teenyboppers

   Since the advent of Elvis Presley, teenagers have comprised the most important element of the pop music audience, but it was not until the 1970s that the term ‘teenybopper’ was coined. The term was applied derisively to fans of Marc Bolan, Donny Osmond, David Cassidy, the Bay City Rollers and, in the 1990s, Boyzone, with the unjustified implication that these artists had nothing to offer musically and only appealed through their image. Arguably, however, teenyboppers have always been more discerning than more ‘sophisticated’ music fans. Whereas ‘intellectual’ listeners have fallen for the emperor’s new clothes, from the Doors to Radiohead, teenyboppers have always had an ear for a good tune and unpretentiously discarded their idols at the first hint of a drop in quality.

   See also: fanzines; pop and rock

   CRAIG GERRARD