Artist	Song
Badfinger	No Matter What (1970)
Big Star	In The Street (1972)
The Raspberries	I Wanna Be With You (1972)
Cheap Trick	Surrender (1978)
The Records	Starry Eyes (1979)
The Undertones	Really Really (1979)
Bram Tchaikovsky	Girl Of My Dreams (1979)
The Rubinoos	I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend (1979)
The Jags	Back of my Hand (1979)
Shoes	Your Imagination (1981)
Marshall Crenshaw	Whenever You're On My Mind (1983)
Tommy Keene	Places That Are Gone (1984)
The Long Ryders	I Want You Bad (1987)
Parthenon Huxley	Bazooka Joe (1988)
The La's	There She Goes (1990)
Teenage Fanclub	What You Do To Me (1991)
Lemonheads	Down About It (1993)
Matthew Sweet	Sick Of Myself (1995)
Wilco	Box Full Of Letters (1995)
The Odds	Someone Who's Cool (1996)
Fountains of Wayne	Survival Car (1996)
Myracle Brah	Love Is (1998)
Jason Falkner	My Lucky Day (1999)
The Shazam	Chipper Cherry Daylily (2000)
Weezer	Don't Let Go (2001)
Apples In Stereo	Please (2002)
Cliff Hillis	Go Go Go (2004)

Comment:

Inspired by an online bulletin board asking people to list their 3 favorite "power pop" songs... but why stop at 3 when you can, like, fit 27 on a cd?
Not surprisingly, this was incredibly hard to settle on, and the tracklist kept changing. Ended up with enough leftovers for a second disc (the Knack, Wondermints, Cherry Twister, Mockers, etc.). Also thought about going back to the true power pop roots (i.e. early Who singles like "Can't Explain," "Kids Are Alright," and "Pictures of Lily"; Rubber Soul-era Beatles), but figured that power pop is typically defined as inspired by this music, so that would kinda be cheating.
And what, dear friends, do I consider power pop (which, of course, we wouldn't want to confuse with jangle pop, noise pop, punk pop, etc.)? Well, the Rock Snob Dictionary defines it as follows:Record-reviewer term for high-energy, Beatles-esque music made by intelligent-dork bands that, though they've given it the old college try, can't actually muster the songcraft, cleverness, vocal agility, or production ingenuity of the Beatles. First applied to early-'70s acts such as the Raspberries and Badfinger (the latter group actually being McCartney protTgTs), and subsequently given a new lease on life with the '90s advent of such bands as the Wondermints and Apples in Stereo. The Shins' debut album shimmered with pure power-pop exuberance.
But that seems a bit harsh. Me, I tend to think of songs with 3-4 chords (plus maybe a couple minor chords tossed into the bridge), 2 guitars bass & drums (maybe a bit of tasteful synth thrown in on rare occasions), instantly memorable chorus (preferably with some harmonies), etc. If possible, there should be a bit of a crunch to the power chords, but a little jangle is tolerable. Of course, sometimes early Beatles-inspired power pop can veer into later Beatles-inspired baroque pop (i.e. Wondermints), and some of this probably slightly fits more in the latter category.
Plan to swap out the Long Ryders track with the NRBQ original down the road, but have to borrow that album, so this will do in the interim. May swap out a few other tracks at that time... or just wait for volume 2.

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