The First Wondermints (Original Single)

WONDERMINTS - PROTO-PRETTY (1993)

 

At the beginning of 1993, drummer Mike D'amico becomes Wondermints fourth member, and not long after the group releases their first vinyl-single on Pop Psycle Records. The single was released on a translucent wax. The B side was penned by Brian Kassan. This song was also featured on the first Chewy Marble CD.

 

7" (62 mb)

Wondermints Live 1996 (Unofficial)

WONDERMINTS - HOUSE OF BLUES, Los Angeles May 20th (1996)

 

This rare live performance of the Wondermints was recorded in 1996 at the House Of Blues, Los Angeles. The other acts of the event were The Negro Problem, Cockeyed Ghost, Velouria and The Andersons!.

 

HOUSE (250 mb)

Wondermints Demos (Unofficial)

DARIAN & NICK - PRE-WONDERMINTS DEMOS (1988)

 

In their early days, before the Wondermints even existed,  Darian & Nick would share a 4-track Portastudio cassette recorder, these recordings started off as what we can call them now the pre-Wondermints demos. Before recording their own songs, the duo recorded ten covers plus their first original song "No One's Girl" (written by Nick Walusko). The first Wondermints releases would later surface in 1992-1994 with their self-released tapes: the Blue, Purple and Green cassettes. Custom artwork included.

 

DEMOS (212 mb)

A Power Pop Tribute (2005)

TRIBUTE TO JEREMY MORRIS - JAM ON JEREMY (2005)

 

Between 1984 and 2026, Jeremy Morris has released over 60 albums of mainly power pop but also progressive rock. He was featured on more than 80 compilations or tributes all over those years. So in 2005, a tribute to Jeremy Morris was released featuring some famous names of the power pop scene (Lolas, Lisa Mychols, Phil Angotti and others). The album title is a reference to his own record label "Jam Records".

 

JAM ON (309 mb)

33 Vintage Power Pop Videos (1976-1986)

POWER POP THE VIDEO WAVE (1976-1986) Vol 1 (2026)

 

Well Well Well, this is my first video collection of oldies (even though i posted a few oldies on PPC), of course the compilation is not 4K, 1080p or 720p, but all the vids are 40 years old and i can say there's no A.I. There are plenty of skinny ties (check the custom artwork), so much rickenbacker guitars and bass and a lot of magic hooks. As i already said "Power Pop To The People" and enjoy the magic ride of hooks through 100 minutes of videos. To be played with VLC. I made a custom artwork and inserted a note with the 33 acts featured.

Just for info, the first video is Blondie singing a song from the first Private Stock LP, my favorite album of the band featuring Gary Valentine, the one who wrote one of the best Blondie song ever "(I'm Always Touched By Your) Presence, Dear" recorded by the band after Gary had left Blondie.

 

POWER POP (1.6 gb)

24 Slices Of Vintage Power Pop (1977-1984) (a new volume)

VARIOUS - RAIDERS OF THE LOST HOOK Vol. 7 (2026)

 

While i was upgrading the first two volumes of the ROTLH series, i began to compile a brand new one, trying to use only American power pop released during  the shortest period of time possible. So the majority of the songs (20 out of 24) compiled on this volume were released between 1980 and 1984.

The inner sleeve includes all the details about the bands featured here.

 

WU RAIDERS 7 (557 mb)

26 Slices Of Vintage Power Pop (1972-1984)

VARIOUS - RAIDERS OF THE LOST HOOK Vol. 1 (2008)

 

First posted in 2008 on PPC in mp3 format, and requested to be re-upped so many times it has been upgraded to FLAC. So, it is for the first time available in lossless format on PPA.

 

Note: Congratulations to the first readers able to name the artist (real name and alias) featured on the inside of the booklet.

 

WU RAIDERS 1 (535 mb)

Shindig's Powerpop Playlist (Issue #172)

POWERPOP: THE THIRD WAVE (1974-1981)

SHINDIG ISSUE #172 (2026)

 

Compiled by Jon 'Mojo' Mills, the playlist selects 30 songs from 1974 to 1981. Over eight pages, Shindig! turns the clock back to the mid-70s, when the jangle, energy and harmony of powerpop enjoyed its Third Wave.

Using the front page of the magazine, i've made a custom artwork and included the eight pages.

  

THIRD WAVE (625 mb)

90s Corporate Power Pop

BIG DEAL CORPORATE ANNUAL Vol 1 & 2 (1997) (1998)

 

Big Deal was a seminal power pop label from the 90s. "Corporate Annual Vol 1 & 2" were two promo collections of the company spreading the word of power pop around the world. Any resale was strictly forbidden. In 1997, Not Lame Records gave both of them with any order from the label. A free and most excellent gift compliments of Bruce Brodeen and the kind folks at Big Deal.

  

VOL 1 (491 mb)

  

VOL 2 (399 mb)

A Guide To A New Music (So. California Bands)

CLOSET POP FREAK (1996) + CLOSET POP FOLK (1997)

 

Released on Pop Psycle Records, both of these compilations focused on new So. California bands. Closet Pop Freak was the first one released during January's POPTOPIA festival and was considered as the definitive compilation of the great pop going on in the Los Angeles area back then.

Closet Pop Folk (1997) was the follow-up to "Closet Pop Freak", a classic document of the pop scene in mid-'90s L.A., featuring some of the very most talented LA pop bands. This time the concept is power pop unplugged. A must for fans in search of rare tracks.

  

POP FREAK (455 mb)

  

POP FOLK (417 mb)

Pre Choo Choo Train / Velvet Crush (Never Reissued) (Part 2)

THE REVERBS - THE HAPPY FOREST (1984)

 

Before joining forces (Choo Choo Train, Velvet Crush), Rick Menck and Paul Chastain pursued the pop muse separately in different parts of Illinois. Rick Menck was half of the Reverbs. The Happy Forest being their sole release. It is close to some 80s jangle-pop bands like The Connells. The opening song "Trusted Woods" was later featured on the "Strum & Thrum - American Jangle Underground 1983-1987" compilation.

  

WU HAPPY (195 mb)

Top of 2025 (Episode 26)

THE UNOFFICIAL 2025 DAVID BASH'S TOP 25 (2026)

 

Just like the other years, here's the latest collection (the 26th) from the yearly David Bash list. The 2025 list of albums is once again a Top 150. The list also includes a top list of EP's, and some compilations, tributes, reissues and more. Once again, the PPA compilation is limited to the first 25 albums of 2025 The full list can be found on the International Pop Overthrow page here.

 

WU 2025 (603 mb)

Live In Spain 1986 (Never Reissued)

PAUL COLLINS BEAT - LIVE AT THE UNIVERSAL (1986)

 

Recorded in Madrid, Spain (July 11) at the Sala Universal, Paul Collins is backed by his long-time bassist Steve Huff plus two spanish musicians Emilio Huertas (Lead Guitar, Vocal) and Manolo de Palma (Drums). The album was only released in Spain by Twins Records. Paul Collins performs some of his most famous tunes plus one exclusive song "I'm Not Crazy" unavailable elsewhere.

 

WU LIVE (350 mb)

27 Slices Of Vintage Power Pop (1977-1990)

VARIOUS - RAIDERS OF THE LOST HOOK Vol. 2 (2008)

 

Second part of the Raiders collection which shares again this "undying search for the great pop hook". First posted in 2008 on PPC, it is for the first time available in lossless format on PPA.

 

WU RAIDERS 2 (528 mb)

Bill Hurley Produced by Elvis Costello (Never Reissued)

BIG HEAT - WATCH ME CATCH FIRE (1985)

 

Between 1982 and 1986 Bill Hurley had left The Inmates. He recorded a highly acclaimed solo album "Double Agent" for Demon Records, had two Top 40 UK chart successes as lead vocalist with JB Allstars for RCA Victor, and with his new band Big Heat had a Top 40 UK single with the Elvis Costello produced "Watch Me Catch Fire" for A&M Records. It was unfortunately but understandably dropped from the BBC playlist the week after the Bradford Football Fire disaster.

  

WU WATCH (71 mb)

A Sequel To The Blog Gems Collection

POWERPOP TO THE PEOPLE (2007)

 

Compiled and posted in 2007, the new collection "Powerpop To The People" was supposed to be something like a sequel to "The Blog Gems". At the time, some of the songs included were not widely available, of course since then some of of those songs have been reissued on CD or available through streaming sites.

  

Vol 1 (549 mb)

Vol 2 (546 mb)

Vol 3 (534 mb)

Vol 4 (553 mb)

Vol 5 (553 mb)

A Power Pop Journey From Illinois to California

VARIOUS - GET YOUR HOOKS ON ROUTE 66 (2009)

 

In 2009, there was the regular Summer compilation, but also a special bonus for the summer, like a companion for a journey between Illinois and California, which was also a spinoff of the collection "The Intersate Battle Vol 1 Illinois vs California". Posted during the summer '09, this compilation was available only in mp3 and has never been re-upped, but it is now shared in lossless format on PPA for the very first time more than 15 years later.

 

WU ROUTE 66 (557 mb)

The Official Bonus CD

VARIOUS - SHAKE SOME ACTION (2007)

THE ULTIMATE POWER POP GUIDE

 

The CD came with the 202-page book Shake Some Action - The Ultimate Power Pop Guide, by John Borack, in a loose plastic slimpack, transparent on the front, white in the back. Track details only appear on page 200 of the book.

But, at the time of its release  i made a custom  CD artwork for it that i'd sent to Bruce Brodeen in Denver, Colorado. Then i guess Bruce Brodeen gave the artwork to some of the buyers of the book.

  

WU Bonus CD (493 mb)

Find below a scan of page 200 of the SSA book

The Original Shake Some Action (Unofficial Guide)

THE ULTIMATE POWER POP GUIDE Volumes 1-9 (2008)

In 2008, there was a list of the 200 most essential power pop recordings of the last 35 years. John M.Borack had put together the list for his "Shake Some Action" book published by Bruce Brodeen and Not Lame. At the time, i decided tp post a complete "Best" of the Ultimate Power Pop Guide. So, i picked one song from each album selected by John Borack. My picks were totally subjective, so you won't get any "September Gurls", Rock'n'Roll Girl"', "Tomorrow Night" or other all-time classics. I tried (but not always) to not chose the songs you could already find on some famous power pop compilations ("Yellow Pills", "Poptopia" or the Rhino "DIY Series" and many others...). This is the complete 9 volumes collection re-upped on PPA

  

WU Vol 1 (#1-25) (575 mb)

WU Vol 2 (#26-50) (553 mb)

WU Vol 3 (#51-75) (551 mb) 

WU Vol 4 (#76-100) (550 mb)

WU Vol 5 (#101-125) (549 mb)

WU Vol 6 (#126-150) (550 mb)

WU Vol 7 (#151-175) (564 mb)

WU Vol 8 (#176-200) (554 mb)

WU Vol 9 (The Tributes) (541 mb)

 

24 Slices Of Vintage Power Pop (1993-2003)

VARIOUS - RAIDERS OF THE LOST HOOK Vol. 3 (2008)

As a matter of fact, this third collection is really different from all the other five volumes as it compiles some of the best of the 90's-00's genre era, it tries to focus on some "overlooked" gems of the time. Some bands might be not so well known, but the hooks are here and the songs have stood the test of time.

 

First posted on PPC in 2008, it was then available in mp3 only. It is shared now on PPA for the first time in FLAC. All the songs have been checked and upgraded to lossless format if needed.

 

WU RAIDERS 3 (587 mb)

From The Vaults (2008-2009)

RARITIES (2008-2009)

Vol 1 (301 mb)

Vol 2 (330 mb)

Vol 3 (368 mb)

Vol 4 (355 mb)

Vol 5 (274 mb) 

Vol 6 (254 mb)

Vol 7 (263 mb)

PLEASE KEEP THEM FOR YOUR PERSONAL USE

DON'T SHARE ELSEWHERE