Okay, as I promised on January 24, here are the answers to the power pop quiz:
1. On what television show was America first exposed to The Beatles (clue: it wasn't The Ed Sullivan Show....)?
Hard as it may be to believe, it was not on The Ed Sullivan Show or even on The Jack Paar Show that Americans were first exposed to The Beatles. It was actually on a Rate a Record segment of American Bandstand in September of 1963. Out of a score from 35 to 98, "She Loves You" was rated only 73. Even a news report on The Huntley/Brinkley Report on November 18, 1963 (also known as the NBC Evening News) pre-dated both Sullivan and Paar.
2. Who coined the term power pop? Pete Townshend, in an interview with The New Music Express in 1966
3. What mid-Sixties American power pop band even outsold The Beatles at times? The Monkees. In fact, in 1967 they actually outsold The Beatles and Elvis combined for the year.
4. What was The Raspberries' first hit song? "Go All the Way." It went all the way (no pun intended) to #4 on the Billboard singles charts.
5. What is Cheap Trick's hometown? Rockford, Illinois
6. What was the name of the band to which Doug Fieger belonged before The Knack? Sky. a country rock band which released only two albums before breaking up.
7. What was the name of Dwight Twilley's hit single from 1984? "Girls." It reached #16 on the Billboard Hot 100.
8. What Posies song was featured in the movie Reality Bites? "Going Going Gone."
9. The Fountains of Wayne song "Stacey's Mom" was a salute to what Seventies and Eighties band? The Cars.
10. What do the titles of the parts of my "A History of Power Pop" have in common? They're all taken from the titles of power pop songs.
I've never really thought of the Monkees as power-pop band. I suppose they might make the cut by the standards of the Sixties.
ReplyDeleteHa! The Monkees outselling the Beatles and Elvis is kind of funny--the POWER of the teenybopper dollar!
ReplyDeleteWell, speaking as a Monkess fan, most of their stuff was pretty good. Songs like "Daydream Believer" were pretty atypical. Still, I think their recording success is largely a testament to the power of even a low rated TV show.
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