Sunshine pop facts for kids

Sunshine pop (also called soft pop) is a type of pop music. It started in Southern California in the mid-1960s. This music mixed sounds from easy listening and catchy advertising jingles. Sunshine pop songs often felt a bit sad or nostalgic, but they also showed how beautiful the world is.

Many bands that played sunshine pop were not very famous. They often tried to sound like popular groups such as the Mamas & the Papas and the 5th Dimension. While the Beach Boys were a big influence, their own music usually wasn't sunshine pop.

Sunshine pop became very popular in the late 1960s. Many of its top songs were hits in the spring and summer of 1967. Famous bands included the Turtles and the Association. Other groups, like the Millennium and Sagittarius, were not as successful at first. But years later, their albums became very popular with music collectors.

What Is Sunshine Pop?

Sunshine pop began in California in the mid-to-late 1960s. It grew out of the California Sound and folk rock music styles. The music often had rich-sounding voices and light music, similar to samba music.

Many bands were named after things like fruits, colors, or space. They often tried to sound like popular groups such as The Beach Boys, The Mamas & the Papas, and The 5th Dimension. Sunshine pop is a bit like baroque pop because it can be detailed and a little sad. But it also mixed with folk-pop and Brill Building styles.

This music helped people feel like they were escaping from the problems of the time. Writer Noel Murray said that sunshine pop bands "showed how beautiful the world was, but also felt worried that the good old days were gone."

Who Influenced Sunshine Pop?

Some artists who helped create this style include Curt Boettcher, John Phillips from The Mamas & the Papas, and Brian Wilson from The Beach Boys.

The Beach Boys' album Pet Sounds (1966) had an orchestral sound that many producers in Los Angeles copied. However, The Beach Boys' music was usually not sunshine pop itself. Joel Goldenburg from The Suburban newspaper felt that The Beach Boys' album Friends (1968) was the closest they came to the genre. He noted that sunshine pop vocals are often "more anonymous" and not as strong as The Beach Boys' voices. He also said that sunshine pop's light touch reminded him more of soft samba music.

John Phillips, on the other hand, really set the style for sunshine pop. Brian Wilson once said that The Mamas & the Papas focused more on vocals than music, while The Beach Boys focused more on the music.

Sunshine pop and the California Sound also spread to other countries. In Spain, groups like Pic-Nic started playing it in 1968. Later, in the late 1960s and 1970s, many "soft pop" bands became popular there.

Rediscovering Sunshine Pop

After its most popular time in the 1960s, sunshine pop was almost forgotten. But some people who collected rare vinyl records still liked it. Certain albums would sell for a lot of money online or in record stores.

The name "sunshine pop" was eventually given to this music. But it was mostly used by record collectors. In the early 1990s, people in Japan became interested in it again. Record companies started releasing collections of old, forgotten music from the 1960s. This new interest then spread to Europe and the United States.

Today, you can find collections and box sets on CD by groups like Spanky and Our Gang, The Association, and The Arbors. Record labels like Revola Records and Sundazed still release sunshine pop music.

See also

In Spanish: Sunshine pop para niños