This isn't a rerun, rather a continuation of the Powerpearls series of compilations I shared three years ago. In 2016 I made volumes 1 & 2 available, and this year I'm giving you the fourth and fifth installments. Why no Vol. 3? Well, I haven't come across the third one, not in the wild anyways. To get a better gist of what the Powerpearls m.o. is please refer to the link above, which lays things out nicely. For the uninitiated, the Powerpearls serial were glorified, not to mention fairly well assembled DIY compilations of rare(ish) vinyl singles that hit in the late 70s/early 80s of long departed obscure power-pop and melodic punk acts that most of us wouldn't have encountered otherwise. An unfortunate thing that would be, because the majority of what's presented is of par excellence quality. In short, they're perfectly curated for the aesthetics of the very site you're visiting right now. Also, the emphasis is predominantly on European artists, contrary to the like-minded Teenline series which was exclusively America-centric
Each of these two platters consist of 18 songs apiece. And while I went to the effort of providing a track list below, I'm not going to have time to profile everyone on board. Nonetheless, if you're looking for a shortcut or two I'd be happy to disclose a few of the highlights. Vol 4. breathes life into under-examined 45" wonders from English power-chord bashers 23 Jewels, The Elevators, Resistors and Geneva. The Innocents, a female fronted UK export, deliver the exceptional "One Way Love" sounding a hell of a lot more visceral than Blondie of the Go Gos ever did. Holland's Princes of Piece turn up with a hook-laden slammer that I'd desperately like to hear more of, and there's even a Canadian entry by way of an early Blue Peter cut, before they went snyth-pop and eschewed their bratty sensibilities. And I'd be remiss if I neglected to mention The Keys "I Don't Want to Cry," a primo, Beatles-indebted slice of power pop that arguably beat the Fab Four at their own game. 
Powerpearls Vol. 5 couldn't commence with a stronger contender than one of Stiff Records finest stablemates, Any Trouble, only to be matched a little further in by my faves The Freshies with one of their signature numbers, "Oh Girl." And there's scads more gold to be plundered in these hills - The Snips, Time Wasters, Boyfriends, and Young Lords among others. A couple of American entries on this one, and pretty fantastic ones in my opinion, specifically the Windbreakers and The Jetboys. I'm under the impression that each of these comps included one token Netherlands act, and the contestant on Vol. 5 is the Undertones-inflected Rotjoch. And not to overlook the land down under, Australia's in the house with a strummy tune by Division 4. By the way, don't be scared off by the non-English singing entrants either. One quick disclaimer. These are vinyl comps, that were presumably, in most cases, sourced from the original singles. There are a handful of glitches amidst these grooves that I couldn't do squat about, not to mention intermittent surface noise. Nothing too egregious, and naturally, as compensation the music is pretty superb.
Powerpearls Vol. 4
01. Tunnelrunners - Words
02. 23 Jewels - Playing Boghart
03. Elevators - Your Eyes Are Too Close Together
04. Cuban Heels - Downtown
05. Fingers - Isolation
06. Singles - That's Just Someone That I Knew
07. Blue Peter - Living in the 80s
08. Diestinct - Ett Gevär I Min Hand
09. Innocents - One Way Love
10. The Keys - I Don't Wanna Cry
11. X-Conz - Do Dead People Tan
12. Geneva - Geneva Street
13. Babij Jar - Ice Age
14. Cigarette - Gimme Cigarettes
15. Vice Creems - Won't You Be My Girl
16. Princes of Piece - X-Ray Proofed
17. Resistors - Takeaway Love
18. Strate Jacket - You're a Hit
MP3 or FLAC
Powerpearls Vol. 5
01. Any Trouble - Yesterday's Love
02. Dagen D - Fel
03. The Windbreakers - Black & White
04. Snips - 9 o'Clock
05. The Zips - Over & Over
06. Time Wasters - On the Street
07. Division 4 - Stop Dreaming
08. Odds - Spare Rib
09. Y Trwynau Coch - Wastod Ar Y Tu Fas
10. The Freshies - Oh Girl
11. Rotjoch - Bad Boy
12. The Vandells - Ruby Toot
13. Boyfriends - Boyfriend
14. Young Lords - Big Burden
15. Jetboys - Get the Kids Jumpin'
16. Bikini - Tu Ne Paries Pas
17. Heartbreak - Jag Ar Inte Kar
18. Regents - Ride Cowboy Ride
MP3 or FLAC
12 comments:
SOO my cup 'o hook-riddled and drenched tea! THANK YOU for these...I don't know 90% of the artists and that's how I like it! SNIPS' track is a classic, the single's B-side is another winner w/ Chris Spedding(very distinctive Spedding sound on it) called "Mr. Dillinger", if you can find it. His one solo album, "Video King" is pretty solid British new wave, circa '80. (and, of course, his earlier band Sharks w/ Spedding has plenty of winners to dig into, as well)
An add-on..totally buzzed and forgot about Snips' second album, "La Rocca" which is much stronger than "Video King", which has "Nine O-Clock" on it but not "Mr. Dillinger", that's a B-side only track.
First off, thanks for the FLAC copies. per SP's comment: never knew there were volumes beyond #9, which I found on Soulseek years ago. Just now found 10, 12, 13, & 14 (& DL'd). So presume 11 is out there.
This is fantastic! Thank you! This like gimel coming up twice on the dreidel... And thanks Bruce "NL" Brodeen for the insight into some of the bands. - Barry
Thanks for commenting folks. Bruce, I was delighted to recently learn that some of the Snips material has been reissued. In fact I think it's La Rocca that made it to CD, but apparently not that debut. Will have to track down this killer b-side you speak of. Cheers!
I have a file of "Mr. Dillinger" I can find...drop me an an email or FB message and I'll get it to you. musicgeekheaven@gmail.com
Here's PP3 only at 192 [Sorry]
https://www.mediafire.com/file/xnqth4ygpjgz89r/Powerpearls_Vol_3.rar/file
I don't think there was a PP11
PP12 - 14 were Sweden only cassettes done in 2007 {All Swedish Powerpop}
PP15 was acdr again of Swedish stuff
BTW Mr Dillinger was the B-side of "You're A wonderful one" [His 3rd 45]
Thanks bristolboy. I knew there were more in the series, I just never made an effort to look for them.
Thanks, bristolboy - mixing up my Snips singles! It's funny..they are so overplayed that the only way I listen to them in my mind's eye is the scratchy sound and you remind me now...."You're A Wonderful One" has a skip in it that it's always had so I'll always hear that way.
Ha, these volumes are the ones I'm missing from the Powerpearls Volumes 1-10. I have all the rest except these. Please..a reup of #4 & #5? Thanks so much.
Hi Spavid,
A link seems to be broken for Vol 4 and same for Vol 2. I am unable to open in either MP3 or FLAC.
Thanks for your help!.
Mike
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