Powerpop
Listening to Eric Carmen singing ” All by Myself” I think yes, I could call this Powerpop. So what exactly is Powerpop? It’s said that Pete Townsend coined the phrase to explain the Who’s sound, but I wonder what he really meant?
I suppose some might say “All by Myself” is a power ballad, and they’d probably be right, but by virtue of the fact that Eric Carmen was in the Raspberries, I think it could still be cast as Powerpop. And the bombastic instrumentation and arrangement, coupled with the sweetest of vocals and melody, not to mention the Beatlesque orchestration.
It could be “Overnight Sensation” part two, if you squint hard enough?!
Powerpop is usually guitar oriented, with lots of harmony vocals and catchy, pop riffs, but the actual ingredients?
In a lot of Powerpop the guitars tend to be well raunchy and distorted, the “Power” bit that Mr Townsend talked about. I think the Powerpop sound is a magic mixture of guitar sounds, vocal harmonies and the all important song, with the appropriate choppy nuances.
For instance, the Iveys “Tube Train”, which essentially sounds like an unreleased Who song circa “Sell Out” era. It’s a very aggressive sounding track, clashing distorted Who-esque guitars and drums, with a sweet vocal line. So I think that’s another clue, a kicking guitar track, with an almost too sweet vocal and hook, a distinct contrast between backing track and vocal, one angry, one sweet and very contrasting in a lot of instances.
The Who’s influence can be heard on a good deal of Powerpop. And I think that their album “Sell Out” is a bench mark in Powerpop, along with the Beatles “Revolver”
Another bench mark, and a big favourite of mine since 1976 when my friend Matthew borrowed “Radio City” from “Savage Pencil” Edwin Pouncey, is Big Star. And I think their influence on modern Powerpop can’t be overstated.
Again, sweet melodies, Byrdsian harmonies, fabulous, melancholic songs, the wet, reverbed drums, in fact pretty much everything, with the possible exception of the bass, is drenched in reverb. Above all, Alex Chilton’s never replicated, metallic, jangling, crystaline, out-of-phase Fender Stratocaster sound, as unique a guitar sound as Townsend’s or Mcguinn’s.
Also, the Chris Bell solo album, “I am the Cosmos” is exceptional. Chris was the founder member of Big Star, and the main writer, and co-writer with Alex Chilton, on their first album, No. 1 Record. Again, the Beatle influence is there, and especially on the title track, which was mixed at Air studios, and engineered by Geoff Emerick, a long time Beatles associate and engineer.
If you love Big Star, you really need to listen to “Cosmos”, though I suppose the title track is the most indispensible on the album.
“Cosmos” has the melancholic vibe of “Back of a car” or “What’s goin’ ahn” (from “Radio City, both either written by Chris Bell, or co-written with Chilton, post Bell’s departure from the band), with a wall of Chilton-esque guitars, some sounding Leslied, an effect well loved by Abbey Road era Beatles.
A Leslie is a revolving speaker cabinet, and the earliest ones were utilised in Hammond organs. The sound is a phased, whooshing effect, and has become a standard Powerpop sound, from Badfinger to the Move, to Cheap Trick and the Flamin’ Groovies.
“Cosmos” also has the classic Big Star reverbed drums and almost distant, lower register bass guitar. Apparently Chilton did have limited input on the album,and his backing vocals on “You and Your Sister” (the b-side of the “Cosmos” single) are simply beautiful.
This is the first part of a two part article about Powerpop. The second part will be published very soon. Watch this space…
If you’d like to find music by the groups mentioned in this article, you can buy it on CD and vinyl from netsoundmusic.com.
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