Hokeyboy

But this could be my favorite Power Pop classic of all time. Jangly guitars? Check. Killer harmonies? Check. Singalong chorus? Oh yeah...

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creekdipper

No, that wasn't it. I lost the site in a hard drive crash years ago but probably can noodle around & find it.

I did look up the Poptopia samplers you mentioned (first link that came up was to Poptropica popcorn ), and they have a great sampling of most of the best-known bands & tunes. Lots of stuff mentioned in this thread (which is redundant, as someone pointed out, having been done several times before...sorry! Although it's good to see some new things mentioned).

Speaking of Poptopica, here's a link to their Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Popto...27383134172432

statcat

Power Pop Planet?

http://popgeek.highwire.com/product/...e-one-2-cd-set

Yellow Pills is the name of another one.

creekdipper

Thanks, statcat. Neither one of them is what I remembered (unless they've changed names and formats), but looked interesting anyway. I'm sure I'll run across it (or, better yet, find my sampler with the name of the company).

Heck, going to dispense with the obvious for the one person in the galaxy who might be uninitiated:

Big Star: September Gurls https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAIuim4GXK0
Badfinger: Baby Blue (live) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C53QAuOoSgc
The Byrds: Feel A Whole Lot Better (live on Shindig!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMnV5HHO3gQ

Only peripherally related, but pulling the Byrds clip, saw this fascinating vid of Chris Hillman at the Library of Congress. Only watched a few minutes (it's over an hour long) but good stuff. Hillman (whose interviews are always thoughtful, mature, & enjoyable) was describing how Roger McGuinn arranged "Mr. Tambourine Man"'s intro. by "taking a page out of Bach." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcEjCnMlxfY

Adam Tyner

Dollars to donuts it was Not Lame Recordings, which, alas, has been shuttered.

Norm de Plume

Great song, which you introduced me to in another thread some time ago (another song of Shaw's I like is "Ever Since the World Began"), but I don't think it would be considered Power Pop. The definition of P.P. is rather amorphous.
Oh yeah, I bought a few CDs from that outfit.

Norm de Plume

Good song. I actually find the verse more compelling than the chorus.

The Infidel

So what's considered Power Pop? I guess I'm confused.

hdnmickey

As much as I like all of Shaw's work, I prefer the original Survivor version of that song due to Jimi Jamison's far superior vocals.

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That's being kind. Cars/Easton and Vapors not New Wave?

These made up as they go along genres is why I don't try and categorize my music. Thousands of CD's all just in alphabetical order just like my DVD's/BD's.

But assuming I kinda get what this genre supposedly is... One of my all time favorites...

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The whole album (Play Deep) has the same kind of awesomeness. There is a new band out there that has a singer that sounds exactly like Tony Lewis. But like so many new bands the songs are depressing and soulless.

Norm de Plume

I didn't know the other Shaw song was a cover. You're right, the Survivor version is probably better.
I'm a huge fan of The Outfield (I also think "Your Love" is one of their best songs), but I wouldn't say they are Power Pop either. Allmusic just labels them "Contemporary Pop".
I'm not an authority on music and can't provide specificity, but P.P. is definitely somewhat distinct from Pop and Rock. Here's the opening paragraph of Wikipedia's definition:
Some of the stuff mentioned in this thread is unquestionably Power Pop, while others hover around the edges. For instance, Tchaikovsky's "Girl of My Dreams" truly is an archetypal P.P. song (despite being a little long), but he also played with the Motors, whose music is considered Pub Rock or Garage Rock.
Their best song, the magisterial "Love and Loneliness", does not sound like P.P.
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The Infidel

I guess I'm not big on the genre, because other than The Knack and Material Issue that was posted earlier, I've never heard of any of this stuff.

Paff

Go to this station on Live365: http://www.live365.com/stations/janglepop

Especially check out the Monday night and Wednesday morning shows, where they hit the "golden age" of power pop.

hdnmickey

Same here, but for a different reason. If the Outfield isn't in this PP genre, it is just being made up as they go along. And as for the made it up as they went along depository that is Wikipedia, their definition isn't going to change anything.

TerryW

Spongetones - Baby Boomer

bacigalup

Surprised these guys haven't been mentioned:

Hiro11

If I had to pick just one, my personal favorite:
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Hokeyboy

Probably because of decades of being overplayed by classic rock radio, movie trailers, commercials, etc. It's definitely a power pop classic, though I prefer "One In A Million".

Hiro11

Close to power pop:

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Geez, that's a whole bunch of gawky white guys.

Barth

I wouldn't call The Outfield contemporary pop by any stretch. They are definitely power pop. I would call 80s groups/singers like Breathe and Rick Astley (sp?) contemporary pop.

hdnmickey

IMO better than Girls With Guns

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Norm de Plume

It's possible, but they don't sound quite like power pop to me. Too light and fluffy; not enough emphasis on guitar. But if folks want to categorize them as power pop, I am in no real position to contradict them.

Barth

Don't get me wrong, I can see how some might see them as much. But where do you see them more....like a Hall & Oates type, or a band like Breathe, Cutting Crew, and Crowded House?
I think Hall & Oates and the Outfield were guitar/drum driven, while the other bands I mentioned were definitely fluff.
I don't care either way, it's a fun conversation cause I like all the bands I mentioned and others have as well.

Norm de Plume

I can't quite quantify it, and others seem to have the same problem, but power pop just has a certain sound. One knows it when one hears it, or at least I think I do. The Outfield, which I love, just seems like straight pop to me. There's an ingredient missing.
The thing is, it's all fluid and hard to pin down. Some musicians who typically made exclusively power pop, also made other music, as fashion dictated, and some musicians who were not known for power pop dabbled in it.
Take Shoes, my favourite power pop band. Their best album is almost inarguably 1979's amazing Present Tense, but my second-favourite album of theirs is Stolen Wishes, which is fairly heavy on late-'80s keyboards. Still, two of their best songs, imo, are from this album: "I'll Follow You" and "Inside of You" (the latter not on Yt).

Paff

I'll argue. I say it's Boomerang. Especially this song which takes the standard old I-IV-V guitar riff and makes it still enjoyable

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TerryW

Shoes - Girls of Today (retrospective promo)