PASSWORD

Well, it seems there have been a lot of newcomers to this blog lately asking for the password of the archives brought here.
So, read carefully the blah blah in the "who are you" box on the right and you'll know what the password is. This is crystal clear.

JOSE CASAS - PLASTICLAND (2003)

Jose Casas, guitarist and main composer sevillians Helio, send signals back to your ship from pop. This CD was released in 2003 and "Plasticland" contains eight samples impeccable pop classic wisely maintaining the balance between ornamentation and freshness, the melody always finds his graceful exit and spontaneous, something key to pop. There are themes reminiscent of the capacity of the best repertory new wave (the time that so marked), as defined in your drawing, such as "My Five Senses" and the potential hit "Bo Diddley Kidnaps" both, incidentally, possess ingenious lyrics. Work and careful craftsmanship, sound and set of strategic arrangements; cinnamon unavoidable for fine exquisite tasters of timeless pop. Compositions, in order, entrusted to the expressiveness of the dialogue between electric and acoustic as "Change Your Tale," debtor-axis Byrds Teenage fanclub, "Robin Hood Song" his "Five Years" particular or fibrous example of this power-pop elegant is "Evil Behind Flower's Park". Juanfra Molina 2006

Today, Jose Casas is playing with La Pistola de Papa, they performed in March 2009 at The International Pop Overthrow festival in Liverpool.

Songs
Behind Evil Flower's Park / Plasticland / My Five Senses / Robin Hood Song / Bo Diddley Kidnaps / Change Your Tale / Where Are My Heroes Living / Running Man

GARY GOES TO HOLLYWOOD (2002)

In 2000, Gary "Pig" Gold released "Permanent Vacation" one of the greatest summer songs ever (see the PPC summer compilation). Two years later, the french label "Pop The Balloon" released another amazing single "Comin' Up For Air / Baby Doll".

Today, Gary "Pig" Gold with Shane Faubert (vocals, guitars) and Jeremy Lee (drums) of Cheepskates fame have just released a new album as THE NEXT BIG THING.

The CD is available for $5 ppd. from Cut And Paste! Make checks or money orders payable to Ray Carmen (not Cut And Paste Records). Cash is accepted but please cover it well. Send all your hard-earned moolah to : Cut And Paste Records, POB 152, Green, OH 44232 US of A. Get it! Got it? Good!

In the meantime, you can listen to this great single and visit the Shane Faubert download page (with more than 50 free demos !!!)

PAUL COLLINS & JOHN WICKS
LIVE ON THE CHERRY BLOSSOM CLINIC (2009)

The new Paul Collins & John Wicks website address is at www.johnwicksandpaulcollins.com and all the important information is there, including High Def video of their first ever performance together in Pittsburgh PA earlier this year.
Following the McCabe's show (August, 23), John will be joining Paul onstage for a few of The Beat west coast shows and then they will cap things off with a short tour of Spain.
Finally, regarding the House Tour that went so very well this summer, so well in fact that the guys would like to continue doing more. If anyone would like any further information they can email Rich Rossi at martinitimerossi@gmail.com.

On June 13, Paul Collins & John Wicks performed live on WFMU's Cherry Blossom Clinic for an exclusive acoustic 71 minutes show, with Terre T hosting.

Songs
You Tore Me Down / Hearts In Her Eyes / That's What Life Is All About / King Midas In Reverse / Hearts Will Be Broken / Alice / Different Kind Of Girl / Her Stars Are My Stars / Rock 'n'Roll Girl / Starry Eyes

Paul's Fall West Coast Dates
On September 11 Paul Collins sets out on his early Fall West Coast Tour with The Avengers and Panzy Division. John Wicks may join Paul for a date or two. The schedule is as follows:

SA 9.11.09 Seattle, WA The Funhouse
SA 9.12.09 Portland, OR Dante's
SU 9.13.09 Medford, OR @ Musichead
TU 9.15.09 Sacramento, CA @ Old Firesides
WE 9.16.09 Santa Cruz, CA @ The Blue Lagoon
TH 9.17.09 Oakland, CA @ The Uptown
FR 9.18.09 San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill
SA 9.19.09 Santa Ana, CA @ the Galaxy
SU 9.20.09 Echo Park, CA @ The Echo

TRIBUTE TO THE FAB FOUR - LET IT BE (2009)

At last, here's the very last Fab Four album revisited and brought to you by the PPC blog, it took more than a couple of years to cover the whole Fab Four official discography ( i won't include the "Yellow Submarine" episode on purpose). For many of us "Let it Be" wasn't the best of the lot, but without this fab band the PPC blog wouldn't have never existed.

Click on pix for the details of the bands involved

VARIOUS - SUMMER SONGS (2009)

There are so many Christmas compilations (including the PPC ones) that you could still listen to them all year long. But during Summertime, do we really need some "White Christmas on The Sand" or "Santa Claus On The Beach". Every summer, record companies try hard to release THE SUMMER SMASH HIT (i guess we all have our favorite summer song), but there are so many classics of the genre ("School's Out", "Summer In The City", "Summertime Blues" or "California Girls"...) to name a few. So, while a lot of blogs are on vacation, summer break, or whatever, PPC is proud to introduce his first Summer compilation. 50 All-Time Sparkling Powerpop Summer Songs that will raise the sun above our heads, i hope...and remember, this compilation is 100% Sixties free.

CD1 + CD2

Click on pix for the details of the bands involved

THE RUBINOOS - AUDIMAX, HAMBURG (1978)

The Rubinoos recorded live for the famous german TV show in 1978. This is the complete set of which six songs were available on the Beserkley german-only compilation "Bezerk Times".

Special note: Compressed from DVD to XviD4. Two-pass compression. Resolution 680x480 NTSC. A custom DVD artwork was made for the PPC blog. You need all three parts to unrar the video. Running time: 53'29. Size: 584mb

Full resolution artwork: Click here.

Video 1 - 2 - 3

Rockin' In The Jungle / Tonight / Peek A Boo / Fallin' In Love / Hard To Get / Hey Royse / Wouldn't It Be Nice / Red Light / Promise Me / Ronnie / Make It Easy / Please Please Me / Walk Don't Run / I Think We're Alone Now / Rock 'n' Roll Is Dead

PETER DALTREY - DREAM ON (1995)

The voice of Peter Daltrey (chelsea records website) on "Dream On" is instantly recognisable. A melodic earful of "Dust" or "Roundway Hill" will bring it all back home as Daltrey unravels his tender tales in a miraculously untarnished voice amidst gentle melodies. Those with a real feel for the magic of Kaleidoscope and (specifically) Fairfield Parlour will succumb to its spell. Technology notwithstanding, "Tender is the night" and "Ravenswing" with its crystalline harpsichord, echo tracks from "White-Faced Lady." The passage of time is generally unacknowledged; on the inlay the photo seems to be from the early Sixties, an era lyrically evoked by the strongest cut, "Dust." Other themes might have been lifted from the Fairfield Parlour songbook, circa 1970. The song remains the same, indeed, rosy-tinted nostalgia the order of the day. Bucketful of Brains

The cover art of the album was made by Mick Dillingham. Read the really interesting story about it on his blog Art Into Dust.

Even though "Dream On" is now out of print, you can now order all of the other Peter Daltrey albums via his website. Click here.

Songs
Dust / Going Back to Bohemia / Fitzgerald / Tender Is the Night / Ravenswing / Richard and I / Nothing More Than This / Felt Like the Moon / The Unicorn / Eighteen Summers / Dream On / Roundway Hill

CHRIS VON SNEIDERN - COLEGIO LUIS VIVES (2001)

If you enjoyed the audio part, here are the links for the video part. Filmed by Lord Enzo at the venue in 2001. You need the four parts to be able to unrar the file.

Click here to view a sampler ("Thirteen") of the concert on YouTube.

It was converted from the DVD to DivX 5 PAL. Resolution 680 x 480

Running time: 78 mn
Size: 715 mb

Click here to download the booklet for the video.

LINKS
1 - 2 - 3 - 4

CHRIS VON SNEIDERN - COLEGIO LUIS VIVES (2001)

Promoting the retrospective CD from Criminal Records of Valencia, Spain. Chris Von Sneidern performed unplugged alone on stage with his guitar and piano 21 songs from his previous albums, plus some new ones (from the then unreleased "The Wild Horse") and a cover of "Thirteen", the Big Star's classic. He also played on request "Dear Friend" from the Flying Color album.

Special note: A few years before the "Alta Tension" association, two powerpop aficionados "pop-kid" and "lord enzo" filmed the concert and burned it on a DVD. This is how i got this concert on DVD, then i extracted the audio files and converted them to mp3, making a special artwork for this highly recommended document.

Songs
Intro / The Ballad / Don't Worry Now / Like Me That Way / I Want You / Feel / Doctor / Dream Away / Here I Go / As You Are / Bad Black Someone / Gemini / Ooh Mama Mama / Never Again, My Love / Dear Friend / One Side In Heaven / Thirteen / Got A Way With Her / Summertime Sun / Our Last Waltz / Annalisa

THE VINES - WALK THE FLOOR (1987)

Not to be confused with some other Vines (Australia), The Vines (USA) were Suzanne Lavine, Alirio Guerrero, Marc Seligman and Mark Reynolds. Little is known of the band, except the album was recorded at The Drive-In Studio of Mitch Easter who engineered and mixed. Joe Klages produced.

Here's an excerpt of the review written by Phil McMullen in Bucketfull of Brains about The Vines mini LP:

"This bunch are shit hot and the more i listen the more i like 'em. Hailing from Hoboken, Noo Jersey they kick off with Television styled guitar twang (on "Blue And Grey") and from there on in it's classic riffs, tight arrangements and pounding rhythms all the way through this 6-track masterpiece. Particular faves are "Leave it At That" and "Look In Your Eye", but it's unfair to state preferences at this stage and i can only recommend that you investigate yourself. Engineered and mixed by the ubiquitous Mitch Easter, completionists should note".

Songs
Blue And Grey / Leave It At That / The Rains Came / In The Dark / 100 Years / The Look In Your Eyes

SPLITSVILLE PRESENTS THE GREENBERRY WOODS (2001)

If you enjoyed the audio part, here are the links for the video part. Filmed by Lord Enzo at the venue in 2001. You need the four parts to be able to unrar the file.

Click here to view a sampler ("The Kids Are Alright") of the concert on YouTube.

It was converted from the DVD to DivX 6.8 PAL. Resolution 680 x 472

Running time: 71 mn
Size: 737 mb

Click here to download the booklet for the video.

LINKS
1 - 2 - 3 - 4

SPLITSVILLE PRESENTS THE GREENBERRY WOODS (2001)

Drummer Brandt Huseman and his twin brother, guitarist Matt Huseman, formed the garage band Splitsville in 1996 as a side project to their power-pop combo Greenberry Woods in tandem with that band's one-time guitar tech, Paul Krysiak, filling the bassist role.

In June 2001, Splitsville made their first visit to Spain and performed an acoustic show playing a best of The Greenberry Woods albums plus a bunch of Splitsville songs coming from the soon-to-be critically acclaimed "The Complete Pet Soul".

In the fall of 2001, Splitsville became a four-piece. With the addition of Tony Waddy on lead guitar and vocals, the band has been able to add songs previously unperformed in their live set. Splitsville enjoyed a second trip to Spain, which included local and national radio interviews in several cities, numerous print interviews and a live concert taped for Spanish national television. The fifteen-show, thirteen-date tour was a big success. Radio 3 concert available here.

Special note: A few years before the "Alta Tension" association, two powerpop aficionados "pop-kid" and "lord enzo" brought Splitsville to Spain and organized their first concert in Valencia. They filmed the concert and burned it on a DVD. This is how i got this concert on DVD, then i extracted the audio files and converted them to mp3, making a special artwork for this highly recommended document.

Songs
Intro / Love Songs / Adieu / The Sympathy Song / For You / Go Without You / Invisible Threads / Oh Janine / Forever / Caroline Knows / You Oughta Know / Oh Christine / More And More / Winslow To Arizona / Super Geek / Busted / Pretty People / #37 (Feels So Strange) / The Final Song / The Kids Are Alright / Trampoline / I'll Send A Message / Hold On

HALFNELSON - A WOOFER IN TWEETER'S CLOTHING DEMOS (1968)

Ron Mael, Russ Mael and Earle Mankey made quite a lot of home recordings during the late 60's and the most famous one was the Halfnelson's "A Woofer In Tweeter's Clothing" demo (not to be confused with the second official Sparks' Bearsville album). The band was Russell Mael (vocals & bass), Ron Mael (keyboards), Earle Mankey (guitar & vocals), John Mendelsohn (drums) and Surly Ralph Oswald (bass ).

All the songs had been written by the Maels. There are two songs on this demo, which were early versions of songs : "Roger" and "Saccharin And The War" available later on the official Bearsville release. The demo album was produced by Earle Mankey who also sang "Big Rock Candy Mountain". More info here.

The demo version of the album was packaged in a large rectangular box resembling a restaurant checkbook. A hand-written bill for "$100,000 For One Halfnelson Album" was scrawled on the checkbook. Inside were photos, a bio, and the vinyl disc. This is the reason why i tried to update the supposed design and made the aforementioned front sleeve.

Special note: This is a brand new rip made from a CDR copy of the acetate. Actually some years ago, i made a not so good first rip of it which was spread around, (the first artwork i made pictured Russell Mael in a boat). So, the new rip sounds much better and is a 320mp3 with a revamped artwork specially made for the PPC Blog.

Songs
Chile Farm Farney / Johnny's Adventure / Roger / Arts & Crafts Spectacular / Landlady / The Animals At Jason's Bar & Grill / Big Rock Candy Mountain / Millie / Saccharin And The War / Join The Firm / Jane Church / The Factory

PHIL SEYMOUR - LIVE (1980-1981)

In 1979, Phil Seymour put together a band with Jeff Rollings (he wrote "Tear Up The Night" for Phil Seymour's 2), Michael Anderson (Phil recorded his "Maybe It Was Memphis") and Lee Kix. This is the band "The Feel" featured on the Los Angeles performance.

Special note: Some years ago, i received both concerts, the best one was the Gazarri's one recorded for a local radio station. Naturally, i made for the Gazarri concert, a special artwork that has been used a lot on various Phil Seymour webpages. So now it is time to post my work on my own blog, even though you may have it already. For your info, this is a new 320 rip made directly from the CD i got years ago.
As a bonus, i also ripped the Los Angeles Concert making a slight variation over the original Gazarri's design, the concert is of lesser quality, but it is still quite interesting in the way it brings a duet with Dwight Twilley and also a cover of a Jack Lee's song.

Los Angeles (1980)
I Found A Love / Stand Back & Take A Good Look / Baby It's You / Love's Like An Itchin' In My Heart / Never Be The Same Again / Sandy / Tryin' To Get To You / You Can't Hurry Love / Looking For The Magic / Bony Moronie / Let Her Dance / Jailhouse Rock (with Dwight Twilley)

Gazarri's Radio KMET (1981)
Baby It's You / Love You So Much / Won't Finish Here / Don't Blow Your Life Away / Then We Go Up / Precious To Me / Let Her Dance / Trying To Get To You / If You Don't Want My Love / Baby I Don't Care / We Don't Get Along / Bony Moronie / I Found A Love / How 'bout You

IAN McNABB - MERSEYBEAST (Limited Edition 1996)

Merseybeast (an album title to savor from the Liverpool native) marks Ian McNabb's third solo collection of refreshing, heart-on-sleeve, no-hidden-agendas pop/rock. He communicates such an open, wide-eyed innocence through his work that it's difficult at first to believe he can be for real. But McNabb's willingness to express, from a male perspective, emotions uncommon for conventional rock's posturing swagger soon makes you a convert. When, for instance, was the last time a guy convincingly sang about "Camaraderie" in a way that could (at least, until the very end) apply in an equally touching way to a male or female respondent? The tone of McNabb's cosy-fireplace vocals -- especially on ballads like "Too Close to the Sun" -- sometimes evoke legendary crooner Scott Walker, likely through such second-hand bridges as David Bowie, Bryan Ferry, or perhaps fellow-Liverpudlian Julian Cope's (the Teardrop Explodes) influential 1981 Walker compilation The Godlike Genius Of....

At the same time, parts of Merseybeast (notably "Heydays" and "They Settled for Less than They Wanted") make me think of some lost Mick Ronson album. On his own sporadic solo releases, the late Spiders from Mars guitarist shared McNabb's talent for making an ingratiating, "golly-gee" naivete work to his advantage. (Speaking of "They Settled," I can also hear former Call vocalist Michael Been tackling this dense, lugubrious anthem of disappointment and missed opportunity, one of the rare downers on the disc.) "Don't Put Your Spell on Me" harkens back to Liverpool's postpunk salad days, a track that would have been envied in the early '80s by both Echo & the Bunnymen and the Teardrop Explodes. AMG

Special note: This is the limited edition. So you need both parts to be able to unrar. This is the only Ian McNabb i will post as all of his regular releases are quite easy to purchase. So, please support Ian McNabb's wonderful work. Visit the Official Website.

Merseybeast
Merseybeast / Affirmation / Beautiful Old Mystery / Love's Young Dream / Camaraderie / Don't Put Your Spell on Me / Heydays / Little Bit of Magic / You Stone My Soul / Too Close to the Sun / They Settled for Less than They Wanted / I'm a Genius / Available Light / Merseybeast (Reprise)

North West Coast
What She Did To My Mind / Evangeline / I Don't Want To Talk About It / When It All Comes Down / Understanding Jane / Pushin' Too Hard

Bonus CD, "North West Coast" was printed in limited quantities.
It was recorded live at King's College, London, June 1994. Engineered by Dave Porter and mixed by Bruce Lampcov. Mixing engineer is Lloyd Gardiner. Tracks 4 & 5 mixed by Ian McNabb and Lloyd Gardiner. According to an interview with Ian in McNabb Rag issue #8, Noel Gallagher of Oasis appears on the disk, although he is not credited. Credited musicians include Ralph Molina and Billy Talbot of Crazy Horse.

SUPERSTAR - SUPERSTAR (Japan Edition 1994)

Scottish pop in the early 1990s was known for vocal harmony, Big Star chord changes, and rocked-out guitars. Think Teenage Fanclub or Eugenius, and please don't forget Superstar. They were largely ignored at the time, but looking back, the band stacks up rather well against the top power-pop groups. Their harmonies are like great, big cushions filled with spring-time air. The songs are filled with more hooks than Kareem Abdul Jabbar's highlight reel. They have also written songs that would be smash hits in a world where perfect pop was king. Songs like "Will I Ever See You" and "Don't Wanna Die" are beautiful, string-coated heart-tuggers that display Joe McAlinden's sappy sentimentality like a badge of honor. Yet the band is not afraid to rock as the coda of "Could It Be You" sails along on a stream of Arena-Rock Guitars and madly sawing strings. You hate to come over all starry-eyed about such an obscure record because it makes you seem elitist, but this is truly one of the lost classics of the 1990s. Seek it out in a cut-out bin near you. AMG

Songs
Amouricity / Feels Like Forever / Barfly / Don't Wanna Die / The Reason Why / I Can't Help It / Noise Level / Let's Get Lost / Will I Ever See You / Thought for Today / Could It Be You / Alternative Ulcer (Bonus) /Yeah (Bonus)

20/20 - LIVE AT MADAME WONG'S (1979)

A rare live concert of 20/20. Of course, this is not an official release, this is only an audience recording of 2 shows (february 13th and 14th) performed by the band in 1979 at the famous Madame Wong's in Chinatown. A rare opportunity to hear 20/20 covering the Flamin' Groovies "Shake Some Action" and the Dave Clark Five "Anyway You Want It".

Special note: The recording is not of hi-fi quality, but i already heard worse...anyway, i made a custom artwork for the blog. It's your choice to download or not.

As a bonus, I also included a lip sync video of 20/20 performing "Cheri" - it was grabbed on YouTube in mp4 format but i have preferred to convert it to the better XviD4 format. Thank you to the original ripper.

Click here if you only want to grab the video.

Songs
She’s An Obsession / Cheri / That Girl Was Yesterday / Remember The Lightning / Backyard Guys / She’s A Brainwashed / Giving It All / Shake Some Action / Need Somebody / Going Up With My Girl / Picture / Out Of This Time / Anyway You Want It / Hippy Hippy Shake

SURVIVAL - FROM OUT OF NOWHERE (1992)

Label sampler from australian label Survival featuring some famous power pop bands (Chevelles, Dubrovniks, Screaming Tribesmen and You Am I).

Click on pix for details of the bands involved

VARIOUS - ROCK IN AUSTRALIA (1993)

A french compilation featuring four Australian bands: Hitmen D.T.K., The Passengers, Deniz Tek and NewRace. More of those bands can be found at SOTD.

Click on pix for details of the bands involved.