The Powerpearls Series

This series focuses on powerpop rather than punk though a few of the tracks featured would not be out of place on a punk compilation. The first two volumes are rather wimpy, lots of pop without much power behind it. Vol. 3 is better and maybe the one to get. Maybe the reason for this series is to get Japanese collectors to pay even more for mediocre records?

[ Volume 1 ] [ Volume 2 ] [ Volume 3 ] [ Volume 4 ] [ Volume 5 ] [ Volume 6 ] [ Volume 7 ] [ Volume 8 ] [ Volume 9 ]

• Everyday, Everyway (Really Thirds, UK, 1981, from only 7")
• One Out All Out (Straight Up, UK 1979, from only 7" [split with Justin Case])
• Feel The Pain (Bureaucrats, Canada, 1980, from only 7")
• Language School (Tours, UK, 1979, from 1.7")
• Modern Time (Gents, Germany, 1980, from 2.7")
• One Last Night (Atlantics, UK, 1979, from only 7"?)
• Nora's Diary (Jimmy Edwards, UK, 1979, from 1.7")
• That Girl (Techtones, New Zealand, 1980, from 1.7")
• Who's Kissing You (Famous Players, UK, 1980, from only 7")
• Fashion (Tweed, France, 1979, from only 7")
• It Doesn't Bother Me (Distractions, UK, 1979, from 2.7")
• Playing With Fire (TV21, UK, 1980, from 1.7")
• The Kids Are Dancing (News, USA, 1978, from only 7")
• It's Your Birthday (Fastbacks, USA, 1981, from 1.7")
• Susan's Day (Rousers, Holland, 1980, from 3.7")
• No Fear (Squares, UK, 1978, from 1.7")
• Liberty (Small World, UK, 1982, from 1.7")
• Blast The Pop! (Local Heroes, UK, 1980, from only 7")

A few good tracks (Bureaucrats, Straight Up, Fastbacks, Rousers, Tweed) otherwise this is pretty wimpy stuff. There are better mod and powerpop records out there to choose from I think.
Rating: 6.5 (it would be lower if not for the Bureaucrats track).

• Got To Have Pop (Moderns, Sweden, 1979, from 1.7")
• Teen Line (Shivvers, USA, 1980, from only 7")
• Diamonds In The Rough (Vertebrats, USA, 1981, from only 7")
• Don't Take Her Away (Go, USA, 1980, from only 7")
• Ghost Of A Chance (Blades, Ireland, 1981, from 2.7")
• Kirjoituksia Kellarista (Kollaa Kestaa, Finland, 1979, from 3.7")
• Too Cool To Dance (Names, UK, 1980, from only 7")
• Show Her You Care (Strangeways, UK, 1978, from 1.7")
• Dumb Blonde (Jags, UK, 1980, from 2.7")
• Pill Girl (Vogue, Austria, 1981, from 1.7")
• Breakdown (Toys, UK, 1980, from only 7")
• Just Want Your Attention (Protex, N. Ireland, 1978, from 1.7")
• Rock Show (Excel, UK, 1979, from 1.7")
• Killing Time (Leftovers, Australia, 1980, from only 7")
• The Original Mixed Up Kid (Various Artists, UK, 1980, from only 7")
• Chica del Metro (Telegrama, Spain, 1982, from only 7")
• Ole Hyva Nyt (Ratsia, Finland, 1979, from 1.7" [and 1.LP])
• Fun (Longport Buzz, UK, 1980, from First Offenders compilation LP)

Mostly average pop. Moderns, Kollaa Kestaa, Ratsia are good but not too much else really excited me.
Rating: 6.5.

• Bank Holiday Weekend (Seventeen, UK, 1979, from only 7")
• Make The Rules (Orbits, USA, 1980, from only 7")
• Crazy Today (UXB, UK, 1980, from only 7")
• Who's Gonna Tell Mary? (Moondogs, N. Ireland, 1981, from only LP)
• Tapan Aikaa (Problems?, Finland, 1979, from 2.7")
• John (Vertex, Sweden, 1981, from 2.7")
• Can't Wait 'Till The Summer Comes (Ronnie Mayor, UK, 1981, from only 7")
• You Don't Live Here Anymore (Fans, USA, 1980, from one of numerous wimpy 7"s)
• Together (Testors, USA, 1980, from only 7")
• I Want My Woody Back (Barracudas, UK, 1979, from 1.7")
• Time (Speedies, USA, 1981, from 2.7")
• Degeneration (Blitzz, Holland, 1978, from 1.7")
• It Shows In Your Face (Gas, UK, 1980, from 1.7")
• No Man's Land (Legendary Luton Kippers, UK, 1979, from only 7")
• Bjorn Borg (Goteborg Sound, Sweden, 1980, from 4.7")
• She's Too Clever For Me (T.P.I., UK, 1979, from only 7")
• No Direction (Start, USA, 1981, from only 7")
• No Way (Donkeys, UK, 1980, from 3.7")

Third time's the charm. Most of the tracks here are very good powerpop, some of them bordering on good punk. Seventeen, UXB, Problems?, Testors, Blitzz, Goteborg Sound, Donkeys plus others make this worth having. Replace several tracks here with the better ones from the first 2 volumes and you'd have a great LP.
Rating: 8.

• Words (Tunnelrunners, UK, 1981, from 1.7")
• Playing Bogart (23 Jewels, UK, 1979, from 1.7")
• Your I's Are Too Close Together (Elevators, UK, 1980, from only 7")
• Downtown (Cuban Heels, UK, 1978, from 1.7")
• Isolation (Fingers, USA, 1977, from only 7")
• That's Just...Someone That I Knew (Singles, Australia, 1980, from 2.7")
• Living In The 80's (Blue Peter, Canada, 1979, from Test Patterns For Modern Living 12" EP)
• Ett Gevar I Min Hand (Diestinct, Sweden, 1981, from 1.7")
• One Way Love (Innocents, UK, 1980, from only 7")
• I Don't Wanna Cry (Keys, UK, 1981, from 3.7")
• Do Dead People Tan? (X-Conz, USA, 1981, form only 7")
• Geneva Street (Geneva, UK, 1980, from only 7")
• Ice Age (Babij Jar, Norway, 1981, from 1.7")
• Gimme Cigarettes (Cigarettes, USA, 1978, from only 7")
• Won't You Be My Girl (Vice Creems, UK, 1978, from 1.7")
• X-Ray Proofed (Princes of Peace, Holland, 1980, from only 7")
• Takeaway Love (Resistors, UK, 1980, from only 7")
• You're A Hit (Strate Jacket, UK, 1979, from only 7")

About all this will do is make more lame $5 - 10 records into $50+ records. A handful of good tracks (Tunnelrunners, Fingers, Blue Peter, Vice Creems, Strate Jacket) and some lame to average filler. If the guy who did this would have included the other 2 Fingers tracks it would have been much more worthwhile.
Rating: 6.5 (lower if the Fingers hadn't been included).

• Yesterday's Love (Any Trouble, UK, 1979, from 1.7")
• Fel (Dagen-D, Sweden, 1981, from only 7")
• Black & White (Windbreakers, USA, 1982, from 1.7")
• 9 O'Clock (Snips, UK, 1980, from 3.7")
• Over & Over (Zips, UK, 1978, from only 7")
• On The Street (Time Wasters, Germany, 1980, from only LP [On The Street])
• Stop Dreaming (Division 4, Australia, 1982, from only 7")
• Spare Rib (Odds, UK, 1979, from 3.7")
• Wastod Ar Y Tu Fas (Y Trwynau Coch, UK, 1978, from 2.7")
• Oh Girl (Freshies, UK, 1980, from one of many records)
• Bad Boy (Rotjoch, Holland, 1980, from only 7")
• Ruby Toot (Vandells, UK, 1980, from only 7")
• Boyfriend (Boyfriends, UK, 1982, from only 7")
• Big Burden (Young Lords, Norway, 1980, from only 7")
• Get The Kids Jumpin' (Jet Boys, USA, 1981, from only 7")
• Tu Ne Parles Pas (Bikini, France, 1981, from s/t 12" EP)
• Jag Ar Inte Kar (Heartbreak, Sweden, 1980, from only 7")
• Ride Cowboy Ride (Regents, UK, 1981, from 4.7")

Pretty consistent selection of slightly above average powerpop. Dagen D and Rotjoch (two that I've never heard of before), the Young Lords and a couple others are the best here. The best tracks from this LP and the previous 4 in the series could be condensed down into one great LP.
Rating: 7.

• Ghosts Of Princes In Towers (Rich Kids, UK, 1978, from 3.7")
• Hjalp Mej (Pinballs, Sweden, 1980, from only 7")
• 10 Years (Starjets, Ireland, 1979, from 3.7")
• Sha La La (Jedrzy Dmochowski, UK, 1982, from only 7")
• No Place Like Home (Neighborhoods, USA, 1980, from only 7")
• Here Today, Gone Tomorrow (Strand, UK, 1980, from split EP with Positive Signals])
• Dancing (Badge, JAP, 1980, from only 7"?)
• Accept Me (Dirty Looks, UK, 1980, from 2.7")
• N'importe Quoi (Floo Flash, France, 1982, from only 12")
• Time Out (Doubt, Ireland, 1980, from only 7")
• Hey You (Stairs, Germany, 1980, from only 7")
• Ordinary Joe (White Heat, UK, 1980, from 2.7")
• She Said Go (Private Dicks, UK, 1979, from 1.7")
• Puto Da Rua (Opiniao Publica, Portugal, 1980, from only 7"?)
• Favourite Girl (Knife Edge, UK, 1980, from only 7")
• Natascha (Roxette, France, 1982, from only 7")
• It's Cold Outside (Stiv Bators, USA, 1979, from 1.7")

You should know what to expect from this series by now. Doubt are really good, so are White Heat. A bunch of others are OK and a couple are quite lame. The bands from Japan and Portugal aren't that good, just very obscure. Interesting for just that I guess.
Rating: 7.

• Prisoners (Vapors, UK, 1979, from 1.7")
• Thursday (Ways, USA, 1981, from only 7")
• I'll Never Believe You (Pete Fender, UK, 1981, from only 7")
• Rakastava Voima (Pelle Miljoona & 1980, Finland, 1979, from 4.7")
• Tomma Olfaskor (Studio Sex, Sweden, 1981, from split LP with The Oilers)
• Cool Way To Live (Monks, UK, 1981, from 2.LP [Suspended Animation])
• So So Alone (Reruns, USA, 1978, from 1.7")
• Un Samourai (Expedition Punitive, Belgium, 1981, from only 7"?)
• Gone Wrong (Avo 8, UK, 1980, from only 7"?)
• Phantom Bitch (Outsiders, Iceland, 1981, from 12")
• The Car (Apartment, UK, 1980, from only 7")
• Sherri Goodbye (Rudies, USA, 1980, from only 7")
• The Kids Are Alright (Pleasers, 1978, from 3.7")
• I Wanna Be Your Friend (Rottweiler, Sweden, 1980, from only 7")
• Pourqui Moi? (Ticket, France, 1980, from only 7")
• Tomorrows Tears (Riptides, Australia, 1979, from 2.7")
• When The Lights Are Out (Dummies, UK, 1980, from only 7")

One of the better volumes of the series so far. Consistently good set of tracks (except for the awful Rudies track). Rottweiler and Riptides are maybe the best here.
Rating: 8.

• Red With Purple Flashes (Times, UK, 1981, from 1.7")
• Tough Luck (Fingerprintz, UK, 1979, from 1.7")
• R-Love (Transistors, USA, 1980, from only 7")
• Tell Me You Love Me (Forgotten Rebels, Canada, 1982, from 1.7")
• I Was A Pre-Pubescent (Jilted John, UK, 1978, from 2.7"(?))
• If I'm Gone Tomorrow (Teenbeats, UK, 1980, from 2.7")
• I Spy (Rudi, N. Ireland, 1979, from 2.7")
• Criminal Mind (Meaty Buys, USA, 1979, from only 7")
• Angelica (Favourites, UK, 1979, from 2.7")
• Back To The 60's (Direct Hits, UK, c1980, from Identity Parade compilation LP)
• I Can't Wait (Jolt, UK, 1978, from 3.7")
• I Am So Confused (News, Australia, 1980, from 3.7")
• I Need Somebody To Love (VIP's, UK, 1980, from 5.7" [2x7" release])
• Some Boys (Going Red, UK, 1980, from only 7")
• Trust You (Mandarines, Sweden, 1980, from 2.7")
• Calling All The Shots (Stereotypes, UK, 1980, from only 7")
• Okay (Shoes, USA, 1978)
• Fines (Numbers, UK, 1979, from only 7")

We internet music and compilation critics are so hard to please! There's not that much wimpy pop here. Mostly worthwhile powerpop along with some shitty new wave crap with moronic lyrics like the Transistors thrown in. I'm not really sure that things like Fingerprintz or Rudi really belong here. They aren't bad, they're just not particurlarly rare.
Rating: 8.

• Gobble, Gobble, Gobble, Hey (Hot Press & The Silent Knights, Ireland, 1979, from 1.7")
• Leave Me Alone (Wasteland, UK, 1980, from 2.7")
• Another Girl, Another Planet (Only Ones, UK, from 2.7")
• Goodbye Suicide (Hollywood Killers, UK, 1978, from 2.7")
• Girl Of My Dreams (Bram Tchaikovsky, UK, 1979)
• Kapungin Tytto (Lola Ego, Finland, 1980, from only 7")
• Die Trying (New Math, USA, 1979, from 1.7")
• Personality Changes (Living Daylights, UK, 1979, from only 7")
• Starry Eyes (Records, UK, 1979, from 1.7")
• Lunatics, Losers & Liars (Chris Moffa & The Competition, USA, 1981, from only 7")
• Dilyn Y Sebon (Ail Symudiad, UK, 1982, from 5th or 6th 7")
• Estas Consado? (Sprays, Spain, 1982, from only 7")
• Plain Jane (New Hearts, UK, 1978, from 2.7")
• In My Mind (G Squad, 1981, from only 7")
• Now (Plimsouls, USA, 1981, from 2.7")
• Swarje (Tant Brun, Sweden, 1981, from only 7")
• Saturday Night Fever (Kidda Band, UK, 1979, from 2.7")
• I'll Be True (Heartbeats, UK, 1981, from 2.7")

Overall pretty good. Side 2 is consistently better than Side 1. It was nice to finally hear something from Ail Symudiad after seeing their records go for big $$ on eBay.
Rating: 7.5.

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