by Mark R. Madler copied from the July 11, 2016 edition of The San Fernando Business...

The Greatest Thing: 20 Must-Hear Elvis Costello Tracks by John M. Borack and Olivia Frain   As co-producers of the upcoming tribute collection Beyond Belief: A Tribute to Elvis Costello, we are obviously dyed-in-the-wool Costello fanatics. Many a day has been spent burning up the phone lines discussing and spinning Elvis discs, with each of us interjecting a “Listen to this lyric!” or a “How does he DO that?” as...

Roll Up for the Magical Mystery Tour (again) By Aaron Kupferberg www.powerpopaholic.com   On September 1967 The Beatles embarked on making their third film, with help from Richard Lester who directed A Hard Day’s Night (1964) and Help! (1965). The band was in uncharted waters after the death of long time manager Brian Epstein, and to prevent additional tax levies by the the government the band formed Apple Corps.  “Magical...

The Shoes Still Fit By Aaron Kupferberg www.powerpopaholic.com   Some say that the 1980’s were a “lost decade” for power pop, with the decline of Badfinger, Big Star and The Raspberries, there was yet to be a band that could pick up the mantle for the genre. The influences of punk and new wave were just starting to take hold of the public’s attention in 1977. It’s into this that Shoes emerged with “Black...

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...