RandomKoolzip's Top 50 Power Pop songs of all time list:

[RandomKoolzip]

Yeah, like you've all been waiting for this, right? Anyways:

1. "Tonight," The Raspberries
2. "Starry Eyes," The Records
3. "Oh, Candy," Cheap Trick
4. "I've Been Waiting," Matthew Sweet
5. "I Wanna Destroy You," The Soft Boys
6. "Yesterday's Love," Any Trouble
7. "Until We Started," Tommy Keene
8. "Another Girl, Another Planet," The Only Ones
9. "Shake Some Action," The Flaming Groovies
10. "I Am the Cosmos," Chris Bell
11. "Cheer," The Descendents
12. "Glad Girls," Guided by Voices
13. "He's a Whore," Cheap Trick
14. "Everything Flows," Teenage Fanclub
15. "Brickfield Nights," The Boys
16. "Girlfriend," Matthew Sweet
17. "She's Got Everything," The Kinks
18. "The Good in Everyone," Sloan
19. "Academy Fight Song," Mission of Burma
20. "Rainbow Station," Jiffipop
21. "Day Job," The Mommyheads
22. "I Live," Jason Falkner
23. "Victoria," The Kinks
24 "Is She Really Going Out With Him?," Joe Jackson
25. "Hanging on the Telephone," Jack Lee
26. "September Gurls," Big Star
27. "(I Want to be an) Angelpoise Lamp," The Soft Boys
28. "Million Bucks," All
29. "Back of My Hand," The Jags
30. "Girl of My Dreams," Bram Tchaikovsky
31. "Teenage FBI," Guided by Voices
32. "Substitute," The Who
33. "Miracle Medicine," Jason Falkner
34. "Chester the Molester," Sloan
35. "Airwaves Dream," The Buzzcocks
36. "Pictures of Lily," The Who
37. "Sunday School," The Brown-Eyed Susans
38. "Hello There," Cheap Trick
39. "Elizabeth Montgomery's Face," The Embarrasment
40. "All is Forgiven," Jellyfish
41. "Baby Blue," Badfinger
42. "Overnight Sensation," The Raspberries
43. "StarStruck," The Kinks
44. "Everybody's Happy Nowadays," The Buzzcocks
45. "So It Goes," Nick Lowe
46. "She Don't Know Why I'm Here," The Last
47. "All in Good Time," The Three O'Clock
48. "Do Anything You Wanna Do," Eddie and the Hot Rods
49. "Gotta Get a Record Out," Green
50. "Kid Dynamite," Squirrel Bait

[Magrittes Pipe]

1. This is the most pathetic cry for help I've ever seen on DU.

[RandomKoolzip]

5. Shouldn't you out somewhere trimming your unecessary

and quite cumbersome facial hair right now? Or perhaps forcing others to admire the length of your cock?

"Cry for help," Mis HUEVITOS, cabron!

[Magrittes Pipe]

8. My face is as bald as a baby's bottom.

And the length of my cock has been greatly exaggerated. :cry:

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

2. Power Pop is a scam

[RandomKoolzip]

3. HipHop is a sham

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

7. Go chew on a thermometer you dickhead!

Thems fightin word!!!

[RandomKoolzip]

10. Oh, and Tori Amos blows dead Egyptians.

You want a piece of me, little toothpick man?!

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

11. Mathew Sweet takes his teabags warm

if you get my drift Chachi

[RandomKoolzip]

13. I'm having "Little Earthquakes" in my pants right now, fucko!

I don't know whether to shit or play piano sideways!

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

15. Shut up!!! Thats why!!!!

Power Pop was the Police and nothing else

[Wat_Tyler]

18. Honey.

The Police were good-pretentious cod-reggae prog-rock power-rock. Get it right.

[Wat_Tyler]

4. I agree wholeheartedly, RKZ.

I may have made room for another Jellyfish number (perhaps 'The King is Half-Undressed), or the majestic Undertones, but I commend you on including the peerless 'Another Girl, Another Planet' and 'The Good in Everyone'.
How about XTC? Would 'Mayor of Simpleton' or something from Black Sea qualify?

[RandomKoolzip]

6. XTC's like a genre unto themselves.

If I were gonna include XTC, this list would be nothing BUT XTC songs!

In fact, I'd have to include the whole of Black Sea, and trimming songs from GO2 would be heartbreaking....

[Wat_Tyler]

9. Yeah, there a very few pure power pop XTC songs,

they usually contain some other elements such as funk rhythms and psychedelia, for instance, is The Loving power pop, or does it lack a necessary velocity? Can one have slow power pop?

[RandomKoolzip]

12. I would have included "The Rhythm..."

and maybe "Helicopter" and "Smalltown...." And "You're the Wish You Are I Had," etc. Mainly early Terry Chambers-driven stuff. Because those are the ones that sound the most like Power Pop to me.

Nothing off of "English Settlement" or "Murmur" or "Nonesuch," though. Too textural.

[Magrittes Pipe]

14. Also, the absence of "Exit Flagger" clearly outs you as a moron.

[Wat_Tyler]

16. There was a band from Ulster called Joyrider

who did a kick ass souped up power pop take on Rush Hour by Jane Wiedlin. Ulster seems to be a real haven for punked-up Power Pop, with the Undertones, Therapy?, Ash et al.

[AmandaRuth]

17. what, no db's?

no Sweet? :-) :)

[RandomKoolzip]

24. I'm gonna have to make another list!

I also left The Move and early REM off the list. Big Mistake!

(I loooove the dB's)

[NashVegas]

19. *ahem*

Todd Rundgren - "Couldn't I Just Tell You"

[Wat_Tyler]

20. A work of genius, that one.

[NashVegas]

23. Damn Straight

What happened to the peasant, anyway, you have a stalker or something?

[Wat_Tyler]

26. Well, would you ever take a post seriously by MumblingPeasantSteve?

I mean, I'm not often serious, but I do reserve the right once in a blue moon. Besides it's a really stupid name.

[Wickerman]

21. I had no idea I was a fan of powerpop

Yet I see much there in my collection. SoftBoys, Buzzcocks, Teenage Fan Club, whoddathunk? HOwever, would suggest you add the MOdern Lover's Roadrunner and not to quibble on number 50 but would strongly argue that Sun God is a far superior choice.

"Starry Eyes," The Records, haven't thought of that song in at least 15 years. Fun list.

[RandomKoolzip]

29. Thanks!

Yeah, The Modern Lovers belong on there somewhere but Richman's voice (more Lou Reed than McCartney) tends to skew their sound more punkward than popward (I'm actaully a huge fan) although there are some isolated powerpop moments here and there ("Dignified and Old," definitely)

With Squirrel Bait, I decided that "Skag Heaven" was the album from which I'd pull a tune or two. The first one sounds a little undernourished to me, melody-wise.

[Wickerman]

45. Agreed Skag Heaven is more melodic

but Sun God holds up so well as a pop song - can't give up easily on that one. Nothing else on the EP is very poppy, as I recall. And, ya gotta admit, its one of the best record covers ever.



Yeah, I guess ML goes more toward's punk though it makes a great pop song when covered.

Also, one last suggestion:

Any of the first three songs on The Earthmen, Fall and Rise of My Favourite Sixties Girl - but probably Figure 8

[Wat_Tyler]

22. Where do people stand on 'I should've known' by Aimee Mann?

AFAIAC, there are at least four peerless power pop gems on Whatever.

[Donkeyboy75]

25. What, no grades?

I want grades, dammit! :grr:

[Wat_Tyler]

28. This post earns a B-.

[Donkeyboy75]

30. Mine?

Or the OP? If it's mine, you are clearly an easy grader.

[Wat_Tyler]

36. Everything is B-.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

27. THE WHO!!!!???!?!?!?!???!

You sir, are now acursed

[RandomKoolzip]

31. Oh, so you actually read the list?

What's wrong with the Who?

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

32. Nothing is wrong with the who - but they are rock

[Wat_Tyler]

33. Nah. The second part of their career was rock.

Up to Tommy, the songs are more pop.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

34. I concede

you are correct. Does that mean Oddysee and Oracle was pop?

[Wat_Tyler]

35. Time of the Season is.

To be honest, I'm not an expert on the Zombies.

[RandomKoolzip]

40. The Zombies and the Who are both rock.

They use the small band format. However, there is rock and there are subsets of Rock. Power pop is one, Psychedelia is another. The Who's early work (especially 'Pictures of Lily" and "Substitute") pretty much invented the palette from which the Power Pop groups would gather their paint.

And the Psychedelic Rock, like "Odyssey and Oracle," is derived from 1966-era Beatles ("Tomorrow Never Knows," ""Eleanor Rigby," etc.) The features of this subset include tinkling pianos, fey vocal affectaions, lyrics concerning absuditites and the condition of the singer's mental health, swirling rhythms, more prominent bass, and a general sense of dislocation. The manic drive and clear, sturdy song structure present in Power Pop is missing here.

But both are Rock.

[FunBobbyMucha]

37. Kudos for including the Jags

Best Power Pop song EVER.

But...

Picture of Lily doesn't belong on this list. Sorry, one fanboy's opinion.

Gotta support the earlier Police comments. "Next To You" is required here.

As is "Alex Chilton" by the Replacements.

Freshman entry status should be allowed for "Stacey's Mom," by Fountains of Wayne, in which you can literally hear the dead guy from the Cars temporarily resuscitated.

Wish list: "Wanna Be a Flintstone" by Screaming Blue Messiahs, "Saturday Night" or "Something Good" by Skintight (www.skintightband.com), most of the tracks off "Van Go" by Beat Farmers.

Good list, though.

[Wat_Tyler]

38. If you're going with Fountains of Wayne, it has to be 'Radiation Vibe'

or, if I dare say it 'That Thing You Do'.

[RandomKoolzip]

43. I think "Pictures of Lily" belongs.

It's like when writers used to include the Seeds and the Barbarians in lists of the great punk groups. It's a formative influence; to me, "Pictures of Lily" was the invention of an entire genre. The Who are to Power Pop what John Cage was to Minimalism.

Thanks, though. I was thinking about this all night, and I STILL managed to leave off so much good stuff! I may have to expand it to 100 entries.

[Wat_Tyler]

47. Sheesh. Like we need another NightTrain.

:evilgrin:

[RandomKoolzip]

49. The Robins were BETTER than the Coasters, goddamnit!

Anybody wanna see my list of the 100 best R&B singles of 1971?

[Wat_Tyler]

51. Parts one through seven?

Yay! :grouphug:

[Ellen Forradalom]

39. Marry me, RandomKoolzip

I wanna listen to your record collection forever.

[RandomKoolzip]

41. Line forms to the right, ladies....

No, I'm kidding. I'm married. But my wife's idea of good music is Bjork, Nick Cave, Einsturzende Neubauten, and the 4AD catalog.

It's a good thing relationships are built on sturdier stuff than music, isn't it? (Everything else we have in common)

[Magrittes Pipe]

54. Untrue.

She, unlike you, is not an insufferable twat.

And you neglected to mention Gainsbourg. ;)

[Wat_Tyler]

55. Is RKZ's wife Hedges?

Inquiring minds....

[RandomKoolzip]

56. Hedges is my concumbine.

Jesus is my bride.

[FunBobbyMucha]

42. Shit! Forgot "Heavenly Pop Hit" by the Chills. or was it the Ocean Bell?

[RandomKoolzip]

44. No, that was the Chills.

Shit, New Zealand power pop is a whole nother list! The Clean, Chris Knox, Straightjacket Fits, etc.....

[Wat_Tyler]

46. How could Dunedin produce so many great bands?

[RandomKoolzip]

48. According to Forced Exposure isssue #45, 1993,

in an interview with Chris Knox, Chris reveals that there was a US secret military project that was stationed in Southern New Zealand, "Project Deep Freeze." Either by coincidence or on purpose, the servicemen involved were responsible for the heavy distribution of LSD on the island. According to Chris, the LSD craze came in waves: the first was in 1968) )Producing the likes of Human Instinct, etc.) the second was in 1976-77 (producing the first great wave of NZ punk and it's crazed offshoots) and another one in 1984. All the Flying Nun bands were presumably the recipients of lysergic magic via the US Army.

[Wat_Tyler]

50. For real?

Actually, I don't care if that's real or not. That's a fantastic story.
I spent a couple of weeks on the South Island when I was in NZ five years back. Fucking extraordinary place.

[RandomKoolzip]

52. I trust Knox.

That's a great interview, BTW. if you ever chance across a copy of that issue, it's well worth your money.

Can you imagine New Zealand on acid? I've always wanted to go there. I envy your trip.

[Wat_Tyler]

53. I could easily live there.

I very nearly stayed. I reckoned I could live in Wellington, off the grid.

[GOPisEvil]

57. Your list needs some Wrens.

How about "Built In Girls"?