Kylie Minogue-s self-titled debut album produced hits, controversy and a perfect mainstream storm. The then soap and children-s television star -crossed over- to music with hit writer/producers SAW - and the shamelessly commercial approach of all involved saw the -real- music industry get its back up. This book interrogates the way that commercial pop albums are remembered in both the popular music press and in academic research. Is there a way of dealing with -mainstream- pop without denigrating the music and (just as importantly) without validating it according to the terms of a -high art- canon? This text sheds light on the way that notions of -mainstream- and -other- play out in a local context-specifically, Australia and New Zealand music on a global stage.
