Prairie Pop
R
KeMBREW McLeod
egular Prairie Pop columnist Kembrew McLeod has turned over this month’s edition to Umläut Nideldick—the famous German song doctor and rock and roll life coach. The following text is drawn from Nideldick’s keynote address at the 2012 conference of the Eurovision Academy of Musical Arts. Hello, fellow rockers! How ya doin’?!? Sehr gut? Alright! I’m here to tell you how to write, perform and record your very own power pop
hit. Some of you may not be familiar with this genre name, but if you have ever heard The Knack’s “My Sharona” or Blondie’s “Hanging on a Telephone,” then you know what power pop sounds like: catchy, punchy and compact. First off, you need a band, because power pop doesn’t work in a solo acoustic setting. Ideally, your group should consist of a keyboardist (optional), drummer, bassist and two guitarists. In addition to the lead vocalist, at least two other members need to be able to harmonize. As for your band name, which is important, it should begin with “The” and end with a noun, like The Cars, The Beat or The Raspberries. The next stage of Umläut Nideldick’s Patented Power Pop Hitmaking Method® is cultivating the right sound. For starters, songs must be mid-to-uptempo (by definition, a
16 Mar. 6-20 2013 | Little Village
power pop ballad is impossible). They should also be punchy, not “anthemic”—a la the U2, Coldplay, Arcade Fire axis of evil. Nein! I should also emphasize that being derivative is a virtue, so don’t even try to be experimental. There is no power pop equivalent of Radiohead’s Kid A, for example. You should instead pillage from the catchiest songs of the 1955-1964 rock and roll era, before pretentious art-rockers sullied the form by trying to make it fancy. Lastly, your band needs to be
tight and well-rehearsed, and the recording should be polished (though not overly slick). Now that you have formed a band and developed the correct sound, you must create a structure for your soon-to-be hit. Let’s start from the beginning of the track, which should avoid long, dramatic guitar intros
(U2’s “Where the Streets Have No Name”? Nein!). Kick off with a bang. If your band has two guitarists, begin the song with one guitar and then have guitar number two enter the track after four-to-eight measures. This will add more power to your rockin’ pop song. At some point, your group should briefly strip the instrumentation down to vocals, drums, bass
Power Pop Top 40 Download this chronological mixtape of the best power pop songs from the past 40 years: LittleVillageMag.com/powerpop The Raspberries – Go All the Way Big Star – September Gurls The Flamin’ Groovies – Shake Some Action Fotomaker – Where Have You Been All My Life Eddie & the Hot Rods – Do Anything You Wanna Do Cheap Trick – Oh, Candy Pezband – Baby It’s Cold Outside The Cryers – Shake It Up (Ain’t It Time?) Nick Lowe – Mary Provost The Records – Starry Eyes Gary Valentine – The First One The Only Ones – Another Girl, Another Planet The Buzzcocks – You Say You Don’t Love Me The Undertones – Get Over You Blondie – Hanging On a Telephone The Cars – Just What I Needed The Jags – Back of My Hand (I’ve Got Your Number) Shoes – Too Late The Pretenders – Kid The Knack – Your Number or Your Name Chris Stamey & The DB’s – (I Thought) You Wanted To Know The Beat – Rock ‘n’ Roll Girl The Rubinoos – I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend The Romantics – Tell It To Carrie Phil Seymour – Baby It’s You Bram Tchaikovsky – Girl of My Dreams Candy – Whatever Happened To Fun The Plimsouls – Zero Hour Josie Cotton – Johnny, Are You Queer? The Go-Go’s – Vacation The Bangles – Going Down To Liverpool The Smithereens – Strangers When We Meet The La’s – There She Goes The Primitives – Crash Redd Kross – Bubblegum Factory The Muffs – Baby Go Round Rollercoster – Insane DM3 – 1x 2x Devastated Paul Collins – C’mon Let’s Go!