'The hooky yet hard-edged, guitar-driven musical style known as power pop didn’t generate spontaneously. There were threads and uprisings—disconnected sounds that later combined into something like a movement—as early as the late ’60s, when some young rock-‘n’-roll fans were already starting to rebel against rock’s increasing pretensions and ponderousness. The impulse that led to power pop was already alive in the network of collectors of obscure ’60s garage-rock singles, and in the creators of the disreputable pop hits classified as “bubblegum.” Some key songs by Badfinger and The Move were power pop before the genre really existed, and once the sound became more viable and widely imitated, it was easier to trace the roots of the genre back to rockabilly, doo-wop, girl groups, and the early records of The Beatles, The Byrds, The Beach Boys, The Kinks, and The Who.
'Power pop evolved throughout the ’70s and early ’80s, running parallel and sometimes absorbing other trends like glam rock, pub rock, punk, new wave, college rock, and neo-psychedelia. But for the core power-pop sound—the one that came closest to breaking through to the mainstream and challenging ’70s rock radio’s preference for grandiosity—the best place to start is with The Raspberries. The Cleveland band’s 1972 single “Go All The Way” (written by lead singer Eric Carmen) is practically a template for everything the genre could be, from the heavy arena-rock hook to the cooing, teenybopper-friendly verses and chorus. The body of the song was The Who; the soul was The Beach Boys. The Raspberries only lasted five years, breaking up in 1975; and they only recorded four albums, of which only the twin 1972 releases Raspberries and Fresh really fulfill the promise of “Go All The Way.” Still, The Raspberries’ initial fusion of fist-pumping guitars and sugary melodicism—and the chart success they had at the start—inspired young rockers across the Midwest.
'While The Raspberries didn’t last long enough or stay true enough to popularize power-pop, the genre’s next big band had a stronger impact. Cheap Trick, formed in Rockford, Illinois in 1973, were pegged by critics early as one of the great hopes for the survival of meat-and-potatoes American rock ’n’ roll. Less cutesy and more muscular than The Raspberries, Cheap Trick really picked up the post-Beatles mantle of Badfinger, and gave it some middle-American blue-collar beef. Cheap Trick spent the next decade as solid sellers, while scoring the occasional chart breakout, but the band warred with its own sound throughout the ’80s, sometimes embracing pop, and sometimes rebranding as a mainstream hard-rock group, complete with power ballads and glammy videos. The reasons for Cheap Trick’s identity crisis may have had something to do with the trouble power pop had catching on—not just with the public, but with the top rock critics of the era, who were frequently distrustful of the genre’s elements of sweetness and simplicity. Even the acts that the critics did embrace often languished in obscurity, as Cheap Trick did in the early going.' -- A.V. Club
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Shoes
'The brilliant quintessence of American power pop hails from Zion, Illinois and began by recording at home on a 4-track, which resulted in a self-released LP that attracted national attention and (eventually) a major-label contract. Bassist John Murphy, guitarists Jeff Murphy and Gary Klebe and drummer Skip Meyer blend electric guitar — loud, distorted and multi-tracked, yet sweet — with breathy, winsome vocals to create melodic rock made most impressive by the strength of three equally talented singer/songwriters.'-- Trouser Press
'Too Late'
'Now and Then'
'Cruel You'
______
Pezband
'Formed in the late seventies, Pezband combined Beatles-esque melodies with a gritty rock ‘n roll edge. The band released three studio albums from 1977 till 1979, all of which were critically acclaimed. Rolling Stone cited their 1978 sophomore release, Laughing In The Dark as one of the best albums of the year, and Billboard and Trouser Press sang their praises as well. However, Pezband’s adoring reviews didn’t translate into album sales, and the band broke up shortly after they released their third studio album in 1979, Cover to Cover.'-- Chicagoist
'Love Goes Underground'
_________
The Bongos
'The Bongos emerged from Hoboken, and Manhattan's New Wave and No Wave venues such as Tier 3 and the Mudd Club, with a guitar-driven pop that belied a strong influence of the avant-garde. What set them apart from other such groups of the era were their sudden guitar outbursts or saxophone improvisations that echoed the work of Lou Reed, Ornette Coleman, or Captain Beefheart within the context of a pure, melodic pop song. In addition, unlike many of their peers, the group explored unabashedly sensuous dance rhythms that made their recordings dancefloor favorites.' -- collaged
'In the Congo'
____________
Great Buildings
'Great Buildings was one of a series of bands that were part of Columbia Records "Developing Artists" series in the early 80's. (Paul Collins' Beat, The Laughing Dogs, 20/20, Tommy Tutone and others) Danny Wilde and Ian Ainsworth (former singer/guitarist and bassist with Los Angeles Sparks-loving glam/bubblegum band The Quick) went on to form Great Buildings. They recorded the Apart From The Crowd album for Columbia in 1981 before breaking up a short time later. Danny Wilde went on to release several solo albums for Geffen before teaming up again with Solem to form the Rembrandts.'-- Powerpop Presents
'Another Day in My Life'
__________
Phil Seymour
'Born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Phil Seymour is probably best remembered for his time with the Dwight Twilley Band, who turned out some of the finest pop songs of their era, including the classic "I'm on Fire." After two albums (1976's Sincerely and 1978's Twilley Don't Mind), Seymour left to pursue a solo career. While waiting for a recording deal, he began recording solo sessions, as well as contributing session work for Tom Petty, 20/20, and Moon Martin. His self-titled debut was well received at the time (the single "Precious to Me" made it to number 22 on the pop charts) and has become highly revered in power pop circles as one of the landmark albums of the era. In 1984, Seymour was diagnosed with lymphoma. He returned to Oklahoma, carrying on at a diminished pace and recording infrequently, until the disease took his life on August 17, 1993 in Tulsa.'-- allmusic
'Love Receiver'
_______________
The Three O'Clock
'The Three O'Clock were the quintessential L.A. Paisley Underground band. Lead singer and bassist Michael Quercio in fact coined the term to describe the set of bands, including the Dream Syndicate, Rain Parade, Green On Red and the Bangles, who incorporated the chiming guitars of the Byrds and the Beatles into their pop songs with a psychedelic bent, and the clothes to match. Their final album and first for Warner Brothers/Paisley Park (Prince was a fan), proved to be their undoing, as they never really fulfilled the label's expectations and Quercio refused to be pigeonholed as a pretty-boy pop star or spokesperson for the premature retro revival.' -- collaged
'With a Cantaloupe Girlfriend'
'Fall to the Ground'
'Jet Fighter'
___________
Off Broadway
'The year is 1980, and Chicago based power pop outfit Off Broadway has just released their first album, ON. The critically acclaimed debut album includes the singles “Stay in Time” (which reached #51 on the Billboard Hot 100) and “Full Moon Turn Your Head Around,” and goes on to sell nearly 300,000 copies in Chicago alone (more than most modern bands sell on a national level). The music industry is buzzing over this young Midwestern power pop band, and a bidding war amongst over a dozen major record labels begins. In the end, Off Broadway signs with Atlantic, but the glitz and glamour of being on a major label never come into fruition for Off Broadway.' -- Chicagoist
'Bad Indication'
____
20/20
'One of the key bands in the Los Angeles power pop explosion of the late 1970s and early ‘80s, 20/20 never quite scored a hit single, but they were a powerful draw on the West Coast in their heyday, and their signature song, "Yellow Pills," became a cult favorite, covered by a number of later power pop acts and providing a noted pop fanzine with its name. In 1978, the group came to the attention of Greg Shaw, who was documenting the new L.A. pop scene with his label Bomp Records. Bomp released 20/20's debut single, "Giving It All" b/w "Under the Freeway," which earned enthusiastic reviews as the group worked the L.A. club circuit. Portrait Records, a subsidiary of CBS, signed the group, and 20/20 went into the studio with producer Earle Mankey (formerly of Sparks) to cut their first full-length album. The LP, simply titled 20/20, received rave reviews, but while "Yellow Pills" received scattered airplay on progressive outlets around the country, radio didn't embrace the single as they had with the Knack's "My Sharona" (doubtless due to the song's oblique drug references).' -- collaged
'Yellow Pills'
'Nuclear Boy'
'Remember the Lightning'
_______
The Boys
'Although the Boys never achieved massive commercial success, their music legacy has been carried on by influence. German punk band Die Toten Hosen championed their music for more than a decade, covering several songs and introducing new fans to the Boys. They also recorded cover versions of some songs, namely "First Time" and "New Guitar in Town" for their album Auf dem Kreuzzug ins Glück - 125 Jahre die Toten Hosen and "Brickfield Nights" for the cover album Learning English, Lesson One. In the late 1990s, Japanese band Thee Michelle Gun Elephant had a hit with a Boys cover. This prompted the re-release of several Boys albums with encouraging international sales (more than 30,000 albums being sold in Japan alone).' -- collaged
'Brickfield Nights'
__________
The Records
'Like the Motors, the Records were reborn pub-rockers, who made a giant leap into the present by leaving their history behind and starting afresh with finely honed pop craftsmanship and the full-scale record company support they had never previously enjoyed. While the Motors went for grandiose production numbers, the Records — led by ex-Kursaal Flyer drummer/songwriter Will Birch — made sharp, tuneful confections that offered maximum hooks-per-groove in a classic Anglo-pop style not unlike the Hollies, with similarly brilliant harmonies and ringing guitars.'-- Trouser Press
'Starry Eyes'
___________
The Plimsouls
'From inception, the Plimsouls, formed by singer, guitarist and songwriter Peter Case (who had previously fronted power pop band The Nerves), quickly became a crowd favorite in the Los Angeles club scene. Long Beach promoter Stephen Zepeda signed the group to his Beat Records label for a five-song EP called Zero Hour. Guitarist Eddie Muñoz joined the group during the recording of the EP. The band achieved national popularity in 1983 when the single release "A Million Miles Away" was included on Valley Girl's motion picture soundtrack and became a minor hit. The band, which also appeared on camera in the film performing the song and parts of two others, quickly re-recorded the song for inclusion on a second album, Everywhere At Once, produced by Jeff Eyrich, but broke up shortly after.'-- collaged
'A Million Miles Away'
'Now'
______
The Pop
'The Pop recorded two albums for Arista in the late ’70s, but could never shake the impression that they were little more than an attempt to build the ideal power-pop band from scratch. The Pop believed in the new DIY values of the punk ethic and their first LP shows it. It is an eclectic powerful combination of Punk meets Pop and two of the album's songs, "Down On The Boulevard" and "Animal Eyes" soon became authentic anthems on the Southern California music scene, mostly through air-play on The Rodney Binginheimer radio show on KROQ and the bands extensive clubs dates up and down the coast. The Pop called it quits on July 4, 1981.' -- collaged
'Go!'
______
The dBs
'The dBs released their first album, Stands for Decibels, in 1981, to critical acclaim but negligible sales. Their sound was a modernized version of earlier power pop, with precise arrangements and highly accomplished instrumental work. Chris Stamey and Peter Holsapple were the band's songwriters, and while Holsapple was skilled in the composing of fairly straightforward tunes such as "Big Brown Eyes" and "Bad Reputation," Stamey's songs, which include "Espionage" and "Tearjerkin'," tended to be somewhat more experimental. They released a second album in 1982, Repercussion, which built upon the strengths of the first album, and also released singles such as "Judy." These two albums, recorded on the British label Albion, have since been reissued on one compact disc.'-- collaged
'Black and White'
__________
Cheap Trick
'Combining a love for British guitar pop songcraft with crunching power chords and a flair for the absurd, Cheap Trick provided the necessary links between '60s pop, heavy metal, and punk. Led by guitarist Rick Nielsen, the band's early albums were filled with highly melodic, well-written songs that drew equally from the crafted pop of the Beatles, the sonic assault of the Who, and the tongue-in-cheek musical eclecticism and humor of the Move. Their sound provided a blueprint for both power pop and arena rock; it also had a surprisingly long-lived effect on both alternative and heavy metal bands of the '80s and '90s, who often relied on the same combination of loud riffs and catchy melodies.'-- allmusic
'Way of the World'
'Come On Come On'
'She's Tight'
*
p.s. Hey. So, tomorrow I'm going to Amsterdam for the weekend. As far as you're concerned, this means that the p.s. tomorrow is likely to be a bit rushed as I try to get it done pre-departure time. On Saturday, you will get a hopefully lovely rerun post and no p.s. per say. On Monday, everything will be back to normal with a new post, full p.s., etc., at which point I will catch up with the comments from both Friday and Saturday ** Scunnard, Hi. Certain things (age, location, general profession, etc.) about the seeming brother of George match, and others (for instance: wow, does he look different, if that's him, etc.) make me wonder. Mm, I just want him to be the right guy, I guess. I don't like the uncertainty. A friend of mine is going to make the initial contact with him for me to see if he's the guy and if he will be willing to talk to me 'cos I'm scared a bit shitless. Oh, thanks about the DG-F post, man. ** Misanthrope, Who ever knows with those motherfuckers. It just always seems like these really hyped up crises always get 'solved' albeit in some disappointing, heavily compromised way. Rallo?! Rallo is still alive? You're kidding me. Weird, cool. ** xTx, Extie! My pal! Err, no, 'Billie' has not arrived. Hm. It is getting a little long. I'll go down to the office today and make sure they don't have some package for me that they forgot to tell me about because that has happened. Yikes, want! Very, very top notch news about your progress on the novel! Mega-whoopie! Mine, err, is crapped out right now, so, bleah, yeah, but I'm a stubborn motherfucker, so it's not over yet. I miss you too! All love to you! ** Cobaltfram, Hi, John. Sorry about the non-Skyping last evening. Yesterday got away from me. New Park Chan-Wook definitely has potential, I agree. I'm curious. It would be nice if Glass did something interesting again. I'll use that link, thanks. I'm not giving up on the George novel yet, but I think it's good to be realistic so I won't crash and burn inside if/when it gives up my ghost. Art, yeah, but it and love are kind of all we've got or something. ** David Ehrenstein, Hi, D. That thing Bill is doing sounds fun. If I were nearby, I would go and learn a lot. Give him a big 'merde' for me. ** Billy Lloyd, Balls plus great instincts and inherent talent. In your case, you'll nail it, in other words. Assembling a team to make it happen, that sounds really logical to me. And it seems like angling for a label is the obvious and right thing to do, at least to start with. Let me know how your talk is received. Snow, awesome. We're still without. Word is that it might rain-snow today, which is the worst. With my luck, we'll get a massive, gorgeous blizzard while I'm in Amsterdam, where it never snows, which will have turned into a chilly swamp by the time I get back. Fully and heavily enjoy your London/ Oxford trips. Anything particularly exciting pre-planned? We can compare our respective trip notes upon our respective returns. ** Steevee, Hi, Steve. Thank you for the sympathy. No, I've never gotten this far into a novel and still felt this deeply negative about it, but I've never written a novel like this one before, so it's hard to compare its status to the other ones. I don't know. I'm going to trying to fix it, at least for now. Yeah, thanks, man. ** _Black_Acrylic, You got snow. Hunh. Usually, when you get it, we get it, but not this time unless today holds a big surprise. Thanks for the tip/link re: the AN website. That does look useful, and it's a swell review, man. A real pleasure. ** Chilly Jay Chill, Hi, Jeff. I hope so too re: the novel. I'm not giving up yet. Thank you. I've listened to the MBV twice, and it's really gorgeous, and I can tell it's going to unfold and unfold in an amazing way. I actually really like the later Celine novels. 'Normance', 'Castle to Castle', 'North', all pretty fantastic, I think. I haven't read the posthumous one, 'Rigadoon', but I want to. ** Statictick, Hi, N! Dude, spooning vs. commenting, no contest. Hope it was a soup spoon. Hope it was a ladle. Awesome re: possible guest-post, man. Really sweet of you. ** Trees, Hi, Ted. Thanks about my novel problems. I tried stepping away from it for a few months, and that didn't work, so I'm trying fiddling with and chiseling what I've already written rather than trying to generate more prose. We'll see if that helps. Cutting back could be plenty. I hope whichever route you go does the trick. All your upcoming book stuff is really exciting. Remember that I'd love to celebrate any of them on the blog, if you like. It is weird how multi-tasking just happens so naturally and easily sometimes, yeah. Weird stuff: the brain, I guess. ** Sypha, My sympathies to you re: the Gaga cancellations. Your worrying about her feelings on the matter is very odd and sweet. ** Un Cœur Blanc, Hi. Oh, thanks. Saki is mysterious and kind of magical to me for some reason. It could partly be the little bottle and cup. It would be nice to drink it while not in a restaurant. I think that's the only place I've ever tasted it. Nice pic of Bacon. He looks very tender. ** Grant maierhofer, Hi, Grant. Really interesting about the sigil thing. That whole novel, 'Guide', is a sigil. Novel as sigil, or vice versa. I can't say whether it worked or not because I think that would fuck something up, as I understand the principle. I am excited to read 'Rontel'. I have to get on ordering it. My opinion on 'Cremaster' has changed towards the more positive as time has gone on. Partly for the reasons you mention, I mean for the reasons that you say you're taken with it. The hype around it at the same was very off-putting, or it was to me. Thanks for being into Little Caesar. It was cool, and it was great to do, but, man, it was so much work to put together entirely on my own. I don't miss typesetting machines and laying-out and the physical pasting and the endless trips to the post office whatsoever. But, yeah. My agent has been trying off and on for years to get Grove to put out a single volume version of the Cycle, but they're just not interested at all. They think that would cause them to earn even less money on the books for whatever reason, and those kinds of decisions always drive everything, I guess. Good day to you! ** Chris Dankland, Hi, Chris. The very first blog post, which was on my old, dead blog, happened on May 15, 2005. My first blog didn't get hacked in the usual sense of the word. Back in those days, Blogger had this annoying set-up where people could flag a blog as offensive, and, if it got flagged a certain number of times within 24 hours, the blog would be automatically shut down, and, when that happened, all of the images in blog would be deleted. Basically, someone who hated the blog, or, more likely, hated me, hit the 'flag' button a ton of times one day, knowing that would kill the blog. When I managed to get Blogger to finally restore the blog, it was empty, and I just gave up on it because refilling it with the images would have taken an insane amount of work. Anyway, it got 'hacked' and died on November 20, 2006. Zac's piece in 'Userlands' was his first published work, yeah. The online writing scene in those days was nothing at all like it is now, to the point where the premise of the 'Userlands' anthology seemed very fresh and novel, which is pretty funny to think about now, and which shows you how fast the online writing scene grew. Thanks for saying 'Userlands' was ahead of the curve. I think it was, yeah, if only by accident. It was well received and did pretty well, but I had hoped that there would be more concentration on the importance of the blog context and how that affected the work and the community in which the writers interacted, but there wasn't a lot of thought put into that, or not to the degree that I thought was important to the project. Mm, I can't remember exactly when HTMLG started, or exactly when Tao's online movement/ sites/ self-branding outreach started. I guess the main difference between then and now is the obvious one, i.e. that back then it was still about posting fiction and poetry online whereas now the forms dictated by the internet's shape and dimensions and possibilities are very central to so much of the forms being used by current writers in Alt Lit and otherwise. So, I think it's significantly different now. Re: underrated sites and blogs, mm, I'll need to think about that and get back to you 'cos I think there are a bunch, and I would really collect my thoughts and check my bookmarks and stuff. Yeah, online writing is a huge and completely fascinating area/topic, for sure. I know I think about it and what it means and the innovations and things happening because of it a lot. Anyway, there are my initials answers, and I'm very happy to talk a lot more about that and about my experiences, if you like. It's inspiring. My word overuses are legion. Like 'yeah', which I type at the drop of a hat. And also starting sentences with the word' oh'. Bad habit, but whatever, I guess. Thank you a lot about the red lightbulb pieces, man. They're from that book 'The Weaklings (XL)' that's coming out. Great day to you, sir. ** Grant Scicluna, Howdy, Grant. Thanks a lot re: the novel struggles. I mean, it makes sense that this one would be the extremely hardest one and the most likely to fail. I'm trying to tackle the biggest thing of all, and it could be way too big for me. Still trying, though. I really hope the meeting goes incredibly well today, and, yeah, try not to worry, and that's the spirit, and ... how did it go? Hm, I don't remember there being a film outlined from 'A Herd'. Maybe I'm just forgetting, or maybe I never knew about it? So, as far as I know or can remember, I don't know anything about that possible project. Hunh. Best of the best to you, man. ** Adrienne White, Whoa, hey, pal! How utterly sweet to see you here! Wowzer! I hope you're doing really, really great! Are you? Much love to you! ** Bollo, Hey, J! No problem, man, just very happy to see you. Very cool score on the books and stuff. So fucking wish I could see/go to that show of yours that you noted on FB. Are those pix from that show? Wait, hold on, ... oh, yes, they are. Seeing them is way better than nothing. They look fantastic! I'll pore over them heavily a little later, and have a huge blast at the opening! Everyone, the ultra-great visual artist Jonathan Mayhew who hangs around under the guise Bollo has an exhibition opening imminently called 'Envelope' at the Ballina Art Center where his work will be shown alongside works by the artist Alan James Burns, and you can see some beautiful photos of Mr. Mayhew's work in the show here, and, if you're in Ireland, you can find out more about the show and how to see it here. Awesome! Happy V Day to you too! ** Right. Today I present some awesome past music makers who were into creating very precise, self-reflexive and/or subversive perfect pop songs in hopes of spreading brainy joy, and, if you would like some brainy joy in your life, I recommend give the post your attention. See you tomorrow.