Yes, of course we're playing a couple of DOLLY PARTON tracks, as we join the entire world in mourning the passing of a true legend of pop music. We'll also bid farewell to TIM CURRY and SHELLY FABARES, and invoke our righteous embrace of past, present, and future with selections by MARY KARLZEN, THE SUMMERTIMES, THE SPONGETONES, DAVID RUFFIN, BLONDIE, PSYCHOTIC YOUTH, TAJ MAHAL, THE CATHOLIC GIRLS, SPECTRAFLAME, THE CARS, AMY RIGBY, MUCK AND THE MIRES, THE HALF/CUBES, LIBRARIANS WITH HICKEYS, EYTAN MIRSKY, THE CHELSEA CURVE, JOE JACKSON, HAIM, THE WONDERS, DEPECHE MODE, THE BANGLES, GIRLSCHOOL, RICHARD X. HEYMAN, THE RAMONES, THE MONKEES, TUFF DARTS, THE ROLLING STONES, THE WATERBOYS, BETH PEABODY, DAVE EDMUNDS, ETTA JAMES, REDD KROSS, THE MUFFS, VICKI PETERSON AND JOHN COWSILL, THE ENGLISH BEAT, and EARTH, WIND AND FIRE, among others. We'll open with another spin of a forthcoming new super-secret single that we can't say...but we CAN play! And we're gonna play a little bit of DOLLY PARTON, too. Not even Jolene could take this from us. 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!
My thoughts on pop music and pop culture, plus the weekly playlists from THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO with Dana and Carl (Sunday nights 9 to Midnight Eastern, SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM in Syracuse, sparksyracuse.org). You can support this blog on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/user?u=2449453 Twitter @CafarelliCarl All editorial content on this blog Copyright Carl Cafarelli (except where noted). All images copyright the respective owners TIP JAR at https://www.paypal.me/CarlCafarelli
Sunday, August 30, 2026
Saturday, August 29, 2026
10 SONGS: 8/29/2026
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 # 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.
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
Friday, August 28, 2026
BOPPIN's Monthly Day Off
Well, the idea of a blog taking its monthly day off means a little less when the once-daily blog has already stepped back from the "daily" part. Nonetheless! It's time to prep our monthly private post, shared only with Boppin's beloved paid supporters.
This month's private post is the entire text of my new novelette A Band Called GUITARS VS. RAYGUNS!, a vanity publication that gathers six related short stories from my recent book Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies, and lets 'em play as a short but punchy standalone narrative. From the new book's back cover blurb:
Originally a series of short stories, the individual tales of A Band Called GUITARS VS. RAYGUNS! form a novelette about the misadventures of a scrappy, foul-mouthed, planet-hopping rock 'n' roll group just trying to get through each cosmic one-night stand without getting laser-fried by drunken extraterrestrials demanding they play "Free Bird." The band doesn't wanna play "Free Bird."
Hijinks ensue.
The ebook of A Band Called GUITARS VS. RAYGUNS! is available right now from your usual online resources, and the paperback edition will be available very soon. If you're one of the nearly one dozen people who own a copy of my short story collection, then you already have all of the stories in A Band Called GUITARS VS. RAYGUNS! If you don't own that book, BUY IT AWREADY! Buy ALL my books!
The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) (2024): $30
Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones (2023): $25
All books are autographed, and can be personalized upon request
SHIPPING: $5 Media Mail to addresses in the lower 48 states
BUNDLES:
Buy any two of these three books, save $5
Buy all three books, save $10 ($60 for the lot of 'em)
[Same terms apply to multiple copies of the same book]
SHIPPING: Same $5 Media Mail to addresses in the lower 48 states
PAYMENTS via PayPal or Zelle to ccdatsme@aol.com
And if you also want this tiny little NEW new book A Band Called GUITARS VS. RAYGUNS!, I'll have autographed copies for sale at a slightly-reduced price of $5 plus shipping.
Daily blogging returns tomorrow, at least for a few days anyway. Hey, I only missed one day this week! Thanks for boppin'.
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
Thursday, August 27, 2026
THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! Styx, "Kiss Your Ass Goodbye"
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!
A few years back, writer S. W. Lauden (alias musician Steve Coulter of Tsar and the Brothers Steve) posted an excellent piece called "Let's Argue About Power Pop!," wherein our Steve ably took on the endless battles among power pop fans to agree on...anything. ANYthing. Roses are red. Water is wet. The sky is above, not below. Bounty is the quicker picker-upper. Anything! Steve gets it. And I can say that even though I (predictably) disagree with some aspects of his power pop description. Those are just details. Steve gets the essence exactly right.
One of the things that drives power pop traditionalists batty is suggesting that some popular mainstream rock band is a power pop act. Styx comes up as an occasional example, and trust me, Styx is not and has never been power pop.
I mean, except for the time that Styx was power pop.
Listen, man: I hated Styx. Hated 'em. In the late '70s, when I was a bourgeoning young punk rocker and power pop fan in college, proudly sporting a chip on my shoulder and the Ramones in my heart, Styx was the freakin' enemy, THE enemy, more than disco, more than prog, more than Southern Rock, more than Eagles, even: Pompous and bloated, anti-punk, anti-pop. The music of Styx represented everything I despised. One night out drinking, I used my jackknife to carve STYX STYNX into the tabletop at a local nightspot. It is safe to say that I was not a fan of Styx.
For all that, I usually declared a ceasefire in my war on Styx when their song "Lorelei" came on. Unabashedly pop, loaded with harmonies, the group's prerequisite bombast largely held in check, a bit too slick but still energetic, "Lorelei" is almost power pop. Its path to true 'n' everlasting janglebuzz is blocked only by lead singer Dennis DeYoung sounding annoyingly and whiningly like Dennis DeYoung. And it's still a great track anyway. I wished it had been by the Hollies instead of...these guys.
There's no such qualifier for "Kiss Your Ass Goodbye." This track from the 2003 Styx album Cyclorama is certified 100% DeYoung-free. Glen Burtnik (now a member of the Weeklings) was the main songwriter, sharing a co-write with the other members of Styx at the time. Burtnik sings lead, and the result is as power pop as the Raspberries or the Rubinoos. Hell, Burtnik even sounds a bit like noted pop fan Robbie Rist, and that is a compliment for damned sure. Perfect pop. Perfect power pop. By Styx. As hell freezes over and the power pop curmudgeons rail in protest, this track invites naysayers to pucker up already.
I came to the song via an online friend named Kathryn Francis. I haven't heard from Fran in a very, very long time, and I hope she's doing well. She was a fan of both Styx AND This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, and she was determined to break down my aversion to this band she loved. She pointed out a few lesser-known Styx tracks for subsequent airplay on TIRnRR, and our pop worlds co-existed in peace.
BUT! In 2003, Fran told me there was this new Styx song that would demolish my antipathy, no matter how hard I resisted. Man, when Kathyrn's right, she's right! "Kiss Your Ass Goodbye" remains an incredible track, a power pop tune--I said, A POWER POP TUNE!!--that has carved out a permanent berth in my ongoing All-Time Top 200. I haven't changed my mind about the familiar stuff, and I hear that many actual Styx fans disdain "Kiss Your Ass Goodbye," so I guess that dynamic remains in place between us.
I say this a lot: An act you actively despise may still be capable of creating one or more tracks you flat-out adore. And make no mistake: I loathed Styx. Still, an open mind can reap benefits. "Kiss Your Ass Goodbye" is now an all-time Fave Rave, and there are a handful of other Styx tracks that I don't mind: "Lorelei" as noted, plus "Too Much Time On My Hands" and a 2005 track called "Everybody Raise A Glass," the latter introduced to me via The Spoon, the essential podcast hosted by the above-mentioned Robbie Rist with Chris Jackson and Thom Bowers. I don't think the day will come when I have any use whatsoever for "Babe" or "Renegade" or goddamned "Mr. Roboto," but I concede that the Styx brand name doesn't necessarily have to prompt an immediate revulsion.
Yeah, y'know...not necessarily.
Even with the bands we don't like as much as some of our friends do, that damned, cheery open mind can unlock the doors of discovery. Raise a glass! Seize a little of that too much time on our hands! Tell Lorelei we oughta live together! In the ending you can bet everyone's an equal. Here's to the Men of The Spoon, and also to our old correspondent Kathryn Francis, wherever she is. Thank you, friends. Domo arigato. It's Styx, babe.
And, of course, this one Styx song is fully, resolutely power pop. Don't argue with me.
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
Tuesday, August 25, 2026
A Band Called GUITARS VS. RAYGUNS!
New book, collecting just the six Guitars Vs. Rayguns! stories from my recent short story collection Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies. The ebook is out today, the physical softcover book will be out soon, and it is intended as a deliberate curio rather than an essential purchase.
But it exists!
Sunday, August 23, 2026
This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1350
1350 shows. That's one thousand, three-hunnert 'n' fifty of these things. No, I don't know how we're still here either.
But we ARE still here! And the best part? We're still here next week, too. And if we've told you once we've told you 1,350 times: This is what rock 'n' roll radio sounded like on another Sunday night in Syracuse this week.
IN TWO WEEKS: On September 6th, the long-awaited return of DANA'S FUNKY SOUL PIT!
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.
Tonight on THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO
Our 1,350th episode kicks off with THE HALF/CUBES covering BASHFUL BOBBY DYLAN (from the new tribute album JEM RECORDS CELEBRATES BOB DYLAN), and concludes with a sneak preview of a forthcoming new single that's so secret it's listed on the playlist as [REDACTED] FEATURING [REDACTED] singing [REDACTED]. We don't mind. In between, we celebrate TIRnRR # 1350 with some old favorites, some recent favorites, and other, y'know, FAVORITES! by P. P. ARNOLD, DEVO, THE SPONGETONES, POP CO-OP, THE JAM, THE RAMONES, THE MUFFS, JUSTINE AND THE UNCLEAN, LAURIE BIAGINI, THE FLAMIN GROOVIES, WONDERBOY, BETH PEABODY, THE FOUR TOPS, THE SMITHEREENS, THE GO-BETWEENS, THE VERBS, CHUCK BERRY, THE COWSILLS, THE SOFT BOYS, THE GRIP WEEDS, ANNY CELSI, MANNIX, MATTHEW SWEET AND SUSANNA HOFFS, THE KNACK, UTOPIA, MAJOR LANCE, THE NUMBERS, HOLLY GOLIGHTLY, THEE HEADCOATEES, THE GUESS WHO, EYTAN MIRSKY, SUGAR PIE DeSANTO, THE BEATLES, THE KINKS, THE FLASHCUBES, and more. We'll also serve up a Happy Birthday spin to our pal BETH WOODELL, and offer two by THE CHELSEA CURVE as we join our friends across the rockin' pop world in mourning the late, great LINDA BEAN PARDEE. As another departed friend sang: All we wanna do is reminisce with you. It's TIRnRR # 1350. 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!