More Live Plimsouls!

Apologies folks, but I've been listening to the Plimsouls for the past 36 hours or so, and I can't get enough 'em. I found some high quality live clips on Youtube, and just had to share. The first, according to the guy who posted it, is from 1979 and might be the first major club appearance by Eddie Muñoz with the band:



The next three must have been some sort of TV/Radio simulcast out in Pasadena. Great stuff, but I can't help feeling a little sad as I watch this. They look poised to become the next big thing-- well, we all know how that turned out.







BTW, I've added the Plimsouls to my running list of artists that need the box set treatment. Did not realize that their first album (conveniently reissued together with their first EP by Rhino in 1992 as The Plimsouls . . . Plus) is no longer available. Travesty.

The Plimsouls - Live! Beg, Borrow & Steal: October 31, 1981 - Whiskey A Go Go

A follow up to my post from February 3 - New Plimsouls Record! Check out the artwork for the new LP and download a track from the album there. It should be available from your favorite retailers today. I would suggest heading down to your local, independent record store and picking it up on vinyl!

I've finally had a chance to sit down and listen to this record a few times, and I thought I'd share my thoughts. I don't normally review new records here at Burn and Shine, but I figured I should make an exception for the Plimsouls during Power Pop Month. So here goes.

I'll be the first one to tell you, I don't like live albums. While I own quite a few (I used to hoard bootlegs of my favorite bands), there are maybe a dozen live documents that I'll still listen to on occasion. You can probably guess a few of those-- At Budokan, Live at Leeds, a couple of those Bob Dylan Bootleg Series discs leap to mind.

One you might not guess, is The Plimsouls' first widely released live album, One Night in America. It originally came out in 1988, on a French label called Fan Club. It was one of the first ten CDs I ever bought (I never bought the reissue from a few years back, because I cherish this one so much). At the time, I had never really listened to the Plimsouls. Of course I knew "A Million Miles Away", but that's about it. Those twelve songs recorded "in the midwest of all places" changed my perception of the band. I just figured they were a New Wave one-hit wonder. Wrong. This band had chops and knew their history-- five of the twelve tracks were covers, most notably the Outsiders' "Time Won't Let Me" and a scalding version of the Kinks' "Come On Now". So, as you can imagine, my expectations for this new live Plimsouls LP were through the roof.

Mighty tough for an album to live up to those kind of expectations. Live! Beg, Borrow & Steal delivers. Eighteen tracks and nearly an hour it is the perfect compliment to One Night in America (which was recorded five months earlier). The first song that really leaps out at me is "Inch by Inch" (one of my favorite tracks from 1983's Everywhere at Once) which, I'm assuming, must have been written during the time between the ONiA performance and this one at the Whiskey. While the album version has a shiny, new wave sheen, here it is presented in all of its raw glory. Eddie Muñoz' guitar sounds phenomenal, and Peter Case's vocals are to die for-- what I think a young John Lennon might have sounded like during one of those legendary eight hour sets in Hamburg.

Other originals not featured on the previous live document, are "Every Day Things" "Shaky City", "Lost Time", "I'll Get Lucky", "Zero Hour" and "I Want You Back". To go along with tremendous versions of "Hush Hush", "Now", and "A Million Miles Away". Oh, and let's not forget the covers. There are two Easybeats songs featured, "Women" which would make an appearance on their debut, self-titled long player and a fantastic version of "Sorry". A nod to both their L.A. and Hispanic roots, the Plimsouls' rollicking version of Thee Midnighters' "Jump, Jive and Harmonize" absolutely tears the roof down. There's more, to be sure, but listening to this record nearly thirty years after this show was recorded, one word comes to mind: Timeless.

New Plimsouls Record!

Weird. I had no idea this was coming out, and this morning I got an email from Alive Records announcing this upcoming Plimsouls release. My goal is 28 posts in the month of February, all devoted to Power Pop, and with little gifts from the Power Pop gods like this, I just might make it.

As an added bonus, here's a little taste from the upcoming record:

Free mp3 download of the live version of "Zero Hour"!
(right click and save target as)

What is Power Pop?

So I've christened February "Power Pop Month", but what the hell do I mean when I use the term? Just so you know where I'm coming from, I'll define it for you. Your definition might be totally different by the way, and that's fine.

While I believe that Power Pop actually arrived in the 70's, I think all of Power Popdom has it's roots in the three B's of the 1960's (Beatles, Beach Boys and Byrds) plus the Kinks and the Who. However, that's not nearly enough. What about the 50s influence of Buddy Holly and pre-war Elvis (Dave Edmunds)? Or the Girl Group sound of the 60's (Blondie)? Or classic R&B (The Nerves)? Really tough to peg it down but here's what I look for:

Mandatory: Hooks, melody, guitars (I'll make an exception for Ben Folds), sing-along choruses, power chords, harmony background vocals, and simple verse-chorus-verse structure.

Optional but recommended: Hand claps, boy-girl vocals, boy-loses-girl theme or boy-wants-girl theme (preferably with said girl's name in title of song).

Whenever I put together a Power Pop compilation, I struggle with differentiating certain styles of Pop. In particular, there are many similarities between Garage, Glam, Punk and Power Pop. I can't put it into words, it's just a gut reaction: "Yes this fits!" or "No that would be better on some other type of compilation."

When I think of Power Pop, I immediately think of these bands (in loose chronological order):

Badfinger, Big Star, Raspberries, Cheap Trick, Flamin' Groovies, Shoes, 20/20, Romantics, Records, Real Kids, Shoes, The Knack, Tom Petty, Dwitght Twilley/Phil Seymour, Stamey/Holsapple, Nick Lowe/Dave Edmunds/Rockpile/the Rumour, The Nerves, Jack Lee, Paul Collins, Plimsouls, the Toms, Barracudas, Replacements, Bangles, Spongetones, Hoodoo Gurus, Smithereens, Lemonheads, Cavedogs, Material Issue, Richard X. Heyman, Matthew Sweet, Teenage Fanclub, Superdrag, Pernice Brothers, Sloan, Posies, Velvet Crush, Fountains of Wayne, Brendon Benson. . . That's a good representation, I think.

Here is a smattering of some of my favorite Power albums (mostly from the 70's because that's what I've been listening to most over the last few weeks):

Badfinger, Their entire discograpy.
The Rasberries, Their entire discograpy
Cheap Trick, All of their 70's records.
Emmit Rhodes, Emmitt Rhodes (1970).
Big Star, #1 Record (1972) & Radio City (1974)
Blue, Blue (1973)
The Shivvers, Lost Hits from Milwaukee's First Family of Power Pop: 1979-82 (2006).
The Nerves, The Nerves EP (1976).
Joe Jackson, Look Sharp! (1979) and I'm the Man (1980).
Greg Kihn, Greg Kihn (1976) and Greg Kihn Again (1977).
Pezband, Pezband (1977)
Off Broadway, On (1979).
The Last, L.A. Explosion! (1979).
Squeeze, Cool For Cats (1979).
Dwight Twilley Band, Sincerely (1976) and Twilley Don't Mind (1977).
Milk'n'Cookies, Milk'n'Cookies (1975)
Phil Seymour, Phil Seymour (1980).
The Real Kids, The Real Kids (1977).
Tom Petty, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers (1976) or pretty much any TP release!
The Diodes, first two albums conveniently on one CD: Tired of Waking Up Tired: The Best of the Diodes (1998).
Chris Bell, I Am the Cosmos (1992 but recorded circa late 70s).
Flamin' Groovies, All three of the Chris Wilson era albums (1976-1979).
The Boys, Alternative Chartbusters (1979).
The Hudson Brothers, Totally Out of Control (1974).
Bram Tchaikovsky, Strange Man, Changed Man (1979).
The Rubinoos, The Rubinoos (1977).
The Scruffs, Wanna Meet the Scruffs? (1977) and the unreleased until 1998 follow-up Teenage Gurls.
The Barracudas, Drop Out With the Barracudas (1981).
The Tourists, The Tourists (1979).
Grin, 1 + 1 (1972).
Nick Lowe, Jesus of Cool (1978), Labour of Lust (1979) and Nick the Knife (1982).
Richard Lloyd, Alchemy (1979).
20/20, 20/20 (1979) and Lookout! (1981).
The Toms, The Toms (1979)
The Plimsouls, The Plimsouls (1981) and Everywhere at Once (1983).

Apologies to the ones I've forgotten.

So, you may be thinking to yourself, is there any bad Power Pop? I suppose there is, but I probably wouldn't call it Power Pop at that point. I reserve the term for bands or songs I like (it's all subjective). For the most part-- and I've sifted through many mediocre records-- I can find at least a gem or two from any so-called, seminal Power Pop band or album. If I had to pick one that has never really clicked though, it would have to be Enuff Z'Nuff. There's your task. Convince me that Enuff Z'Nuff is worthy of inclusion on any list of Power Pop Goodness.