Editing Power pop (section)

===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"/>