Various Artists – I Wanna Be A Teen Again: American Power Pop 1980 – 1989

Ever since the Beatles announced “I want to hold your hand”, power pop has had a significant grip on popular music. That influence has waxed and waned throughout the years, but never has it disappeared. The branding may have changed with the times (Paisley Underground, indie pop), but the core principles of “hooks, harmonies and high energy” guide this compilation. Following the gargantuan success of The Knack in 1979, power pop was back in vogue. Even though that bubble burst only a year and a half later, the style put on a different jacket with a new label and continued with varying degrees of success. Big names and local upstarts both reveled in the ability of jangly guitars and harmony vocals to lift up and transport the listener to a happier place and, hopefully, the band to chart success.

The first two discs in this set cover the period 1980-83 and the American scene that followed in the wake of My Sharona. By the end of that era, power pop was relegated to an underground scene, but as disc three – which covers the years 1983 through 1989 – shows, there was plenty more to come, and once in a while it broke back into the mainstream.

The Knack discarded the Sharona model for a decidedly sixties take on I Want Ya, from their second album, giving others permission to look to the past for inspiration. No one was more obvious about it than Todd Rundgren’s band Utopia, whose I Just Want To Touch You could have been stolen from any of the first few Beatles albums. Bands like Nikki and the Corvettes (Just What I Need) and the Romantics (When I Look In Your Eyes) realized that while this music was not exactly rocket science, it sure could be a hell of a lot of fun. Influences were worn proudly on the proverbial sleeve as evidenced by Screen Test’s take on Joe Jackson (Nothing Really Matters When You’re Young) and Hilly Michael’s Beach Boys/10cc/Who in a blender tune, Calling All Girls. While Eric Carmen’s ‘70s band Raspberries were textbook exponents of power pop, his solo track It Hurts Too Much goes widescreen to incorporate the big production sounds of Phil Spector. Rick Springfield’s classic Jesse’s Girl ruled the airwaves in 1981 with its deceptively bright woe-is-me tale, but several lesser lights rose to the challenge with brilliant masterpieces of their own. Illinois band Shoes released pop perfection with She Satisfies, and powerhouse vocalist Phil Seymour’s Precious To Me hit all the right notes.

The set’s second disc is a storehouse of musical treasures. Opening with The Flamin’ Groovies’ So Much In Love, short and packed with power, the streak continues with the Plimsouls’ power pop classic, Now, and Great Buildings’ (who later morphed into the Rembrandts) phenomenal Hold On To Something. The Go-Go’s debut album contained several hits, but even album tracks like How Much More offered proof that the all-girl band could hold their own with the boys. The Rubinoos ripped a page from the Raspberries book on how to write a great tune with Let’s Make It Tonight while The Michael Guthrie Band cranked up the energy for Sorry About That. Songwriting skills and jangly guitars jumped to the fore on Marshall Crenshaw’s irresistible Cynical Girl, and Dwight Twilley proved that sweet vocals atop a muscular tune were heavenly in I’m Back Again. The Bongos had a darker take on power pop with The Bulrushes, but Cheap Trick shone their light with If You Want My Love. The Toms’ (I Wanna Be A) Teen Again lends its title, along with its great vocals and songwriting, to this compilation. Minor lights like Let’s Active (Every Word Means No) and Bruce Moody (AM Romance) are represented with their should have been hits, while the melodic pop of the Bangles’ Mary Street showed the way to chart success.

The latter half of the eighties represented on the third disc might not have had the biggest hits of the genre, but the ones that did break through were monster tunes. Chief among them was hybrid US/UK band Katrina and the Waves’ Do You Want Crying which, while not as huge as megahit Walking On Sunshine, was every bit as worthy. For a few albums, even the Ramones scratched their power pop itch, as represented by My My Kind Of Girl. One band who waved the power pop banner throughout their entire career was New Jersey’s own The Smithereens, whose Strangers When We Meet is only one of a slew of delicious musical confections in their catalog. The fact that most of the artists on the final disc are relative unknowns is indicative of how quickly the term and style of power pop had fallen from grace. Still, there is no dearth of fine tunes. Great performances and skillful writing are hallmarks of Candy’s Whatever Happened To Fun… and The Beat Rodeo’s Just Friends. Julian Leal incorporated eighties synths into You And I to great effect. The Monkees were enamoured enough of The Mosquitos’ That Was Then, This Is Now to use it as the title track of their comeback album. The Long Ryders (I Want You Bad) and Bill Lloyd (Lisa Anne) enjoyed a little bit of country with their power pop, but the Patriots (It Don’t Show), Chris ‘Klondike’ Masuak (How Could He Resist?) and Infidels ( I Can’t Make You Mine) all looked back to the British Invasion sounds to put their own spins on the genre.

As usual, the listener can complain about omissions, but the strength and depth of Dave Laing’s compilation and his detailed liner notes reflect the man’s passion for the power pop genre. There are plenty of big names to offset the numerous previously unearthed gems. Additionally, the fact that it’s not all jangly guitars and pretty harmonies testifies to the variety of music that gathered under the power pop umbrella. This North American power pop of the ‘80s is a compilation with more than its fair share of fun tunes. From I Want To Hold Your Hand to I Just Want To Touch You, Paul Collins’ Beat reminds us that The Kids Are The Same. From one generation to the next, girls (and boys) just wanna have fun.

TRACK LISTING
Disc One
01. Stiv Bators – Not That Way Anymore (2:53)
02. The Knack – I Want Ya (2:40)
03. The Know – (I’m Always Touched By Your) Presence Dear (3:01)
04. The Romantics – When I Look In Your Eyes (3:02)
05. Nikki & The Corvettes – Just What I Need (2:47)
06. Zeros – They Say That (Everything’s Alright) (2:16)
07. MnMs – I’m Tired (1:50)
08. The Flashcubes – It’s You Tonight (Basement Tapes Version) (3:10)
09. Radio City – Don’t Mistake Love (3:07)
10. Screen Test – Nothing Really Matters When You’re Young (3:52)
11. Moondogs – When Sixteen Wasn’t So Sweet (2:29)
12. The Pranks – What’s The Point (1:44)
13. NRBQ – You Can’t Hide (2:05)
14. Utopia – I Just Want To Touch You (2:03)
15. The Shivvers – Please Stand By (3:04)
16. Eric Carmen – It Hurts Too Much (4:18)
17. Hilly Michaels – Calling All Girls (3:45)
18. Promise – Back In My Heart (2:25)
19. The Late Show – Take A Chance (3:11)
20. The Heats – Remember Me (3:23)
21. Off Broadway – Quick Turns (2:52)
22. Shoes – She Satisfies (3:00)
23. The Everythingers – Saccharine (2:25)
24. Rick Springfield – Jessie’s Girl (3:15)
25. SVT – Love Blind (2:55)
26. Tommy Hoehn – Get Away (2:38)
27. Phil Seymour – Precious To Me (2:52)
28. David Quinton – Make Up Your Mind (2:21)

Time – 79:43

Disc Two
01. The Flamin’ Groovies – So Much In Love (1:44)
02. The Plimsouls – Now (3:01)
03. 20/20 – The Night I Heard A Scream (3:16)
04. Great Buildings – Hold On To Something (3:48)
05. The Go-Gos – How Much More (3:05)
06. The Wigs – Tell It All (3:08)
07. The Rubinoos – Let’s Make It Tonight (3:38)
08. The Toms – (I Wanna Be A) Teen Again (4:01)
09. The Michael Guthrie Band – Sorry About That (3:53)
10. Eddy Best – Things I Should’ve Said (2:41)
11. The Decoys – Not The Tremblin’ Kind (3:18)
12. Marshall Crenshaw – Cynical Girl (2:37)
13. The Bongos – The Bulrushes (2:37)
14. The Floor Models – You’ll Come Around (3:20)
15. Paul Collins’ Beat – The Kids Are The Same (3:44)
16. Dwight Twilley – I’m Back Again (3:43)
17. Cheap Trick – If You Want My Love (3:38)
18. Bruce Moody – AM Romance (2:54)
19. The Bangles – Mary Street (2:42)
20. The Spongetones – Here I Go Again (2:40)
21. The Fad – Where The Colours Are (3:05)
22. Club Wow – What’s With You (4:22)
23. Jim Basnight & The Moberlys – I Want To Be Yours (2:32)
24. Steve Rosenbaum – Girl From Seventeen (3:16)
25. Let’s Active – Every Word Means No (2:54)

Time – 79:37

Disc Three
01. Ramones – My My Kind Of Girl (3:35)
02. Fastbacks – Now Is The Time (2:54)
03. Game Theory – Too Late For Tears (3:43)
04. The dB’s – Love Is For Lovers (3:19)
05. Katrina and the Waves – Do You Want Crying (3:36)
06. Candy – Whatever Happened To Fun… (3:45)
07. Julian Leal – You And I (3:56)
08. Riff Doctors – Turn Me On (1:49)
09. The Beat Rodeo – Just Friends (3:33)
10. Gary Herrewig – Hurt You Too (3:05)
11. Windbreakers – Can’t Go On This Way (4:06)
12. Tommy Keene – Places That Are Gone (Geoff Emerick Version) (3:56)
13. The Smithereens – Strangers When We Meet (3:49)
14. The Mosquitos – That Was Then, This Is Now (4:08)
15. Sex Clark Five – I Want You Mine (1:54)
16. The Patriots – It Don’t Show (2:22)
17. Flying Color – Dear Friend (Album Version) (3:10)
18. Bill Lloyd – Lisa Anne (3:14)
19. The Long Ryders – I Want You Bad (2:44)
20. Chris ‘Klondike’ Masuak – How Could He Resist? (2:49)
21. The Infidels – I Can’t Make You Mine (3:07)
22. Material Issue – Renee Remains The Same (1:56)
23. Redd Kross – Ballad Of A Love Doll (3:19)
24. The Pursuit Of Happiness – She’s So Young (3:37)
25. Velvet Crush – Walking Out On Love (1:50)