The “Golden Hits Of The 70s”
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M
POP MUSIC
(Robin “M” Scott)
Sire 49033
No. 1 November 3, 1979
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M is Robin Scott, a former art school student and folksinger from England. Hard to believe, you say?
Once you have heard his hit single, it is difficult to imagine that Scott ever did anything other than com
mune with computers and noise-making techno-toys.
Press releases claim he grew up like a regular lad in London, managed a couple of groups, wrote a few
songs–most notably the “French Elvis” Johnny Halliday–and even set up a small-time record label: Do It
Records. Before collapsing, his label “M” would discover Adam Ant, then a man with an Ant band.
In 1978, Rob moved to Paris, produced the Slits and a few French bands and conceived of his bizarre,
electro notions. The act was called M, after the signs all over the city that announce the Paris Metro. A
first single, “Moderne Man;’ failed as did “Cowboys and Indians,” a 45 he had issued as by Cosmic
Romance.
“I was looking to make a fusion of various styles which somehow would summarize the last 25 years of pop
music,” Scott told Fred Bronson in The Billboard Book of Number One Hits. “Where as rock’n’roll had
created a generation gap, disco was bringing people together on an enormous scale. That’s why I really
wanted to make a simple, bland statement, which was ‘All we’re talking about basically [is] pop music.”‘
Three different versions of “Pop Music” were shaped and taped. There was an R & B rendition; a funky
burner ala James Brown; and the punchy, three minute opus that we all have come to know. His hit
containing debut LP, New York-London-Paris-Munich (1979)–featuring the voice of Betty Vinchon and
Roogalators’ bassist Julian Scott–sold well in the States. While M’s three immediate follow-ups charted in
the U.K., none of these 45s made the Billboard listings. The Official Secrets Act, M’s second album, fea
tured Level 42’s Mark King.