Beginning their career as the most popular surf band in the nation, the Beach Boys finally emerged by 1966 as America's pre-eminent pop group, the only act able to challenge (for a brief time) the overarching success of the Beatles with both mainstream listeners and the critical community. From their

Baroque, Bright, Cartoonish, Charming, Clean, Contemplative, Cool, Dreamy, Elegant, Funny, Ironic, Joyful, Lush, Lyrical, Melancholy, Polychromatic, Pop, Pristine, Psychedelic, Sincere, Smarty arty pop, Sublime

Born to a Jewish family in Natick, Massachusetts, Richman began playing music and writing his own songs in the mid-1960s. Richman became infatuated with the Velvet Underground, and in 1969 he moved to New York City, living on the couch of their manager, Steve Sesnick, while working odd jobs and try

Charming, Clever, Fleeting, Joyful, Playful, Pop, Post-punk, Primal, Quirky, Self-reflection, Sincere, Singer/songwriter, Whimsical

Born Steven Demetre Georgiou, the son of a Greek Cypriot restaurant owner and Swedish mother, he grew up in a flat above the family shop in London’s theatre district, situated at the northernmost junction of Shaftesbury Avenue and New Oxford Street, near the heart of the West End. The back streets

Charming, Contemplative, Elegant, Intimate, Joyful, Political, Pop, Self-reflection, Serene, Sincere, Social revolution

A kind of charming darkness oozes between Morrissey and Johnny Marr of the Smiths. The combination of Morrissey's syrupy, melancholy voice and Marr's jangling, meticulously layered guitar breeds an infectious moodiness. Breaking away from the bawdy new-wave synth pop that characterized the early 1980

Brit-pop, Dark, Ethereal, Melancholy, Post-punk, Quirky, Sincere