RESULTS: Top 10 NW power pop songs

[deevo0]

We had 10 submissions. I used a weighted ranking, with every song getting 3 points just for being picked, and getting an extra 10 for being picked 1st, 9 for being picked 2nd, and so on.

If you still want to vote, let me know and I'll recalculate, just because the number of voters was so low.


TOP 10 (WEIGHTED SCORE)
-----------------------
1. "A Million Miles Away" The Plimsouls [ws:57]
2. TIE "Rock n' Roll Girl" The Paul Collins Beat / "Girl of My Dreams" Bram Tchaikovsky [ws:46]
3. "Starry Eyes" The Records [ws:42]
4. "Cruel To Be Kind" Nick Lowe [ws:29]
5. "My Sharona" The Knack [ws:26]
6. TIE "Cheri" 20/20 / "Now" The Plimsouls / "What I Like About You" The Romantics [ws:25]
7. "Back of my Hand" The Jags [ws:21]
8. "Yellow Pills" 20/20 [ws:18]
9. "Too Late" Shoes [ws:14]
10. TIE "Dreaming" Blondie / "My Sharona" The Knack / "Waiting for the Weekend" The Vapors [ws:13]
and ...
11. TIE "In My Arms Again" Shoes / "Rich Kids" Rich Kids / "What I Like About You" Romantics / "Bulrushes" The Bongos / [ws:12]


MOST FREQUENTLY PICKED
----------------------
1. TIE "A Million Miles Away" The Plimsouls / "Girl of My Dreams" Bram Tchaikovsky [5]
2. TIE "Starry Eyes" The Records / "Rock n' Roll Girl" Paul Collins Beat [4]
3. TIE "Back of my Hand" The Jags / "Cruel To Be Kind" Nick Lowe / "Cheri" 20/20: [3]


ALPHABETICAL LIST
-----------------
NOTE: the first number after colon means how it was ranked by voter, e.g., 3 means someone picked it 3rd. The "ws" is the weighted score.

"Another Girl, Another Planet" Only Ones: 3 [ws:11]
"Another Nail In My Heart" Squeeze: 10 [ws:4]
"Are You Receiving Me" XTC: 8 [ws:6]
"Baby, It's You" Phil Seymour: 3 [ws:11]
"Back of my Hand" The Jags: 10 (tie), 10, 1 [ws:21]
"Bulrushes" The Bongos: 2 [ws:12]
"Cheri" 20/20: 3,6,8 [ws:25]
"D-a-a-ance" Lambrettas: 10 [ws:4]
"Cruel To Be Kind" Nick Lowe: 1,6,6 [ws:29]
"Dancing The Night Away" The Motors: 9 [ws:5]
"Danger Games" The Pinkees: 4 [ws:10]
"Dreaming" Blondie: 1 [ws:13]
"Dreaming" Paul Collins Beat: 7 [ws:7]
"Ever Fallen in Love": 5 [ws:9]
"Every Word Means No" Let's Active: 7 [ws:7]
"Forever Yours" Romantics: 10 (tie) [ws:4]
"Frustrated" / "Your Number Or Your Name" The Knack: 9 [ws:5]
"Generals and Majors" XTC: 9 [ws:5]
"Girl of My Dreams" Bram Tchaikovsky: 1,4,5,5,9 [ws:46]
"Girls Like Me" Bonnie Hayes: 8 [ws:6]
"How Much More Can I Take?" The Go Gos: 8 [ws:6]
"I Am the Beat" The Look: 3 [ws:11]
"I Don't Mind" Buzzcocks: 9 [ws:5]
"I Don't Wanna Cry" The Keys: 4 [ws:10]
"I Found a Love" Phil Seymour: 5 [ws:9]
"I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" Rubinoos: 9 [ws:5]
"I Want You Back" Hoodoo Gurus: 6 [ws:8]
"I Want You to Want Me" Cheap Trick 4 [ws:10]
"I'm On Fire" Dwight Twilley Band: 4 [ws:10]
"In My Arms Again" Shoes: 2 [ws:12]
"Just What I Needed" Cars: 10 [ws:4]
"Let's Go" The Reducers: 10 [ws:4]
"Mary Jane" The Vulgar Boatmen: 10 [ws:4]
"A Million Miles Away" The Plimsouls: 1,2,2,4,4 [ws:57]
"My Sharona" The Knack: 1,1 [ws:26]
"Night Out" The Fools: 5 [ws:9]
"Now" The Plimsouls: 2,1 [ws:25]
"Now and Then" Shoes: 6 [ws:8]
"Numbers With Wings" The Bongos: 8 [ws:6]
"Oh Candy" Cheap Trick: 3 [ws:11]
"Opus 10" Four Out Of Five Doctors: 9 [ws:5]
"Out To You" The Numbers: 7 [ws:7]
"Pulling Mussels" Squeeze: 7 [ws:7]
"Remember the Lightning" 20/20: 4 [ws:10]
"Remorse Code" Fingerprintz: 6 [ws:8]
"Rich Kids" Rich Kids 2 [ws:12]
"Rock n' Roll Girl" Paul Collins Beat: 1,3,3,3 [ws:46]
"Shake Some Action" Flamin' Groovies: 6 [ws:8]
"She Sheila" Producers: 10 [ws:4]
"Someday, Someway" Marshall Crenshaw: 9 [ws:5]
"Southern Girls" Cheap Trick: 5 [ws:9]
"Starry Eyes" Records: 1,2,3,8 [ws:42]
"Surrender" Cheap Trick: 5 [ws:9]
"Switchin' to Glide/Beat Goes On" The Kings: 7 [ws:7]
"Teenarama" Records: 7 [ws:7]
"Think it Over" The Neighborhoods: 9 [ws:5]
"Time For Action" Secret Affair: 5 [ws:9]
"Tomorrow Night" Shoes: 10 (tie) [ws:4]
"Tonight" Raspberries: 4 [ws:10]
"Too Late" Shoes: 7,7 [ws:14]
"Waiting For The Weekend" The Vapors: 1 [ws:13]
"We Don't Get Along" The Go-Go's: 6 [ws:8]
"What I Like About You" Romantics: 2,1 [ws:25]
"What's He Got" Producers: 5 [ws:9]
"When I Look In Your Eyes" Romantics: 8 [ws:6]
"When You're Young" The Atlantics: 8 [ws:6]
"Yellow Pills" 20/20: 2,8 [ws:18]
"Yes Eyes" Fingerprintz: 6 [ws:8]
"You Got It" Pearl Harbor: 7 [ws:7]
"You Won't Be Happy" The Beat: 10 [ws:4]



***********************************************

The survey asks for the 10 best new wave power pop songs, album cuts only (7" if no album cut is available). Don't distinguish different versions of songs, e.g., 12" remix by so-and-so. The survey is here:

http://chzc.polldaddy.com/s/deevo0

Results posted in 6 weeks. Have fun!

p.s. Email deevo0 through nwoutpost if you have problems with the survey.






More Info
**********

<a href="http://books.google.ca/books?id=pqtGTJgE4rEC&printsec=frontcover">John Borack</a> defines power pop, also called melodic rock-and-roll, as follows: "pop music with power, catchy tunes with an attitude. It refers to an energetic interpretation of pop rock, based in equal parts on melodic hooks and killer instinct. It takes obvious inspiration from mid-1960s rock'n'roll, especially from groups like The Beatles, The Kinks and the early Who. From about 1977 onward, it has frequently absorbed a recognizable influence from the ragin' rhythms of punk" (7).

To be new wave power pop, a song typically has:

- A strong, catchy, traditional verse-chorus melody
- A guitar-based rock punch that is not too bluesy
- Multi-voiced vocal harmonies, although this is not a requirement
- A recognizable musical influence from the "Big B's" - that is, Beatles, Beach Boys, Byrds, Badfinger, Big Star
- A recognizable influence from punk
- A release date somewhere between 1978-1984

Examples of NW power pop bands: The Romantics, Shoes, The Records, Bram Tchaikovsky, Squeeze, The Names, The Diodes, The Buzzcocks, The Paul Collins Beat, The Plimsouls, 20/20, The Producers, The Knack, Go-Gos, The Keys, The Bangles, The dBs, The Barracudas, The Motors, The Vapors, The Nerves, The Spongetones, Bill Lloyd, Fools Face, The Bongos, Dirty Looks, The Jags, Tommy Keene, The Hoodoo Gurus, The Brains, The A's, Any Trouble. Notice that REM and jangle pop groups are not on this list!

[deevo0]

Only one response so far: someone put "Cruel To Be Kind" for every slot in the top 10. Almost certainly a joke. In case it wasn't, you need to put in 10 different songs for your top 10!

[Frau_Blucher]

I think you made a simple question complicated. People here know what power pop is. Try stripping out all the words and put the punchline right on top..."Simple power pop survey. Please click here to participate. I'll post the results after x time. Thanks. Bye."

[deevo0]

[quote][i]Originally posted by Frau_Blucher[/i]
<br>I think you made a simple question complicated. People here know what power pop is. Try stripping out all the words and put the punchline right on top..."Simple power pop survey. Please click here to participate. I'll post the results after x time. Thanks. Bye."
[/quote]

Thanks for your feedback. Based on what I've seen in the PP forums, there is endless debate about what the term covers. Whatever you think it is, someone will say it isn't that. You won't get much more consensus than you would with the term "new wave."

[newwavepop]

i dont claim to be an expert on that genre and am curious what the answer will be. but for me i have never heard anything refered to as powere pop that i thought equalled the very small output of the nerves.

[deevo0]

Only 5 responses so far! Come on outposters! If you don't want to deal with the polldaddy form, just post your top 10 in the forum and I'll compile the results.

[magnum]

[quote][i]Originally posted by deevo0[/i]
<br>Only 5 responses so far! Come on outposters! If you don't want to deal with the polldaddy form, just post your top 10 in the forum and I'll compile the results.
[/quote]

Completed on sunday - for whats it worth i ranked "Jags - Back of my hand" in the top spot.

http://magnum71mixes.blogspot.co.uk/
http://soundcloud.com/magnum71

http://soundcloud.com/magnum1971

http://soundcloud.com/71magnum

"get your ears washed gregg,BEE GEES mix actually also uses multitrack parts"

[deevo0]

Hi folks. We have 8 responses so far: not such a great haul. If you'd like to submit your selections, there is still time:

http://chzc.polldaddy.com/s/deevo0

I'll post the results at the end of the week. I was delighted to see some songs in the list that I was unfamiliar with.

[SallyLightfoot]

Not what you want to hear, but I think the request for New Wave Power Pop (excluding jangle-pop) is a bit much. Power Pop is difficult enough to define-- it's an "I know it when I hear it" kind of thing.

This is an exercise only a music-nerd would relish: choosing favorites among up-tempo, not-too-punky, not-too-glammy guitar bands from 1978-84 which were [i]not[/i] derivative of Kraftwerk or the disco/funk era.

[deevo0]

[quote][i]Originally posted by SallyLightfoot[/i]
<br>Not what you want to hear, but I think the request for New Wave Power Pop (excluding jangle-pop) is a bit much. Power Pop is difficult enough to define-- it's an "I know it when I hear it" kind of thing.

This is an exercise only a music-nerd would relish: choosing favorites among up-tempo, not-too-punky, not-too-glammy bands from 1978-84 which were [i]not[/i] derivative of Kraftwerk or the disco/funk era.
[/quote]

Hi. I'm fine with what you have to say. After thinking it over, I just don't agree. My initial post spells out pretty clear criteria, and includes over 33 example bands. Not one of the submissions so far includes anything that I would NOT call power pop. They've all been right on the money.

[SallyLightfoot]

[quote][i]Originally posted by deevo0[/i]
<br>[quote][i]Originally posted by SallyLightfoot[/i]
<br>Not what you want to hear, but I think the request for New Wave Power Pop (excluding jangle-pop) is a bit much. Power Pop is difficult enough to define-- it's an "I know it when I hear it" kind of thing.

This is an exercise only a music-nerd would relish: choosing favorites among up-tempo, not-too-punky, not-too-glammy bands from 1978-84 which were [i]not[/i] derivative of Kraftwerk or the disco/funk era.
[/quote]

Hi. I'm fine with what you have to say. After thinking it over, I just don't agree. My initial post spells out pretty clear criteria, and includes over 33 example bands. Not one of the submissions so far includes anything that I would NOT call power pop. They've all been right on the money.
[/quote]Well, you only did get a handful of votes, right? (Including the "Cruel to Be Kind" fan.)

As a music nerd, I submitted a vote, but I couldn't decide if The Flaming Groovies' "Shake Some Action" qualified as power-pop or jangle-pop. And I'm sure that just about anyone would wonder if The Police, The Cars, Cheap Trick and countless other difficult-to-pigeonhole bands count as NW power-pop.

Thanks for the exercise anyway. Do let us know your results.

[deevo0]

[/quote]Well, you only did get a handful of votes, right? (Including the "Cruel to Be Kind" fan.)

As a music nerd, I submitted a vote, but I couldn't decide if The Flaming Groovies' "Shake Some Action" qualified as power-pop or jangle-pop. And I'm sure that just about anyone would wonder if The Police, The Cars, Cheap Trick and countless other difficult-to-pigeonhole bands count as NW power-pop.

Thanks for the exercise anyway. Do let us know your results.

[/quote]

Hi. Thanks for voting! I forgot about the guy who REALLY liked "Cruel to Kind." My guess is that people didn't vote much because they weren't interested, not because the subgenre was poorly defined. And note that Frau criticized for the opposite reason as you: "I think you made a simple question complicated. People here know what power pop is." (Which I don't agree with.) My suspicion is I could define subgenre X within an inch of its life, or not define it at all, and still end up with 8 voters. It's cool. I love learning what people here like to listen to.

There definitely are corner cases. Here's my take. The Police (consider the strong reggae influence) is not PP. Some of The Cars stuff is ("Just What I Needed" comes to mind), but mostly not (I think of Panorama as most NW album they did, but it's not power pop--too angular and weird). Cheap Trick is definitely power pop, but only some of it rode the new wave bandwagon. "Shake Some Action" is definitely power pop, but it came out in 1976. I think of jangle pop as from the REM era.

Man, talk about a hard-to-define term, how about "new wave." To me, new wave was the pop alternative to postpunk, but some consider postpunk a movement within new wave. I also think new wave was basically over in 1984, to be superseded by New Pop and New Romanticism, but others see new wave extending well into the late 80s.

[SallyLightfoot]

I hope that you got some good votes out of it. I too am a big fan of power-pop, but don't anybody ask me to define it! As I said, please share your results so I can comb through them to make some discoveries. -- Thanks

[WoodlandParkPunk]

How in the hell was My Sharona NOT the #1 power pop song?

"You just pick a chord, go twang, and you've got music." ~ Sid Vicious

[deevo0]

[quote][i]Originally posted by WoodlandParkPunk[/i]
<br>How in the hell was My Sharona NOT the #1 power pop song?
[/quote]

Overplayed song, overrated band (Dirty Looks do the same thing better). If it had been a relatively obscure single, then I'll bet it would have been higher.