Term coined by The Who’s Pete Townshend in 1967 to describe his band’s musical output at the time. Many consider the tracks "I Can't Explain", "The Kids Are Alright", and "Substitute", from 1965-1966, to be the first true examples of the subgenre, which would explain why subsequent power pop acts—especially those who lean equally on both sides of this musical equation—may have noticeable elements of The Who’s sound in their music. (Special mention must be made of the influence of early Kinks on future power poppers, as well. The Who, in turn were influenced by The Beatles and American R&B. )
Power pop’s main characteristics are highly melodic, (mostly) guitar-driven songs with a penchant for prominent vocal harmony married to classic pop sensibility. Among those associated with this style of music are Big Star (‘70s cult figures whose influence cast a large shadow over subsequent practioners of power pop), Fountains of Wayne, Jellyfish, The Posies, The Raspberries, Todd Rundgren, Squeeze, Matthew Sweet, Teenage Fanclub, XTC.
Classic examples of power pop include:
Badfinger - "No Matter What" [1970]
The Raspberries - "Go All The Way" [1972]
Big Star - "September Gurls" [1974]
The Cars - "Just What I Needed" [1978]
The Records - "Starry Eyes" [1979]
The Knack - "My Sharona" [1979]
Cheap Trick - "I Want You To Want Me" [live -1979]
Rick Springfield - "Jessie's Girl" [1981]
Tommy Tutone - "867-5309 (Jenny)" [1982]
Weezer - "Buddy Holly" [1994]
