The first Rolling Stones song I ever knew was "Get Off Of My Cloud," which was a radio smash when I was five years old. In 1965, the Stones were, to me, just another rock 'n' roll group on the radio, and in my mind not substantively different from contemporaries like The Dave Clark Five, Herman's Hermits, or Gary Lewis and the Playboys, and certainly not bigger than The Beatles.
I don't think I was much aware of the Stones again until "Happy," a tune that hypnotized me on WOLF-AM in 1972. In retrospect, I must have heard some Rolling Stones material in the interim--how could I have possibly missed "Paint It, Black," "Jumpin' Jack Flash," and "Honky Tonk Women," at the very least?--but "Happy" was nonetheless the first Stones track since "Get Off Of My Cloud" in '65 to make an impression on me. And I liked it. I liked it a lot.
So my resume as a Rolling Stones fan is suspect, at best. Nonetheless, as my knowledge and appreciation of rock 'n' roll began to expand in the mid-'70s, my specific embrace of the British Invasion compelled me to go back and learn about the Stones. I had little use for the group's then-contemporary hits--"Angie" was okay, I guess, but I've never cared about "Fool To Cry"--so I needed to look back in time for golden Stones. I needed to re-visit The Rolling Stones' 1960s work.
"Get Off Of My Cloud." "Paint It, Black." "The Last Time." "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction." "19th Nervous Breakdown." That stuff? That stuff rocked.
My first Rolling Stones purchase was a 45, either "Satisfaction" or the double-A side "Let's Spend The Night Together"/"Ruby Tuesday." My first Stones LP was a used copy of Through The Past Darkly, followed by a used copy of Got LIVE If You Want It!, and then by a reproduction of the 1964 four-song UK EP The Rolling Stones. I read up on the group, heard more, bought more, and I was a Rolling Stones fan before I left high school. While I was in college, the group even released a new song that I liked: "Shattered," which came to be known as "Carl's song" in my dorm, as everyone on my floor yelled out whenever it played on the radio: "Carl! Your song's on!"
(In the same college time frame, my girlfriend "borrowed" my copy of The Rolling Stones' Big Hits [High Tide And Green Grass], as well as my copies of The Who's Meaty Beaty Big And Bouncy and Buddy Holly & The Crickets' 20 Golden Greats, all for her own listening pleasure. I had to marry her to get my damn records back. [Which was a pretty good deal, actually--I got her, of course, AND I got her copies of Cheap Trick At Budokan and The Kinks' Greatest Hits. See? You can always get what you want!])
As an avowed pop fan, I've found that some rock fans think that maybe I don't like the Stones. But I do. For a very brief period in the early '80s, I even preferred The Rolling Stones to The Beatles (though I got over that phase pretty fast!). Granted, there are a number of Stones perennials--"Brown Sugar," "Miss You," "Start Me Up"--that I would be just fine with NEVER EVER HEARING AGAIN. Ahem. But The Rolling Stones were a pop band, especially in the '60s. They were, in fact, a terrific pop band. I like to invoke Bob Segarini's joke about The Rolling Stones being "The World's Luckiest Bar Band," but even a really, really lucky bar band doesn't come up with the riffs, doesn't quite pull off the attitude, and--most importantly--doesn't craft those hooks that made The Rolling Stones essential radio fare. And if you think that ain't good enough for pop music...well, don't hang around, boy--two's a crowd.
This week's edition of The World's Luckiest Bar Mitzvah DJs...er, The Best Three Hours Of Radio On The Whole Friggin' Planet cast the dim widdle TIRnRR spotlight on a little pop band called The Rolling Stones. We also found time for brand new music from Tommy Gunn, and the plethora of sonic delights detailed below. Proof positive: This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio's a gas, gas, gas! And this is what it sounded like on a jiving sister Sunday night in Syracuse this week.
This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl streams live every Sunday night from 9 to Midnight Eastern, exclusively at www.westcottradio.org
Please support our near-future FM radio home at http://sparksyracuse.org/
And visit Carl's blog, Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) at http://carlcafarelli.blogspot.com/
TIRnRR # 826: 5/15/16
THE RAMONES: Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio? (Rhino, End Of The Century)
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THE ROLLING STONES: Get Off Of My Cloud (Abkco, December's Children [And Everybody's])
THE MICKEY FINN: Garden Of My Mind (Cherry Red, Garden Of My Mind)
THE MONKEES: You Bring The Summer (Rhino, Good Times!)
THE CHURCH: The Unguarded Moment (Rhino, VA: Children Of Nuggets)
PRINCE: I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man (Warner Brothers, The Hits/The B-Sides)
ROCKPILE: Heart (Columbia, Seconds Of Pleasure)
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TOMMY GUNN: Bye Bye Bye (Formula Free, Alien Moon)
THE BEACH BOYS: I Should Have Known Better (Capitol, Beach Boys Party! Uncovered And Unplugged)
THE ROLLING STONES: Empty Heart (Abkco, 12 X 5)
THE RAMONES: I Can't Give You Anything (Rhino, Rocket To Russia)
IT'S MY PARTY!: That Boy Belongs To Yesterday (To M'Lou, VA: He's A Revel: The Gene Pitney Story Retold)
DUSTY SPRINGFIELD: What Do You Do When Love Dies (Rhino, Dusty In Memphis)
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RAY PAUL: I Love It (But You Don't Believe It) Permanent Press, Whimsicality)
PAUL McCARTNEY: That's All Right (Sire, VA: Good Rockin' Tonight)
THE ROLLING STONES: Before They Make Me Run (Universal, Some Girls)
JEFF BECK & CHRISSIE HYNDE: Mystery Train (Sire, VA: Good Rockin' Tonight)
JACK "PENETRATOR" LIPTON: Search And Destroy (Rockinnn', Forgotten Boy)
JOHNNY HALLIDAY: Blue Suede Shoes (Sire, VA: Good Rockin' Tonight)
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THE ROLLING STONES: Happy (Rolling Stones, Exile On Main Street)
THE CHESTERFIELD KINGS: She Told Me Lies (Rhino, VA: Children Of Nuggets)
TAVARES: Free Ride (EMI, The Best Of Tavares)
THE FIVE STAIRSTEPS: Don't Change Your Love (Buddha, The First Family Of Soul)
THE ROLLING STONES: Tell Me (Abkco, Singles Collection The London Years)
OSCAR BROWN JR.: Work Song (Columbia, Sin & Soul...And Then Some)
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THE RICHARDS: Who Would've Thought (Northside, Over The Top)
THE HUMAN BEINZ: Nobody But Me (Rhino, VA: Nuggets)
THE ROLLING STONES: We Love You (Abkco, Singles Collection The London Years)
DAVID BOWIE: Starman [original single mix] (Columbia, Nothing Has Changed)
1.4.5.: Your Own World (Beautiful Sounds, Rhythm n' Booze)
CHEAP TRICK: Surrender (Epic, Heaven Tonight)
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KISS: Shout It Out Loud (Mercury, Destroyer)
FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE: Better Things (Rykodisc, This Is Where I Belong)
THE ROLLING STONES: Let's Spend The Night Together (Abkco, Between The Buttons)
HOLLY GOLIGHTLY: Tell Me Now So I Know (Damaged Goods, Truly She Is None Other)
THE KINKS: Death Of A Clown (Essential, Something Else)
MUDHONEY: Who'll Be The Next In Line (Universal, single)
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ONE LIKE SON: Punk Rock Prom Queen (onelikeson.bandcamp.com, New American Gothic)
LIPSTICK KILLERS: Hindu Gods Of Love (Rhino, VA: Children Of Nuggets)
THE ROLLING STONES: Shattered (Universal, Some Girls)
HINDU LOVE GODS: Raspberry Beret (Rhino, WARREN ZEVON: Genius)
THE ROLLING STONES: The Last Time (Abkco, Singles Collection The London Years)
BIG STAR: September Gurls (Big Beat, VA: Thank You, Friends)
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THE ROLLING STONES: Paint It, Black (Abkco, Singles Collection The London Years)
THE DUKES OF STATOSPHEAR: Vanishing Girl (Rhino, VA: Children Of Nuggets)
THE ROLLING STONES: Citadel (Abkco, Their Satanic Majesties Request)
THE SMALL FACES: Up The Wooden Hills To Bedfordshire (Immediate, The Darlings Of Wapping Wharf Launderette)
THE ROLLING STONES: 19th Nervous Breakdown (Abkco, Singles Collection The London Years)
THE PANDORAS: It's About Time (Voxx, It's About Time)
THE ROLLING STONES: Not Fade Away (Abkco, Singles Collection The London Years)
THE CRYAN SHAMES: Sugar And Spice (Rhino, VA: Nuggets)
THE ROLLING STONES: (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction (Abkco, Singles Collection The London Years)
THE MUSIC EXPLOSION: Little Bit O' Soul (Rhino, VA: Nuggets)
THE ROLLING STONES: Jumpin' Jack Flash (Abkco, Singles Collection The London Years)
THE HOODOO GURUS: I Want You Back (Rhino, VA: Children Of Nuggets)
THE ROLLING STONES: Stoned (Abkco, Singles Collection The London Years)
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