The Flame are most known for their connections to the Beach Boys, though they'd been active for quite some time in a much different part of the world than Southern California before they came to the Beach Boys' attention. Originally known as the Flames, the group – with brothers Ricky Fataar, Steve Fataar, and Edries Fataar, as well as Blondie Chaplin – was a popular act in their native South Africa in the mid- to late '60s, moving to London near the end of the decade to try to break into a larger market. Still using the name the Flames, they put out an obscure album in the U.K. in 1968, Burning Soul. In July 1969, they were seen at the London nightclub Blaise's by Beach Boys guitarist Al Jardine, who brought the band's other guitarist, Carl Wilson, to see them the following night.

Plastic Hearts is the seventh studio album by American singer Miley Cyrus, released on November 27, 2020, by RCA Records. It marks a departure from Cyrus' previous releases, featuring a sound steeped in rock, pop, synth-pop, and glam rock, with influences from country, punk, new wave, arena rock, industrial, disco, and power pop. Most of the album was produced by Andrew Watt and Louis Bell, with further collaboration with Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt. Guest vocals include Billy Idol, Dua Lipa, Joan Jett and Stevie Nicks. Plastic Hearts received positive reviews from music critics. The album debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200, and at number one on the Billboard Top Rock Albums chart.

Comprehensive 3CD overview of the American power pop scene's evolution throughout the 70s. Featuring the genre's major bands, cult names, hits, rarites and several previously unissued tracks. Although the power pop genre wasn't named and codified until late 1977, the sound and spirit had been slowly gathering steam throughout the decade. Surrounded by heavy metal and introverted singer/songwriters, the likes of The Raspberries, Big Star, Blue Ash and The Wackers spearheaded an early 70s return to the spiky, three-minute pop urgency of the mid-60s British Invasion bands. While only The Raspberries charted, such bands established a musical template that was adopted by a new raft of slightly younger acts including the Dwight Twilley Band, The Rubinoos and Shoes. The tide had turned by the late 70s, with such names as Cheap Trick and The Cars achieving success as the American music industry embraced power pop as a radio-friendly alternative to punk.

A recurring question surrounding the talented D'Addario brothers, Michael and Brian, has pondered when their music would sound more like them than a sum of their influences. On all of their lush, intelligent albums since their glam-pop debut Do Hollywood—released when they were ages 17 and 19—the siblings have both bowed to their '70s songwriting heroes while at the same time lifting a few gestures and chord changes along the way. Here the sweet resounding jangle of the title track is a perfect example of the glistening power pop that so many before them have attempted. Sometimes their crafty amalgams are meant as pure reverence, as in "In The Eyes Of The Girl," an earnest and convincing bow to the melodies and lilting vocal arrangements of Brian Wilson. This irresistible number was co-produced by Sean Ono Lennon who also plays bass on it. Lines like "In the eyes of the world I'm too far gone/ In the eyes of the world I'm done/ But the one that I care for says I make her heart soar/ In the eyes of the girl I've won," embody the sheer joy this pair finds in making music.

Recorded in October 2007, just over half a month after the release of her hits collection Crystal Visions, The Soundstage Sessions finds Stevie Nicks running through her hits – both solo and Fleetwood Mac tunes – in front of a small studio audience. This performance, which was also released simultaneously as a DVD, is suitably intimate and respectful of Nicks' original recordings, right down to how "Stand Back" and "If Anyone Falls in Love" are slathered in synthesizers that overwhelm the otherwise subdued arrangements.

In many ways, Badfinger is a continuation of Straight Up – an unabashed, concise pop album – but there's one important difference: Todd Rundgren was a taskmaster on Straight Up. He may have not jelled with the band, but he brought out their best. Chris Thomas didn't work the same way, although he's equally skilled in the studio, and he made a state-of-the-art pop record, which meant that they didn't necessarily play to the band's strengths. Instead, they tried a little bit of everything, with everybody throwing in a song or two, all in hopes that something would click on the radio. As a result, Badfinger is a bit of a mess.

Oranges & Lemons is the 11th studio album and the second double album by the English band XTC, released 27 February 1989 on Virgin Records. It is the follow-up to 1986's Skylarking. The title (derived from the nursery rhyme of the same name) was chosen in reference to the band's poor financial standing at the time, while the music is characterised as a 1980s update of 1960s psychedelia. It received critical acclaim and became the band's highest-charting album since 1982's English Settlement, rising to number 28 in the UK and number 44 in the US. The album is primarily pop and rock, although a variety of other styles are plundered throughout, such as jazz, reggae, hard rock, Middle Eastern music and Zairean soukous. 12 of the album's 15 tracks were written by guitarist Andy Partridge, with the rest by bassist Colin Moulding.

#1 Record is the debut album by the American rock band Big Star. It was released on April 24, 1972, by Memphis-based Ardent Records.Many critics praised the album's vocal harmonies and songcraft but #1 Record suffered from poor distribution and sold fewer than 10,000 copies upon its initial release. However, #1 Record gained wider attention in the late 1970s in the UK when EMI reissued it with Radio City as a double LP package due to increasing demand. The same combination was used when the album was released on CD in 1992. It is now widely-regarded as a seminal work in pop rock and power pop. In 2020 it was ranked number 474 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Rolling Stone also ranked the song "Thirteen" as number 406 on its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It was voted number 188 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000)

Radio City is the second studio album by the American rock group Big Star. Released February 20, 1974, Radio City was recorded during 1973 at Memphis' Ardent Studios. Though not a commercial success at the time, it is now recognized as a milestone album in the history of power pop music. Critically acclaimed upon its release, the record sold poorly, partly due to a lack of promotion and the distribution problems of the band's struggling record label, Ardent Records. The album included "September Gurls" and "Back of a Car", which remain among the most famous Big Star songs; both the Searchers and the Bangles have covered "September Gurls".

Tom Petersson left Cheap Trick following the George Martin-produced All Shook Up, and the band was somewhat left in a lurch, recording 1982’s One on One largely without a bassist; eventual replacement Jon Brant is on record and on the cover, but he’s obscured by a picture of Rick Nielsen, possibly because the guitarist handled the bulk of the basslines on the LP. In any case, One on One finds Cheap Trick rebounding from Martin with a slick, punchy, AOR record, hemmed in a bit by stiff sequenced rhythms – you can almost feel Bun E. Carlos straining against the metronome – but sparkling in its analog synths and pumped-up guitars.

UK three CD set from the power pop legends containing their classic Black Vinyl Shoes album complete with bonus tracks plus two CDs featuring two rare pre-BVS albums plus additional tracks. First issued in 1977 on the band's own label but not widely available until it was reissued in 1978, Shoes' first album proper, Black Vinyl Shoes, is an absolute classic of US power pop, characterized by gorgeous, Byrds-style chiming guitars, wistful, melancholy melodies and wonderful harmonies. To coincide with the 40th anniversary (ish!) of this landmark record, Cherry Red are proud to present this deluxe edition of Black Vinyl Shoes, reconfigured to present - almost - the complete recordings of the band from their embryonic home demos in 1973 through to tracks laid down on the eve of their deal with Elektra Records in 1979. These include the entire Black Vinyl Shoes album, their privately-pressed 1975 album One In Versailles, the 1975 recordings which were unissued at the time but belatedly presented as Bazooka, two tracks from their mythical 1974 LP Heads Or Tails, their one-off single for Bomp Records and a handful of previously unissued tracks. Coordinated with the original band members, Black Vinyl Shoes boasts lengthy (8,000-word) sleeve-notes by David Wells, remastered sound quality and a sizeable booklet awash with rare images from the period.

Bang, Zoom, Crazy… Hello is the seventeenth studio album by American rock band Cheap Trick. The album was released on April 1, 2016, by Big Machine Records. The album is the first in the band's history to not feature Bun E. Carlos on drums. Although Carlos remains an official member of the group, he neither records nor tours with the band; His position in the band has been filled by Daxx Nielsen. In the United States, the album debuted at number 31 on the Billboard 200.

'San Vito' is the new album from the Ivor Novello award-winning & multi-platinum selling UK indie-pop band The Feeling.The album was written and recorded in Southern Italy and saw the band decamp there to self-produce the record as a band together. What began as a short writing trip, turned into a full album project with the Italian sun, food and culture seeping through into the sounds on the record. The band brought in local brass, strings and pizzica / tarantella percussion players - the result being very much an album by The Feeling but with a subtle Salento flavour mixed-in.The title 'San Vito' is influenced by the name of the local town San Vito Dei Normanni where the band spent their time off from the studio soaking in the local culture, food and pizzica music. Highlights include lead single 'The Right Wrong', a gorgeous duet with US-based country singer Lucie Silvas, and plenty of the flamboyant, upbeat 70s-inspired harmonised indie-pop that the band are adored for.

The Doctor is the ninth studio album by Cheap Trick, released in 1986. Since the beginning of the 1980s, Cheap Trick saw increasing pressure from their label, Epic Records, to produce material that was more commercial. In 1985, the band successfully gained a commercial comeback with the Top 40 album Standing on the Edge. For that album, the band had planned on returning to the rough sound of their 1977 debut, but producer Jack Douglas backed out of mixing process due to the legal issues he was having with Yoko Ono. Mixer Tony Platt was called in, and as a result, the album's production featured keyboards and electronic drums more prominently than the band and Douglas had intended.

Standing on the Edge is the eighth studio album by the American rock group Cheap Trick, released in 1985. Jack Douglas, the producer of Cheap Trick's debut album Cheap Trick, made a return for this release. When released, Standing on the Edge peaked at number 35 on the Billboard 200 and was on the charts for 19 weeks. After a few albums of more pop-oriented material, Standing on the Edge saw Cheap Trick return to their standard hard-rocking sound. The album was produced by Jack Douglas, who produced the band's eponymous debut album as well as the Found All The Parts EP. Originally, Cheap Trick planned on returning to the rough sound of their first album. However, Douglas backed out of the mixing process due to legal issues he was having with Yoko Ono. Mixer Tony Platt was called in, and as a result, keyboards and electronic drums were featured more prominently than the band and Douglas had intended.