|
Bookmark this
page
|
Powerpop
While it is very easy to dismiss this sub-genre of music, the
fact remains that Powerpop (even at its most commercially
manipulated and manipulative) had a longer history than many
people realise, producing some terrific bands and absolutely
classic music.
The musical source for nearly all powerpop is The
Beatles. Virtually all stylistic appropriations begin with
them. Distinctive harmony singing, strong melody lines, catchy
guitar riffs, lyrics about boys and girls in love - they created
the model that Powerpoppers copied for the next few decades. Other
profound influences include The Who, The
Kinks and The Move - bands whose
aggressive melodies and loud, distorted guitars put the
"power" into powerpop.
Actually, in order to be complete, its safe to say that an
authoritative genealogical tree of powerpop influences would
include virtually all of the bands of the British
Invasion and Mod era. Which brings up a subtle but essential
facet of nearly all American powerpop bands - they seem vaguely
British.
That is, they sing with a slight English lilt to their voices,
are likely to cover songs by British bands and, as was especially
the case with British Mod bands, they dress up rather than down.
Even the most prominent American powerpop influence, the jangly
folk-rock of the mid-60s Byrds, had a
British tinge to it a la The Searchers
and The Hollies.
American Powerpop's first heyday (before it was even called
power pop) was the early 70s. Few American bands encapsulated the
commercial popularity and influenced cult status of early powerpop
better than The Raspberries and Big
Star. Both recorded great records, and while Big
Star's entire recorded output (thanks mainly to the talents of
Alex Chilton) remains inarguably the best of the bunch, both bands
approached their craft with a similar intent: To write smart,
punchy, hook-filled songs.
By the mid-to-late 70s, Powerpop's lifeline continued with
fluke hits like Dwight Twilley's 1975 Top 20 smash I'm On Fire.
Twilley, a native of Tulsa, along with partner Phil Seymour,
recorded a wonderful debut record, Sincerely, that along
with containing the aforementioned hit, is an excellent example of
ebullient, tuneful, rockabilly-tinged powerpop.
Around the same time, Cheap Trick,
a hard rock/pop band from Rockford, Illinois, capitalised on the
strong vocals and good looks of lead singer Robin Zander and the
bizarre antics and surreal narrative of guitarist Rick Neilsen,
recording some of the finest pop/rock of the time.
Powerpop was not solely the province of American bands who
wanted to sound British. There was a British powerpop
"invasion" of sorts in the 70s. Badfinger
was the most blatantly Beatles-influenced
but they produced some excellent, occasionally thrilling, songs
such as No Matter What, Baby Blue and Day After
Day, all Top 3 hits in 1970 - 1971. Loaded with lush guitars,
instantly recognisable melodies and two fine singers in Pete Ham
and Joey Molland, Badfinger was the
model of a great Powerpop band. Sadly, guitarist and songwriter
Pete Ham committed suicide in 1975 effectively ending the band's
career.
By the mid 70s, English powerpop was essentially the music of Glam
Rock: Stiff, boot-stomping rhythms that sounded like football
(soccer) chants. Glam rock cranked up
the guitars while sweetening the melodies, thereby making loud
bubblegum fodder perfect for radio. With artists such as Gary
Glitter, The Sweet, Slade
and Suzi Quatro leading the way, glam
rock produced a handful of great songs, one great band (Slade)
and the obsequious marketing of negligibly talented teen idols (eg:
The Bay City Rollers) that would
become common practice in the early 80s powerpop sweepstakes.
Powerpop's nadir was reached, ironically, during an amazingly
fertile period in its history. In the wake of Cheap
Trick, excellent mid-western Powerpop bands like Pezband
and The Shoes (both from Illinois also)
made great records.
On the west coast, Jack Lee, Peter Case and Paul Collins formed
the punk-pop The Nerves, in Boston The
Real Kids released their debut LP and in New York, Chris
Stamey and Peter Holsapple formed The dB's
and released two of the smartest and most ambitious powerpop
records ever made.
In England, former pub rocker Will Birch (formerly of The
Kursaal Flyers) formed The Records,
a brilliant band who released a couple of outstanding records
including the unforgettable Starry Eyes.
Unfortunately, powerpop of the late 70s/early 80s is also
remembered for the slavish skinny tie-wearing imitators, writing
second generation Raspberries
rip-offs; The Cretones, Fotomaker (sadly with ex-Raspberries
Wally Bryson), The Romantics, The
Jags, The Starjets, The
Sinceros, The Yachts and countless
other bandwagon jumpers. The most famed example are The
Knack. With their 1979 number one hit My Sharona, The
Knack single-handedly gave powerpop a bad name. Obvious in
their Beatles fakery, they were less a
band and more a marketing department creation who laughed all the
way to the bank.
Although most people are loathe to use the term these days,
powerpop still exists. Alternative bands like The Posies, Elastica,
Jellyfish, Urge Overkill and The Lemonheads were not too far
removed from the power pop days of yesteryear. There were flashes
of it in Nirvana, and even retro-punk bands like The Offspring,
Foo Fighters and Green Day.
Ultimately powerpop is much better than the term implies, and
it seems as though it's not willing to go away any time soon.
Which is fine, just as long as skinny ties never make a comeback!
Video Clips
|
Email
this page to a friend
The Knack
The
Records
The
Raspberries
Big
Star
The
Romantics
Badfinger
Cheap
Trick
The
Jags
The
Pleasers
The
Starjets
The
Sinceros
The
Yachts
The
Who
The
Move
|
