Power pop box set - what'd be in it?

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There's been a few series covering power pop (Poptopia, a couple of the DIY entries, Yellow Pills) but none of them have been expansive enough. What tracks would be in a 4 or 5 disc power pop box? Would you use one of those series as a starting point and add on or would you just start from scratch?

― Mr. Odd, Thursday, 22 March 2007 13:37 (eighteen years ago)

let's maybe make this a collective effort. whatcha think? I'll start off. actually, this would kinda make a good one-disc comp. it has a rare cut or two on it that people would buy, the suckers. but the Billy Nichol and the Chilton demo cut are both prime. and the Van Duren cut, that's Memphis powerpop in 1978 and a great song that should definitely enter the powerpop Canon.

It ends like around 1984 except for the Jellyfish cut and the Sweet cut.

Left Banke, She May Call You Up Tonight
Easybeats, Me and My Machine
Move, Wave the Flag and Stop the Train
Badfinger, Baby Blue
Todd Rundgren, Couldn't I Just Tell You
Big Star, When My Baby's Beside Me
Billy Nicholl, Winter Rose
Records, Teenarama
Nick Lowe, American Squirm
Alex Chilton, She Might Look My Way
Marshall Crenshaw, Girls
dB's, Bad Reputation
Marshall Crenshaw, Whenever You're on My Mind
Diesel Park West, All the Myths on Sunday
Jellyfish, Russian Hill
Van Duren, Grow Yourself Up
Chris Bell, I Don't Know
Matthew Sweet, Girlfriend
dB's, Judy

― whisperineddhurt, Thursday, 22 March 2007 18:44 (eighteen years ago)

NO NERVES NO CREDIBILITY

― pretzel walrus, Thursday, 22 March 2007 19:02 (eighteen years ago)

My dBs cut would be If and When/(I Thought) You Wanted to Know. Couldn't possibly choose between 'em!!

― gnarly sceptre, Thursday, 22 March 2007 19:09 (eighteen years ago)

I'm actually working on a playlist now. It goes to 2000 though. Here's what I would need in it:

20/20: Yellow Pills, Cheri, Remember the Lightning
The Beat: Rock 'n' Roll Girl, Walking Out on Love
The Searchers: Hearts in Her Eyes
The Records: Starry Eyes
Blondie: Hanging on the Telephone
The Nerves: Working Too Hard
Pezband: Baby It's Cold Outside
The Pop: Legal Tender Love, Waiting for the Night
Cheap Trick: Hello There, Surrender, I Want You To Want Me
The Rubinoos: Ronnie
The Vertebrats: Left In The Dark
Hoodoo Gurus: (Let's All) Turn On, I Want You Back
Let's Active: Waters Part
Plimsouls: A Million Miles Away, Zero Hour
The Muffs: Lucky Guy
Urge Overkill: Sister Havana
The A's: Words
The Sorrows: Christabelle
Bram Tchaikovsky: Sarah Smiles
Undertones: Teenage Kicks
Joe Jackson: Throw It Away
Posies: Dream All Day
Three O'Clock: Jet Fighter
Pluto: When She Was Happy
The Dirtbombs: Here Comes That Sound Again
The Keys: I Don't Want To Cry
Flamin' Groovies: Shake Some Action, You Tore Me Down
Artful Dodger: Wayside

And I haven't even gotten into Shoes, Sloan, or Teenage Fanclub

― MC, Thursday, 22 March 2007 19:17 (eighteen years ago)

"I Can See For Miles" by The Who has got to be in there. After all, Pete Townshend was the one who first came up with the "powerpop" term and even though a lot of their music wasn't really Powerpop, that one song was in every possible way.

There has been sort of a revival for Powerpop lately, and following Jellyfish and Matthew Sweet, the following post-1990 tracks should also be in there:

It's a Shame About Ray - The Lemonheads
Proto-Pretty - The Wondermints
Where I Find My Heaven - The Gigolo Aunts
Live Forever - Oasis
Definite Door - The Posies
Neil Jung - Teenage Fanclub
Miss July - Brad Jones
My Before And After - Cotton Mather
Jessica Something - The Tearaways
Ain't That Enough - Teenage Fanclub
Stacy's Mom - Fountains Of Wayne
No Tomorrow - Orson
Never Be Lonely - The Feeling

― Geir Hongro, Thursday, 22 March 2007 22:15 (eighteen years ago)

And, of course, "Staying Out For The Summer" by Dodgy!

― Geir Hongro, Thursday, 22 March 2007 22:16 (eighteen years ago)

Here's some of my suggestions:

Big Star - September Gurls
Bram Tchaikovsky - Girl Of My Dreams
Chris Stamey - Summer Sun
dB's - Amplifier
Eddie & The Hot Rods - Do Anything You Want To Do
Jags - Back Of My Hand
Let's Active - Every Word Means No
Nerves - Hangin' On The Telephone
Nick Lowe - So It Goes (but you could pick almost anthing from his first few albums)
Raspberries - Go All The Way
Rubinoos - I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend
Starjets - Schooldays
Tommy Tutone - 867-5309 (Jenny) [I still really like this song]

Something from Material Issue, too...

― Mr. Odd, Thursday, 22 March 2007 22:39 (eighteen years ago)

no GREEN no credibility

(GREEN the 80s/90s chicago band, not the scritti politti singer)

― Lawrence the Looter, Thursday, 22 March 2007 23:54 (eighteen years ago)

Hardly an original pick, considering it was on "Poptopia", but The Spongetones' "She Goes Out With Everybody" still needs to be in there.

― Geir Hongro, Thursday, 22 March 2007 23:58 (eighteen years ago)

The Brains - Money Changes Everything

― M@tt He1ges0n, Friday, 23 March 2007 00:03 (eighteen years ago)

Needs:

some Exploding Hearts,
the original version of "How Long Will It Take" by the Plimsouls,
"Grant Hart" by the Posies,
"Make Up Your Mind" - Stiv Bators
"I Can't Pretend" by the Barracudas

― kingfish, Friday, 23 March 2007 00:08 (eighteen years ago)

"I Can See For Miles" by The Who has got to be in there.

i'd consider "the kids are alright" also, or instead, from the who. or maybe just include the entirety of their meaty beaty big and bouncy comp

and surely we must include the las' "there she goes," no?

i'd also consider from bands that don't generally identify as power-pop, for example:

prince, "when you were mine"
byrds, "feel a whole lot better"
replacements, "i will dare"
billy joel, "all for leyna"

― fact checking cuz, Friday, 23 March 2007 00:18 (eighteen years ago)

"Places That Are Gone," Tommy Keene
"She Loves You," The Beatles
"Beat Surrender," The Pop
"Dance the Night Away," Van Halen
"Come On Come On," Cheap Trick
"Stay in Time," Off Broadway
"I'm Gonna Love You Too," Buddy Holly
"Tallahassee Lassie," Freddy Cannon
"The Price of Love," The Everly Brothers
"Our Lips Are Sealed," The Go-Go's
"Hero Takes a Fall," Bangles
"You Were So Warm," Dwight Twilley Band
"No Matter What," Badfinger
"I'm Gonna Find a Cave," The Banana Splits
"Sunshine" The Archies
"Dreaming," Blondie

― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Friday, 23 March 2007 07:15 (eighteen years ago)

"Miles Away," Holly and the Italians
"I Want You Around," Ramones
"Come On Let's Go," Paley Brothers/Ramones
"Open My Eyes," The Nazz
"Couldn't I Just Tell You," Todd Rundgren
"Whenever You're Ready," The Zombies
"Get Over You," The Undertones
"All Kindsa Girls," The Real Kids
"Outside Chance," The Turtles
"You're So Damn Hot," OK Go
"Shayla," Elliot Easton
"Just What I Needed," The Cars

― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Friday, 23 March 2007 07:22 (eighteen years ago)

"Jessie's Girl" by Rick Springfield is often seen as AOR more than powerpop, but to me it has all the elements of a great powerpop song.

― Geir Hongro, Friday, 23 March 2007 09:28 (eighteen years ago)

Shivvers: "Teenline"
Holly and The Italians: "Tell that girl to shut up"
Posies: "Dream all day"
Michael Pagliaro: "Lovin' you ain't easy"

― abbysmyname, Friday, 23 March 2007 09:51 (eighteen years ago)

No New Pornographers, no credibility.

― zeus, Friday, 23 March 2007 10:38 (eighteen years ago)

zeus OTM.

Also no Pooh Sticks, no credibility ( apologies for mentioning the Pooh Sticks on two of my three posts this year...)

― tom, Friday, 23 March 2007 10:41 (eighteen years ago)

more pooh sticks mentions in more threads, please.

― fact checking cuz, Friday, 23 March 2007 12:32 (eighteen years ago)

I'll try my best. "The Pooh Sticks of course!" is a very tempting stock answer for most threads on ILM.

― tom, Friday, 23 March 2007 12:51 (eighteen years ago)

What the hell ever happened to that retrospective Nerves CD that was supposed to come out on Swami like 5 years ago?

― Ben Boyerrr, Friday, 23 March 2007 12:51 (eighteen years ago)

why the Everlys' "Price of Love" (great song) and not their "Don't Run and Hide," which is probably more powerpop? and why Prince? I mean "When You Were Mine" and "Never Take the Place of Your Man" are great and have affinities with what we're presumably talking about, but they aren't powerpop. Powerpop by definition is post-Beatles Beatles; all white-people music (and plenty of black music, too) in the '70s was basically people crying over the Beatles, like Al Stewart or somebody, so why not make Al Stewart powerpop? The thing is to figure out that powerpop is basically about the Beatles at a certain stage of development, like 1966 is the cutoff date, really. And the Who, too, but certainly "Who Sell Out" is another Beatles record, as are so many records from the era. By the time you get to Badfinger it's been perfected and it's slightly more rocky and the guitars are a bit more shiny and tough, that's why 1970 really begins powerpop. All the stuff above is good music but what I would suggest is to winnow it down into the true essence of powerpop. The Nerves and the Real Kids were good, but were they as obsessive about the whole thing as the dB's, Marshal Crenshaw or Big Star, or the Flamin Groovies? "Just What I Needed"? I'm just expressing a personal preference on this, but I've heard a lot of powerpop comps, like the one Numero Group did, and they usually miss the mark, a lot of just boring malarkey mixed in with the great stuff, and seems to me it comes from wanting to include everything as powerpop, like Greg Shaw used to do. And I have issues with that whole mentality; Greg Shaw was a true believer in rock and roll and when punk didn't happen he figured powerpop was the next best thing. Which it wasn't; hello, Greg, wherever you are in rock heaven--let me whisper "disco" in your ear, don't get jumpy.

Van Halen, they were good but almost by definition, because they were the way they were, they weren't powerpop. the formal elements in rock and roll are uniform across genres, but Eddie VH and David LR weren't powerpop in looks, attitude or overall musical presentation. The Pooh Sticks are great, too, but again, if we're gonna include this then we might as well include a lot of stuff that shares those formal elements, etc., and derives from the Beatles and all that. As I've said before, powerpop starts when Americans start imitating the Beatles and figure out they can do it better, but are still fucked up about the fact that they're not the Beatles. And I think the Move and the Easybeats have more to do with it than the Who, and that the Everly Brothers were as good at it--they didn't do powerpop exclusively, being the inventors of nearly everything we're talking about here, including the Beatles--as anyone. Teen angst and suppressed smarts are a big part of it and Don and Phil did it first.

― whisperineddhurt, Friday, 23 March 2007 13:06 (eighteen years ago)

Ed - excellent points, especially about power pop comps throwing in random dross, which is what motivated me to start this thread. The only point you didn't make was to offer your own picks!

― Mr. Odd, Friday, 23 March 2007 13:29 (eighteen years ago)

I agree slightly with whisperedinnedhurt, but I think it needn't bee narrowed down that much.

Basically, the following ingredients need to be in there for it to be Powerpop:

- A strong, traditional verse-chorus based melody
- Some kind of a medium "rock" punch - not too much not too little. Most AOR, for instance, is slightly too much "rock"
- Some great multi-voiced vocal harmonies are an advantage, but not an absolute requirement
- Some kind of obvious musical influence from the "Big B's" - that is, Beatles, Beach Boys, Byrds, Badfinger, Big Star
- Preferrably a somewhat "controlled" vocal style although Big Star, Raspberries and Cheap Trick are all examples of the opposite.

― Geir Hongro, Friday, 23 March 2007 13:42 (eighteen years ago)

And, well , my point is, for instance, The Cars fit into all this.

― Geir Hongro, Friday, 23 March 2007 13:43 (eighteen years ago)

1970s:
The Scruffs: Break The Ice
Cheap Trick: Oh Candy
Tommy Hoehn: Blow Yourself Up
Tom Robinson Band: 2-4-6-8 Motorway
Roger McGuinn: Rock and Roll Time

1980s:
The Replacements: I'll Be You
The Shop Assistants: Safety Net
The Primitives: Crash
Guadalcanal Diary: Trail Of Tears
The Reivers: It's About Time
The Vulgar Boatmen: Change The World Around

1990s:
Redd Kross: The Lady In The Front Row (if you don't know this, SEEK IT OUT!!!)
Redd Kross: Jimmy's Fantasy

― kornrulez6969, Friday, 23 March 2007 15:39 (eighteen years ago)

With a lot of the post-90's bands (New Pornographers, Blur, Oasis, Apples in Stereo, Superdrag, Flop, etc.) it becomes a case by case basis per song: some of it descended from the '70s era of power pop/some of it from the '80s underground. Once you start doing this of course, you might as well tattoo GEEK on your forehead.

Geir's list of requirements is pretty good. Mine is somewhat simpler: Beatles dedication to melody/harmony (pop) crossed with whatever guitar-rock is in fashion at that time (power). I don't really like throwbacks. The Spongetones have some great songs, but it's really rewriting the Beatles catalogue in some ways. I wouldn't consider the Rutles power pop. (I would consider the Rutles hilarious however.)

― MC, Friday, 23 March 2007 20:22 (eighteen years ago)

"A Million Miles Away" by the Plimsouls.

― kwhitehead, Friday, 23 March 2007 20:29 (eighteen years ago)

Oops, MC beat me to it. Sorry.

― kwhitehead, Friday, 23 March 2007 20:29 (eighteen years ago)

Beatles dedication to melody/harmony (pop) crossed with whatever guitar-rock is in fashion at that time (power).

I wouldn't say the Beatles dedication is a requirement, even though it is surely frequent. There are some arche-American powerpop bands whose influences are almost exlusively American, building their style on Beach Boys, Byrds and Big Star only, with a more obvious folk/country element than the more Beatles influenced school of bands.

― Geir Hongro, Friday, 23 March 2007 20:50 (eighteen years ago)

The Nashville Ramblers: The Trains

― deusner, Friday, 23 March 2007 20:53 (eighteen years ago)

I'm not saying "Beatles-like"; just using Beatles as the uber metaphor for pop sound. It can be Beach Boys, Byrds, Big Star by all means. After all, one of the best pp bands of the last 15 years, Velvet Crush, takes more from those three than the Beatles.

― MC, Friday, 23 March 2007 20:54 (eighteen years ago)

Did you ever notice that AMG's "Power Pop" category ends with early '80s, and then relegates any whiteboy funtime bands to the lesser "Jangle Pop" or "Pop Underground" categories? PURISTS! Free our power pop!

― MC, Friday, 23 March 2007 21:06 (eighteen years ago)

Can't forget Dom Mariani:

DM3 - One Times Two Times Devastated
Stems - At First Sight

I'm not up on Australian power pop to recommend anything else from there.

― Mr. Odd, Saturday, 24 March 2007 00:09 (eighteen years ago)

"Tommy Hoehn: Blow Yourself Up"

love tommy. finally got that album. i've had the single for years. the song with chilton on the album is majik (the one that alex sings on, plays on and co-wrote). and i'm not even purist scum like edd. (luv yoo, edd!!!)

― scott seward, Saturday, 24 March 2007 00:16 (eighteen years ago)

Boys (US) - You make me shake
Boys (UK) - Do the contract hustle

― Colonel Poo, Saturday, 24 March 2007 00:18 (eighteen years ago)

Van Halen, they were good but almost by definition, because they were the way they were, they weren't powerpop. the formal elements in rock and roll are uniform across genres, but Eddie VH and David LR weren't powerpop in looks, attitude or overall musical presentation

But some of the hits off their first two albums (dance the night away, jamie's cryin) have more power and pop in their sound -- rock in a way more that sound more reminscent of the sweet or raspberries, in other words -- than anything the dbs or jellyfish or matthew sweet or teenage fanclub or the lemonheads (or hell, big star) ever did.

i'm glad somebody mentioned the brains! and starjets! (though i might have picked "war stories" by them, i dunno.) has anybody mentioned the sports? or the kings? or the buzzcocks? or the vibrators? or the adverts? or moon martin? 1979 new wave was SO much more powerpop than '90s indie rock, sorry guys. so did 38 special and the babys and rick springfield!! but i will stop. we've had this discussion countless times before, and i should shut up.

― xhuxk, Saturday, 24 March 2007 13:30 (eighteen years ago)

...so WAS .38 special etc....(I mean)

to wit, for starters:

http://www.ilxor.com/ILX/ThreadSelectedControllerServlet?boardid=41&threadid=1957

http://www.ilxor.com/ILX/ThreadSelectedControllerServlet?boardid=41&threadid=46289

http://www.ilxor.com/ILX/ThreadSelectedControllerServlet?boardid=41&threadid=4717

http://www.ilxor.com/ILX/ThreadSelectedControllerServlet?boardid=41&threadid=40849

― xhuxk, Saturday, 24 March 2007 13:36 (eighteen years ago)

Also shocked that nobody has nominated anything by Tom Petty yet.

Not shocked that nobody has nominated anything by Skye Sweetnam, but somebody should. (Okay, here's a good one: How about an all-girls powerpop compilation?? That might actually be interesting! And yeah, the Holly and the Italians album rules. And so did Katrina and the Waves.) (Pearl Harbor and the Explosions ruled even more, but they sounded more DOR.)

― xhuxk, Saturday, 24 March 2007 13:40 (eighteen years ago)

Did you ever notice that AMG's "Power Pop" category ends with early '80s, and then relegates any whiteboy funtime bands to the lesser "Jangle Pop" or "Pop Underground" categories?

Ha, I mostly agree with this! Does that make me purist? Or just somebody who wore skinny ties in 1979? Once powerpop stops rocking ( = its "power" part), why count it? Though FM Knives should count, I think.

― xhuxk, Saturday, 24 March 2007 13:42 (eighteen years ago)

I dunno, I guess on this subject I'm purist scum. I mean Chuck has said, I think, that something like .38 Special is powerpop or something like it. I'm just saying that if you start looking at rock and roll in terms of its formal elements instead of looking at the attitude toward the formal elements, then you start to include zillions of things in a definition of "powerpop" that really don't belong there. And as Yuval Taylor amusingly told me the other day, Bread and Big Star are basically the same music, and he's right. I like Van Halen just fine, too. But I mean is "Baby I'm a Want You" powerpop? It really could be a Chris Bell song, adjusting for Bell's tortured scream or David Gates' voice, which reminds me of a pervert babysitter who got in trouble in my neighborhood when I was a kid. And I think powerpop has every fucking thing to do with the Beatles, they are the beginning and end of the whole genre. Because as Richard Meltzer pointed out long ago, the Byrds were really the Beatles...

Scott, the Tommy Hoehn record is pretty good--the one on London, right? I have two Tommy Hoehn/Van Duren collaborations, one done at Ardent Studios in '98 and choice; and I have the Van Duren/Jody Stephens demos done in 1975, too.

― whisperineddhurt, Saturday, 24 March 2007 13:46 (eighteen years ago)

we did a "POX power pop thread" as well but I can't find it.

I love those 38 special singles too but I'd call them something like "powerful pop" as opp to power pop which I think edd nails in his post, it's a specifically retro 1966 Beatles worship kinda thing as opposed to simply corralling power & pop together in a neat seamless package -- even a veteran vanhalen-disliker like me can acknowledge that about VH's catchier songs but DLR's image & schtick is basically what the skinny-tie 1979 p/p bands were rebelling against.

― m coleman, Saturday, 24 March 2007 13:53 (eighteen years ago)

But the Sweet did not sound like specifically retro 1966 Beatles worship! And neither did the Knack! (Who made a better album than almost anybody mentioned on this thread, by the way. Also weird that nobody has mentioned the Romantics, who were pretty great. I guess, really, since I first probably heard the term when I was discovering new wave while living in suburban Detroit in 1979, the Knack and the Romantics are my powerpop template. Which might explain why I hear it differently than, say, Big Star fans do.)

― xhuxk, Saturday, 24 March 2007 14:06 (eighteen years ago)

I also don't really get how Roth's admittely extremely non-powerpoppy image and schtick makes "Dance the Night Away" or "Jamie's Cryin'" sound any less powerpop. But maybe I am still missing something...Bottom line is, most skinny-tie 1979 music didn't really sound much like the Beatles, either. Even when it dressed up like the Beatles.

― xhuxk, Saturday, 24 March 2007 14:13 (eighteen years ago)

yeah I'd call the Sweet glam-pop or post-glam pop. if nothing else the packaging on the Knack's debut is Beatles-referenced and the Romantics OWNED that skinny-tie doofus look. as we've mentioned on those other threads, the Romantics were a heavier-sounding band before they made records and their later albums like National Breakout revealed that they wanted to be AOR all along anyway. yeah I actually think the Romantics are better than most purist power/pop bands, but then I never "got" Big Star's Third either.

so Xhuxk the question remains:

Loverboy: power pop or new wave?

― m coleman, Saturday, 24 March 2007 14:18 (eighteen years ago)

First album has both! And disco and glam and metal and Philip Glass and Bad Company and Rush and D.O.A., too! (But I have written all that before.)

― xhuxk, Saturday, 24 March 2007 14:22 (eighteen years ago)

THE. GUITAR. SOUND. ON. VAN. HALEN. DOES. NOT. SOUND. POWER. POP.

powerful & pop for sure , man.

― m coleman, Saturday, 24 March 2007 14:22 (eighteen years ago)

too many notes!

― m coleman, Saturday, 24 March 2007 14:24 (eighteen years ago)

Neither does the guitar sound in "Go All the Way" or "My Sharona," though!
(Or does it?)

― xhuxk, Saturday, 24 March 2007 14:31 (eighteen years ago)

not being technical as I don't play but the clipped power chord hooks on those 2 songs ^^ are what I was thinking of in terms of power pop. and at least w/those 1979 bands the image really played into the sound.

― m coleman, Saturday, 24 March 2007 14:39 (eighteen years ago)

Once powerpop stops rocking ( = its "power" part), why count it? Though FM Knives should count, I think.

Yes, but I would argue that a lot of the catchier '90s bands--Superdrag, Sloan, The Figgs ("Step Back, Let's Go Pop" is certainly an anthem) rock harder than a lot of the skinny tie brigades. Hell, it recently occured to me that Sloan's last 4 albums are basically rewriting the Cheap Trick discography.

Of course it gets more difficult when you get to the New Pornographers, Weezer, Supergrass, etc., who don't always follow the template that was solidified in the late '70s.

And I know we've had this discussion before, but I keep returning to this music because I think that template is something that can continue to be mined.

― MC, Saturday, 24 March 2007 14:58 (eighteen years ago)

the buzzcocks? or the vibrators?

Yeah, definitely add "Ever Fallen in Love" and "Baby Baby" to this set.

― MC, Saturday, 24 March 2007 15:03 (eighteen years ago)

Guess I've been listening to the wrong Superdrag and Sloan and Figgs songs all these years; those bands have never hit me at all. (Sloan, especially, have always struck me as more prissy than powerful) But maybe one day they will. Then again, so might lots of emo and pop-punk bands (who probably partake in plenty of powerpop elements, too, even though I hate them.)

― xhuxk, Saturday, 24 March 2007 15:04 (eighteen years ago)

I also don't really get how Roth's admittely extremely non-powerpoppy image and schtick makes "Dance the Night Away" or "Jamie's Cryin'" sound any less powerpop. But maybe I am still missing something...Bottom line is, most skinny-tie 1979 music didn't really sound much like the Beatles, either. Even when it dressed up like the Beatles.

More recent example of this: Enuff Z'Nuff (who also hasn't been mentioned yet) who seriously got messed up by label packaging when they came in at the tail end of hair metal with a power pop shine.

― MC, Saturday, 24 March 2007 15:11 (eighteen years ago)

(Sloan, especially, have always struck me as more prissy than powerful)

Check out Action Pact from 2003. (Also, with Sloan, it really depends on which of their 4 songwriters are involved as to degree of rockin-ness.)

― MC, Saturday, 24 March 2007 15:16 (eighteen years ago)

the Knack and the Romantics are my powerpop template.

These two are a given in any power pop box set. The question is which tracks. With The Knack, I always feel like "My Sharona" would be perfect if it were about a minute and a half shorter. So I go with "Let Me Out". As for the Romantics, it's gotta be "What I Like About You," but I really want to gouge my eyes out if I hear that for the 700th time, so I go with "Tell It To Carrie."

― MC, Saturday, 24 March 2007 15:31 (eighteen years ago)

Ha ha, "Let Me Out" is one of the least rocking tracks on Get The Knack, isn't it? Or maybe not, but I'd definitely take "Frustrated", "(She's So) Selfish", "Good Girls Don't" and "That's What the Little Girls Do" over it.

Favorite Romantics songs" "21 And Over," "Tomboy," "Stone Pony."

― xhuxk, Saturday, 24 March 2007 16:31 (eighteen years ago)

Favorite Romantics songs not on National Breakout: "What I Like About You," "Little White Lies," "Tell It To Carrie" (their first hit on Detroit radio by the way), "Don't Put Me On Hold," "She's Hot," "Look At Her," "Talking In Your Sleep" (though I don't think I've ever heard the rest of the album "Talking In Your Sleep" was on, now that I think of it.)

― xhuxk, Saturday, 24 March 2007 16:35 (eighteen years ago)

More recent example of this: Enuff Z'Nuff

Hardly.

Try Crash Kelly. Or Crash Street Kids. Or the Wildhearts. (Or, uh, Poison.)

― xhuxk, Saturday, 24 March 2007 16:46 (eighteen years ago)

Doughboys - "Shine"

― LeRooLeRoo, Saturday, 24 March 2007 16:48 (eighteen years ago)

(Meaning, yeah, Poison {despite peaking earlier} always sounded more powerpop than Enuf Z'Nuff to me. At least if you count the Bay City Rollers as powerpop, which you should.) (Though I've admitted here and elsehwere that I probably never listened to Enuf Z'nuf enough. I may underrate them.)

― xhuxk, Saturday, 24 March 2007 16:48 (eighteen years ago)

In 2005, EMI UK released a rather representative compilations called "Power Pop Anthems". Sure there was some stuff in there that didn't belong there (I mean, Proclaimers???? - And The Rutles are mainly a parody and shouldn't be treated as anything but such) but all in all, this is a good 2 CD tracklisting, that has even found place for some of the stuff (XTC, Squeeze, early Badfinger) that Rhino couldn't license for "Poptopia":

Disc: 1
1. Queen - Killer Queen
2. The Knack - My Sharona
3. The Undertones - Teenage Kicks
4. The Proclaimers - I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)
5. New Radicals - You Get What You Give
6. The Thrills - Big Sur
7. The Dandy Warhols - Bohemian Like You
8. Fountains Of Wayne - Stacy¹s Mom
9. Jellyfish - Baby¹s Coming Back
10. Paul McCartney And Wings - Jet
11. Electric Light Orchestra - Rockaria!
12. Pilot - Magic
13. The Move - Fire Brigade
14. The Easybeats - Friday On My Mind
15. 15 The Beach Boys - Fun, Fun, Fun
16. The Knickerbockers - Lies
17. T.Rex - Metal Guru
18. Supergrass - Grace
19. Hal - Play The Hits
20. Todd Rundgren - I Saw The Light
21. The Babys - Isn¹t It Time
22. The Kinks - David Watts
23. Crowded House - It's Only Natural
24. The La¹s - There She Goes
25. The Rutles - Shangri-la

Disc: 2
1. The Jam - Start!
2. The Cars - My Best Friend's Girl
3. XTC - Senses Working Overtime
4. Squeeze - Pulling Mussels (From The Shell)
5. Cheap Trick - I Want You To Want Me (Live At The Budokan)
6. Blondie - Hanging On The Telephone
7. The Vapors - Turning Japanese
8. The Only Ones - Another Girl Another Planet
9. The Motors - Airport
10. Nick Lowe - Cruel To Be Kind
11. Big Star - September Gurls
12. Joe Jackson - Is She Really Going Out With Him?
13. Wreckless Eric - Whole Wide World
14. Sniff ¹N¹ The Tears - Driver¹s Seat
15. Martha And The Muffins - Echo Beach
16. Bangles - Going Down To Liverpool
17. Any Trouble - Trouble With Love
18. Brinsley Schwarz - (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace Love And Understanding
19. The Rubinoos - I Think We're Alone Now
20. The Records - Heart In Her Eyes
21. The Raspberries - Go All The Way
22. The Barracudas - Summer Fun
23. Buzzcocks - Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone)

― Geir Hongro, Saturday, 24 March 2007 17:00 (eighteen years ago)

Also, no mention of Phil Seymour yet it seems. His "Precious To Me" would belong in any good powerpop anthology.

― Geir Hongro, Saturday, 24 March 2007 17:01 (eighteen years ago)

Neither does the guitar sound in "Go All the Way" or "My Sharona," though!
(Or does it?)

xhuxk on Saturday, 24 March 2007 14:31

Well, yeah, of course it does, and that's an interesting topic. Who put the power in power pop?

― Tim Ellison, Saturday, 24 March 2007 17:04 (eighteen years ago)

Tell you one thing, it wasn't Roger McGuinn!

― Tim Ellison, Saturday, 24 March 2007 17:06 (eighteen years ago)

Also shocked that nobody has nominated anything by Tom Petty yet.

Once you count Tom Petty you might as well count Bruce Springsteen, John Cougar and Bryan Adams as powerpop too. There has to be drawn a line somewhere between powerpop and heartland rock, and I would say Tom Petty falls in the the latter category. However, his Jeff Lynne produced albums were possibly more powerpop than Heartland rock. Maybe we should include The Traveling Wilburys' "Handle With Care". :)

― Geir Hongro, Saturday, 24 March 2007 17:50 (eighteen years ago)

Oh horseshit. I love the Coug to the bottom of my midwestern soul, but "I Need to Know" and "Listen To Her Heart" and "American Girl" are more powerpop than he'll ever be. You're comparing apples and oranges.

7. The Vapors - Turning Japanese
12. Joe Jackson - Is She Really Going Out With Him?
13. Wreckless Eric - Whole Wide World
14. Sniff ¹N¹ The Tears - Driver¹s Seat
15. Martha And The Muffins - Echo Beach

Funnily, I love all these songs, and they sound nothing like powerpop at all to me. (I.e. not all powerpop is new wave, and the reverse is true, too!)

― xhuxk, Saturday, 24 March 2007 17:56 (eighteen years ago)

On the other hand, just because I've never thought of John Cougar or Joe Jackson as powerpop doesn't mean that they're not, in some way. (But if "Turning Japanese" and "Echo Beach" count, then Pearl Harbor and the Explosions are definitely back in the running, as far as I'm concerned.)

― xhuxk, Saturday, 24 March 2007 17:59 (eighteen years ago)

Funnily, I love all these songs, and they sound nothing like powerpop at all to me

I sould say "Is She Really Going Out With Him" is. Or, pubrock and powerpop is so closely related pubrock acts were usually counted as powerpop by powerpop fans. Nick Lowe, for instance, is seen as a big powerpop name although he is really more pubrock/new wave.

― Geir Hongro, Saturday, 24 March 2007 19:28 (eighteen years ago)

Oh, forgot a major one:

An Australian band called The Wake Ups (orignally named The Scruffs, speaking of power pop) did a song called Nobody Slows that would make any power pop comp better.

― kornrulez6969, Saturday, 24 March 2007 19:42 (eighteen years ago)

Btw. Crowded House would belong in there, but I'd rather choose "Locked Out" as that is the one Crowded House single that "rocks" the most.

― Geir Hongro, Saturday, 24 March 2007 20:41 (eighteen years ago)

eleven months pass...

Someone used the new _Ultimate Guide To Power Pop_ and made their own box set:
http://powerpopcriminals.blogspot.com/

― Mr. Odd, Monday, 17 March 2008 02:54 (seventeen years ago)

aussie power pop always seems to get overlooked

some essentials
little murders - things will be different
ups and downs - the perfect crime
lonely hearts - last kiss
barbarellas - dying inside
grooveyard - avalanche of love

― electricsound, Monday, 17 March 2008 03:52 (seventeen years ago)

Bottom line is, most skinny-tie 1979 music didn't really sound much like the Beatles, either.

20/20 most surely did.

― Geir Hongro, Tuesday, 18 March 2008 08:32 (seventeen years ago)

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