Well parried Stuart, as I expected. But I still think we tend to exaggerate the value, talent, etc of pop musicians, because their music makes us feel good. And certainly I would be most happy to contribute to a Genius List. Just to provoke controversy, I'm saddened to say that Neil Young would not make my list.

Re experiencing life through pop, Stu, I wasn't excluding other forms of music as avenues to experience. Far from it! (pop/rock/folk/punk comprises about 20% of my listening these days (I am truly getting old)).

And I was serious about the "anyone know any good new punk" question.