About HopePop

Andy and Chris are two guys who love pop music of just about every stripe. From the Beatles to Brewer and Shipley (I challenge you to find another blog that even mentions Brewer and Shipley) to Britney Spears to Ben Folds… we’ve got opinions on it. We’ll talk about groups, albums, and songs new and old, review, critique, and explore the poppier side of life.

Andy: I hold the Beatles responsible. One minute, I’m an early-’70s kid in love with baseball. One spin of “Meet the Beatles” later, I’m strumming a tennis racket in front of a pretend wall of Vox amps and Ludwig drums. Now in my late (as late as they get) 30s, I’m still obsessed with pop music, the more sugary, lush, and layered the better.

I’m a professional editor/writer, and I’ve been a bassist (gigging and recording) for more than 20 years. I loves me some jangle courtesy of Rickenbackers and Fenders, and I still heart the Red Sox.

Chris: If you’re thinking that I’m the young one (since Andy already admitted to bordering on 40) well, guess again. I was there, propped up on my elbows on the family room floor when Elvis performed on the Ed Sullivan Show. But I’m no Zelig — never saw the Beatles live, didn’t go to Woodstock, and as much as I adored a hundred other pop and R&B stars — probably didn’t see them either.

Like a lot of people in my generation, the magic for me was AM radio. It never got sweeter than the sounds of AM pop radio coming out of a chrome and painted metal dashboard. But, hey, I promise not to be a curmudgeonly human time capsule. I keep up. I’ve got new favorites, too.

So stay in touch with our new blog. If you love music, we’ll make it worth reading. We promise.