Blogkeeping At 9000 Views

                            

As Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) hits 9000 views (and prays that 9000 views won't hit back, 'cuz that'll hurt), I must once again thank every one of you for stopping by this hardly-humble little blog. Whether you're a regular daily reader, or one of the many who stop in once in a while, I appreciate your attention.  I love attention! The blog's mission statement is unchanged:  to provide at least one fresh post a day, every day, including newly-written material, gems from the previously-published archives, unpublished and/or unfinished stuff from the vaults, miscellaneous hype, and weekly playlists from This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl.

                        

Looking back over the blog's stats for its first four months on your charming little planet, it's clear that a lot of you love The Monkees as much as I do.  My April 30th post SHE MAKES ME LAUGH: The Monkees' U.S. Singles immediately rocketed up the chart (thanks in large part to a link on the Monkees Live Almanac site), and is far and away my most-viewed post.  A total of three of my ten most-viewed posts are about The Monkees, so there's a concrete, quantifiable value in being too busy singing to put anybody down.

The blog's second-most viewed post is my essay on Main Street Records, the wonderful record store where I bought my Monkees, Ramones, Kinks, and Flamin' Groovies LPs while a college student in Brockport.  It's always been a popular post (and an emotional favorite of mine), and it suddenly just took off with more and more views this past month; I posted it here in late January, and it was well-received at the time, but it nearly doubled its views in April.  I'm curious to learn how and why folks stumbled across it.

Although The Monkees Bring The Summer: A Girl I Knew Somewhere was a de facto bonus chapter of Singers, Superheroes, And Songs On The Radio, my autobiography of absorbing pop culture while growing up in the 1960s and '70s, I've otherwise been reluctant to return to that chronicle as it moves into my memories of the '70s.  I still want to do it; I'm not ready yet.

I'll be starting a new short series called The Mixtapes Of October,  I found the annotated liner notes to a few mixtapes I made for online pals many years ago, and thought them interesting enough to share here.



I'm toying with the idea of returning to It Came From The Garage!, my unfinished essay on Nuggets and the reappraisal of '60s punk and garage rock, which I began writing for Goldmine in the late '90s before running away from it, screaming sweetly. That project will be a lot of work, so I still need to decide if it's worth doing here for, y'know...free. Meanwhile, my Nuggets interviews with Mark Lindsay of Paul Revere and the Raiders, Dick Dodd of The Standells, Sal Valentino of The Beau Brummels, Barry Tashian of The Remains, and Nuggets auteur Lenny Kaye are already here on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do).

                    

My big project in the short term will be hype on behalf of BRIGHT LIGHTS! Syracuse New Wave Rock 'n' Roll Reunion, a way-fab live rock 'n' roll show on Sunday, July 3rd, at Funk 'N Waffles in Syracuse.  Hosted by Dana & Carl, we've got live sets from Tom Kenny, The Flashcubes, Screen Test, The Trend, The Dead Ducks, Maura & the Bright Lights (aka a supersized version of The Kennedys), and a special tribute to the late Norm Mattice, performed by The Richards.  A splendid time is strongly implied for all, so we recommend your attendance and participation if you can be anywhere near the 315 on July 3rd.  (And, of course, the show will be at Funk 'N Waffles' Clinton Street location, DOWNTOWN:  where all the lights are BRIGHT!)

                          

Now that I've heard three songs from Good Times!, the forthcoming new album from The Monkees, it's seems increasingly likely to be my favorite album of 2016.  Expect more Good Times! in the coming weeks, and look out for a special edition of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio on Sunday, September 11, celebrating 50 years of the Monkees experience.



What else?  Oh yeah...a whole bunch more superhero comic books to cover in my Comic Book Retroview series.  I was also going to post a review of the Batman v Superman movie (a film which I liked quite a bit, while still understanding much of the criticism it received), but that's been backburnered and will likely be dismissed from the queue.  Unless I change my mind. I do that, too!

So:  On to 10,000!  Who's with me?