Classic Power Pop

Power pop has its roots in '60s American and British pop-rock. It places heavy emphasis on melody, harmony and catchy guitar chords, with economical song structures. Though Pete Townshend is credited with coining the term "power pop," the Beatles, the Byrds and, of course, the Who are considered to be proto-power pop. During the early '70s, Badfinger, the Raspberries, Todd Rundgren and Big Star, the style's earliest practitioners, emulated the big guitar-pop of their predecessors from a decade before. The most commercially successful period for power pop sprang out of its second incarnation, during the late '70s and early '80s, with bands such as Cheap Trick, the Romantics, the Knack and Nick Lowe; others, such as the Cars and Rick Springfield, played some power-pop songs but weren't fully associated with the movement.