Revenge of the Nerds
I remember one day during college in Buffalo, some kid was up in my grill trying to convince me that the Goo Dolls were legit. This was before “Iris,” “Slide” and “Name” were released of course, back when anyone who was local to the Buffalo area and wasn’t a die-hard Against All Hope or Slugfest fan would proudly announce their Goo love. I remember listening to their ‘87 debut and 1989’s Jed and thinking that these dudes knew how to write a really good pop song, a skill that now, looking back all these years later is still something in short supply regardless of genre.
So like the origin of many of these playlists, I ended up down the rabbit hole, curious about the bands that could have influenced those early Goo records — the type of pop punk from the early 70s and 80s that may not even have been defined as such. So here you go with 15 or so songs that are clearly contemporaries of say The Cars or DEVO with maybe a little more rock edge to them. It’s a new discovery for me as I’m unfamiliar with a ton of these bands but have put the time in and listened thoroughly to all these tracks. I’m a fan and remain in awe of all the gold nuggets out there yet to be mined.
Note: I really tried to stay out of the post-punk zone here trying to tread the fine line reserved for studio wonks who likely grew up with a steady diet of Donovan and the Beach Boys and while influenced by it, just weren’t all that jazzed about the prog that was happening around them. Also, the title of this playlist is a shoutout to The Rubinoos, who were best known for their cover of Tommy James and the Shondells “I Think We’re Alone Now” but who made the biggest impression on me with their earworm title track from Revenge of the Nerds.
