Bruno Mars and Janelle Monae may be two of the newest flavors touring the country together this year, but their respective styles and still-budding talent makes their show at Reliant Arena on Wednesday night feel a little like a nostalgic trip down Doo Wop Lane. Even the advertising for the show has the look of a classic Motown concert poster.

If they keep this up the words "Pop" and "Music" might mean something beautiful again when said one-after-the-other.

There was a time, long, long ago — like the late 1950s and early 1960s — when being referred to as a "pop star" was a badge of honor for a versatile artist. Pioneers of early doo wop and Motown like Smokey Robinson, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Diana Ross & The Supremes and the Jackson 5, as well as first generation rock 'n' roll artists like The Beatles and Buddy Holly proudly carried the title.

Then the mediocre second generation of pop stars emerged: The Monkees, The Partridge Family, The Brady Bunch. After that, the pop freak circus really came to town in the form of Leif Garrett, John Travolta (No foolin'. See for yourself. Nice orange sherbet jammies, bro), New Kids On the Block, The Spice Girls, Backstreet Boys and, the Queen Neurotica herself ... Britney Spears. After a few decades of this, any artist whose music was described as being "poppy" might as well of stitched a scarlet "P" on their lapel.

For being successful also meant, on some level, being the butt of a pop culture joke.

But here come Mars and Monae ready to tweak all preconceptions and return to a time when being a pop star meant playing instruments, singing like a sinner in church and dancing like your feet don't touch the ground.

Mars, 25, only released his debut album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans last October, but it seems like he's has been around for much longer. The album shot to No. 3 on the Billboard 200 charts on the strength of the spare soul and percussion of chart-topping singles "Just The Way You Are" and the Michael Jackson-honed balladry of "Grenade." His influences — from Little Richard & Jackson to Kanye West are obvious, but, man, what great influences.

Possessed of a natural ability to compose, orchestrate, sing and produce his own music, one gets the feeling Mars is just getting started.

As for Monae, 25, I'm still finding out about her, but I know I find her unusually intriguing as an artist. The big puff of hair on the top of her head is the boldest statement-of-coif by an R&B artists sine Alicia Keys was sportin' those Bo Derek braids a decade ago. Her debut album, The ArchAndroid (Suite II and III) , looks like some sort of sci-fi fantasy, but plays like a hyper-percussive jam session between Outkast and James Brown.

Most of all, I am physically unable to stand in place when the single "Tightrope" starts playing. Moane has the most unique fashion, movement and musical palette to hit the pop and R&B scene since Erykah Badu. I'm unsure of the exact rules that govern Grammy's complicated Best New Artist category, but if Mars and Monae are eligible, they both should be the front runners for next February's awards.

Bruno Mars (with opener Janelle Monae), 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Reliant Arena