It's not, historically, the very first power pop song (a subject for future discussion) but as crack researcher NYMary discovered, it did inspire the first known use of the term in print (one of the English music papers) in 1967.
It is, of course, the Who's I Can See For Miles, seen here in glorious black-and-white on some obscure Brit TV show of the period.
And yes, that's really the seriously important English composer Sir William Walton nattering on at the beginning.
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Heard from Alice Cooper's Detroit radio show that the head Who guy loved Miles most of all, although it didn't do as well as many others.
Can't remember the source, but I remember reading that Townsend thought this was his "ace in the hole" - the absolute, certain to be huge hit topper to top all toppers in the States. So he held onto it for a couple of years, and then unleashed it. And while a decent hit in the US, it wasn't the sensation he thought it would be.
Maybe he should have released it when he first wrote it (which would be around '65)...
Hey, don't be knockin' my man Walton. He gave us classical guitarists his pretty important "Five Bagatelles" and he was an excellent, though veddy English, classical composer.
He's to English classical what XTC was to English pop. Cool, to say the least. And like Andy et al a little fucked in the head.
Geniuses, you know.
So where's Collin? Does even Andy know?
Additionally, "The Kids Are Alright" was probably a better "1st power-pop song."
I love the way Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs cover it. Actually when I got that it was the first time I actually "got" the song, I am not proud to say.
Actually the song was top 10 in the US, but barely raked the charts in the UK. I understand that Townsend was quite miffed at his homeland for the snub. Understandable considering that this is one of the most glorious rock singles ever.
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