If power pop truly is camp, as Mo Troper suggests, surely it’s because of the genre’s many tropes. This extends beyond the melodic hooks, heartbreaking harmonies and jangly/chiming guitars to a handful of infinitely recurring themes in the songs themselves. At its core, power pop is the never-ending soundtrack for lovesick teens of all ages. It’s music that’s often about youthful yearning, fretting and frustration; painful breakups and wished-for make-ups. If you’re a power pop lover, this bittersweet longing will always be with you in one way or another. So, it’s no surprise that many tracks employ repetitive naming devices—using words like “love,” “teen(age),” “she”— to evoke this celebratory nostalgia.
Lately, the pattern recognition software in my brain has been keenly aware of the many power pop song titles featuring proper names. I suspect it began with repeated listens of The Spongetones’ “My Girl Maryanne” (Or “Hey Little Anne” by The Whiffs?), but now that my nerdy antennae are up I encounter it everywhere. It might be among the most commonplace clichés the genre has to offer, but it’s also a wink-and-nod from power pop purveyors to fans, like me, who seek this music out. (I’ve played drums in bands guilty of most of this; see “Angeline” by The Brothers Steve on this playlist for a somewhat recent example.) Interestingly, it’s a titling trick that goes all the way back to the genre’s inception.
If you’ve read this far then you likely already know that creation of the term “power pop” is credited to The Who’s Pete Townshend in 1967: “Power pop is what we play—what the Small Faces used to play, and the kind of pop the Beach Boys played in the days of 'Fun, Fun, Fun,' which I preferred.” Townshend was specifically speaking about his band’s new single, “Pictures of Lily.” Although The Beatles dominate power pop’s DNA, many of the genre’s signifiers can indeed be found in “Pictures of Lily”: Sexual Awakening (“I got so sick of having sleepless nights, I went and told my dad”— his pragmatic father gives him a picture of an actress for his bedroom wall...); Crushes (“I fell in love with Lily”); Nostalgia (“She’s been dead since 1929…if only I’d been born in Lily’s time…”); Obsession (“For me and Lily are together in my dreams, And I ask you, ‘Hey mister, have you ever seen Pictures of Lily?’”).
Countless songs stick close to the star-struck “Pictures of Lily” template (“Bruce Foxton” by Lisa Mychols 3,” “Emma Stone” by Kurt Baker), but there are many variations on the theme. Much more common are the real-world obsessions, some less creepy than others (“Cheri” by 20/20, “Denis” by Blondie, “Stacy’s Mom” by Fountains of Wayne). Further afield are songs about hero worship, adoration and/or jealousy in the vein of The Kinks’ “David Watts” (“Alex Chilton” by The Replacements, “Dennis Hopper In Easy Rider” by 2nd Grade, “Buddy Holly” by Weezer). The list of permutations is longer than a sleepless night, and as contentious as the very definition of power pop itself.
So, I did what any obsessive fan might with stillyetmore useless info—created a Power Pop Is Camp playlist featuring 33 power pop/power pop-adjacent songs (fair warning, I’m no purist). There are endless examples of the name game in the genre’s 50+ year history, so consider this a brief introduction. If nothing else, it’s a great excuse to listen to some fantastic music.
S. W. Lauden is the co-editor of Go All The Way: A Literary Appreciation of Power Pop and the sequel, Go Further. Check out his free guitar pop/music books Substack Remember The Lightning. Instagram and Twitter: @swlauden.
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