Nothing shakes some action like a snappy guitar-based pop song delivered with a powerful beat, boundless energy and joyous enthusiasm … especially when performed by girls!
“Come On Let’s Go!”, our survey of power pop gems from the 70s and 80s, was one of Ace’s best sellers of 2019, with critics lavishing four and five star reviews upon the compilation. However, we grew to rue the lack of the female voice on the CD, with the Shivvers being the sole representative. With that in mind, we now unveil “Girls Go Power Pop!”, an entire collection of feminine decks from the 80s and 90s, all delivered with the kind of sassy pizazz you would expect from acts such as the Go-Go’s and the Bangles.
From those giants of the genre we have the #2 smash ‘We Got The Beat’ and, by contrast, the Bangles’ second 45 from 1983, ‘The Real World’, when the band were just starting out and yet to be noticed. The Runaways were certainly noticed, but their marvellous ‘Cherry Bomb’ failed to detonate and never was the smash hit it should have been. A different fate awaited Chrissie Hynde’s Pretenders, who enjoyed a long run of international hits, one of their best being the oft-overlooked ‘Night In My Veins’, on which we are delighted to shine a light. We also have the Textones, who have the distinction of cutting the original recording of ‘Vacation’, which the Go-Go’s would later take to the Top 10.
For those who like to discover more obscure names, there are little-known delights from the “B” Girls, Little Girls, MnMs, Fuzzy and Universal Honey, which all bristle with invention and quirky pop appeal. Influences come from far and wide, often harking back to earlier times. Mick Jones of the Clash produced the “B” Girls’ ‘Boys Are Drinking’, but “We were lumped in with punk, but we were pop” band member Cynthia Ross declared – indeed, their main influences were the Ronettes and the Shangri-Las. Similarly, Nikki & the Corvettes “wanted to be the Ramones meets the Shangri-Las”.
The Pandoras and the Muffs represent the garage-band end of the equation, although they inject the essential quality of pop melody into ‘That’s Your Way Out’ and ‘Everywhere I Go’. On the other side of the coin, pure pop confection is brought to us by the Rebel Pebbles’ enchanting ‘Dream Lover’, Josie Cotton’s beguiling revival of the Looking Glass’ 70s hit ‘Jimmy Loves Maryann’, and Scandal’s ultra-catchy ‘Goodbye To You’, which clings like sugar to a jam donut.
We predict that “Girls Go Power Pop!” is destined to be loved by fans of power pop and cherished by aficionados of girl-pop. Anyone with an ear for a good tune and a taste for snappy, guitar-based pop should grab this real fast. Girls rule, OK!
DAVE BURKE
