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Post by pacinoyes on May 27, 2022 21:09:46 GMT
I dunno man, I feel like if I don't create this thread - and I get run over by a bus tonight or something - it would be a really sad thing that I didn't accomplish - so...........finally a music thread I can post in every day (um).......but what is "Power Pop" anyway, pacinoyes? No one knows exactly........but it's like obscenity, you'll know it when you see - or in this case hear - it.
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Post by pacinoyes on May 28, 2022 8:59:11 GMT
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Post by themoviesinner on May 28, 2022 9:40:18 GMT
Look, I'm not an expert on Power Pop. I don't even know what to consider as Power Pop (Songs that can be both Pop and Rock? Pop songs with a lot of electric guitars in them? Softer and sillier than average rock songs? I have no clue.), but there is this Greek song called Kalokairina Radevou, which I definitely think that falls into this category as it is a Rock song that became a summer hit! here in Greece (and when I say summer hit, I mean it played a lot in beach bars and clubs and such, generally places that feel so out of place for a Rock song to be playing). So I'll call it a Power Pop song and say it is one of the best (it's definitely a great song).
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Post by pacinoyes on May 28, 2022 10:21:53 GMT
Look, I'm not an expert on Power Pop. I don't even know what to consider as Power Pop (Songs that can be both Pop and Rock? Pop songs with a lot of electric guitars in them? Softer and sillier than average rock songs? I have no clue.), but there is this Greek song called Kalokairina Radevou, which I definitely think that falls into this category as it is a Rock song that became a summer hit! here in Greece (and when I say summer hit, I mean it played a lot in beach bars and clubs and such, generally places that feel so out of place for a Rock song to be playing). So I'll call it a Power Pop song and say it is one of the best (it's definitely a great song). I dig this a lot - and as I said on here, many (many) times to TerryMontana - we miss you on here terry, come back buddy - I have some affinity for Greek music through my ex who turned me on (musically) to the stupendously great song Iparho by Kazantsidis which is the "Every Breath You Take" of its day (um). Of course there are famous non-English language Power Pop songs - or that I' think of as "famous" International Power Pop anyway - "99 Luftballons" by Nena and "Ça plane pour moi" by Plastic Betrand..... etc. Btw I like when I can make out words with my limited Greek vocabulary - at one part he says "your legs" and then "your body" I am pretty sure -though that doesn't matter, I mean how many of those Françoise Hardy songs did I understand (not many!), and I freakin' love her
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avnermoriarti
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Post by avnermoriarti on May 28, 2022 17:48:00 GMT
arguably the best (power) pop song ever :
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Post by Tommen_Saperstein on May 28, 2022 22:21:21 GMT
what the hell, since pacinoyes already mentioned it there's no reason not to post it. Nena's "99 Red Balloons" (the English version because the German accent is so cute) is one of the best pop songs ever. A catchy end-of-the-world banger to play at all your Cold War themed costume parties.
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Post by countjohn on May 28, 2022 23:10:56 GMT
Well Big Star are obviously the kings of this with those first four tracks from their debut album and the cover of Femme Fatale, the only of the many Velvet Underground covers that manages to top the original. Like a couple deeper cuts from them as well-
The big Raspberries hits are good too-
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Post by pacinoyes on May 30, 2022 6:50:58 GMT
They made one of the most most famous songs in the genre - some people would call it best in genre - and call them a "one hit wonder" with "Starry Eyes" but I of course like another one better .......um....
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SZilla
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Post by SZilla on May 30, 2022 14:53:46 GMT
Here's a classic one - "Shake Some Action" by the Flamin' Groovies.
"Another Girl, Another Planet" by The Only Ones
and of course: Big Star - September Gurls
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SZilla
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Post by SZilla on May 30, 2022 14:55:55 GMT
They made one of the most most famous songs in the genre - some people would call it best in genre - and call them a "one hit wonder" with "Starry Eyes" but I of course like another one better .......um.... My personal favorite of theirs is "Rumour Sets the Woods Alight"
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Post by pacinoyes on May 31, 2022 6:03:25 GMT
On Radio City (1974) & Third (1975 / released 1978) - maybe the 2 greatest albums in a genre which usually just specializes in singles - Alex Chilton was the genius of the form. But he also scattered other great songs in the 70s too - such as this one, co-written (officially - but I sorta doubt it) with Lesa Aldridge (sometimes Aldredge) - who he started dating while she was still in high school (um)...... just after Radio City was finished ..........and then she would inspire almost all of Third ....... if you're curious about Lesa - and she's a fascinating character ...........I wrote about her here: movie-awards-redux.freeforums.net/thread/19628/last-piece-art-truly-moved
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Post by pacinoyes on Jun 1, 2022 5:18:39 GMT
The Bangles - at times (when not making syrupy overproduced ballads which they did too much - blech) crucially understood the gender gap inherent in Power Pop which they loved and was an influence right from the start - they expressed it in covers in the genre (Going Down To Liverpool - better than the original too), their own originals (Hero Takes A Fall) - and sometimes they made ace records that played off of those contradictions in weird ways:
This cover of a song by 2 guys (Simon & Garfunkel) that they re-worked as a straight up Power Pop song (those drums!).......that changes the whole context and maybe certain details when the exact same lyrics are now sung by a female.
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Post by pacinoyes on Jun 2, 2022 8:33:53 GMT
The best Power Pop sometimes overlaps with other genres - and there'd be no Power Pop cult if you removed bands who aren't strictly Power Pop...... The Buzzcocks however are both and could be called that term first even before Punk.........and they understood rule number 1 .....speed kills thrills.
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Post by pacinoyes on Jun 3, 2022 7:26:34 GMT
Chris Bell I Am The Cosmos
I usually say Chris Bell was overrated on Big Star's good but not great imo #1 Record (they get great when Alex Chilton takes over) and afterwards on scattered solo tracks he was hit or miss.........but I Am The Cosmos is a song that equalled even his former bandmate Alex Chilton's best work - which means it is among the best songs in Power Pop history ..........and it kind of sounds like Alex Chilton too but retains Bell's personality throughout as well.
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SZilla
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Post by SZilla on Jun 3, 2022 13:51:11 GMT
Ok, this thread's been around for a week and they still haven't come up, so I'll be the guy to post Badfinger's big 4 songs:
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Post by pacinoyes on Jun 4, 2022 6:45:12 GMT
The dB's Black and White
In the best Power Pop the drums don't ground the songs or just pound either usually - they instead push it forward...... often they have to weave in and out - and they are never "heavy".......
A brilliant song but the drums in this song are a masterclass in how to play this way - try playing air drums to it.........and think how the drums are both above and below the melody.
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cherry68
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Post by cherry68 on Jun 4, 2022 21:11:39 GMT
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Post by The_Cake_of_Roth on Jun 4, 2022 22:24:57 GMT
The dB's Black and WhiteIn the best Power Pop the drums don't ground the songs or just pound either usually - they instead push it forward...... often they have to weave in and out - and they are never "heavy"....... A brilliant song but the drums in this song are a masterclass in how to play this way - try playing air drums to it.........and think how the drums are both above and below the melody. I think the non-heavy, “pushing forward” quality of the drums comes from the combination of the song’s brisk tempo and the drummer playing the fastest possible backbeat rhythm and beat divisions (that’s humanly sustainable within this particular song at least), which sort of invites a lighter touch. You could have another version of this song where the drummer instead plays a different backbeat at half speed within the same overall tempo, and it might seem “heavier” by comparison, giving the song a different kind of energy. I’m not sure what exactly constitutes “Power Pop” (I think the endless number of subgenre labels people have come up with for popular music in general are rather silly), but I’m curious if this stylistic tendency is a defining feature of what you consider the “best” Power Pop – that is, drumming that opts for faster backbeat rhythms rather than what might feel more comfortable or natural.
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Post by pacinoyes on Jun 4, 2022 23:31:57 GMT
The dB's Black and WhiteIn the best Power Pop the drums don't ground the songs or just pound either usually - they instead push it forward...... often they have to weave in and out - and they are never "heavy"....... A brilliant song but the drums in this song are a masterclass in how to play this way - try playing air drums to it.........and think how the drums are both above and below the melody. I think the non-heavy, “pushing forward” quality of the drums comes from the combination of the song’s brisk tempo and the drummer playing the fastest possible backbeat rhythm and beat divisions (that’s humanly sustainable within this particular song at least), which sort of invites a lighter touch. You could have another version of this song where the drummer instead plays a different backbeat at half speed within the same overall tempo, and it might seem “heavier” by comparison, giving the song a different kind of energy. I’m not sure what exactly constitutes “Power Pop” (I think the endless number of subgenre labels people have come up with for popular music in general are rather silly), but I’m curious if this stylistic tendency is a defining feature of what you consider the “best” Power Pop – that is, drumming that opts for faster backbeat rhythms rather than what might feel more comfortable or natural.Yes, I think you're quite right - for me it's that sort of "quicksilver" quality that defines this genre - for my fave records - where the song surges forward in that breathless, heart rate increasing way. I like when the songwriter himself almost takes into account how you'll hear - or not hear - the drums in the writing too. I almost never notice the drums for example in Gentleman Jesse's songs (I've raved him before on MAR, no one cared ) but his songs do have drums of course .......... and the pace - the alacrity of the songs - itself is essential in appreciating his music and how he wrote it to be played. That's just in general though - for example - Jody Stephens (Big Star's drummer) - is a marvelous drummer, capable of being quite heavy for this genre at least ( Back of A Car, You Can't Have Me, etc) and extremely creative in what he adds to the songs too.........but he's so damn good - he's just apart from that specific quality that I usually like........ without Jody Stephens those songs - and on Radio City / Third that's the best of this genre, ever, period - would be far more bland ..............and missing so much of his personality too.
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Post by The_Cake_of_Roth on Jun 5, 2022 2:34:49 GMT
This is really random, but that guitar lick that occurs at 0:12 in the dB’s song sounds a lot like the trumpet melody in this track from Sideways (at 0:09). It was one of those times when you’re humming a song to yourself, and it starts to morph into something else in your head. Of course it isn’t exactly the same – the dB’s guitar has an overarching descending line that the Sideways track doesn’t have, but they both contain a lot of the same notes (though they’re in different keys, interestingly).
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Post by pacinoyes on Jun 5, 2022 10:33:19 GMT
Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers I Need To Know (1978)
Power Pop has no elitist tendencies - it will accept everyone - even if they may not fit in every way. It accepts poseurs, outsiders, pretenders, geniuses, dilettantes, true believers........all of 'em - as long as the song works.
Tom Petty has a strange correlation to the genre - a guy most people think of as "Classic Rock" (which is sometimes descriptive but more often just means "Old Shit") or Americana, or Folk-Rock, or many other things - he was at his best imo when playing Power Pop - on his first 3 records. He's someone very accepted in this genre, but not associated with it at all by many people too - and who made a ton of cash and branched out away from it........but who never turned his back on it either.
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Post by pacinoyes on Jun 10, 2022 23:04:30 GMT
Stiv Bators I'm Not That Way Anymore
Never thought of as anything other than a sneering Punk Rocker but he made this great Power Pop single and separate terrific LP - or terrific at its best at least. I could argue that album - "Disconnected" (1980) as the best full album he ever made.
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Post by Mattsby on Jun 11, 2022 0:01:02 GMT
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Post by Joaquim on Jul 14, 2022 20:59:17 GMT
pacinoyes I watched this vid the other week. Very well put together and a good in depth history lesson on the genre if you ask me. Definitely lots of content on this channel an old, cultured man such as yourself would find interesting
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Post by pacinoyes on Dec 6, 2022 9:21:21 GMT
The Speedways Secret Secrets (2022)
3 albums and an extended EP - 2018-2022 - and the lowest rating they ever got from me was ~ 8.5 / 10 ....... one of the very few consistently great Rock bands - in any genre, not just Power Pop - to exist solely in the MAR era .....
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