Power Pop 101

The Shivvers

Karen Basset of The Pandoras (and of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 4 all-stars The Slapbacks and Popdudes) recently asked some questions about power pop, seeking a better understanding of the parameters of this often-misunderstood genre. As part of this query, she also asked for recommendations of female power pop acts, including groups comprised solely of women and also mixed groups with female lead vocals. Karen wasn't asking me, mind you, but nonetheless I view it as another opportunity for me to pontificate about some of the music I love.

My view of what is and isn't power pop seems to be a bit stricter than what many others think (though I also include a few acts that some others might exclude). Even after all these decades of discussion, there is still no real consensus, nor is there ever likely to be a real consensus. We power pop pundits are a stubborn bunch. God bless our pointed little heads!



In 1978, the power pop issue of Bomp! magazine supplied the foundation for my own idea of power pop. While many think of power pop as strictly a post-'60s phenomenon, Bomp!'s auteurs Greg Shaw and Gary Sperrazza! very definitely traced the origin of power pop to the mid '60s British Invasion. Period. It wasn't supposed to be merely a nostalgia move or a back-to-basics attempt; it was (and is) a genre of its own. The early work of The Who, circa "My Generation" and "The Kids Are Alright," was Bomp!'s power pop Ground Zero. Shaw and Sperrazza! cited Eddie Cochran, Phil Spector, and The Beatles as important precursors, almost but not quite power pop, and insisted that power pop began with The Who.



This was my first and most significant departure from Bomp!'s idea of power pop: power pop has to include The Beatles. Has to. Let's work backward from what could be considered an emblematic power pop record, "Go All The Way" by The Raspberries. "Go All The Way" has everything a great power pop single needs: it's urgent, it's catchy, it's guitar-driven, its drums explode, its harmonies soar. The fact that it's relentlessly horny doesn't hurt either. Combined with all of that, its defining characteristic is its attitude; the song and performance lean forward. The record doesn't stroll, or bop, or churn, or sway, and it certainly doesn't plod. It leans forward. It wants action, baby.



The Who were an enormous influence on The Raspberries and on "Go All The Way." But the biggest influence in play here was The Beatles, specifically "Please Please Me," which I regard as the first power pop record. Although The Beatles originally conceived "Please Please Me" as a ballad in the style of Roy Orbison, the released version displays no evidence of that intent. Instead, the "Please Please Me" we know leans forward in a manner that has no real precedent. Eddie Cochran probably came the closest (possibly close enough that I should consider revising my thinking and declare either "Nervous Breakdown" or "Something Else" the first power pop record); all other antecedents--Spector, Buddy Holly, The Beach Boys, Chuck Berry, The Everly Brothers, The Beatles' own "Love Me Do"--lack some element essential to be considered power pop. But "Please Please Me?" Power pop starts there. Or with Cochran. No, The Beatles! Or...oh, the hell with it.



I wrote an extensive history of power pop for Goldmine in the '90s, and I later updated that history for John M. Borack's book Shake Some Action. You can read that piece on this blog if you're so inclined, and you can also read my debate with Gary Pig Gold about the origin of power pop, so I'll try to limit how much of that I repeat today. For now, suffice it to say that my power pop world view includes the early Beatles, Who, and Kinks, The Easybeats, The Small Faces, Badfinger, Raspberries, Big Star, Cheap Trick, The Ramones, The Romantics, The Plimsouls, The Smithereens, and Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse The Flashcubes, among many others. It does not include The Beach Boys or Buddy Holly, nor Marshall Crenshaw, Squeeze, The Cars, XTC, or any of a number of worthy acts whose still-irresistible work falls outside my power pop boundaries. Your mileage will vary. Crenshaw and Squeeze would probably be my most controversial exclusions, both simply amazing pop artists whom I believe create work that is willfully (if engagingly) less overtly exuberant than what I would call power pop.

So, within my quirky world view, what female or female-fronted power pop acts can we recommend to Karen? When I wrote my power pop history for Goldmine, a disgruntled reader immediately complained about the complete lack of female artists in my essay. The reader himself cited a few questionable examples of acts he thought should have been included, but no, neither Cyndi Lauper nor Toni Basil should really be part of any real-world power pop discussion. I still had to concede that he had a valid point. My subsequent rewrite of that history--and yeah, I am always rewriting history!--tried to address that somewhat.




At the very least, we should consider both The Go-Go's and The Bangles as tangents to the power pop story. Both groups carry conscious influences that are a step away from power pop--the early '60s girl-groups for The Go-Go's and folk-rock for The Bangles--but they're also so close (and so good) that we ought to include them in the discussion. Closer still would be Holly & the Italians, whose 1981 album The Right To Be Italian was described by a writer in Creem magazine as sounding like either The Angels or Lesley Gore backed by The Ramones. Going back to the '60s, an all-female group called The Clingers released a superb cover of The Easybeats' "Gonna Have A Good Time," and that single was absolutely power pop. In the '70s, a distaff quintet called The Poptarts couldn't quite break out of Syracuse, but they were power pop, and they were wonderful.





Karen's plea for guidance to power pop girls amidst all these December boys drew varied responses that ran very far afield, prompting her to quip that apparently any musician with a vagina is power pop. Some of the suggestions were just not power pop at all. PJ Harvey? The Donnas? Suzi Quatro? Birtha? Fanny? I don't think of any of those as power pop. But someone did suggest The Shivvers, and The Shivvers' unrecognized power pop classic "Please Stand By" would absolutely qualify. A lot of Lisa Mychols' work falls within the category, including stuff with her old band The Masticators, as well as current act The Lisa Mychols 3. I agree with Karen that The Pandoras are more garage than power pop, but former Pandora Gwynne Kahn's fab '90s group Mad Monster Party would count as power pop, I think.

There have been just tons of acts that may or may not be strictly power pop, but whose work just shines within the broader spectrum of rockin' pop music. Lucinda Williams isn't power pop, but her "Passionate Kisses" comes close enough for pop junkies like me. Cocktail Slippers may be my current choice for coolest band in the world. Howzabout Tammy & the Lords of Misrule? The Catholic Girls? Nikki & the Corvettes? Much of Circe Link's c.v. draws on broader influences than just pop, but her release The Pop EP is a stunning little set of radio-ready pop with power.





When I talk about power pop, I wind up splitting hairs, and I do so intentionally. But the distinction between power pop and power-pop-not is rhetorical, and the line blurs with delirious glee and merriment in real life. Hell, our radio show This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl is nominally a power pop format, but we delight in mixing The Isley Brothers, The Clash, Dusty Springfield, P.P. Arnold, The Miracles, Warren Zevon, David Bowie, and Prince with our Spongetones, Knack, Hollies, and Bay City Rollers. It's all pop music anyway.



Still, if we're gonna use the phrase "power pop"--and we are!--it's important to have some understanding of what that means. For me, I keep going back to Bomp!'s long-ago power pop equation: the teen pop of Shaun Cassidy plus the punk of The Sex Pistols equals the power pop sound of the early Who. Or, as Sperrazza! put it (and I'm paraphrasing): Power pop means pop with POWER, not some whimpering simp in a Beatles haircut.



Sounds pretty damned good on the radio, too.

(HEY! Speaking of The Pandoras, they have a new seven-song EP Hey! It's The Pandoras due in March, and you should oughtta get it here.)

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Our new compilation CD This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 4 is now available from Kool Kat Musik! 29 tracks of irresistible rockin' pop, starring Pop Co-Op, Ray Paul, Circe Link & Christian Nesmith, Vegas With Randolph Featuring Lannie Flowers, The Slapbacks, P. Hux, Irene Peña, Michael Oliver & the Sacred Band Featuring Dave Merritt, The Rubinoos, Stepford Knives, The Grip Weeds, Popdudes, Ronnie Dark, The Flashcubes,Chris von Sneidern, The Bottle Kids, 1.4.5., The Smithereens, Paul Collins' Beat, The Hit Squad, The Rulers, The Legal Matters, Maura & the Bright Lights, Lisa Mychols, and Mr. Encrypto & the Cyphers. You gotta have it, so order it here.