Hitmakers now sing a simple song

Look at Billboard's Hot 100, listen to hit radio or watch the Grammys on Sunday night. Pop rules.

From Katy Perry's "Firework" to Ke$ha's "Tik Tok," pop with a big dance beat and a short, simple refrain is what's hot right now. Teens love to dance to it. Pep bands enjoy playing it. The cast of "Glee" relishes singing it. Even moms can't resist it.

"People want a bright voice and a great beat and to feel good," said Grammy-winning Minneapolis songwriter Dan Wilson, who has recently written for Josh Groban, Adele and John Legend. "People are less in a mood to wallow in negativity. Feel-good dance music is almost like a salve against hard times."

History shows that. Dance music has dominated during tough times, whether it was swing during the Depression or disco in the late 1970s when gas was rationed and U.S. hostages were held in Iran.

With high unemployment, $3-plus gasoline and our soldiers still fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, Americans want escape, relief and release. Say goodbye to hip-hop with its harsh sounds, abrasive tone and oversexed lyrics (though we still like a little Eminem and Jay-Z, refashioned with melodic, sung choruses). Say hello to vibrant, catchy dance pop.

"With any music cycle, you hit fatigue, and hip-hop extended longer than it probably should have," said Twin Cities radio programmer Sam Elliot, whose former hip-hop station B96 converted 13 months ago to "96.3 Now, the most hit music." With the exception of Eminem's comeback last year, "everything else was kind of up and fun," he said. "You just want feel-good music, you don't want to overthink it. Look, it's always been about good hooks, but now it's really simple."

Moreover, Elliot sees a new generation of music fans -- young listeners raised on Disney, "American Idol" and "Glee." They want Perry piping "Baby, you're a firework" and Taio Cruz trilling "I like to dance, dance, dance, dance." They crave a newfound wholesomeness and happiness typified by "Glee," which sells enthusiasm, not cynicism.

Think of it as the collision of Facebook and the dance floor. People want to click the "Like" button.

Beats cross all borders

Forget about ballads, too. There are only a few, including Taylor Swift's "Back to December," in Billboard's top 25 or on the playlist for KDWB, the Twin Cities' leading top 40 station.

"When you listen to radio now, it's all so much about tempo," Barry Weiss, CEO of RCA/Jive Label Group (home to Ke$ha, Usher and Pink), told Billboard magazine.

The tempo of choice seems to be 125 to 145 beats per minute (that's DJ talk) or so-called house music. Booming dance beats married to simple lyrics have broad appeal -- even in countries where English is not a first language. Perry's "Teenage Dream" and Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" resonate in France as much as in Fargo.

Many of today's young stars grew up in other cultures and understand the global sensibility of a catchy chorus that anyone can sing along to. Witness the worldwide hits "I Like It" by Enrique Iglesias (born in Spain), "Dynamite" by Taio Cruz (of Nigerian/Brazilian heritage) and "Only Girl (in the World)" by Rihanna (from Barbados).

The ultimate international popsters of the moment are an American multi-culti group, the Black Eyed Peas. They have gone global in the past two years with a series of super-simple, super-danceable hits including "Boom Boom Pow," "I Gotta Feeling" and "This Time (Dirty Bit)" -- a hit parade that landed the Peas the halftime show at last Sunday's Super Bowl.

The Peas proved that it's about driving beats and simple buzzwords that can appeal to many cultures. Or as songwriter Wilson explains it: It's the musical equivalent of blockbuster movies that are not about subtle verbal messages but rather about the boom-boom-pow of special effects and crashes.

That's what Bruno Mars is aiming for: "I want my songs to just kind of smack you," he told Rolling Stone magazine.

A Hawaiian of Puerto Rican and Filipino descent, Mars could be a poster boy for the new wave of pop. As a singer, songwriter and producer, he's nominated for seven Grammys, and will perform on Sunday's show, too. That's his voice you hear on the chorus of record-of-the-year nominee "Nothin' on You":

But my time would be wasted.

They got nothing on you, baby.

Sweet melody? Check. Easy-to-understand lyric? Check. A chorus even your mother could love? Double check. As Rolling Stone put it, "Mars excels at no-brainers."