Morgan Troper 
Another Word for Abstinence: The 100 Best Power Pop Artists (August 14, 2020) 
100 Best Power Pop Artists

 
Badfinger: This English band was signed to The Beatles' Apple Records and poised to become their successors, which is comically tragic in retrospect. Paul McCartney wrote their first hit—“Come and Get It”— and George Harrison co-produced their best album, Straight Up. (Emphasized trope: “Beatle-esque.”) 
 
23. Badfinger 
Badfinger are the only band included in the aforementioned holy triumvirate of power pop progenitors to not crack the top 20 of this list, which may upset a few very old men. But let me explain: While their legacy is undoubtedly significant to the “evolution” of the genre, their music itself is slightly overrated—the George Harrison/Todd Rundgren co-production Straight Up is certainly their most listenable record, but it's not perfect, and none of their records are. Power pop retrospectives only zero on in Badfinger because of their intimate relationship with The Beatles, and because their story is so unspeakably fucked up—Tom Evans and Pete Ham, the band's two founding members, are literally casualties of the music industry who both committed suicide as a result of misallocated royalties. All that said, Badfinger are arguably the first “real” power pop band to have a top 10 hit single, with their 1970 song "No Matter What". 
 


★★★