My First Concert By David Bash   In early 1972, The Carefree Sugarless Gum Company (remember them??) had a contest where they asked junior high schools within a 50 mile radius of New York City to send in as many of their product’s wrappers as they could, and the school which sent in the most wrappers would receive, as their prize, an appearance by none other than The Grass Roots!  Even though by 1972 their best days were behind them, we...

My Top 10 Beach Boys Songs of All-Time by David Bash   10. Time To Get Alone-I don’t waltz, but if I ever learn, this would be the song to which I’d do my first! I love all the counterpoint, which had become a Beach Boys staple not long before and would flourish even further in the next few years. The echoed “Deep And Wide” just kills me, as do the strings after the final “aren’t you glad we got...

Three Reviled Men Who Need To Have Their Due By David Bash   As most passionate Beach Boys fans would agree, Murry Wilson, Mike Love, and Eugene Landy have been villified, castigated, even reviled for having done so many heinous things over the years, several in particular which have adversely affected Brian Wilson.  I’m not here to take issue with any of that, other than to say that while these attacks are not errors of commission,...

Who Will Be The Next Beatles? By Aaron Kupferberg www.powerpopaholic.com   Trick question. With the onset of years, the more we look back, with more certainty we can say that no one will ever approach what the Fab Four have done. You can argue that Michael Jackson had more #1 debuts, or Madonna had more top ten singles, but none will make the same musical, cultural, and social impact. It goes well beyond Beatlemania to the way an rock...

A Very Good Thing: An Appreciation of Material Issue By John M Borack   Power pop was in sort of an odd place in the early ’90s.  Most of the bands that are now considered pioneers of the genre were long gone, and many of the titans of the second wave (20/20, Plimsouls, stc.) were dormant.  It would be a few years before Jordan Oakes’ Yellow Pills fanzine and L.A.’s Poptopia festival would bring melody-based...