American pop is a vague^{[citation needed]} and nebulous term^{[citation needed]}, applied generally to whatever form of music is most popular among mainstream American teenage audiences. Adolescents are an especially important audience, both because of their relatively large amount of discretionary spending, and their fervent devotion to pop stars. Though the modern era of teen pop music is not usually said to have begun until the 1960s, there were important antecedents.

Perhaps the first genre of teen pop was the swing craze, which was an important dance style among teens across the nation in the early part of the 20th century. Later, a number of vocalists like Ella Fitzgerald and the Ink Spots became very popular, especially among the young. Though these performers are not generally considered teen pop singers, their success indicated that music that appealed to teens could be highly profitable. A number of Italian-American crooners soon found a major youth audience, including Dean Martin, Rudy Vallee, Tony Bennett, Perry Como, Frankie Laine and, most famously, the "first pop vocalist to engender hysteria among his fans" Frank Sinatra.

Ron Thompson (born 20 November 1966) is an American politician from the state of West Virginia. A Democrat, he served as a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates from 1994 to 2007, representing the state's 27th District in Raleigh County. Thompson is notable for his extended absence from the House of Delegates due to his bipolar disorder. Thompson announced his resignation from the House of Delegates in July citing the necessity of longer than expected medical care.

Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed, born March 2, 1942, is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his solo career, which has spanned several decades. Though the Velvet Underground were a commercial failure in the late 1960s, the group has gained a considerable cult following in the years since its demise and has gone on to become one of the most widely cited and influential bands of the era. As the Velvet Underground's principal songwriter, Reed wrote about subjects of personal experience that rarely had been examined so openly in rock and roll, including sexuality and drug culture.

After his departure from the group, Reed began a solo career in 1971. He had a hit the following year with "Walk on the Wild Side", although he subsequently lacked the mainstream commercial success its chart status seemed to indicate. Reed's work as a solo artist frustrated critics wishing for a return of the Velvet Underground. In 1975, Reed released a double album of feedback loops, Metal Machine Music, upon which he later commented, "No one is supposed to be able to do a thing like that and survive."

"The Man" is a slang phrase that may refer to the government or to some other authority in a position of power. In addition to this derogatory connotation, it may also serve as a term of respect and praise.

The phrase "the Man is keeping me down" is commonly used to describe oppression. The phrase "stick it to the Man" encourages resistance to authority, and essentially means "fight back" or "resist", either openly or via sabotage.

The earliest recorded use^{[citation needed]} of the term "the Man" in the American sense dates back to a letter written by a young Alexander Hamilton in September 1772, when he was 15. In a letter to his father James Hamilton, published in the Royal Dutch-American Gazette, he described the response of the Dutch governor of St. Croix to a hurricane that raked that island on August 31, 1772. "Our General has issued several very salutary and humane regulations and both in his publick and private measures, has shewn himself the Man." ^{[dubious – discuss]} In the Southern U.S. states, the phrase came to be applied to any man or any group in a position of authority, or to authority in the abstract. From about the 1950s the phrase was also an underworld code word for police, the warden of a prison or other law enforcement or penal authorities.