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86-417: Much pop and rock music has been very similar in sound, instrumentation and even lyrical content. The terms "pop rock" and " power pop " have been used to describe more commercially successful music that uses elements from, or the form of, rock music. Writer Johan Fornas views pop/rock as "one single, continuous genre field", rather than distinct categories. To the authors Larry Starr and Christopher Waterman, it

172-473: A chorus that contrasts melodically, rhythmically and harmonically with the verse . The beat and the melodies tend to be simple, with limited harmonic accompaniment. The lyrics of modern pop songs typically focus on simple themes – often love and romantic relationships – although there are notable exceptions. Harmony and chord progressions in pop music are often "that of classical European tonality , only more simple-minded." Clichés include

258-531: A couple of years too young to have been in bands the first time round." For many fans of power pop, according to Caferelli, the "bloated and sterile" aspect of 1970s rock was indicative of the void left by the Beatles' breakup in 1970 . During the early to middle part of the decade, only a few acts continued the tradition of Beatles-style pop. Some were younger glam / glitter bands, while others were " '60s holdovers" that refused to update their sound. One of

344-399: A light entertainment and easy listening tradition. Pop music is more conservative than other music genres such as folk, blues, country, and tradition. Many pop songs do not contain themes of resistance, opposition, or politics, rather focusing more on love and relationships. Therefore, pop music does not challenge its audiences socially, and does not cause political activism. Frith also said

430-604: A major component of the Elephant 6 music collective's identity often mixing with psychedelic and Slacker rock . Power pop has had varying levels of success since the 1990s. In 1994, Green Day and Weezer popularized pop-punk , an alternative rock variant genre that fuses power pop harmonies with uptempo punk moods. According to Louder Than War 's Sam Lambeth, power pop has "ebbed and flowed" while remaining an object of critical derision. Despite this, he cites Fountains of Wayne with inspiring "yet another new era for

516-407: A music researcher, states pop music as any type of music that a person has been exposed to by the mass media. Most individuals think that pop music is just the singles charts and not the sum of all chart music. The music charts contain songs from a variety of sources, including classical , jazz , rock , and novelty songs . As a genre, pop music is seen to exist and develop separately. Therefore,

602-496: A new wave of alternative bands that were drawn to 1960s artists because of the 1980s music they had influenced. Although not as successful as their predecessors, Jellyfish , the Posies , Redd Kross , Teenage Fanclub , and Material Issue were critical and cult favorites. In the mid-1990s, an offshoot genre that combined power pop-style harmonies with uptempo punk rock, dubbed " pop-punk ", reached mainstream popularity. Power pop

688-703: A not-so-crooked line from garage rock to power pop." Townshend himself was heavily influenced by the guitar work of Beach Boy Carl Wilson , while the Who's debut single "I Can't Explain" was indebted to the Kinks' " You Really Got Me " (1964). Roy Shuker identified the leading American power pop acts of the time as the Byrds, Tommy James and the Shondells , and Paul Revere and the Raiders . Also significant to power pop in

774-495: A part of "the latest musical trend, power pop." Lester called the studio recording of the song a "masterclass in compression " and said that Rundgren "staked his claim to powerpop immortality [and] set the whole ball rolling". Earles identified the Raspberries as the only American band that had hit singles. Murray recognized the Raspberries as the most representative power pop band and described their 1972 US top 10 " Go All

860-498: A pop song is to them, songs from the 1960s turned out to be the most memorable, significantly more than songs from recent years 2000 to 2015. Before the progressive pop of the late 1960s, performers were typically unable to decide on the artistic content of their music. Assisted by the mid-1960s economic boom, record labels began investing in artists, giving them the freedom to experiment, and offering them limited control over their content and marketing. This situation declined after

946-645: A power pop band was the Knack's debut single, " My Sharona ", which topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for six weeks in August–September 1979. However, the song's ubiquitous radio presence that summer spawned a popular and critical backlash against the band, which in turn led to a backlash against the power pop genre in general. Once the Knack failed to maintain their commercial momentum, record companies generally stopped signing power pop groups. Most bands of

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1032-437: A prolific and commercially successful period from the late 1970s into the early 1980s. Throughout the two decades, the genre existed parallel to and occasionally drew from developments such as glam rock, pub rock , punk, new wave, college rock , and neo-psychedelia . AllMusic states that these new groups were "swept along with the new wave because their brief, catchy songs fit into the post-punk aesthetic." Most bands rejected

1118-536: A rapid decline due to the popularity of the AOR and progressive rock FM radio format. By 1977, there was a renewed interest in the music and culture of the 1960s, with examples such as the Beatlemania musical and the growing mod revival . AABA forms and double backbeats also made their return after many years of disuse in popular music. Spurred on by the emergence of punk rock and new wave, power pop enjoyed

1204-460: A separation which was "also, broadly, one between boys and girls, middle-class and working-class." The latter half of the 20th century included a large-scale trend in American culture in which the boundaries between art and pop music were increasingly blurred. Between 1950 and 1970, there was a debate of pop versus art. Since then, certain music publications have embraced the music's legitimacy,

1290-416: A tendency to reflect existing trends rather than progressive developments ; and seeks to encourage dancing or uses dance-oriented rhythms. The main medium of pop music is the song, often between two and a half and three and a half minutes in length, generally marked by a consistent and noticeable rhythmic element , a mainstream style and a simple traditional structure . The structure of many popular songs

1376-475: A thriving pop music industry, most of which is devoted to Western-style pop. Japan has for several years produced a greater quantity of music than everywhere except the US. The spread of Western-style pop music has been interpreted variously as representing processes of Americanization, homogenization , modernization, creative appropriation, cultural imperialism , or a more general process of globalization . One of

1462-488: A trend referred to as " poptimism ". Throughout its development, pop music has absorbed influences from other genres of popular music. Early pop music drew on traditional pop , an American counterpart to German Schlager and French Chanson , however compared to the pop of European countries, traditional pop originally emphasized influences ranging from Tin Pan Alley songwriting, Broadway theatre , and show tunes . As

1548-494: Is a more aggressive form of pop rock that is based on catchy, melodic hooks and energetic moods. AllMusic describes the style as "a cross between the crunching hard rock of the Who and the sweet melodicism of the Beatles and the Beach Boys , with the ringing guitars of the Byrds thrown in for good measure". Virtually every artist of the genre has been a rock band consisting of white male musicians who engaged with

1634-425: Is all the collective clubs around the world. Radio is just doing its best to keep up." Songs that talked of escapism through partying became the most popular, influenced by the impulse to forget the economic troubles that had taken over the world after the 2008 crash . Throughout the 2010s, a lot of pop music also began to take cues from Alternative pop . Popularized by artists such as Lana Del Rey and Lorde in

1720-466: Is defined as an "upbeat variety of rock music" represented by artists and bands such as Andy Kim , the Bells , Paul McCartney , Lighthouse , and Peter Frampton . The term "pop" has been used since the early forties to refer to popular music in general, but in the mid-1950s, it began to be used for a distinct genre, aimed at a youth market, often characterized as a softer alternative to rock and roll. In

1806-652: Is essentially conservative". It is, "provided from on high (by record companies, radio programmers, and concert promoters) rather than being made from below (...) Pop is not a do-it-yourself music but is professionally produced and packaged". According to Frith, characteristics of pop music include an aim of appealing to a general audience, rather than to a particular sub-culture or ideology, and an emphasis on craftsmanship rather than formal "artistic" qualities. Besides, Frith also offers three identifying characteristics of pop music: light entertainment, commercial imperatives, and personal identification. Pop music grew out of

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1892-500: Is for pussies and should be stopped." Ken Stringfellow of the Posies concurred that "There’s a kind of aesthetic to power pop to be light on purpose. I wanted something with more gravitas." Power pop originated in the late 1960s as young music fans began to rebel against the emerging pretensions of rock music. During this period, a schism developed between "serious" artists who rejected pop and "crassly commercial" pop acts who embraced their teenybopper audience. Greg Shaw credited

1978-597: Is largely the story of the intertwining pop culture of the United States and the United Kingdom in the postwar era.  — Bob Stanley According to Grove Music Online , "Western-derived pop styles, whether coexisting with or marginalizing distinctively local genres, have spread throughout the world and have come to constitute stylistic common denominators in global commercial music cultures". Some non-Western countries, such as Japan, have developed

2064-462: Is most in line with the tastes and interests of the urban middle class." The term "pop song" was first used in 1926, in the sense of a piece of music "having popular appeal". Hatch and Millward indicate that many events in the history of recording in the 1920s can be seen as the birth of the modern pop music industry, including in country , blues , and hillbilly music . According to the website of The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians ,

2150-399: Is often depicted as an inauthentic, cynical, "slickly commercial", and formulaic form of entertainment. In contrast, rock music is often heralded as an authentic, sincere, and anti-commercial form of music, which emphasizes songwriting by the singers and bands, instrumental virtuosity, and a "real connection with the audience". Frith's analysis of the history of popular music from the 1950s to

2236-430: Is that of a verse and a chorus, the chorus serving as the portion of the track that is designed to stick in the ear through simple repetition both musically and lyrically. The chorus is often where the music builds towards and is often preceded by "the drop" where the bass and drum parts "drop out". Common variants include the verse-chorus form and the thirty-two-bar form , with a focus on melodies and catchy hooks , and

2322-471: Is that these bands are 'retro,' or not post-modern enough because they're not grunge and because the Posies are from Seattle and don't sound like Mudhoney ." Velvet Crush 's Ric Menck credited Nirvana with ultimately making it "possible for people like Matthew [Sweet] and the Posies and Material Issue and, to some extent, us to get college radio play." As power pop "gained the attention of hip circles", many older bands reformed to record new material that

2408-626: The Cake Shop in New York City. Paul Collins and his group the Beat headlined the two-day events. Bibliography Pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. During the 1950s and 1960s, pop music encompassed rock and roll and the youth-oriented styles it influenced. Rock and pop music remained roughly synonymous until

2494-434: The barbershop quartet-style harmony (i.e. ii – V – I) and blues scale -influenced harmony. There was a lessening of the influence of traditional views of the circle of fifths between the mid-1950s and the late 1970s, including less predominance for the dominant function . In October 2023, Billboard compiled a list of "the 500 best pop songs". In doing so, they noted the difficulty of defining "pop songs": One of

2580-693: The 1960s were the Dave Clark Five , the Creation , the Easybeats , the Move , and the Nazz . In the 1970s, the rock scene fragmented into many new styles. Artists drifted away from the influence of early Beatles songs, and those who cited the Beatles or the Who as influences were in the minority. In Paul Lester's description, "powerpop is really a 70s invention. It's about young musicians missing

2666-544: The 1960s, power pop developed mainly among American musicians who came of age during the British Invasion . Many of these young musicians wished to retain the "teenage innocence" of pop and rebelled against newer forms of rock music that were thought to be pretentious and inaccessible. The term was coined in 1967 by the Who guitarist and songwriter Pete Townshend to describe his band's style of music. However, power pop became more widely identified with later acts of

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2752-660: The 1970s milieu broke up in the early 1980s. In the 1980s and 1990s, power pop continued as a commercially modest genre with artists such as Redd Kross and the Spongetones . The later records of XTC also became a touchstone for bands such as Jellyfish and the Apples in Stereo , while Big Star developed an avid cult following among members of later bands like R.E.M. and the Replacements who expressed esteem for

2838-547: The 1970s who sought to revive Beatles-style pop . Early 1970s releases by Badfinger , the Raspberries , and Todd Rundgren are sometimes credited with solidifying the power pop sound into a recognizable genre. Power pop reached its commercial peak during the rise of punk and new wave in the late 1970s, with Cheap Trick , the Knack , the Romantics , Nick Lowe , Dave Edmunds , and Dwight Twilley among those enjoying

2924-435: The 1980s has been criticized by B. J. Moore-Gilbert, who argues that Frith and other scholars have overemphasized the role of rock in the history of popular music by naming every new genre using the "rock" suffix. Thus, when a folk-oriented style of music developed in the 1960s, Frith termed it "folk rock", and the pop-infused styles of the 1970s were called "pop rock". Moore-Gilbert claims that this approach unfairly puts rock at

3010-477: The 60s but taking its sound in new directions.   [...] not just an alternative to prog and the hippy troubadours, but a cousin to glam." Novelist Michael Chabon believed that the genre did not truly come into its own until the emergence of "second generation" power pop acts in the early 1970s. Lester added that it was "essentially an American response to the British Invasion, made by Anglophiles

3096-435: The American and (from the mid-1960s) British music industries , whose influence has made pop music something of an international monoculture, but most regions and countries have their own form of pop music, sometimes producing local versions of wider trends, and lending them local characteristics. Some of these trends (for example Europop ) have had a significant impact on the development of the genre. The story of pop music

3182-546: The Bay City Rollers and Def Leppard . Power pop has struggled with its critical reception and is sometimes viewed as a shallow style of music associated with teenage audiences. The perception was exacerbated by record labels in the early 1980s who used the term for marketing post-punk styles. Music critic Ken Sharp summarized that power pop is "the Rodney Dangerfield of rock 'n' roll.   [...]

3268-591: The Beatles and its " jangly guitars, pleasant melodies, immaculate vocal harmonies, and a general air of teenage innocence", were a key influence on 1970s power-pop bands such as the Raspberries , Big Star , the Knack and XTC . I believe pop music should be like the TV—something you can turn on and off and shouldn't disturb the mind.   [...] It's very hard to like " Strawberry Fields " for simply what it is. Some artists are becoming musically unapproachable. —Pete Townshend, 1967 When Pete Townshend coined

3354-530: The Beatles." Raspberries dissolved in 1975 as Carmen pursued a solo career. A recognizable movement of power pop bands following in the tradition of the Raspberries started emerging in the late 1970s, with groups such as Cheap Trick , the Jam , the Romantics , Shoes , and the Flamin' Groovies, who were seen as 1960s revivalist bands. Much of these newer bands were influenced by late 1960s AM radio, which fell into

3440-464: The Byrds . It typically incorporates melodic hooks , vocal harmonies, an energetic performance, and cheerful-sounding music underpinned by a sense of yearning, longing, despair, or self-empowerment. The sound is primarily rooted in pop and rock traditions of the early-to-mid 1960s, although some artists have occasionally drawn from later styles such as punk , new wave , glam rock , pub rock , college rock , and neo-psychedelia . Originating in

3526-586: The Nerves , and 20/20 only drew cult followings. Writing for Time in 1978, Jay Cocks cited Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds as "the most accomplished purveyors of power pop", which he described as "the well-groomed stepbrother of punk rock". Edmunds was quoted: "Before the New Wave   [...] There was no chance for the little guy who buys a guitar and starts a band. What we're doing is kids' music, really, just four-four time and good songs." Cheap Trick became

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3612-532: The Way " as "practically a template for everything the genre could be, from the heavy arena-rock hook to the cooing, teenybopper-friendly verses and chorus." Caferelli described the follow-up " I Wanna Be with You " (1972) as "perhaps the definitive power pop single". However, like Badfinger, the Raspberries were derided as "Beatles clones". Singer Eric Carmen remembered that there "were a lot of people in 1972 who were not ready for any band that even remotely resembled

3698-597: The Who as the starting point for power pop, whereas Carl Caferelli (writing in Borack's book) said that "the story really begins circa 1964, with the commercial ascension of the Beatles in America ." Caferelli also recognized the Beatles as the embodiment of the "pop band" ideal. According to The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll , British Invasion bands, particularly the Merseybeat sound first popularised by

3784-416: The aftermath of the British Invasion , from about 1967, it was increasingly used in opposition to the term rock, to describe a form that was more commercial, ephemeral and accessible. As of the 2010s, "guitar pop rock" and " indie rock " are roughly synonymous terms. " Jangle " is a noun-adjective that music critics often use in reference to guitar pop with a bright mood. Critic Philip Auslander argues that

3870-497: The apex and makes every other influence become an add-on to the central core of rock. In Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau discussed the term "pop-rock" in the context of popular music's fragmentation along stylistic lines in the 1970s; he regarded "pop-rock" as a "monolith" that "straddled" all burgeoning movements and subgenres in the popular and semipopular music marketplace at

3956-436: The days when moptops were geniuses, songs were around three minutes long and a great hook--a catchy melodic phrase that "hooks" the listener—was godhead." Members of Jellyfish and Posies said that they were drawn to 1960s artists because of the 1980s music they influenced. At the time, it was uncertain whether the movement could have mainstream success. Karen Glauber, editor of Hits magazine, said that "The popular conception

4042-775: The decade, it was common for pop producers, songwriters, and engineers to freely experiment with musical form, orchestration , unnatural reverb , and other sound effects. Some of the best known examples are Phil Spector 's Wall of Sound and Joe Meek 's use of homemade electronic sound effects for acts like the Tornados . At the same time, pop music on radio and in both American and British film moved away from refined Tin Pan Alley to more eccentric songwriting and incorporated reverb-drenched electric guitar, symphonic strings, and horns played by groups of properly arranged and rehearsed studio musicians. A 2019 study held by New York University in which 643 participants had to rank how familiar

4128-581: The direct updating of the most revered artists—the Who, the Beach Boys, the Beatles—yet it gets no respect." In 1996, singer-songwriter Tommy Keene commented that any association to the term since the 1980s is to be "compared to a lot of bands that didn't sell records, it's like a disease. If you're labeled that, you're history." Musician Steve Albini said: "I cannot bring myself to use the term 'power pop.' Catchy, mock-descriptive terms are for dilettantes and journalists. I guess you could say I think this music

4214-616: The distinction between pop and rock is more pronounced in the US than in the UK. He claims that in the US, pop has roots in white crooners such as Perry Como , whereas rock is rooted in African-American music influenced by forms such as rock and roll . Auslander points out that the concept of pop rock, which blends pop and rock, is at odds with the typical conception of pop and rock as opposites. Auslander and several other scholars, such as Simon Frith and Grossberg, argue that pop music

4300-459: The early 1960s, [the term] 'pop music' competed terminologically with beat music [in England], while in the US its coverage overlapped (as it still does) with that of 'rock and roll'". From about 1967, the term "pop music" was increasingly used in opposition to the term rock music, a division that gave generic significance to both terms. While rock aspired to authenticity and an expansion of

4386-650: The festival expanded to several locations over the years, including Canada and Liverpool , England (the latter event included performances at the Cavern Club ). Paul Collins of the Beat and the Nerves hosted the Power Pop-A-Licious music festival in 2011 and 2013, featuring a mixture of classic and rising bands with an emphasis on power pop, punk rock, garage and roots rock. The concerts were held at Asbury Lanes in Asbury Park, New Jersey, and

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4472-524: The format" during the late 1990s, "one they'd perfect with the magnetic Welcome Interstate Managers (2003)." He writes that as of 2017, "you can still hear some of power pop's core traits in bands such as Best Coast , Sløtface , Diet Cig and Dude York ." In 1998, International Pop Overthrow (IPO)—named after the album of the same name by Material Issue—began holding a yearly festival for power pop bands. Originally taking place in Los Angeles ,

4558-428: The former more accurately describes all music that is targeted for mass appeal (compare art music ) and includes many disparate styles. Although much of the music that appears on record charts is considered to be pop music, the genre is distinguished from chart music . David Hatch and Stephen Millward describe pop music as "a body of music which is distinguishable from popular, jazz, and folk music". David Boyle,

4644-578: The genre evolved more influences ranging from classical , folk , rock , country , electronic music , and other popular genres became more prominent. In 2016, a Scientific Reports study that examined over 464,000 recordings of popular music recorded between 1955 and 2010 found that, compared to 1960s pop music, contemporary pop music uses a smaller variety of pitch progressions, greater average volume, less diverse instrumentation and recording techniques, and less timbral variety. Scientific American ' s John Matson reported that this "seems to support

4730-488: The group's work. Many bands who were primarily influenced by Big Star blended power pop with the ethos and sounds of alternative rock . AllMusic cited Teenage Fanclub , Material Issue , and the Posies as "critical and cult favorites". In 1991, the Los Angeles Times 's Chris Willman identified Jellyfish, the Posies, and Redd Kross as the leaders of a "new wave of rambunctious Power Pop bands that recall

4816-407: The groups that established the genre's sound, the Raspberries were the only power pop band of the era to have hit singles. Noel Murray wrote that Badfinger had "some key songs" that were power pop "before the genre really existed". According to Magnet 's Andrew Earles, 1972 was "year zero" for power pop. Developments from that year included the emergence of Big Star and the Raspberries,

4902-409: The home. By the early 1980s, the promotion of pop music had been greatly affected by the rise of music television channels like MTV , which "favoured those artists such as Michael Jackson and Madonna who had a strong visual appeal". Multi-track recording (from the 1960s) and digital sampling (from the 1980s) have also been used as methods for the creation and elaboration of pop music. During

4988-464: The irreverence, cynicism, and irony that characterized new wave, believing that pop music was an art that reached its apex in the mid-1960s, sometimes referred to as the "poptopia". This in turn led many critics to dismiss power pop as derivative work. Ultimately, the groups with the best-selling records were Cheap Trick, the Knack , the Romantics, and Dwight Twilley , whereas Shoes, the Records ,

5074-436: The kind of pop the Beach Boys played in the days of ' Fun, Fun, Fun ' which I preferred." Despite other bands following in the power pop continuum since then, the term was not popularized until the rise of new wave music in the late 1970s. Greg Shaw , editor of Bomp! magazine, was the most prominent in the slew of music critics that wrote about power pop (then written as "powerpop"). This mirrored similar developments with

5160-543: The late 1960s, after which pop became associated with music that was more commercial, ephemeral , and accessible. Identifying factors of pop music usually include repeated choruses and hooks , short to medium-length songs written in a basic format (often the verse–chorus structure ), and rhythms or tempos that can be easily danced to. Much of pop music also borrows elements from other styles such as rock, urban , dance , Latin , and country . The terms popular music and pop music are often used interchangeably, although

5246-414: The late 1970s and would not reemerge until the rise of Internet stars. Indie pop , which developed in the late 1970s, marked another departure from the glamour of contemporary pop music, with guitar bands formed on the then-novel premise that one could record and release their own music without having to procure a record contract from a major label. The 1980s are commonly remembered for an increase in

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5332-401: The late 20th century that became global superstars include Whitney Houston , Michael Jackson , Madonna , George Michael , and Prince . At the beginning of the 2000s, the trends that dominated during the late 1990s still continued, but the music industry started to change as people began to download music from the internet. People were able to discover genres and artists that were outside of

5418-501: The main purpose of pop music is to create revenue. It is not a medium of free articulation of the people. Instead, pop music seeks to supply the nature of personal desire and achieve the instant empathy with cliche personalities, stereotypes, and melodrama that appeals to listeners. It is mostly about how much revenue pop music makes for record companies. Music scholar Timothy Warner said pop music typically has an emphasis on recording, production, and technology, rather than live performance;

5504-514: The mainstream and propel them to fame, but at the same time smaller artists had a harder time making a living because their music was being pirated. Popular artists were Avril Lavigne , Justin Timberlake , NSYNC , Christina Aguilera , Destiny's Child , and Britney Spears . Pop music often came from many different genres, with each genre in turn influencing the next one, blurring the lines between them and making them less distinct. This change

5590-448: The manner in which pop has been disseminated", which helped to move pop music to "a record/radio/film star system". Another technological change was the widespread availability of television in the 1950s with televised performances, which meant that "pop stars had to have a visual presence". In the 1960s, the introduction of inexpensive, portable transistor radios meant that teenagers in the developed world could listen to music outside of

5676-403: The mid-1960s, pop music made repeated forays into new sounds, styles, and techniques that inspired public discourse among its listeners. The word "progressive" was frequently used, and it was thought that every song and single was to be a "progression" from the last. Music critic Simon Reynolds writes that beginning with 1967, a divide would exist between "progressive" pop and "mass/chart" pop,

5762-475: The most prominent groups in the latter category was Badfinger , the first artists signed to the Beatles' Apple Records . Although they had international top 10 chart success with " Come and Get It " (1969), " No Matter What " (1970), and " Day After Day " (1971), they were criticized in the music press as Beatles imitators. Caferelli describes them as "one of the earliest—and finest purveyors" of power pop. Conversely, AllMusic states that while Badfinger were among

5848-412: The most success. After a popular and critical backlash to the genre's biggest hit, " My Sharona " (the Knack, 1979), record companies generally stopped signing power pop groups, and most of the 1970s bands broke up in the early 1980s. Over subsequent decades, power pop continued with modest commercial success while also remaining a frequent object of derision among some critics and musicians. The 1990s saw

5934-545: The most successful act in the genre's history thanks to the band's constant touring schedule and stage theatrics. According to Andrew Earles, the group's "astonishing acceptance in Japan (documented on 1979's At Budokan ) and hits ' Surrender ' and ' I Want You To Want Me ,' the Trick took power pop to an arena level and attained a degree of success that the genre had never seen, nor would ever see again." The biggest chart hit by

6020-802: The pop music styles that developed alongside other music styles is Latin pop , which rose in popularity in the US during the 1950s with early rock and roll success Ritchie Valens . Later, Los Lobos and Chicano rock gained in popularity during the 1970s and 1980s, and musician Selena saw large-scale popularity in the 1980s and 1990s, along with crossover appeal with fans of Tejano musicians Lydia Mendoza and Little Joe . With later Hispanic and Latino Americans seeing success within pop music charts, 1990s pop successes stayed popular in both their original genres and in broader pop music. Latin pop hit singles, such as " Macarena " by Los del Río and " Despacito " by Luis Fonsi , have seen record-breaking success on worldwide pop music charts. Notable pop artists of

6106-400: The popular anecdotal observation that pop music of yore was "better", or at least more varied, than today's top-40 stuff". However, he also noted that the study may not have been entirely representative of pop in each generation. In the 1960s, the majority of mainstream pop music fell in two categories: guitar, drum and bass groups or singers backed by a traditional orchestra. Since early in

6192-448: The possibilities of popular music, pop was more commercial, ephemeral, and accessible. According to British musicologist Simon Frith , pop music is produced "as a matter of enterprise not art", and is "designed to appeal to everyone" but "doesn't come from any particular place or mark off any particular taste". Frith adds that it is "not driven by any significant ambition except profit and commercial reward [...] and, in musical terms, it

6278-503: The reasons pop can be hard to summarize is because there’s no real sonic or musical definition to it. There are common elements to a lot of the biggest pop songs, but at the end of the day, "pop" means "popular" first and foremost, and just about any song that becomes popular enough...can be considered a pop song. In the 1940s, improved microphone design allowed a more intimate singing style and, ten or twenty years later, inexpensive and more durable 45 rpm records for singles "revolutionized

6364-571: The release of Todd Rundgren 's Something/Anything? , and the recording of the Flamin' Groovies ' " Shake Some Action "; additionally, many garage bands had stopped emulating the Rolling Stones . Chabon additionally credited the Raspberries, Badfinger, Big Star, and Rundgren's " Couldn't I Just Tell You " and " I Saw the Light " with "inventing" the genre. On a television performance from 1978, Rundgren introduced "Couldn't I Just Tell You" as

6450-591: The song forms, vocal arrangements, chord progressions , rhythm patterns, instrumentation, or overall sound associated with groups of the mid-1960s British Invasion era. An essential feature of power pop is that its cheerful sounding arrangements are supported by a sense of "yearning", "longing", or "despair" similar to formative works such as " Wouldn't It Be Nice " (the Beach Boys, 1966) and " Pictures of Lily " (the Who, 1967). This might be achieved with an unexpected harmonic change or lyrics that refer to "tonight", "tomorrow night", "Saturday night", and so on. Power pop

6536-468: The sound became more viable and widely imitated, it was easier to trace the roots of the genre back to rockabilly , doo-wop , girl groups, and the early records of the Beatles, the Byrds, the Beach Boys, the Kinks , and the Who." Robert Hilburn traced the genre "chiefly from the way the Beatles and the Beach Boys mixed rock character and pure Top 40 instincts in such records as the latter's ' California Girls '." Borack noted, "It's also quite easy to draw

6622-446: The term " punk rock " from earlier in the decade. In light of this, Theo Cateforis, author of Are We Not New Wave? (2011), wrote that "the recognition and formulation" of power pop as a genre "was by no means organic." There is significant debate among fans over what should be classed as power pop. Shaw took credit for codifying the genre in 1978, describing it as a hybrid style of pop and punk. He later wrote that "much to my chagrin,

6708-578: The term "pop music" "originated in Britain in the mid-1950s as a description for rock and roll and the new youth music styles that it influenced". The Oxford Dictionary of Music states that while pop's "earlier meaning meant concerts appealing to a wide audience [...] since the late 1950s, however, pop has had the special meaning of non-classical mus[ic], usually in the form of songs, performed by such artists as The Beatles , The Rolling Stones , ABBA , etc." Grove Music Online also states that "[...] in

6794-409: The term "pop music" may be used to describe a distinct genre, designed to appeal to all, often characterized as "instant singles-based music aimed at teenagers" in contrast to rock music as "album-based music for adults". Pop music continuously evolves along with the term's definition. According to music writer Bill Lamb, popular music is defined as "the music since industrialization in the 1800s that

6880-400: The term was snapped up by legions of limp, second-rate bands hoping the majors would see them as a safe alternative to punk." Music journalist John M. Borack also stated in his 2007 book Shake Some Action – The Ultimate Guide to Power Pop that the label is often applied to varied groups and artists with "blissful indifference", noting its use in connection with Britney Spears , Green Day ,

6966-437: The term, he suggested that songs like " I Can't Explain " (1965) and " Substitute " (1966) were more accessible than the changing, more experimental directions other groups such as the Beatles were taking. However, the term did not become widely identified with the Who, and it would take a few years before the genre's stylistic elements coalesced into a more recognizable form. The A.V. Club 's Noel Murray said that "once

7052-401: The time, including singer-songwriter music, art rock , heavy metal , boogie , country rock , jazz fusion , funk , disco , urban contemporary , and new wave , but not punk rock . Power pop Power pop (also typeset as powerpop ) is a subgenre of rock music and form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who , the Beatles , the Beach Boys , and

7138-629: The use of digital recording , associated with the usage of synthesizers , with synth-pop music and other electronic genres featuring non-traditional instruments increasing in popularity. By 2014, pop music worldwide had been permeated by electronic dance music . In 2018, researchers at the University of California, Irvine , concluded that pop music has become 'sadder' since the 1980s. The elements of happiness and brightness have eventually been replaced with electronic beats making pop music more 'sad yet danceable'. Pop music has been dominated by

7224-469: Was also noted for its lack of irony and its reverence to classic pop craft. Its reconfiguration of 1960s tropes, music journalist Paul Lester argued, could make it one of the first postmodern music genres. The Who's Pete Townshend coined the term in a May 1967 interview promoting their latest single "Pictures of Lily". He said: "Power pop is what we play—what the Small Faces used to play, and

7310-457: Was epitomized in Spears' highly influential 2007 album Blackout , which under the influence of producer Danja , mixed the sounds of EDM , avant-funk , R&B , dance music , and hip hop . By 2010, pop music impacted by dance music came to be dominant on the charts. Instead of radio setting the trends, it was now the club. At the beginning of the 2010s, Will.i.am stated, "The new bubble

7396-478: Was released on independent labels . Chicago label The Numero Group issued a compilation album called Yellow Pills: Prefill , featuring overlooked pop tracks from 1979–1982. For the rest of decade, AllMusic writes, "this group of independent, grass-roots power-pop bands gained a small but dedicated cult following in the United States." With the rise of bands like the Apples In Stereo, power pop became

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