Power pop
Power Pop is a term for a music style between rock and pop , which is characterized by short "3 1/2-minute pop songs", simple arrangements, strong melodies and distinctive riffs and mainly from the pop music of the 1960s, the mods , the beat music and is partly inspired by 1960s American pop. Power pop of the 1970s and 1980s partially coincided with the punk and new wave movements and had an audible impact on modern pop-punk and indie pop .
Origin of the term and early precursors
The term "power pop" was reportedly first used by Pete Townshend of The Who when he made the following comments in 1967 about his band's style:
"Power pop is what we play - what the Small Faces used to play, and the kind of pop the Beach Boys played in the days of 'Fun, Fun, Fun' which I preferred."
"We play power pop - what the Small Faces used to play and the kind of pop music the Beach Boys played in the fun, fun, fun era, which I liked better."
In addition to the Beach Boys and The Who already mentioned , the Kinks , The Move and, above all, the Beatles are considered the musical origins of Power Pop; the Everly Brothers also played a music style that could be categorized as Power Pop in the mid-1960s. Bands from the 1970s such as Easybeats , Badfinger , Big Star and the Raspberries were also subsequently assigned to power pop.
Commercial peak in the 1970s and 1980s
Until about 1978, the term power pop was not widely used, when it was picked up again by music journalists who used it as a euphemism for more poppy punk groups to steer punk into more commercial channels. At this time, artists such as Elvis Costello , Dave Edmunds , Nick Lowe , bands from the direct punk environment such as the Rich Kids and the Buzzcocks as well as protagonists of the mod revival such as The Jam or the Vapors were referred to as power pop. The clothing of these groups also often showed the influence of the mod scene or the British Invasion with their monochrome suits, narrow ties and short hairstyles. However, some bands, such as the Romantics , also attracted attention with their new wave haircuts and leather outfits.
Further effects of the style and influences on other musical styles
With its catchiness, power pop managed to become one of the longest-lasting trends in pop music. He still exerts a great influence on many groups today, in related genres such as indie pop ( Teenage Fanclub ), alternative rock ( The Cardigans , The Dandy Warhols , Fastball , Maxïmo Park ), pop-punk ( Bowling for Soup , Good Charlotte , Jimmy Eat World , Simple Plan , Weezer ) and Britpop ( Babyshambles , The Libertines , Supergrass ).
The group Green Day professed to have made a full genre change from punk to power pop since their album 21st Century Breakdown .
More bands
- 20/20
- Paul Collins' Beat (aka The Beat)
- Big star
- Blondie
- The Boys
- Buzzcocks
- The Cars
- Cheap trick
- The Chords
- The dB's
- The Easybeats
- The Innocents
- The Jam
- The knack
- Matthew Sweet
- Merrymakers
- The Not Amused
- The Pleasers
- The Plimsouls
- The Posies
- The Records
- Redd Kross
- Rockpile
- The Romantics
- Shoes
- Squeeze
- Teenage fan club
- Bram Tchaikovsky
- Tonight
- The Vapors
- The Wannadies
- XTC
Individual evidence
- ↑ Keith Altham: Lily Isn't Pornographic, Say Who . New Musical Express magazine , May 20, 1967 issue.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h http://uk.real.com/music/genre/Power_Pop/
- ↑ Album Reviews ( Memento from September 19, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ A b Jay Cocks: Music: Bringing Power to the People , Time, June 26, 1978
- ↑ a b Ira Robbins: A User's Guide to Shoes , emusic.com
- ↑ http://www.popfrontal.de/bandinfos/7411.html ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ http://www.intro.de/artist/The%20Dandy%20Warhols ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ http://modernpowerpop.blogspot.com/2009/03/album-review-fastball-little-white-lies.html ( Memento from April 1, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ http://www.tagesspiegel.de/kultur/pop/Max%EFmo-Park-Neue-Alben;art971,2791147
- ↑ http://www.musik-base.de/Bands/B/Bowling-For-Soup/Biographie/
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original dated December 30, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ http://www.laut.de/lautstark/cd-reviews/w/weezer/maladroit/index.htm
- ↑ http://www.laut.de/lautstark/cd-reviews/s/supergrass/supergrass_is_10_the_best_of/index.htm
- ↑ http://www.nme.com/news/green-day/41408
- ↑ a b c - ( Memento of the original from December 12, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
