Power Pop – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

English Beat – Save It For Later

I always heard of this band but didn’t know much about them in real time. When I heard this recently, I was caught unaware of how good it was. It’s a pop gem out of the 1980s, which you don’t hear me say a lot.

Dave Wakeling, the band’s lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist, wrote this song when he was still a teenager, and that teen confusion seeps through every line. It’s a song about growing up, about wanting to hold on to innocence while the world says no, you are going to grow up.

By 1982, The English Beat (also known as The Beat at home) had established a presence in the British ska and new wave scenes. But this song, from their third and final album Special Beat Service, was something else entirely, a melodic farewell that bridged ska and pop. This one was more reflective, a coming-of-age song packaged in jangly guitars and on-target harmonies.

Behind the scenes, the song nearly didn’t make it. Wakeling and guitarist Andy Cox had trouble convincing their bandmates that this softer, more melodic song fit the band’s style. But they pushed it through, and it became one of the band’s most remembered tracks. After Special Beat Service, The Beat split up, with Wakeling and Ranking Roger forming General Public and Cox and bassist David Steele launching Fine Young Cannibals.

Pete Townshend loved it so much that he recorded his own version, and it’s shown up in films like Clueless and Kingpin, giving it a second life with new generations. The song peaked at #47 in the UK and #6 on Billboard’s Bubbling Under 100 Singles Charts in 1982. It was written by Wakeling but credited to the entire band…Roger Charlery, Andy Cox, Everett Morton, David Steele, and Dave Wakeling.

Here is Dave Wakeling talking about Pete Townsend calling him up asking about the special tuning to the song. Love his humor in this.

Save It For Later

Two dozen other dirty loversMust be a sucker for itCry, cry, but I don’t need my motherJust hold my hand while I come to a decision on it

Sooner or laterYour legs give way, you hit the groundSave it for laterDon’t run away and let me downSooner or laterYou hit the deck, you’ll get found outSave it for laterDon’t run away and let me down, you let me down

Black air and seven seas and rotten throughBut what can you do?I don’t know how I’m meant to act with all you lotSometimes I don’t tryI just na, na, na, na, na, naNa, na, na, na, nowNa, na, na, na, na, naNa, na, na, na, now (now, now, now, now)

Two dozen other stupid reasonsWhy we should suffer for this?Don’t bother trying to explain themJust hold my hand while I come to a decision on it

Da, da, da, da, daDa, da, da, da, da, da, daDa, da, da, da, da, da, daDa, da, da, da, da, da, daDa, da, da, da, da, da, daDa, da, da, run away, run

Run away, run awayRun away, run awayRun away, run awayRun away and let me down

…

Modern Lovers – Roadrunner

I posted this song, covered by Greg Kihn a while back.

The simplicity is what gets me about this song. It reminds me a little of the Velvet Underground in that way. Jonathan Richman, who wrote the song, had seen the VU many times, and this was influenced by the Underground song Sister Ray. John Cale produced the 1972 version.

Jonathan Richman grew up in Natick, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. As a teenager in the mid-60s, he became obsessed with The Velvet Underground. He wasn’t just a fan; he followed them around New York City, crashing on couches, walking down the same streets Lou Reed walked. He took their sound and feel and made something a little brighter.

It was first recorded in 1972 with John Cale producing, but it would be recorded with different producers through the years. Roadrunner exists in multiple versions, some faster, some longer, some even sloppier, and it works in each version.

Richman takes the Velvet Underground’s art style and replaces it with suburbia. He created a song that manages to be a blend of punk, power pop, and garage rock all at once. It’s a great song to blast out of your windows while driving down the road. Richman took the Chuck Berry/Springsteen dream of a car equaling freedom and ran with it.

Here are two versions of the song. I like the original 1972 the best.

Roadrunner

Roadrunner, roadrunnerGoing faster miles an hourGonna drive past the Stop ‘n’ ShopWith the radio onI’m in love with MassachusettsAnd the neon when it’s cold outsideAnd the highway when it’s late at nightGot the radio onI’m like the roadrunner

AlrightI’m in love with modern moonlight128 when it’s dark outsideI’m in love with MassachusettsI’m in love with the radio onIt helps me from being alone late at nightHelps me from being lonely late at nightI don’t feel so bad now in the carDon’t feel so alone, got the radio onLike the roadrunnerThat’s right

Said welcome to the spirit of 1956Patient in the bushes next to ’57The highway is your girlfriend as you go by quickSuburban trees, suburban speedAnd it smells like heaven, I sayRoadrunner onceRoadrunner twiceI’m in love with rock and roll and I’ll be out all nightRoadrunnerThat’s right

Well nowRoadrunner, roadrunnerGoing faster miles an hourGonna drive to the Stop ‘n’ ShopWith the radio on at nightAnd me in love with modern moonlightMe in love with modern rock & rollModern girls and modern rock & rollDon’t feel so alone, got the radio onLike the roadrunnerO.K. now you sing Modern Lovers

I got the AM(Radio on!)Got the car, got the AM(Radio on!)Got the AM sound, got the(Radio on!)Got the rockin’ modern neon sound(Radio on!)I got the car from Massachusetts, got the(Radio on!)I got the power of Massachusetts when it’s late at night(Radio on!)I got the modern sounds of modern MassachusettsI’ve got the world, got the turnpike, got theI’ve got the, got the power of the AMGot the, late at night, hit ’em wide, rock & roll late at nightThe factories and the auto signs got the power of modern soundsAlright

Right, bye bye!

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Greg Kihn Band – The Breakup Song (They Don’t Write ‘Em)

This song burst through the radio in 1981 like an old friend coming to visit. I loved it from the first hearing. It’s pure power pop candy, jangly guitars, handclaps, and that chorus that just sticks with you. Ah ah ah, ah ah ah ah ah. That guitar hook at the beginning won me over without hearing a word.

Greg Kihn earned this spot in the sun. By the time this song hit, Kihn and his band had been grinding it out in the Bay Area scene for years, signed to Beserkley Records, the indie label that also gave us Jonathan Richman and The Rubinoos. They specialized in no-frills rock with clean riffs, catchy hooks, and no gimmicks.

The song is also 100 percent relatable. Who hasn’t been through a tough breakup? When I did, I would play The Temptations, but I would slip this one in as well. He was both talking about the end of a relationship and paying tribute to the golden era of pop songwriting. Kihn’s voice isn’t flashy at all, but it’s just what the song needs.

The Breakup song was released in 1981 and peaked at #15 on the Billboard 100 and #25 in Canada. He had his most successful release in 1983 with the album Kihnspiracy, which peaked at #15, and the smash single Jeopardy, which peaked at #2. His albums were a mix of original and cover songs. He covered Springsteen (Rendezvous and For You), Buddy Holly, Curtis Mayfield, and many more. Kihn was a good songwriter as well. Kihn had 7 songs in total in the top 100.

The song was from the album RocKihnRoll. The album peaked at #32 on the Billboard Album Charts.

Greg Kihn: Oh, yeah. There are times in your life that the way is clear. I remember coming home from a gig with the guys. We were in a van, and we pulled up to where I used to live. All of my stuff was piled up on the lawn, and it was raining.

I thought, “Oh, God. My first wife had done it.” We pulled up to the house, and I remember Steve, the bass player, looked at me and just went, “Well, you might as well just keep on going. You’re not going in there.”

There was a Japanese restaurant. I went up there with Stevie, and we were pounding down hot sake. I didn’t know where else to go. It was a cold, rainy night, and we were getting toasted. There was an old Japanese dude there at the sake bar, and he kept saying, “They don’t write ‘em like that anymore.” I thought, Yeah, damn. They don’t, do they? So we got the idea, we wrote that song probably in 15 minutes. All of the great songs are written quickly, by the way.

You have to take a lesson that the stuff that’s real, it’s in you and it’s got to come out like that song. I’d really broken up that very day. It wasn’t like I was trying to feel like what’s a guy like when he’s broken up. I was living it. When things are real, they’re always better than when they’re fiction, if you can dig what I’m saying.

The Breakup Song

We had broken up for good just an hour before
Ah ah ah, ah ah ah ah ah
And now I’m staring at the bodies as they’re dancing ‘cross the floor
Ah ah ah, ah ah ah ah ah
And then the band slowed the tempo and the music took me down
Ah ah ah, ah ah ah ah ah
It was the same old song, with a melancholy sound
Ah ah ah, ah ah ah ah ah

They don’t write ’em like that anymore
They just don’t write ’em like that anymore

We’d been living together for a million years
Ah ah ah, ah ah ah ah ah
But now it feels so strange out in the atmosphere
Ah ah ah, ah ah ah ah ah
And then the jukebox plays a song I used to know
Ah ah ah, ah ah ah ah ah
And now I’m staring at the bodies as they’re dancing so slow
Ah ah ah, ah ah ah ah ah

They don’t write ’em like that anymore
They don’t write ’em like that anymore
Oh

Hey
Now I wind up staring at an empty glass
Ah ah ah, ah ah ah ah ah
‘Cause it’s so easy to say that you’ll forget your past
Ah ah ah, ah ah ah ah ah

They don’t write ’em like that anymore, no
They just don’t write ’em like that anymore
They don’t write ’em like that anymore
They just don’t write ’em like that anymore
They just don’t, no, they don’t
No, no, uh-uh

Dwight Twilley – Looking For The Magic

I thought I would get back to the blogs name and feature two power pop songs today.

What is that old saying? More hooks than a tackle shop? This song would fit that description. This is pure power pop where the feel is more important than the lyrics. When you listen to the song in headphones, you can hear things going on everywhere in the song. Twilley’s voice is drenched with delay, and it works in this. It’s the delivery that I like.

The Dwight Twilley Band, Twilley and partner Phil Seymour, was a power pop duo of pure melodic instinct and harmony-drenched hooks. The magic here isn’t just in the title, it’s in the song. Of course, like so many great power pop songs, this one slipped through the cracks commercially. Twilley was cursed with bad label timing and promotion, and Shelter Records was basically a soap opera by the late 70s.

This song was on their 1977 Twilley Don’t Mind album. Shelter Records had switched its distribution around the time this was released. The album only peaked at #70 on the Billboard Album Charts, and after that, Phil Seymour quit, and the band broke up. Seymour saw labelmate Tom Petty hit it big, but not the Dwight Twilley Band. In fact, Tom Petty played some guitar on this song.

Twilley did have two songs that hit the top twenty. I’m On Fire in 1975 and Girls in 1984.

Check out the bass player on the live version.

Looking For The Magic

All my life I’m looking for the magicI’ve been looking for the magicFantasize on a silly little tragicI’ve been looking for the magicIn my eyes

Oh, oh, oh, I’mLooking for the magic in my eyesIn my eyesBaby in my eyes

Only child is a silly little raggedShe’s been looking for the magicStay awhile til the city is a desertShe’s been looking for the treasureIn my eyes

Because a photograph isLike an hourglass out of timeAnd then I never laughedBecause I never had no time

Oh, oh, oh, I’mLooking for the magic in my eyesIn your eyesBaby in your eyes

…

Flamin’ Groovies – Shake Some Action

This is a great power pop record. This band had different phases, blues rock, and then power pop after co-founder Roy Loney left. Over the decades, Shake Some Action has aged better than nearly anything else from its era. It doesn’t belong to 1976, not really, it belongs to the die-hard power pop fans that followed.

The Flamin’ Groovies first recorded this song in 1972, but the song was not released until their 1976 album of the same name, which was produced by Dave Edmunds, who sped up the tempo of the track and pushed the vocals. According to lead guitarist Cyril Jordan, the descending phrase he played on lead guitar was overdubbed about six times. Edmunds would also put remote microphones around the studio to fatten up certain passages.

The band started in 1965 with Roy Loney and Cyril Jordan. By the end of the sixties, they clashed over where to go. Loney was more Stones, and Jordon leaned toward the Beatles. Loney left in 1971, and they got an 18-year-old lead singer named Chris Wilson. They moved to London and started to work with Dave Edmunds. With Chris, they did more power pop, and that is when Shake Some Action came about, with Wilson and Jordon writing it.

They would go on to be a great power pop band and also be known as an early proto-punk band…they pretty much covered the gamut. This anti-drug song was written by Jordon and Loney before he left…Chris Wilson is singing it.

Wilson left in the early eighties, but the band continued until around 1994. They regrouped in 2012, including Chris Wilson. The Flamin’ Groovies have released 9 studio albums and one as late as 2017.

Shake Some Action

I will find a way
To get to you some day.
Oh, but I, babe, I’m so afraid I’ll fall, yeah.
Now can’t you hear me call?

Shake some action’s what I need
To let me bust out at full speed.
I’m sure that’s all you need
To make it all right.

It’s taken me so long
To get where I belong
Oh, but, oh, please don’t send me back that way, yeah.
For I will make you pay.

Shake some action’s what I need
To let me bust out at full speed.
I’m sure that’s all you need
To make it all right.

If you don’t dig what I say
Then I will go away.
And I won’t come back this again. No.
‘Cause I don’t need a friend.

Shake some action’s what I need
To let me bust out at full speed.
I’m sure that’s all you need
To make it all right.

Marshall Crenshaw – Mary Anne

Marshall reminds me of Nick Lowe a little because they make every song sound like a potential hit in a good way. It’s a kind of song that makes everything feel alright for three minutes. It’s one of those perfect power pop songs.

He got his first break playing John Lennon in the off-Broadway touring company of the musical Beatlemania between 1978-1980. Crenshaw said: “In the beginning, I was bothered by it, as an egotistical young person, maybe because I had just gotten out of Beatlemania, and I was sick of any kind of heavy association with some other figure.”

He later played Buddy Holly in La Bamba in 1987. “I’ve been a Buddy Holly fan all my life. The joy still comes across in his music. It’s really got its own je ne sais quoi. It really stands apart from a lot of ’50s rock, because it conveys a sense of intimacy. I think it’s because it was made in this little building on the side of a highway late at night with this isolated group of people.”

Marshall Crenshaw’s 1982 self-titled debut is a rare bird in the rock canon, a flawless record that never seems to age. On the album with the jangle of Someday, Someway and the Buddy Holly bop of Cynical Girl, Mary Anne is the track that quietly steals the show. That chorus. It just opens up like sunshine bursting through the clouds. “Mary Anne, you’re not alone,” Crenshaw assures her, and suddenly you’re not alone either.

The arrangement is a masterclass in restraint. The chiming guitars are pure Rickenbacker, and the bassline has a McCartney-esque melody. No frills, no tricks, just three minutes of songcraft that feels like it could’ve been pulled from AM radio in 1966. In the endless search for a great pop song, Mary Anne is the kind of track that makes you stop searching for a while.

Marshall Crenshaw peaked at #50 on the Billboard album charts in 1982. As the old phrase goes…it’s got more hooks than a tackle box.

Mary Anne

It isn’t such a crimeIt isn’t such a shameIt happens all the timeYou shouldn’t take the blameGo on and have a laughGo have a laugh on meGo on and have a laughAt all your misery

Mary Anne, Mary Anne (don’t cry Mary Anne)I really wanna tell you Mary Anne, Mary AnneI’m thinking of youMary Anne, Mary Anne (don’t cry Mary Anne)I really wanna tell you Mary Anne, Mary Anne, Mary Anne

You take a look aroundAnd all you seem to seeIs bringing you downAs down as you can beGo on and have a laughGo have a laugh on meGo on and have a laughAt how bad it can be

Mary Anne, Mary Anne (you’ll be all right)I really wanna tell you Mary Anne, Mary AnneI’m thinking of youMary Anne, Mary Anne (you’ll be all right)I really wanna tell you Mary Anne, Mary Anne, Mary Anne

Mary Anne, Mary Anne (goodnight Mary Anne)I really wanna tell you Mary Anne, Mary AnneI’m thinking of you Mary Anne, Mary Anne (goodnight Mary Anne)I really wanna tell you Mary Anne, Mary Anne, Mary Anne

…

Creation – Making Time

Thank you, Dave, for this Turntable Talk. I wrote this for his series about songs with Time in the title, in the song, or about time. I like trying out new songs on the weekend, and this is a great example of mid-sixties British Rock. If you dig the Who and Kinks…you should like this one.

Here’s a 1966 track that hits you like a kaleidoscopic brick through a plate-glass window. This is a band that I so wish would have done more things. Their lead guitarist, Eddie Phillips, was asked by Pete Townshend to join the Who as their second guitarist. They are one of those bands that slipped through the cracks.

They were formed in 1966 from a band called The Mark Four. The Creation was from Chesthunt, 12 miles north of central London. They formed in 1963 as the Mark Four and went through different names until 1966 when they became the Creation. The Creation was sharper, weirder, and wilder than most of their peers. They had the raw power chords and the feedback fury of early Hendrix, and the pop art mindset of a band who not only wanted to be heard, they needed to be seen as well. The lead singer, Kenny Pickett, would spray paint a canvas, and someone from the road crew would set it a fire during the set…during the song Painter Man.

This song was released in 1966. They patterned themselves after The Who and The Kinks. It had the sonic sound of The Who, the garage grit of The Kinks, and the art-school sound with later groups like The Jam to Blur. But what really made it jump off the grooves? That guitar solo really helped out. Long before Jimmy Page, Eddie Phillips, the guitar player, used a bow. Making Time was the first rock song to feature the guitar being played with a bow. Shel Talmy produced the group that also produced The Who and The Kinks.

The band broke up in 1967-1968 with some different members. The guitar player Eddie Phillips and singer Kenny Pickett started to write songs in the seventies after leaving the business for a while. They wrote Teacher, Teacher for Rockpile. They regrouped in the 1980s and are still out there touring.

I’ve been talking about the Who and Kinks…a member from each band played with The Creation along with a Rolling Stone. Mick Avory, the drummer for the Kinks played with the reformed band from the mid-1980s to 1993. Doug Sandom, who was replaced by Keith Moon in the Who, played with them off and on until he died in 2019. Ronnie Wood played with them in 1968 (right before they broke up) as a vocalist and guitar player.

They only released 3 studio albums. One in 1966 called We Are Paintermen. One in 1987 called Psychedelic Rose and another one in 1996 called Power Surge. This song peaked at #49 on the UK Charts in 1966.

Making Time

Making time
Shooting lines
For people to believe in
Things you say
Gone in a day
Everybody leavin’
Everybody leavin’

Why do we have to carry on?
Always singing the same old song
Same old song
The same old song

Tellin’ lies
Closing your eyes
Making more excuses
Pullin’ the wool
Actin’ the fool
People have their uses
People have their uses

Why do we have to carry on?
Always singing the same old song
Same old song
The same old song

Lookin’ for
An open door
Never taking chances
Take your pick
Makes you sick
Seekin’ new advances
Seekin’ new advances

Why do we have to carry on?
Always singing the same old song
Same old song
The same old song

Ben Vaughn – Shingaling with Me

This song has been in my head for a week now and won’t get out and thats a good thing. The feel of this sounds like it crawled out of the back seat of a 1963 Rambler. It really fits in with The Swingin’ Medallions, Doug Sahm’s 60s style of music, with a tiny bit of a tame Lou Reed thrown in. You can also hear a little of Springsteen in his music at times.

I’m far from an expert on Ben Vaughn, but he shouldn’t be so unknown. Big Star is more well-known than this man. His music is instantly catchy and likable. The song I covered a few years ago, “Too Sensitve for This World,” has hit written all over it. I’m surprised no one has covered that one. Well, I double checked and someone has! Deer Tick…now that is a name that…no I won’t say it.

Vaughn is from New Jersey. He got his start in the late ’70s, playing in punk and new wave bands before forming The Ben Vaughn Combo in 1983. The Combo was everything great about mid-’60s rock and roll, reimagined with a little punk energy. The band was together for five years, releasing two albums and touring the U.S. several times. They received rave reviews in Rolling Stone and People magazine and video airplay on MTV.

This track comes from Mood Swings, the 1992 album that put Vaughn on the map as a Jersey jangle-pop garage guy with a deep record collection. It’s a compilation album that contains his best songs from 1985 to 1990. This song was originally on his 1987 album Beautiful Thing.

Vaughn started a solo career in 1988 and has released over 17 albums. He is very versatile… he plays Rock, blues, jazz, folk, soul, R & B, country, Power Pop, Bossa Nova, movie soundtracks, easy listening, and more, all with Vaughn’s musical slant.

His older albums are not on Spotify, but here is a YouTube playlist that covers a lot of this album. It really doesn’t matter because his songs are just plain out good.

I blogged about Vaughn a while back with this great song.

…

Cars – My Best Friend’s Girl

This song is from The Cars’1978 great debut album. This album has been known by fans as their “greatest hits.” It was one of the best debut rock albums ever released. It is a power pop masterpiece. They were all simple songs, but totally effective. The album contained Good Times Roll, My Best Friend’s Girl, Just What I Needed, Moving In Stereo, and Bye Bye Love. All of which still gets played.

This song is full of catchy hooks, but what makes it special to me is guitarist Elliot Easton’s rockabilly licks flowing through it. Ric Ocasek wrote and sang the song, which peaked at #44 in the Billboard 100, #3 in the UK, and #55 in Canada in 1978. Speaking of Elliot Easton, he was their secret weapon. The guy could have made any song catchy by just inserting his guitar licks.

The song sounds both old (Easton’s licks) and modern with Greg Hawke’s synthesizer in the background. Hawke would color a song but hardly ever take it over. It’s been covered by multiple artists, featured in films and TV shows, and still sounds fresh.

The album The Cars peaked at #18 on the Billboard Album Charts, #50 on the Canadian Album Charts, #29 in the UK, and in New Zealand it peaked at #5 in 1978. It seems New Zealand appreciated it much more and realized they were here to stay. They were one of the few power pop bands that had a somewhat long career. The two singers were usually Ric Ocasek (who was also the main songwriter) and bass player Benjamin Orr. Their voices were very similar.

Below, Ocasek explains how he wrote the song.

Ric Ocasek: Nothing in that song happened to me personally. I just figured having a girlfriend stolen was probably something that happened to a lot of people. I wrote the words and music at the same time: “You’re always dancing down the street / with your suede blue eyes / And every new boy that you meet / he doesn’t know the real surprise.” The “suede blue eyes” line was a play on Carl Perkins’s “Blue Suede Shoes.” When I wrote, “You’ve got your nuclear boots / and your drip-dry glove,” I envisioned the boots and gloves as a cool ’50s fashion statement.

With the last line of the chorus, “But she used to be mine,” you realize the guy didn’t steal his best friend’s girl—his friend stole her away from him.

My Best Friend’s Girl

You’re always dancing down the street
With your suede blue eyes
And every new boy that you meet
He doesn’t know the real surprise
Here she comes again
When she’s dancing ‘neath the starry sky
She’ll make you flip
Here she comes again
When she’s dancing ‘neath the starry sky
You kinda like the way she dips
She’s my best friend’s girl
She’s my best friend’s girl
And she used to be mine
You’ve got your nuclear boots
And your drip dry glove
And when you bite your lip
It’s some reaction to love

Badfinger… quick history

Today I’m having a Badfinger day. Christian got me into a Badfinger mood with his Baby Blue Post. I would suggest you read a more detailed version of their story when you can. Their story will draw you in.

Badfinger was a very talented band that had a gift and curse of sounding like The Beatles. Their songs are remembered today but not the band which is a shame. They made some very good albums and at least one great one. This band’s story is a cautionary tale that other bands must consider. This is what signing with a bad manager can do to you.

The members were Pete Ham, Tom Evans, Mike Gibbins, and Joey Molland (who replaced Ron Griffiths).

They started out as the Iveys and signed with the Beatle’s new label…Apple. They released Maybe Tomorrow as the Iveys which was a minor hit. After that, they changed their name to Badfinger. Paul McCartney wrote their first big hit single”Come and Get It” and after that, they were writing themselves. The hits kept coming… No Matter What, Baby Blue, and Day after Day. They also wrote Without You…a small blues song that Harry Nilson covered…it became a monster worldwide hit. Mariah Carey also covered it and was again a giant hit.

They signed with a manager named Stan Polley and got a massive contract with Warner Brothers after leaving Apple. Things were looking really good. They had hits but they never made it over the hump in being a big-time group. Warner Brothers could have pushed them over the hump…Polley set up an escrow account for the band with the advance money and the money disappeared.

He told the band that he was planning for their future etc…He put them on a small salary and embezzled the rest. He really swindled them and their royalties for their songs were tied up for decades. The band was basically broke. With all of their self-written hits, they should have been set financially for years.

Pete Ham didn’t have the money to pay his mortgage and with a baby on the way, drunk and depressed at the fatal age (for rock stars) of 27 he hanged himself in his garage in 1975. In 1983, after scrambling for gigs, Tom Evans broke and not able to get to any of the royalties due him from co-writing Without You with Pete…hanged himself also.

Pete was a trusting soul and never would believe Polley was cheating them until the very end. His suicide note read…

“I will not be allowed to love and trust everybody. This is better P.S. Stan Polley is a soulless bastard. I will take him with me.”

They all wrote to some degree but Pete Ham was a great songwriter. He had so much potential. He also was a great guitar player and singer. The other members did write some very good songs but Pete was the special one.

Stan Polley died in 2009… escaping other scandals without punishment.

Their albums were

Magic Christian Music – This was the soundtrack to the movie The Magic Christian. Come and Get It is on this album and a minor hit called Maybe Tomorrow which is a good pop song.

No Dice – No Dice is where Badfinger starts to be themselves. No Matter What and Without You came off of this album. It also has some other great songs… I Can’t Take It, Blodwyn, We’re for the Dark, Better Days, and my favorite of the album and possibly of Badfinger…Midnight Caller.

Straight Up – This is my favorite album by them. It has Baby Blue and Day after Day but a host of other good songs. Take It All, Money, Name of the Game, Suitcase, Sweet Tuesday Morning, and I’d Die Babe. Joey Molland’s songwriting and singing were very good on this album.

Ass – Their last album for Apple Records and the start of the downward spiral. The songs I would recommend are Apple of My Eye and Icicles.

Badfinger – They just signed a new record deal with Warner Brothers and this was the first album. They recorded this album as soon as they finished their previous album Ass for Apple which was too soon. They should have waited a while before recording this album. This album didn’t do well, and one of the reasons is that it was competing with their previous album. They were released within months of each other because Polley wanted something out. The songs I like are I Miss You and Shine On.

Wish You Were Here – The album was released in late 1974 and was pulled in early 1975 before it had time to do anything because of litigation between their manager and the Warner Brothers. It was released and pulled in a matter of weeks. Warner Brothers saw the money was missing and yanked the album off of the shelves. The songs I like are Dennis and Just a Chance. This album should have been a giant hit. It had hit songs on there waiting to be played. Dennis is one of their best songs.

Head First – They recorded this album after Wish You Were Here with Bob Jackson after Joey Molland had quit. The album was stuck in limbo for 26 years never released. It wasn’t released until 2000. I went out and bought this the day it was out at Tower Records when I read they were releasing it. On some songs, you can tell they are having problems with their management. The songs that stand out to me are Lay Me Down, Hey Mr. Manager, Rock N’ Roll Contract, and Keep Believing. A good album and I wish it would have had a chance at the time.

They did make a couple of albums after Pete died called Airwaves and Say No More. The song Lost Inside Your Love is the only song that approaches the Badfinger early quality.

Without Pete, the biggest talent was gone. That is not a knock on the others but he was just that good. Tom Evans was a good singer, songwriter, and musician who worked with Pete well and had a great voice. Joey Molland was a good guitar player, singer, and songwriter. The band didn’t lack talent.

In 1997 a CD was released of Pete Hams demos called 7 Park Avenue. It was various demos from his entire career. A follow-up was released in 1999 called Golders Green. The melodies he had rivaled McCartney. He was an amazing songwriter.

Go out and Google Badfinger and more importantly, listen to them. This band needs to be remembered.

Baby Blue… Maybe the most perfect power pop song ever in my opinion.

No Matter What…around 2:02-2:06…Tommy Evans does a cool backup. Not hard but very effective.

Day After Day

Midnight Caller

Suitcase

A good article on Badfiinger

My Top 5 Big Star Songs

This band is one of the big reasons I started to blog in the first place. To meet more Big Star fans and if I got just one person who didn’t know them to listen… my mission was a success. Want a great documentary? Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me

I thought I would list some songs that would be in my top 5 of their catalog. So maybe one of you reading this will take a listen. Here are Graham’s top 10 Big Star songs on his site. These songs are up there with the Beatles, Stones, Kinks, and Who to me. They didn’t have the quantity those bands had, but they had the quality.

Let’s make it 6. My bonus pick is:

BONUS: In The Street – I would say, hands down, the most known song by them besides September Gurls because it was the theme of That Seventies Show. Cheap Trick covered it and someone else for the intro…I wish they had used the original version.

5: Life Is White – Love this driving song by Big Star. It was on Radio City, their second album. Some say it is a response to the Chris Bell song off the first album called My Life Is Right…or a message to his girlfriend Diane (Don’t like to see your face Don’t like to hear you talk at all) that he was splitting with at the time.

4: When My Baby’s Beside Me: Great riff by Alex Chilton and full of the hooks that Big Star is known for. This song was the A-side to In The Street released in 1972. Both songs are on Big Star’s album #1 Record.

3: September Gurls: If Big Star had been heard, this would have been a top-ten hit or at least top 20. It was one of the best pop songs that didn’t chart. September Gurls was rated #180 by Rolling Stone in the magazine’s top 500 songs of all time.

Released as a single, it did not chart despite receiving excellent reviews, due mainly to poor marketing and distribution. It was on their second studio album Radio City. The song was later covered by The Bangles on their album Different Light.

2: Thirteen – This song is an absolutely perfect song about adolescence. I played it to my then 14-year-old son, and it made him a Big Star fan, now 10 years later. This song is the most covered song by Big Star, with 49 different covers. It’s almost a perfect acoustic song. The song is about an adolescent guy and his girlfriend who are rock fans, being what 13-14-year-olds are…confused and lost.

1: The Ballad of El Goodo – There are some songs that I hear, and I think…damn I wish I would have written this. This is one of those songs. To me, it’s a perfect song and represents everything I like. The way they transitioned into the chorus is magical to me. It comes very close to being my favorite song of all time.

The Ballad of El Goodo

Years ago, my heart was set to live, oh
And I’ve been trying hard against unbelievable odds
It gets so hard in times like now to hold on
But guns they wait to be stuck by, at my side is God

And there ain’t no one going to turn me ’round
Ain’t no one going to turn me ’round

There’s people around who tell you that they know
And places where they send you, and it’s easy to go
They’ll zip you up and dress you down and stand you in a row
But you know you don’t have to, you could just say no

And there ain’t no one going to turn me ’round
Ain’t no one going to turn me ’round
Ain’t no one going to turn me ’round
Ain’t no one going to turn me ’round

I’ve been built up and trusted
Broke down and busted
But they’ll get theirs and we’ll get ours if you can
Just-a hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on

Years ago, my heart was set to live, oh
Though I’ve been trying hard against strong odds
It gets so hard in times like now to hold on
Well, I’ll fall if I don’t fight, and at my side is God

And there ain’t no one going to turn me ’round
Ain’t no one going to turn me ’round
Ain’t no one going to turn me ’round
Ain’t no one going to turn me ’round

Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on

Blue Northern – Can’t Make No Sense

The reason I enjoy the weekends so much on the blog is that I try to post new/old music that I like, which isn’t the most well-known. I go out searching for more music I missed real time. If I had heard of Blue Northern in the early 1980s, I would have bought them. The young Max would have connected with these guys, but better late than never.

This band sounds like the Byrds, the Flying Burrito Brothers, and some power-pop mixed together. The songs are likable at first listen. They did have some success in Canada in the early eighties, and they recently re-released their first album under the name Tango!.

I couldn’t decide on which song to pick, so I just flipped a coin and picked one, but I’m featuring both. They were a country rock band from Vancouver, British Columbia. They were together between 1977 and 1983. I found this band by following Billy Cowsill around and his different bands.

The band started out with Gary Comeau, Lee Stephens, Brady Gustafson, and Jimmy Wilson. They were later joined by guitarist Ray O’Toole and Billy Cowsill. Can’t Make No Sense was written by Ray O’Toole. He also wrote Too Late To Turn Back Now.

They only released one album…Blue Northern in 1980 and an EP called Blue in 1979. Both of these songs were on the Blue Northern album, and both were singles. Too Late To Turn Back peaked at #15 on the RPM Cancon singles charts, and Can’t Make No Sense peaked at #25 on the RPM Cancon singles charts in 1980-1981.

Can’t Make No Sense

You say we must end it, the feeling is gone
There just ain’t no reason to carry on
I say we should try it a day or two
And I can’t make no sense out of loving you

Wedding bells were ringing in my head
I could not hear what people might have said
You see we have different points of view
And I can’t make no sense out of loving you

You say you must break my heart
And I will understand
The hurt will go away so soon
Like castles in the sand
And it’s crazy crazy crazy what I’ll do
And I can’t make no sense out of loving you

You say you must leave me now
Closing all the doors
Does he mean that much to you
You can’t see me no more
And it’s crazy crazy crazy what I’ll do
And I can’t make no sense out of loving you

No no I said, I can’t make no sense out of loving you
I, I, I can’t make no sense out of loving you

____________________________

Too Late To Turn Back Down

Well your name’s all over town
Since you’ve been laying your favors round
Your reputation is going down down down the drain
I still remember awhile ago
When you had no place to go
Then your smile was just a show
You gave to a friend

Baby it’s too late
Too late to turn back
Well your money’s all gone
Friends are catching on to you

Baby it’s too late
Too late to turn back
You’ve been doing alright
Just fading out of site, baby

Baby it’s too late
Too late to turn back
Well your money’s all gone
Friends are catching on to you

Baby it’s too late
Too late to turn back
You’ve been doing alright now
Fading out of site, baby

Ah you’ve been doing alright
Been fading out of site, baby
Oh you’ve been doing alright
You’re fading out of site, baby

…

Plimsouls – Lie, Beg, Borrow, and Steal

I want to thank Pam from allthingsthriller for mentioning this song in my Paisley Underground Music Scene post. I’m a fan of these guys… A Million Miles Away is the first song I posted by them in 2019. When Pam posted the link to this one I knew I had to post it. I like the groove and the power of it. Little did I know about the history of it.

This song is from their 1983 album Everywhere at Once. It’s a cover of Beg, Borrow, and Steal by The Rare Breed, a 1966 garage rock single later released by The Ohio Express (the Plimsouls added “Lie”). It’s so funny how music is connected through the decades. The song was written by Ronny (Mouse) Weiss. If that name is kind of familiar to you readers…he is the leader of a Texas Band that I covered a while back called Mouse And The Traps.

Peter Case, the leader of the Plimsouls, began his musical career in the late 1970s in Los Angeles, where he formed The Nerves, a pioneering power pop/punk rock trio. The Nerves are best known for their song “Hanging on the Telephone.” It was later covered by Blondie, and it reached #5 on the UK singles chart.

After The Nerves disbanded, Case formed The Plimsouls in 1978. The band released several albums and EPs and gained a dedicated following for their live performances.

They broke up after this album. They reunited without drummer Louie Ramírez to make an album called Kool Trash in 1995. They did get one of the best drummers in rock to replace Ramirez though. Clem Burke of Blondie played with them for a short while.

The Rare Breed’s version of the song.

Beg, Borrow, and Steal

Well I can’t find love
How lonely life is without love
(without love)
I can’t find love
How lonely life is without love
(without none)
I’m gonna lie, beg, borrow, and steal
‘Til I do get me some

Lie, beg, borrow, and steal
It’s the only way I know
Lie, beg, borrow, and steal
If one don’t work then the other one will

I need my love
How lonely life is without love
(without love)
Well I need my love
How lonely life is without love
(without none)

I’m gonna lie, beg, borrow, and steal
Until I do get me some

….

Bread – Down On My Knees

Bread was known as a light pop band in the 1970s. When I heard this I realized they stuck their toe in the power pop water. It sounded familiar when I heard it a few years ago. I then remembered…it was on their 1973 greatest hits album that my sister had.

Band members David Gates and James Griffin wrote this song at the Royal Lancaster Hotel during their first trip to London. Griffin wrote a lot of songs for Bread but the record company always seemed to pick David Gates songs for singles. This song was the B-Side to the song Diary.

The song was off their Baby I’m-A Want You album released in 1972. It was their fourth LP, which proved to be the highest-charting studio album of the band’s career and provided them with four top-40 hits. The hits were “Mother Freedom” – #37 “Baby I’m-a Want You” – #3 “Everything I Own” – #5 “Diary” – #15. That was quite impressive in the 70s when record companies usually didn’t release a lot of singles from an album. In the 1980s it became commonplace to squeeze as many singles as possible. Bread though…was more of a singles band to begin with.

It was their first album without founding member Robb Royer… Although his departure was due to increasing tensions between him and Gates, Royer continued to write songs with Jimmy Griffin, who remained in the band, hence Royer’s name still turning up in the credits as the co-composer of Dream Lady and Games of Magic. They replaced Royer with studio keyboardist Larry Knechtel who was a member of the Wrecking Crew.

James Griffin: “The lyric doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me – I think we were each writing about different things. But the song got a lot of airplay, and people seemed to like it.”

Down On My Knees

I’ve told you before
Don’t you hear what I say?
I won’t take it no more
no more making me stay

Down on my knees
You know I’m down on my knees, yeah
Yes I’ve been down on my knees, but I’m through begging please
I wont get back on my knees, yeah

Nobody knows what your putting me through
Nobody knows if it’s worth it for you
Nobody sees you got me down on my knees, yeah
Well I’ve been down on my knees, well I’m through begging please
don’t put my back on my knees, yeah

You know that I always loved you
Never placed myself above you
Don’t let me go with my ways that I could
Don’t tell me no with my ways that you would

Down on my knees
You’ve brought me down on my knees, yeah
Well I’ve been down on my knees, but I’m through begging please
don’t put me back on my knees, yeah

You know how I always loved you
There’s no time that I have tried to place myself above you

Down on my knees
You know that I’m down on my knees, yeah
Well I’ve been down on my knees, but I’m through beggin’ please
don’t put me back on my knees, yeah
Ya I’ve been down on, but I’m through begging please
don’t put me back on my knees

Overlooked Pop/Rock Masterpieces

I hope I’m wording this right and what I’m trying to get across are songs that are not just regular pop/rock songs. Some of these have sections instead of 3 or 4 chords and it’s over with. Intricate songs to duplicate and fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. I’ll give you an example…Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody or The Beach Boys Good Vibrations. Those are not songs you just run into a studio and record in one take. Many of these songs took days, weeks, or months to get right recording different sections.

I usually like down-to-earth and rootsy kind of songs but sometimes I do like listening to these great songs. These are overlooked by the masses with people often connecting with a big hit by the band instead. I’ve picked 3 songs to present here. Being a musician…I can sure appreciate what it took to record these.

Overnight Sensation (Hit Record) – The Raspberries

I posted a Raspberries song this weekend but this one remains my number 1 song even over Go All The Way because it’s so epic.

Overnight Sensation (Hit Record) is an epic, ambitious, grand, lofty, extravagant, and brilliant song from the Raspberries. They were swinging for the fences when they made this song and they hit it out of the park. It’s on the album Starting Over released in 1974.

Put some headphones on and listen to this completely to the very end… When I hear it, I think this is what it would sound like if The Who, Beach Boys and Beatles made a song together…this would be it. Musically you have a little of everything. Sliding bass lines, tasteful guitar licks, great vocals, a sax solo that gives way to more lyrics as the song morphs into an AM radio sound… and then comes a solo piano.

Stay until the very end because they dupe you into a fake ending and the drums will come in as if the world is going to end. Then… a Beach Boys final huge crescendo wave will wash over you like a warm summer moonlit night. It’s a wall of sound of ecstasy that you wish would go on forever.

Bruce Springsteen: “Overnight Sensation (Hit Record) should go down as one of the great mini-rock-opera masterpieces of all time”

Broken Arrow – Buffalo Springfield

The song Broken Arrow is a song that was made in sections and it’s hard to explain it with words… Something is haunting and beautiful about it. I listen to it now and it’s like Buffalo Springfield’s own A Day In The Life. It was produced in 1967 during the psychedelic era. One of my favorite songs of all time…any song with the lyric “He hung up his eyelids and ran down the hall” grabs my attention. Neil Young wrote this beautiful song. Gregg Allman cornered Neil backstage somewhere in the 2000s and pleaded with him to start playing this song again. He did when Buffalo Springfield reformed.

Care Of Cell 44 – The Zombies

This is one of my favorite pop songs of the 1960s. The vocals are reminiscent of the Beach Boys. It’s a sunny and bright song musically about a guy writing to his girl…in prison. The song doesn’t express or explain why she is in prison just that he will be with her when her stay is over.

The song is arranged beautifully. with the vocal-only arrangements, You can hear Brian Wilson and Paul McCartney’s influence on this recording. Chris White’s (Zombies bass player) bass playing is phenomenal in this song.

It is on the album Odessey and Oracle, one of the best albums of the sixties. The hit song on the album is Time of the Season but it is full of great songs. It charted a year after it was released at #95 in the Billboard 200 album charts in 1969. The song/album would be on my desert island list.

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