Pentangle Looking For The Magic - American Power Pop In The Seventies (3-CD Box)

(Grapefruit Records) 76 tracks, digisleeve in slipcover box

Comprehensive 3CD overview of the development of the American power pop scene in the 70s. With the most important bands of the genre, cult names, hits, rarities and some previously unreleased tracks.
Although the power pop genre wasn't named and codified until late 1977, the sound and vibe had slowly picked up steam over the course of the decade. Surrounded by heavy metal and introverted singer/songwriters, The Raspberries, Big Star, Blue Ash and The Wackers led a return to the spiky, three-minute pop urgency of mid-'60s British Invasion bands in the early '70s.
Although only the Raspberries made the charts, these bands created a musical template that was adopted by a number of new, slightly younger bands such as the Dwight Twilley Band, The Rubinoos and Shoes. By the end of the 70s, the tide had turned and names like Cheap Trick and The Cars were finding success as the American music industry accepted power pop as a radio-ready alternative to punk.
When The Knack emerged from nowhere to dominate the summer of 1979 with the single "My Sharona" and the album "Get The Knack", it was clear that the decade was coming to an end with the establishment of power pop as a significant commercial proposition.
Looking For The Magic" is arranged chronologically and traces the development of power pop in the seventies, when largely unsuccessful bands achieved cult status through the burgeoning fanzine network that promoted them. In addition to the bands already mentioned, Todd Rundgren, Flamin' Groovies, Sparks, Ramones and the band Badfinger, founded in the USA in 1979, which was one of the prototypical power pop bands at the beginning of the decade, are also represented. We also focus on a large number of cult names and little-known acts and present many tracks that were not released at the time and even some tracks that are now being released for the first time.
"Looking For The Magic" is a fascinating, highly entertaining tribute to a genre that remained under the radar for most of its formative years.