Uk/1979
Thomas Doherty
William Holliday
Alan Harris
This trio was said to be of American descent, but were apparently stationed in the UK. Indistinctive, but largely effective power pop/AOR in the mold of contemporaries The A's and Tommy Tutone. Per Discogs this was ostensibly The Continentals parting shot, and was produced by Tommy Erdelyi (Ramone).
Fizz Pop (Modern Rock) is the Continentals' one and only major label release. Their brand of gutsy power pop is on the Plimsouls/Last side of the equation, with noisier guitars and rougher vocals than you'd find on a Rubinoos or Raspberries album, but while ex-Ramone Tommy Erdelyi's production sounds great, Thomas Doherty and William John Holliday's songwriting is frustratingly inconsistent. The two songs on side one, the anthemic title track and the similarly passionate "Walking Tall," are terrific. On the flip, the anti-radio rant "Housewives' Delight" and the puerile "Two Lips From Amsterdam" (note the seventh-grade-level pun) sound like second-rate Knack rejects, complete with obnoxious Doug Fieger-style smug vocals. Perhaps this is why CBS NuDisk failed (although the 12" mini-album stayed popular throughout vinyl's commercial lifetime).