Friday, June 06, 2008

seventies power-pop/rock/glam extravaganza


Badfinger - Baby Blue

One defining hallmark of seventies power pop (as opposed to 90s revival) is that the vocalists still made a real effort to sound like the Beatles. (see also my earlier posting of Slade videos) Eric Carmen looks like Dana Carvey in a wig and is also forever tainted with associations with the Dirty Dancing sound track in the minds of people too young to remember his early career, but this is a pretty damn good McCartney. Better than Wings.


Raspberries - Tonight

Oh hell, I'll do the Slade again. Dude sings every song the way John Lennon sang "Twist and Shout", and looks like him too.


Slade - Gudbuy t' Jane

This is more like proto-hair-metal than power pop:

STARZ - Cherry Baby

Every single alternative band in the 80's that sounded like the Byrds was actually imitating this song, and thus ended up sounding like the Byrds second-hand:

Big Star - September Gurls

Ok, this is from 1982 not from the 70s but I like it and it isn't as over-exposed as (say) "I want you to want-me" or "Surrender", so here it is:

Cheap Trick - She's Tight

Comments:

Talking about Big Star -- a guy i knew around college/first job time wrote a story about Alex Chilton when he thought he might have died in Katrina -- it's very interesting - i probably read it once a year it's such a great story:

http://jamesbarber.typepad.com/conflictofinterest/2005/09/my_life_with_al.html
oops reposting that last url as an actual link: My Life With Alex