» 2000s » What You Don’t Know About the Girl – Roger Joseph Manning, Jr.
What You Don’t Know About the Girl – Roger Joseph Manning, Jr.
This is my favorite song from 2006. Released on a Japanese-only album, “What You Don’t Know About the Girl” by Roger Joseph Manning Jr. is a near-perfect power pop song.
Imagine The Carpenters meet the Partridge Family on the way to a gig. Hijinks ensue and this song arrives nine months later. It didn’t leave my head for three days after I first heard it.
It’s timeless. Is it 1971 or 2006? You can’t really tell, which is the mark of a great song. Manning cut his teeth in Jellyfish, one of my favorite bands from the early 1990s. He continues to write and produce and has the gift to make an ultimately cynical song about a girl sound joyous.
Listen to this rare track:
What You Don’t Know About the Girl - Roger Joseph Manning, Jr.Other Power Pop Songs You Should Hear:
Everybody Loves a Happy Ending – Tears for Fears
Written by Michael Waterman
I'm an obsessive music collector, cataloger, commenter and trivia nut. Sometimes I'm even a listener. One-hit wonders have always been a guilty pleasure.
Filed under: 2000s · Tags: 1971, 2006, Pop, Power Pop, Roger Joseph Manning Jr., The Carpenters, The Partridge Family
Thanks for the tip. Never heard that song before. I like Andy Sturmer’s and Jason Falkner’s voices better than Manning’s, but I agree this is pure power pop bliss. Poor Jellyfish. Only two albums… we barely knew thee. The brightest burn the shortest I guess.
True, Jellyfish released great songs in too short a time. Their crime is that they tried to sell the wrong songs at the wrong time. Power pop simply didn’t sell when everyone else was buying Pearl Jam, Nirvana and Soundgarden records in the early 1990s. Jellyfish = happy, poppy guys interacting with the audience. Grunge bands = angry, brooding dudes staring at their shoes.
The two coolest things about Jellyfish:
1. Amazing live vocals. Anyone can sound good in the studio. Jellyfish was amazing live (although I’ve only seen them on YouTube…never live. Pity.)
2. The drummer/lead singer stood while he played. A much better approach than how Night Ranger did it in the early 80s with their drummer sitting near the front of the stage and tilted to the side so you can see him sing.
Night Ranger can still rock in America: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nB3kQZJ2aLw&feature=PlayList&p=DD6EF55CEDAD7340&index=0&playnext=1
Jellyfish sings “The Ghost at Number One”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0N4Jf1OQNs
I was privleged to see Jellyfish live. They opened for Tears for Fears on their Elemental tour. While I knew of Jellyfish at the time, and had heard a few songs on MTV, I was more interested in TFF. But the concert made me an instant Jellyfish convert.
Matt, I’m jealous you saw them live. Watching their grainy clips on YouTube I’m amazed at their tight vocal harmonies. Check out the harmonies in this clip from 1993 of “That is Why.” Most bands simply don’t sound this good vocally live.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-8PnXhwUdc&feature=related
Nice clip. Agree sounds very tight, just like the album.
Speaking of power pop, have you listened to Tinted Windows yet? Their debut album dropped a couple days ago. One of those supergroups featuring:
Vocalist Taylor Hanson of Hanson,
Guitarist James Iha of Smashing Pumpkins
Bassist Adam Schlesinger of Ivy and Fountains of Wayne
Drummer Bun E. Carlos from Cheap Trick
Sounds kinda like Fountains of Wayne. Only listened to the album once, so far.
Here’s the first single: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6psmPQaueE0
I listened to the song you noted. It’s pure power pop bliss. Someone on YouTube insulted the song by saying it sounds like The Jonas Brothers. Well, yeah, and The Jonas Brothers sound like about 600 pop bands that came before them. You can’t knock a good hook.
I love the fact that Bun E. Carlos is the drummer. He’s probably in his mid-50s and still playing music (and probably chain smoking too).
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