Power Pop: On the Radio

So I've become buddies with this terrific guy, Chris Kocher: he writes for the local paper, knows everything about the Kinks, has a radio show on the college station where he plays whatever the heck he feels like.

Over Thanksgiving, a remarkable confluence of bad luck (on his side) and good luck (on mine) threw us together in a car for an extended period, and we had a long talk about the neverending manuscript (I'm promised two solid weeks to finish, starting Monday!), the genre of power pop, and other important matters.

Long story short: this morning, Saturday, Dec 31, I'm going to appear on his radio show doing a three-hour history of power pop. UPDATE: The show is supposed to run 10am-1pm, but we might run a little over.

Stream it here.

He asked me, if I was going to introduce the genre with one song, what I would begin with, so we'll start here:



(Fun fact: I spent the last week not a stone's throw from Utopia Parkway, a real street in real Queens.)

Then it's onto the history: the precursors(Kinks! Beatles! Who! Paul Revere & the Raiders! More!), the lonely souls who kept the thread alive in the early 70's (Emitt Rhodes! Big Star! Blue Ash! Dwight Twilley! More!), the brief flash of commercial success (Nerves! Knack! Jam! 20/20! More!), and the inevitable shift into Alternative (Replacements! Matthew Sweet! Weezer! More!). And finally, by a commodious vicus of recirculation, back to the current scene and environs (Fountains of Wayne!)

As my blogmate is given to say, should be a hot one!

Listen streaming here.

Word is still out on possible podcast/download-ibility. Will let you know.