Arguing that music not only affects our identities but shapes them, this work explores the interpretation of popular music. It examines the functions of pop music within a constantly shifting social plane from the 1980s onwards, suggesting various approaches for the analysis of pop music. 'The range of case studies provided by Hawkins offers a very real opportunity to engage with the complex array of debates surrounding identity and representation.' Dr Sheila Whiteley, University of Salford, UK 'Settling the Pop Score should prove a useful tool for the further study of musicians like Morrissey, Annie Lennox and the Pet Shop Boys. For those whose cultural memory does not reach back to the mid-1980s, this is a good introduction to questions of identity raised in videos by Madonna and Prince, whose sexual masquerades continue both to provoke and to proclaim.' Popular Music '... the book offers a set of interpretive approaches to popular music and is a welcome addition to current scholarship on the subject.' Notes '... the author's emphasis on interpreting particular pop musicians and their 'identities' is a valuable and engaging exercise.' Context