Pop culture usually refers to entertainment such as music, movies, TV, and sports, although it can also include styles and fads or all sorts. Writers often use pop culture references in fiction to economically flesh out characters and to create the feel of a specific time and place.
Simply providing a list of items that characters own isn’t enough to bring them to life, but associating particular products and cultural experiences with characters can be an effective form of shorthand if used properly. Readers will simply "know" that a teen-age boy in 1966 who owns all the Jefferson Airplane albums will have very different interests than his neighbor who listens to nothing but Merle Haggard. Your characters can either go with the grain (fit the pop stereotypes) or go against it (violate the pop stereotypes). In either case, it’s the shared experience and knowledge of the author and the reader that makes it all work.
There are a few useful things to keep in mind when using pop culture as a fiction tool.
TV is probably the most common shared experience in the world, especially in the US. A few shows have become such cultural icons that even those who never watched those show will recognize references to them. Some examples are Dragnet, The Simpsons, Batman, and The Brady Bunch.
Many pop products have a different US and UK version. For example, the Beatles’ distributor in the UK (EMI) used to put 12 songs on an album but the US distributor (Capitol) only used 10 songs and would later release albums made up of the leftovers. What this means is that a Beatles fan in the US would own Beatles albums that did not exist in the UK. Also, books and movies often get a new name from marketing when they cross the Atlantic. A British reader who bought all the Agatha Christe mysteries would own a slightly different set of titles than an American reader.
Obscurity is not a virtue when mining pop culture. Most readers will instantly recognize references to the WWII song "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy", but not one in a thousand has ever heard "Stalin Wasn’t Stallin’ ". Stick to the better-known examples unless you’re willing to explain the rare ones to your readers.
Music is a great time machine, but don’t quote lyrics. Tracking down the copyright owner and getting permission can be a real hassle and publishers usually expect the author to do the drudgery. Reduce your agony level and just say, "Johnny was listening to ’Jailhouse Rock’ when Rocko kicked the door in." If the reference hits the pop-culture bull’s-eye, your readers will already know the words.
The Internet, of course, is the perfect resource for locating pop culture information. Here are a few of the thousands of useful sites just to get you started.
Television History - The First 75 Years
Accent on hardware, not the shows.
http://www.tvhistory.tv
A U. S. Television Chronology, 1875-1970
Accent on broadcasters, station call letters, etc.
http://members.aol.com/jeff560/chronotv.html
The Classic TV Database
Complete details of prime time shows, start/stop dates, casts, theme songs, etc.
http://www.classic-tv.com
All Music Guide
Comprehensive pop music site. Complete discographies, artist bios, and more. May be the best music site.
www.allmusic.com
1940s Sounds and Music
Includes music, propaganda, and an audio file of a V-1 buzz-bomb in flight and exploding.
http://www.1940.co.uk/history/sound/sound.htm
Lucky Strike Cigarettes Hit Parade Radio Show: 1935 - 1955
Lists first, second, and third place songs for each year.
http://64.33.34.112/.HITS/
CreatAbiliTOYS! Museum of Advertising Icons
Toys made of ad characters (photos)
http://www.adtoymuseum.com/
Super Marketing: Ads from the comic books
Relive those thrilling days when it seemed perfectly reasonable that top scientists would make and sell X-ray glasses.
http://www.steveconley.com/comicads.htm
Fifties Web
A guide to 1950s TV, and more from that period.
http://www.fiftiesweb.com/
Internet Movie Database (IMDB)
The best movie site of all. Has lists of cast members, awards, photos, bloopers, star bios, and much more.
http://www.imdb.com/
Bookbrowser
Chronological lists of series books: mysteries, westerns, science fiction, etc., and publication dates
http://www.bookbrowser.com/
SYMBOLS
Over 2,500 symbols arranged according to their characteristics with 1,600 articles discussing them. From cave paintings
to peace signs.
http://www.symbols.com/
The Internet Public Library
From the University of Michigan School of Information. Reference links to all sorts of goodies. Hours of fun.
http://www.ipl.org/