Real Life Saver · Gary Charlson

[1978]

The power-pop party continues with all the misses and non memories from all the great regional nobodies you never heard of.

Real Life Saver's got all of the lovely hooks...   melodiousness for days...  everything here is in the right place... an array of tasty guitar goodness... a Pizza dee resistance! A platter du jour!

Despite being released in the new wave era, no new-wave-ication detected, this is just classic old school power-pop. Coulda been made five years earlier know what I mean. Who the hell is/was this guy? All I know is this primo slice of pure power-pop turned up on one of those Shake Some Action cd compilations I bought many moons ago, twenty five years ago. Turns out Gazza came from Kansas City and made one of the sweetest unknown seven inch singles of the genre... that's it. 

*B-side also rock'n'roll heaven see below.

Not The Way It Seems - Gary Charlson [1978]

A jangly power-pop sensation.

Toppermost of the poppermost.

Doesn't get any better.

Come Back And Stay - Jack Lee

[1981]

Speaking of The Nerves Jack Lee used to perform this one with his old band back in '77. 

This is from his debut 1981 solo record and of course you know it because a coupla years later Paul Young covered it becoming one of his biggest hits that was also included on his million selling album from 1983 No Parlez.

However the original Jack Lee version is quite different: Melodious driving jangly power pop with some fantastic soaring tripped out guitars. A great lonesome & longing in the midnight hour atmosphere captured here. Top stuff. Shoulda been all over the FM airwaves then and now and forever.

Play it again Sam.

Let Me Into Your Life · The Beat

[1979]

The power pop party continues...

More tunes that are toppermost of the power-poppermost.

Let the good times roll and roll. Rock'n'roll dreams are made of this.

Lead singer Paul Collins is new-wave power-pop royalty as he was in the most legendary cult group of the entire milieu The Nerves.  

How was Let Me Into Your Life not a numero uno smasho hito???

A gloriously upbeat and infectious burst of rockin' pop.  

Fun alert, mucho joyousness occurring: Contains hand claps!

The Orbits - Make The Rules

[1980]

New-wave power-pop party time people!

Pop-rock perfection from one and done Milwaukee group The Orbits. 

A brief little burst of exuberant hook laden power pop. 

Toppermost of the power poppermost.

Diamond Girl · Seals & Crofts

[1973]

Soft rock gold keeps on coming. All the gold. All the soft rock magic. All the time. CardrossManiac delivering the soft rock golden goodness. 

Diamond Girl is most golden romantic soft rock with jazz inflections which = pop perfection: Makes you feel good, makes you feel fine.

This gets on such a euphoric in the pocket groove with that smooth driving bass, alluring guitar hooks and those swinging congas plus all the catchy vocal melodies, breezy harmonious back ups, jaunty keys, jazzy flute, enticing tempo changes... 

infectious to the core, goosebumps galore... 

Under The Jamaican Moon · Nick DeCaro

{1974}

Speaking of long lost summers, nostalgia and romance here's the ultra smooth soft rock masterpiece Under The Jamaican Moon.

Impeccable with its light latin feel, exquisite vocal melodies, breezy harmonies, sublime smooth jazz guitar and immaculate baroque touches from the master arranger Nick DeCaro himself. 

Get out your summer drinks with umbrellas in, pop on your best Hawaiian shirt and luxuriate in this splendorous tropical atmosphere... .

...it's time to get free and easy... 

Its all about the sand between your toes, the tide rippling at your ankles, the sea breeze in your hair, seduction on your lips and everything going just right in the moment...

Underrated... 

Outstanding.

Fennesz - Shisheido

[2001]

Absolutely gorgeous tune.

Nobody was expecting this at the time. His previous two cds had been non melodic, cold, pretty noisy affairs, so Endless Summer was quite a surprise. 

A place where the sonic aesthetics of glitch, shoegaze noise and Boards Of Canada's brand of idyllic electronica meet was unusual and unexpected too. 

Shisheido is the most blissfully pastoral tune on the cd evoking all sorts of nostalgia for romance and long lost summers at the beach. 

Lovely.

Endless Summer [2001]

It's hard to go past the hazy and aquatic electroacoustic mesmerizing magic of Endless Summer. 

All glitchy and haunted with psychedelic/folk/baroque pop elements. 

Dream-a-delic! 

Gas - The fifteen minute track from Königsforst

C aka Untitled #5 aka Königsforst 5 aka the 15 minute track from Königsforst [1998]

Now for a walk in the Black Forest.

Because some people have not heard this, here it is.

Worth checking out even if you were never that enamoured with techno. Fans of classical, ambient, minimalism and rock's outer reaches or anyone should be able to get into this splendid track as it's transcendent... undeniably great.

Where the ancient meets modern, putting the ye olde into the futuristic 90s.

Bringing the bucolic to the urban.

The swirling changing sameness will have you hypnotised.

Silicon Chip - Basil Kirchin

[1979]

Speaking of strange electronic novelty pop. What about this futuristic slice of state of the art disco pop made by Avant-guard composer Basil Kirchin. A somewhat positive ode to the silicon chip, I think... maybe. I guess old Basil wasn't to know the silicon chip would be instrumental in psy-ops, mind control and ultimately community division. Progress...

*This wasn't released in 1979. It languished in some vault for over 35 years until Jonny Trunk got his oven mitts on it and issued it on seven inch in 2016. Silicon Chip really coulda been in the same gang as the game changing futuristic chartbusting number one singles of 1979 like Are 'Friends' Electric?, Pop Musik, Video Killed The Radio Star, Cars etc.

Lothar And The Hand People - Machines

[1968]

Futuristic psych that pre-empts all the arty post-punk, shambling Beefheartian new wave, 80s Tom Waits etc.

Back then I guess this woulda just been an electronic novelty...

...albeit a prescient anomaly of the psychedelic era. 

Pretty weird kinda normal, know what I mean.