Go Away - "A Million Miles Away"

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For most of this series, we’ve been coasting along comfortably in the classic and alternative rock worlds. Until now, when, for the penultimate song, we head into a world near and dear to my heart: power pop. Led by Peter Case (who previously had fronted the legendary San Francisco power pop band, the Nerves,) The Plimsouls were one of those multiple-reunion bands, their heyday spent as one of the top power pop bands of the late-70’s/early-80’s. Their 1982 single, “A Million Miles Away,” eventually included on the band’s 1983 album, Everywhere at Once, received a big boost when it was included on the soundtrack for the 1983 film, Valley Girl (The Plimsouls appeared in the movie, performing this and two other songs.) The song was re-released as a single after that, peaking at #82 on the Hot 100, making it more of a radio hit than anything else. In fact, in an article on Medialoper, former KFSR (Fresno State) on-air personality Jim Connelly stated that it was easy to tell whenever Valley Girl had been on cable because the station would suddenly start getting requests for “A Million Miles Away” and “I Melt With You” by Modern English, the other big hit from the movie. Not a huge hit, but an unforgettable slice of 80’s power pop. Fun Fact: "Plimsoul" is a tweak on "plimsoll," a British shoe style popularized by The Beatles. Link is to the official promotional video: