LATE FEBRUARY
POPDOSE just posted an article entitled “The Ultimate Power Pop Roundup: 10 Essential Bands and FREE MP3s” – I’m always suspect with such lists from sources that tend to not get what ‘power pop’ is(a common malady with non-power pop blogs), but Popdose has uncovered some interesting music. Check out and download the free music at THIS LINK.
TOP 100 POWER POP SONGS? Came across THIS LINK that had an interesting list of power pop songs. Surely, you have your own and would beg to differ with much that appears on this list…but that is the point, isn’t it? In fact, quite possibly in 2013 you will see the follow-up to the 2007 book “SHAKE SOME ACTION – The Ultimate Power Pop Guide” from John M. Borack. John and I have been talking about for the last 3 years and we’re shifting into gear with this project. While SSA focused on the Top 200 power pop albums, SSA Mach II will focus on the Top 360 power pop songs. By spring, we’ll have more formal and exciting news to share with this project.
Speaking of “SHAKE SOME ACTION – The Ultimate Power Pop Guide“, this book has been out of print for five years and fetches well over $100 when copies of it show up on Amazon – which is very rare because everyone who bought it, will not part with it! I’ll be doing a small re-pressing of the book later in 2013. 18 months ago I printed up 25 or so copies and made them available. I’ll be doing the same again but I need to get 50 orders committed before I can do that. If you missed out the first time, don’t this time. If you want to get on the list, send me an email at: popgeekheaven@gmail.com. Read a bit about the book at THIS LINK.
SHINDIG! and JELLYFISH – I adore SHINDIG! magazine and the last few years has seen their U.S. distribution grow and settle down. I see the mag on my shelves of cool book and music stores now. Usually, their focus is on more 60s and 70s music but they have a feature on Jellyfish in their latest issue. More info HERE.
POWER POP OVERDOSE is one of my regular stops for geeky pop (over) indulgence and the blog just posted their ‘best of’ list for 2012. Make sure you bookmark the site – they update regularly and have consistently excellent information and linkage in there. Read the Top 10 list by clicking HERE.
TONY SHERIDAN has died. One of the earliest fans of the Beatles and legendary on the Liverpool scene in the early 60s, Sheridan recorded with the Beatles, getting them into the studio for some of the Fab Four’s earliest session. Read about his career at THIS LINK.
The Average Person Can Only Name Between 10 and 20 Artists! This according some research done at THIS LINK. How can that surprise any of us?! Not at all. I’m 50 and since I can remember, talking to 97.8% of folks I meet at any social gathering, they strain not only to keep my attention when talking about music, but leave me sadly maudlin with how much the histor of rock ‘n roll is fading – fast.
ALAN HABER’S PURE POP Radio show is a regular streaming experience for me. I’m always finding out something I’m not aware of. I’ve shared the link to the show here numerous times but a cool new show is available. This one covers the following according to Haber: 
– Dana DeStefano & Dollparts (Cool pop)
– Maxi Dunn (New album, Edmund & Leo)
– The Respectables (Rockin’ pop sounds)
– The Richies (2003 smash pure pop album!)
– The Sonic Executive Sessions (5 new songs!)
Check out the show at THIS LINK.
SPOTIFY: I was talking with Pop Pioneer Tom Bickel on Facebook last week after coming across a link to his fabulous Spotify playlist and wanted to share that with you. (Bickel, btw, is singularly responsible for the 2003 reissue of THE DEAL on Not Lame – read about at THIS LINK) Gauranteed that you’ll find a few artists that you’ve not heard before and it’s a different angle of ‘powerpop/melodic rock’ that many Pop Pioneers will enjoy. Check out it HERE. If you are on Spotify and have a playlist that you’d think your fellow Pioneers at PGH would enjoy, drop me an email at: popgeekheaven@gmail.com and I’ll share that here. Check out his fab power pop Facebook back, too – HERE.
EMITT RHODES!! Well, we’ll see if anything new will come from him in 2013…there’s talk. But I’ve heard talk for the last 20 years(including hearing some excellent demos back in 1996!). But found this video from a few years ago where he’s interviewd in most obnoxious fashion by Michael Des Barres.
Roughly 6 Million Archived Recordings are Rotting As We Speak! From Digital Music News: “his is a pretty sobering report that comes from none other than the US Library of Congress. And it reveals that a large percentage of America’s recorded music history has been destroyed, lost, or is simply deteriorating as we speak. “Radio broadcasts, music, interviews, historic speeches, field recordings, comedy records, author readings and other recordings have already been forever lost to the American people,” Librarian James H. Billington relayed.” – Read more on this story HERE. Then, download the full report from THIS LINK.
GLAM!! GLAM!! GLAM!! A list of the TOP 20 Glam songs of all-time was posted at the Guardian web site. It made me groan as I could not disagree with almost everything that appeared on it – but it will make you smile! Check it out HERE.
the ROLLING STONE web site will present some gems every now and then and this series of videos with ERIC CLAPTON is pretty darn great. I can’t play a single chord on the guitar(though, I’m one of the absolute best air guitarists you’ve never seen!)…but if you are a guitar geek, you will enjoy this series of videos HERE.
