While listening to the radio on my way into work this morning, a particularly unfortunate set of songs caused me to start thinking about that rock standby, the power ballad. After a bit of contemplation, I began to wonder when this particular term came into existance. (Hey, it’s a long commute…)
Google is not being my friend today. This site suggests that the original power ballad was The Impossible Dream as sung by Richard Kiley in Man of La Mancha, this one says it was Sister Christian by Night Ranger and here it is said that it is Beth by Kiss.
Usually this means this is one of those things that no one knows but I thought I would toss out the question anyway. So…
When and where did the phrase “Power Ballad” originate?
What song was it first applied to?
I don’t remember hearing the phrase during my radio days back in the early '80s, but that doesn’t neccessarily mean anything. Anyone out there have any ideas?
Well, come to think of it, The Impossible Dream makes sense. But I had usually heard that the original, or at least an good, early example was Dream On by Aerosmith.
I thought “I’ll be there for you” was by Jon Waits of “When I See You Smile” Bad English.
Ain’t missin’ him at all.
According to this page, Richard Carpenter also claimed to have invented the power ballad.
A number of sites mention that Motley Crue’s Home Sweet Home was the first “official” power ballad when it became a hit on MTV, but I haven’t found any elaboration on that. If the allusions are true, then perhaps MTV itself created the term for that song.
A power ballad is a loud, slow song that cool young dudes feel OK to sing along to while waving a lighter in the air – even though said song is nearly indistinguishable from many other songs that those cool young dudes would laugh at as being music for sissies.
Beavis’ friend Butthead offered the best definition of a power ballad: “Sometimes, cool bands have to sing like wusses to get chicks.”
More seriously, in the 1970s and 1980s, hard rock/heavy metal bands generally couldn’t get airplay on AM adio, or on pop/top 40 stations with their usual hard, loud material. In order to get some airplay for their albums, and increase their sales, such bands usually included one slow, mellow love ballad. This ballad usually featured a FEW heavy metal power chords, and often a standard heavy metal guitar solo between the sappy “I love you baby” choruses. The idea was to appeal to teenge girls without totally alienating the teenage boys who were seriou metalheads.
Quintessential “power ballads”? Aerosmith had “Dream On” and “Angel,” Cinderella had “Don’t Know What You’ve Got Til It’s Gone,” Metallica had “Nothing Else Matters,” the Scorpions had “Still Loving You,” Lynyrd Skynyrd had “Tuesday’s Gone,” and so on.
I don’t know who coined the phrase, but I first recall hearig tin the late 70s.
Beavis’ friend Butthead offered the best definition of a power ballad: “Sometimes, cool bands have to sing like wusses to get chicks.”
More seriously, in the 1970s and 1980s, hard rock/heavy metal bands generally couldn’t get airplay on AM radio, or on pop/top 40 stations with their usual hard, loud material. In order to get some airplay for their albums, and increase their sales, such bands usually included one slow, mellow love ballad. This ballad usually featured a FEW heavy metal power chords, and often a standard heavy metal guitar solo between the sappy “I love you baby” choruses. The idea was to appeal to teenge girls without totally alienating the teenage boys who were serious metalheads.
Quintessential “power ballads”? Aerosmith had “Dream On” and “Angel,” Cinderella had “Don’t Know What You’ve Got Til It’s Gone,” Metallica had “Nothing Else Matters,” the Scorpions had “Still Loving You,” Lynyrd Skynyrd had “Tuesday’s Gone,” iss had “Beth,” and so on.
I don’t know who coined the phrase, but I first recall hearing it in the late 70s.
I never thought of “Dream On” as a power ballad as it doesn’t seem to be a ballad. But maybe I’m not reading the lyrics right…
“Beth”, otoh, certainly qualifies as a power ballad though I don’t think it was identified as such. Another early candidate is Nazareth’s “Love Hurts,” which is the song that popped into my mind when I read the OP. Iirc, that song was released in 1975, predating even “Beth,” though not “Impossible Dream.”
I found this link which has some small but good insight. It mentions Ruby Tuesday as an early Power Ballad. If popular opinion means anything I would have to go with Dream On or really, Home Sweet Home… I’ll never forget the fuzzed out boobies in that video… hey, you take what you can get in 6th grade…
Lockfist - Thanks for that link. I thought it was funny because the songs which triggered my original question were Can’t Fight This Feeling and Faithfully, both of which are mentioned in that link.
panamajack - Motley Crue’s Home Sweet Home and MTV? That certainly sounds right and the time frame is about right for when I first started hearing the phrase. On the other hand, astorian remembers hearing the term in the late '70s. Perhaps the phrase had been around but MTV popularized it? MTV did have a major influence on music so it is certainly possible. I think I’ll go with that one unless we come up with something more definitive.
Just for information’s sake, I looked in my copy of The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll and the phrase is not included. I have an early '80s edition though.
Oh, I never really thought of Dream On as a power ballad. The music and tempo are about right but the lyrics don’t quite let it qualify for me. Love Hurts sounds good as an early example though.
power ballads seem to have been a staple of rock artists since the 70’s, but it seems like “home sweet home” was the song that kind of summed them all up and got labeled with “power ballad” first.
i’m a little embarrassed to confess this, but i used to be a huge motley crue fan, and i could play the melody of the song on the piano. i remember mowing the grass on weekends, with my walkman turned all the way up, listening to “dr feelgood” and “theatre of pain” while silently cursing my father. ahh, those were the days…
