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 # 1359
THE HIGH FREQUENCIES: Shakin' Street
Kick out the jams, mother...wait, wrong MC5 song. As much as I've always adored "Kick Out The Jams," my favorite MC5 track remains "Shakin' Street," a pugnaciously percolatin' pop number that retains street cred while tossing off hooks like pills at a New York Dolls show. This new cover by the High Frequencies serves the song's legacy well, oomphing up the pop quotient but surrendering not an inch of the credibility. Shakin' Street. It's got that beat! And we're playing it again on our next show. Just like the kids on Shakin' Street, we'll NEVER give in.
THE DRIFTERS: Sweets For My Sweet
"Sweets For My Sweet" first entered the OBSESSION! category of my pop cosmology in the early '80s, when I (belatedly) fell for the Searchers' 1963 recording. I was at least vaguely aware of the Drifters' original from 1961, but that just-as-sublime original didn't quite register for me until I heard it on an oldies radio show a couple of years later. See how important radio is? I've never relinquished my fondness for the Searchers' rendition, and both the Searchers and the Drifters provide compelling performances (much like I revere "Twist And Shout" by both the Isley Brothers and the Beatles). I think I play the Drifters'"Sweets For My Sweet" an eensy bit more than I play the Searchers' "Sweets For My Sweet." It's sweet either way.
WEDNESDAY WEEK: Lose Control
I am SO taken with Souvenirs, the new four-song covers EP by the mighty Wednesday Week. We've previously played Wednesday Week's Souvenirs covers of the Zeros and the Dolly Mixture, and we go for the trifecta with this week's TIRnRR debut of Wednesday Week's lovely cover of Color Me Gone's "Lose Control" (the original version of which is itself a long-time TIRnRR fave rave). Their cover of Sandie Shaw's "Long Live Love" will be on our next show. Long live Wednesday Week!
GLENN ERB: Drunk In The Parking Lot
Sounds like a plan, right? It's important to have plans. Glenn Erb reminds you to plan responsibly. "Drunk In The Parking Lot." Think of it as a cautionary tale. And make sure someone else does the driving.
COCKTAIL SLIPPERS: Back Where You Belong
Cocktail Slippers' "Back Where You Belong" is one of my tippety-top new tunes this year, and not because guitarist Vega Andersson kinda-sorta cosplays Paul Stanley. No, the song itself is just a masterwork of chugging, strutting rock 'n' roll, like the best classic rock without the detritus of classic rock's clichés and excesses. The chorus nails it, particularly with its picture-perfect backing vocals. Right here is where this belongs!
THE FLASHCUBES FEATURING TOM KENNY: Got No Mind
As the November 7th Paul Armstrong memorial show at the Lost Horizon draws near, we're re-runnin' this bit for the duration:
Our friends at Big Stir Records are now accepting preorders for "Got No Mind," the new 45 by the Flashcubes featuring Tom Kenny. Offered as a memorial tribute to Flashcubes guitarist Paul Armstrong (the song's author), the track has already been a TIRnRR fixture, and it will remain so for the foreseeable. And to sanctify the release of this 7" slab o' cantankerous wonder, the mighty Big Stir is also offering original copies of two previous Flashcubes 45s--1979's "Wait Til Next Week"/"Radio" and 2016's two-fer of Chris Spedding covers, "Boogie City"/"Hey Miss Betty"--both individually and in bundles with the new one. Visit The Flashcubes page at Big Stir for details.
On Saturday, November 7th, fans and participants representing the Syracuse power pop and new wave rock 'n' roll scene that the Flashcubes ignited in the late '70s will gather at Syracuse's original home of rock 'n' roll The Lost Horizon to pay loud and heartfelt tribute to the late, great Paul Armstrong.
In his brash capacity as a guitarist and general spark plug for the audacious energy of the Flashcubes, Paul Armstrong was a key figure in the history of Syracuse rock 'n' roll, and the impact he and his brother Flashcubes Gary Frenay, Arty Lenin, and Tommy Allen have had upon my life and work is damned near beyond measure. As we bid farewell to Paul Armstrong, you can be damned sure we're gonna put on a tribute show that would make PA proud.
And to do that, a bunch of performers who loved Paul and shared his passion for three chords and a cloud of dust will gather at the Lost for a full-volume celebration of his legacy. We'll have live sets by Amerikan Primitive, Perilous, 1.4.5. Survivors, the Johnny Thunders Orchestra, The Wax Museum host Ronnie Dark, PA's Boston buds Sal Baglio and Mike Gent, Syracuse's favorite son Tom Kenny, and the Flashcubes featuring Mark Doyle. Your emcees will be Dana and Carl, and we promise the sort of bright-lights bonanza that Paul Armstrong would have dug the most.
TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW! It's possible there will still be tickets available at the door...but given the response so far, I would not recommend waiting. This one's for Paul Armstrong. And it's gonna be as loud as he was. YOU should join us. Got no mind? WE don't mind!
THE CLASH: Train In Vain
From a previous post:
"Train In Vain" is far and away the most pop-sounding track the Clash ever did. "Pop" never really seemed to be the Clash's primary goal; they were politically aware, socially conscious, and that ambition and reputation (plus, y'know, actually being great) made them the most revered group to come out of 1970s British punk. Punk songs like "White Riot" are pop, of course--it's ALL pop music--but "White Riot" isn't pop in the same way that "Train In Vain" is pop. Nor is "London Calling," nor is the throwaway B-side "1-2 Crush On You." Nor is "Rock The Casbah," even though that was the Clash's biggest pop hit in America. "Rock The Casbah" was popular; "Train In Vain" was pop. I tell ya, outside of "Train In Vain," the closest thing to pure pop in the Clash catalog o' hits is "Spanish Bombs," which is much prettier and catchier than one would expect of a song about the Spanish Civil War.
"Train In Vain" has no qualifiers, no asterisks next to its description as an unabashed pop tune. If we close our eyes, we can imagine "Train In Vain" by Otis Redding, "Train In Vain" by the Monkees, "Train In Vain" on Motown or Apple. As we open our eyes, it's the Clash, with guitar hero Mick Jones crooning a simple song over a simple riff, a boy spurned in love and unashamed to say it. There is not a shred of self-consciousness in play, no taint of irony; to paraphrase another set of British punks, he means it, man.
And "Train In Vain" got the Clash on the radio in America. "I Fought The Law" had received some attention before that, but "Train In Vain" was really the first Clash track to earn meaningful airplay in the States. For some, maybe it was the gateway to the Clash's manifestos, to "Clampdown"'s plea to let fury have the hour, because anger could be power. For some, maybe it was just a pop song on the radio. But it was on the radio, its lament I see all my dreams come tumblin' down/I can't be happy without you around offering as effective a teardrop as the works of Gene Pitney or the Four Tops. Even though love wouldn't stand by them, the Clash stand tall.
SUGAR: Needle Hits E
Lord, I forgot how friggin' awesome this track sounds until Dana reminded me by, y'know. playing it. Again: See how important radio is? Among Sugar's works, the acknowledged janglebuzz classic "If I Can't Change Your Mind" gets most of the glory, and maybe Sugar-man Bob Mould's previous combo Hüsker Dü is cited more often in rockin' pop retrospectives (and I agree that Hüsker Dü should be in The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame). "Needle Hits E" is the underrated equal to all of that.
THE RAMONES: All's Quiet On The Eastern Front
The Greatest Record Ever Made!
BARON DAEMON AND THE VAMPIRES: The Transylvania Twist
It's Halloween! In Syracuse, that means it's time for the Baron hisself, Baron Daemon. And this is also The Greatest Record Ever Made!
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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, its six-chapter novelette digest A Band Called GUITARS VS. RAYGUNS!, 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
