Looking for the Magic: American Power Pop in 70s in Bloomington, MN

Power pop began right about the time that psychedelia turned to meandering jams and the back-to-basics movement took all the poppy fun out of music. Bands who didn't want to travel down either of those paths turned back to the mid-'60s for inspiration, mixing the sunny hooks of
the Beatles
with the charged-up power of
the Who
to craft a new and somewhat nostalgic sound. Numerous collections have been released over the years focusing on the style; most of them have focused mainly on the skinny-tie groups that sprang up in the late '70s, when the sound evolved to serve as a more melodic version of punk.
Looking for the Magic: American Power Pop in the 70s
does a good job tracking the American arm of the power pop movement from the beginnings of power pop and following it as it evolved (a little) and grew up (a bit) throughout the decade. It kicks of with a clutch of songs from pioneers like
the MC5
,
Flamin' Groovies
, and
Big Star
, groups who definitely had all the hooks, energy, and style to get the ball rolling in style. The entire first disc takes place prior to punk, and songs like
Blue Ash
's hard-rollicking "Abracadabra (Have You Seen Her?),"
Milk 'N' Cookies
' "Little Lost and Innocent,"
the Wackers
' "It's My Life," and
the Raspberries
' "Play On" give lie to the commonly held belief that the music scene was a total wasteland before the safety-pin brigade rode in to save the day. Once the landscape changed, power pop continued along next to punk, sometime crossing boundaries but more often sticking to the more melodic side of the street, or instead mixing with AOR (
Cheap Trick
and
Blue Oyster Cult
) or soft rock (
Andrew Gold
). Basically, anything hooky and energetic was fair game, and the set even stretches to include
Television
's "See No Evil" and
NRBQ
's note-perfect "Ridin in My Car." Once the "power pop" sound became more codified, it became a little more predictable -- if still occasionally transcendent -- and the songs here from late 1978 on tend to be more homogenic. Most of the bands took cues from the group that gives the collection its title:
The Dwight Twilley Band
's "Looking for the Magic" is a cornerstone that piles on reverb, sharpens its hooks to a fine point, and relies on vocal harmonies to send the sound to pop heaven.
The Scruffs
' "She Say Yea" is another perfect nugget that sounds like
if they had made it to the punk era. The third disc captures power pop as it hit the big time with
the Cars
the Knack
; ropes in
the Ramones
; checks in with one of the originators of the sound,
Badfinger
; and digs up a few should-have-been classics like
Segarini
's "Gotta Have Pop,"
the Last
's jangling psychedelic pastiche "She Don't Know Why I'm Here," and "She Said" by the improbably named
Cheese
. The collection does a great job digging up lesser-known tracks that even a serious power pop buff might never have heard as well as hitting all the big names (and not picking obvious songs by them, sticking to deep cuts instead.) It's hard to sum up a movement or a sound or an era in a way that doesn't either come across as too obvious or too obscure for hipness' sake; what the makers of this collection have done is hit right at the sweet spot where education and entertainment meet. They've captured this magical era of music in a way that truly makes it come to life, and when paired with their similarly excellent trio of releases --
Miles Out to Sea
Harmony in My Head
Kids on the Street
-- that examine the British power pop era, comes darn close to being definitive. That being said, there are enough great bands and songs not included to justify a second volume, but until then, anyone looking to revisit or discover some great pop music will find much to love here. ~ Tim Sendra