Artist	Song
The Rain Parade	1 Hour 1/2 Hour Ago
from Emergency Third Rail Power Trip (1983) One of the more prominent members of the so-called "paisley underground".
The Rain Parade	What She's Done To Your Mind
from Emergency Third Rail Power Trip (1983)
The Haskels	Baby Let's French
from Taking the City By Storm EP (1980) Perhaps one of the most important pop/punk bands to come out of Milwaukee. The leader of the Haskels, Jerry Brish (AKA Presley Haskel) ran the musical "finishing school" for punk/pop/rock & roll bands in Milwaukee in the late 70s and 80s. Almost everyone in Milwaukee's music scene had some direct or indirect connection with the Haskels.
Plasticland	Color Appreciation
from Color Appreciation (1984) Continuing with the Milwaukee scene, arguably the best pop-psych band ever, Plasticland.
The Frank & Walters	Colours
from Grand Parade (1998) Wonderful, bouncy pop tune.
Tame Impala	Feels Like We Only Go Backwards
from Lonerism (2012) A terrific blast of kaleidoscopic psychedelic power pop.
Wire	Fragile
from Pink Flag (1977) Goin' back to the summer of '77 when English punk began to get a bit "arty" with this outfit from London. Mostly producing sounds more in common with steel wool and jack hammers they were very capable of short, pithy little pop tunes. This one and the next track, "Outdoor Miner".
Wire	Outdoor Miner
from Chairs Missing (1978) I've never understood what this song is about, but it's a good 'un! The album "Chairs Missing" was described by BBC Music as a "glorious avant-pop coupe".
Melody's Echo Chamber	I Follow You
from Melody's Echo Chamber (2012) One of my favorite records from the last couple of years. Produced by Tame Impala's Kevin Parker, it's an exquisite power pop tune - up there with the total poppy purity of Lush's "For Love".
Supergrass	In It For the Money
from In It For the Money (1997) Exuberant blast of total Britpop goodness.
Kirsty MacColl	Innocence
from Kite (1989) Fantastic album and tune from one of Britain's finest pop chanteuses. Tragically to be run over by a motorboat December 18, 2000. She will always be missed.
The Sidewalks	Natalie
from Natalie c/w Whoever Said That You Was Cool (1981) Yes, one more Milwaukee band. Nice little pop ditty about a girl named Natalie. A girl that I knew as well - and she was certainly deserving of having a song written about her.
Bobby Sutliff	One Way Ticket
from Bitter Fruit (2000) Second full length solo album by this acclaimed pop-meister.
The Shivvers	Teen Line
from Teen Line c/w When I Was Younger (1980) Once voted Milwaukee's "Best Band", these guys, fronted by keyboardist and vocalist Jill Kossoris, pack a power pop wallop with this and the next track, "When I Was Younger".
The Shivvers	When I Was Younger
from Teen Line c/w When I Was Younger (1980)
Weezer	Island in the Sun
from Weezer [green album] (2001) With the opening, very simple, chords, Em-Am-D-G, one of the very best power pop tunes - ever.
The Windbreakers	The Girl From Washington
from Electric Landlady (1990) Bobby Sutliff and Tim Lee. Wonderful jangly, 12 string guitar pop a la The Byrds.
The Three O'Clock	And So We Run
from Baroque Hoedown (1983) Another member of the "paisley underground".
Slik	The Kid's a Punk
from Slik (1976) We approach a little bit of "bubble gum", Bay City Rollers territory here, but still a great tune, and with Midge Ure on board, it's gotta be good, right?
Vinyl Kings	I Took a Chance
from A Little Trip (2002) We must never forget our power pop prototype and central reference. The Beatles. And, this and the next track "Bang Bang" are as close to NEW Beatles songs as we are going to get.
Vinyl Kings	Bang Bang
from A Little Trip (2002)
Joy Zipper	Christmas Song
from American Whip (2003) The musical vehicle for Vince Cafiso and Tabitha Tindale, this is easily some of the best, sweetest, quirkiest power pop of the last decade.
Robert Johnson	Wish Upon a Star
from Close Personal Friend (1978) Guitarist from Memphis who toured with John Entwhistle's OX. He produced this guitar laden set of pop tunes on this record in 1978. It didn't sell very well, and he more or less dropped out of sight. Album was out of print for many years before re-issued on the Angel Air label.
The Action	Never Ever
from Action Packed! (2001) Re-issue of The Action's singles from 1965-1967. For every Beatles, there have always been dozens of groups like The Action. Great tunes, powerful vocals and taut musicianship. The Action were too good to deserve obscurity.

Comment:

Power Pop. Wikipedia defines power pop as:

Power pop is a popular musical genre that draws its inspiration from 1960s British and American pop and rock music. It typically incorporates a combination of musical devices such as strong melodies, clear vocals and crisp vocal harmonies, economical arrangements and prominent guitar riffs.

This is the last volume of a 10 volume collection/compilation of the best "power pop". This particular volume injects a little bit of "pop-psych" into the proceedings.

Feedback: