Meet The Airport 77s. When they’re not keeping busy as reporters for the Washington Post and Reuters, or as a software developer, John Kelly, Andy Sullivan and Chuck Dolan are the band The Airport 77s, a self-labeled 1970s power pop rescue thriller. For these men, The Airport 77s is not just a side project – it’s a main side project.

Catch them February 18th at the National Press Foundation Awards Dinner afterparty – set to be a who’s who of journalists, media, public relations and corporate executives, policy makers, and trade groups.

Photo credit: Melanie Dolan

1. What was the inspiration to get the band together?

Chuck and I play together in a Monkees cover band that has competed in Journapalooza for the last few years. We were blown away by this band Dirty Bomb and its killer guitar player. Like lonely second-graders we vowed to make Andy play with us. Plus, it seemed that nobody was playing this music and we thought it was important that it be preserved. The Airport 77s are like the National Archives of 1970s power pop.

2. What is it about 1970s power pop, anyway?

It’s fast and it’s loud and it’s not as complicated as prog rock or as simple as punk rock. It hits our musical sweet spot and it has the great benefit of being very danceable. People are familiar with some of the songs we do, but a lot of the tunes reside deep in the brain folds. We like teasing them out.

3. What are the ups and downs of a DC crowd?

Downs? There are no downs! There are only ups. DC audiences are attractive, courteous and well-read. They never forget to tip their server. They are able to consume exactly the right amount of alcohol to enable inhibitions to be lowered without sacrificing gross motor skills. DC audiences rock. And we rock them.

4. What’s your favorite song to play onstage?

Like our children, we love them all. But among the favorites are “Girl of My Dreams” by Bram Tchaikovsky, “Don’t Wait Up for Me” by the Beat, “I’m the Man” by Joe Jackson and “I’ve Got Your Number Written on the Back of My Hand” by the Jags. And of course there’s “My Sharona.” That’s our “Stairway to Heaven.”

5. One of you suddenly has to drop out on a gig – and Joe Biden, who’s been learning a few instruments lately, steps in. What’s your set?

Well, seeing as how Biden’s from Delaware — and is nothing if not bad to the bone — we’d probably have to do a medley of George Thorogood songs. Somehow I doubt that “One Bourbon, One Scotch and One Beer” would be enough for the veep.