“Did you ever get the feeling you were living in a golden age?” I saw that question, or something similar to it in a book I once read. When I was a high school kid, I became a huge fan of a bunch of bands that I consider to be the very definition of power pop. And the bands that defined that era for me, collectively make it a golden age in my opinion. A golden age could be defined as some period of years, however long you might wish to define it is up to you. But for me, the golden age of power pop can be captured in one single spectacular year - 1979. One of my favorite power pop artists didn’t come along until 1982. That was Tommy Keene (R.I.P.) and he has to be mentioned here because he is so excellent. But now that I’ve mentioned him, let’s stick to 1979. I was sixteen years old in 1979. Here are six records that all were released in that amazing year.

The Beat: After getting his start in The Nerves, Paul Collins put together The Beat and made possibly my all-time favorite power pop record. I’ll never forget seeing The Beat on American Bandstand one Saturday morning, and I’ll never forget having seen them live at Desperado’s in Georgetown (D.C.). “Rock n Roll Girl” and “Different Kind of Girl” and so many other great songs are on this record. It is must have.

The Records: This amazing album is a close rival to The Beat record. “Starry Eyes,” “Girl,” “Teenarama” and “Girls That Don’t Exist” are all fabulous. Did you ever notice that power pop bands only sing about one thing — girls?

Bram Tchaikovsky / Strange Man, Changed Man: I love the title of this record. Sticking with the girl theme, the song “Girl of My Dreams” is a highlight on this record, which is excellent from beginning to end.

20/20: This is a really great record which features the amazing song “Yellow Pills,” a song so great that someone made about 20 volumes of Yellow Pills compilation albums, which were compilations of…..you got it, power pop.

The Shoes / Present Tense: This is definitely a classic power pop album. It would be higher on the list except that many of the songs are a little syrup-y and sound a little dated to me now, but this is still a great record from a very influential band that still plays, writes and records great songs today. “I Don’t Wanna Hear It” is my personal favorite.

The Knack – Get The Knack: Everyone heard “My Sharona” until they wanted to puke when this record was big, but it’s a good song. The great songs on this album include “Good Girls Don’t” and “Your Number or Your Name” and several others. Don’t judge this album only by the one hit song or you’ll be selling it short.

For people who love music, it can help get you through good times and bad. As a sixteen year-old I was thinking pretty much only about skateboards, music and girls, and this batch of records was plenty to get me through whatever I was facing. Virtually every song is about girls, and these are all simply classics to me. I love every one of them to this day. 1979, what a year.

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