is the only subject,” he said of modern pop. “To have a successful pop career now you have to have a series of relationships which are amazing and then break up tragically.”I was looking at the chart earlier today, and … it’s all Taylor Swift.”“Taylor Swift sort of fascinates me as a phenomenon because she’s so popular and I sort of quite like the whole thing,” he explained.
“But then when I listen to the records for a phenomenon as big … where are the famous songs? What’s Taylor Swift’s Billie Jean?”I listened to that the other day, and it’s not Billie Jean. It’s not… “Melodically – she’s got a great voice, by the way, and the production’s beautiful – but melodically … it’s all sung one or two notes going up and down…”
While heaping praise on the sense of community and “collective experience” among the Swifties, Neil added: “I just think that the one disappointing thing is the music. Not even the lyrics, the music.”The West End Girls singer isn’t the only veteran musician to call Taylor’s credentials as a pop juggernaut into question recently, though.