WHAT’S GOING AHN & NEW – Mid January  (part one)

Well, what you have below is a great way to kick off 2013 fellow power pop geeks.  There’s a lot of very, very exciting and interesting news to share so let’s jump right in and not mess around.  (Part Two will  post in a few days…)

Gotta lead with David Bash, founder of the International Pop Overthrow festival(www.internationalpopoverthrow.com).  I’ve known David since the early 90s and he’s been posting his ‘best of the year’ lists for over 25 years.  The thing is, NO ONE does ‘best of year’ lists like, Sir Bash.  No one. They are drool worthy and will frustrate you.  ‘Frustrate’, you ask.  Well, when you view the list HERE AT THIS LINK, then you will see release-after-release that you have missed, heard about and forgot you wanted to check out and will want to add to your ‘want list’.  CLICK HERE and feel the pain.

Author and Pop Scribe, John M. Borack has posted his 2012 TOP 20 at GOLDMINE.  It’s always a pleasure to see what turned Borack on. He is a man of exquisite and high-level taste and does not suffer lazy pop bands lightly and is continually unafraid to state his clear and honest opinion and go against the existing tides and take the heat.  Read his list HERE.

Okay, one more list.  This one from the online power pop board, AUDITIES.  Every year since its founding in 1997(the short-lived magazine was founded in 1995), members gather up their favorites and weigh in with their votes.  The votes are tabulated and added up and the result is what you see at THIS LINK.

 THE BREAKUP SOCIETY has a new album just out!  Two of the stronger albums of the 00s were from the band and this decade sees their latest release for pop geeks.  On So Much Unhappiness, So Little Time, the band further expands the scope of their sound without turning their back on the pop sensibilities that set the standard on their Get Hip debut, James at 35, or the bittersweet lyrical qualities singer Ed Masley refined on the followup, Nobody Likes Winner. More information HERE.

THE BEATLES “Love Me Do” – guess what?  I have a gift for you.  The song is…YOURS.  Yes, you can do with it whatever you want. It’s yours. It’s mine. It’s all of ours. Due a copywrite mis-step many years ago, the song is, get this, in the public domain.  Read the story at THIS LINK.

Ultra Cool Blog ALERT!!  Vinyl Obscurity has been a favorite blog for me for awhile – when I have the time to dig in there deep.  Last week, I did for the first time in a long while and….MAN, there are some obscure treasure buried in there.  Go to THIS LINK and you’ll get a full ‘power pop’ listing from what they have on the site.  Prepare to lose a lot of time in your day.  You are forwarned.

 CHRIS RICHARDS & THE SUBTRACTIONS have a new, FREE EP for you.  “That Covers That Vol 2”, with CR+S versions of The Who, The Kinks, The Cavedogs, Cheap Trick, and my personal fave version of ’em all: Ace Frehley. Go THIS LINK and then click on Ace to listen, then download it, you’ll love!

POWER POP CRIMINALS blog is yet another regular stop for me – and it should be for you.  Bsides containing download links to out of print, never on CD releases, it’s just a whole lotta fun.  At the top right corner of the site, Angelo has a 72 song radio stream of all kinds of excellent, rare power pop to enjoy.  Click HERE and go listen.  Then, GO THIS LINK to enjoy a picture show of hundreds of cover of rare power pop and swallow up all the cool art work that has been done by power pop bands over the years.

VANCE OR TOWERS – one of my all-time favorite power pop albums is a woefully obscure one.  This 1975 self-titled album on A&M is stocked with great songs and has never been on CD.  There’s no (safe) download links I can find to share here but I stumbled across some information and background on the LP that I had never seen last week.  I encourage you to buy the LP – it’s moderately rare and will run you between $10-$20 but it is worth it.  Read about the release and enjoy some samples from the album from the following links HERE and HERE and HERE.  Factoid:  Vance Or Towers were the prom band in the movie “Carrie”.

BLEU – His upcoming album “To Hell With You” is coming soon. He’s posted at update on the album at THIS LINK.  Go to SoundCloud HERE to listen to samples of three tracks.  Also, I found THIS LINK from 2010 that has an interview with him and a song download, as well.

SHOES – Last month, I told you about the four vinyl LP reissues of the early Shoes catalog on The Numero Group label.  I bought ’em and they are…SWEET!!  I found THIS LINK that has a review of the four albums and it’s a….SWEET read!

VINYL is ALIVE and SELLING!!  You knew this, of course. But the data is coming in. If you are not keeping vinyl alive and keep a record player alongside the rest of your stereo system, it’s time to get it going again.  Read the good news HERE.