Editing Power pop (section)

=== 1960s: Origins and precursors ===
{{See also|Cultural impact of the Beatles|Beatlemania|Rockism and poptimism}}

{{listen|pos=right
|filename=I Want To Hold Your Hand (Beatles song - sample).ogg
|title=The Beatles—"I Want to Hold Your Hand" (1963)
|description=Many artists drew elements such as hand claps, ringing guitars, vocal harmonies, and direct romantic lyrics from songs like "[[I Want to Hold Your Hand]]".{{sfn|Cateforis|2011|pp=129, 139}}
}}

Power pop originated in the late 1960s as young music fans began to rebel against the emerging pretensions of rock music.<ref name="Murray" /> During this period, a schism developed between "serious" artists who rejected pop and "crassly commercial" pop acts who embraced their [[teenybopper]] audience.{{sfn|Borack|2007|p=9}} Greg Shaw credited the Who as the starting point for power pop, whereas Carl Caferelli (writing in Borack's book) said that "the story really begins circa 1964, with the commercial ascension of [[the Beatles in America]]."{{sfn|Borack|2007|p=8}} Caferelli also recognized the Beatles as the embodiment of the "pop band" ideal.{{sfn|Borack|2007|pp=9–10}} According to ''The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll'', British Invasion bands, particularly the [[Merseybeat]] sound first popularised by the Beatles and its "[[jangle|jangly]] guitars, pleasant melodies, immaculate vocal harmonies, and a general air of teenage innocence", were a key influence on 1970s power-pop bands such as [[the Raspberries]], [[Big Star]], [[the Knack]] and [[XTC]].<ref name="RS Encyclopedia">{{cite book|editor1-first=Patricia|editor1-last=Romanowski|editor2-first=Holly |editor2-last=George-Warren|title=The New Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll|publisher=Fireside/Rolling Stone Press|location=New York, NY|year=1995|isbn=0-684-81044-1|page=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonee00patr/page/117 117]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonee00patr/page/117}}</ref>

{{Quote box
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|text= I believe pop music should be like the TV—something you can turn on and off and shouldn't disturb the mind.{{nbsp}}[...] It's very hard to like "[[Strawberry Fields Forever|Strawberry Fields]]" for simply what it is. Some artists are becoming musically unapproachable.
| source=—Pete Townshend, 1967{{sfn|Cateforis|2011|p=129}}
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When Pete Townshend coined the term, he suggested that songs like "[[I Can't Explain]]" (1965) and "[[Substitute (The Who song)|Substitute]]" (1966) were more accessible than the changing, more experimental directions other groups such as the Beatles were taking.{{sfn|Cateforis|2011|p=129}} However, the term did not become widely identified with the Who,<ref name="Carmen">{{cite web|url=http://ecentral.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/9/4/music/20070904092526&sec=music |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324114946/http://ecentral.my/news/story.asp?file=%2F2007%2F9%2F4%2Fmusic%2F20070904092526&sec=music |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 March 2012 |title=With Raspberries reunion, Eric Carmen's no longer all by himself |first=Dan|last=MacIntosh |date=September 4, 2007 |work=ecentral.my |access-date=July 9, 2012}}</ref> and it would take a few years before the genre's stylistic elements coalesced into a more recognizable form.<ref name="Chabon" /> ''[[The A.V. Club]]''{{'s}} Noel Murray said that "once the sound became more viable and widely imitated, it was easier to trace the roots of the genre back to [[rockabilly]], [[doo-wop]], girl groups, and the early records of the Beatles, the Byrds, the Beach Boys, [[the Kinks]], and the Who."<ref name="Murray">{{cite web|date=October 11, 2012|url=http://www.avclub.com/article/a-beginners-guide-to-the-heyday-of-power-pop-1972--86527|title=A beginners' guide to the heyday of power-pop, 1972-1986|last1=Murray|first1=Noel|website=[[The A.V. Club]]|access-date=January 16, 2016|archive-date=January 20, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160120175936/http://www.avclub.com/article/a-beginners-guide-to-the-heyday-of-power-pop-1972--86527|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Robert Hilburn]] traced the genre "chiefly from the way the Beatles and the Beach Boys mixed rock character and pure Top 40 instincts in such records as the latter's '[[California Girls]]'."<ref name="Hilburn">{{cite web |last1=Hilburn |first1=Robert |author-link=Robert Hilburn |title='Poptopia!': 3-Decade Look at Power Pop |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-06-27-ca-7281-story.html |website=[[The Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=October 5, 2018 |date=June 27, 1997 |archive-date=March 21, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110321112138/http://articles.latimes.com/1997-06-27/entertainment/ca-7281_1_power-pop |url-status=live }}</ref> Borack noted, "It's also quite easy to draw a not-so-crooked line from [[garage rock]] to power pop."<ref name="Borack2">{{cite web|url=http://rockandrolltribe.com/profiles/blogs/25-1960sera-garage-rock |title="25 1960s era Garage Rock Nuggets" by John M. Borack |last1=Borack |first1=John M. |last2=Brodeen |first2=Bruce |date=August 4, 2010 |work=rockandrolltribe.com |access-date=July 9, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120310202336/http://rockandrolltribe.com/profiles/blogs/25-1960sera-garage-rock |archive-date=March 10, 2012 }}</ref>

Townshend himself was heavily influenced by the guitar work of Beach Boy [[Carl Wilson]],<ref>{{cite book|date=1976|author=March, Dave|title=The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll}}</ref> while the Who's debut single "I Can't Explain" was indebted to the Kinks' "[[You Really Got Me]]" (1964).{{sfn|Borack|2007|p=9}} Roy Shuker identified the leading American power pop acts of the time as the Byrds, [[Tommy James and the Shondells]], and [[Paul Revere and the Raiders]].<ref name="Shuker2017"/> Also significant to power pop in the 1960s were [[the Dave Clark Five]],{{sfn|Borack|2007|pp=8–9}} [[The Creation (band)|the Creation]],<ref name="Shaw"/> [[the Easybeats]],<ref name="Shaw">{{cite magazine |last=Shaw |first=Greg |author-link=Greg Shaw |date=March 1978 |title=Power Pop! |magazine=[[Who Put the Bomp|Bomp!]] |location=North Hollywood, California |volume=13 }}</ref> [[the Move]],<ref name="Murray"/><ref name="Shuker2017"/> and the [[Nazz]].<ref name="Earles"/>