my power pop addiction, no. 86 (158)

There's a woman I know who's learning that forever is such a long, long time. When you live the pop life, you know this implicitly. ...Artful Dodger was a Roman candle of power pop, lighting up the sky with bursts of brilliance for a few short years, and then fading into the darkness of night just as they released their best album, Rave On (1980). What a shame they never made the big time. If you dig husky vocals in the spirit of Rod Stewart, and if you're fully committed to living the pop life, then Artful Dodger is the just the thing for you. Unfortunately, Rave On is just about impossible to find. I don't know what's wrong with people. Don't they know that there's at least a half dozen of us out here that need this shit on a daily basis, and that we'll die in a pool of our own withdrawal vomit if we don't get it? Where's the compassion? ...I had a vinyl copy of Rave On back in the day, but I sold my record collection last year in a concession to the digital age, one of many. I should've had more appreciation for the precious jewels in my possession. They're gone forever, and they're never coming back. Forever is such a long, long time. ...Tonight's song is a ballad of the Bic lighter variety. Don't let the grainy, unsynchronized video get in the way of your listening pleasure. This stuff is pure magnificence. It'll make you feel sad and wistful, pensive and philosophical, but it'll do these things in a good way, in the way that only a great song can, and I feel pretty confident in saying that when it's over you'll be wanting to hear it again...