GUITARS VS. RAYGUNS!! A picture is worth 38,633 words

The physical proof of my new book Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies has arrived. I'm giddy, I tell ya. GIDDY! I'm going to examine the proof, revel in the experience, and then approve it for publication. Fifty years since deciding I wanted to maybe someday write and publish a book of short stories, that dream has come true. 

June 12th. Stay tuned.

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.

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. My new book of short stories Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies is due out soon; meanwhile, you can get an autographed copy of my previous book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) here, and 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.

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.

GUITARS VS. RAYGUNS!! (Non-musical) Real-life people, established fictional characters, and familiar pop culture locales and properties mentioned in my new book

As we inch closer to the publication of my new book Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies (ebook due June 12th, physical paperback aiming for the same date but likely to be an eensy bit tardy), here's a list of real-life people, established fictional characters, and familiar pop culture locales and properties that get a mention somewhere in the book. Hey, I'm establishing context! Almost all of these are merely passing mentions, but each helps me weave my tangled web of professional lies.

I've already posted a list of musical performers mentioned in the book; this is a supplement to that list. And I hope the Marx Brothers and the Three Stooges will forgive me for grouping them here rather than with the (other) singers and musicians.

ROLL CALL! Here's more of the incidental cast of Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies:

A & W

Neal Adams

AHOY Comics

Ursula Andress
Marie Antoinette

The Apollo Theater

Ashtabula
Batman

Belgium
Humphrey Bogart
James Bond

Boston, MA
Boston Red Sox
Marion Zimmer Bradley

Brooklyn

Buffalo State College
Captain America
Captain Marvel Adventures

Carrolls
Carnegie Hall
The Cavern
CBGB
Michael Chabon

Chik Fil-A

Cleveland
Max Allan Collins
Conan the Barbarian
General George Custer
Leonardo da Vinci

The Dakota
DC Comics

Detroit
Dracula

Dresden
Isadora Duncan

Economy Bookstore
Harlan Ellison

Farfisa

Fender Stratocaster 

Fenway Park

Phil Foglio
The Fool
Anne Frank

The Globe Theatre
Lady Godiva

Goebel's Beer
Flash Gordon
Sue Grafton

The grassy knoll
Dorian Gray
The Green Hornet

Paul Gulacy
Dashiell Hammett

Harvey's Hamburgers

Joseph Heller

The Hindenberg

Hiroshima
Adolf Hitler
John Irving
Steve Irwin
Jack Kirby
Largo
Cloris Leachman
Leaves Of Grass
Stan Lee

Little Big Horn
Live Aid

London, England

London, Ontario

Long Island
Madison Square Garden
Magic Alex
Nelson Mandela
Marquess of Queensberry
Marvel Comics
The Marx Brothers
Willie Mays

McDonald's

Metropolis
Lorne Michaels
Ming the Merciless

Missouri

Mona Lisa

Mondo's Bakery

The Monterey Pop Festival

Mosrite guitars 

New York Giants [baseball team]
New York Yankees

North Syracuse

North Syracuse Super Subs

Northern Lights Shopping Center

The OK Corral
Lee Harvey Oswald
Bettie Page
Satchel Paige
Sara Paretsky
Penthouse
Playboy
Edgar Allan Poe

The Polo Grounds
Pyramid Books
Vidkun Quisling

Red Barn

Rickenbacker 12-string guitar
The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame

Buck Rogers

Rolling Stone

San Francisco
Saturday Night Live
William Shakespeare
Zack Snyder

Something Happened
Mickey Spillane
The Star-Club
John Steinbeck
Bram Stoker
Superman

Syracuse Chiefs
The Three Stooges

The Titanic

Lyle Waggoner
Warren Publishing

Adam West

The above luminaries (and occasional despicables) join my own creations Skip Keller, Hit Corps, Amber, Willington Blue, Mephisto Records, the Copperhead Kid (from Lawton, Texas), the sheriff, the deputy, Spillane, Stooge, Montgomery Pylon, Louise, Dorian Gray (not the famous one), Wild Edgar Poe (ditto), Scott, 'Wichburger, Omar, Commercial Time Passages, Tom, Rain-Hat Sam, the Warlord, Jack Mystery, Trevor Harris, Morrie, Miles Franklin, Kirby Simon, William Hand, Pants-On Flyers, Rich, the Lovable Lunkhead, Flora, Anna, Dennis, Billy, President Copperhead, the detective, the agent, the puppet master, Scratchy McQuade, Sam (and everyone he ever knew), Ms.Padir, Cambridge Caring Acres, Ephram, Marie DeMille, April, the trio of Steve, John, and Darlene (and their high school classmates), Mr. Dean, Lazarus, and--of course!--the potty-mouthed guys 'n' gals of my planet-hopping rock 'n' roll combo Guitars Vs. Rayguns: Rocky, FeeFEE!, Derek, Leiko, and Beckie. AMPS AT 11! Phrases on stun. After fifty years of dreaming about it, my short story collection is about to move its bad self into the real world.

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.

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. My new book of short stories Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies is due out soon; meanwhile, you can get an autographed copy of my previous book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) here, and 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.

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.

THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! The Who, "The Kids Are Alright"

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, as long as they take turns. Today, this is THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE!

THE WHO: The Kids Are Alright

Written by Pete Townshend

Produced by Shel Talmy

Single from the album My Generation, Brunswick Records [UK], 1965

Power-pop is what we play - what the Small Faces used to play, and the kind of pop the Beach Boys played in the days of "Fun Fun Fun" which I preferred

--Pete Townshend, 1967

Power pop. Power Pop 101, in fact.

You can't talk about power pop without talking about the early Who, "I Can't Explain" through The Who Sell Out. It's not just because Pete Townshend coined the phrase; it's because he and his band embodied it. Everything the Who did before Tommy is at least peripheral to power pop, and much of it is the power pop Gospel.

I was very much a latecomer to appreciating the Who. I remember hearing "Pinball Wizard" and "See Me Feel Me" on AM Top 40 radio, but I didn't really develop any serious interest in the Who until my senior year in high school. A spring '77 presentation of '60s rock 'n' roll videos at Syracuse University hooked me on "I Can't Explain," prompting me to scurry back to my sister's copy of the essential Who compilation Meaty Beaty Big And Bouncy. Appreciation achieved! A year later, Bomp! magazine taught me that the Who invented power pop. Appreciation intensified.

(And yeah, I still say the Beatles invented power pop. Ain't no losers in this debate.)

Meaty Beaty Big And Bouncy introduced me to "The Kids Are Alright," one of power pop's early defining tracks. In the '90s, when I wrote a history of power pop for Goldmine, I called the article "The Kids Are Alright." I regarded the song as a sort of power pop litmus test: If you can't imagine a group pulling off a credible cover of "The Kids Are Alright," it ain't a power pop band.

"The Kids Are Alright" remains one of power pop's all-time defining tracks, a powder keg of combustible bubblegum, teen frustration, guitar, harmonies, kerosene, and a match. And Keith Moon. I don't know what Moon's drum kit did to deserve such a beating, but I'm pretty sure the poundin' percussive punishment won't dissuade his drums from committing future sins. Recidivist drums. Naughty drums! Somebody's gonna get their drum head kicked in tonight.

I don't mind.

In college, I briefly preferred a cover version by the UK band the Pleasers to the Who's nonpareil original. Part of this was to rib my roommate's girlfriend (who was a BIG Who fan), but I really did have that preference at the time. Decades later, our weekly rockin' pop radio shindig This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio was originally supposed to be called The Kids Are Alright--It's Sunday night, and THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT!--with the Pleasers singin' the titular tune. We switched to the Ramones-approved This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio while on the way to the studio for our debut show in 1998.

We're not kids, not now and not then. But it's alright.

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.

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. My new book of short stories Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies is due out soon; meanwhile, you can get an autographed copy of my previous book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) here, and 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.

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.

COMIC BOOK COVER GALLERY: June cover dates acquired in the '60s, '70s, and '80s

This week's Comic Book Cover Gallery welcomes the month of June by casting its dim widdle spotlight on comic books bearing June cover dates. Er...never mind the fact that the routine practice of post-dating comics means that a comic book sporting a "June" cover date probably hit the spinner racks in early Spring. Man, don't let pesky facts get in the way of a good gimmick.

(And we are going strictly with cover dates, which will include a number of bi-monthly titles that list "May-June" in the indicia but proclaim only the latter month on the cover.)

As always, we'll be sticking exclusively to the '60s, '70s, and '80s era of acquisition I've established for these galleries. Today's selections include books I bought new, back issues I acquired after the fact (but within the timeline), and B-stock contraband originally purchased without their covers. These aren't actual photos of comics in my collection; most images are courtesy of the Grand Comics Database, which is grand indeed. But I did have each and every one of 'em at some point in time.

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.

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. My new book of short stories Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies is due out soon; meanwhile, you can get an autographed copy of my previous book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) here, and 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.

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 # 1339

This weekend marked ten years since the release of the Monkees' brilliant 2016 album Good Times!, and I wish I'd had the presence of mind to commemorate the anniversary on this week's show. We do play the Monkees here almost every week, and Dana happened to program a track from 1967's More Of The Monkees for this week's extravaganza, but I regret that I forgot to properly recognize my favorite album of 2016 as it reaches its tenth birthday.

Even without Good Times! representation, this week's show was pretty flippin' fabulous, and its playlist can speak confidently and eloquently on its own behalf--see below! But let's take a moment to celebrate Good Times!

2016 was not a good year. It was marked by the passings of so many of our pop heroes, from David Bowie to Prince to Muhammed Ali, and punctuated in November by...yechh. Just yechh. We're still suffering from the ongoing tsuris of America's all-time worst self-inflicted wound (well...its worst until 2024). 2016 was not a good year? Man, 2016 sucked.

In bad times, we rummage for whatever good we can find. My unexpected feeling of depression when Bowie died compelled me to get back into writing; writing had always been central to my sense of self, but I'd all but given up writing. In 2016, I refocused and returned to writing, first by starting a daily blog and eventually by beginning the process that would get me to write my first two books (with a third due out this month) and even to start writing and selling short fiction. 

Amidst bad times: Good times.

The Monkees' comeback album Good Times! embodied the promise of its title, reuniting Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork, and Michael Nesmith for an exquisite new work, produced under the direction of the great Adam Schlesinger. The late Davy Jones was represented on the album by an archival track from '67. A few of the other tracks were built upon material dating to the original flourish of Monkeeshines in the '60s, but most of it was brand new.

And it was exciting. The first advance single "She Makes Me Laugh" was underwhelming but still pretty good, second single "You Bring The Summer" was terrific and radio-ready, and third single "Me & Magdalena" was flat-out astounding, providing an unexpected depth and gravitas. We played the hell out of them, and the Good Times! album track "Birth Of An Accidental Hipster" was TIRnRR's # 3 most-played individual track in 2016. 

When I was a freelance writer (1984-2006), I wrote a ton of record reviews. I came to dislike doing them and stopped, cold turkey. I made one exception to my otherwise strict NO MORE RECORD REVIEWS!! policy: Good Times! review. It was worth it. And in the playlist commentary for the Dana & Carl show that aired ten years ago this weekend, I wrote:

"Good Times!, the new album from the Monkees, was released last week. I can't remember the last time I felt as much anticipation and enthusiasm for a new album release, and I'm so happy to say that the album lives up to all hopes and expectations. I know 2016 isn't even half over yet, but I can't see how any forthcoming release could possibly prevent Good Times! from being my Album Of The Year. Nothing can erase the toll this year's parade of mortality has taken on our collective pop psyche, but it's nice to finally have something to celebrate--wholeheartedly!--in this dismal year."

Good times. We'll take 'em if we can get 'em. And 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 will be available...soon. Definitely soon. 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 # 1339: 5/31/2026

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

THE SPONGETONES: (I Really) Need To Kiss You (Big Stir, single)

THE KNACK: No Matter What (Omnivore, Knackology: The Zen Recordings)

THE HALF/CUBES FEATURING GLENN BURTNICK: Bend Me, Shape Me (Jem, single)

THE MIAMIS: We Deliver (Omnivore, We Deliver: The Lost Band Of The CBGB Era [1974-1979])

BIG MAMA THORNTON: Hound Dog (Time-Life,  VA: The Rock And Roll Era: Roots Of Rock : 1945-1956)

THE CONQUERORS: Telling You (It's All Right) (High Dive, Wylde Time)

--

THE NUMBERS: Deception (Kool Kat Musik, My Beautiful Distance)

THE LIKE: I Can See It In Your Eyes (Geffen, Release Me)

THE BEE GEES: I Can't See Nobody (Polydor, Bee Gees' 1st)

THE SMITHS: Jeane (Rhino, The Sound Of The Smiths [deluxe edition])

THE AMPLIFIER HEADS: A Song Called Sha La La (Rum Bar, single)

THE MUMPS: Just Look, Don't Touch (Omnivore, Rock & Roll This, Rock & Roll That)

--

SUNBUZZ: Anna Lee (single)

DAR WILLIAMS: Beautiful Enemy (Razor & Tie, My Better Self)

THE SUPREMES: Up The Ladder To The Roof (Motown, The '70s Anthology)

THE MIGHTY LEMON DROPS: Inside Out [Live London 27 Feb 88] (Cherry Red, Inside Out 1985-1990)

THE SHIRTS: Laura In The Lion's Den (Think Like A Key Music, Live At Paradise 1979)

THE POPPY FAMILY: I Thought Of You Again (March, A Good Thing Lost 1968-1973)

--

RANDY KLAWON: Kiss Good Night (single)

THE LONG RYDERS: What The Eagle Sees (Omnivore, Psychedelic Country Soul)

LINDA RONSTADT: It's So Easy (Rhino, Greatest Hits I & II)

THE HUMAN LEAGUE: (Keep Feeling) Fascination (Virgin, The Very Best Of The Human League)

RICK JAMES: Super Freak (Gordy, Street Songs)

THE NECESSARIES: AEIOU  (Omnivore, Completely Necessary [Anthology 1978-1982])

--

JAMIE JAMES: Fame & Love (Oglio, Steppin' Back 1999)

THE REZILLOS: Glad All Over (Cherry Red, Flying Saucer Attack - The Complete Recordings 1977-1979)

THE DAVE CLARK FIVE: Don't Be Taken In (Hollywood, The History Of The Dave Clark Five)

THE RUBINOOS: I Want To Hold Your Hand (Yep Roc, The CBS Tapes)

BANDA AL9: I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend (Wicked Cool, single)

THE SEARCHERS: Have You Ever Loved Somebody (Sequel, The 30th Anniversary Collection)

--

SPEEDFOSSIL: (You Won't) See Me (The Sound Cove, Time Flies: 10 Years Of Speedfossil)

SHOES: Girls Of Today (Real Gone Music, 35 Years: The Definitive Shoes Collection 1977-2012)

HOLLY AND THE ITALIANS: Youth Coup (Wounded Bird, The Right To Be Italian)

THE SOFT BOYS: (I Want To Be An) Angelpoise Lamp (Rhino, VA: DIY: The Modern World--UK Punk II 1977-78])

THE CYNZ: You Wreck Me (Jem, Confess)

THE YARDBIRDS: You're A Better Man Than I (Rhino, Ultimate!)

--

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE WHO: The Kids Are Alright (MCA, My Generation)

TODD RUNDGREN: Good Vibrations (Bearsville, Faithful)

THE RAMONES: Oh Oh I Love Her So (Rhino, Leave Home)

NEW ORDER: Krafty [single edit] (London, Singles)

THE DAHLMANNS: Dark Side With You (FABCOM!/Waterside, Life In Reverse)

SWELL MAPS: Ripped And Torn (Cherry Red, VA: 1977--The Year Punk Broke)

--

GENE CHAMPAGNE: Gimme Ammunition (Rum Bar, single)

THE MOSQUITOS: Hippy Hippy Shake (Kool Kat Musik, This Then Are The Mosquitos!)

THE LEMON TWIGS: You're Still My Girl (Captured Tracks, Look For Your Mind!)

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

THE WELL WISHERS: Pox On Everything (n/a, Expected Outcomes)

THE MONKEES: When Love Comes Knockin' (At Your Door) (Rhino, More Of The Monkees)

HIGH STRESS: Can You Feel Me? (Rum Bar, Still Here)

THE MnM's: Knock Knock Knock (Burger, Melts In Your Ears 1980-81)

--

THE GREENBERRY WOODS: Summer Song (Big Stir, It's All Good, Sugar...)

TRANSVISION VAMP: I Want Your Love (UNI, Pop Art)

THE KINKS: I Need You (Sanctuary, The Anthology 1964-1971)

THE TEST PRESSINGS: Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes (SpyderPop/Big Stir, VA: We All Shine On: Celebrating The Music Of 1970)

THE DICKIES: Rosemary (Cleopatra, Stukas Over Disneyland)

WIRE: Mannequin (Pinkflag, Pink Flag)

THE FOUR TOPS: Bernadette (Motown, The Ultimate Collection)

THE BEATLES: I'm Only Sleeping (Apple, Revolver)

--

THE FLASHCUBES: Got No Mind (Northside, Flashcubes On Fire)

THE FLASHCUBES: Dizzy Miss Lizzy (Northside, Flashcubes On Fire)

THE FLASHCUBES: Rawhide (Northside, Flashcubes On Fire)

Tonight on THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO

In our ongoing commitment to force ourselves to wonder what the hell year it is, Dana and Carl are proud to present brand-new music by THE SPONGETONES, THE NUMBERS, and THE GREENBERRY WOODS. THAT'S what we think of your silly calendar! We also have the latest from RANDY KLAWON, SUNBUZZ, THE LEMON TWIGS, and GENE CHAMPAGNE,a fresh archival treat by JAMIE JAMES, a new remix by SPEEDFOSSIL, replays of recent buzzworthies from THE DAHLMANNS, THE CYNZ, THE HALF/CUBES FEATURING GLENN BURTNICK, THE AMPLIFIER HEADS, HIGH STRESS, THE WELL WISHERS, and BANDA AL9, all mixed up/muddled up/shook up alongside THE KINKS, THE SUPREMES, THE RAMONES, DAR WILLIAMS, THE DICKIES, THE TEST PRESSINGS, THE FOUR TOPS, THE MUFFS, THE MOSQUITOS, THE YARDBIRDS, BIG MAMA THORNTON, SHOES, HOLLY AND THE ITALIANS, THE LONG RYDERS, LINDA RONSTADT, THE DAVE CLARK FIVE, THE LIKE, THE KNACK, THE POPPY FAMILY, and all manner of rockin' pop that is blithely indifferent to silly temporal expectations. It's time for THE BEST THREE HOURS OF RADIO ON THE WHOLE FRIGGIN' PLANET. 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: 5/30/2026

 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 # 1338

THE HALF/CUBES: Starless Summer Sky

It was a rare treat for us to preview no less than three new and as-yet-unreleased tracks from the Half/Cubes. Their next single (a cover of Jellyfish's "Ghost At Number One") is due out soon, and we gave that li'l gem its debut airing in this week's closing set. We placed the Half/Cubes' ace cover of Gilbert O'Sullivan's "Get Down" in the middle of the show, and we kicked our shindig off with their superb rendition of Marshall Crenshaw's luscious pop treasure "Starless Summer Sky." AND! We threw in another spin of the Half/Cubes' current single, joining forces with Glenn Burtnick for a bravura rendition of the American Breed's "Bend Me, Shape Me." The three new tracks will surely return in eventual future playlists. "Bend Me, Shape Me" plays again this Sunday night.

THE KNACK: Pop Is Dead

Get the Knack! Dana has been quite taken with the new Knack retrospective Knackology: The Zen Recordings, a set that mixes studio and live tracks from the 1990s and early 2000s, supplemented by demos and a live "Let Me Out" from 1979. The Knack's 1998 album Zoom was my favorite album that year, and it's possible that I like Zoom even more than I like Get The Knack. I'm delighted that Dana programmed Zoom's "Pop Is Dead," and you can bet on more Knackology to come on TIRnRR.

GRAHAM PARKER AND THE GOLDTOPS: Hotel Chambermaid

As pop fans worldwide clear space in their music libraries for Quality Footwear: Live At The Brook, the forthcoming new live album from the mighty Graham Parker and the Goldtops, we've been playing the album's advance singles. This week, I wanted to program a live version of a Graham Parker song that has specific meaning for me.

From a previous 10 Songs:

"Hotel Chambermaid" was the first Graham Parker and the Rumour I recall hearing, a favorite on Utica's WOUR-FM circa '76-'77, my senior year in high school. For some reason, I thought it was by Greg Kihn, whose take on Bruce Springsteen's "For You" was also getting some significant airplay on OUR, and I don't know why my mind put those two songs together. But both were part of my early FM radio listening, along with Nick Lowe's "So It Goes," the Kinks' "No More Looking Back," Joan Baez's "Time Rag," Michael Nesmith's "Rio," and, eventually, the Sex Pistols' "God Save The Queen." Radio's been good to me.

THE AMPLIFIER HEADS: A Song Called Sha La La

And the song chose its name well! The Amplifier Heads' new single "A Song Called Sha La La" is a perfect addition to our sovereign airwaves, channeling the Troggs and fortifying each Sha, La, and La with the essential oomph we require. Sha la LA! All three syllables (and, y;know, the rest of the record, too) return to the playlist on our next show.

THE SMALL FACES: Sha-La-La-La-Lee

Well, how else could you follow our first spin of "A Song Called Sha La La?" The Small Faces answer the call!

THE FLASHCUBES: Got No Mind

I've come to regard the Flashcubes' "Got No Mind" as 'Cubes guitarist Paul Armstrong's signature song. "Got No Mind" made its retail debut in a 4-track recording found (alongside a 4-track of 'Cubes bassist Gary Frenay's "Guernica") on the B-side of the Flashcubes' debut single "Christi Girl" in 1978. The definitive version was recorded live at The Firebarn in Syracuse in 1979, included on the group's 1997 anthology Bright Lights, and eventually reprised on the live at The Firebarn CD document Flashcubes On Fire. In the wake of PA's recent passing, we've been playing it a lot, and we will continue to do so. A friend recently told me that she used to think "Got No Mind" was a Sex Pistols cover rather than a Flashcubes original, and I say that's a testament to the great Paul Armstrong's ability to embody the raucous best of punk, and the Flashcubes' collective knack for making punk pop, and pop punk. Got no mind? I don't mind.

THE RUNAWAYS: Wait For Me

When I was a college student in the late '70s, I became a huge fan of the Runaways, and I consider myself fortunate to have seen them on a 1978 live bill with the Flashcubes and the Ramones (a concert memory recalled here). I played their third album Waitin' For The Night a lot--a lot--and I'm a little surprised we never got around to playlisting the album track "Wait For Me" until this week. Glad they were willing to wait!

THE CYNZ: Ghost Rider

My new book Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies is finished, with a fingers-crossed publication date of June 12th. HEY! That's an excuse to display the book's cover graphic again right here!

Well, that felt good. The book is a collection of some of my short fiction, and the rock 'n' roll in its DNA mandates passing references to a long list of real-life music performers (and you can read that list here). The Cynz are, of course, among TIRnRR's Fave Raves, so it makes sense that my imaginary planet-hoppin' combo Guitars Vs. Rayguns likes to include the occasional Cynz cover in their own outer space live sets:

"...Now, Leiko, Beckie, and FeeFEE! were all dressed the same as me (though each of 'em considerably better-looking than your boy Rocky), like co-ed Beatles at CBGB. The setlist was still peppered with covers, everything from the Buzzcocks and the Selecter to the Cynz and Etta James...."

Literary immortality! This week, we celebrate the notion of the Cynz as intergalactic superstars by returning their recent single "Ghost Rider" (from their current album Confess) to the real-world airwaves.

RIHANNA: Shut Up And Drive

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE RAMONES: Surfin' Safari

From a previous 10 Songs:

In my continuing efforts to fool people into thinking I'm way cooler than I really I am, I'll casually mention that I first learned that the Ramones had recorded a cover of the Beach Boys' "Surfin' Safari" when Joey Ramone told me that the Ramones had recorded a cover of the Beach Boys' "Surfin' Safari." Gabba Gabba HEY! 

The revelation came during my 1994 telephone interviews with the Ramones [as detailed in my first book, Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones]. Our Carbona-huffin' heroes had tackled the song previously, their version used as a backing track for a 1978 single by Rodney and the Brunettes. That would be legendary DJ Rodney Bingenheimer, with the Honeys handling the vocal heavy lifting. The Ramones had hoped to exhume their original parts (minus Rodney and his Brunette Honeys) to use in their All The Stuff (And More) reissue series, but the tracks could not be located.

Instead, the Ramones wound up recording it again during the sessions for their 1993 all-covers album Acid Eaters. Their '90s "Surfin' Safari" was only used as a bonus track on the album's Japanese edition, though it did eventually appear on a British reissue of Acid Eaters. It has never been released in America.

And lemme just add here in the present day: Surf's UP. A safari awaits.

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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. My new book of short stories Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies is due out soon; meanwhile, you can get an autographed copy of my previous book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) here, and 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.

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.