indy mike's "pick ONE favorite tune" topic: Power Pop

Another week slips away, time for a new thread for the weekly "pick ONE tune by this week's artist/group/genre" - whoo hoo, I gotta sweet tooth this week - let's play power pop! I have a real soft spot for those songs from the 70's and 80's that mix early Fabs, Who, a smidgen of Kinks, and a good shake of Beach Boys harmonies and come up with a melody that's so hooky you've got it burned into your memory the first time you heard it. Badfinger, the Raspberries, the Flamin' Groovies, Big Star all cut some splendid ditties in this genre. You know the rules: pick only ONE (uno, ein, the loneliest number) and spill yer guts about what makes it yer fave. I'm going with a massively obscure, betcha never heard this one before choice (well, fivecent will know it when he sees it, but he's too young to have actually seen the group in question play live, heh heh): Kool Ray and the Polaroidz, a midwestern bar band with a penchant for playing tasty mid 60's pop ala the Beatles, I Can't Explain era Who, even some pounding 50's Eddie Cochran numbers, too.... They useta make the rounds of Big 10 bars in the early 80's. They also cut a few lp's and at least one single (with a picture sleeve, too). The tune I'm yakkin' about is from their first long player, and it's a beaut called "I Heard You Fell" - wow, jangly guitars, lotsa swell harmonies, just an all around great tune with catchy hooks all over the place. Airplay, schmairplay - I'll bet nobody here (ok, fivecent Don) has ever heard it. On yer marks, get set, Go, Dog, Go!!!!!!!!!

 

My favorite genre!!!

With a nod to Jellyfish, Merrymakers, Beatles, Zombies, Emitt Rhodes, Cheap Trick, Sugar Bomb, Rabbit, Starclock, Jason Falkner, Great Lakes, Supertramp, World Party and many, many, many, many, many others I'm forgetting...

I'll have to go with a long time obsession... Happy Together. One of the greatest melodies I've ever known.

Damn, we can only pick one?

 

One of my favorites has always been, "Show Me," from the Pretenders 1984 LP, "Learning to Crawl." In-the-pocket drumming by Martin Chambers, an indelible melody, ringing guitar hooks, a silky, sultry vocal by Chrissie -- yum! When she sings, The Milky Way's still in your eyes," she's got me by the tail.

 

Interesting choice - ol' Flo n' Eddie never seem tio be mentioned when the 70's/80's power poppers yak about their influences, yet they were way ahead of the curve with your pick! BTW, the missus and I had a one night stay in Nashville Saturday - parked our carcasses at the Opryland Hotel, saw a show at the Opry at the Ryman (I was disappointed to find out that Marty Stuart was supposed to only play the first show, but he walked in on a bluegrass set at the second show when we were there - made my birthday weekend complete)! Sorry about the ONE only thang - makes folks think har-rud about before they type....

 

Def Leppard's Animal. Still in my head after all these years.

Only one! There are just too many so I'm going to pick one more. Prism's Spaceship Superstar... I gotta solar-powered lazer beam guitar.

 

I grew up in the eighties and power pop has a place in my heart. Almost impossible to choose one, but if I have to, it will be (sorry Go-Go's, sorry Crowded House) Marshall Crenshaw's 'Someday Someway'. Pretty much my definition of a perfectly constructed pop tune. Always loved MC - still do. I was first exposed to Crenshaw through his mom - she was my high school English teacher and definitely the proud parent (Crenshaw posters in her room, updates about his recording sessions, etc.). MC is still putting out quality work, still touring, and you can also find him posting around the internet, too. (Marshall, if you happen to read this forum, I'd love to hear your choice for this thread....)

 

Shake Some Action-- The Flamin Groovies!!!!

 

"I'm on fire" by the Dwight Twilley Band.

 

Im On Fire was a great record. So was "You Were So Warm" by Dwight Twilley as well.

 

I love power pop! How about this one?

Fotomaker - Can I Please Have Some More
The Producers - She Sheila

Sorry, that was two. I couldn't help it.

 

"No Matter What" - Badfinger.

Great melody, beautifully crunchy guitars, and in Pete Ham, one of the most expressive pop/rock vocalists I've ever had the pleasure to hear.

 

What about You Tore Me Down?

 

"No Matter What" by Badfinger. A veritable blueprint for power pop. Irresistible, loaded with hooks of all sorts, from the opening guitar punch to the fake ending. And that instrumental bridge! Can't help but sing along or play air guitar whenever this tune comes up on the radio.

Jim W.

 

Awwwwwwright - excellent choices, one and all. Marshall Crenshaw is a truly-ruly ultra inspired pick - reaches way back to the 50's with the echo, and that insistent guitar pattern is perfect... Steve, could you pester Marshall about a comp of these tunes???

 

This is hard. I'll choose to define power pop as fun music made by anonymous 80s groups that had just a few great songs.

My pick is Annoyin' all the neighbors by Little Bo Bitch.

Going outside the limits, many, many songs by the early Joe Jackson and Elvis Costello.

 

Matthew Sweet-Girlfriend. A perfect song on a perfect album-even has the final vinyl run off sounds on the CD. Richard Lloyd on guitar-'nuff said?

 

Go All The Way-Raspberries defines the genre for me. Love it.

 

Hey! Here is a definition of power pop from allmusic.com.


Power Pop is a cross between the crunching hard rock of the Who and the sweet melodicism of the Beatles and Beach Boys, with the ringing guitars of the Byrds thrown in for good measure. Although several bands of the early '70s — most notably the Raspberries, Big Star, and Badfinger — established the sound of power pop, it wasn't until the late '70s that a whole group of like-minded bands emerged. Most of these groups modeled themselves on the Raspberries (which isn't entirely surprising, since they were the only power-pop band of their era to have hit singles), or they went directly back to the source and based their sound on stacks of British Invasion records. What tied all of these bands together was their love of the three-minute pop single. Power-pop bands happened to emerge around the same time of punk, so they were swept along with the new wave because their brief, catchy songs fit into the post-punk aesthetic. Out of these bands, Cheap Trick, the Knack, the Romantics, and Dwight Twilley had the biggest hits, but the Shoes, the Records, the Nerves, and 20/20, among many others, became cult favorites. During the early '80s, power pop died away as a hip movement, and nearly all of the bands broke up. However, in the late '80s, a new breed of power pop began to form. The new bands, who were primarily influenced by Big Star, blended traditional power pop with alternative rock sensibilities and sounds; in the process, groups like Teenage Fanclub, Material Issue, and the Posies became critical and cult favorites. While these bands gained the attention of hip circles, many of the original power-pop groups began recording new material and releasing it on independent labels. In the early '90s, the Yellow Pills compilation series gathered together highlights from these re-activated power poppers, as well as new artists that worked in a traditional power-pop vein. Throughout the early and mid-'90s, this group of independent, grass-roots power-pop bands gained a small but dedicated cult following in the United States.

 

The Move - Do Ya
I've always thought of this as more power pop than heavy rock.Love those crunchy chords.

 

I would probably pick anything off of Cheap Trick's first three albums, but if I have to pick one, it may as well be "Surrender". By the time it gets to the end, I'm almost always screaming out the last few lines with the band>

WE'RE ALL ALRIGHT
WE'RE ALL ALRIGHT!

 

1977-1982, my favorite period in pop history. Very tough to choose one, but I'll go with:

What Do All the People Know?--Monroes

Just never tire of hearing that one. Too many runners-up to mention--"Starry Eyes" (Records), "Girl of My Dreams" (Bram Tchaikovsky), "Sunday Girl" (Blondie), "Ragin' Eyes" (Nick Lowe), "Driver's Seat" (Sniff 'n the Tears), "Feels Like Heaven" (Fiction Factory), "Straight Lines" (New Musik)...OK I'll stop...

 

What's So Funny Bout Peace, Love & Understanding- Elvis Costello
September Girls-Big Star
Teacher, Teacher-Rockpile
Around the Dial-Replacements

Joe

 

Wow! This is great..some fantastic records listed here. Only one is real tough..but I'll go with Badfinger's "No Matter What".....Pete Ham...what else to say...fantastic vocals.

Some runner up's...Dwight Twilley's "I'm On Fire" & "You Were So Warm" and The Records "Starry Eyes" Nick Lowe "So It Goes" and The Producers "What's He Got"...and on , and on...... great thread!!!!!!

 

A few more classics:

Eddie & The Hot Rods - Do Anything You Wanna Do
Rachel Sweet - Who Does Lisa Like?
Starz - So Young, So Bad
Dwight Twilley Band - Twilley Don't Mind