Power pop
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The term power pop, as used in the United Kingdom, referred to a somewhat different style of music than that of the United States. The Evening Standard used the descriptive in January 1978 while writing about the band Tonight, and it was commonly applied to British "mod" groups such as the wildly popular Jam.
Other British bands labelled as power pop included Squeeze, Buzzcocks, The Vapors, and The Chords. Many of these groups have also been described as mod revival, punk rock, or New Wave. Lacking the influence of American pioneers such as Big Star and The Raspberries, these bands were more directly inspired by 1960s beat music/British Invasion groups (particularly The Who, The Kinks, and The Beatles). They also took a cue from the energy and aesthetics of the contemporary punk movement, speeding up the tempo of their music.
Other U.K. artists of the late 1970s commonly identified as power pop were the new wave groups XTC and Elvis Costello & The Attractions. They played driving, melodic music, but neither group sported the mod image or overt 1960s influence of The Jam and their followers.
A handful of successful bands in the United Kingdom did boast the traditional power pop sound as inspired by The Raspberries and Big Star. Singles from such groups, such as The Records' Starry Eyes, Nick Lowe's Cruel To Be Kind, and Bram Tchaikovsky's Girl Of My Dreams, rivaled or even surpassed their American counterparts in capturing the essential elements of power pop. Perhaps as a consequence, these bands were more commercially successful in the United States than in their homeland.
Additionally, the American New Wave group Blondie was often labelled as "power pop" by the U.K. press. The band's second single, a cover of The Nerves' "Hanging on the Telephone," demonstrated Blondie's power pop roots.
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Contemporary power pop: 1980s to 2000s
In the 1980s and 1990s, power pop artists continued as a commercially modest genre. Artists such as Marshall Crenshaw, The Smithereens, Matthew Sweet, The Bongos, Teenage Fanclub, Tommy Keene, Redd Kross, Material Issue, The Posies and Jellyfish drew inspiration from Big Star, the Beatles, and glam rock groups of the early 1970s like T. Rex and Sweet.[6]
In the mid-1990s through the 2000s, power pop flourished in the underground, with acts such as The Shazam and Sloan. Independent record labels such as Not Lame Recordings, Kool Kat Musik and Jam Recordings specialized in the genre. The sound made a mainstream appearance in 1994 with Weezer's commercially successful Blue Album and hit single "Buddy Holly". In the late 1990s, several Scandinavian power pop groups such as the Cardigans, Merrymakers, and Wannadies enjoyed a modicum of critical favor.
Power pop traits are also currently displayed by North American bands such as Fountains Of Wayne, New Pornographers, Jimmy Eat World and The All-American Rejects, and by pop punk bands such as Green Day, Paramore, Blink-182, Simple Plan, Bowling for Soup and Good Charlotte.[citation needed] The influence of power pop is also readily apparent in contemporary British groups such as the A Sides[7], the Futureheads, Maxïmo Park, Farrah, The Feeling, Razorlight, and Babyshambles.
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Notable power pop singles
- Badfinger's "No Matter What" (1970)[8]
- The Raspberries' "Go All The Way" (1972)[9]
- The Cars' "Just What I Needed" (1977)
- The Records' "Starry Eyes" (1979)
- The Knack's "My Sharona" (1979)
- Cheap Trick's "I Want You To Want Me" (1979)
- Blondie's "Dreaming" (1979)
- Rick Springfield's "Jessie's Girl" (1981)
- Tommy Tutone's "867-5309/Jenny" (1982)
- Weezer's "Buddy Holly" (1994)
- Gin Blossoms' "Follow You Down" (1996)
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Footnotes
- ^ A User's Guide to Shoes - eMusic Spotlight
- ^ Liner notes to 'The Roots of Power Pop' and the 'Poptopia' series of CDs
- ^ rock'sbackpages
- ^ PopMatters interview with Eric Carmen
- ^ Dodd, Philip (2005). The Book of Rock: From the 1950s to Today, Paperback, Thunder's Mouth Press, pp 36, 109. ISBN 978-1560257295.
- ^ http://wm06.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=77:383
- ^ The A-Sides: Power-Pop Gets Positively Cheerful : NPR Music
- ^ Badfinger: "No Matter What" you should "Come And Get It" - The Very Best Of Badfinger by Badfinger - Epinions.com
- ^ The Greatest Songs Ever! Go All the Way Article on Blender :: The Ultimate Guide to Music and More
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See also
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External links
- Article about power pop from Rolling Stone 1979, RS306
- Mod Pop Punk Archives - includes information about power pop bands
- Information about power pop from All Music Guide
- This Is Rock 'n Roll Radio - a weekly Webcast playing power pop
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