THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! Circe Link, "I'm On Your Side"

Drawn from previous posts, this is not part of my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1).

An infinite number of tracks can each be THE greatest record ever made, s long as they take turns. Today, this is THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE!

CIRCE LINK: I'm On Your Side

Written by Christian Nesmith and Circe Link

Produced by Christian Nesmith

From The Pop EP, no label, 2013

Our lives are accompanied by ache. The characteristics of the ache--the litany of losses, failures, broken trusts, broken promises, broken wills, and broken bones--are suffered with infinite variety, each collection of aches as unique as fingerprints or favorite records. Our ache is our own ache. Others may sympathize and care deeply, and we bless them all. We are better people if we care. 

But no one else knows exactly what we're going through, no matter how similar their own aches may be. We didn't come off an assembly line. Our mileage varies. We contain multitudes.

Still, it can be nice to know there is someone on our side.

When we can help, we do. We have to. There may not be all that much we can do, sure. Still, we stand, we listen, and we lend a hand when a hand is what's needed. We speak or offer silent support, as the situation demands. When the time is right, we seek a shared comfort in the fragile delights this imperfect life can offer.

Shared comfort. Someone is on our side.

The dynamic duo of Circe Link and Christian Nesmith are so, so adept at the art of popcraft. Everything they do sounds sublime, and their powers and abilities cross genres with authority. Pop music? Classic rock? Folk? Circe and Christian can do it all, and all of it will sound amazing.

I'm not exactly sure when I first became aware of this particular dynamic duo. My This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio co-host Dana Bonn and I saw Christian play live as a member of the Monkees' touring band in 2012, one of the best concerts I've ever witnessed. Some time later, my jaw dropped when I saw a video of Circe, Christian, and company backing up Micky Dolenz on a live medley of "Porpoise Song" and the Beatles' "Good Morning, Good Morning." Chills. Clearly, there was some amazing talent at work here.

You know how social media works. Algorithms constantly suggests new friends to add to your own social network, based on mutual interests and acquaintances. So somewhen around 2017, when Facebook recommended I add Circe Link to my cyber circle (probably based on our shared friendship with Keith Klingensmith of the Legal Matters), I said yeah yeah yeah even faster'n Micky sings no no no in "Last Train To Clarksville." Because why not?

It was a passive friendship, as many Facebook friendships are. Still, when Circe posted a note about a popular Facebook challenge to quote the fifth sentence on the 56th page of whatever book happened to be the nearest to you at the moment, I responded with a link to a blog I'd just written on that very subject. Circe was amused, and suggested she and Christian come on our radio show some time to chat about books and music.

I already knew a little of Circe's recorded work, and some YouTube videos of covers that she and Christian had done. I went to her website for a deeper catalog dive, and was absolutely smitten with a limited-edition release called The Pop EP. My God, this stuff was terrific! I ordered a CD copy immediately, and I contacted Circe to beg for permission to use a Pop EP track called "I'm On Your Side" on our then-forthcoming compilation album This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 4. After an exchange of questions and assurances (and a much-needed, much-appreciated reference from Keith Klingensmith, just to indicate to Circe that Dana and I were sorta kinda legit), Circe was indeed on our side.

And we need friends on our side. We need music, and art, and fellowship, a common belief in something better, a communal commitment to march toward the elusive reward of lives well lived. A happy ending? How about a more perfect union, with truths held to be self-evident, a pursuit of harmony, sought in earnest with all of us on the same side?

That is our true national--and international--anthem.

There is music for every occasion. When my daughter got married, picking Joan Jett's "Bad Reputation" as our father-daughter dance perfectly expressed my belief in her independent spirit. When a shattered windshield nearly cancelled a planned trip (which ultimately turned out to be the last time I saw my oldest brother alive), only a spin of Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols could properly channel my anger and frustration. When called to deliver eulogies for loved ones, the lyrics of the Kinks' "Days" (for my Dad), the Beach Boys' "God Only Knows" (for my Mom), and Jim Croce's "I Got A Name" (for my Uncle Carl) helped me articulate my loss and my gratitude. And forty-two years ago today, Buddy Holly's "True Love Ways" expressed the hope and promise of love becoming marriage. Happy Anniversary, Brenda. I'm on your side, and I know that you're on mine.

Circe Link's "I'm On Your Side" stands as testament and foundation for all of the above, and more. Our nation is flooded with heartbreak, and the same sorry status applies to the world at large. It applies in ever-changing degree to people we hold dear. It applies to us.

We can't defeat the ache. That doesn't mean we have to accept it. We resist, with will and determination. We resist with the audacity of joy.

Joy embraces us and ours. The ache doesn't vanish. Maybe our joy can sing a little louder, at least for a little while. 

The betting line favors the ache, I guess. I'm still placing my chips on joy. 

With Circe and Christian singing and playing, we seek that joy together. Bound for glory.

Side by side. 

If you like what you see here on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), please consider a visit to CC's Tip Jar. You can also become a Boppin' booster on my Patreon page.

My new book of short stories Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies is out now, and you can get autographed copies of the new book and my previous book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) directly from me. You can still get my previous previous book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones from publisher Rare Bird Books, OR an autographed copy here. If you like the books, please consider leaving a rating and/or review at the usual online resources.

I compiled a various-artists tribute album called Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes, and it's pretty damned good; you can read about it here and order it here. 

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 about our history here

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1346

This coming weekend, I'll be attending a 50th anniversary high school reunion. Not MY 50th anniversary reunion; I won't be that old until, y'know, next year. Let's not rush this aging thing, people. But I had friends in the Class of 1976 (including two people who remain among my all-time best buds), and I've been given the opportunity to crash the 1976-2026 celebratory soiree. It should be a good time, and I'm looking forward to it.

As this event approaches, I've started to think (again) about who I was in 1976. I was sixteen. By then, I'd already determined that I wanted to be a writer, and I was the assistant editor of our high school...newspaper? Literary magazine? The NorthCaster was closer to the latter description, and our work in '76 earned some kind of official recognition from the Empire State School Press Association (top twenty in the state, or something like that). My main interest was getting my own writing published, usually humor pieces that were--trust me!--hilarious. No, really. The one time I got forced into approximating journalism (a puff piece about the school bookstore), I went out of my way to inject dollops of humor and personality. I was a failure at most mundane tasks. Writing was the only thing I could do well.

(I remember collaborating with my friends Beth [Class of '76] and Dan [Class of '77, and the editor I theoretically assisted] on a snarky faux teen multiple-choice questionnaire they'd concocted. The only specific bit I recall from that piece was their set-up of I have poked myself in the eye with a coke spoon? A) Yes B) No, to which I added C) I'm sorry, I can't see the question. I'm pretty sure this wasn't published.)

I did not have a girlfriend. i did have friends (boys and girls), and in the popular parlance of the '70s, I had begun to party. I took Driver's Ed in the summer. I read comic books, pulp paperbacks, and as much Harlan Ellison as I could. I listened to music, mostly oldies from the 1960s, and my radio allegiance began to shift from AM Top 40 to freer-form FM. The end of that year would commence my 1976-77 rock 'n' roll crucible, as I saw my first rock concert (KISS) and discovered acts like the Kinks, the Ramones, Graham Parker, Nick Lowe, the Rubinoos, the Sex Pistols, Greg Kihn, Blondie, the Runaways, Patti Smith, Television, the Dictators, and more.

And I started to get girlfriends. A gentleman should offer no further details.

High school was not a good time, though I guess it really wasn't worse than any other time. I've always dealt with feelings of self-doubt and occasional depression, and none of that is unique to me, nor unique to high school. Several years ago, I said to my counselor, "You know, I tell people that our sessions consist of you shaking me by the shoulders and yelling, HEY! Cheer the fuck up! She laughed and replied, "Yeah, and then I slap you one, right?" She was cool, and she was helpful. I needed help, and I got it.

So why am I going back for a high school reunion? Because there were indeed some good times during my sentence at North Syracuse Central High School. I know it now, and I even knew it then, my sense of malaise notwithstanding. I survived high school and college, failed a lot, and succeeded a bit, too. I got married, stayed married, and became a father--my happiest achievement! There were forks in the road, something lost, something gained, as well as the permanent losses a mortal world inflicts upon us all.

I kept writing, finally started to sell some of my writing, and wrote more. I got into this indie radio thing, elevating my stature by many, many inches. I've now written three published books, including my first fiction collection Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies, which is currently plummeting down the Least Sellers list. 

Yet I'm proud of it. And I don't get to any of this without the experience of high school.

Perhaps attending a reunion for a class other than my own takes some pressure off. I don't think I'll feel any specific need to try (and fail) to impress anyone. I am, after all, just a pesky underclassman. We'll all share a toast. Maybe I'll wear my WIN button. Maybe...not.

Here's to ya, my fellow Northmen and Northchicks. GO, NORTHMEN! And even though my sixteen-year-old self only knew five of the acts on the playlist below, 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.

The many fine This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio compilation albums are still available, each full of that rockin' pop sound you crave. A portion of all sales benefit our perpetually cash-strapped community radio project:

Volume 1: download
Volume 2: CD or download
Volume 3: download
Volume 4: CD or download
Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio:  CD or download

Volume 5: CD or download

TIRnRR # 1346: 7/19/2026

TIRnRR FRESH SPINS! Songs we think we ain’t played before are listed in bold

THE AMPLIFIER HEADS: A Girl Named Chop Suey (Rum Bar, Super 8)

BEN VAUGHN: Just A Little Bit Of You (Bar/None, Mono USA)

THE MONKEES: A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You (Rhino, Headquarters & More)

THE BIG SIX: Twentieth Century Boy (Milan, VA: The Truman Show OST)

RAMSEY LEWIS: Day Tripper (Cadet, Wade In The Water)

ROBERT FRIPP: You Burn Me Up I'm A Cigarette [2021 Steven Wilson mix] (Uncut, VA: Good Evening, Hippies [Frippertronics, Collaborations And Rarities])

--

TAXI GIRLS: Midnight Mixtape (Stomp, Static)

THE MOBERLYS: Leave The Past Behind (Cherry Red, VA: Looking For The Magic: American Power Pop In The Seventies)

SUPREMIUM: What She Needs (Smile, Tales)

SEGARINI: Gotta Have Pop (Permanent Press, Gotta Have Pop)

THE SPONGETONES: Lifetimeline (Big Stir, single)

RAY PAUL: Pretty Flamingo (Permanent Press, Whimsicality)

--

STAR COLLECTOR: Black Nostalgia (n/a, Everything Must Go!)

THE CHESTERFIELD KINGS: She Told Me Lies (Rhino, VA: Children Of Nuggets)

SARA BAREILLES: Opening Up (Epic, What's Inside: Songs From Waitress)

LYRES: Help You Ann (Matador, On Fyre)

THE TAMS: I've Been Hurt (Acrobat, Be Young Be Foolish Be Happy)

THE NASHVILLE RAMBLERS: The Trains (Big Beat, VA: Come On Let's Go! Power Pop Gems From The 70s & 80s)

--

TIGER BOMB: Run Away (Get Hip. 15 Super Hits)

THE PLIMSOULS: Everyday Things (Rhino, The Plimsouls...Plus)

THE BLUE HERONS: Demon Slayer (Shelflife, Demon Slayer)

THE ENGLISH BEAT: Ranking Full Stop (IRS, I Just Can't Stop It)

BETH PEABODY: Out And About (single)

ELVIS COSTELLO AND THE ATTRACTIONS: You Belong To Me (Rykodisc, This Year's Model)

--

DAVID MYRH: Take A Run At The Sun (Oglio, single)

AMY RIGBY: Heart Is A Muscle (Tapete, Hang In There With Me)

THE FLASHCUBES: Sold Your Heart (Northside, Bright Lights)

THE BEE GEES: Such A Shame (Polydor, Idea)

THE PARTIES: Cryin' Shame (Rainbow Quartz, Cryin' Shame)

PHIL SEYMOUR: It's A Shame (Sunset Blvd, Phil Seymour 2)

--

RANDY KLAWON: Will You Go Away (single)

THE JAM: Away From The Numbers (Polydor, Direction Reaction Creation)

THE BANDWAGON: People Got To Be Free (Kent Soul, Breakin' Down The Walls Of Heartache: The Best Of 1968-1975)

ROXY MUSIC: Dance Away (Atco, Manifesto)

THE CONTOURS: Do You Love Me (Motown, The Very Best Of The Contours)

THE WHO: Don't Look Away (MCA, A Quick One)

--

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

CIRCE LINK AND CHRISTIAN NESMITH: I'm On Your Side (Kool Kat Musik, VA: This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 4)

THE SMITHS: The Boy With The Thorn In His Thigh (Rhino, The Sound Of The Smiths [deluxe edition])

THE HIGH FREQUENCIES: Subterranean Homesick Blues (Jem, VA: Jem Records Celebrates Bob Dylan)

THE ANIMALS: The Other Side Of This Life (MGM, Animalism)

PRINCE: When You Were Mine (Warner Brothers, The Hits/The B-Sides)

THE SMALL FACES: Wham Bam Thank You Mam (Sanctuary, Ultimate Collection)

--

MONOGROOVE: Back To School (Kool Kat Musik, Anthology)

THE MnM'S: I'm Tired (Burger, Melts In Your Ears 1980-81)

P. J. SOLES: Rock 'n' Roll High School (Sire, VA: Rock 'n' Roll High School OST)

THE MUFFS: That's For Me (Omnivore, No Holiday)

THE RUNAWAYS: School Days (Hip-O Select, The Mercury Albums Anthology)

THE RAMONES: 7 And 7 Is (Radioactive, Acid Eaters)

THE COASTERS: Charlie Brown (Warner Platinum, Yakety Yak--The Coasters Collection)

JUNIPER: Boys! Boys! Boys! Boys! Boys! (Confidential Recordings, Juniper)

--

THE HOVERING SPOOKS: More Than You Like Me (n/a, single)

TOM PETTY AND THE HEARTBREAKERS: Don't Do Me Like That (MCA, Anthology: Through The Years)

THE SELECTER: On My Radio (EMI, Greatest Hits)

WAINWRIGHT'S GENTLEMEN: Ain't That Just Like Me (Edsel, VA: Eddie Piller Presents British Mod Sounds Of The 1960s)

GARY FRENAY: Just Like Me (Kool Kat Music, VA: This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5)

EMPEROR PENGUIN: I Wouldn't Put It Like That (Kool Kat Musik, Gentlemen Thieves)

THE GREENBERRY WOODS: Waiting 'Round For Something To Go Wrong (Big Stir, It's All Good, Sugar)

THE BEATLES: I'm A Loser (Capitol, Beatles '65)

--

SKOOSHNY: Crossing Double Yellow Lines (Think Like A Key Music, The Recordings 1971-1981)

Tonight on THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO

We've got your new stuff, we've got your old stuff, we've got your everything-in-between stuff. THE RAMONES (though, oddly, nothing from the ALL THE STUFF compilations)! THE AMPLIFIER HEADS! RAMSEY LEWIS! THE MUFFS! TAXI GIRLS! THE JAM! JUNIPER! THE BLUE HERONS! BEN VAUGHN! EMPEROR PENGUIN! BETH PEABODY! THE MOBERLYS! THE SPONGETONES! ELVIS COSTELLO AND THE ATTRACTIONS! THE HIGH FREQUENCIES! AMY RIGBY! THE CONTOURS! STAR COLLECTOR! RANDY KLAWON! THE PLIMSOULS! TIGER BOMB! THE TAMS! LYRES! DAVID MYRH! SKOOSHNY! PRINCE! ROXY MUSIC! THE RUNAWAYS! THE SELECTOR! THE GREENBERRY WOODS! THE ANIMALS! THE SMITHS! THE SMALL FACES! THE HOVERING SPOOKS! MONOGROOVE! THE MONKEES! ALL the stuff! And MORE! Sunday night, 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, streaming via sparksyracuse.org, and as WESTCOTT RADIO on the Radio Garden app. The weekend stops HERE!

10 SONGS (plus a High School Reunion BONUS!): 7/18/2026

10 Songs is a weekly list of ten songs that happen to be on my mind at the moment. The lists are usually dominated by songs played on the previous Sunday night's edition of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl. The idea was inspired by Don Valentine of the essential blog I Don't Hear A Single

This week's edition of 10 Songs draws exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1345

THE HIGH FREQUENCIES: Subterranean Homesick Blues

We open this week's broadcast bop-a-thon with another great track from the forthcoming tribute album Jem Records Celebrates Bob Dylan, this one courtesy of that force of rockin' pop nature known as the High Frequencies. As our pal Fritz Van Leaven reminds us, Elvis Costello's "Pump It Up" was directly inspired by Bashful Bobby's "Subterranean Homesick Blues;" for their take on the song, the High Frequencies retain the original punk and bile of Robert Zimmerman and Declan McManus alike, while applying an accomplished dash of pure, pretty effervescence that enhances the experience without diluting its anger. The pumps still work! Maybe vandals tried to take the handles, but the mighty muscle of the High Frequencies stopped the damned vandals cold. LOOK OUT, KID! You will absolutely be seeing and hearing this one in future playlists. 

RAMSEY LEWIS: Wade In The Water

Before viewing Questlove's excellent new documentary Earth, Wind & Fire: To Be Celestial vs. That's The Weight Of The World, I did not know that EWF's Maurice White had been a drummer with the Ramsey Lewis Trio from 1966 to 1970. See, ya learn stuff watching TV. That connection was sufficient to prompt Ramsey Lewis's return to the TIRnRR playlist, a feat accomplished with the title tune from Wade In The Water, the first Lewis album to feature White. Wade in the water? Smokin' on the water! We'll hear another track from the same album this Sunday night.

Why? We got a good reason. (And we're not taking the easy way out.)

THE ICICLES: I Wanna Know

THE BLUE HERONS: Take A Break

From this week's playlist commentary:

"... A recent Only Three Lads podcast introduced me to the music of the Blue Herons, and further informed me that Blue Herons singer Gretchen DeVault was also in the Icicles. And I love the Icicles! That compelled me to buy the current Blue Herons album Demon Slayer, to pull out my trusty CD copy of the Icicles' A Hundred Patterns, and to include a track from each in this week's playlist...."

Over the past couple of decades, the Icicles' "Snowman" has been a frequent fixture of our seasonal playlists, and I confess my short attention span--which my daughter once described as AD...OS! (Attention Deficit...Ooo, SHINY!)--prevented me from delving further. We remedied that by playing "I Wanna Know," another go'geous track from A Hundred Patterns, and I cursed the AD..OS! that stopped us from programming this perfect crystal twenty years ago. 

When Gretchen and her Blue Herons collaborator Andy Jossi were on O3L, the show's hosts Brett Vargo and Uncle Gregg played the title track from Demon Slayer, and I was duly mesmerized: Dreamy and vibrant, with echoes of '90s worthies like the Primitives and the Darling Buds. WANT! And got. That's why a benevolent deity gave me a credit card in the first place.

I intended to include that title track in this week's show, but the playlist ran a teensy bit too long, forcing me to sub the slightly shorter "Take A Break" in its place. Not to worry! We will slay that soulless demon on our next show.

THE RAMONES: I Wanna Live

From a previous edition of 10 Songs:

I moved back to Syracuse from Buffalo in 1987. It was not a great time in my life, and it was still going to be a little while before things got better. 

In good times and less-good times, music has always been a highlight. I don't remember if I heard "I Wanna Live" before picking up my copy of the Ramones' 1987 album Halfway To Sanity. I may have seen its video on MTV, but my memory insists I didn't even know the Ramones had a new album out when I spotted and immediately purchased Halfway To Sanity at The Record Theatre up on the SU hill. 

The album includes a fab guest appearance by Blondie's Debbie Harry on "Go Li'l Camaro Go," a meeting of CBGB's minds I'd been wishing for since the late '70s. Nonetheless, my favorite was (and is) "I Wanna Live." 

Is it a life-affirming track? By default, I guess, though it could also be read as a suicide note. But the guitar sounds like it wants to live. Joey Ramone likewise sounds like he's digging in for the long haul. It's what I want, and I'm going with that. 

GENERATION X: Dancing With Myself

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE SPONGETONES: Lifetimeline

This week's show was already programmed when we received word that TIRnRR Fave Raves the Spongetones were releasing a new single. Well, we've gotta play THAT!. Advance copy secured, playlist tweaked ever-so-slightly, and this uberfab track "Lifetimeline" was on the radio where it belongs. And it's back where it belongs again on our next show. The lifetimeline is secure.

SKOOSHNY: It Hides More Than It Tells

Think Like A Key Music is one of our favorite archival labels, particularly for their recent slate of previously-unreleased '70s and '80s live tracks by the majesty of the Shirts (as heard here and here). Think Like A Key's new Skooshny collection The Recordings 1971-1981 plays right into our lovably ornery demographic, preserving 21 tracks of left-of-the-dial pop music that merited a much wider audience. I remember reading about Skooshny in the pages of Bomp! magazine (and I think in Trouser Press) when I was in my teens and early twenties, but I don't think I heard any of their music at the time.

Well! We're hearing it now, thanks to the good folks at Think Like A Key Music. And we're putting it on the radio. More next week.

BETH PEABODY: Out And About

A lot of the coolest radio shows on the whole friggin' planet have been playing "Get It Out," the fabulous current single by Beth Peabody. It's a great song choice, and "Get It Out" deserves every second of that airplay.

We also played Beth's "Get It Out" last week, but we've been playing its virtual flip side "Out And About" all along. Both songs were written and previously recorded by Jim Basnight, Beth sang on Jim's versions, and Jim now plays on Beth's new versions, too. Jim's "Get It Out" has itself received its share of TIRnRR spinnage, and maybe that's why our current Beth Peabody selections have gravitated to "Out And About" instead of "Get It Out."

Still, I don't think we're merely defaulting to "Out And About." Man, both tracks are as radio-ready as one could wish, but there is a specific groove in "Out And About" that just annexes my attention, making its continued TIRnRR playlist appearances both inevitable and unerringly, righteously appropriate.

THE AMPLIFIER HEADS: Rock 'n' Roll Riot

This little mutant radio show has been all in for the Amplifier Heads' forthcoming album Super 8, doling out advance singles as they've become available. That willfully manic plan brings us this week to "Rock 'n' Roll Riot," an exercise in a-stompin' and a-rompin' that lives up to the celebratory promise of its title. Rock 'n' roll riot? Sign us up! And yet another track from Super 8 will open our next radio riot on Sunday. Man your stations, Amplifier Heads! There's a riot going on the air.

MONOGROOVE: Back To School

Back to school? Yep. Got a 1976 high school reunion party that I'll be crashing next week. I'm sure that night's soundtrack will stick to the music of the Me Decade, but for now we start our prep time with a spin of  Monogroove's TIRnRR Pick Hit "Back To School." We'll continue that prep on our next show, supplementing "Back To School" with three additional secondary-education tracks (two from the '70s, one from before I was born) that put the proper BOOM! in the ol' sis-boom-bah. 

And just like when I was in high school: I solemnly swear not to learn anything.

If you like what you see here on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), please consider a visit to CC's Tip Jar. You can also become a Boppin' booster on my Patreon page.

My new book of short stories Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies is out now, and you can get autographed copies of the new book and my previous book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) directly from me. You can still get my previous previous book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones from publisher Rare Bird Books, OR an autographed copy here. If you like the books, please consider leaving a rating and/or review at the usual online resources.

I compiled a various-artists tribute album called Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes, and it's pretty damned good; you can read about it here and order it here. 

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 about our history here

Dave Murray's 70th Birthday [alternate video]

 

Today is our pal Dave Murray's 70th birthday. Yesterday, we shared a congratulatory video I concocted to commemorate the occasion. Today, on his actual birthday, here's an earlier take of that video, with some different jokes, some of the same jokes, a Kinks-inspired opening I discarded, and a familiar lack of actual entertainment. No matter. IT'S DAVE'S BIRTHDAY! And Happy Birthday to you.

THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO wishes DAVE MURRAY a Happy 70th Birthday

Tomorrow (July 17th) is our friend Dave Murray's 70th birthday. Dave's a good bud, and he's a very good writer; for proof of that claim, look no further than his fascinating 2024 novel A Breath Of Fresh Air, a compelling work of fiction inspired by Dave's own real-life experience as a Cystic Fibrosis patient and a recipient of a double lung transplant more than twenty years ago. And long before the 1998 debut of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl, Dave was the very first Dana & Carl fan, going all the way back to 1992 and our pre-TIRnRR radio show We're Your Friends For Now.

To celebrate Dave's 70th birthday, I made a little video, offering a virtual toast to Dave as he enters his seventies. The video also offers further proof that I can't play a friggin' instrument to save my life. But no matter! It's the thought that counts. And we're thinking Dave deserves the happiest birthday. We hope you'll join us in sending him that wish.

TV EYE: Another updated list of TV series I've seen in their entirety

Above image by Tyrone Biljan, courtesy of 13thdimension.com

In 2021, I posted a list of TV series that I've seen in their entirety, every episode. This is another update of that list, still missing a number of shows my memory can't retrieve, but adding some recent completions. The list also includes current series that I've watched in their entirety to date, with either the promise or the hope of additional episodes coming soon. Those series are marked with an asterisk.

I like TV shows. This is an attempt to list every TV series I've ever watched in its entirety, from Season 1 Episode 1 through the blowout finale. It includes mini-series, broadcast series, cable series, and streaming series without discrimination. And it includes some series I saw piecemeal, as long as I'm sure I saw all of the episodes in whatever sequence I got to them. Some I saw on first run, others I watched after the fact. It is a woefully incomplete list--because, y'know, memory--but it's a start. I'll come back here to add more series as I remember them.

The Adventures Of Superman
Angel

Agatha All Along
Arrow
Batman
The Bear
Being Erica
Billy Joel: And So It Goes
Bionic Woman [2007 series]
Birds Of Prey
Black Lightning
The Bob Newhart Show
Bosom Buddies
The Bronx Is Burning
Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Bunheads
The Crazy Ones

Daisy Jones & The Six

Daredevil

*Daredevil: Born Again

The Defenders [Marvel Comics series]

The Dick Van Dyke Show

Echo

Ellery Queen

Étoile

The Event

The Falcon And The Winter Soldier

Firefly

Firefly Lane

The Flash [1990-1991 series]

The Flash [2014-2023 series]

Flashforward [2009-2010 series]

*The Four Seasons

Freaks And Geeks

Friends

Get Back

Gilligan's Island

Gilmore Girls

Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life

Glee

Go On

The Good Place

Gotham

Gotham Knights

The Green Hornet

Hawkeye

Heroes

Heroes Reborn

High Fidelity

The History Of The Sitcom

Inhumans

Iron Fist

Ironheart

It Was A Very Good Year

Jessica Jones

Ken Burns: Country Music

Krypton

Loki

Luke Cage

M*A*S*H

Mad Men

*A Man On The Inside

Marvel's Agent Carter

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

The Mary Tyler Moore Show

The Middle Man

The Monkees

Moon Knight

Mrs. America

Ms. Marvel

The Munsters

The New WKRP In Cincinnati

The Newsroom

No Ordinary Family

*Nobody Wants This

Our World

Pan Am

Peacemaker

The Penguin

Pistol

Police Squad!

Poker Face

Powerless

Pushing Daisies

Quantum Leap [1989-1993 series]

Quantum Leap [2022-2024 series]

Quarry

The Queen's Gambit

Reaper

Ringer

*Ripple

Schmigadoon!

Secret Invasion

She-Hulk: Attorney At Law

Sherlock

Smallville

Smash

Square Pegs

St. Elsewhere

Star Trek

Stargirl

**The Steven Banks Show

Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip

Supergirl

Superman And Lois

Taylor Swift: The End Of An Era

*Ted Lasso

This Is Us

Timeless

Unorthodox

V [2009-2011 series]

Veronica Mars

The Village

WandaVision

We'll Get By

The West Wing

WKRP In Cincinnati

Wonder Man

The Wonder Years [1988-1993 series]

The Wonder Years [2021-2023 series]

Younger

The Z-Suite

Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist

If I forgot any series you think I must have seen from start to finish, I welcome attempts to jog my stubborn memory.

There is one series cited with a double-asterisk: The 1994 PBS comedy series The Steven Banks Show. I saw all of the broadcast episodes, but there were additional episodes completed but never aired. Haven't seen those, so...double-asterisk. (Some previous versions of this list also asterisked NBC's 2017 DC Comics sitcom Powerless, but I have now seen all of its episodes, including the three that were never broadcast. I also found the series' unaired original pilot on YouTube; the pilot was very different from the later pilot and series, and I wish the show had followed its original direction.)

This list arbitrarily excludes animated shows, only because I didn't want to rack my brain to identify which cartoon series qualified; the cartoon list would include things like The Flintstones, Batman: The Animated Series (and the subsequent related Superman and Justice League series that were part of that B:TAS universe), and Avatar: The Last Airbender. Among live-action shows, Arrested Development and Twin Peaks would have been listed on the basis of their original network TV runs, but both have since been revived, and I haven't seen any of the latter-day episodes. (On the other hand, I have seen the continuation of Veronica Mars, and I wish there were more episodes to come.)

Among current series, I'm very much looking forward to new seasons of Daredevil: Born Again, The Four Seasons, Nobody Wants This, A Man On The Inside, and (especially!) Ted Lasso, as continuations of all five have already been announced. I'm hoping we'll hear that the Netflix series Ripple will also be returning. 

(I'm way late to the Ted Lasso party; I'd heard the hype and enthusiasm of the show's fans, but never had any real interest in investigating it. My wife and I wound up watching its pilot episode on a whim, loved it immediately, and obsessively watched all three seasons over the course of the next week or two. Ted Lasso now challenges The Good Place for the title of my all-time favorite series. Believe!)

I own home video copies of just a handful of complete TV series. I have The Monkees on DVD and on Blu-ray, Batman on Blu-ray (and I proposed a Batman-Monkees comic-book mashup here), Shindig! on an unauthorized set of DVD-Rs (and I really need to go back and finish watching those), homemade VHS copies of The Green Hornet and Police Squad!, and, if we count non-physical media, the 2011-2012 series Pan Am on iTunes. I may write about Pan Am some day; the timing of its original network run coincided with some emotional turmoil in my life, and the idea of jetting off to Europe seemed mighty appealing to me. The pilot episode of Pan Am would serve as part of the climax in the first chapter of a long-gestating memoir I call Spain, a piece which, frankly, I doubt I'll ever have the will to write.

There are still a lot of older TV series that should probably be on this list. It's likely that I've seen every episode of Get Smart, The Beverly Hillbillies, F Troop, The Odd Couple, The Andy Griffith Show, Hec Ramsey, Switch, When Things Were Rotten, and a big ol' bunch of others, but my reasonable doubt is sufficient for me to omit them from this list. There are some other older shows--The Guns Of Will Sonnett, the 1960s Tarzan, Disney's Zorro--I'd like the opportunity to re-visit, but for now, I don't think I've seen all of those episodes.

Yet. But Zorro is on Disney +. I thought I would've watched all of those by now--damn the real words and its unreasonable demands on my time!--but I have seen all of the first season, and I'm digging the second and final season. Then I'll try to track down the four subsequent one-hour specials. They're not technically part of the Zorro series, I guess...

...But I still wanna see 'em.

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My new book of short stories Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies is out now, and you can get autographed copies of the new book and my previous book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) directly from me. You can still get my previous previous book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones from publisher Rare Bird Books, OR an autographed copy here. If you like the books, please consider leaving a rating and/or review at the usual online resources.

I compiled a various-artists tribute album called Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes, and it's pretty damned good; you can read about it here and order it here. 

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 about our history here