Power pop

Infobox Music genre
name=Power Pop
bgcolor=crimson
color=white
stylistic_origins=Pop, Rock and roll, Beat music, Rhythm and Blues, Garage rock
cultural_origins= 1960s United Kingdom and United States
instruments= Standard Drum kit - Electric guitar - Keyboard - Bass guitar - Synthesizer
popularity=Medium
derivatives= Britpop – Indie pop – Pop punk
subgenres= Bubblegum pop [ [http://www.bubblegum-music.com/kasenetz Kasenetz-Katz and Their Super-Duper Rock & Roll Kavalcade | Bubblegum University ] ] – Jangle pop – Mod revival
fusiongenres= Geek rock – New Wave – Psychedelic pop – Synthpop
regional_scenes=
other_topics=List of power pop musicians - Pop rock

Power pop (or powerpop) is a popular musical genre that draws its inspiration from 1960s British and American pop and rock music. It typically incorporates a combination of musical devices such as strong melodies, crisp vocal harmonies, economical arrangements, and prominent guitar riffs. Instrumental solos are usually kept to a minimum, and blues elements are largely downplayed. Recordings tend to display production values that lean toward compression and a forceful drum beat. Instruments usually include one or more electric guitars, an electric bass guitar, a drum kit, and sometimes electric keyboards or synthesizers. While its cultural impact has waxed and waned over the decades, power pop is among rock's most enduring subgenres. [ [http://www.emusic.com/features/spotlight/293_200705-ug-shoes.html A User's Guide to Shoes - eMusic Spotlight ] ] [Liner notes to 'The Roots of Power Pop' and the 'Poptopia' series of CDs]

Formative years: mid 1960s

Pete Townshend of The Who coined the term "power pop" in a 1967 interview [ [http://www.rocksbackpages.com/article.html?ArticleID=2844 rock'sbackpages] ] [ [http://www.popmatters.com/pm/features/article/47713/all-by-himself-no-more-an-interview-with-eric-carmen/ PopMatters interview with Eric Carmen] ] in which he said "Power pop is what we play." As early as 1965, the Everly Brothers were playing music that can be called power pop. The duo's "I'll See Your Light" and "It Only Costs A Dime" displayed jangling guitars and an oblique harmonic approach that built upon the innovations of The Beatles and The Byrds. Those groups, along with The Who, The Small Faces and the Beach Boys, are often cited as the progenitors of power pop.cite book
title = The Book of Rock: From the 1950s to Today
edition = Paperback
last = Dodd
first = Philip
coauthors =
year = 2005
publisher = Thunder's Mouth Press
id = ISBN 978-1560257295
pages = pp 36, 109]

The Who, inspired by the melodicism of The Beatles and the driving rhythms of American R&B, released several songs — "I Can't Explain", "The Kids Are Alright", "Substitute", "I'm a Boy", "Happy Jack", "So Sad About Us", and in 1967, "Pictures of Lily" — in their early mod phase (1965-1966) that can be considered the first true power pop songs. These songs are propelled by Keith Moon's aggressive drumming and Pete Townshend's distinctive power chords, and have strong melodies and euphonic harmonies.

The Beatles took inspiration from The Who's contemporary singles and released hard-edged, yet melodic, singles such as "Paperback Writer" and "Day Tripper" in the mid 1960s, as well as album tracks such as "And Your Bird Can Sing". However, four years before the term "power pop" was coined, The Beatles were already recording a series of influential hits that some have retroactively classified as power pop, including "From Me to You", "She Loves You", "I Want to Hold Your Hand", and "Can't Buy Me Love".

Several groups that arose in the wake of The Beatles' success were important in the evolution of the power pop style, such as The Beau Brummels, The Hollies, and The Zombies. Other acts such as the Knickerbockers, the Easybeats and the Outsiders contributed iconic singles.

Early to mid 1970s

Modern power pop gained momentum in 1970 with recordings by the British group Badfinger (although at this time, the musical style was not yet classified as power pop). Badfinger singles such as "No Matter What", "Baby Blue", and "Day After Day" (all recorded in 1970 and 1971), were the template for the power pop sound that followed in the late 1970s.

In the early 1970s, the form was further codified by the work of The Raspberries (who may have been the first band to earn the power pop appellation, in a mid-1970s article in "Rolling Stone").

At this stage, British pop had taken a stylistic turn (notably, with the rise of glam). The bands performing music that was later to be labeled power pop were nearly all American. The first albums by Big Star and the Raspberries are considered among the genre's essential recordings. Some of Todd Rundgren's early and mid 1970s solo work also touched upon the emerging genre, as did the recordings of Blue Ash, The Flamin' Groovies, Artful Dodger, and The Dwight Twilley Band.

Rundgren, The Raspberries, and The Dwight Twilley Band achieved sporadic chart success during the period. However, the most influential of all the early-to-mid 1970s "pre" power pop-era groups was arguably Big Star, who released two unsuccessful albums and spent years relegated to cult status. Big Star's reputation rose in the early 1980s, after bands like R.E.M. and The Replacements spoke enthusiastically of their work. The Replacements even recorded a song entitled "Alex Chilton" in honor of Big Star's frontman.

Commercial peak: late 1970s to early 1980s

United States

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, spurred on by the success of New Wave and punk rock (music which was similarly driving and stripped-down), power pop enjoyed its most prolific period, with American groups like The dB's, Cheap Trick, The Knack, The Romantics, 20/20, Paul Collins' Beat, The Cars and Shoes all releasing significant albums. Eventually, all would sign deals with major record labels. For the first time, acts of this type were commonly referred to and promoted as "power pop bands".

These new power pop groups favored a leaner, punchier, more punkish attack than their early-1970s predecessors. Some, such as 20/20, The dB's, and Shoes, occasionally incorporated synthesizers into their music, though not to the same degree as did their New Wave counterparts. Visually, taking their cue from the tie-wearing, matching white-suited Raspberries (who had taken their own visual cues from the early 60's British Invasion groups), some of the young power poppers decked themselves out in skinny ties, matching shirts, or, in the case of the Romantics, matching red leather outfits. [ [http://uk.real.com/music/genre/Power_Pop/ Power Pop - Alternative/Punk - Music - www.real.com ] ]

One of these "skinny-tie" bands, The Knack, released perhaps the most successful power pop single of all time, "My Sharona," which spent six weeks in the number one position of the Billboard Hot 100 in 1979. Other notably successful power pop singles of the era included Cheap Trick's "Surrender," Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' "American Girl," and The Romantics' "What I Like About You".

United Kingdom

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 term in January 1978 while writing about the band Tonight, and the term was commonly applied to British Mod revival groups such as The 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 bands, 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 UK artists of the late 1970s commonly identified as power pop were the new wave bands 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 UK press. The band's second single, a cover of The Nerves' "Hanging on the Telephone," demonstrated Blondie's power pop roots.

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, Mod Fun, 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. [ [http://wm06.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=77:383 allmusic ] ]

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 Blink-182, Simple Plan, Bowling for Soup and Good Charlotte. Teen pop and pop rock bands such as the Jonas Brothers have also been described as being in the power pop tradition. [http://www.boston.com/ae/music/cd_reviews/articles/2008/08/15/jonas_brothers_bring_power_pop/] The influence of power pop is also readily apparent in contemporary British groups such as Silver Sun, the A Sides [ [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14302997 The A-Sides: Power-Pop Gets Positively Cheerful : NPR Music ] ] , the Futureheads, Maxïmo Park, Farrah, The Feeling, Razorlight, and Babyshambles.

Notable power pop singles

*Badfinger's "No Matter What" (1970) [ [http://www.epinions.com/content_106012380804 Badfinger: "No Matter What" you should "Come And Get It" - The Very Best Of Badfinger by Badfinger - Epinions.com ] ]
*The Raspberries' "Go All The Way" (1972) [ [http://www.blender.com/guide/articles.aspx?id=1979 The Greatest Songs Ever! Go All the Way Article on Blender :: The Ultimate Guide to Music and More ] ]
*Big Star's "September Gurls" (1974)
*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)
*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)
*Hanson's "MMMBop" (1997)
*Fountains Of Wayne's "Stacy's Mom" (2003)
*OK Go's "Here It Goes Again" (2006)

Footnotes

ee also

*List of power pop musicians
*Popular music

External links

* [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/themotels/albums/album/89388/review/5941313/the_motels Article about power pop from Rolling Stone] 1979, RS306
* [http://punkmodpop.free.fr/ Mod Pop Punk Archives] - includes information about power pop bands
* [http://wm06.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=77:383 Information about power pop] from Allmusic
* [http://www.westcottradio.org This Is Rock 'n Roll Radio - a weekly Webcast playing power pop]
* [http://www.powerpopaholic.com Powerpopaholic, a website devoted to power pop music reviews]