This week's playlist includes Muck and the Mires covering "It's Gonna Be Alright." This new version comes to us from the Muck-Mire collective's ace new release The Ghost Of Rocky Erickson, and it was originally done by British Invasion fabmeisters Gerry and the Pacemakers. A 1964 single for the Pacemakers, "It's Gonna Be Alright" also played over the opening credits of the 1965 film Ferry Cross The Mersey, a movie intended to be Gerry and his Liverpool lads' answer to the Beatles' cinematic success with A Hard Day's Night.
It was not.
Mind you, although four-year-old me did see A Hard Day's Night at the local drive-in upon its release in '64 (and many, many more times after that), I have never seen Ferry Cross The Mersey and cannot comment on its merits. I've always wanted to see it--it is, by definition, both the Citizen Kane of Gerry and the Pacemakers movies and the Plan 9 From Outer Space of Gerry and the Pacemakers movies, and all ticks in between--and in fact I own a copy of the film on DVD. I still want to see it. I haven't found the time.
Time is an elusive treasure, a gift that is precious and finite. I could do a much more efficient job of managing my time, and pursuit of that goal is part of the reason my once-daily blog now only appears two or three times a week. I have book projects that stubbornly refuse my plea for them to write themselves, a will to persevere that is constantly eroded by the sheer dumbassed toxicity of the world around us, and I'm still working a full-time retail job. For all that, I have time; I just don't use it very well.
I will. As I approach my 67th birthday in January, I'm set to cut back on my hours at work. I will do more writing, and also more traveling, more reading, more leisure. I'll finally get around to watching some of the B movies I've always wanted to see, like Ferry Cross The Mersey, and Micky Dolenz in Keep Off My Grass, and more respected films like North By Northwest. They're all waiting for me, and I'm just waiting to find the time I need.
That time will come. It's gonna be alright.
NEXT WEEK: THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO # 1350. IN THREE WEEKS: On September 6th, the long-awaited return of DANA'S FUNKY SOUL PIT. This is what rock 'n' roll radio sounded like on another Sunday night in Syracuse this week.
This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, streaming at SPARK stream, and on the Radio Garden app as WESTCOTT RADIO.
You can read all about this show's long and weird history here: Boppin' The Whole Friggin' Planet (The History Of THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO). You can follow Carl's daily blog at Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do).
TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS are always welcome.
Carl's new book Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies is available! Read about it here. Autographed copies of Carl's previous book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) are available here, and you can still get Carl's previous previous book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones from publisher Rare Bird Books. If you like the books, please consider leaving a rating and/or review at the usual online resources.
