V/A - Here Comes That Girl - U.S. Power Pop Vol. 1 [1978-1987] & Knock Me Down - U.S. Power Pop Vol 2 [1977-1986] (2007, Sold-It)

So the story goes, and unnamed record dealer in Europe was sitting on a stash of scarce, private-press power pop singles from a bevy of Yankee unknowns, and prior to unloading his trove onto the marketplace he had the foresight and capitalistic savvy to digitize and compile several of them on two cd-r compilations that were seemingly as difficult to come by as the original 45s. So much so that I don't have physical copies of said cds myself.

I suppose that if MP3s will suffice for me, they will for a few hundred of you as well.  Between these two collections there are 30+ bands, the majority of which I don't believe have been compiled or at the very least profiled anywhere. Despite this quantity I have less to unpack here (save for a pair of  lofty tracklists) than you might think given time constraints on my end and the lack of biographical details available on the artists themselves.  In a nutshell, back in the early/mid '80s when I was getting my head around the likes of Genesis and Hall & Oates, it seems that in every city, burg and borough there was at least one or two under the radar outfits toiling away in obscurity playing for a crowd of 50 or so warm bodies at a local dive, and occasionally were proud enough of their craft to warrant recording and releasing a 7" single on their own label, or better, yet a local imprint that was willing to bankroll the few hundred dollars it would require to bring such an endeavor to fruition.  Scores of such unknown quantities have cropped up on digital DIY collections like the Teen Line and Powerpearls series, but the entrants involving the two albums I'm featuring today, Here Comes That Girl and Knock Me Down seem to be of an especially more arcane variety.  

While a good 99% of musical connoisseurs were tethered to top-40 radio and MTV at the time, lower-profile contestants with monikers like Peer Group, The Windows, The Crickle, and P-15s operated in a parallel universe of sorts, honing a more homespun variation of the pop polemic, conveyed via a far more meager delivery system. Yet in the grand scheme of things these bands occasionally yielded results more heartfelt, sincere and satisfying than their comparative major label counterparts. There was no internet (at least as we know it) or social media outlets to propagate any of these 42 songs when they  originally saw the light of day between '77 and '87.  Those in "the know" by and large lucked out by virtue or attending local venues, tuning into college radio, or more likely had the good fortune of being informed by good old fashioned word-of-mouth. Sure, The Finders and Atlantics never became "stars" per se, they at least had their profiles enhanced a few decades after the fact once the internet eventually dredged up their names in forums and blogs (um, maybe like this one?). In short, better late than never. 

If it's the more aggro or punky side of the power-pop spectrum you're angling for, you might want to stick to your KBD comps, as what you'll encounter on both of these compendiums populate the more melodic end of the three-minute gamut. Surprisingly, Wilfully Obscure has only overlapped in two or three instances with the contenders here, limited  to the likes of the Fan Club, The Choice, and Finders. That means there are three-dozen or so new rabbit holes to plunder, so have at it.

V/A - Here Comes That Girl - U.S. Powerpop 1978-87

01. Atlantics - Television Girl

02. Britins - She Knows

03. Brunettes - You and Me

04. Choice - Strange

05. Crickle - Henry the VII

06. Effections - Cheerleader Crush

07. Fan Club - Just Another Kiss

08. Finders Which Way

09. Hitman - Give Yourself to Me

10. Bill Kern - You're Not Coming Home

11. Masterbeats - Silver Lining

12. Glenn Miller & Impossibles - Walk Right Over You

13. Nems - Solider of Love

14. News - She's So Square

15. P-15's You're Not That Girl

16. Peer Group - No Attraction

17. Pets - Break Em All Down

18. Point - No Desire

19. Rom's - Where Were You

20. Sliders - Here Comes That Girl

21. Windows - Don't Hang Up

Hear

V/A - Knock Me Down - U.S. Powerpop 2 1977-86

01. Abstracts - It's Me (1981)

02. The Cheeters - You Aint Breakin' Nobodys Heart (1985)

03. The Effections - Candy (1984)

04. The Finders - It's So Insane (1981)

05. The Gooses - Just a Tailor (1977)

06. Randy Gun - I Apologize (1980)

07. Bill Kern - Don't Listen to Them (1979)

08. The Krayolas - Cry Cry, Laugh Laugh (1980)

09. Mor's - The Girl Next Door (1979)

10. The Nems - A Girl Like You (1979)

11. The Noogs - Everybody Loves You (1980)

12. The Outlets - Knock Me Down (1980)

13. Peer Group - Change of Plans (1981)

14. The Rudies - Sherry Goodbye (1980)

15. The Shake Shakes - You Can Run (1979)

16. Squirrels From Hell - Adverse Reaction (1982)

17. Stan Skora - You Like It (1981)

18. Transistors - R-Love (is Approaching Critical Mass) (1980)

19. Tommy Trash - Why Not (1983)

20. The Windows - My Dear (1982)

21. The Young Idea - Cool Side of Town (1985)

Hear