone understands that waistlines may be thicker, and hairlines may be thinner, but that's ok because everyone is reliving a glorious pop past from the glory days of pop's youth.

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The 1980s package, due to hit the concert trails this autumn consists of Kim Wilde, Paul Young, Curiosity Killed The Cat, Heaven 17 and Go West. With the best will in the world, you can see that at least one of those acts is a true 'one-hit wonder' well one Top Ten hit that they're remembered for anyway, and that the others enjoyed little more than a passing acquaintance with the charts.

Q.� That's a bit harsh isn't it

A.� We're talking valid comparisons here. Gerry And The Pacemakers hit the Number One position with their first�3 singles, in the days when hits were counted in sales of seven figures. Singles 4 and 5 made positions two and six, and release number 7 hit the eighth spot, so Gerry's chart career leaves the latter-day stars floundering somewhat. Especially when you consider that the entire package can only muster 20 top ten hits between them, and�eight of those belong to Kim Wilde, a genuinely innovative and frankly unusual star of the time, by virtue of being about the only female pop star having consistent hits, but more latterly famous for presenting gardening programmes on television�- cutting edge pop this isn't!

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Q.� So why is it happening

A.� Because nostalgia moves in cycles, and looking back requires misty eyes. The media were delighted to call the 1970s 'the decade that taste forgot', until the revival reminded everyone just how many fabulous songs were released, and how pop managed to totally reinvent itself across the board twice in ten years, with glam rock in the first half of the decade, and punk in the second. The 70s saw a major change in musical tastes and attitudes, and music evolved at a speed not seen before or since. Compared to the cutting edge of 1970s pop, the 1980s were a positive damp squib�- high on dubious fashion, and seriously lacking in any really durable and long-lasting ideas.

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Q.� Does that mean nostalgia in music is unhealthy

A.� Not if it remains in context. By its nature, pop insists that each generation finds its own heroes, and avoids the previous incumbents. After teenagers have finished generally being young, and settled down to adulthood, and varying degrees of domesticity, a glance back to the days of their youth makes popular Saturday night TV, looking back from the comfort of armchairs at styles and sounds they'd have been out wearing and dancing to in their youth.

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That's all very well, but the notion that looking back into pop history is valid and entertaining simply because it's hit a magic twenty year vintage leads to the kind of 'let's drag ourselves out once more for the pension fund' kind of tour that is due to visit a venue near you in a few months time.

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Q.� What can we expect from the 1980's 'revival' then

A.� The same as any other revival really�- a bunch of grown-ups looking somewhat self-conscious in clothes that were fashionable way back then, when they were young, hip and hungry, singing songs that were minor hits at a similar time, to an audience who realise that the vital sense of humour that allowed the 1970s to laugh at itself then,�now is conspicuously absent from the po-faced 1980's, and maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all. If you seriously want to enjoy the 80s revival, make it fast�- it won't be around for long.

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