popdude

Oh, Dar knew EXACTLY what we were talking about Kirk.

Dar, I think it was Dennis' dad, Timothy.

Oh, the chat room was revived tonight, alrighty! Big, big, BIG fun!

Eric, Thanks for the many years of wonderful music. Happy Birthday!

This one's a two disc set from the UK called POWER POP ANTHEMS. "Go All the Way" appears on disc two, alongside cool tracks from The Rubinoos, The Records, Squeeze, Fountains of Wayne, Big Star, Paul McCartney and Wings and many more. The definition of "power pop" is stretched pretty far on the collection (Queen? The Proclaimers? ELO?), but it looks pretty cool nonetheless...

Actually, Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow are current Posies, not ex..the band's still together and just released a new record...

The I ain't payin' AND I ain't viewin'!

Tony, if that one's on pay-per-view, I ain't payin'!

Maybe Bruce could return the favor to Anne and cover "Snowbird."

I also hear that pyromaniacs swear by "I'm on Fire" and that Metamucil was thinking about using "Born to Run" in one of their commercials...

Springsteen fan are ya, Lew?

"Desiree" is a very cool Left Banke tune, as is the pretty "She May Call You Up Tonight."

That line about the guy in Loverboy wearing red leather pants in "Red" was pretty funny, though...

Marv, tell Kyle to feel free to send it to me, too...I'd love to hear it!

Actually, all three Pezband albums (PEZBAND, COVER TO COVER, LAUGHING IN THE DARK) have been reissued on CD AND there are rare tracks on all of 'em. PEZBAND features four demos which were previously only available on a Not Lame vinyl-only reissue, as well as two previously unreleased tunes. LAUGHING IN THE DARK features the rare THIRTY SECONDS OVER SCHAUMBURG live disc appended, and COVER TO COVER includes the four live tracks from the TWO OLD TWO SOON cd. Not Lame has 'em for sale on their website, but they were released on Air Mail Records out of Japan - the same label that has released the new Rubinoos disc.

Brad Delp was the lead singer of Boston.

Marvin, beware....Kyle told me the same thing before his latest CD was released. Must be his standard rap every time he's around a power pop fan. Of course, Kyle's ballads are great, also, so it's a win-win deal (as opposed to a Wim-Wim deal, which is what you get in the Netherlands). As I mentioned on another thread, there are two old Vincent/Dunbar co-writes on the latest (excellent) Rubinoos full-length...

It's also available at online retailers such as Not Lame and Kool Kat Musik...

The new CD from those primo power popsters/nice guys/'Berries nuts The Rubinoos is just out, and it's a treasure! It's called TWIST POP SIN and among the 13 tunes are two co-writes with Kyle Vincent (both of which also appeared on Kyle's 1997 disc). The songs, harmonies and impecccable musicianship are what folks have come to expect from the Rubes...and as a bonus, the disc comes with a free bonus CD, titled LIVE IN SAN FRANCISCO 1992. Among the tunes performed on this kickin' live show is Raspberries' "Tonight." Very cool stuff...

"The Locomotion"

PowerPopLarry, I like the way you think! JB Who was wearing his Not Lame Records tee-shirt last night when his band played the International Pop Overthrow festival in Los Angeles...

I'm with Tony: West Coast, baby!

Since I am one of those that does not consider the term "power pop" to be a dirty word, I would like to take a moment to recommend the new 20 GREATS FROM THE GOLDEN DECADE OF POWER POP compilation cd, just out on Varese Sarabande Records. The disc leads off with "Go All the Way" (great choice, obviously) and also contains tracks from the likes of Big Star (the single version of "In the Street"), Todd Rundgren ("Couldn't I Just Tell You"), Cheap Trick, The Knack (the "clean," single version of "Good Girls Don't"), Badfinger (a live version of "Baby Blue") and more. There are also some less-than-huge names who contribute very cool cuts, including The Spongetones, The Pop, The Scruffs (lead singer Stephen Burns sounds A LOT like Mr. Carmen)and The Beat. A nice collection, indeed!

Raspberries were at the forefront of what became known as power pop, even if they didn't necessarily call it power pop during the early '70s. I don't agree that any person who describes the 'Berries as power pop is a "jagash," either--especially since I am one of the many journalists who have described them that way! :-) Wrong or right, people are going to put labels on things, let's face it. While some of these labels may be meaningless---what exactly did "new wave" mean, anyway?---I always thought that power pop perfectly described a lot of what the 'Berries did. It's pop music with power, influenced by acts like the Beatles, Who, etc. It's also a great term to describe the magic of Raspberries to the uninitiated. And I must defend Big Star, Dwight Twilley, Shoes, the Knack, Fountains of Wayne and Cheap Trick here. "Disposable at best?" Yikes! I would put Big Star's first two records, Twilley's "Sincerely", "Get the Knack," Shoes' "Present Tense," any of Fountains of Wayne's records and a whole slew of Cheap Trick stuff in any "top 100" list of great power pop records (and I will be doing just that, when the book comes out. :-)

I reviewed the book for Goldmine a few months back. Loved it!