Issue #172 – Powerpop: The Third Wave

JON ‘MOJO’ MILLS introductory essay to our eight-page collection of powerpop articles

Enter Cyril Jordan, returning to the UK in 1975. It had taken all of three years but whilst back in the States The Flamin’ Groovies had reinvented themselves after recording the uber ’60s ‘You Tore Me Down’. The new short hair and suits matched ‘Shake Some Action’ sartorially in the way it reclaimed the spirit of 10 years before, notably the instant appeal of The Byrds chiming guitar and the ’64-65 thrill of The Beatles, counteracting the long hair and bombast still prevalent in rock music. Where Big Star, Badfinger and Blue Ash, carried the spirit of the ’60s into the ’70s, and The Raspberries even donned suits, which they didn’t convincingly pull off, the Groovies in the grey, pre-punk era finally registered. The time seemed apt to turn back the clock to better days, with something that was yet to become brazen nostalgia. ‘Shake Some Action’ was a call to arms, a new form of music that borrowed from the past but also ushered in what may be deemed the “third age of powerpop”.

The band’s producer Dave Edmunds was pivotal in the less is best mode of studio production. His own work with Rockpile, Nick Lowe solo, and of course Elvis Costello & The Attractions (more on them in the next issue) helped define the sound that many in the new-wave would follow.

Another American band to don suits were The Nerves (see feature) whose ’75 single ‘Hanging On The Telephone’ (later taken to the toppermost of the poppermost by Blondie) was also feted by Greg Shaw, a man who certainly did a lot for the emerging talent across this era with both his Bomp magazine and record label.

Of course, there were all manner of facets to acts continuing what Cheap Trick, Dwight Twilley and others were doing. The ’77-80 era had a distinct through line. In his ’78 powerpop Bomp special, Shaw included Abba’s ‘Waterloo’ alongside Small Faces’ ‘Afterglow’, The Jam’s ‘In The City’ and Generation X’s ‘Your Generation’ in his All-Time Top Power Pop Records list. In this set of articles and columns we are solely focusing on how the love of the gear, style and iconography of the mid-60s informed a sub-section of these late ’70s bands.

But how could the ringing guitars, power chords, harmonies and perfect pop song structures forged by The Beatles, Byrds, Who, Hollies and all those other great mid-60s bands not have an impact on young, and not so young, bands tired of mid-70s pomp and virtuosity? Just listen to The Records’ genre defining ‘Starry Eyes’ to hear all those influences at once. The ’60s influence was a given and that it was going on around the same time as the mod revival an inevitable case of zeitgeist. Whilst veterans like The Korgis and The Monks (featuring members of Stackridge and The Strawbs) embraced the skinny-tie era with aplomb, ex-teenage punks like Squire (also from Woking, like The Jam) moved on to making a slew of classic ’60s pop inspired releases, in America there were amazing early forays into smart moptop sounds from Marbles, and back in the UK, The Pleasers went all out ’60s on the tails of the adjacent pub-rock movement, with their almost parody, pre-Rutles Thamesbeat sound, taking the inflections of Beatles love to new heights in ’77.

That the late ’70s into early ’80s approach to the mid-60s has been lovingly drawn on by current acts The Lemon Twigs, Uni Boys, Sharp Pins and others points to the enduring appeal of this era, which unbelievably isn’t far off being 50 years old itself.

 To read the whole story order issue #172 here. Subscribe to the mag here.