Friday, June 19, 2026

THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! A weekly feature on THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO [updated list]

The pop noir genius of Todd Alcott

Time for another update on This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio's weekly Greatest Record Ever Made! feature.

With the publication of my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1), some of the GREM! pieces linked below have been removed from this blog for the time being; I'm told it's because of something about free milk and a cow, but I don't understand dairy farming. They'll be back...someday. In the mean time, y'know, BUY THE BOOK!!

Here's the weekly GREM! story so far:

In 2022, we started doing The Greatest Record Ever Made! as a (nearly) weekly feature on This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio. Here's an updated list of the weekly GREM!s so far. More to come. Some of these appeared in my GREM! book, some may or may not appear in the hypothetical GREM! (Volume 2), and one--the Ramones' "I Don't Want To Grow Up"--appears in my book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones.

Each update gives me another chance to share some of Todd Alcott's brilliant images of classic rock 'n' roll songs reimagined as pulp paperbacks. I need to devote a full post to Alcott's work one of these days (or nights). Meanwhile, you can visit his site and buy some stuff. 

And here's a reprise of what I previously wrote about TIRnRR's weekly GREM! series:

An infinite number of tracks can each be THE greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns.

In 2022, with an eye toward mining the vast resource of material prepared for my ongoing concept The Greatest Record Ever Made!, we started doing a weekly GREM! feature on This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl.

Part of the motivation here was, frankly, an effort to cut a tiny little corner in writing my weekly 10 Songs column. See, laziness is the mother of invention. Deciding that one 10 Songs entry each week could be a link to a previously-written Greatest Record Ever Made! piece meant that I only hadda write about nine songs. FREEDOM!

But a weekly feature also enhances the show itself. Prior to this, it had been a very long time since we had any specific weekly feature on TIRnRR. There used to be a weekly Forgotten Original!, there was a weekly Mystery 45! (where Dana grabbed a single from his collection and played it without previewing it), there was a very brief flirtation with Unsafe At Any Speed! (playing a record back at something other than its intended rpm), and I think we even may have had a weekly GREM! feature at some point. Maybe not. Maybe.

But these were all many years ago. The tentative beginning of our current weekly GREM! feature was in February of 2022, when we played Dusty Springfield's "I Only Want To Be With You" on our February 6th show, and then followed with "Thank You, Girl" by the Beatles the next week. Then, in typical fashion, I completely forgot about the idea for a few weeks.

Pretty quick work, right?

GREM! resumed as a weekly thingie at the end of March in 2022, and continued thereafter. It skips a week every so often...but not very often. Anyway, here's a list of all of 'em so far. I think the only one we repeated was "That Thing You Do!" by teen sensations the Wonders. Please be aware that I am not under oath. 

But we played them all on the radio. It's our own ongoing contribution to the infinite.

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights, 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, streaming at sparksyracuse.org and on the Radio Garden app as WESTCOTT RADIO. The weekend stops HERE!

THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! The Weekly TIRnRR Featured Songs [updated list]

SOUTHSIDE JOHNNY AND THE ASBURY JUKES: I Don't Want To Go Home

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.

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Thursday, June 18, 2026

THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! The Bangles, “Live”

From 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 theyu take turns. Today, this is THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE!

THE BANGLES: Live
Written by Emitt Rhodes
Produced by David Kahne
From the album All Over The Place, Columbia Records, 1984

The hit 1980s group the Bangles. The broad Nuggets niche of 1960s garage, punk, and psychedelia. Never the twain shall meet.

Those of us with even a perfunctory knowledge of pop history know the above statement is nonsense. The Bangles drew significant inspiration from the sounds of the sixties, influenced notably by the Beatles, by American folk-pop acts like We Five, and by the Laurel Canyon axis of SoCal pop music, from the Byrds to Buffalo Springfield to the Mamas and the Papas. 

As a part of L.A.’s Paisley Underground, the Bangles were one of many acts in the early eighties professing and practicing a devout, pervasive connection to a vibrant rock ‘n’ roll scene that came nearly two decades before them. Maybe much of the general public couldn’t automatically draw a line from 1960s touchstones like Pandora’s Box or Riot On The Sunset Strip to this distaff Fab Four mugging through “Walk Like An Egyptian” on MTV. But the Bangles had more in common with Love or the Electric Prunes than with virtually any of their Reagan-era Top 40 contemporaries.

The Bangles wore their sixties loyalties with pride. Their eponymous 1982 EP included four originals, plus one cover, "How Is The Air Up There?," a sixties obscurity originally done by the Changin' Times in '65, and later recorded by the La De Das, for whom it was a hit in their native New Zealand in 1966. The Bangles at that time were guitarists Vicki Peterson and Susanna Hoffs, bassist Annette Zalinskas, and drummer Debbi Peterson, Vicki's sister. Zalinskas moved on after the EP, replaced by Michael Steele. The group signed with Columbia Records for their first full-length album, 1984's All Over The Place.

All Over The Place is pure delight, sensitive and vulnerable in spots, brash and confident where it needs to be. The original songs are fantastic, and the two covers (of the Merry-Go-Round's "Live" and Katrina and the Waves' "Going Down To Liverpool") are sufficiently obscure that many (me included) thought they were both originals. 

"Live" was particularly instructive. It was my vicarious introduction to the music of Emitt Rhodes, who had fronted the Merry-Go-Round before beginning a solo career that was critically praised but unsuccessful at retail and radio. The Bangles' recording of  "Live" retains the delicate shimmer of Rhodes' original version with the Merry-Go-Round, but adds a sense of benevolent determination, an engaging confidence that you didn't hear when Rhodes sang it. The difference enhances the song; it becomes prettier and folkier, but also stronger, cooler. 
 
The Bangles' subsequent albums made them superstars. 1986's Different Light hit # 2, and included the massive hit “Walk Like An Egyptian,” a novelty tune that became the group’s signature number. 1988’s Everything spawned a massive hit with the ballad “Eternal Flame.” The Bangles disbanded unpleasantly in 1989, but regrouped in 2003 for the Doll Revolution album. They continue today, albeit without Michael Steele. 2011's Sweetheart Of The Sun proved that the Bangles remain a force to be reckoned with.

But All Over The Place...! That's just a great, great album by any standard. "Live" is one of its highlights. Live your life before you pass away, don't waste a day. Wanderlust hits. Music swells. Live. Live. Live. Live.

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

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Wednesday, June 17, 2026

THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE: The First Cut Is The Deepest

From 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!


P. P. ARNOLD: The First Cut Is The Deepest
Written by Cat Stevens
Produced by Mike Hurst
Single, Immediate Records [U.K.], 1967

 We will fail. That much is inevitable at some point. No matter how hard we try, how good our intentions or how ruthless our execution, even if we have successes here, there, and nearly everywhere, we will eventually fall short of our goal. This fate is assured, and no feel-good sentiment can mitigate that fact. We will fall. We will fail.

 And even when we fail, still we'll try to love again. 

 "The First Cut Is The Deepest" is well-known via hit covers by Rod Stewart in 1977 and Sheryl Crow in 2003. Each of these is, really, a good record on its own, though neither is within hailing distance of the version recorded by the song's author, Cat Stevens. And no version--no version--is within light years of the beguiling, seductive, flawless original release by P. P. Arnold.

 Like most American pop fans, my introduction to this Cat Stevens composition was delivered by Rod Stewart in 1977. I liked Stewart's record, but then my girlfriend played Stevens' version for me. Whoa! Instant fave rave, and I eventually scored my own copy on a double-album compilation called Hard-Up Heroes. I don't know how long it was before I realized that Stewart had omitted a line from the chorus, and everyone else has likewise skipped the same line after that. All versions include When it comes to being lucky, she's cursed/When it comes to loving me, she's worse, but then Rod and Sheryl Crow and all other punters leave out But when it comes to being loved, she's first, which strikes me as a pretty important line. That's how I know! 

For many years, I thought Cat Stevens released the first version of his own song, but P. P. Arnold's exquisite rendition actually predates Stevens' record. I say P. P. Arnold is also considerably prettier than either Stevens or Stewart, but that's me. Even if we close our eyes and just listen to her absolute mastery of every syllable, every nuance of longing and regret, hope and fear, it's clear that P. P. Arnold's standout performance of "The First Cut Is The Deepest" is The Greatest Record Ever Made.

 P.P. Arnold had been an Ikette, singin' and shakin' behind Ike and Tina Turner. She left the Ikettes while in England in 1967, and began a solo career. She was encouraged by Mick Jagger, and she had a relationship with Steve Marriott, then the lead singer of the superb British Mod combo the Small Faces. She would work with the Small Faces, singing backup on their classics "Tin Soldier" and "Itchykoo Park," while Marriott sang on her 1968 single "(If You Think You're) Groovy."

Arnold's first single was "The First Cut Is The Deepest." Yeah, her first single was The Greatest Record Ever Made. Maybe that's an intimidating way to start one's solo career, but her subsequent catalog is also loaded with distinctive and timeless track, The first cut is the greatest. That's how I know.

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.

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Tuesday, June 16, 2026

COMIC BOOK COVER GALLERY: Comics I enjoyed during summers in the '60s and '70s


With summer tentatively scheduled to arrive next week, let's set up a stack of old comic books, grab an ice-cold glass of lemonade...and then remember to place the lemonade way, way far from the comic books. Accidents will happen.

Sure, diggin' comic books is a year-round thing for me, then and now. But when I was a schoolkid in the '60s and '70s, there was something extra-special about reading comics in June, July, and August, unfettered by the silly responsibilities of homework. I stocked up on comics for vacations (a subject embraced in a previous Comic Book Cover Gallery), but I also read 'em in my back yard, sprawled on a deck chair, a fresh supply of funnybooks funded by quarters earned mowing lawns. 

Even better: Summers were the domain of DC Comics' annual Justice League-Justice Society. I looked forward to that event like a little kid counting down sleeps to Christmas Day. In the words of a guy associated with a different comics publisher: 'Nuff said.

So here's a selection of some comics I enjoyed during some summer months circa 1966-1977. Not everything here was necessarily published in summer, but I have memories that associate each and every one of 'em with that time of year (like the 1965 issue of Superman I read over and over while staying at my grandparents' house in Missouri in 1966). The only one pictured that I never owned is the little Aurora Comic Scenes book starring Batman, which belonged to my cousin (who did let me keep his Lone Ranger Aurora book). 

I started college in August of '77, and while I continued buying and reading comics into my freshman year, I stopped before the summer of '78. I graduated in 1980, and resumed buying comics almost immediately thereafter.

But today's gallery is all about comics I devoured in between school years, when I was a lad unburdened by great power or great responsibility. Lemonade at the ready, perched at a safe distance. Take me to Earth-Two, man. The summer's here and the time is right. Up. Up. AWAY!

(As always, images courtesy of The Grand Comics Database, which is grand indeed.)

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.

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