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| From | "Sager, Greg" <greg.sager@bankofamerica.com> |
| Subject | Re: power pop / garage |
| Date | Thu, 19 Aug 2004 00:12:32 -0500 |
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Date: Wed, 18 Aug 2004 11:16:37 -0700
From: Ralph Alfonso <ralph@nettwerk.com>
To: audities@smoe.org
Subject: power pop / garage
Message-ID: <v04220807bd4941a77b73@[209.17.154.159]>
the "power pop" term, i think, sprung from the famous Bomp issue that
championed it
(later spoofed by magnet?)
No, the term was coined by Pete Townshend in an interview in the October
1967 issue of *Hit Parader*. It was his new manner of describing the music
of the Who, seeing as how the band's original tag of "maximum R&B" -- a
memorable but pretty ridiculous calling card even in the beginning, since in
strictly stylistic terms the Who was the most inept R&B band in Britain --
didn't even come close to describing then-current Who songs such as "I Can
See For Miles", "Pictures of Lily", and "Rael". Ken Sharp and Doug Sulpy's
book *Power Pop!* says that this was the first use of the term.
http://www.rhino.com/features/bio/72728bio.html
I've always considered this to be extremely apt. While the '63-'66 Beatles
are the ultimate touchstone of most power pop acts, the pre-*Tommy* Who is
in some respects the definitive power pop band -- particularly since they
exemplified the "power" aspect of the subgenre that I and others (Mike
Bennett's made this same complaint on Audities) often feel gets overlooked.
Certainly, "The Kids Are Alright" (as well as "Substitute", "So Sad About
Us", and several others) has to be on any short list of songs that endure as
power pop blueprints.
in no way, can power pop be mistaken for garage rock in their pure forms.
altho some bands stylistically shift from one form to the other as
they progress
over time so it can blur within the context of a particular band
(Hoodoo Gurus).
power pop overlaps with Mod but Mod has very particular guidelines,
Mod has a more pronounced old-school R&B vibe than does power pop, in
keeping with the Stax/Atlantic/Motown tastes of the London mods of the
mid-sixties, but most of the difference between mod and power pop lies in
such non-musical distinctions as the more brash and assertive lyrics of mod
songs and the distinctive coiffures and haberdashery of mods. Mod's also
less international than power pop in its sensibilities and influence; it's a
very distinctly English phenomenon.
thus
power pop is the most chameleonic of the genres since, with minor
tweaks here and there,
a power pop can easily fit into other genres....
I absolutely agree. In fact, while I concur with the distinctions between
garage rock and power pop that've been pointed out by several posts in this
thread, I think that Ralph's statement about the Hoodoo Gurus can be taken
one step further. Bands not only shift from one subgenre to the other over
time, they'll do it from one song to the next on an album. The difference
between the two is not that great a stylistic leap, which is why there are
plenty of bands out there who can play both IPO and Cavestomp without
blinking an eye (or changing their set list). I don't think that Steve Van
Zandt is the only person out there who's indiscriminate about the boundary.
Gregory Sager
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