>>Well one thing I know is Bubble Gum is virtually undigestible, much like the post that started this thread. Thought it was a thesis. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz<<

As long as you log on and read some of it.

>>In my mind bubblegum is pop where the performers are the product not the music at all. Like Mili Vannili. Or The Archies, or The DiFranco Family. At least the Monkees had Neil Diamond going for them.<<

But you're horribly wrong. The music IS what mattered to the gummers more than anything because that is what they were selling. That was the purpose of the whole thing: to sell kids lots and lots of bubblegum music--as much as they were willing to buy. The performers didn't matter--they were anonymous on the records and could have been anybody when you saw them live. In some cases, it was the Banana Splits touring and miming to recorded music in front of large crowds of kids. Didn't matter a hoot who was in the suit.

It's the "serious" artists where performer matters more than the music. If I pay to see Primus in concert, I expect to see the real Primus come out and play. I do not expect to see another band that sounds just like Primus. I expect it to be the actual performers that I hear on the record--at least Les Claypool should be there--and if it isn't so, I am going to be pissed.

But a bubblegum show? You only went to the show because you knew the songs. You knew little to nothing about the musicians who did the recording. Again, it's the music bringing in the money.

The only exception to this would be something like the Brady Bunch (who are in our comp) who were a visual vehicle long before becoming a musical one.

As for the digestibility of bubblegum, it matters little. My colleague on this endeavor is an avid record collector. A walking encyclopedia of American rocknroll, country and blues. But I've known him to listen to everything from Beethoven to Spike Jones. I rarely encounter some obscure song somewhere that he hadn't already heard years before. He's a whip on guitar and has played in rock and country bands and was even a drummer in one.

When I managed to find a digital remastering of "Wait Til Tomorrow" by the Banana Splits, I gave it to him saying that I thought I remembered hearing them do that song on their show. He replied that they did do it on the show and said, "That was the very first record I ever owned." That made me realize the influence this stuff has. Spit on it all you want, but it got a whole generation kids wanting to play music.