Musical artists mentioned in my book GUITARS VS. RAYGUNS!! SHORT STORIES AND OTHER WHITE LIES

My new book Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies is my first long-form fiction project, following two nonfiction music books (2023's Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones and 2024's The Greatest Record Ever Made! [Volume 1]). I'll be returning to nonfiction for my next two books (Make Something Happen! The DIY Story Of A Power Pop Band Called THE FLASHCUBES and a secret collaboration I'm referring to as I, [Redacted Redacted]. Down the road apiece, I have three novels in various early stages of pre-prep. I hope to write a big ol' little stack of books over the next few years, mixing fiction and nonfiction projects as my whims dictate.

But even as I delve more into just making stuff up, my love of music is an integral part of my writing's DNA. Of the three eventual novels referenced above, one of them--Meet The Frantiks!--features a fictional 1960s pop combo as a key element, and some incidental music content is likely in the other two novels (Lazarus Lives and The Legends Of The Copperhead Kid).

My new short story collection includes some fictional rock groups, notably the titular Guitars Vs. Rayguns, plus one short short about a combo I call Pants-On Flyers. There is a short story about a 1976 Beatles reunion concert, and one of the five Guitars Vs. Rayguns stories includes a cameo by legendary Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer [redacted].

Beyond those, the book contains a ton of passing references to real-life musical performers. Many of these are acts that our imaginary pop group Guitars Vs. Rayguns have covered in their live sets or rehearsals (or in their jam session with [redacted]), and we'll also hear a guy listing artists he prefers to his pesky younger brother's fave raves Pants-On Flyers, a girl telling her mother about Joan Jett, time-travel options to see Cab Calloway, Jimi Hendrix, or Enrico Caruso, a plot gimmick inspired (with proper credit) by the pilot episode of The Monkees, my own this-actually-happened! memory of singing a Ramones song onstage with members of 1.4.5. and Perilous, a guitarist's O'Jays t-shirt, some professional baseball players' choices of Now-batting! song intros, and random recording artists shuffled on an iPod as a frazzled guy tries to drive through a Midwest blizzard. The references may not seem material, but they suggest the specific soundtrack of the lies I'm attempting to tell.

Here they are! Musical artists mentioned in GUITARS VS. RAYGUNS!! SHORT STORIES AND OTHER WHITE LIES

1.4.5.

Arthur Alexander

Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass

P. P. Arnold

Richie Barrett

The Bay City Rollers

The Beatles

Chuck Berry

Big Star

Blondie

David Bowie

The Buzzcocks

Cab Calloway

Enrico Caruso

Ray Charles

The Chiffons

Eric Clapton

Eddie Cochran

The Cynz 

Bob Dylan

The Eagles

The Everly Brothers

The Flashcubes

Aretha Franklin

Dizzy Gillespie

The Girls From Petticoat Junction

The Grip Weeds

Guadalcanal Diary

Neil Hefti

Jimi Hendrix

Buddy Holly/The Crickets

The Impressions

The Isley Brothers

Wanda Jackson

The Jam

James Jamerson

Etta James

Rick James

Tommy James

Joan Jett

Elton John

Bobby Keys

The Kinks

KISS

Gladys Knight and the Pips

Al Kooper

Little Richard

LL Cool J

Madonna

The Markettes

Dean Martin

The Memphis Horns

The Miracles

The Monkees

Motörhead

Olivia Newton-John

Harry Nilsson

The O'Jays

Yoko Ono

Roy Orbison

Perilous

Carl Perkins

Pop Co-Op

Elvis Presley

Prince

Suzi Quatro

Question Mark and the Mysterians

The Ramones

James Ray

Otis Redding

R.E.M.

Return To Forever

Nelson Riddle

Chan Romero

Sam and Dave

The Selecter

The Sex Pistols

Paul Simon/Simon and Garfunkel

Frank Sinatra

Slade

Sly and the Family Stone

The Small Faces

The Smithereens

Ronnie Spector

Spinal Tap

Dusty Springfield

Sting

The Stylistics

The Supremes

Talking Heads

The Trammps

The Who

Larry Williams

Stevie Wonder

Wonderboy

If the list isn't complete, it's pretty durn close. I'm omitting acts that are referenced in the book but not specifically mentioned by name. I don't mention Blondie or Sly and the Family Stone, but I do mention both Sly Stone and Blondie drummer Clem Burke, and I figure those qualify. The list doesn't include group members mentioned individually if their band is also mentioned (like Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols, Dennis Diken of the Smithereens, Tommy Allen of the Flashcubes, Gene Simmons of KISS, Michael Nesmith of the Monkees, Marky Ramone, Joey Ramone, Dee Dee Ramone, Derek Smalls of Spinal Tap, Keith Moon of the Who, and each of the Beatles (John, Paul, George, Ringo, Pete, and Stu). Finally, the list excludes artists (like Neil Diamond and Lynyrd Skynyrd) whose work is referenced in the book without ever naming the artist. 

The finished book is still navigating the proofreading process. I should have it available for order (as paperback and e-book) within a couple of weeks. For those who choose to get it: I hope you enjoy my tapestry of lies. And as you read, I hope you can imagine hearing the music that accompanies those lies.

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 The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) is now available, and you can order an autographed copy here. You can still get my 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.

10 SONGS: 5/22/2026

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 # 1337

THE LEMON TWIGS: 2 Or 3

We are big fans of rockin' pop music, and we are delighted when the music we love is able to connect with a larger audience. The Lemon Twigs have garnered some buzz within our power pop world, and while they may not secure a TODAY'S HITS! radio berth alongside Taylor Swift and Sabrina Carpenter, we hope they do. Hell, we hope they record a track with Taylor and/or Sabrina. It's pop music. It's supposed to be popular.

Our own little mutant radio program has not given the Lemon Twigs a ton of airplay; believe it or not, I think we may have played Taylor Swift more often than we've played the Lemon Twigs, though that would be just a function of our short attention span (and my determination to demonstrate that some of Swift's stuff can fit in just swell alongside the Ramones, the Four Tops, and the Muffs in our chosen format--it's ALL pop music). We're going to try to program the Lemon Twigs more often; it's a bandwagon well worth hoppin' on for the ride.

No better place to start than the Lemon Twigs' latest album Look For Your Mind! Our friends at The Spoon podcast recently hooked me on the exquisite Look For Your Mind! gem "2 Or 3," compelling us to open our own show with that track. We'll hear the new album's title tune on Sunday night. Let's get this bandwagon movin'!

MARSHALL CRENSHAW: What Time Is It

The Jive Five's 1962 doo-wop classic "What Time Is It?" is one of my all-time favorite individual tracks, and it earned a chapter in my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). I was introduced to the song via Marshall Crenshaw's sublime 'n' dreamy cover version, heard on MC's 1983 album Field Day. Crenshaw's rendition held me in instant thrall from the second I heard it, and if my heart's desire migrated to the Jive Five, I never stopped loving the version I heard first.

This week, Dana's spin of the Distractions' "Time Goes By So Slow" prompted me to follow with "What Time Is It?" I had the Jive Five in mind, but then reconsidered and programmed Marshall Crenshaw's (punctuation-free) cover instead. Couldn't go wrong either way.

(Later, when annotating track credits for the posted playlist, I realized this was the first-ever TIRnRR spin for Marshall Crenshaw's "What Time Is It." As The Spoon's Robbie Rist recently reminded me, time takes time. Tick, tock.)

GRAHAM PARKER AND THE GOLDTOPS: Black Lincoln Continental

Another advance peek at Quality Footware: Live At The Brook, the forthcoming new live album from the elemental forces of Graham Parker and the Goldtops. "Black Lincoln Continental" is already available as a single, as is "Soul Shoes," which we played a couple of weeks back. On our next show, we'll treat you to the Quality Footware live cut of the first Graham Parker song I heard (back when I was an impressionable teen surgically affixed to my radio). Grab your soul shoes and hop in your black Lincoln Continental; on Sunday night, we've got a date with a hotel chambermaid.

THE JIVE FIVE: My True Story

Having given the Jive Five's first-set spot to Marshall Crenshaw's "What Time Is It," it was only fair to give the doo-woppers their due with an airing of their only big hit, 1961's # 3 smash "My True Story." This solution spared us from having to cry CRY cry whoa-oh-oh our blues away. This story's ended. It was no lie!

BLONDIE: Little Girl Lies

My next book is a short story collection called Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies. It's my first full-length foray into fiction, following two nonfiction books about music, and it does incorporate a lot of musical influences into its gathering of deliberate lies. The book takes its title from a series of short stories I wrote about a group of rock 'n' roll musicians from Earth playing gigs on other planets, and it name-checks (mostly in passing) a whole bunch of artists, from Enrico Caruso to LL Cool J. I'll post a list of the book's musical name-checks in the very near future.

I don't think I got around to name-checking Blondie, but I do mention one of the group's individual members. Not the gorgeous one you'd automatically expect me to mention! Blondie's powerhouse drummer Clem Burke is cited in this sequence from a story that appears late in the book, as uttered by planet-hopping Guitar Vs. Rayguns drummer Leiko:

Leiko leaned in for emphasis. "I'm Keith fucking Moon. I'm Marky fucking Ramone. I'm Clem fucking Burke. I'm Dennis fucking Diken from the Smithereens, Tommy fucking Allen from the Flashcubes, Ringo fucking Starr if I wanna be Ringo fucking Starr.

"I'm fucking LEIKO, bitches!"

I'm...convinced. Also frightened.

Leiko's a big girl, and she's neither cryin' nor lyin'. As I prepare the publication of my new book of little boy lies, TIRnRR offers this celebratory spin of Blondie's "Little Girl Lies." We hope Leiko would approve. If it pisses her off, I'm pretty sure she won't allow her status as, y'know, fictional to prevent her from kicking our asses.

THE WELL WISHERS: Pox On Everything

Nowadays, "pox on everything" may serve as go-to mantra. It also serves as the title of a new treat from TIRnRR Fave Raves the Well Wishers. Along with "Back Of The Line," "Pox On Everything" is one of two advance tracks from the next Well Wishers album Expected Outcomes. The album is due in June, we played both of the advance tracks this week, and we're playing "Pox On Everything" again on our next show. Think of us as pox protection! Apply the pox only where it's warranted. No shortage of options there...

TOM KENNY & THE HI-SEAS: Welcome To The Working Class

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

MOTÖRHEAD: Motörhead

On our May 10th show, the weekly Greatest Record Ever Made! spot was occupied by "Please Don't Touch," an invigmoratin' 1981 cover of a Johnny Kidd and the Pirates classic, executed by Headgirl. Headgirl were the combined metal might of the boys in Motörhead and the girls in Girlschool, and that week's extravaganza also featured a spin of Girlschool's oomph-driven cover of T. Rex's "20th Century Boy." We figured we owed Motörhead their own reciprocal playlist representation this week. Hey, howzabout the first Motörhead track I ever heard? The eponymous li'l number "Motörhead" was on an absolutely ace 1977 various-artists borgasmord called Geef Voor New Wave, a record I snagged as a teen punk and proceeded to play over und over with the manic obsession (and commensurate volume) one should expect a proper teen punk would bring to such a thing. MOTÖRHEAD!

SPECTRAFLAME: Yesterday (Jane)

A couple of weeks ago, we offered our first spin of Spectraflame's nifty single "Yesterday (Jane)," but we played the wrong mix, an earlier version not considered the definitive version. This is because we're inept. Luckily, we have tenure, and we played the correct mix this week, righting (our own) wrongs and making the world safe for pop music. POP MUSIC IS SAVED! Just doin' our job.

THE BEATLES: Do You Want To Know A Secret

No secret: My book Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies includes a short story about a fictional 1976 Beatles reunion. While nearly all of the musical performers referenced in the book are just mentioned in passing, the Beatles appear as characters in their own story. Elsewhere in the book, one other real-life performer does actively participate in a very brief cameo role.

Which real-life performer? That's still a secret, told in a story that I have not yet shared with anyone. Leiko knows who the performer is, even though [redacted] isn't known as a drummer. But Leiko knows. 

And she approves. The book should be out in early June.

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 The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) is now available, and you can order an autographed copy here. You can still get my 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 "Art" of my short story collection GUITARS VS. RAYGUNS!

As I go through the process of prepping publication of my short story collection Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies, I've decided to cheapen the book's look by adding some of my own artwork. 

NO! Don't run away! Please...?

The decision was mostly a bow to logistics. The book's formatting left too many blank spaces at the ends of some of the individual stories, and I didn't like the look of that. So, taking a cue from the original 1930s pulp magazines that were among my inspirations, I've inserted spot illustrations here and there. These are mostly thumbnail sketches, though there are a few that will occupy their own full pages. I rendered almost all of them in my preferred medium (i.e., ballpoint pen on individual little sheets of scrap paper). As I went along, I got into the idea of being this book's de facto artist, albeit very much an amateur artist. 

The only item among this book's graphics that I can say stands up and stands out is its cover, a guitar-and-pulp visual I staged and photographed:

I'm biased, but I think this is one beautiful and spot-on cover. My interior scrawls 'n' sketches can't match that, but nor do I think they detract. As for the stories? I'm very proud of the stories. And I'm very proud of this book, scribbled artwork and all. 

Today's post collects (almost) all of the artwork from Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies, from the acknowledgments page kickoff seen up top through Groucho at the end of the book, tellin' us he must be going. The only things missing here are a self-portrait I rendered around 1975 and a photo of the autograph I got from Harlan Ellison not long thereafter. Fifty years ago, at the time of that self-portrait and that autograph, I was a teenager besotted by Harlan Ellison and DC Comics. I wanted to be a writer and an artist, telling stories of my own invention. I've been a writer for decades, though mostly a writer of nonfiction. 

Now? I'm finally a professional liar. I can prove it in words, and I can also prove it with pictures.

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, a fascination with shiny objects, and—occasionally--a juvenile sense of humor. 

You can read more about the book right here.

And here's the "art" of Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies.

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 The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) is now available, and you can order an autographed copy here. You can still get my 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! Tom Kenny & the Hi-Seas, "Welcome To The Working Class"

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!

TOM KENNY & THE HI-SEAS: Welcome To The Working Class
Written by Gary Frenay

Produced by Joe Napolitano, Dave “Mustang” Lang, and Tom Kenny

From the various-artists album Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes, Big Stir Records, 2025

Welcome! Now...let's get to work.

Tom Kenny is an international treasure, and he was born 'n' bred right here in my beloved Syracuse, NY. You may know him as the voice of SpongeBob Squarepants, Plastic Man, The Penguin, and a zillion others across a zillion animated credits. In live action, he was the evil Binky the Clown in his hometown buddy Bobcat Goldthwaite's 1991 film Shakes The Clown. To my daughter, he was the voice of both the Mayor and the narrator on The Powerpuff Girls. I tell that story here.

But as I like to point out and repeat: Before Tom Kenny was your SpongeBob Squarepants, he was our Tomcat, one of us, a participant in the same boppin' late '70s/early '80s local music scene that we loved so much, the scene that gave the world the Flashcubes, Maura Kennedy, Chris von Sneidern, the Penetrators, and many others. He found fame as a talented and celebrated voice actor; to us, he's so much more than that. He's a music fan from way back, and he channels that passion as a stupendous live performer. From local faves the Tearjerkers in the early '80s through the simply sublime Tom Kenny & the Hi-Seas today, international treasure Tom Kenny remains solid gold on stage and off.

So yes, of course we wanted Tom to record a track for our Flashcubes tribute album Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes. Credit 'Cubes bassist Gary Frenay for suggesting his song "Welcome To The Working Class" as the perfect Cubic choice for Tomcat and his superlative and uber-tight band o' Hi-Seas and company to tackle; a more perfect match of artist and material will not be found anywhere. Not even in Bikini Bottom, nor in Townsville, nor Gotham City itself.

I have heard that "Welcome To The Working" was the first recording the Hi-Seas completed since the November 2024 passing of their music director, the great Andy Paley. Beyond the blow of personal tragedy, having to overcome the loss of Paley's enormous talent was no doubt a daunting task. From this bittersweet transition, one hopes there will be many more new Tom Kenny & the Hi-Seas recordings yet to come. 

As card-carryin' members of the working class, there are reasons why we listen to pop music. Some of the reasons are simple and obvious: We want to dance, we want to sing along, and we want to experience that exuberant rush that a perfect pop tune can provide. For many of us, though, there is a deeper, stronger, and palpable connection between our inner selves and the music we love. The bond transcends genre and demographics, eludes categorization, and laughs mockingly at attempts to understand it in cerebral terms. It isn't a subject for study; it just is. We feel these songs as much as we hear them, and they move our souls as much as they move our feet. It ain't just the beat, nor just the lyrics, nor just the blissful (or agitated) union of all of these things. It's intangible, but it seems as solid and physical as a kiss, a slap, a teardrop, a sob, or a smile. It's as real as love and hate, as euphoria and misery, as triumph and heartbreak.  

And it's catchy, too.

Let's go back a bit for our hero's secret origin. In the '70s and early '80s, Tom was a kid from Central New York, a voracious music fan, a budding star that everyone liked, a guy everyone rooted for, and whose success today is a boundless source of pride and contentment for anyone who ever encountered him. Syracuse's favorite son? Yeah. Oh yeah. Without question. He worked for it. He earned it.

For an entertainer of such immense talent, it's frankly a bit disturbing how humble Tom Kenny is. He has always been a consummate (and riveting) showman. His great success as a voice actor may have obscured the fact for some, but folks in Syracuse have known for decades that Tom is a born front man. 

In 2022, Tom returned to Central New York to be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by The Syracuse Area Music Awards, inducted into The SAMMYS Hall of Fame. His incredible party combo Tom Kenny and the Hi-Seas performed at the SAMMYS, and at a club show the next evening. Members of the Flashcubes also joined Tom for a couple of numbers on each night, and it was all just amazing. What a magic weekend. I am so, so glad I was able to witness it.

But you wanna know about my best enduring memory of that weekend? It was the sight of Tom Kenny's lifelong friend Bobcat Goldthwaite, sitting on the floor in front of the stage area, looking up at his pal Tom and just freakin' beaming. For hours. He seemed so happy to be there. 

That's friendship. That's the connection we can all have through music, art, camaraderie, and any other shared passion, from sports through food, through laughter and commiseration. 

Connection. We're all friends here. Bobcat's smile said it all.

There are reasons why we listen to pop music.  And there are reasons why we go to see and hear bands play live. The band we see in a bar can become something greater than just a band in a bar. Just as favorite pop songs can be an emotional tether to scattered moments we can't or won't relinquish, a favorite band can be a friend. And the members of that band can be your friends even if you never quite get around to saying hello to them, to buying the guitarist a beer, or sharing a smoke with the lead singer in the men's room at The Firebarn. It's a connection that might (or might not) seem alien to drunken punters shouting out requests for "Free Bird," but it's a connection Tom Kenny understands, a connection he sparks, and a connection he embodies.

Welcome to the working class. And when we clock out, Tom Kenny has just the song your wage-slave soul needs for catharsis. A Flashcube wrote it. A Tomcat sings it. We all appreciate it. And we all feel welcome.

So here's to an international treasure. Welcome indeed. Best day EVER.

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 The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) is now available, and you can order an autographed copy here. You can still get my 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: JIM APARO covers accumulated in the '60s, '70s, and '80s

The late Jim Aparo was one of my many favorite comic book artists. I think the first time I saw his work was when he began doing (exquisite!) interior artwork on Aquaman in 1968. I was eight years old, and still a few years away from paying attention to writer and artist credits. I don't think I saw any of Aparo's work for Charlton Comics (notably his beautiful art for The Phantom) until I started picking up back issues in the '70s. As I became aware of credits, I soon began naming Jim Aparo as a preferred creator.

The overwhelming majority of Aparo's work was for DC Comics. Aparo's decades-long DC tenure commenced when Charlton editor Dick Giordano joined DC's staff and hired some of Charlton's freelancers to reap the benefits of DC's higher page rates. That brought writer Dennis O'Neil to DC, and it brought in Mr. Jim Aparo.

At DC, Aparo made his mark as the primary artist on The Brave And The Bold, a Batman team-up title that gave Aparo an opportunity to depict a vast array of characters in DC's extensive line of superstars, from his already-familiar Aquaman, Phantom Stranger, and the Spectre to Sgt. Rock, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Metamorpho, Black Canary, Plastic Man, Superman, Supergirl, the Flash, Kamandi, the Atom, the Demon, Mister Miracle, Wildcat, the Joker, the Metal Men, Deadman, Man-Bat, Swamp Thing, and more. B & B also led to Aparo taking on art chores in some of The Batman's solo books as well. Jim Aparo will always be one of my all-time top four Batman artists, alongside Marshall Rogers, Neal Adams, and Dick Sprang. It's one hell of a legacy, and I say we should celebrate that legacy with a modest li'l gallery of Aparo covers.

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 The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) is now available, and you can order an autographed copy here. You can still get my 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.