#1 Fanclub Shawn Farmer & Craig Vennes

With the 70's and Power Pop far in the rearview mirror and Grunge exploding in America, there was something brewing across the Atlantic. Starting in the late 80's with Shoegaze and Madchester scenes, bands in the UK were rallying around their pride in all things Britain. In this episode, Craig and Shawn explore the origins of Britpop, what defines the genre, the bands that brought the scene to international recognition and end with their selections of the most Britpop song and the...

What do you do when your podcast successfully covers the best power pop bands of the 1970’s? When you break down in detail the career and catalog of bands such as Cheap Trick, Big Star and Badfinger? The answer is simple: you close out the 70’s with a Top Ten List. #1 Fanclub continues their pursuit of knowledge on Power Pop, Brit Pop, Shoegaze and Dream Pop with a celebration of perhaps the most important decade of music in a world without The Beatles. Craig and Shawn t...

Cheap Trick Part 2In Part 2 of our Cheap Trick review we pick up in 1979 with the band deciding to record a live album while on tour in Japan to support their third album Heaven Tonight. The decision to record a live album to capture the mania surrounding the band in Japan proved to be career changing. At Budokan, originally slated for release in Japan only, changed the fortunes of Cheap Trick from opening act and small venue headliner to arena kings. Seemingly overnight, Ch...

Formed in 1973 in Cheap Trick are one of the most successful and influential bands in Power Pop history. But to only fit them in the Power Pop box would not be accurate. Over the course of nearly 50 years, they have recorded songs that could be categorized as hard rock, prog rock, glam rock and even pure Top 40 pop.From the beginning, Cheap Trick were a contradiction of sight and sound – Lead Singer Robin Zander and Bassist Tom Peterson looked like they were cut out of the Rock n ...

The Greenberry Woods aren't a household name, but their debut album Rapple Dapple might just deserve consideration as one of the best power-pop albums of all-time. It's been 26 years since it's release & we still feel it's impact to this day. No doubt this is a testament to the songwriting prowess of twin brothers Brandt & Matt Huseman, who's follow-up project Splitsville had equal the hooks but with a bit more bite. The last we heard from the band was in 2003, ...

The Raspberries exploded out of Cleveland and on the music scene in April 1972 with their self-titled debut – just 4 months before Big Star released #1 Record. While the bands and the debut albums share some similarities in sound, there are also some very distinct differences. For one, Raspberries had some instant success in both album sales and with a hit single while Big Star famously never got out of the gate commercially. In the end, Raspberries were a short-lived and al...