Power Pop #8: Frank Blake – Don’t Let Love Pass You By

Still no Scottish pop music on this section. Now that’s just wrong. Let’s leave Sparky’s Dream for the future and start with a little less known tune. There’s some usual suspects behind it though. Frank Blake was basicly Norman Blake and Francis McDonald and they recorded a few songs in the mid 90’s that appeared on the Shoeshine Chartbusters compilation (probably 7 inch single as well, I only own Alex Chilton’s Shoeshine single). Anyway, Don’t Let Love Pass You By is one of my all-time favourites. Maybe it’s not really power pop, but it’s definitely a perfect pop song in my books. I so love the lyrics and I think those words might have had a big influence on me. I listened this songs hundreds of times back in the day and those words really hit me, because I was an incredibly shy boy (and still am) and to me even saying hi to a girl was scarier than watching a Steven Seagal movie marathon. I don’t know can I thank Frank Blake for it, but in the end I did found love and I didn’t let it pass me by.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMZKhDnUuPE]

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Power Pop #7: The VIP’s: Need Somebody To Love

Another old favourite of mine. Need Somebody to Love by The VIP’s is incredibly catchy and I fell for it the first time I heard it. I can’t say I know much about the band though. A short-lived UK-band in the late 70s and early 80s. So unknown and so brilliant. Quarter Moon and One More Chance are also brilliant songs.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZAdVaXyaNE]

The VIP’s at myspace

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Power Pop #6: Sloan – The Rest of My Life

There’s two reasons to pick the wonderful Canadian indie rock / power pop group Sloan tonight. 1) This blog is celebrating 10 year anniversary next saturday at Pikku-Torre and Sloan has been quite a big influence over the years. One Chord to Another is an album by Sloan and another Sloan album Pretty Together was the first album I ever reviewed. 2) Today Sloan informed that they are offering a new digital singles album for free. It’s entitled Sloan – Select Singles 1992-2011, it contains 14 great Sloan singles and you can download it for free from NoiseTrade. It’s extremely difficult to pick just one song from it, because I pretty much love all those 14 singles. But I’m an extremely logical person and therefore I think I don’t pick anything from One Chord to Another or Pretty Together this time around and instead go with this beauty from their seventh album Action Pact (released in 2003).

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygejqgBm9l0]

Sloan Website

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