The Best 50 Powerpop Albums according to RYM

Folk, blues, country

Folk, blues and country sold even less in 1962-63 than soul music did. You mean the majority of record buyers then - as opposed to now - were females?

You did say there was "nothing else", which is palpably untrue

Oh, and country artists didn't sell in 1962-63? Must be the only year since the early 50s till 2010 when country music didn't sell.

But Brill Building pop was what was around in the early 60s... thus boys also went for Brill Building (except those of them who - before Beatles - went for R&B,

The Beatles went for Brill and for R&B.

Some albums that hit #1 in the US, 1962-63:

Ray Charles - Modern Sounds in Country And Western Music
Peter Paul & Mary - Peter Paul & Mary
Allan Sherman - My Son The Folk Singer
Stan Getz/Charlie Byrd - Jazz Samba
Stevie Wonder - Little Stevie Wonder/The 12 Year Old Genius
Peter Paul & Mary - In The Wind
The Singing Nun - The Singing Nun

Some singles that hit #1 in the US, 1962-63

Chubby Checker - The Twist
Joey Dee & the Starlighters - Peppermint Twist
Gene Chandler - Duke Of Earl
Elvis Presley - Good Luck Charm
Ray Charles - I Can't Stop Loving You
4 Seasons - Sherry
Bobby 'Boris' Pickett - Monster Mash
4 Seasons - Big Girls Don't Cry
Tornadoes - Telstar
Rooftop Singers - Walk Right In
4 Seasons - Walk Like A Man
Jimmy Soul - If You Wanna Be Happy
Kyu Sakamoto - Sukiyaki
The Essex - Easier Said Than Done
Jan & Dean - Surf City
The Tymes - So Much In Love
Stevie Wonder - Fingertips, Pts 2
Jimmy Gilmer & the Fireballs - Sugar Shack
The Singing Nun - Dominique

So yeah, Geir's full of baloney, as usual.

Not saying all of those count as soul, folk, or country (no idea where you'd slot Kyu Sakomoto or the Singing Nun for instance), but most of them don't count as Brill Building/girl group. (A few girl group singles -- plus ladies like Connie Francis and Little Peggy March -- did hit #1 on the singles chart in those years, though the closest thing to a girl group album to go #1 was, uh, West Side Story I guess. And I'm guessing it was mostly teenage boys who gave the 4 Seasons all their #1, and even more so "Surf City" and "Monster Mash" and "Duke Of Earl." Bet lots of them bought "Peppermint Twist," too.)

Oh yeah, bet the boys went for "Telstar," too. Surf was total boy rock, even when it comes from England and blasts off like Russian satellite.

Heartless inhuman cyborgs went for "Telstar" too, it was Margaret Thatcher's favourite record of all time

xp And actually, Alan Sherman had three #1 albums in those two years -- all starting with the words My Son (none with My Daughter!); third one, My Son the Nut, #1 for eight weeks, had "Hello Mudduh Hello Faddah!," which sure seems like boy music to me.

Also, Geir, Brill Building is not synonymous with girl group.

A genre is also defined by chronology, and powerpop is, by its very definition, a conservative - possibly even reactionary - genre. It was started as protest against the more experimental and freaked out hippie music of the late 60s and has later on been a protest against any new style of music that has occured ever since.

As per usual, I think this is probably mostly true, but stated far too categorically. With genres like garage and rockabilly, yeah, a lot of bands seem to start with the premise that the world stopped when the Standells or Gene Vincent walked the earth, and there's a snobbishness and/or obliviousness towards everything that's come along since. And--even though it's harder to trace back to a specific moment--I'm sure there are numerous power-pop bands guilty of the same thing. But I'm also sure there are many others who play power-pop just because it happens to be their favourite kind of music, and it's relatively simple to play, and even though they love lots of other stuff, they realize they'd look faintly ridiculous trying to do a Lady Gaga or Jay Z song. When my own piddly little group played at a couple of school assemblies, we stuck to punk-indie-poppy stuff like "Now I Wanna Be a Good Boy" and "Take the Skinheads Bowling"; we love that stuff, but above and beyond that, we're all in our 30s and 40s and it's very easy to play. But we're not reactionary at all; we even managed to work the chorus from Miley Cyrus's "Hoedown Throwdown" into "Now I Wanna Be a Good Boy"'s bridge.

But I'm also sure there are many others who play power-pop just because it happens to be their favourite kind of music, and it's relatively simple to play

Country is simpler.
(But then, many country musicians have developed into doing powerpop instead)

Country is simpler.

eh?!? (i'm not even a fan of country music, but this is so clearly wrong.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXkwthWiMFk

Country is simpler.

LOL

(But then, many country musicians have developed into doing powerpop instead)

I think he's finally flipped

it's kind of fun to see how far geir can go w/ his faulty premises.

This a singles genre...but that said, aside from the Big Star albums, which are kind of in a universe by themselves, the best start-to-finish classic power pop album I can think of is Rockpile's Seconds of Pleasure

I take this back on a few levels. Just in the last few days I have listened to... '70s - The Knack, Get the Knack, '80s - Game Theory, Lolita Nation, '90s - The Grays, Ro Sham Bo, all of which are great from beginning to end. Not that Seconds of Pleasure isn't good but it's not the only complete power pop album and I'd probably take any of those other three over it.

godDAMN Bill Monroe's boys are fucking shit up in that clip - thx Pappa!!

Happy to Geirbait.

I think 20/20's and Phil Symour's debut albums are great listens from beginning to end.
And if you consider Marshall Crenshaw powerpop...

it's funny how much Geir hates country, given how white and eurocentric it is

Too rhythmic, maybe.

not enough slow and silent ballads

does Geir basically hate all music pre-1963...? folk, jazz, country - it's all crap to him. I guess he likes Beethoven...

1949
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KV_nJ30XDlI

does Geir basically hate all music pre-1963...?

He's said as much, yes.

And if you consider Marshall Crenshaw powerpop...

I do, I do. Field Day's got the same cathedral-like hugeness of the early Byrds, and there are great songs scattered throughout his '80s albums ("Cynical Girl" being the best not on Field Day).

Thus Sang Freud: Our online feed was down for a few days, but I did play your song this morning.

And in the same set as Canadian giants Goddo and Fludd no less! I am not worthy! (Seriously -- thanks.)

This is the second power pop thread I have seen before that there isn't a single mention of The Smithereens, which seems kind of odd as I think their sound is pretty much 60s pop run through loud Marshall amps and they actually had a couple of hits unlike most of those late 70s/early 80s groups.

"country not being hard"

Not when it comes to playing guitar, those guys are freaks. Unlike a whole lot of rock, you can't really BS that flat picking or crazy bends stuff.

This is the second power pop thread I have seen before that there isn't a single mention of The Smithereens, which seems kind of odd as I think their sound is pretty much 60s pop run through loud Marshall amps and they actually had a couple of hits unlike most of those late 70s/early 80s groups.

IMO Powerpop didn't really exist in the 80s at all, save for maybe the first few years of the decade (Romantics, Spongetones etc.). Smithereens were an archetypical jangle pop band, and one of the typical genre specifics of 80s guitar based music was a production dominated by lots of reverb and the vocals way back in the production, whereas powerpop is a melody-oriented genre where the vocals will usually be way out in the front of the production. Sure, I agree the jangle pop bands are related to powerpop, with their retro orientation, going back to "classic" guitar pop etc. But I have a hard time defining them as powerpop. They are probably more related to the Paisley Underground bands, only more classically melodic.

does Geir basically hate all music pre-1963...?

I don't like "rock" music from before 1963. Tin Pan Alley and Brill Building did definitely provide som good pop music, particularly the former.

Oh, and I also like Buddy Holly, largely because he incorporated a lot of Brill Building pop elements into his rock music, and thus extended rock's harmonic and melodic palette. I'm not too big on his straigther 12 bar rock'n'roll numbers such as "That'll Be The Day" though.

"I'm looking for someone to love" is awesome.

Of course the Smithereens are powerpop. Nothing to do with Paisley Underground - it's hard pop, with very little interest in psychedelia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNZbP3ZVem4

Rare namecheck for Bill Wyman there.

Yep, a fixture of a mixtape back in the day, but never needed owt else from them.

God, I just looked a recent clip of the Smithereens. Pat Di Nizio must be 300lb now.

This is a pretty nifty comp for a powerpop primer, different from the usual ones from the DIY series:>> http://www.amazon.com/Roots-Powerpop-Various-Artists/dp/B000003JGK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1276190233&sr=1-1<;<

Nashville Ramblers' Trains is an awesome track.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_VPuby8CQw

This might be sped up a bit but you get the idea.

It just occured to me: Nobody has mentioned The Scruffs. At least I don;t think so. Very good p'pop, not too twee.

This is a pretty nifty comp for a powerpop primer, different from the usual ones from the DIY series:>> http://www.amazon.com/Roots-Powerpop-Various-Artists/dp/B000003JGK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1276190233&sr=1-1<;;<

Looks like a different but good representation, but The Roots of Powerpop? Looks more like the golden age to me. The roots of powerpop would rather be the likes of Beatles, Beach Boys, Byrds, The Who, Small Faces and maybe the occasional Buddy Holly or Everly Brothers.

Green?

Anyone "wanna meet the scuffs?"

I mean Scruffs...been listening to it lately. Still sounds cool

I've had a vinyl copy of Wanna Meet the Scruffs? for a number of years. I like it, but don't think it lives up to Christgau's blurb in the '70s book. Sometimes I'd include "My Mind" on mix-tapes for people.

Yep - Wanna Meet the Scruffs is a fine p'pop disc.

I also agree re. the title of the Roots of... comp. Not exactly the roots. In fact I think it may have been Pete Townshend who coined the term. It would certainly be a perfect description for "So Sad ABout Us" & "The Kids Are Alright," among others.

Green?

― kumar the bavarian, Saturday, June 12, 2010 12:50 AM (2 days ago) Bookmark

Their debut is one of the greatest albums ever. Completely untouchable, an overwhelming power-pop masterpiece on a par with Radio City...or Face To Face.

Do you good people think Green Pajamas would fit in the p'pop world, or do they transcend it, or what...?

If the Smithereens can't get filed under Power Pop, then the genre doesn't even exist. They pretty much were doing pre-psychedelia 60s pop running through big loud Marshall amps and did a whole lot of 60s name checking and various things. Criminy they got The Honeys back together to sing backup vocals on their biggest hit, which was on an album whose artwork is nicked from Oceans 11, a decade before that movie was remade.

another vouch for the Scruffs, who are wonderful. their sophomore record, teenage gurls, isn't quite as good as meet the, but is well worth checking.
also, the toms - s/t, who were just one guy outta Memphis (i believe), has given me as much enjoyment as the scruffs

Anyone heard the new album?
http://www.notlame.com/THE_SCRUFFS/Page_1/CDSCRUFFS8.html