Bo Diddley R.I.P.


“If you ain’t got no money, ain’t nobody calls you honey,” he once said. Criminally underappreciated, Bo was a true rock and roll pioneer who not only perfected a guitar style used by everybody, but also an innovator of electric guitar reverb and tremelo effects. Without him there would be no “rock and roll”, nevermind power pop. When you talk about who stole a riff from somebody else… you have to mention Bo Diddley because EVERYONE copied from him. His major songs included, “Say Man,” “You Can’t Judge a Book by Its Cover,” “Shave and a Haircut,” “Uncle John,” “Who Do You Love?” and “The Mule.” He was 79 years old.

Charlotte Pop Fest Compilation CD

My goodness, how this event has grown since I first reported James Deem’s popcast in January. The sponsor list is deep now and the concert looks to be a huge success – great job, James. I had the opportunity to listen to the Compilation CD which has tracks from every artist to appear on the show. It’s actually odd hearing the opening track “It Stands to Reason” by James Deem with lyrics, as I’m now used to it being a “theme” for the pop cast radio show. All the tracks here are good and some are exclusive to this set. My favorites are “Obvious” by The Saving Graces, “Brenna, You!” by Frank Royster,  and “Pretend” by Crisis. Other noteable tracks are the Pete Ham-like “Candy” by Steve Caraway and Spongetones-like “Tell Me What You See” by Barry Holdship. Other songs range from the aggressive punk pop of The Stellas to the folkie pop of Chad Mackey. Actually nothing too “southern” sounding – although a few tracks like “Let it Go” by U-Phonik have that REM style jangle and others do flirt with the DBs-styled “Chapel Hill” sound, especially power pop favorite Andy Bopp of Myracle Brah. It would’ve been really cool to get P.Hux in this set. “Careless Love” by Lindy Dobbins is the lone female vocal here, so at the next fest I would encourage a few more female artists (not such an easy task with this genre). Like an IPO compilation, you may not like everything here, but the ratio of good tracks are higher than average, and at ten bucks it’s a really good value for 27 tracks of kick ass pop music. Get this collection only at The Charlotte Pop Fest web site, and those who pre-order the CD will also get instant access to a digital download of the entire CD in MP3 format plus bonus tracks by the remaining artists performing at the event that are not on the CD.

Charlotte Pop Fest Website

Visit this page if you want to learn a little bit about the history of North Carolina Music Scene

The Incredible Vickers Brothers "Gallimaufry"

“Gallimaufry” is defined by the dictionary as “a hodgepodge; jumble; confused medley.” This is an odd assortment of twee pop gems from Bob Vickers produced by fellow Orange Peels alum Allen Clapp. The other Vickers brother, Rob is the alter ego of Bob, but hey I won’t frown on this case of schizophrenia as long as it delivers music like this. The title sure is appropriate here, as it mixes all those great power pop influences in a stew that gives you totally unique sound. The opener “Blues For Frankie Valli” is a sweet bluegrass ballad in tribute to the legend. “What She Does” is a jangle and twang guitar twister of a pop song, with a smooth echoed chorus. “Things Slowly Change” is the best Harry Nilsson track he never wrote. Next comes “We’re Gonna Get Along Fine” – a Dylanesque vocal and guitar strum lead this wonderful track, and of course, a harmonica joins in. “English Rose” and “Top of The Stairs” are very similar to the Orange Peels work, with great guitar jangle and hummable hooks. Another gem is the piano ballad “Magic Like That” which is an awesome mix of Brian Wilson and Randy Newman-like lyrics. The end track “Record Collection Blues” is a cute Vaudeville ukulele which lists Vickers entire music library – all on an old mono Victrola. The melange of melodies are performed and engineered to perfection. No bad tracks here – if you think you’ve heard it all, get The Vickers Bros. and listen with headphones! Only at Kool Kat Musik and Parasol so far.

Amazon

Little GTI commercial finally!


I’ve been looking for this for months now and finally it’s on YouTube. This German version of Ronnie and the Daytona’s “LIttle GTO” was the first time I saw a TV spot and went frantically searching for the original song (also on YouTube). Now where can I find the German VW band’s full version.

Powerpopaholic has gone Mobile!

Mobile phone, that is. Just type in: http://powerpopaholic.wirenode.mobi/ on your cell and get all the up-to-the-minute music reviews.

The Brigadier "The Rise and Fall of Responsibility"

Matt (The Brigadier) Williams is sure to garner attention this year. His latest, “The Rise and Fall…” is a highly addictive and intelligent pop album. The narrative pop style is rooted in the work of McCartney and Ray Davies, but with soft gentle vocals closer in sound to Sean O’Hagen of The High Llamas. If you enjoy a burst of pop creativity, you’ll flip over the opening track “Growing Up is Hard to Do Part 1” which compares favorably to Bryan Scary. It shoots out a bouncy beat and handclaps to the lyric “One day I’m playin‘ with computer games… watchin‘ your youth go up in flames, so do you say no surrender?” This is an excellent beginning and leads to the dream-like mid tempo love song “When Will I be with You” which evokes a mix of Roger Waters and Aztec Camera with acoustic guitar strum and piano. “The Language of Love” is quirky piano number with a breathy vocal and rich chorus. The theatrical bend to the album not only compares well with Bryan Scary piano work, but also Genesis’ Steve Hackett guitar arrangements. The songs flow easily from the slow heavy organ depression of “Envy” to the music hall style of “Une Soiree” — it’s mesmerizing and the entire album will demand repeat listens. The utterly amazing “This, is why…” has a catchy hook, with a 70s era style similar to early Elton John. “The Box in the back of My Mind” gets in touch with it’s inner Raspberries and is my favorite track. The ending “Growing Up is Hard To Do Part 2” has a Kinks meets Beach Boys vibe. Don’t miss this brilliant album, as I will now want to examine The Brigadier’s past albums. It makes my top ten list too – lots of great pop this year!

The Brigadier site | My Space | CD Baby