HONOR AMONG THIEVES: A brief history of super-villain team-ups [four-part series collected]

Collecting a four-part blog series from 2025

 

Seeking distraction from super-villain team-ups in the real world, I started thinking about the history of super-villains joining forces in the comics. As I said in the preamble to a recent short story I wrote, "Much of the pulp fiction of the 1930s and ‘40s was created in response to the crisis of the Depression and the horror of Fascism...Catharsis is no substitute for action. But it does serve a purpose."

I started my reminiscence with the first meeting of Superman's arch enemy Lex Luthor and Batman and Robin's foe the Joker (World's Finest Comics # 88, May-June 1957), even though I knew that certainly wasn't the first time previously-established nogoodniks formed a bad-guy pact in comics. At the very least, the Luthor-Joker alliance was predated by the 1944 teaming of the Joker and the Penguin in Batman # 25. And I was pretty sure that wasn't the first super-villain team-up either.

While I had no illusions of concocting a definitive timeline of super-villain team-ups, I was interested in slappin' together some general information on the history of such things. I presumed there weren't any precedents in 1930s newspaper strips; if it turns out two or more of Dick Tracy's previously-introduced adversaries formed an alliance prior to 1941, I will stand corrected.

Otherwise, 1941 seems a good starting point. A Google search for "first super-villain team-up" brought me to the GCG Comics chat forum, where a 2020 post suggested that the partnership of Dr. Fate's enemies Wotan and Karkull in More Fun Comics # 70 (August 1941) was comics' first-ever super-villain team-up.

I was initially resistant to this, figuring Daredevil Battles Hitler # 1 (also from 1941, published just a little before the above-cited issue of More Fun) had to be the first. But my memory of the Daredevil book led me astray; I thought the issue-long story involved Daredevil's opposite number the Claw working with other villains on behalf of the Third Reich, but I believe the Claw was the only comics super-villain enlisted here by real-life super-villain Adolf. Daredevil Battles Hitler doesn't qualify. Barring evidence to the contrary, I'm gonna go along with naming Wotan and Karkull as the first. And thank God Dr. Fate was there to stop them!

Where does the history of super-villain team-ups go from there? I have a Leading idea. We'll attempt to continue tracking that chronology of treacherous collusion in Part 2.

PART 2

The Justice Society of America was the first-ever super-team in comics, their inaugural meeting depicted in All-Star Comics # 3 (Winter 1940), predating Wotan and Karkull's super-villain team-up in '41. The JSA's debut wasn't the first instance of characters from different strips crossing over--the Human Torch and Sub-Mariner battled in Marvel Mystery Comics # 8 (June 1940), and my gut is that was the first such crossover, though I invite corrections--and nor did All-Star Comics gather any bad guys from its heroes' individual comic-book homes. I think our next super-villain team-up came one year later, as part of the origin of comics' second super-team, the Seven Soldiers of Victory.

Like the Justice Society, the adventures of the short-lived Seven Soldiers of Victory (aka Law's Legionnaires) were published under the DC Comics imprint, although there were actually two different publishers sharing the DC brand name: All-American Comics and Detective Comics. That may be an oversimplification of the complicated interrelationship between AA and DC, but we don't need to get too much into the weeds here. 

The JSA was originally a mix of AA characters (like Green Lantern, the Flash, Hawkman) and DC characters (Dr. Fate, the Spectre, Hourman, honorary JSA members Superman and Batman), though the DC heroes would be phased out of the JSA over time, at least until DC absorbed AA a few years later. The Seven Soldiers of Victory were all DC guys: Green Arrow and Speedy, the Vigilante, the Shining Knight, Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy, and the Crimson Avenger, with the Crimson Avenger's Asian stereotype sidekick Wing serving as the unofficial eighth Soldier.

The SSoV debuted in Leading Comics # 1 (Winter 1941), brought together to combat the evil machinations of the criminal mastermind the Hand, who had gathered a group of our heroes' own enemies--his five fingers--for, y'know...EVIL! The bad guys don't act as a group, as each hero faces his own adversary in separate chapters. But all of the villains are acting under the Hand's guidance, making this the second super-villain team-up and the first super-villain group.

It's worth noting that two of our assembled malevolent forces--the Vigilante's enemy the Dummy and the Crimson Avenger's opponent Big Caesar--had not appeared anywhere prior to Leading Comics # 1. But--no matter what!--the three other bad fingers the Needle, Professor Merlin, and Red Dragon had indeed already clashed with their respective foes Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy, Green Arrow and Speedy, and the Shining Knight. Yeah, this one qualifies under my definition of a super-villain team-up.

You know what else qualifies as a super-villain team-up? Well! We'll talk about that worm and his monsters in Part 3.

PART 3

The original Captain Marvel's battle with "The Monster Society of Evil" was an epic with no precedent in the then-short history of comic books: A 25-part serial with the hero facing an army of organized bad guys. Some of the bad guys were the true-life villains the Allies were fighting contemporaneously in World War II. But most were comic-book adversaries, many of whom had appeared in previous battles with our hero. And all of these ne'er-do-wells took malevolent orders from a sinister worm called Mister Mind.

As "The Monster Society Of Evil" began, no one--not even writer Otto Binder--knew Mister Mind was a literal creepy, crawly worm from outer space. In the serial's first chapter in Captain Marvel Adventures # 22 (March 1943), a voice from the stars introduces himself as Mister Mind, and sets his minion (and familiar Captain Marvel foe) Captain Nazi to carry out his evil plan. What plan? For EVIL, of course! The initial burst of evil involves the theft of a magic pearl, with powers Mister Mind wants out of the Allies' reach and in the hands of the Axis (the real-life Monster Society of Evil). The good guy Captain defeats the Aryan Captain, but Mr. Mind calls in reinforcements including Captain Marvel enemies Dr. Sivana, Ibac, Nippo, and Mr. Banjo, plus a still-fighting Captain Nazi. Captain Nazi is captured, but Ibac escapes with the magic pearl. Victory in the first round of this battle goes to Mister Mind and his Society.

The splash page for this first chapter indicates the source of inspiration for this comics serial. The success of the 1941 twelve-chapter movie serial The Adventures Of Captain Marvel nudged Fawcett Comics (Cap's publisher) toward the idea of an extended storyline to keep the kids coming back for more. During World War II, Captain Marvel was one of the best-selling superheroes in comics. With one magic word--SHAZAM!-- young Billy Batson was transformed into the mighty Captain Marvel, whose popularity rivaled and even surpassed that of DC Comics' standard bearer Superman. That didn't sit well with the folks at DC, who spent years trying to litigate Cap out of business, eventually prompting Fawcett to settle the suit and cancel its superhero line of comics. Decades later, DC wound up buying the Captain Marvel character outright, marketing him as Shazam in deference to other rival Marvel Comics swooping in to trademark the Captain Marvel name in the interim. The comics business is a business, kid.

The name of DC's early '40s swell bunch of guys the Justice Society Of America was likely an unconscious (or conscious) influence on Otto Binder when he concocted Mister Mind's swinish bunch of guys and called 'em the Monster Society of Evil. Reminiscences published in Steranko's History Of The Comics suggest that Binder had no preconceived notion of precisely what Mister Mind would be, and the idea of making the World's Mightiest Mortal's elusive and resourceful enemy an itty-bitty li'l worm occurred after the story was underway. But some chapters included occasional teaser glimpses of an unidentified worm--because, really, who goes around identifying worms?--before Mister Mind was revealed in Captain Marvel Adventures # 27 (September 1943). The serial concluded in Captain Marvel Adventures # 46 (May 1945), as Mister Mind was captured, tried, convicted, and executed for his crimes. Serves 'im right, the little worm.

Multi-part comic book serials are commonplace now, their eventual ubiquity jump-started in the '60s at Marvel. And there had certainly been to-be-continued comics stories before Mister Mind put his gang together. But it was a radical move for a comics publisher to attempt a 25-part comic book serial in the '40s, when funnybooks were absolutely considered ephemeral and disposable, a time when it certainly wasn't a given that the audience would remain invested, month after month, eager to trade their dimes again and again and again for the next exciting installment of an extended storyline.

That audience came back for Captain Marvel Adventures and "The Monster Society Of Evil." The power of SHAZAM!

After shining a spotlight on this epic multi-chapter super-villain team-up, HONOR AMONG THIEVES will return to more familiar single-issue shenanigans in Part 4. Meanwhile, back in Gotham City....

PART 4

Before we continue, I need to acknowledge the fact that this brief history of super-villain team-ups has been focused on DC Comics. Part 3 dealt with Fawcett Comics' original Captain Marvel and the Monster Society of Evil, but even that former DC rival has long since been absorbed by DC. I have a feeling I might be missing some super-villain collaboration that took place in pages not associated with the house that Superman built, and I welcome additions. I know some of the Spirit's adversaries worked together at various points, though I don't know the time frame. Those stories first appeared in newspapers (in Will Eisner's weekly comics insert, alongside the individual exploits of Lady Luck and Mr. Mystic) rather than in comic books, but the Spirit's newspaper adventures were also reprinted in comic books.

Anyway, back to DC again, and what I think must be the first one-to-one alliance between A-list comic book bad guys, as the Joker meets the Penguin in  "Knights Of Knavery" (Batman # 25, September-October 1944). 

Comics crossovers are so common now, and a devil's pact between a couple of bad guys who share a common foe is such an obvious and promising notion for a story. By the time I read a reprint of "Knights Of Knavery" in 1972 (Wanted: The World's Most Dangerous Villains! # 2), the paths of the Joker and the Penguin (and/or the paths of many other Bat-villains) had already crossed on several occasions in the comics, and Joker and Penguin met on two separate occasions on screen, in the 1966 Batman feature film and in a three-part episode of the 1966-68 TV series. But in 1944, and with all apologies to Dr. Fate and his terrible twosome of Wotan and Karkull, teaming the Joker and Penguin was obvious in retrospect but groundbreaking at the time. It wasn't the epic spectacle of Captain Marvel facing and ultimately thwarting Mister Mind and his malevolent minions, but it was for damned sure enjoyable and even epic in its own right.

It would be too pat and presumptuous to say that "Knights Of Knavery" was where comic book super-villain team-ups began in earnest. Still, it's easy to dismiss the relative impact of the Dr. Fate and Seven Soldiers of Victory stories, and maybe--maybe--we can consider the Monster Society of Evil serial as something unique and nonpareil. 

"Knights Of Knavery" feels different: It feels like a blueprint going forward. That feeling may be illusory, and it's likely that no subsequent writer held any conscious or unconscious thought of "Knights Of Knavery" when crafting some later gathering of two or more nogoodniks. But man, it feels like a watershed moment, even more so than Mister Mind's legion of doomsters. 

So this is where we'll end our brief history of super-villain team-ups. There were many more to come before the Marvel Age Of Comics made 'em a regular part of your comics-reading diet. The Injustice Society (or Injustice Gang) challenging the Justice Society of America in All  Star Comics # 37 (October-November 1947) and again in All Star Comics # 41 (1948), and Villainy, Incorporated facing the Amazon Princess in Wonder Woman # 28 (April 1948) were in the Monster Society mold. But through the 1950s and into the '60s, there were more small-group super-villain team-ups than there were sinister societies, and I say "Knights Of Knavery" set the template for most of those. Lex Luthor, the Toyman, and the Prankster. Luthor and Brainiac, and yeah, big bad bald bad Lex clearly got around a bit. Oh, and let's not forget the Joker and Clayface, and my favorite, the Joker and Luthor.

Hyper-speed takes over at this point. In the '70s, Marvel had a series called Super-Villain Team-Up, and DC had one called Secret Society Of Super-Villains. Hell, in 1976, that get-around guy Lex Luthor became the very first DC character to officially meet a Marvel character when he formed an alliance with Doctor Octopus in Superman Vs. The Amazing Spider-Man.

It's all a long, long way from Wotan and Karkull trying to gang up on Dr. Fate in 1941, right? But it had to start somewhere. Honor among thieves? No, at least not usually, and never for very long. But we honor the history. And we still thrill to the stories.

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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.

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1323

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio remembers Parthenon  Huxley.

I can't remember the specifics of when or how I first heard Huxley's music. Before hearing him, I'm sure I read about him (probably in the pages of Yellow Pills, courtesy of writer Jordan Oakes); when Huxley's fantastic Sunny Nights LP was released in 1988, I had already been dismissed from my job at a record store, and the album's sublime sounds didn't reach my ears until years after the fact. 

But I did belatedly become aware of Parthenon Huxley, first by reputation, then by the eventual blessing of finally hearing the music. I bought a used copy of Sunny Nights, and I was particularly blown away by the track "Double Our Numbers," a song that has scored a deserved berth on my all-time Hot 100. When Rhino Records contracted me to write the liner notes for the 1997 various-artists compilation Poptopia! Power Pop Classics Of The '90s (a collection which included "Every Minute" by Parthenon's group P. Hux), my essay included this paragraph about the artist and his work:

"Chapel Hill, NC's native son Rick Miller, aka Rick Rock, is better known in pop circles as the one and only Parthenon Huxley--the name he used for his stunning 1988 album Sunny Nights--and as producer of records by E (today better known as front man of the Eels). Nowadays, singer/guitarist Huxley fronts a threesome called P. Hux, aided and abetted by bassist Rob Miller and drummer Gordon Townsend. P. Hux is resolutely rock-solid and proved it on Deluxe, a record proclaimed by readers of Audities magazine ('The Journal Of Insanely Great Pop') as the very best of '95. If 'Every Minute' is your first dose of Huxley, then you've got some catching up to do."

I did some catching up of my own, too. As new P. Hux releases followed, I followed along. Some sequence of circumstances brought me into email contact with Parthenon himself, and he was always nice to me, providing his music for airplay on TIRnRR and even letting us use his swoon-worthy track "Better Than Good" on one of our This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio compilation CDs. We thought the world of him.

In 2025, I had a series of communications with Parthenon, discussing the possibility of him recording a track for the Flashcubes tribute album I was curating for Big Stir Records. He was open to the idea, and tentatively settled on doing a 12-string solo acoustic cover of Arty Lenin's "I Won't Wait Another Night." Over the course of a few months' conversation, he had to bow out of the project because of health concerns, a cough that was causing him difficulty with his singing. Health first!, I agreed, and wished him well. 

I had no idea of how soon he would leave us. I don't want to pretend we were close, but he was the real deal, and all of us in the pop world mourn his passing. Last year, I bought Parthenon's book Electric Light Odyssey, a memoir of his career and experiences. He autographed the book for me, and wrote:

To Carl--

Thanks for joining me on this rock n roll odyssey. I hope you enjoy the read. We need to meet in person someday, okay?

Best,

P Hux

I very much regret that wish will never come to pass.

If I ever do a second Greatest Record Ever Made! book, that book will include a chapter about Parthenon Huxley's "Double Our Numbers." And the chapter includes these lines:

"...'Double Our Numbers' is a stirring affirmation of the promise and possibility of love: The kind of love we hear in the midst of seductive la-la-las in the greatest pop songs, and the love we so hope to discover in real life.

"It would be unfair to say that real life is no fun. The fantasy world of pop music intersects with the mortal, physical world we know, each influencing the other on an ongoing basis. In reality, we know that it's sometimes prudent to wait, to review, to weigh the pros and cons of action versus inaction. 

"But in pop songs, we believe, and we act. Sometimes. Even in song, there are tales of regret over missed opportunities, and in our lives there are true stories of love at first sight. I'm certain that it happens all the time.

"And that's it, isn't? That's not just the appeal of a pop song, but the core quality of what love's unfolding promise can mean to us, how it can motivate us, why we want it, the vital importance of reaching for it in its precise, fleeting moment. We fall. For our own good, or own detriment, we fall because that's the only way to get where we want to be. 

"Double our numbers. Double our chances. Double our pleasure, double our fun. 

"And if it doesn't work out? Double back and try again. Falling in love. I believe pop songs are right about love's promise. I know Parthenon Huxley is right with 'Double Our Numbers.' "

Godspeed, Parthenon. 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).

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Carl's latest book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) is now available, and you can order an autographed copy here. You can still get Carl's 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
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Volume 5: CD or download

TIRnRR # 1323: 2/8/2026

TIRnRR FRESH SPINS! Tracks we think we ain't played before are listed in bold

P. HUX: Till The World Looks Right (NineEighteen, As Good As Advertised)

THE ORGONE BOX: World Revolves (Minus Zero, The Orgone Box)

BALLZY TOMORROW: Double Our Numbers (single)

ANY TROUBLE: Trouble With Love (Cherry Red, VA: Harmony In My Head: UK Power Pop & New Wave 1977-81)

THE CYNZ: You Wreck Me (Jem, Confess)

TOM PETTY AND THE HEARTBREAKERS: American Girl (MCA, Anthology: Through The Years)

--

NICK PIUNTI: Big In Madrid (Jem, Solo...ish)

THE PLEASERS: You Know What I'm Thinking Girl (Lost Moment, Thamesbeat)

PARTHENON HUXLEY: Something In My Heart Stopped (Columbia, Sunny Nights)

BRAM TCHAIKOVSKY: Sarah Smiles (Cherry Red, Strange Men, Changed Men: The Complete Recordings 1978-1981)

THE HALF/CUBES: Whenever You're On My Mind (Jem, Found Pearls)

EDDIE AND THE HOT RODS: Do Anything You Wanna Do (Captain Oi!, The Singles Collection)

--

ROB MOSS: And The Lies Go Round (single)

KNOX: She's So Good Looking (Cherry Red, VA: Harmony In My Head: UK Power Pop & New Wave 1977-81)

THE LITTLE GIRLS: How To Pick Up Girls (ValleyPop, Thank Heaven For ValleyPop)

STIFFS: Magic Roundabout (Cherry Red, VA: Harmony In My Head: UK Power Pop & New Wave 1977-81)

P. HUX: I Loved Everything (NineEighteen, Purgatory Falls)

THE LEFT BANKE: Pretty Ballerina (Mercury, There's Gonna Be A Storm: The Complete Recordings 1966-1969)

--

VEGAS WITH RANDOLPH: Let's Fool Around (single)

ROBERT GORDON WITH LINK WRAY: The Fool (Private Stock, Robert Gordon With Link Wray)

P. HUX [WITH RUSTY ANDERSON, JEN CONDOS, ROB LADD]: Your Dream The World Becomes (Not Lame/NineEighteen, Mile High Fan [L.A. Recordings 1988-1993])

SORROWS: Just One Fool To Blame (Big Stir, Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow)

SEX CLARK FIVE: Fool I Was (Skyclad, Antedium)

THE TOURISTS: Fools Paradise (Camden, Greatest Hits)

--

THE ORCHESTRA: I Could Write A Book (Renaissance, No Rewind)

COTTON MATHER: The Book Of Too Late Changes (The Star Apple Kingdom, Death Of The Cool)

THE KINKS: Picture Book (Sanctuary, The Anthology 1964-1971)

DR. FEELGOOD: Cheque Book (Parlophone, I'm A Man [The Best Of The Wilco Johnson Years 1974-1977)

MICHAEL DES BARRES: Kiss Or Kill Me (Rum Bar, single)

THE PLIMSOULS: Dangerous Book (Shaky City, Kool Trash)

--

THE FLASHCUBES: I Won't Wait Another Night (Northside, Bright Lights)

NIKKI AND THE CORVETTES: He's A Mover (Bomp, Nikki and the Corvettes)

VEG: Live While You Can (Cactus Boy, Veg)

THE MnM'S: I'm Tired (Burger, Melts In Your Ears 1980-81)

THE LEGAL MATTERS: Slow Down (Big Stir, Lost At Sea)

THE DARLING BUDS: Hit The Ground (Columbia, Pop Said...)

--

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

P. HUX: Better Than Good (Kool Kat Musik, VA: This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 4)

LETTERS TO CLEO: Cruel To Be Kind (Big Beat, VA: Girls Go Power Pop!)

THE HIGH FREQUENCIES: Cleanup Time (Jem, Get High)

THE PANDORAS: That's Your Way Out (Rhino, Stop Pretending)

THE RAMONES: I Don't Want To Grow Up (Radioactive, Greatest Hits Live)

HOLLY AND THE ITALIANS: Tell That Girl To Shut Up (Wounded Bird, The Right To Be Italian)

--

JEFFREY FOSKETT FEATURING PARTHENON HUXLEY: Bazooka Joe (New Surf Limited, JEFFREY FOSKETT: Twelve And Twelve)

THE POPTARTS: Jealousy [alternate version] (PlumTone, Fresh...Out Of The Toaster)

PARTHENON HUXLEY: Button (Columbia, Sunny Nights)

THE REZILLOS: I Like It (Sire, Can't Stand The Rezillos: The [Almost] Complete Rezillos)

3KSTATIC [FEATURING PARTHENON HUXLEY]: Ma Ma Ma Belle (Dpulse Recordings, single)

DWIGHT TWILLEY: Let Her Dance (Big Oak, The Best Of Twilley: The Tulsa Years 1999-2016)

--

RICK ROCK: Buddha, Buddha (Big Groovy, single)

DEBBIE DUVEEN AND THE MILLBANKS: Don't Belong (Woronzow, Neon Classic)

P. HUX: This Is The One (NineEighteen, This Is The One)

ELVIS COSTELLO: (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes (Rykodisc, My Aim Is True)

PARTHENON HUXLEY: A Feeling That Won't Fade Away (NineEighteen, Thank You Bethesda)

THE BEATLES: Here Comes The Sun [Take 9] (Apple, Anthology 4)

--

PARTHENON HUXLEY: Beautiful (NineEighteen, Thank You Bethesda)

Tonight on THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO

We celebrate the life and legacy of our Featured Performer, the incredible PARTHENON HUXLEY. We'll hear music from across Parthenon's long and superlative career, threaded alongside the latest from THE CYNZ, NICK PIUNTI, ROB MOSS, VEGAS WITH RANDOLPH, THE LEGAL MATTERS, MICHAEL DES BARRES, THE HALF/CUBES, and THE HIGH FREQUENCIES, plus further fave raves from ANY TROUBLE, BALLZY TOMORROW, TOM PETTY AND THE HEARTBREAKERS, BRAM TCHAIKOVSKY, THE LITTLE GIRLS, THE LEFT BANKE, SORROWS, COTTON MATHER, THE KINKS, DR. FEELGOOD, THE PLIMSOULS, NIKKI AND THE CORVETTES, THE PANDORAS, THE RAMONES, THE POPTARTS, ELVIS COSTELLO, and much more. At the heart of all of it: THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO remembers PARTHENON HUXLEY. 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: 2/7/2026

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 # 1322

SLYBOOTS: If We Could Let Go

Much of this week's show was programmed in anger, and in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Minneapolis. We opened with Slyboots' "If We Could Let Go," a gorgeous, life-affirming declaration of gaze fixed forward in the face of life's casual (and institutionalized) cruelty. It's become one of my favorite songs, and it was the only song I considered for this week's first spin. In September, I posted a Greatest Record Ever Made! appreciation of the track. As we kick off our own statement of dissent and resolution, I'm going to quote that piece in its entirety:

"If We Could Let Go." I'm trying. Honest, I'm trying.

Slyboots are a great, great group from New York, and they're deserving of much wider notoriety. Their 2024 single "If We Could Let Go" is heartbreaking in all the best ways, a song full of hope and ache, empowered with an awareness of how far we fall short in pursuit of peace, love, and understanding, and driven by determination to overcome that gap and collectively become the better people a burning world needs us to be. Not merely my favorite track from last year; it's a legit contender for my all-time Hot 100. 

The song's title offers a path forward in troubled times, even if it's a path I'm not sure I'm ready to take. Yet. As close to throwing a gauntlet as an earnest plea for peace can be, the songwriting for "If We Could Let Go" is credited to the group. Lead singer Tiffany Lyons imbues the lyrics with an implied weariness bolstered by strength of passion and clarity of purpose. Guitarist KG Noble, bassist Margaret LaBombard, drummer Ted Marcus, and keyboardist Gregorio Lozano surround Lyons with bounce and determination, a steel-willed grace battalion buoyed by angelic backing vocals courtesy of Noble and Lozano.

As we sing along, and as we ponder the salvation in letting go of prejudice and distrust, there are things we should not relinquish. Hold fast to belief in something better. Hold each other up. Hold on. Stand and hold on. Draw strength from our passions, our delights, our embrace of art and family and community. Take comfort in what we love, and commit to fight on behalf of what we love. Pray and work for a future better than today. One foot in front of the other.

How can one hold on to hope in hopeless times? I guess the best we can do is keep pushing forward. Music turned up louder than our doubts. Hands held or raised as we see fit. Eyes on...well, if not on the prize, at least on our next step in the direction of the prize. We may feel like we'll never arrive, and that fear may prove correct. 

But let go of that fear. There are so many reasons to lose heart, to lose focus, to lose our way in the darkness all around us. There are so many reasons to just give up. With "If We Could Let Go," Slyboots gently--firmly--urge us to let go of the darkness that surrounds us.

Let go of the hate. Let go of the hurt. If we could let go. Let go of the if. We can. We will. Slyboots make their case. Let's go, Slyboots.

THE RAMONES: I Believe In Miracles

It would be impossible to overstate the importance of music in my life. From listening to my Aunt Anna's Chubby Checker 45 in the early '60s through co-hosting a little mutant radio show six decades later, music has moved me, inspired me, and built me. With the possible (probable) exception of the Beatles, no musical act has had more pervasive and prevailing impact upon me than the American Beatles, the greatest American rock 'n' roll band of all time, the Ramones. And not even the Beatles can annex and fortify my sovereign POV to the sublime extent that the Ramones can. It's true in good times. It's equally true in times like these. Gabba Gabba, man. Gabba Gabba.

From a previous post:

In times of trouble, when we find ourselves caught at the crossroads of moral quandary and indecision, we must always ask ourselves one question:

What would the Ramones do?

I doubt many people think of the Ramones as avatars of hope. Maybe they shouldn't...but maybe they should? If ever there was a band that persevered, endured, and just kept on doing, popular resistance be damned, it was the Ramones. They were a cult act. They became legitimate pop culture icons, through sheer force of will. A miracle, indeed.

The song "I Believe In Miracles" came late in the Ramones' career. 1989. It was a mere seven years before their final concert, a good fifteen years after the Bowery birthed them; thirteen years after their debut album, eleven years after their final Hot 100 single, nine years since the last Ramones album to (barely) breach the upper 50 in Billboard's LP chart. They had continued to make records. Sales--modest to begin with--diminished further. There were no miracles in their foreseeable future.

The determinedly uplifting lyrics of "I Believe In Miracles" were written by Dee Dee Ramone, and they offer a stunning affirmation of faith in the face of dismally long odds. The song was on Brain Drain, an album which also contained "Pet Sematary," the title tune from a then-new film based on Stephen King's novel of the same name. I even heard "Pet Sematary" on commercial radio once or twice--there's your miracle!--so maybe a belief in better fortune wasn't entirely groundless.

Just, y'know, mostly groundless. "Pet Sematary" did well (# 4) on the Modern Rock Tracks chart, but never troubled the Hot 100. Brain Drain peaked at # 122. It was the Ramones' final studio album for Sire Records. And it was Dee Dee's last record as a Ramone.

Dee Dee's abrupt departure from the brudderhood was startling, and his decision to jump ship seemed to stand in contrast to the resolute dedication implied by what he wrote in "I Believe In Miracles." Perhaps sometimes a song is just a song.

And perhaps sometimes--most times?--a song can be more than just...well, just anything. I used to be on an endless run, believed in miracles 'cause I'm one. Our art is a lifeline to our aspirations, a potential guidebook to what we want to be, what we could be. If reality falls short of our intentions, that failing doesn't negate the audacity to hope, nor indicate that we should deny ourselves the opportunity to rise: we have been blessed with the power to survive, after all these years of being alive.

One could have expected Dee Dee's exit, his act of packing up and taking his miracles home, to signal the Ramones' death knell. One woulda been wrong. A young bassist dubbed C. J. Ramone joined Joey, Johnny, and Marky in the final leather-clad incarnation of this Gabba-Gabba heyday. C. J. is in the video for "I Believe In Miracles." The Ramones kept on going. That's what the Ramones did, always. Their three post-Dee Dee studio albums in the '90s carried flashes of brilliance. And Dee Dee, bless 'im, continued to write songs for his former group. 

That wasn't a miracle. That was family. The few, the proud. Semper Fi.

Should we believe in miracles? Well, what would the Ramones do? It's a simple answer: 1-2-3-4. Get on with it. Hey-ho, let's GO! It doesn't always work out. But sometimes, every now and again, miracles are there for those who believe.

THE LEGAL MATTERS: The Message

It's like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder how I keep from goin' under. Although the Legal Matters' new single "The Message" shares its title with a hip-hop classic by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, it is most assuredly its own message. As the group's Andy Reed explains, "In today’s political landscape, I’ve grown frustrated with the hypocritical, religious types. It’s not aimed at religion specifically, just those who weaponize it.” 

We get the message, and we approve. The single's out now; the new album Lost At Sea is due February 27th. Message received.

THE CLASH: Clampdown

The popular meme is correct: These are the times Joe Strummer trained us for. Let fury have the hour. Anger can be power.

ELVIS COSTELLO AND THE ATTRACTIONS: (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

MELANIE WITH THE EDWIN HAWKINS SINGERS: Lay Down (Candles In The Rain)

All around us, the world gives us an eternal supply of reasons to give in and give up. We counter the thud and drone with...well, with whatever we can, with any means or method capable of marshalling our spirits. Music is one of many such methods, a favored go-to when we need nurturing or inspiration, consolation or spark. In 1970, Melanie with the Edwin Hawkins Singers provided a song that still serves that purpose for me. From my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1):

...What a terrific, uplifting song, with the sanctified might of the Edwin Hawkins Singers lifting Melanie up to soar as high as the angels above. I'd had no real use for the straight black Gospel sound of the Edwin Hawkins Singers' huge 1969 hit "Oh Happy Day" when I was nine, but "Lay Down" effortlessly mingled their celestial sound with Melanie's folk-singer vibe, and it all wound up as pop music. Irresistible pop music. Forget the damned roller skates. "Lay Down (Candles In The Rain)" is the key, right here.

"We were so close/There was no room/We bled inside each other's wounds." Well, the lyrics pin this one to the Viet Nam War era. "Lay Down (Candles In The Rain)" was inspired by Melanie's performance at Woodstock, a song written to express how it felt for her to see this massive crowd--perhaps not really a half a million strong, but giving the impression of a large, large number--as she sang and played her own songs of peace. The rain came down. You can hear her on the Woodstock Two album, performing "My Beautiful People" and "Birthday Of The Sun," dedicating her music with a giggle to the beautiful, wet people. You can hear her smile. You can hear her belief. 

After Woodstock, Melanie took all of what she'd seen, all of what she felt, and turned it into "Lay Down (Candles In The Rain)." Raise the candles high. If you don't we could stay black against the night. The Edwin Hawkins Singers provide amazing grace, immortal soul, an oh-happy-day's journey into night. Raise them higher again. We could stay dry against the rain...."

THE JAM: In The City

In the city there's a thousand men in uniform/And I've heard they now have the right to kill a man

Those lines cut deep in 1977. They cut even deeper now.

APOLLO 100: Joy

Classic Top 40 is fine, but let's raise a glass to classical Top 40. In 1971, Apollo 100 took an electric pop-rock arrangement of Johann Sebastian Bach's "Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring" into the Top Ten and onto AM radios everywhere. "Joy." The song's title describes its effect. As we said on the radio Sunday night:

"We acknowledge that when things go wrong, playing pop music on the radio doesn't do much of anything to correct what's wrong. But we channel our outrage, our dedication, our belief that we CAN change, for the better. 

"Belief is hope. Hope is joy.

"On this show, and in this life, we embrace the audacity of joy."

THE BEATLES: Revolution

We do not know that it's gonna be all right. And it won't be all right any time soon enough. We ain't givin' up just yet. 1-2-3-4!

MICHAEL SIMMONS: America

From his exquisite covers album Fun Where You Can Find It, Michael Simmons covers Simon and Garfunkel. All come to look for America. I swear it's out there. Keep the faith, baby. Keep the faith.

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 Hype: Home Theater

This is very much inconsequential, but I've been meaning to post it here as another example of The Art Of Hype. I work in retail, and I wrote this blurb in 2013 on behalf of Ra-Lin Discount in Syracuse, the store that's been foolis...visionary enough to keep me on the payroll for 35 years. 

The blurb was never used, but here 'tis. The art of HYPE!!!

What if home theater really delivered what it promises?

What if the TV in your home could give you a true cinema experience, every single day?  Imagine:  a theater in your home, with sound so full and alive it surrounds your senses; a picture so clear and real it transports you to the scene of new adventures, new possibilities in ultra high definition; a video experience so thrilling that it transcends TV, and brings you the blockbuster magic of Hollywood, all without the hassle of shopping mall parking.  And now, stop imagining, because it’s all at your fingertips.  All you need to add is the popcorn.

Ra-Lin, Syracuse’s original home for cool stuff and great values, brings you the brave new world of Sony 4K Ultra High Definition, with four times the resolution of today’s best TVs.  Ra-Lin is the first store in Central New York to offer this exciting new entertainment package.  You’ve gotta see this to believe it.  And you will be a believer in no time.

It’s only from Sony.  And it’s available now, from the folks that Syracuse has trusted for sixty years.  As the face of entertainment changes, one thing remains the same:  you can rely on Ra-Lin.

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.