This week's all-vinyl edition of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl is now available to download from Westcott Radio. Dana's on the mend following his surgery, and should be back in the studio for next week's show. He sez hi, and I betcha you all say hi in return.
Here's an annotated look at the 45s and LPs played on TIRnRR this week, and where I got 'em:
THE RAMONES: Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?
If you listen very closely to the beginning of the show, you can hear the needle drop on my copy of The Ramones' End Of The Century LP, which I purchased at Main Street Records in Brockport, NY the week the album was released in early 1980. Toronto's CHUM-FM had been playing this track before its release, so I was pretty hyped for it.
THE BAT BOYS: Batman (Theme)
The only track that skipped on the whole show! My much-played copy of this budget LP called Batman was purchased at J.M. Fields Department Store in North Syracuse in 1966.
THE KINKS: Prince Of The Punks
B-side of the "Father Christmas" single, purchased at a shopping-mall record store in Cleveland over Christmas break of my freshman year in college, 1977. I bought this and "It's Gonna Be A Punk Rock Xmas" by The Ravers at the same time.
THE WHO: The Punk Meets The Godfather
My used copy of Quadrophenia came from Main Street Records in, I think, the early '80s. Syracuse rockers The Dead Ducks turned me on to the song via their own kickin' live rendition.
HOLLY & JOEY: I Got You Babe
A single by Holly Beth Vincent (of Holly & the Italians) and Joey Ramone, and yet another Main Street Records purchase. That fine store will come up a lot in these listings.
RICHARD BARONE & JAMES MASTRO: I've Got A Secret
My friend Andrea Ogarrio introduced me to this track when she included it on one of the killer mix tapes she made for me. I found my copy of the Nuts And Bolts LP at...I'm not sure. Probably Knuckleheads in North Syracuse, which was run by long-time Goldmine advertiser Jack Wolak.
THE MOSQUITOS: I Know A Secret
A cover of the title tune from The Mosqutos' That Was Then, This Is Now! EP gave The Monkees a Top 20 hit in 1986, but I like this track even more. Purchased at a shopping mall while traveling, but I don't remember where I was when I bought it.
SMOKEY ROBINSON & THE MIRACLES: The Tears Of A Clown
One of my very favorite songs on the radio when I was in middle school. This copy came from a Motown collection called 25 # 1 Hits From 25 Years, purchased at Main Street Records.
PERCY FAITH & HIS ORCHESTRA: Little Bells And Big Bells
I wrote about ol' Percy here. The Passport To Romance LP was part of our family collection in the '60s.
THE RASPBERRIES: Go All The Way, Tonight, Ecstasy, I Wanna Be With You
The horny singles! I had never heard "Ecstasy" before receiving the Raspberries' Best LP as a Christmas gift from my parents, but I knew (and worshipped) the other three from airplay on Syracuse's WOLF-AM.
THE FLASHCUBES: No Promise
This should have been the third single from my favorite power pop group The Flashcubes, but instead of seeing release in 1979, it remained unissued until the 1990s. It finally appeared on vinyl on a 2-LP set called Anthology, which was given to me as a gift from 'Cubes guitarist Paul Armstrong.
THE BEATLES: Penny Lane
The version with the extra little horn lick at the end, from the Rarities LP. Main Street again.
THE WONDERS: That Thing You Do!
Where in the hell did I buy this 45? Hmmm. Probably at Music Express/CNY DJ Supply when it was still on James Street in Eastwood.
HERB ALPERT & THE TIJUANA BRASS: Whipped Cream
Yep, that LP cover provided an indelible memory for many kids growing up in the '60s. Swoon...! This is still the same crunchy copy that my parents owned at the time.
THE KINGS: This Beat Goes On/Switchin'
Early indie-single version of a song the group subsequently re-recorded to some notoriety and much airplay. I've neither seen nor heard another copy of this besides the one I snagged at a shop on Yonge Street in Toronto while honeymooning in 1984. (And yes, I went record shopping on my honeymoon. Your point...?)
THE MONKEES: A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You
Single, purchased in the '70s at the weekly flea market held at Syracuse's Regional Market. Both sides were originally non-LP, but I had this A-side already on the group's 1976 Greatest Hits, so I bought the 45 to get the flip, "The Girl I Knew Somewhere." However, no CD reissue of "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You" has ever quite matched the punch of the original 45, so I had to play it on this all-vinyl edition.
DAVID JOHANSEN & ROBIN JOHNSON: Flowers In The City
From the soundtrack to Times Square, purchased at--you guessed it!--Main Street Records.
STEVIE WONDER: I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever)
Wonder's Talking Book was one of several used LPs I scored at either Johnnie's Collectibles or Books & Memories on James Street in Eastwood in the '90s, when I was kicking around the idea of writing a book about the definitive rock and soul albums of the 1970s. The film High Fidelity hooked me on this track, which has become my favorite Stevie Wonder song.
THE JAM: I Need You (For Someone)
Polydor U.S. 45, with added fade-out not heard on the LP version. Purchased from The Record Grove in Brockport.
THE RUTLES: Number One
My sister Denise brought me a copy of The Rutles LP as a gift from England in 1978.
JOHNNY & THE HURRICANES: The Beatnik Fly
BUDDY HOLLY: Peggy Sue
Both of these singles were contained within the two little binders full of 45s I discovered at home around '72 or '73, singles that had previously belonged to a friend of my siblings (her story told here). The Coral Buddy Holly 45 is especially crunchy, but it still plays.
THE SPINNERS: I'll Be Around
This copy from an Adam VIII Records as-seen-on-TV collection called 20 Solid Gold Hits. My lovely wife Brenda owned it in the '70s, and it became community property as a result of our merged assets in 1984.
X: True Love
I have no idea where I got my copy of X's More Fun In The New World.
ANDY WILLIAMS: Moon River
JAMES BROWN: Honky Tonk Pt. 1
Why in the world am I lumping Andy Williams and James Brown together...?! Well, because I got them both from the same source at the same time: former Syracuse Community Radio DJ Eric Strattman (whose show Unsupervised I Hit My Head used to precede TIRnRR on Sunday nights). When Eric was getting ready to move from Syracuse to Boston, he wanted to sell a few of his LPs, and these were two among the small stack I bought from him. The James Brown track is from a K-Tel set, 22 Explosive Hits. As it should be.
SNEAKERS: Things We Said Today
Promo 45 on the Bearsville label, purchased from a record and stereo equipment store that was located in Buffalo's University Plaza in the early '80s. Can't remember the store's name, and that fact has been driving me nuts. Anyone remember that store? Anyone...?
PAUL McCARTNEY: Singalong Junk
Main Street Records wasn't the only record store that loomed large in my legend. Another was Record Revolution in Cleveland Heights, near where my sister lived in the late '70s and early '80s. I snagged this LP from Record Revolution's dusty 'n' delightful basement racks over Christmas break in '76.
THE ROMANTICS: Little White Lies
I think I'd read about The Romantics in Bomp! magazine before buying their debut indie single at The Record Grove in Brockport in the spring of '78. This version shreds the group's subsequent re-recording for their first album, and it's never been given a legit reissue.
COLOR ME GONE: Lose Control
Another track from an Andrea Ogarrio mix tape, this one featuring lead vocals from Marti Jones. My copy of the EP came from either Knuckleheads or Syracuse's Desert Shore Records.
PRINCE: When You Were Mine
I think that Dirty Mind was another of the LPs I bought from Eric Strattman.
THE FLESHTONES: Way Down South
Wow. Can't remember where I picked up a copy of the 1987 Fleshtones Vs. Reality LP. Might have come from a chain store like Cavages or Record Theater, or from Desert Shore.
ROY LONEY & THE PHANTOM MOVERS: Steppin' Around
Andrea's husband Greg Ogarrio's mix tape hit me with this song, and I later bought a copy of the LP, The Scientific Bombs Away!, at The Bop Shop in Rochester.
ROCKPILE: Teacher Teacher
Used LP purchase at Knuckleheads. Can't explain why I never owned a copy of this until the '90s.
THE ROLLING STONES: Not Fade Away
I bought my copy of the Stones' Big Hits (High Tide & Green Grass) from a collectibles store in Brockport in the spring of '78. Within less than two years, a girl I was dating "borrowed" it, along with my Who and Buddy Holly LPs, and I eventually had to marry her just to get the damned records back.
AL HIRT: Green Hornet
Another challenge for The Green Hornet? No. No challenge at all. I bought Hirt's The Horn Meets "The Hornet" LP at Desert Shore Records.
THE BEATLES: "Everbody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey
The White Album was a high school graduation gift from three girls I knew.
ELVIS COSTELLO & THE ATTRACTIONS: (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding
Armed Forces was the first album lovely wife Brenda ever gave me, waaaaay back when she was still lovely new girlfriend Brenda.
BARON DAEMON & THE VAMPIRES: The Transylvania Twist
The best-selling local 45 in Syracuse history. I was a big fan of the Baron's TV show back in the '60s, but I don't think I even knew about his record at the time. The single was gift from TIRnRR co-host Dana Bonn.
THE ROYAL GUARDSMEN: Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron
My first pop-rock album, a gift from my parents in '66 or '67.
KISS: Calling Dr. Love
KISS had been the stars of my first rock 'n' roll concert in December of 1976. When I graduated high school in '77, I wanted "Calling Dr. Love" to replace "Pomp And Circumstance" as our class's processional soundtrack. I did not win that argument. But my sister gave me KISS's Rock And Roll Over album as a graduation gift. I've forgotten whatever it was I learned in high school, but I still have that album!
THE SEX PISTOLS: Pretty Vacant
My girlfriend Theresa gave me a copy of Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols as a Christmas gift in 1977. The gift meant a lot to me, but not enough to keep us from splitting up over the holiday break. No future for us!
THE VENTURES: Walk--Don't Run
This actually comes from a budget 2-LP set of The Ventures re-recording their classic material, so, y'know, yuck. But! I purchased it in a nightclub, at a live show by The Ventures, and I had The Ventures autograph it for me. Yuck rescinded.
THE KNACK: Good Girls Don't
This 45 version has cleaner lyrics than the familiar, salacious LP track. Main Street Records.
THE CICHLIDS: Did You Ever
Man, an ace cover of a song originally done by The Hullaballoos. I bought The Cichlids' Be True To Your School LP from the back room at Buffalo's Apollo Records, run by revered rock writer Gary Sperrazza!
SHOES: Okay
Bomp! single, a gift from Greg Ogarrio.
CHUCK BERRY: Johnny B. Goode
Heh--bought this last week at Books & Melodies in Syracuse. When I decided to do an all-vinyl show, I was bummed by the realization that I'd sold all of my Chuck Berry LPs after I got a decent 2-CD Berry retrospective. This could not stand. So I re-purchased Chuck Berry's Golden Decade, and this copy's stayin' put.
BADFINGER: Icicles
Badfinger's Ass LP came from...I bought it at...damned if I can remember.
THE SMALL FACES: Lazy Sunday
No such problem remembering this one! It was just before Christmas, probably in '76, and my parents let me pick out a few LPs for them to give me as gifts. One of those (big) stocking stuffers was a collection called History Of British Rock, Volume II, discovered at Camelot Music in one of our local malls, and containing this Small Faces gem.
THE RUBINOOS: Rock And Roll Is Dead
I fell fast and hard for The Rubinoos in 1977. I bought a promo copy of their eponymous debut at Record Revolution in Cleveland Heights.
DAVID BOWIE: Suffragette City
I was a latecomer to David Bowie, but The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars was definitely my favorite. Main Street Records.
THE ANIMALS: It's My Life
Like History Of British Rock, Volume II, Best Of The Animals came from Camelot Music for Christmas '76.
THE DAVE CLARK FIVE: Don't You Realize
The DC5's Having A Wild Weekend album was a flea market purchase in high school, snagged in pursuit of the sublime "Catch Us If You Can," but ultimately even more cherished by virtue of underappreciated, lesser-known LP cuts like "Don't You Realize."
PARTHENON HUXLEY: Double Our Numbers
I came to Parthenon's fabulous Sunny Nights album from 1988 way after the fact, but I nonetheless recognize the unassailable fact that "Double Our Numbers" is The Greatest Record Ever Made. Scored my copy of the LP as part of the same massive bin-troll that netted me the Stevie Wonder album noted above.
N/A: Morocco Mole
Even before The Royal Guardsmen's Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron became my first pop-rock LP, the tie-in album to the TV cartoon Secret Squirrel was likely my first LP of any kind.
THE SMITHEREENS: Only A Memory
Import single, purchased at Knuckleheads.
THE MONKEES: Peter Percival Patterson's Pet Pig Porky, Pleasant Valley Sunday
After a friend introduced me to the wonder of The Monkees' Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd. album in 1977, I found a used copy for fifty cents at Mike's Sound Center in North Syracuse. Since then, the LP's cover has been autographed by Peter Tork and Micky Dolenz.
THE RAMONES: Sheena Is A Punk Rocker
The single had been The Record That Changed My Life when I got it in late 1977, but I didn't get around to picking up the Rocket To Russia album until over a year later, at Springfield, Missouri's Battlefield Mall over Christmas break in '78. I bought The Runaways' Live In Japan at the same time.
THE KINKS: You Really Got Me
After hearing "All Day And All Of The Night" on that History Of British Rock, Volume II set, my sister pointed me in the direction of the even more primal "You Really Got Me." My first copy of this Greatest Record Ever Made came via the first volume of History Of British Rock, which was possibly a Gerber Music purchase in early '77.
JON & THE NIGHTRIDERS: Geronimo
Buffalo's WBNY-FM played Jon & the Nightriders' "Charge Of The Nightriders" (a surf instrumental version of "The William Tell Overture") and their long surf instrumental medley "Splashback!" enough that I knew I needed to own the album, Charge Of The Nightriders. Radio's job is to sell records. I believe I tracked this down at Home Of The Hits on Buffalo's Elmwood Avenue, though I may have picked it up on a visit to Brockport instead. I mean, why not one more album from Main Street Records?
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