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Today's Power Pop Playlist

BostonDave

BostonDave

Lunatic Member
Do we need a power pop playlist? I know I could probably keep it populated as it's probably my favorite genre and I gravitate back to it again and again.

This list is for jangly Rickenbackers, beatlesque pop, and related subgenres such as brit-pop, trad-rock, etc which span from the 60's right up to present day.

I'll start with something that is pretty much unknown on this side of the pond, but however fits quite well within the genre(s) I'm targeting.

Arnold
Hillside
Creation
1998
 
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"Power pop is what we play—what the Small Faces used to play, and the kind of pop The Beach Boys played in the days of 'Fun, Fun, Fun' which I preferred." - Pete Townshend, May 1967
 
superdog said:
The only band I have heard referred to as power pop were the 60s Who.I think Pete Townsend called them that.
Click to expand...

The term was coined (or maybe stolen from Townsend) by Greg Shaw of Bomp! (earlier Who Put the Bomp) magazine, a 70's era fanzine promoting "real" rock and roll. It was an honest reaction to the excesses of art rock and "progressive" music which dominated the airwaves at the time, much like punk rock a few years later. The term is broad, but generally includes short songs with accessible melodies and lyrics, vocal harmonies, and is guitar driven.

Prototypes would be the Beatles, Byrds, Left Banke, the Searchers, etc.

The groups Shaw was referencing included the Raspberries, Dwight Twilley, Badfinger, Big Star, and more. They spawned a newer generation of power pop bands (and a Bomp! indie record label) which included the Shoes, the Romantics, the dB's, the (2nd generation) Flamin' Groovies, the Records, Nick Lowe, and many others.

Some of my favorite latter day champions of the genre are the Posies, Teenage Fanclub, Nada Surf, etc...... and I'll be sure to check out the ones mentioned above!

Early - http://youtu.be/-wRia97hP88

Middle - http://youtu.be/BNKSs1J38EA

Now - http://youtu.be/BoLKvWf4Fd0

Like the supreme court said about porn, it's not easy to define, but you'll know it when you hear it. If it makes you want to put the top down on your car, think about old girlfriends, and sing along with the harmony parts while strumming your Air Rickenbacker, it's power pop.
 
i'm glad you guys are undertaking the thorny job of defining power pop.

one example i sometimes use is when you can tell the band sounds like it thinks Birthday is the best Beatles song, not always an acid test but pretty darn accurate
 
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