Is It Power Pop?
PART FOUR: Mike Randle
This is a guest post series about power pop featuring some of my favorite music writers. We’ll be sharing a new installment every week or two in January and February. Full series here.
Is It Power Pop?
By Mike Randle
When I am asked to describe what I think power pop is, it's one of those things that leaves me stumped. I could go on and on about what I think qualifies (by my definition) as power pop, but what I think and what you think might be two entirely different things. Now, full disclosure here; I'm not the run-of-the-mill power popper. My dream power pop song would be written by Paul Stanley and Richard Carpenter. And nobody wants that…except me!
I picked up the guitar at age 14, started my first band at 15, and by age 19 I was traveling up the California coast playing parties and colleges. I got the gig playing lead guitar for Arthur Lee and Love at age 26 and I’m still playing and touring Love’s music at age 58. Through it all, power pop was always at the center of my musical heart. It flows through my veins. It’s the sun that shines through the loving Los Angeles smog.
And I want it all; Pop Rock, Glam Rock, Cock Rock, Spock Rock, Brit Pop, Willy Wonk, Honky Tonk, Papa Funk, Junky Muck, New Wave, Permanent Wave, Knave Wave, Ballad Soul, Rock and Roll, Billy Joel, James Gang, Kool & The Gang, The Gang from Sugarhill, Captain & Tennille, Volta Mars, Jefferson Stars, Pat Benatars, and Ben Orr from The Cars. If it makes me bob my head and sing along and it has those guitars and harmonies and that beat, count me in mama.
Here are five of my fav power pop songs.
“Give Her A Great Big Kiss” by New York Dolls
This is such an unassuming track at first, because you you think you’re gonna get a sweet nod to some ‘50s sock hop barn dance. Then the band and the track kicks in and you look around and there’s this possibility you might get knifed. That's them New York Dolls, folks. And the banter between David Johansen and Johnny Thunders, mixed in with some ferocious drumming, ensures the energy level shant subside anytime soon. You’re trapped in a quicksand of melody, excitement and dance. “Is she tall,” Thunders asks Johansen. “Well, I gotta look up.”
“Around The Dial” by The Kinks
Ray Davies is the godfather of rock and roll paranoia and this track takes on the corporate rock radio monster. I’ve often wondered if Paul Westerberg was a fan of this song because I can hear the musical influence (“Nowhere is My Home”) and the subject/title influence (“Left of The Dial”). Ray is distraught because his favorite DJ has been yanked off the air without warning. Ray isn’t having any of it and shares the rumors he’s heard: “Is it something that you said to the corporation guys upstairs?”
“Save Me” by Queen
My cousin Tony was dating (Dodgers legend) Tommy Davis’ daughter, Lyn. Her younger brother, TD, played me Queen's The Game LP in 1980. I immediately fell in love with the hits but it was this one tune, tucked away like an old jacket, called “Save Me,” that I couldn’t stop singing to myself. When a song’s lyrics open with, “It started out so well/They said we made a perfect pair,” you know shit is about to get real. The catchy harmony-soaked chorus, the nearly flammable guitar solo, and the endearing words makes this song a slice of heaven.
“When I Look In Your Eyes” by The Romantics
My first band used to cover this song at parties and I always had a blast playing and singing it. And people loved it. You’re in a band, you’re trying to rock, you’re trying to sing and then you see a cute girl and she’s digging the tune. By the time you get to the 3rd verse you got it made in the shade. “I’m wonderin’ why/I feel so good inside? When I look in your eyes!” These guitars are so perfectly clean, so beautifully compressed, it could make even Alex Chilton blush.
“We Got The Beat” by The Go-Go’s
I was in 10th grade at marching band practice when I first heard “We Got The Beat.” Someone’s boom box was blasting LA’s KROQ. This song caught my attention right away. By the time the chorus rolled around the second time, EVERYONE was singing along. There wasn’t any distortion coming out of the amps, there weren’t any dudes in the band. It ROCKED. This tune reminds us that we may have a 9-to-5, school, whatever. Doesn’t matter. You got the BEAT, and don’t you forget it!
Mike Randle is a musician and native Angeleno. He has spent the last 30 years as a member of Baby Lemonade and the legendary '60s psychedelic group, Love. Mike is currently writing a book called My Little Red Book: Life, Friendships and Love.
Mike Skill of The Romantics has lived in the Portland area for years. I met him via his son, who was in several of my classes. I remember one particularly funny parent/teacher conference when, after we talked about how his son was doing in my classes, Mike and I chatted endlessly about the MC5. The other parents waiting to see me weren't as impressed and quickly grew impatient! Woops...
Outstanding choices! I always thought "When I Look In Your Eyes" (which actually got some pretty decent airplay on Chicago's WLUP in the late winter/spring of 1980) was like the cooler but underappreciated sibling of "What I Like About You".