Ten power pop records deemed essential by the All Music Guide to Rock:
- Big Star, Radio City
- Nick Lowe, Pure Pop for Now People
- Flamin' Groovies, Shake Some Action
- Cheap Trick, In Color
- The Real Kids, The Real Kids
- Sweet, Best of Sweet
- Raspberries, The Raspberries' Best
- The dB's, Repercussion
- Dwight Tilley Band, Sincerely
- Pezband, 30 Seconds over Shaumburg
Today's list is for 
a2zmom, who wanted to see a list of
power pop bands. Full disclosure: I had to modify my normal
randomization procedure to make sure Big Star and Nick Lowe remained on
the list, because I had a feeling that a2zmom would assassinate me if I
had not included them.
What is power pop? I like this definition from The Rock Snob's
Dictionary: "Record-reviewer term for high-energy, Beatles-esque
music made by intelligent-dork bands that, though they've given it the
old college try, can't actually muster the songcraft, cleverness, vocal
agility, or production ingenuity of the Beatles." I don't necessarily
agree with that definition, but it is funny and I think it probably
comes closer to the truth than a lot of power-pop musicians or fans
might care to admit.
