Ahh, such sweet glorious stuff. So, is anyone anyone sitting on some powerpop gem they wish to share. We had Paul Collins round our way not long back. An excellent show on all fronts.

I had a tape from this tour , in Dallas. Most of these tunes (Plus "Fridays" on "I'm The Man") sounded better than the album ! Jackson's good natured contempt (Which sounds like a contradiction , I know.) shines thru. " You could be someplace worse . You could be watching Bad Company.) , "You can't have bought the new album , cos you don't know much about looking sharp. I mean , you are pretty scruffy..."   Then , there's later examples I heard , myself - "I love Texas. It's great , a guy can go into a bar , and get called a fag." , " A guy walks into a bar with a duck under his arm. The bartender says , "What is this, a joke?". He could've done standup. I had all his early records , traded them in , and , years later , when I began to miss them , they were still readily availble , cheap. I saw the reformed Joe Jackson band , twice . Sounded great.
 
Sam Sinister said:

An oldie but a goodie, Joe Jackson's Look Sharp album is another big time favorite. If you've never heard it, I suggest you give it a listen!

 

'When You Find Out' may well be one of my all time favorite pop tunes. Here's another:

Gotta check out this video by Just Jeffery (of Tranzmitors) 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2I71e3mwl0

Well , living in the Midwest , I've had the stuff coming outof my ears. Not a big fan , and not a big hater , you know. The stuff that's too twee or too derivative of The Beatles , and/ ot helium - addled , I could'nt get behind. Maybe I'm uptight , but , guys who sound like girls (With a few exceptions.) put me off my food. i LIKE  tHE ROMANTICS , NOT EVERYTHING THEY EVER DID. tHEIR FIRST FEW RECORDS HAVE SOME REALLY GOOD MOMENTS , AND THEIR SORT OF RECENT LP (Recent as in about 8 - 10 years ago.) with Clem Burke is VERY good. If you go see The Romantics , chances are Clem Burke is actually Brad Elvis. Not that he's trying to pass , but , he's got that "Clem Burke" style thing down. Burke sometimes gigs with them , but , more often than not , Brad Elvis , who has always resembled a younger , skinnier , Clem Burke (I don't mean for the whole of his music career !) , will be at the kit , and you know what ? You won't mind. HMMMMMMMM Some of my faves ....

Roy Loney _ Sorry.  

Kings - First LP , LIVE 85 CD.  

Artful Dodger - 4 ALBUMS , ALL WITH GOOD MOMENTS.

Telefones - Sign of The Times , The Ballad of Jerry Godzilla , Let's Go Bowling , She's in Love With The Rolling Stones.....

Explosives - Like 'em across the board , but Power Pop afficianados will especially like  "A Girl Like You". One of my favorites is "Summer Come" , which has more Punk edge , UFO , Headhunter , other stuff.

Flamin' Groovies - I will be executed as a heretic , but I don't dig on the Chris Wilson stuff that much , except the very early recordings , as featured on Skydog boots and Norton's "Slow Death". Sure , I like "Shake Some Action" and a couple of Beatle - era Groovies tunes , like "You Tore Me Down" , "Yeah My Baby " is all right , too.

Piper - both albums , the first a bit more.

Is Max Webster considered Power Pop by some ? They're kinda nutty.

Tremblers - Appearing Nightly LP (w/ Peter Noone.)

Trolley (90's , oughts , w/Paul Wall from The Exotics.)

Lava Sutra ( 90's. Chicago did not deserve this great band , which they'd take for granted at a moment's notice.)  

Plimsouls - Whom I like , to a point  (Also probably heresy). I saw them once , really liked them, and decided I'd see them again if I ever had the chance. Had my chance , 25 years later , and the tix were one dollar for each of those 25 YEARS . Sorry , bit too rich for my blood , as only a casual fan , today. Not knockin' 'em. I'm sure I missed out , but , my Brother and I saw the band in their heyday for about one - third of that , each , and saw The Telefones and Robin Lane and The  Chartbusters (The last band , Split Enz , got rained out. They did one song , which we heard them playing on the radio on our way home.) .

Comateens (70's , 80's NYC. Bigger in France.)

MMM - Modettes.

You know , there were many bands in the 70's and early 80's that I conveniently called "Punk Pop". Unlike the latter day "POP - Punk" stuff , these bands , invariably , did'nt feature lead singers who sounded like four year olds who'd developed extremely runny noses and had pissed their pants , besides.  

I mean , bands like The Buzzcocks (Naturally.) , Boys , Lurkers , Dickies , Wreckless Eric ( OK , he's not a band , but , tell HIM that.) , Vibrators , Pleazers , Quick , Rezillos / Revillos , Plastic Bertrand ( I mean the Sire LP.) , eLTON mOTELLO (tHE POOR MAN'S PLASTIC bERTRAND?)....

 REAL KIDS (Maybe not Punk Pop , as such , but plenty Punk with enough Pop.). 

G. E. Smith's "In the World" (1981 Mirage Records) is a lost power pop gem, IMHO. Tight and tough sound production by Bob Clearmountain. Heart Frozen Up, Real Love, Nuns With Guns, Powerman, Sad About Girls, are all killer tunes that you deserve to hear if you love this genre. 

Back in the 90's I wrote the folks at (the then upstart) Razor & Tie Records trying to convince them to reissue it on CD. They knew of and respected the work but didn't see any potential $$ value in its re-release. I grabbed as many copies as i could find in the vinyl cut-out bins back in the day for around 99 cents each and gave a lot away to friends. Still one of my most treasured LP's.

Otherwise: The Producers' "She Sheila", The Plimsouls' "A Million Miles Away", The Who's often overlooked 45 RPM "Call Me Lightning" are some other faves.

Some shameless self promotion I guess, but check out my old band The Beltways,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7m7B_QkJIg

and while you're at it, some good friends of ours, Splitsville.

http://www.youtube.com/user/captdusty?feature=watch#p/u/3/tzlj64oH0nM

Cheers for the tips. All great stuff. We had the Gigolo Aunts pass through here a few months back and I've been on a powerpop trip ever since.

I know of a couple powerpop bands, but alas, their 'bods' aren't very power pop

Oops, I meant to post this:

I've seen Collins a couple of times this year. Great that he's still around and rocking quite hard.

A fun Powerpop song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kv4kB-m-SL0

An oldie but a goodie, Joe Jackson's Look Sharp album is another big time favorite. If you've never heard it, I suggest you give it a listen!

 

Cracking stuff! You can't beat a bit of harmony in life.

Also, these guys are from my general area:

http://www.reverbnation.com/johnnyandtherazorblades

Ah, powerpop. One of my loves...