Talk about…pop music. Sold in the sweetshop at the entrance to the rock mall where one can fork out almost half the price of a full album for a CD single containing three different versions of that one infectious tune that you just can't shake out of your head.

There has been a constant and varied stream of these singles for over four decades now and there are still no signs of the supply abating

The humble radio still plays its essential role in contemporary music culture (and marketing). Using these hooky little pop songs as bait, it casts its many lines into the radio waves and then just reels us in to the CD shore, sorry, store.

Now, if you can curb your impulses and be patient for a while, you can pick up one of these far more economical 'Big Hits' compilations. Unlike other similar but patchy collections on the market, the 'Big Hits' series are usually jam-packed with the strongest songs from the past months. This, the third in the series, has 18 tracks and there's hardly a duff one among them.

Cornershop contribute the Norman Cook remix of 'Brimful Of Asha', their ode to (Indian) pop singles and pop stars. Chumbawamba party through 'Top Of The World (Ole Ole Ole) their song written for the English team at the '98 World Cup.

Radiohead's 'No Surprises', The Verve's 'Lucky Man', Jason Nevin's thundering remix of the 1986 Run DMC hit 'It's Like That' and Alabama 3's unmissable country-trance epic 'Ain't Goin' To Goa' make this a worthwhile purchase on their own.

The remaining artists are no slouches either. There's Sneaker Pimps, 911, The Tamperer featuring Maya (the song with the sample of Michael Jackson's 'Can You Feel It?'), Camisra, Peach, Tin Tin Out, Solid Harmonie, Robbie Williams and ' Everyday Should Be A Holiday', the inspiringly-titled first single from cool, new Yank band The Dandy Warhol's.

As the ad would say: Big Hits! Big Price! Big Value! In this case, it's actually accurate.

Stephen "Sugar" Segerman

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Any thoughts, requests, problems, complaints, praise or interesting and relevant SA music news, please email it immediately to: sugar@cd.co.za