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

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.

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.

THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO # 1341: The real-life musicmakers of GUITARS VS. RAYGUNS!! SHORT STORIES AND OTHER WHITE LIES

The actor wants to direct. The dancer wants to produce. The lead singer wants to be a drummer. In creative fields, there are many who wish to expand into more than just what they're already known for doing.

I've wanted to be a writer since the early 1970s, when I was in my early teens. I wrote successful humor pieces for my high school literary magazine, and concocted failed (and terrible) submissions to DC Comics and various professional fiction markets. In the '80s, I combined my interest in writing with my passion for pop culture, and began freelancing as a non-fiction essayist, historian, and reviewer, first about comic books, and then about rock 'n' roll music. I never made much money at it, but I established some reputation as a pop music pundit. I eventually published two books in that area, 2023's Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones and 2024's The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1).

But I also wanted to write fiction; that was my first interest, and I finally made my first-ever fictiion sale in 2019, when the editors at AHOY Comics bought my short story "Guitars Vs. Rayguns." I've sold a few more short stories to AHOY since then, and some of those stories are included in my new book Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies. It's my first long-form fiction project, and I could not be prouder of the result.

Oh, let's get the product-shilling out of the way before we proceed:

CARL'S BOOKS!

Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies (2026): $15
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: $3 Media Mail to addresses in the lower 48 states

BUNDLES:

Buy any two 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]

Bundle purchases will include shipping at no extra cost

PAYMENTS via PayPal to ccdatsme@aol.com

Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies gathers tales of a foul-mouthed rock 'n' roll guitarist hijacked into space, an Old West gunslinger, a film noir gun moll who longs to be in a musical, a humorous fill-in superhero suddenly called to greatness, a former boy band star turned record company fix-it man, a would-be painter, an obsessed collector, a fated swordswoman, a fallen giant, a frustrated time traveler, a condemned sinner guiding tourists in Hell, a departed soul interviewing for a spot in Heaven, a 1976 Beatles reunion concert, and other untruths detailing love, loss, disappointment, miscellaneous hijinks, a fascination with shiny objects, and—occasionally--a juvenile sense of humor. 

WARNING: RUDE LANGUAGE! The author is a potty-mouth.

This week's edition of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio is devoted in its entirety to music by real-life musicmakers who are mentioned somewhere within the pages of Guitars Vs. Rayguns!  Most of the appearances are just passing mentions, but the Beatles get their own short story, Chuck Berry, the Monkees, Joan Jett, and King Elvis the First are involved in plot points, and the Ramones are presumed to be an unseen presence in pretty much everything I do. Here's a playlist of some of the actual rockin' pop superstars who help provide the soundtrack of my imaginary worlds.

Read it LOUD!

NEXT WEEK: Our Featured Performers will be VICKI PETERSON AND JOHN COWSILL. 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 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.

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 # 1341: 6/14/2026 The music of GUITARS VS. RAYGUNS!! SHORT STORIES AND OTHER WHITE LIES

Individual songs directly referenced in the book are noted in bold

CHUCK BERRY: Promised Land (MCA, The Anthology)

RICHIE BARRETT: Some Other Guy (MOJO, VA: Songs The Beatles Taught Us)

THE CYNZ: Love's So Lovely (Jem, Confess)

TOMMY JAMES AND THE SHONDELLS: Hanky Panky (Rhino, Anthology)

THE TRAMMPS: Disco Inferno [single edit] (Rhino, Rhino Hi-Five)

SIMON AND GARFUNKEL: Cecilia (Columbia, Old Friends)

--

THE GRIP WEEDS: Every Minute (Ground Up, The Sound Is In You)

THE JAM: Absolute Beginners (Polydor, Direction Reaction Creation)

THE MONKEES: (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone (Rhino, More Of The Monkees)

MOTÖRHEAD: Ace Of Spades (Bronze, Ace Of Spades)

SLADE: Gudbuy T' Jane (Polydor, Greatest Hits)

LL COOL J: Mama Said Knock You Out (Def Jam, All World)

--

ELVIS PRESLEY: Hard Headed Woman (RCA, The Top Ten Hits)

EDDIE COCHRAN: Twenty Flight Rock Razor & Tie, Somethin' Else: The Fine Lookin' Hits Of Eddie Cochran)

THE EAGLES: Tryin' (Asylum, Eagles)

BIG STAR: September Gurls (Ardent, # 1 Record/Radio City)

RONNIE SPECTOR AND THE E STREET BAND: Say Goodbye To Hollywood (Sony, VA: Cleveland International 1977-1983)

BLONDIE: Dreaming (Chrysalis, The Platinum Collection)

--

THE SMITHEREENS: Face The World With Pride (Sunset Blvd, The Lost Album)

R.E.M.: Radio Free Europe (Warner Brothers, Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage 1982-2011)

THE SELECTER: On My Radio (EMI, Greatest Hits)

THE SEX PISTOLS: God Save The Queen (Virgin, Kiss This)

THE ISLEY BROTHERS: It's Your Thing (Epic, The Essential Isley Brothers)

TALKING HEADS: Burning Down The House (Rhino, The Best Of Talking Heads)

--

PERILOUS: Rock & Roll Kiss (n/a, YEAH!!!)

THE WHO: I Can't Explain (MCA, The Ultimate Collection)

THE FLASHCUBES: No Promise (Northside, Bright Lights)

THE SMALL FACES: Afterglow Of Your Love (Immediate, The Autumn Stone)

PRINCE: Hot Summer (NPG, Welcome 2 America)

DAVID BOWIE: Queen Bitch (Virgin, Bowie At The Beeb)

--

WONDERBOY: Girl Songs (n/a, Hero Isle)

ELTON JOHN: Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting) (Rocket, Diamonds)

THE BAY CITY ROLLERS: Saturday Night (Arista, The Definitive Collection)

THE BUZZCOCKS: Ever Fallen In Love (IRS, Singles Going Steady)

ARETHA FRANKLIN: Save Me (Atlantic, I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You)

WANDA JACKSON: Let's Have A Party (Metro Select, First Lady Of Rockabilly)

--

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

P. P. ARNOLD: The First Cut Is The Deepest (Sequel, The First Cut)

QUESTION MARK AND THE MYSTERIANS: 96 Tears (Cameo, single)

ARTHUR ALEXANDER: Every Day I Have To Cry Some (Razor & Tie, The Ultimate Arthur Alexander)

DUSTY SPRINGFIELD: Son Of A Preacher Man (Rhino, Dusty In Memphis)

POP CO-OP: You Don't Love Me Anymore (Kool Kat Musik, VA: This Is Rock 'n' Roll Raduio, Volume 4)

CARL PERKINS: Blue Suede Shoes (Rhino, VA: Loud, Fast & Out Of Control)

--

THE RAMONES: Blitzkrieg Bop (Rhino, Ramones)

1.4.5.: Let's Groove (Northside, 3 Chords & A Cloud Of Dust)

NELSON RIDDLE: Batman Theme (Hightower, VA: The Music Of DC Comics: Vol. 2)

KISS: Rock And Roll All Nite [single version] (Mercury, Alive! 1975-2000)

GUADALCANAL DIARY: Kum Ba Yah (Elektra, Walking In The Shadow Of The Big Man)

OTIS REDDING: Mr. Pitiful (Rhino, Otis! The Definitive Otis Redding)

HERB ALPERT AND THE TIJUANA BRASS: Green Peppers (A & M, Whipped Cream & Other Delights)

THE CHIFFONS: He's So Fine (Laurie, The Best Of The Chiffons)

--

JOAN JETT: Bad Reputation (Blackheart, Bad Reputation)

YOKO ONO: Move On Fast (Rykodisc, Approximately Infinite Universe)

THE KINKS: You Really Got Me (Sanctuary, The Uktimate Collection)

SUZI QUATRO: Tear Me Apart (Razor & Tie, The Wild One: Classic Quatro)

LARRY WILLIAMS: Slow Down (Rhino, VA: Loud, Fast & Out Of Control)

CHAN ROMERO: Hippy Hippy Shake (Del-Fi, VA: Delphonic Sounds Today! [expanded promo version])

BRIAN WILSON: Meet Me In My Dreams Tonight (Rhino, Brian Wilson)

THE BEATLES: Paperback Writer (Apple, 1962-1966)

--

FRANK SINATRA: One For My Baby (And One More For The Road) (Capitol, Frank Sinatra Sings For Only The Lonely)

Tonight on THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO

Carl's just published another new book, a short story collection called GUITARS VS. RAYGUNS!! SHORT STORIES AND OTHER WHITE LIES. The book is a work of fiction, but we're celebrating its release by filling tonight's radio show with selections by some of the real-life musicmakers named-checked within its pages. THE BEATLES! THE RAMONES! ARETHA FRANKLIN! THE GRIP WEEDS! THE CYNZ! BLONDIE! THE FLASHCUBES! THE MONKEES! THE JAM! WONDERBOY! POP CO-OP! THE SMITHEREENS! MOTÖRHEAD! SLADE! THE ISLEY BROTHERS! WANDA JACKSON! THE SEX PISTOLS! TOMMY JAMES AND THE SHONDELLS! DUSTY SPRINGFIELD! P. P. ARNOLD! OTIS REDDING! THE KINKS! SUZI QUATRO! RONNIE SPECTOR! THE BAY CITY ROLLERS! GUADALCANAL DIARY! DAVID BOWIE! PRINCE! KING ELVIS THE FIRST! JOAN JETT! And our prerequisite MORE!!! We open the show with the first performer mentioned in Carl's very first fiction sale years ago: Mr. CHUCK BERRY! We've got music to accompany your reading. READ IT LOUD! 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: 6/13/2026

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 # 1340

THE HALF/CUBES: The Ghost At Number One

We gave you an advance listen to this latest single by the Half/Cubes a couple of weeks back. Now: It's OUT! So, y'know, we're playing it again. We play the hits! And ya can't get a bigger hit than # 1, as the Half/Cubes cover Jellyfish and the spirits 'n' specters all come out a-boppin'. NUMBER ONE!

THE BANGS: Getting Out Of Hand

Before they switched to their more familiar moniker, the Bangles originally called themselves the Bangs, We're guessing the earlier name was switched at Ellis Island. Lousy bureaucrats. As noted in the commentary accompanying this week's playlist, we recently had the very great pleasure of witnessing a fantastic live performance by Vicki Peterson and John Cowsill, she of the Bangles and he of the Cowsills. We play the Bangles and the Cowsills quite a bit in our sovereign airspace, and we're going to be playing even more on our June 21st show, when Vicki Peterson and John Cowsill will be our Featured Performers. Along with your Bangles, your Cowsills, and your tracks from Vicki and John's exquisite 2025 album Long After The Fire, you can expect to hear the Continental Drifters, the Psycho Sisters, Susan Cowsill, Tommy Tune, and more, all perched within the framework of whatever else we decide to play.

Will we be getting out of hand? Remains to be determined, I guess. But be assured: Bangles by any name would sound as sweet.

THE SPONGETONES: (I Really) Need To Kiss You

It's the second week in a row for TIRnRR airplay of the Spongetones' new single "(I Really) Need To Kiss You." Please see above Half/Cubes-related statement that we play the hits. We do! A theme show this coming Sunday night means we're giving 3/4 of the Spongetones the weekend off, but we'll be retaining the services of 'Tones bassist Steve Stoeckel, whose other combo Pop Co-Op just so happen to fit the theme perfectly. Fear not! The Spongetones will return soon.

HOLLY AND THE ITALIANS: Just For Tonight

This luscious pure pop confection comes to us from the 1981 classic The Right To Be Italian, which was the only full-length album released by the great NYC combo Holly and the Italians. A 1982 follow-up called Holly And The Italians was a Holly Beth Vincent solo album (and billed as such). The Right To Be Italian is one of my all-time favorite albums.

Some years back, the above-mentioned Spongetone Steve Stoeckel recommended I consider writing a series of blog pieces on behalf of individual albums I considered perfect. I took that advice, dubbed it Love At First Spin!, and wrote lengthy appreciations of the Barracudas' Drop Out With The Barracudas, the Byrds' Mr. Tambourine Man, and the Ramones' Rocket To Russia, but never completed any further entries in the series.

If I'd continued Love At First Spin, I probably would have gotten around to extolling the virtues of The Right To Be Italian. I have notes from what would have been that piece's opening paragraphs:

"Even our pop obsessions can be reined in by the limits of our budget. In 1981 I was a recent college graduate, flipping burgers under the Golden Arches to fund little things like rent and food. And beer. Oh, and a college loan, minuscule as it was. I certainly didn't bother with frivolous things like savings, or health insurance. 

"So what little remained of my weekly McDollars went to entertainment. Pop obsessions. Movies, books, magazines, comic books, the occasional bar-band rock 'n' roll show. But my biggest pop obsession was buying and listening to records.

"Duh.

"Still, whether new or used, there were only so many records I could afford to buy at any given time. Some pop obsessions had to be deferred.

"Where did I first hear of Holly and the Italians? I think the initial HEADS UP!! came to me via another pop obsession: CREEM magazine. I don't recall which of CREEM's supercool scribes reviewed the lone Holly and the Italians LP The Right To Be Italian, but I remember how he described the sound:

"Like Lesley Gore or the Angels backed by Leave Home-era Ramones...."

DAVID MYRH: Summer Summer Summer

As we dive into the summer season, David Myrh's new single "Summer Summer Summer" offers an absolutely ace celebration for the beach-bound convertible cruise of your bikini-clad dreams. School's out. Sun's up. SURF'S UP, too!

MIKE BROWNING: It's Festival Time

The summer's here, and the time is right. Mike Browning knows.

IRENE PEÑA: It Must Be Summer 

America's Sweetheart Irene Peña's 2011 album Nothing To Do With You is one of 21st century rockin' pop music's most underrecognized works. The album has never been given a physical release, and I first heard about it waaaaay after the fact, when the good folks at Big Stir Records offered a tenth-anniversary digital-download reissue. Nothing To Do With You retroactively became one of my favorite albums of the 2010s. It's a record that warrants wider appreciation, and it is long overdue for a CD release, perhaps in an expanded edition that includes even more from Irene Peña's catalogue o' wonder. HEY! RECORD LABELS! Yeah, YOU guys. GET ON THIS AWREADY!! And I'm first in line to write some liner notes.

I've been thinking about all of the above for a little while. This week, Dana's spin of Irene's impeccable non-album cover of the Fountains Of Wayne gem "It Must Be Summer" brought the thoughts up front. America's Sweetheart. Let's hear it all.

SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE: Hot Fun In The Summertime

From a previous edition of 10 Songs:

I have previously written that Sly and the Family Stone's "Hot Fun In The Summertime" is "as inviting and idyllic as any June-July-August embrace ever committed to wax, a comforting groove that shines in the daytime and sways with the shadows of twilight." I later added, "If memory serves, a poll of Trouser Press magazine readers in the early '80s named 'Hot Fun In The Summertime' as the # 1 choice for the title of all-time top summer song. Surpassing the Beach Boys in that category would seem a daunting task. But if anyone could do it, it would have to be Sly."

It would probably be a stretch to suggest that Sly Stone wrote "Hot Fun In The Summertime" under the influence of Brian Wilson. I don't quite believe any of Sly and the Family Stone's brilliant work was shaped by Wilson's pet sounds of the soul, at least not willfully. But it would also be a stretch to insist that Wilson wasn't a possible influence; Sly Stone was aware of everything going on in pop music in the '60s, and--to paraphrase something famously uttered by someone else in the Wilson family--Sly Stone was a genius, too. "Hot Fun In The Summertime" doesn't sound like the Beach Boys. Doesn't matter. Sly and Brian sound great in the same radio show. Hot fun, fun, fun in the summertime.

THE MONKEES: Birth Of An Accidental Hipster

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE RAMONES: I Don't Care

Effective this week, I have now written and published three books, two of them non-fiction, one of them a collection of professional lies (aka fiction). Each of the three books has included at least some element celebrating the Ramones; my first book was 2023's Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones, my 2024 book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) contains chapters about two Ramones tracks (plus one about Amy Rigby's "Dancing With Joey Ramone"), and the Ramones are a recurring reference point within my brand-new fiction project Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies. The spiffy Joey Ramone portrait seen above also appears in Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! The Ramones. It's safe to say I'm a big, big fan. The title of this week's Ramones track notwithstanding, it's plain to see that I do care.

Tomorrow night, June 14th, we're devoting the entirety of the next TIRnRR to music by some of the real-life musical acts mentioned in Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Chuck Berry! The Cynz! Slade! Wonderboy! The Grip Weeds! Aretha Franklin! Dusty Springfield! The Flashcubes! The Kinks! King Elvis the First! And lots, lots more, including the Ramones. Wouldn't be one of my books if it didn't reference the Ramones. This IS rock 'n' roll radio. Stay tuned for more rock 'n' roll. 

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