This Must Be Pop

Ana is joined by Selena Fragassi, music journalist and author of the new book: New Kids on the Block 40th Anniversary Celebration. Ana and Selena go through the history of the New Kids, from their humble beginnings in Boston, to how they've evolved as one of the most profitable and successful legacy bands in music with the backing of one of the most passionate fanbases: the Blockheads. Buy &qu...

Just in time for Hanson Day 2024! Ana is joined by Lia from The Ashlee and Jessicast to discuss Hanson. We discuss if Hanson is considered a boyband, as well as get into Lia's fan origin story and dive a bit into most of their discography. We also discuss how awesome the Hanson fandom is!

Ana is joined by Eryn Cooper (radio personality, music journalist, and self-proclaimed professional fangirl) where they break down the AMAZING multi-generational boyband collab to rule them all: Liam Payne's new song "Teardrops. They discuss how Liam's career, both in 1D and as a solo artist, has been very similar to another boybander: *NSYNC's JC Chasez, who coincidentally worked...

This week marks the one year anniversary of Aaron Carter’s passing. Aaron’s legacy within music and pop culture is often overlooked, but it certainly deserves recognition and is insanely important. In this special episode honoring Aaron, we discuss him and his music and legacy, complex and layered as it was, with two friends of the pod Ali and Cali. Ali's portion was recorded a year ago only d...

Ana and Lizzie are joined by very special guest and fellow podcaster Kelli Williams (@laguna_biotch) to discuss her music journey with artists such as the Backstreet Boys, Taylor Swift, Aaron Carter and LFO and how bands like BSB are such a huge part of her relationship with her mother. We also get into a more serious discussion surrounding "the dark side of boybands" aka bad managers ta...

Friend-of-the-pod Sasha is back! Ana and Sasha discuss the experience going to the Pop2000 show on July 15, 2023 in Webster, MA. Before the Pop2k discussion, we recap all things JC-related in the past year and answer your lingering questions from the JC series. Timestamps: - Intro and Listener Q&A: 00:00 - JC Updates: 7:50 -Pop2000 Recap: 19:19

Several news outlets have reported that *NSYNC has recorded a song together, the first time in over 20 years for the upcoming "Trolls" movie. Ana is joined by friend-of-the-pod and *NSYNC fan Sasha to discuss initial thoughts and speculation, and what the potential is to come. PLEASE NOTE: *NSYNC, the individual members, nor their team has confirmed this. Because this is a song associated with a f...

Ana & Lizzie are joined by fellow podcasters Mary & Kelsey from the "When They Popped" podcast: What do you get when music journalists don't do any research and they make a podcast episode rooted in a misunderstanding of pop music, youth culture, and the tastes of many women and queer folks? You get the podcast "Your Favorite Band Sucks"; specifically, their most recent episode they did on *NSYNC....

Ana, Lizzie and Hallie continue their (postponed many times) discussion on Harry Styles' discography of his self-titled debut album (aka HS1), Fine Line, and finally, Harry's House. They break down some lyrics, melody, and overall feel of each album.

Ana continues her conversation with her cousins and discusses the discography of the Jonas Brothers. From their first album "It's About Time" to "Lines Vines and Trying Times". **Part 3 of our Jonas Brothers will be released in May after the release of "The Album". Referenced Links: - Desmond Child Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6zX7A4EFodzbuT...

Ana is joined by her two cousins: Jackie and Jocie, arguably the biggest Jonas Brothers fans in the world. In the first part of a three-part series, they discuss their origin stories of becoming Jonas Brothers fans, concerts they've attended and experiences they've had. Because the Jonas Brothers pride themselves as a family-oriented band, we discuss our own family's music journey, com...

Logan Grimé is a songwriter, producer, musician, as well as a Hanson fan and TikTok/Instagram creator. Logan talks with Ana about songwriting and producing and the importance of an "underlick" of a recording and why it matters. Also discussed is why we shouldn't let marketing and labels get in the way of liking and appreciating a catchy melody. Follow Logan on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok @vib3.m...

Ana and Lizzie are joined by Lizzie's sister Hallie to discuss our patron saint: Harry Styles (we kid about the esquire thing). We chat about Harry's years as a boyband member, his role and how he has grown as a vocalist and musician since then. We also talk about his fashion choices as well as our experience seeing Harry during his "Love On Tour" residency in New York.  Links: The Maine's co...

Ana and Lizzie chat with Madison aka Madame Daley (basically our newest best friend). Madame Daley is a New York-based musician, songwriter, and singer of the female and LGBTQ+ group Madame Daley & the Starchild Band. She's the creator of our NEW theme song "Teenage Girls Made Rock & Roll". We talk about her boyband journey from *NSYNC to the Jonas Brothers, One Direction and the Rolling Stones. W...

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays! Ana, Ceci & Lizzie talk about their love of Christmas, boybands and why Boyband Christmas music is the ultimate Christmas music. We discuss our favorite boyband and non-boyband Christmas albums, songs and memories. We end with a recap of 2022 and the pop music that it gave us and which boybands we said a (hopefully temporary) goodbye to. TMBP's Boyband Christma...

Ana and Lizzie chat with author & lover of all boybands Ali Tierney . We discuss her boyband journey, to being a mother of boys, and now an author of a boyband children's book, "B is for Boybands". We chat about her love and obsession with the short-lived boyband Dream Street (1999-2002) and what set them apart from the other boybands at the time. We then discuss members of Dream Street, inclu...

Ana and Lizzie chat with Marcus Monroe. Marcus is an NYC-based comedian known for being a boyband superfan, often telling jokes related to his love of boybands while wearing a boyband t-shirt. We discuss our shared love of boybands such as O-Town, Backstreet Boys, One Direction and *NSYNC. We also talk about the Backstreet Boys DNA show as well as Marcus witnessing the 3/5 *NSYNC reunion at Ryan C...

PART 2 - Ana, Ceci and Lizzie discuss Backstreet Boys' albums and music from Millennium (1999) until the most recent album DNA (2022). We discuss the songwriters and producers who worked with them on songs on these albums as well as our own memories, stories and perspectives with the music. References: 1.) Lisa Miskofsky - "Another Shape Of My Heart"  Lisa was one of the songwriters on "Shape...

OH MY GOD WE'RE BACK AGAIN! Ana, Ceci & Liz are BACK with Season 2 featuring a discussion on the Backstreet Boys. We get into our own personal experiences with the band, including our recent podcast field trip to BSB's DNA World Tour. We discuss all of the members, their relationship with Cheiron Studios in Sweden, and end with a deep dive into their debut album. Links & References: 1. Sho...

Ana and Lizzie provide their immediate reactions after attending the Backstreet Boys DNA show while waiting in post-show parking lot traffic.

Ana & Lizzie sit down with James Rodriguez (host, "The Original Doll" podcast) and discuss the music and cultural importance of pop music and boybands. We also get into JC Chasez's career as a solo artist, and the parallels of JC's story compared to Britney Spears' treatment by Jive records, specifically, the story about her never released "Original Doll" album.

Ana and Sasha continue their conversation about JC Chasez by diving into JC's short-lived career as a solo artist. We talk about JC's story with Jive records, and discuss the lack of support he received from the label. We also analyze songs from his debut album Schizophrenic and also discuss the ethical dilemma surrounding the never released but recently leaked "Story of Kate" album. We end with t...

In Part I of our special "JC Series", Ana sits down with Sasha, a musician, photographer and (most importantly) a lifelong *NSYNC fan. Sasha and Ana also happen to be childhood friends and became such due to their mutual love of *NSYNC when they were pre-teens. Ana and Sasha get into why JC Chasez is the greatest boyband member of all time and reminisce about some of JC's best moments in *NSYNC. T...

Ana & Lizzie start Part 2 with discussing topics from Maria Sherman’s book “Larger Than Life”, including the business of One Direction and their professional relationship with 5 Seconds of Summer. We also talk about the Rainbow Direction and how 1D was most likely the first ever queer-friendly boyband, and how this benefitted them. We then get into a deep dive of their albums Midnight Memories, Ta...

Ana & Lizzie discuss Lizzie's all-time favorite boyband: One Direction. In the first part of the episode, Lizzie talks about her study abroad experience as an American in London during the beginning of One Direction's rise to success. We also analyze the influence (both positive and negative) that social media had on One Direction's career. We also discuss the specific vocal arrangement, style...