Why do we do this?
This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl has been a Sunday night fixture since the end of 1998. Even before that, the first Dana & Carl shows date back to January of 1992. Any way you look at it, that's a long time to spend playing records and trying to do sight gags on the radio. The voices must get tired. The aging bodies surely ache by the late hour of midnight. Our audience is dedicated and enthusiastic, but small. How can we keep doing this, week after week after week?
Why wouldn't we do this?
We have a three-hour weekly forum to play what we want. We chose a nominal power pop format, but a power pop format that erases the imaginary line between power pop stalwarts like The Raspberries and The Kinks and acts like The O'Jays, The Drifters, Television, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Adam Ant, and The Juliana Hatfield Three; a format that revels in the old, and delights in the new; a format that embraces its own description as a rockin' pop/punk/soul/bubblegum Shangri-La. Just as The Ramones once believed they were like The Bay City Rollers, This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio believes it's an AM Top 40 show; it just reflects a timeless Top 40 that may only exist within our fevered, fannish imaginations. But it's as real as any fantastic notion, once it's been spoken out loud. Our audience is small, but dedicated and enthusiastic. As each Sunday comes and goes, we still look forward to the next one, week after week after week.
We would like to continue. We could use a little help.
This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, along with other Westcott Radio internet shows, will be establishing a second home on terrestrial radio in Syracuse shortly: the all-new Spark Syracuse WSPJ 93.5 and 103.3 FM. Great news, right? But even free radio ain't free, so we need to raise money--a lot of money--in a very tight time frame. TIRnRR fans have always been generous and supportive, and you lot are the only reason we've been able to keep on keepin' on. You are kind, philanthropic, and irresistibly hot-lookin'. We've let our tin-plated beggin' cup gather dust for a while, but the time has come once again: in the words of Spinal Tap, just gimme some money.
Your tax-deductible donation to Spark Syracuse at http://sparksyracuse.org/support/ funds our efforts to get The Legal Matters, Trolley, Cocktail Slippers, and Michael Carpenter and the Cuban Heels on the radio in Syracuse. Even if you're not in the ol' 315, and may never hear Dana & Carl on the FM dial, your support helps to prop up this whole rickety operation, allowing us to continue webcasting while seeking to expand our reach. You like pop music? You think pop music should be on the radio, where it belongs? Here's your chance to play a part.
Donations in any amount are welcome indeed; you can donate via PayPal at http://sparksyracuse.org/support/; if you wish to donate by check, please make that out to Syracuse Community Radio, and mail it to Carl Cafarelli, 5540 Taormina Drive, Clay, NY 13041. There is an official fundraising campaign coming, but we need to start rackin' up some coin now. Anyone who donates at least $100 or more will have the opportunity to program the music for a future three-hour episode of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio. Yes, you can be like Dana & Carl, except presumably better-dressed. Significant restrictions will apply, so hit me with any questions you have; the Guest Programmer gimmick has been enormously successful and a lot of fun for all parties in the past. Let's keep that party going.
And let's keep this party going. This week's This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio was designed as a demonstration of Radio Worth Paying For. We did our part; here's your chance to do yours. Listen: January will be the 25th anniversary of the first Dana & Carl radio show. It's not too early to get your Silver Anniversary gifts in now.
NEXT WEEK: 50 YEARS OF THE MONKEES! And this is what rock 'n' roll radio--radio worth paying for--sounded like on a 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...but coming soon to WSPJ-FM.
TIRnRR # 839: 9/4/16 Radio Worth Paying For!
THE RAMONES: Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio? (Rhino, End Of The Century)
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SPINAL TAP: Gimme Some Money (Polydor, Spinal Tap)
THE BEATLES: Money (Capitol, The Beatles' Second Album)
WRECKLESS ERIC: Take The Cash (K.A.S.H.) (Stiff, Wreckless Eric)
ELVIS COSTELLO & THE ATTRACTIONS: Radio, Radio (Rykodisc, This Year's Model)
THE O'JAYS: For The Love Of Money (Sony, VA: A Tribute To Black Entertainers)
TELEVISION: See No Evil (ROIR, The Blow-Up)
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MICHAEL CARPENTER & THE CUBAN HEELS: You're Givin' Love A Good Name (Big Radio, Ain't Nothing Left To Say)
STEVE EARLE: Guitar Town (MCA, Guitar Town)
THE JULIANA HATFIELD THREE: My Sister (Mammoth, Become What You Are)
THROWING MUSES: Dizzy (Warner Brothers, Hunkpapa)
TEXAS TORNADOS: Adios Mexico (Reprise, Texas Tornados)
THE STRANGLERS: 96 Tears (Capitol, Peaches)
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LET'S ACTIVE: Every Dog Has His Day (IRS, Every Dog Has His Day)
R.E.M.: Radio Free Europe (IRS, And I Feel Fine...)
THE DRIFTERS: On Broadway (Atlantic, 1959-1965 All-Time Greatest Hits & More)
SWEET: Fox On The Run [UK version] (RCA, Desolation Boulevard)
THE SMITHEREENS: Green Thoughts (Capitol, Green Thoughts)
THE NERVES: One Way Ticket (Alive, One Way Ticket)
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THE LEGAL MATTERS: She Called Me To Say (Omnivore, Conrad)
TROLLEY: Caught In The Darkness (Easter, Caught In The Darkness)
GLADYS KNIGHT & THE PIPS: I've Got To Use My Imagination (Funky Town Grooves, Imagination)
COURTNEY BARNETT: Elevator Operator (Mom + Pop, Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit)
ADAM ANT: Wonderful (Epic, The Essential Adam Ant)
THE CURE: In Between Days (Elektra, Staring At The Sea)
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THE STOOGES: 1969 (Virgin, IGGY POP: A Million In Prizes)
MR. ENCRYPTO: Rock And Roll Is Killing Me (Loudly) (Silent Bugler, Secret Identity Crisis)
THE BEACH BOYS: Wild Honey (Capitol, Smiley Smile -Wild Honey)
GANG OF FOUR: At Home He's A Tourist (Warner Brothers, A Brief History Of The Twentieth Century)
CONWAY TWITTY: It's Only Make Believe (Mercury, The Best Of Conway Twitty)
NEIL YOUNG: Cinnamon Girl (Reprise, Greatest Hits)
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THE REDUCERS: Let's Go (Rave On, Redux)
THE BUZZCOCKS: What Do I Get? (IRS, Singles Going Steady)
KYLE VINCENT: Wake Me Up (When The World's Worth Waking Up For) (Carport, Kyle Vincent)
XTC: Making Plans For Nigel (Virgin, Upsy Daisy Assortment)
KARA'S FLOWERS: Oliver (Reprise, The Fourth World)
THE MUFFS: Rock And Roll Girl (Caroline, VA: Freedom Of Choice)
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THE JEREMY BAND: Let Me In Your Heart (JAM, Hit You With A Flower)
THE BEVIS FROND: I Can't Get Into Your Scene (Reckless, Bevis Through The Looking Glass)
THE BAY CITY ROLLERS: Wouldn't You Like It (Bell, Wouldn't You Like It)
THE FACES: Shake, Shutter, Shiver (Warner Brothers, Stay With Me)
COCKTAIL SLIPPERS: St. Valentine's Day Massacre (Wicked Cool, Saint Valentine's Day Massacre)
THE GO-GO'S: Turn To You (IRS, Return To The Valley Of The Go-Go's)
MARSHALL CRENSHAW: Cynical Girl (Rhino, This Is Easy)
MATTHEW SWEET: Girlfriend (Volcano, Girlfriend)
HAROLD MELVIN & THE BLUE NOTES: Don't Leave Me This Way (Philadelphia International, single)
STATUS QUO: Make Me Stay A Little Bit Longer (Castle, At Their Best)
THE RASPBERRIES: Go All The Way (RPM, Power Pop Volume One)
BIG STAR: September Gurls (Big Beat, VA: Thank You, Friends)
THE MONKEES: Pleasant Valley Sunday (Rhino, Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd.)
THE KINKS: Better Things (Velvel, Give The People What They Want)
THE RAMONES: Blitzkrieg Bop (Rhino, Ramones)
THE FLASHCUBES: It's You Tonight (Northside, Bright Lights)
THE VENTURES: Hawaii Five-O (EMI, Walk--Don't Run)
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