Various Artists – I Wanna Be A Teen Again (North American Power Pop Of The ‘80s) 

Cherry Red Records 

3 CD box set available here

Out now. 

Power pop was big in the ‘80s and this box set brings together the best of a much forgotten genre.

Pete Townshend coined the term power pop back in the ‘60s, but a decade later it was being used to describe the poppier end of post punk New Wave. The compliers have made their choices based on the idea that the ideal power pop tune has ‘hooks, harmonies and high-energy’, which 78 bands across three discs all have in spades.

Power pop acts like the Go-Gos, The Knack and The Bangles were regular chart toppers on both sides of the Atlantic throughout the ‘80s, but many of the acts who were part of that movement are now long forgotten. This carefully curated set offers power pop fans a chance to hear some of the best acts from the ‘80s, many of whom would go on to sell millions of records.

If you ever wondered what power pop sounds like then former Dead Boy Stiv Bators’ aggressively  tuneful Not That Way Anymore is a great example. The Knack is probably the most familiar power pop band to UK audiences after My Sharona was a big hit, and I Want Ya is just as good. Blondie alumni Gary Valentine formed The Know after leaving before they went supernova, and he contributes their demo version of (I’m Always Touched By Your) Presence Dear that he penned for Debbie.

Todd Rundgren always had a pop bent, so Utopia’s I Just Want To Touch You is a clever piece of faux Fab Four. Eric Carmen throws off his soft rock shackles with the wonderfully OTT It Hurts Too Much, which could have been written by Jim Steinman, and The Shoes have made a living off power pop for five decades with tunes like She Satisfies.

The Flamin’ Groovies start disc 2 with So Much In Love from their ill fated sessions in France for Skydog Records before they finally imploded. Danny Wilde fronted Great Buildings before going onto record the Friends theme song, and The Go-Gos exemplified sixties influenced power pop on early track How Much More. The Rubinoos were masters of bubble gum power pop on Let’s Make It Tonight as Cheap Trick chip in a rare ballad with the lovely If You Want My Love. The Bangles’ Mary Street gives more than a hint at what a hit making machine they would become through the ‘80s.

The Ramones open CD 3 and you wouldn’t think of them as power pop, but My My Kind Of Girl shows how effortlessly they made the transition from being three chord punk gods. The dBs were bigger in the UK than at home with gems like Love Is For Lovers. The compilers of this box set stretch the borders of North America more than a bit to include Katrina and The Waves, and rightly so as Do You Want Crying is immense with a rare female vocal.

Former Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick produced the late Tommy Keane’s Places That Are Gone bringing some of that Beatles magic to a decent record. The Smithereens are also borderline power pop earning the typically romantic and melodic Strangers When We Meet a well deserved place. The Long Ryders are another surprising choice as they were much more Paisley Underground but their cover of NRBQ’s I Want You Bad is on the poppier end of their extensive back catalogue.

Power pop was meant to be fun and a little frivolous, and every one of these short and always punchy tracks is exactly that in an era when poodle haired glam rockers dominated MTV stateside.

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Words by Paul Clarke, you can see his author profile here.