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 # 1350
THE HALF/CUBES: The Mighty Quinn
For our 1,350th show, we wanted to mix some of our old TIRnRR favorites with some new and recent TIRnRR favorites. Yes, just like any other episode of this show. We're remarkably consistent. Albums in the Jem Records Celebrates series of tribute albums have been consistent fixtures on our playlists, and we've looooooong been consistent supporters of anything related to Syracuse's own power pop powerhouses the Flashcubes. Combining the two? Well, that gives us the opening track for TIRnRR # 1350.
The Half/Cubes are Flashcubes Gary Frenay and Tommy Allen, working with Randy Klawon, Fernando Perdomo, and the occasional Special Guest Bat-Hero. The Half/Cubes make their way-overdue Jem Records Celebrates debut with this track from the newly-released Jem Records Celebrates Bob Dylan. Many years ago, I remember seeing Gary sing "The Mighty Quinn" with one of his other groups (Frenay and the Rays at Earthquake Ethel's); they sounded great, the Half/Cubes sound great, and Bashful Bobby Dylan hisself would be proud. We'll hear the Half/Cubes' "Quinn The Eskimo" again on our next show.
I didn't know Linda Bean Pardee very well; we were Facebook friends, and Dana and I were big fans of her group the Chelsea Curve. But news of Linda's passing was a punch to the gut. "Jamie, C'mon" has been our top go-to Chelsea Curve track, and we made sure to include that in this week's opening set. We opened our second set with "I Can't Help," from the most recent Chelsea Curve album The Rideout. We've already been programming that one for a couple of weeks--we play the hits, man--and we aim to keep right on doing that. We play it not just in memory of Linda (though that would be enough), but in celebration of her life and ongoing relevance to the sounds we wanna hear. The music helps. Rest easy, Linda.
THE SPONGETONES: The Music At The Close
Earlier this week, someone asked me about depression. I replied that anyone who isn't depressed nowadays isn't paying attention. Still, we soldier on to the best of our mortal ability, and art is one of the many resources we use to fuel our resilience. Whether as comfort or catharsis (or both), music stands at the ready.
If, like Brian Wilson, we just weren't made for these times, the Spongetones' current single "The Music At The Close" provides a soundtrack that fits the tsuris and uncertainty tsunami-ing across all directions. As stated in last week's 10 Songs:
"...A 'We'll Meet Again' to meet the overarching yechh of modern times, 'The Music At The Close' is the virtual 45 RPM equivalent of whistling through the graveyard, a joyride on the Titanic, stubbornly blessed with incongruous will to keep boppin' no matter how futile the boppin' may seem.
"The song was co-written by Spongetones bassist Steve Stoeckel and his Pop Co-Op cohort Joel Tinnel--two longtime friends of TIRnRR-- and if its stiff upper lip might be equally likely to contort into a sneer or a smile, one senses it's open to the promise of singing past the close--particularly if the 'close' refers to what the damned walls feel like they're doing all around us...."
CHUCK BERRY: Promised Land
Take us there, Chuck. Please...?!
STYX: Kiss Your Ass Goodbye
The Greatest Record Ever Made!
THE COWSILLS: She Said To Me
One of the many cool little bonus opportunities brought to us by doing this little mutant radio show has been the chance to put together several fine various-artists compilation albums for national release. That experience has allowed us to work with so many compelling recording artists from the past and the present, including people whose work we've admired for decades and decades. A partial list of TIRnRR compilation album participants includes the Rubinoos, Paul Collins, the Smithereens, John Wicks and the Records, the Catholic Girls, Blotto, Carolyne Mas...
...and THE COWSILLS!
The Cowsills' 1998 album Global is my favorite album of the 1990s, and Bob Cowsill was so incredibly nice to allow us the use of the sublime Global track "She Said To Me" on 2006's This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 2. Twenty years later, we are still giddy, and we will always be grateful.
And speaking of the This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio compilation albums....
LAURIE BIAGINI: Hey Mr. DJ
The final set of TIRnRR # 1350 needed to open with a track from our own 2022 compilation album This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5. I won't pretend any kind of modesty here: I regard this as one of the very best power pop (or power pop adjacent) comps ever done, and actually think it's the all-time # 1. SPOILER ALERT: I'm biased. But I mean it. There have been a lot of fantastic compilations in this broad category of rockin' pop, most notably the wonderful Yellow Pills collections curated by the ever-fab Jordan Oakes. I won't concede that anything in this realm is superior to This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5.
That album opens with a spoken introduction by my daughter Meghan ("These guys are still at it? Some people never grow up"), leading directly into Vancouver's phenomenal pop songstress Laurie Biagini with a call to action:
"Hey Mr. DJ, play me a song!"
As written here previously: "As much as we've loved pret' near everything Laurie has crafted over the years, 'Hey Mr. DJ' stands at the pinnacle. We realize it's not about us--the song's titular DJ is Laurie's beacon on a Saturday night, the evening before our own declaration that the weekend stops here--but man, it resonates in a way that's just magic to anyone who ever loved the radio. The track was on her 2022 album Stranger In The Mirror; when we started putting together This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5, 'Hey Mr. DJ' was the only thing we considered for that compilation's opening track. It initiates TIRnRR Volume 5's girl-and-boy song cycle (an idea that was a sort-of reimagining of this song cycle). 'Hey Mr. DJ' is absolutely essential to the concept for TIRnRR Volume 5."
Laurie Biagini asked us to play her a song. And we did. It is, after all, what we do. Thank you for being a part of this, Laurie. And thank you for helping us build an extraordinary album. We remain in your debt.
[REDACTED] FEATURING [REDACTED]: [REDACTED]
A great and special new single due out in November from our friends at Big Stir Records. BUT! It's a secret. Can't tell you about it because, y'know...secret. Nonetheless, we can play it! And we're playing it again at the top of our next show. Grab your bright lights and bikini bottoms--bikini tops are optional--and let's groove.
THE FLASHCUBES: Reminisce
And for this moment: All I wanna do is reminisce with you.
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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
