Really? You're writing about The Bay City Rollers?

 I was of the generation who watched all the girls in school drape themselves in tartan and swoon to the sounds of The Bay City Rollers, I of course, sneered along with the rest of the guys at the total tat that they represented. With Les McKeown's passing at 65 time to own up. They were OK... At least they were no worse than many of their contemporaries. A bit of glam, a bit of leftover 60s pop, and the first twinkle of the sort of new wave and power pop that hit the charts about 1978. 

Rollers rehab started for me with the first edition of John Borack's "Shake Some Action". While acknowledging the more "production line pop" aspects that crept at the height of their popularity to feed the beast of Rollermania, Borack highlights some of the gems in their catalogue. If you're having a tour round Spotify then the album to try is 'The Essential Bay City Rollers'. Most of the compilations were created over here and miss the US only singles which is where the Power Pop heart of the band lies. 

Borack suggests 'Rock and Roll Love Letter' and 'Yesterday's Hero'  as the places to start. I would add, 'Saturday Night' and a few others spread either side of 1975 when they were at their most popular and they could have sold a reading of the phone book. Listening back to some of the material pumped out then you have to wonder how they got away with it. See if you can spot the rip offs of that mid 70s pop classic 'Beach Baby', there are two...

Record Collector interviewed McKeown at Christmas 2019 and were open mouthed at the idea of musical credibility coming the way of the Rollers. But with a pretty general reappraisal of the pop of the era well underway, why not? If some of the grosser missteps of Prog acan get a second chance why not the Bay City Rollers? 

'The Essential Bay City Rollers' appears to be a digital only release but Amazon has the same album packaged as 'Rock N Rollers'. With the money making excesses of their manager Tam Paton in mind last night it was £4.99, today it's £8.70...

 The Record Collector interview with Les McKeown is here.

This is (more) pop...

 Following my look at the Power Pop scene last week, here are a few more gems that have come to my attention.

Inky Nite - The Canyon

Parts of this sounds for all the world like the start of The Smiths ‘Hand in Glove’. Not that that is a bad thing, and the whole jangly guitar 80s feel works for me. There is a universe where this song is number one. Bits of Lloyd Cole, and lots of Bananarama. This can go on the get set for Summer playlist. Follow Inky Nite here.  Not on Bandcamp, but you can find them on Spotify here.

Macca Taylor - How It Goes

A far more 60s vibe. A nice up-tempo groove with a nice Vox organ sound going on behind the acoustic guitar. As Taylor points out a “beautiful bassline from my mate Jamie.” No surprise that he’s from the home of fab sounds – Birkenhead – classic English pop music. The lyrics are an ode to confusion he says, nothing confused about his music though. Follow his Socials here. Find his two releases on Bandcamp here.

Alpha Cat - Pearl Harbor 2020

Much tougher than the previous two songs. This song is updated from a 2001 release. The Original pearl Harbor was produced by Fred Smith of Television, and this has the stamp of professionalism, and a great bassline. I’ve been listening to this album all week and can’t recommend it highly enough. Best of all it’s on Bandcamp. Buy it here.

 

 

Glass Ankle - Super Silkmen

Now I know nothing about football, and this is tribute to Macclesfield Town FC. So, while the lyrics are a little lost on me the music isn’t.  You will listen to a lot of music before you hear a better line than “This is why Macclesfield is so great”. The 70s sound is just brilliant, with bits of Mellotron going on in the background. I still don’t get football, but who cares when the fans produce music this good. Also, on Bandcamp and on the Facebook here.   

So over two weekends we have found that pop, especially that peculiarly English brand of jangly guitar stuff known as Power Pop is alive and well and living just under the radar waiting for you to find it.

Keep looking under the radar

Out in business land I belong to an organisation called 4Networking who've done a great job of keeping their members connected over Coronavid, including through a meeting aimed at musicians and those interested in music. Listening to the recommendations of others in the group reminds me of how much good music now flies miles under the radar.

I think I’ve mentioned before that in 33 Songs Nick Hornby decides that after listening to the US top 10 albums for a given week that his preferences aren’t part of the mainstream and perhaps shouldn’t be called “pop music” at all. I’m not sure what you call it if you don’t call it pop, so I’ll stick with that especially as my first example is…

Power Pop

Bruce Brodeen was the owner of Not Lame records back in the 90s, and now has a site called Pop Geek Heaven, which focuses on the world of jangly guitars and Power Pop. One of the best music lists books is “Shake Some Action:  The Ultimate Power Pop Guide” by John Borack which Bruce publishes. I have the 1^st edition which is a great source for new music buys. There is a new edition due out, I can’t justify £50 on a book when over half of that is postage, but I’m sure I will regret that decision soon. Anyway, much of the music being made now is high quality pop, which may be a bit “old fashioned” but the tunes! As a quick guide sign up for Bruce’s newsletter, but try anything on the Big Stir, and Ice Cream Man labels for songs that you will be singing in the shower. If you’re quick Ice Cream Man have a free sampler on Bandcamp now.

Pennan Brae

A friend introduced me to this Canadian singer/songwriter. His website is here and features his acting as well as his music. His most recent album 2 Below 0 is like most recent ones tied to a film. It would be interesting to hear what he does when the songs stand alone. It’s very much old school guitar-based indie rock. All his pictures show him with cheap Fender Mustang and Musicmaster guitars

which tells you about his attitude to simple well-structured songs. Whatever, you’ve never heard of him and you should.

In my networking group you must keep alert as there are loads of new suggestions for music being thrown out all the time. I have picked up on Parquet Courts, Endless Boogie, and following a talk about him I’m now expanding my David Bowie collection rapidly, particularly his 90s albums… but that’s another story.

In praise of Bruce Brodeen

Unless you inhabit the corner of the musical jungle that calls itself Power Pop, you may be unfamiliar with Bruce Brodeen. In 1994 he started a record company called Not Lame. If ever there was a well named label that was it. I came across one of his compilations in Revolver Records a few years later and got on the mailing list. I'm still there, despite Not Lame shutting up in 2010 and Bruce moving onto a portal site called Pop Geek Heaven.

Now however Bruce has hung up his jangly guitar and joined the grown up world. His big contribution for me was promoting the notion of music curation. I have talked about this before on the blog and given the speed with which the digital world is overwhelming what has gone before there will inevitably be a lot of music left behind that one day is lost forever. Thanks to Bruce the world will still have The Shazam, The Mockingbirds and many other proud purveyors of guitar pop. 150 compilation cds later he has just released his last.

If you haven't caught up with the world of Power Pop then the starting point is "Shake Some Action:  The Ultimate Power Pop Guide" by John M Borack. The best music lists book bar none. Best of luck finding one, they do come up on E-Bay occasionally, the good news however is that a new edition is due out in 2018. However a google will give you an idea of some of the music recommended.

For music the DIY series are a good starting point and come up second hand regularly
DIY: Teenage Kicks - UK Pop 1 (1976-1979)
DIY: Starry Eyes - UK Pop 2 (1978-79)
DIY: Come Out and Play - American Power Pop (1975-78)
DIY: Shake It Up - American Power Pop 2 (1978-80)

If you find any of the the Rhino Poptopia series on sale grab them

The best intro to Not Lame's catalogue is "Six Years of Power Pop!" available digitally.

Not only was Bruce a great promoter of the music but also of writers. Another book recommendation is "A Brief History of Jazz Rock" by  Pop Geek Heaven contributor Mike Baron which takes an oblique and unique view of another niche.

So thank you Bruce Brodeen for 20 years of great music, and for introducing me to musical archaeology, I will keep digging but it won't be the same without you.

Labels, what are they good for?

What I really resent most about people sticking labels on you is that it cuts off all the other elements of what you are because it can only deal with black and white; the cartoon. Siouxsie Sioux
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/labels.html

What I really resent most about people sticking labels on you is that it cuts off all the other elements of what you are because it can only deal with black and white; the cartoon. Siouxsie Sioux
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/labels.html

 "What I really resent most about people sticking labels on you is that it cuts off all the other elements of what you are because it can only deal with black & white, the cartoon... Siouxsie Sioux

What I really resent most about people sticking labels on you is that it cuts off all the other elements of what you are because it can only deal with black and white; the cartoon. Siouxsie Sioux
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/s/siouxsiesi183818.html?src=t_labels

What I really resent most about people sticking labels on you is that it cuts off all the other elements of what you are because it can only deal with black and white; the cartoon. Siouxsie Sioux
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/labels.html

What I really resent most about people sticking labels on you is that it cuts off all the other elements of what you are because it can only deal with black and white; the cartoon. Siouxsie Sioux
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/labels.html

What I really resent most about people sticking labels on you is that it cuts off all the other elements of what you are because it can only deal with black and white; the cartoon. Siouxsie Sioux
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/labels.html

What I really resent most about people sticking labels on you is that it cuts off all the other elements of what you are because it can only deal with black and white; the cartoon. Siouxsie Sioux
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/labels.html

Last night there was the usual musical discussion in the bar and a friend announced "I like the 70's at least up to 1977, it all went wrong with punk".

Really? I was 13 in '77, he wasn't, so my musical wonder years were soundtracked at least partly by Punk, whatever that was. I was a Peel listener, not one of the 20 million who say they were listening the first time he played the Ramones, but not long after that. As with all new "movements" quality control was not always the big concern for punk bands, but Ramones, The Clash, and The Stranglers were great, and still are. But, are they a movement or just a bunch of bands who appeared at about the same time?

Punk quickly morphed into new wave, and I learned the term "Power Pop". The best definition of Power Pop I have seen is "a style of pop music characterized by a strong melody line, heavy use of guitars, and simple rhythm". Sounds like a lot of what was going on around 1978 to me. 

So three labels for much the same part of the musical landscape. Punk/New Wave/Power Pop was a varied mix of music, at least as much as what had gone before. The difference at the time was the labelling of different micro genres was vitally important, mostly to NME & Sounds but also to mark your tribe out from the "old farts" who listened to Yes, Genesis & Led Zeppelin.Over the years around the turn of the Eighties the music seemed to shift to accommodate the labels. The Mohican & bondage trousers end of punk turned into Oi!, the clue's in the name, with bands like Sham 69 & The Cockney Rejects leading the charge. New Wave splintered into most of the factions that ruled the early 80s, synthpop, goth, even some of the more banal U.S. "college" bands all grew out of New Wave. Power Pop headed by The Jam became the mainstream of guitar based pop, fusing elements from Nuggets style garage bands with Punk & Pub Rock.

On the iPod labels or genres, are part of the basic classification. I have 23 at the moment. The largest is alternative, a label that seems to cover Nirvana, Coldplay, Oasis & Arcade Fire making it pretty much useless as a way of defining what you will get when you press play. So, labels what are they good for? A way of sorting the wood from the trees, of feeling connected to your peers, or just another marketing tool? Personally I use them to find music that suits my mood, but I know that my inner librarian also wants to keep things in the right place, but after New Wave fractured into a hundred subsets that right place could have a dozen names.

I'll talk more about Power Pop another time but for now visit Pop Geek Heaven, Bruce Brodeen's resource site for anything with a jangly guitar and a catchy chorus.

The record sleeves on this post are a few of my favourites from the late 70's. Things I can still listen to now.