THE ULTIMATE POWER POP GUIDE - VOLUME 1 (2008)

If you're blogging around, now you know there's a list of the 200 most essential power pop recordings of the last +35 years. John M.Borack has put together the list for the excellent "Shake Some Action" book published by Bruce Brodeen and Not Lame. John Borack is one of the preeminent writers/reviewers covering the power pop/pure pop musical style we all know and love. You may or may not agree with the list (IMHO i do agree mostly with that list, even though mine would have been different) but i guess it would be interesting to post a complete "Best" of the ultimate power pop guide. So, i picked one song from each album selected by John Borack. My picks were totally subjective, so you won't get any "September Gurls", Rock'n'Roll Girl"', "Tomorrow Night" or other all-time classics. I tried (but not always) to not chose the songs you could already find on some famous power pop compilations ("Yellow Pills", "Poptopia" or the Rhino "DIY Series" and many others...). This is the 1st part of the unauthorized best of the ultimate power pop guide. Whenever available each album will be linked to an online record store.

FLAC / 599 mb
The List (1 -> 25) Rank Band - Album (Song)

1 Raspberries - Starting Over (Overnight Sensation)
2 Big Star - #1 Record/Radio City (Back Of A Car)
3 Shoes - Present Tense/Tongue Twister (Every Girl)
4 Cheap Trick - In Color (I Want You Want Me)
5 20/20 - 20/20 & Look Out (Remember The Lightning)
6 Chris Von Sneidern - Big White Lies (Mindreader)
7 Tommy Keene - Songs From The Film (Gold Town)
8 The Orange Humble Band - Assorted Creams (It Doesn't Matter)
9 Adam Schmitt - World So Bright (Can't Get You On My Mind)
10 The Beat - The Beat (U.S.A.)
11 DM3 - Road To Rome (Second Floor)
12 Badfinger - Wish You Were Here (Know One Knows)
13 The Toms - The Toms (You Must Have Crossed My Mind)
14 Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend (I've Been Waiting)
15 The Someloves - Something Or Other (Know You Know)
16 Game Theory - Big Shot Chronicles (Erica's Word)
17 Nick Lowe - 16 All-Time Lowes (American Squirm)
18 Marshall Crenshaw - Marshall Crenshaw (Cynical Girl)
19 Material Issue - Freak City Soundtrack (One Simple World)
20 Fountains Of Wayne - Welcome Interstate Managers (Stacy's Mom)
21 Dwight Twilley Band - Sincerely (You Were So Warm)
22 The Smithereens - Especially For You (Hand Of Glory)
23 Flamin' Groovies - Shake Some Action (I Can't Hide)
24 The Rooks - Encore Echoes (Reasons)
25 The Spongetones - Beat & Torn (Every Night Is A Holiday)

SHAKE SOME ACTION 2.0

An Updated Guide To The 200 Greatest Power Pop Albums 1970-2017
(an unauthorized best of)
VOLUME 8

John Borack wrote his first look at all things power pop, Shake Some Action in 2008, and it struck a chord, selling out 4 reprints. Well, it’s ten years down the road, and Borack has updated his debut work with Shake Some Action 2.0: 200 Greatest Power Pop Albums 1970-2017 – and it’s even more complete than before! At over 400 pages, fans of jangly guitars, skinny ties and all things pop will find so much to love here.

Shake Some Action 2.0 will be laid out in similar fashion to a Billboard chart: albums have slid up or down the chart, with new efforts from 2008-2017 replacing those that have fallen out of the top 200.

Those familiar with the early days of PPC will remember the popular series "The Ultimate Power Pop Guide" (a.k.a The Unauthorized best of the John M. Borack list) based upon the first book "Shake Some Action". So ten years later, i have thought it would be nice to make an update to the guide. 

Once again, i'm gonna pick one song from each album selected by John Borack, except this time i'm gonna start by the end of the list going to the top of the top... if everything goes well.

Special note: This compilation comes complete with the usual full set of artwork suitable for jewel case CD. It is now available in lossy and lossless formats.

lossy ZS (189 mb)

lossless; ZS1 + ZS2 (577 mb)

176->200
click on the album title to get more info

176 David Myhr - Soundshine (2012)

177 The Cowsills - Global (1998)

178 Yorktown Lads - Songs About Girls and Other Disasters (2014)

179  Seth Swirsky - Circles and Squares (2016)

180 The Tremblers - Twice Nightly (1980) 

181 The On and Ons - It's The On and Ons Calling (2015) 

182 The Favourites - New Feeling (2017) 

183 Vance or Towers - Vance or Towers (1975) 

184 The Wigs - File Under Pop Vocal (1981) 

185 The Vandalias - Mach V (1995) 

186 Sitcom Neigbor - Shag (2017) 

187 Farrah - Moustache (2001) 

188 Scott McCarl - Play On (1997) 

189 Locksley - Don't Make Me Wait (2007) 

190 Derrick Anderson - A World of My Own (2017) 

191 Diamond Hands - Diamond Hands ((2016) 

192 Kenny Howes - Second Album (1995) 

193 Ray Paul - Whimsicality (2016) 

194 The Cry! - The Cry! (2011) 

195 The Chevelles - At Second Glance (1998) 

196 Nick Piunti - 13 In My Head (2013) 

197 The Nines - Wonderworld of Colourful (1998) 

198 Corin Ashley - Broken Biscuits (2017) 

199 Plasticsoul - Therapy (2017) 

200 Promise - Promise (1980)

The book can be ordered here

 

THE ULTIMATE POWER POP GUIDE - VOLUME 6 (2008)

Sixth part (126->150) of the unauthorized best of the ultimate power pop guide. A few items are tricky-to-find (R.F & The Radar Angels, The Chicaynes/Patriots), some others (Numbers, The Pop, The Cryers and Dancing Hoods) which are not available in CD format can be found all around the blogs. Finally, some CD's (Jim Basnight & The Moberlys, The Hudson Brothers, Artful Dodger and Blue) are not the easiest items to find. (Try ebay).

FLAC / 603 mb 

 

The List (126 -> 150)

Rank Band - Album (Song)

126 Three Hour Tour - 1969 (Valentine's Day)
127 The Three O'Clock - Arrive Without Travelling... (Underwater)
128 RF & The Radar Angels - Picture Of Linda (The Heartbeat Song)
129 Jason Falkner - Necessity The 4-Track Years (I Live)
130 Tim Cullen - Fun Razor (Now It's Over)
131 The Hudson Brothers - So You Are A Star... (So You Are A Star)
132 The Cryers - The Cryers ((It's Gonna Be A) Heartbreaker)
133 The Pop - The Pop (Nobody's Toy)
134 Numbers - Add Up (Can't Take It)
135 The Tickets - The Tickets (I Don't Belong)
136 Dancing Hoods - 12 Jealous Roses (Impossible Years)
137 Swinger - Half Day Road (Away)
138 The Bad Examples - Bad Is Beautiful (Ashes Of My Heart)
139 The Mockers - The Lonesome Death Of Electric... (Mola Guay OK)
140 Jim Basnight & The Moberlys - Seattle-New... (Alone With Her)
141 Artful Dodger - Rave On (A Girl (La La La))
142 Owsley - Owsley (The Homecoming Song)
143 The Click Five - Greetings From Imrie... (Angel To You (Devil To Me))
144 Chopper - Slogans And Jingles (She Exploded)
145 The Orgone Box - The Orgone Box (World Revolves)
146 Blue - Blue (Look Around)
147 The Blondes - Swedish Heat (California Sunshine)
148 The Patriots - Second Thoughts_Pharaoh´s Land (She Loves You Too)
149 The Cowsills - Global (You've Got No Time)
150 The Mice - For Almost Ever Scooter (Bye Bye Kitty Cat)

THE LATE SHOW - PORTABLE POP (1980)

LATEST NEWS: The band will reissue very soon this classic album. Link removed.

This is for sure one of power pop's best-kept secrets and most appropriate record titles but also, unfortunately, a very hard to find gem released in 1980 on a small label called "Rave". "Portable Pop" includes 12 melodic nuggets that rank among the very best of the power pop genre. Songs like "Take A Chance", "Hey Sue", "Protect Your Love", "A Matter Of Time",... are just what you need if you are in pursuit of pop happiness with a slight tinge of melancholy. Not only will you carry around in your head wonderful midtempo ballads and faster-paced power pop numbers but they will be associated and imprinted on your mind with such girl's names as Sue, Judy, Mary Anne... which make them easier to remember as you hum tunes over and over and begin to feel ever so happy. Do not miss out on this treasure trove of awesome melodies if you chance to come across it your quest for power pop's all time greats. By the way, in 1996, it was listed by John Borack in Goldmine as #50 of the 50 essential US power pop albums. (Bubblegumthepunk)

In 2007, the album was listed #46 of the 200 essential power pop albums in "Shake Some Action: The Ultimate Power Pop Guide"

Special Note : The album rip is part of a "swapping deal" between a huge american powerpop fan and me. I only worked a little on the original wave files provided (RMS normalization done plus a few minor clicks removed). I also stitched the parts of the LP scans he had sent me. The album was ripped from an unplayed LP. You may have seen this album on other blogs or other places, but this one is a brand new rip.

Songs
Take A Chance / Stop / I Won't Play The Clown / Actions Speak Louder Than Words / What Can I Do / Hey Sue / Look Who's Laughing Now / Judy / Protect Your Love / So Happy / Won't Mind Waiting / Just A Matter Of Time

Click here to listen to some Late Show demos from 2007.

THE ULTIMATE POWER POP GUIDE - VOLUME 2 (2008)

Second part (26->50) of the unauthorized best of the ultimate power pop guide. A new bunch of 25 great powerpop albums. Most of them are available through Not Lame or any other online record store. Only a few of those albums ("Jimmy Silva", "Myracle Brah", and "The Late Show"...) are really hard to find. The Late Show has never been reissued on cd but was posted earlier on your favorite blog. The "Myracle Brah's first album" can be purchased from Jam Records (limited quantity). "Jimmy Silva's Heidi" is now an OOP "collector's item" (i guess i'll post it later).

FLAC / 603 mb 

The List (26 -> 50)

Rank Band - Album (Song)

26 Cotton Mather - Kon Tiki (Password)
27 The Knack - Get The Knack (Your Number Or Your Name)
28 The Scruffs - Wanna Meet The Scruffs (You’re No Fun)
29 Velvet Crush - Free Expression (Goin’ To My Head)
30 Eugene Edwards - My Favorite Revolution (Congratulations...)
31 Emitt Rhodes - Emitt Rhodes (With My Face On The Floor)
32 Utopia - Utopia (There Goes My Inspiration)
33 Chris Stamey - Fireworks (The Company Of Light)
34 The Records - Crashes (The Same Mistakes)
35 The Plimsouls - The Plimsouls...Plus (Everyday Things)
36 The Rubinoos - Paleophonic (Pursuit Of Happiness)
37 Bill Lloyd - Set To Pop (I Went Electric)
38 The Merrymakers - Bubblegun (I’m In...Love!)
39 Jimmy Silva & The Goats - Heidi (St Catherine’s Statue)
40 The Shazam - The Shazam (C’mon Girl)
41 The Heats - Smoke (Have An Idea)
42 The Greenberry Woods - Big Money Item (Super Geek)
43 Myracle Brah - Life On Planet Eartsnop (Whisper Softly)
44 Mark Johnson - 12 In A Room (Earn That Love)
45 Splitsville - The Complete Pet Soul (The Popular)
46 The Late Show - Portable Pop (Hey Sue)
47 Phil Seymour - Phil Seymour (I Found A Love)
48 Walter Clevenger & The Dairy Kings - Love Songs To Myself (Real)
49 Cheepskates - It Wings Above (Goodbye Princess)
50 XTC - Upsy Daisy Assortment (The Mayor Of Simpleton)

THE ULTIMATE POWER POP GUIDE (2008) (re-ups)

As some of you may have noticed, all the UPPG links were down. The whole collection has been re-upped and will be only available in FLAC (the lossless links are on GD).

In 2008, John Borack and Not Lame published "Shake Some Action - The Ultimate Power Pop Guide". According to the list of the Top 200 of the best Power Pop albums, i made nine (unauthorized) compilations (eight + the tributes one, not included here). Click on the links below to read all the details about this popular collection.

 

Ten years later, John Borack published his SSA 2.0 book and i recently made the  same kind of work that i made 10 years ago with this collection. The re-up will allow to some of you to get the compilations for the first time or to have a backup if you'd ever lost them over the years. It will be an opportunity to compare both lists and so post comments here.

Volume 1: details here



FLAC / 599 mb








Volume 2: details here



FLAC / 603 mb





 
Volume 3: details here



FLAC / 599 mb

Volume 4: details here



FLAC / 609 mb

Volume 5: details here



FLAC / 597 mb

Volume 6: details here



FLAC / 603 mb







Volume 7: details here



FLAC / 616 mb

Volume 8: details here



FLAC / 603 mb

THE ULTIMATE POWER POP GUIDE (2008) (new rips)

As some of you may have noticed, all the UPPG links were mostly dead. So, instead of re-upping the old rips previously posted in 2008, i've made some brand new rips and converted them to mp3 (320) using the lame 3.98 codec. For the first time, the whole collection is also available in FLAC (the lossless links are on RS as MF doens't accept files over 200 mb).

Between 2008 and today, a lot of the items featured on the list have been reissued on CD (Candy, The Late Show, D.L. Byron, Clovis Roblaine and more...), though some other albums remain tricky to find.

In 2008, John Borack and Not Lame published "Shake Some Action - The Ultimate Power Pop Guide". According to the list of the Top 200 of the best Power Pop albums, i made these nine (unauthorized) compilations. Click on the links below to read all the details about this popular collection.

Volume 1: details here

mp3 / 192 mb
ZS

FLAC / 599 mb
RS (link down)






Volume 2: details here

mp3 / 191 mb
ZS

FLAC / 603 mb
RS (link down)




 


Volume 3: details here

mp3 / 192 mb
ZS

FLAC / 599 mb
RS (link down)

Volume 4: details here

mp3 / 192 mb
ZS

FLAC / 609 mb
RS (link down)

Volume 5: details here

mp3 / 193 mb
ZS

FLAC / 597 mb
RS (link down)

Volume 6: details here

mp3 / 193 mb
ZS

FLAC / 603 mb
RS (link down)







Volume 7: details here

mp3 / 190 mb
ZS

FLAC / 616 mb
RS (link down)

Volume 8: details here

mp3 / 193 mb
ZS

FLAC / 603 mb
RS (link down)

Volume 9: details here

mp3 / 192 mb
ZS

FLAC / 595 mb
RS (link down)

THE ULTIMATE POWER POP GUIDE - VOLUME 8 (2008)

And now the ultimate part of the Ultimate Power Pop Guide. Three albums (Ian North, Beat Rodeo and Richard Barone) are not available in CD format. A few other ones (The Semantics, Red Letter Day, The Yum Yums, Loveless ) are more or less tricky-to-find items (try ebay). The Buster's album has just been reissued in CD format by Airmail Recordings in Japan.

Special Note: i'd like to thank everybody for all the nice comments posted about this "huge" series...which could have some kind of a sequel...

FLAC / 603 mb

The List (176 -> 200)
Rank Band - Album (Song)

176 Ian North - Neo (She Kills Me)
177 Lisa Mychols - Lost Winter's Dream (Lost Winter's Dream)
178 The Wannadies - Aquanautic (Lucky You)
179 The Yum Yums - Singles 'n' Stuff (Be With Me)
180 The Brotherhood Of Lizards - Lizardland (The Happening Guy)
181 The Semantics - Powerbill (Coming Up Roses)
182 Loveless - A Tale Of Gin... (Sex, Drugs & Rock'n'Roll Are Dead)
183 Farrah - Me Too (He Gives An Inch)
184 The Bloody Chicletts - Presenting (Kaos)
185 Blue Ash - Around Again (Around Again)
186 Tremblers - Twice Nightly (She Was Something Else)
187 The Candyskins - Fun (Tired Of Being Happy)
188 Red Letter Day - Red Letter Day (She´s Varispeed)
189 E - A Man Called (E) (Nowheresville)
190 Beat Rodeo - Staying Out Late With (Just Friends)
191 The Carpet Frogs - Frog Curry (Lisa's New Dress)
192 Brainpool - Stay Free (Here's A Boy)
193 Liquor Giants - Something For The Kids (Don't Ever Leave Me)
194 Richard Barone - Nuts & Bolts (Lost Like Me)
195 Pendletones - Nothing Happened, You Just... (Work It Out)
196 The Winnerys - And...The Winnerys (That Magical Wonder)
197 Buster - Buster (We Love Girls)
198 Barry Holdship Four - The Jesse Garon Project (Words Of Wisdom)
199 Chewy Marble - Bowl Of Surreal (Tiny World)
200 The Waking Hours - The Good Way (Jade)

THE ULTIMATE POWER POP GUIDE - VOLUME 5 (2008)

Fifth part (101->125) of the unauthorized best of the ultimate power pop guide. "Yankee Rose" and "The Pinkees" are the ones (read never reissued) really hard to find (try ebay). "Stars on Mars" were a swedish band on Polar Records (same label as Abba). "The Bongos" and "The Elvis Brothers" CD's are the scarce ones.

Note: Special thanks to a southern friend who gave me a copy of the "Yankee Rose" LP.

FLAC / 597 mb 

 

The List (101 -> 125)

Rank Band - Album (Song)

101 Stars On Mars - Poster (Morris Minor)
102 The Blow Pops - American Beauties (Without Reason)
103 Fools Face - Fools Face (I Want To Be Her Man)
104 The Model Rockets - Tell The Kids... (He Didn't Think It Was Real)
105 The Loud Family - Plants & Birds & Rocks & Things (Give In World)
106 The Bongos - Numbers With Wings_Beat Hotel (Tiger Nights)
107 The Rutles - The Rutles (Another Day)
108 Eric Carmen - Eric Carmen (My Girl)
109 Darin Murphy - Solitarium (Don't Look At Me)
110 Nick Gilder - City Lights ((She's) One Of The Boys)
111 The Elvis Brothers - Movin' Up_Adventure Time (Movin' Up)
112 Clovis Roblaine - The Clovis Roblaine Story (Cry All Over Me)
113 Cloud Eleven - Terrestrial Ballet (The One)
114 Scott McCarl - Play On (In Love Without A Girl)
115 The Vandalias - Mach V (Build This House)
116 Martin Luther Lennon - Music For A World... (Tabernacle O' Clay)
117 Liverpool Echo - Liverpool Echo (Sally Works Nights)
118 Jupiter Affect - Instructions For The... (White Knuckle Sound)
119 Richard Barone - Primal Dream (Before You Were Born)
120 The Tories - Wonderful Life (Not What It Appears)
121 Yankee Rose - Yankee Rose (Any Time Of The Day)
122 Van Duren & Tommy Hoehn - Hailstone Holiday (Outsmarted)
123 The Pinkees - The Pinkees (Say What You're Thinking)
124 Gin Blossoms - New Miserable Experience (Allison Road)
125 The Lackloves - Star City Baby (Down Deep)