Editing Power pop (section)

== Original waves ==
=== 1960s: Origins and precursors ===
{{See also|Cultural impact of the Beatles|Beatlemania|Rockism and poptimism}}

{{listen|pos=right
|filename=I Want To Hold Your Hand (Beatles song - sample).ogg
|title=The Beatles—"I Want to Hold Your Hand" (1963)
|description=Many artists drew elements such as hand claps, ringing guitars, vocal harmonies, and direct romantic lyrics from songs like "[[I Want to Hold Your Hand]]".{{sfn|Cateforis|2011|pp=129, 139}}
}}

Power pop originated in the late 1960s as young music fans began to rebel against the emerging pretensions of rock music.<ref name="Murray" /> During this period, a schism developed between "serious" artists who rejected pop and "crassly commercial" pop acts who embraced their [[teenybopper]] audience.{{sfn|Borack|2007|p=9}} Greg Shaw credited the Who as the starting point for power pop, whereas Carl Caferelli (writing in Borack's book) said that "the story really begins circa 1964, with the commercial ascension of [[the Beatles in America]]."{{sfn|Borack|2007|p=8}} Caferelli also recognized the Beatles as the embodiment of the "pop band" ideal.{{sfn|Borack|2007|pp=9–10}} According to ''The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll'', British Invasion bands, particularly the [[Merseybeat]] sound first popularised by the Beatles and its "[[jangle|jangly]] guitars, pleasant melodies, immaculate vocal harmonies, and a general air of teenage innocence", were a key influence on 1970s power-pop bands such as [[the Raspberries]], [[Big Star]], [[the Knack]] and [[XTC]].<ref name="RS Encyclopedia">{{cite book|editor1-first=Patricia|editor1-last=Romanowski|editor2-first=Holly |editor2-last=George-Warren|title=The New Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll|publisher=Fireside/Rolling Stone Press|location=New York, NY|year=1995|isbn=0-684-81044-1|page=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonee00patr/page/117 117]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonee00patr/page/117}}</ref>

{{Quote box
|align=right
|text= I believe pop music should be like the TV—something you can turn on and off and shouldn't disturb the mind.{{nbsp}}[...] It's very hard to like "[[Strawberry Fields Forever|Strawberry Fields]]" for simply what it is. Some artists are becoming musically unapproachable.
| source=—Pete Townshend, 1967{{sfn|Cateforis|2011|p=129}}
|width  = 25%
|}}

When Pete Townshend coined the term, he suggested that songs like "[[I Can't Explain]]" (1965) and "[[Substitute (The Who song)|Substitute]]" (1966) were more accessible than the changing, more experimental directions other groups such as the Beatles were taking.{{sfn|Cateforis|2011|p=129}} However, the term did not become widely identified with the Who,<ref name="Carmen">{{cite web|url=http://ecentral.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/9/4/music/20070904092526&sec=music |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324114946/http://ecentral.my/news/story.asp?file=%2F2007%2F9%2F4%2Fmusic%2F20070904092526&sec=music |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 March 2012 |title=With Raspberries reunion, Eric Carmen's no longer all by himself |first=Dan|last=MacIntosh |date=September 4, 2007 |work=ecentral.my |access-date=July 9, 2012}}</ref> and it would take a few years before the genre's stylistic elements coalesced into a more recognizable form.<ref name="Chabon" /> ''[[The A.V. Club]]''{{'s}} Noel Murray said that "once the sound became more viable and widely imitated, it was easier to trace the roots of the genre back to [[rockabilly]], [[doo-wop]], girl groups, and the early records of the Beatles, the Byrds, the Beach Boys, [[the Kinks]], and the Who."<ref name="Murray">{{cite web|date=October 11, 2012|url=http://www.avclub.com/article/a-beginners-guide-to-the-heyday-of-power-pop-1972--86527|title=A beginners' guide to the heyday of power-pop, 1972-1986|last1=Murray|first1=Noel|website=[[The A.V. Club]]|access-date=January 16, 2016|archive-date=January 20, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160120175936/http://www.avclub.com/article/a-beginners-guide-to-the-heyday-of-power-pop-1972--86527|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Robert Hilburn]] traced the genre "chiefly from the way the Beatles and the Beach Boys mixed rock character and pure Top 40 instincts in such records as the latter's '[[California Girls]]'."<ref name="Hilburn">{{cite web |last1=Hilburn |first1=Robert |author-link=Robert Hilburn |title='Poptopia!': 3-Decade Look at Power Pop |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-06-27-ca-7281-story.html |website=[[The Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=October 5, 2018 |date=June 27, 1997 |archive-date=March 21, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110321112138/http://articles.latimes.com/1997-06-27/entertainment/ca-7281_1_power-pop |url-status=live }}</ref> Borack noted, "It's also quite easy to draw a not-so-crooked line from [[garage rock]] to power pop."<ref name="Borack2">{{cite web|url=http://rockandrolltribe.com/profiles/blogs/25-1960sera-garage-rock |title="25 1960s era Garage Rock Nuggets" by John M. Borack |last1=Borack |first1=John M. |last2=Brodeen |first2=Bruce |date=August 4, 2010 |work=rockandrolltribe.com |access-date=July 9, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120310202336/http://rockandrolltribe.com/profiles/blogs/25-1960sera-garage-rock |archive-date=March 10, 2012 }}</ref>

Townshend himself was heavily influenced by the guitar work of Beach Boy [[Carl Wilson]],<ref>{{cite book|date=1976|author=March, Dave|title=The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll}}</ref> while the Who's debut single "I Can't Explain" was indebted to the Kinks' "[[You Really Got Me]]" (1964).{{sfn|Borack|2007|p=9}} Roy Shuker identified the leading American power pop acts of the time as the Byrds, [[Tommy James and the Shondells]], and [[Paul Revere and the Raiders]].<ref name="Shuker2017"/> Also significant to power pop in the 1960s were [[the Dave Clark Five]],{{sfn|Borack|2007|pp=8–9}} [[The Creation (band)|the Creation]],<ref name="Shaw"/> [[the Easybeats]],<ref name="Shaw">{{cite magazine |last=Shaw |first=Greg |author-link=Greg Shaw |date=March 1978 |title=Power Pop! |magazine=[[Who Put the Bomp|Bomp!]] |location=North Hollywood, California |volume=13 }}</ref> [[the Move]],<ref name="Murray"/><ref name="Shuker2017"/> and the [[Nazz]].<ref name="Earles"/>

===1970s: Emergence===
[[File:Todd Rungreen.jpg|thumb|left|[[Todd Rundgren]]'s work with [[Nazz]] in the 1960s and as a solo artist in the 1970s was significant to the development of the genre.<ref name="Earles" />]]

In the 1970s, the rock scene fragmented into many new styles. Artists drifted away from the influence of early Beatles songs, and those who cited the Beatles or the Who as influences were in the minority.{{sfn|Cateforis|2011|p=129}} In Paul Lester's description, "powerpop is really a 70s invention. It's about young musicians missing the 60s but taking its sound in new directions.{{nbsp}}[...] not just an alternative to [[progressive rock|prog]] and the hippy troubadours, but a cousin to glam."<ref name="Lester"/> Novelist [[Michael Chabon]] believed that the genre did not truly come into its own until the emergence of "second generation" power pop acts in the early 1970s.<ref name="Chabon"/> Lester added that it was "essentially an American response to the British Invasion, made by Anglophiles a couple of years too young to have been in bands the first time round."<ref name="Lester" />

For many fans of power pop, according to Caferelli, the "bloated and sterile" aspect of 1970s rock was indicative of the void left by the Beatles' [[Break-up of the Beatles|breakup in 1970]].{{sfn|Borack|2007|pp=9–10}} During the early to middle part of the decade, only a few acts continued the tradition of [[Beatlesque|Beatles-style]] pop. Some were younger [[glam rock|glam]]/[[glitter rock|glitter]] bands, while others were {{"'}}60s holdovers" that refused to update their sound.{{sfn|Borack|2007|pp=9–10}} One of the most prominent groups in the latter category was [[Badfinger]], the first artists signed to the Beatles' [[Apple Records]]. Although they had international top 10 chart success with "[[Come and Get It (Badfinger song)|Come and Get It]]" (1969), "[[No Matter What (Badfinger song)|No Matter What]]" (1970), and "[[Day After Day (Badfinger song)|Day After Day]]" (1971), they were criticized in the music press as Beatles imitators.{{sfn|Borack|2007|p=10}} Caferelli describes them as "one of the earliest—and finest purveyors" of power pop.{{sfn|Borack|2007|p=10}} Conversely, AllMusic states that while Badfinger were among the groups that established the genre's sound, the [[Raspberries (band)|Raspberries]] were the only power pop band of the era to have hit singles.<ref name="Allmusic" /> Noel Murray wrote that Badfinger had "some key songs" that were power pop "before the genre really existed".<ref name="Murray" />

{{listen|pos=right
|filename=Go All the Way.ogg
|title=Raspberries — "Go All the Way" (1972)
|description="[[Go All the Way (song)|Go All the Way]]" is often lauded as one of the finest power pop songs. Its music draws on [[Beach Boys]]-style harmonies, Beatles-style melodies, and Who-style energy.<ref name="Lester" />
}}

According to ''[[Magnet (magazine)|Magnet]]''{{'s}} Andrew Earles, 1972 was "year zero" for power pop. Developments from that year included the emergence of [[Big Star]] and the Raspberries, the release of [[Todd Rundgren]]'s ''[[Something/Anything?]]'', and the recording of [[the Flamin' Groovies]]' "[[Shake Some Action]]"; additionally, many garage bands had stopped emulating [[the Rolling Stones]].<ref name="Earles"/> Chabon additionally credited the Raspberries, Badfinger, Big Star, and Rundgren's "[[Couldn't I Just Tell You]]" and "[[I Saw the Light (Todd Rundgren song)|I Saw the Light]]" with "inventing" the genre.<ref name="Chabon"/> On a television performance from 1978, Rundgren introduced "Couldn't I Just Tell You" as a part of "the latest musical trend, power pop."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Troper |first1=Morgan |title=A Wizard, a True Star |url=https://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/a-wizard-a-true-star/Content?oid=15815213 |website=[[Portland Mercury]] |date=June 10, 2015 |access-date=September 29, 2018 |archive-date=September 29, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180929194725/https://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/a-wizard-a-true-star/Content?oid=15815213 |url-status=live }}</ref> Lester called the studio recording of the song a "masterclass in [[compression (audio)|compression]]" and said that Rundgren "staked his claim to powerpop immortality [and] set the whole ball rolling".<ref name="Lester" />

Earles identified the Raspberries as the only American band that had hit singles.<ref name="Earles"/> Murray recognized the Raspberries as the most representative power pop band and described their 1972 US top 10 "[[Go All the Way (Raspberries song)|Go All the Way]]" as "practically a template for everything the genre could be, from the heavy [[arena rock|arena-rock]] hook to the cooing, teenybopper-friendly verses and chorus."<ref name="Murray" /> Caferelli described the follow-up "[[I Wanna Be with You (Raspberries song)|I Wanna Be with You]]" (1972) as "perhaps the definitive power pop single".{{sfn|Borack|2007|p=11}} However, like Badfinger, the Raspberries were derided as "Beatles clones".{{sfn|Borack|2007|pp=11, 50}} Singer [[Eric Carmen]] remembered that there "were a lot of people in 1972 who were not ready for any band that even remotely resembled the Beatles."{{sfn|Borack|2007|p=11}} Raspberries dissolved in 1975 as Carmen pursued a solo career.<ref name="Earles"/>

===1970s–1980s: Commercial peak and decline===
[[File:Cheaptrick1.jpg|thumb|right|[[Cheap Trick]] playing in 1978]]

A recognizable movement of power pop bands following in the tradition of the Raspberries started emerging in the late 1970s,<ref name="Allmusic" /> with groups such as [[Cheap Trick]], [[the Jam]], [[the Romantics]], [[Shoes (band)|Shoes]], and the Flamin' Groovies, who were seen as 1960s revivalist bands.{{sfn|Cateforis|2011|p=127}} Much of these newer bands were influenced by late 1960s AM radio, which fell into a rapid decline due to the popularity of the [[album-oriented rock|AOR]] and [[progressive rock (radio format)|progressive rock]] FM radio format.{{sfn|Cateforis|2011|p=138}} By 1977, there was a renewed interest in the music and culture of the 1960s, with examples such as the ''[[Beatlemania (musical)|Beatlemania]]'' musical and the growing [[mod revival]].{{sfn|Cateforis|2011|pp=124, 127}} [[AABA form]]s and [[double backbeat]]s also made their return after many years of disuse in popular music.{{sfn|Cateforis|2011|pp=139–140}}

Spurred on by the emergence of punk rock and new wave, power pop enjoyed a prolific and commercially successful period from the late 1970s into the early 1980s.<ref name="Earles">{{cite web|last=Earles|first=Andrew|url=http://magnetmagazine.com/2002/09/07/power-pop-the-70s-the-birth-of-uncool/|title=Power Pop: The '70s, The Birth Of Uncool - Magnet Magazine|date=September 7, 2002|website=magnetmagazine.com|access-date=August 21, 2018|archive-date=August 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180821062637/http://magnetmagazine.com/2002/09/07/power-pop-the-70s-the-birth-of-uncool/|url-status=live}}</ref> Throughout the two decades, the genre existed parallel to and occasionally drew from developments such as glam rock, [[Pub rock (United Kingdom)|pub rock]], punk, new wave, [[college rock]], and [[neo-psychedelia]].<ref name="Murray" /> AllMusic states that these new groups were "swept along with the new wave because their brief, catchy songs fit into the post-punk aesthetic."<ref name="Allmusic" /> Most bands rejected the irreverence, cynicism, and irony that characterized new wave, believing that pop music was an [[high art|art]] that reached its apex in the mid-1960s, sometimes referred to as the "poptopia". This in turn led many critics to dismiss power pop as derivative work.{{sfn|Cateforis|2011|p=128}}

Ultimately, the groups with the best-selling records were Cheap Trick, [[the Knack]], the Romantics, [[Tommy Tutone]] and [[Dwight Twilley]], whereas Shoes, [[the Records]], [[the Nerves]], and [[20/20 (band)|20/20]] only drew cult followings.<ref name="Allmusic" /> Writing for ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' in 1978, [[Jay Cocks]] cited [[Nick Lowe]] and [[Dave Edmunds]] as "the most accomplished purveyors of power pop", which he described as "the well-groomed stepbrother of punk rock". Edmunds was quoted: "Before the New Wave{{nbsp}}[...] There was no chance for the little guy who buys a guitar and starts a band. What we're doing is kids' music, really, just four-four time and good songs."<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Cocks|first=Jay |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,916235,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090214030551/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,916235,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 14, 2009 |title=Bringing Power to the People|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=June 6, 1978}}</ref> Cheap Trick became the most successful act in the genre's history thanks to the band's constant touring schedule and stage theatrics. According to Andrew Earles, the group's "astonishing acceptance in Japan (documented on 1979's ''[[Cheap Trick at Budokan|At Budokan]]'') and hits '[[Surrender (Cheap Trick song)|Surrender]]' and '[[I Want You To Want Me]],' the Trick took power pop to an arena level and attained a degree of success that the genre had never seen, nor would ever see again."<ref name="Earles"/>

The biggest chart hit by a power pop band was the Knack's debut single, "[[My Sharona]]", which topped the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] chart for six weeks in August–September 1979. However, the song's ubiquitous radio presence that summer spawned a popular and critical backlash against the band, which in turn led to a backlash against the power pop genre in general.{{sfn|Cateforis|2011|p=127}} Once the Knack failed to maintain their commercial momentum, record companies generally stopped signing power pop groups.<ref name="Hilburn"/> Most bands of the 1970s milieu broke up in the early 1980s.<ref name="Allmusic" />