EPISODE #22

As much as we might have crazy love for pop music, pop music also loves to drive us crazy. Earworms that grab you and won’t let go; cookie-cutter compositions that bedevil in their unoriginality; strange new sounds that vex, rankle, confound. How does pop music possess the unique ability to get under our skin? We pull apart some of the stickiest songs to try and find out.

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Get tickets to join Charlie in Los Angeles at the Lyric-Hyperion theater for a live version of Switched On Pop.

And listen to our playlist of songs that drive you mad on Spotify.

SONGS DISCUSSED

The Fine Young Cannibals – She Drives Me Crazy

The Backstreet Boys – I Want It That Way

Katy Perry – California Girls

Kesha – Tik Tok

Mozart – Piano Concerto No.20 in D minor, K.466

Grady Smith – Why Country Music Was Awful in 2013

Grady Smith – Country Stars Who Don’t Like Their Own Records

Fletcher Hederson – The Stampede

Skrillex – Bangarang

Elvis Presley – Jailhouse Rock

Kylie Minogue – Can’t Get You Out Of My Head