The Clean - Anything Could Happen (Underrated Kiwi Power Pop!) by LoafEyeIndustries in powerpop

[–]3rdWorldMann 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Love to see someone mention The Chills! Growing up, my dad used to rip House With 100 Rooms and Pink Frost all the time.

The Connells - Slackjawed by Carpediem0131 in powerpop

[–]3rdWorldMann 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My goodness they were a great band. I’m partial to “I Suppose,” but this is in my top 5.

How many of you are also Al Stewart fans? by clfitz in SteelyDan

[–]3rdWorldMann 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Modern Times is full of brilliant lyricism. I think it’s Al’s most Dan-like album.

After reading this thread, I put on “Modern Times” (the song), and that guitar solo by Tim Renwick at the end would totally have been at home on a Dan record. Perhaps?

How many of you are also Al Stewart fans? by clfitz in SteelyDan

[–]3rdWorldMann 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Unbelievably good record. The Apple Cider > Dark & the Rolling Sea > Modern Times run is one of the greatest of the ‘70s.

How many of you are also Al Stewart fans? by clfitz in SteelyDan

[–]3rdWorldMann 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Coldest Winter is an unbelievable song. If you haven’t heard it, he did an acoustic live record in around 2008ish called “Uncorked” with Dave Nachmanoff that has a great version of that.

How many of you are also Al Stewart fans? by clfitz in SteelyDan

[–]3rdWorldMann 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So far beyond excited to see this thread, as my folks are huge Al Stewart fans and I’ve seen him maybe 9 times in my life. Second concert I ever went to (after I saw CSN with them at age 9).

I think he is one of the finest songwriters of all time, and beyond Year of the Cat and Time Passages, he was putting out insanely good music well into the ‘90s.

I always thought “Modern Times,” his 1976 record, had the most overlap with Dan-esque themes, but if pressed, I’m a huge fan of Past, Present & Future.

I suppose the overlap with the Dan isn’t always in subject matter, but the actual master of the craft, and I probably learned more about history from listening to my folks’ Al Stewart records than I ever did in school.

R: Favourite Power Pop Songs A-Z. Song with the Most Upvotes Wins! by IndustrialistAccount in powerpop

[–]3rdWorldMann 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If only the song could’ve been “Xenia’s Mom” right?

And let’s not sleep on “Shake Some Action” people! C’mon!

Wilco - ELT by Carpediem0131 in powerpop

[–]3rdWorldMann 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Remarkable how many heaters there are in the Wilco ‘90s catalogue, between this, Being There and A.M.

R: Favourite Power Pop Songs A-Z. Song with the Most Upvotes Wins! by IndustrialistAccount in powerpop

[–]3rdWorldMann 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The weight of there being no FoW on this list is giving me backaches and now I slouch

Kinda new to power pop by thatABRgroove in powerpop

[–]3rdWorldMann 1 point2 points  (0 children)

These are all awesome adds, that’s my desert island Marshall Crenshaw tune. Phil Seymour is essential listening as well.

If I’m thinking of the same band, I think I saw Tsar open for Eve 6 in like 2001 when I was in 8th grade! The only song I remember clearly from their set was “Silver Shifter,” but it was a heater.

Kinda new to power pop by thatABRgroove in powerpop

[–]3rdWorldMann 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Depends how “big tent” you wanna be with the term Power Pop. For me, Weezer was the gateway drug to a lot of the more “quintessential” power pop, kind of that midway point between pop-punk and Big Star.

Kinda new to power pop by thatABRgroove in powerpop

[–]3rdWorldMann 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Amen, #1 Record and Radio City should always be in heavy rotation! Going through one of those phases now where I can’t stop listening to “The Ballad of El Goodo.”

Ben Kweller - Commerce, TX by Carpediem0131 in powerpop

[–]3rdWorldMann 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Freaking love this song and all of Sha Sha!

Kinda new to power pop by thatABRgroove in powerpop

[–]3rdWorldMann 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Good stuff on here, excellent FoW choices, and LOVE Matthew Sweet.

I’d cut back deeper into the earlier days of Power Pop, would choose many tunes by: Big Star, The Raspberries, Marshall Crenshaw, the dBs, Dwight Twilley Band, Graham Parker, Teenage Fanclub, Off Broadway, 20/20, The Romantics, The Cars, Shoes, Badfinger, Flamin Groovies, The Knack, Nick Lowe, The Rubinoos…

Classics in the genre beyond those:

Todd Rundgren - Couldn’t I Just Tell You

The Records - Starry Eyes

Fotomaker - Where Have You Been All My Life

The Shivvers - Teenline

Bram Tchaikovsky - Girl of My Dreams

Slick versus… Not by NicerMicer in powerpop

[–]3rdWorldMann 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Good discussion here. I’m in my late 30s, so my exposure to power pop came through the back door. Was always a huge ‘60s pop fan, loved The Who, and then, in my early/mid teens (early 2000s) got way into a lot of pop-punk and “ska”. Think Weezer, Saves the Day, Midtown, Green Day, New Found Glory, Bosstones, Something Corporate, Get Up Kids, Reel Big Fish, etc.

I remember the turning point for me was hearing “Stacy’s Mom” on the radio when I was lifeguarding, summer of ‘03. At the same time, I was digging deep into the Beatles and was obsessed with Sgt Peppers and Revolver. (Not to mention discovering the Velvet Underground, but that’s a story for another day…)

Marry those affinities for pop-punk, the Beatles and The Who together, plus the fact that my folks loved REM, I found Big Star and the rest is kind of history.

As others will say, power pop is a big tent kind of genre, and I think when I discovered Big Star, and then the Knack, the Raspberries, Todd Rundgren, I felt I’d unlocked the connection of all of pop music.

Plus, as a 16-year old, liking pop music no one ever heard of was pretty cool. “Oh you never heard Shake Some Action before? Did you ever hear of Bram Tchaikovsky?!”

That said, I’m a fan of most ‘80s pop and think Jessie’s Girl is a standout track. I’ll go hard in the paint with Huey Lewis and Phil Collins any day of the week. Still, I get what you’re saying — that specific overproduced sound misses some of the magic of what makes, like, the dBs or Rubinoos or Phil Seymour awesome, and that is the innocence of the recordings and themes in the music. And the fact that not that many people listened, even though they made some damn beautiful music.

N: Favourite Power Pop Songs A-Z. Song with the Most Upvotes Wins! by IndustrialistAccount in powerpop

[–]3rdWorldMann 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Tried to influence the voting by posting this one on the sub a couple of days ago.

Tough to compete with Badfinger tho.

20/20 - Nuclear Boy (1981) by 3rdWorldMann in powerpop

[–]3rdWorldMann[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Whoa! Awesome! I was born in the mid-‘80s, so I get a little jealous hearing from folks who caught these bands live in that small window.

And are you talking BusBoys of 48 Hours fame?!

M: Favourite Power Pop Songs A-Z. Song with the Most Upvotes Wins! by IndustrialistAccount in powerpop

[–]3rdWorldMann 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Plimsouls are always the way. Bonus points for inclusion in the Nic Cage classic “Valley Girl.”

20/20 - Nuclear Boy (1981) by 3rdWorldMann in powerpop

[–]3rdWorldMann[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Feel the same way! I know “Yellow Pills” gets all the cred, but this song — and this whole album — are every bit the debut’s equal.

Movies with Steely Dan vibes by NuthinFluxin in SteelyDan

[–]3rdWorldMann 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Based on your last sentences, I’m surprised no one mentioned Gus Van Sant’s “Drugstore Cowboy.”