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.