The death of David Bowie in 2016 affected me far more than I would have thought likely beforehand. So I poured my emotions into an open letter to Bowie. On January 18th of 2016, that letter became my first blog entry.
For years, a few friends had been trying to get me to write more often...or at least sometimes. When I stopped freelancing for Goldmine magazine in 2006, that was pretty much the end of my writing career (such as it was). I still wrote the weekly playlists for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl, and those playlists often included some manner of extended commentary; that was where my letter to Bowie was first seen. With rare exception, those playlist commentaries were really the only things I was writing for a very long time.
Then: Bowie. And a blog.
I determined immediately (and perhaps foolishly) that if I were going to commit to the idea of doing a blog, I had to take it seriously. There would need to be at least one post of some sort on the blog every single day, no exceptions. Two years later, I'm amazed to say I've met that goal and then some: 788 posts over the course of 731 days. Today's second anniversary post is Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) # 789.
As a happy birthday to Boppin', here are links to my favorite posts from years one and two. I can't deny that I'm a fan of my own work, but I hope it's an acceptable level of narcissism. Writers gotta write. In order to write, writers have to believe in what they're writing. An artist cannot afford the luxury of self-doubt. Reflection's good, and one should always be open to the idea of improving one's craft. But if you write, create, perform, sculpt, or build anything--anything--you have to be invested in its intrinsic worth. I may not be confident in anything else I do in my life, but I'm confident in this work. If I've deluded myself, well, that's nothing new either. Nonetheless, I hope these shiny baubles captivate, divert, inform, and/or entertain. And there'll be another piece in this spot tomorrow. Thanks for boppin' by.
Although a lot of my older archive pieces have also found a new home on this blog, this list only includes material I completed since the January 2016 origin of Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do). These are listed in no real order, and the list excludes links to The Greatest Record Ever Made, Virtual Ticket Stub Gallery, and My LP Appreciations, all of which were discussed earlier this week.
David Bowie: Dear David
Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) # 1. The blog was called CC Says for its first few days before I settled on its current title. Starting a blog--a daily blog--was a rash decision, and I wasn't necessarily prepared to follow through. After this Bowie piece, I was able to continue by reprinting older pieces I'd written for Goldmine, This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, and other outlets, and I generated more and more fresh content as the blog bopped on.
Eternity Man!, Chapters 1-5
BATMAN & AQUAMAN: The Undersea World Of Mr. Freeze
Jack Mystery
SUPERHERO FICTION! If there were something like a Nielsen or Arbitron rating service for my blog pieces, the ratings for the first five chapters of my proposed rock 'n' roll time-travel superhero novel Eternity Man! would be somewhere south of My Mother, The Car and All Jackhammers All The Time. I was keenly engaged with writing these, but I confess the lack of public interest affected my own enthusiasm. To the backburner! "The Undersea World Of Mr. Freeze" is a purple-prose pulp short story, with beginning, middle, and end, and I love the result. Jack Mystery mixes personal reminiscence with an earnest attempt to tell a story starring a superhero I created when I was in elementary school.
Singers, Superheroes, And Songs On The Radio: My Life In Pop Culture, The 1960s
I developed an interest in trying to write a de facto autobiography of being a kid in the '60s, of the songs I heard and the comic books I read, the places I visited, how I tried to fit in, and the early dawning of realization that I never would. It resulted in this nine-part saga. I will eventually take up the story again, continuing it into my life in the '70s.
The Road To GOLDMINE
This is one of the best things I've written in years, maybe my best ever. It's part of the narrative that began with Singers, Superheroes, And Songs On The Radio, skipping the '70s and the dawn of the '80s, and jumping right into the years leading up to my first freelance work for Goldmine. The story is very personal, and I confess that I can't re-read it without getting emotional in spots. But I stand by the work with pride.
I've Got The Music In Me (And That's Where It's Going To Stay)
And I'm nearly as proud of this one, detailing my decades-long failed attempts to make music rather than just listen to it (and write about it).
The Monkees Bring The Summer: A Girl I Knew Somewhere
The Monkees: GOOD TIMES! review
The Monkees: Welcome To The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame
Batman Meets The Monkees
After Singers, Superheroes, And Songs On The Radio, I think "The Monkees Bring The Summer: A Girl I Knew Somewhere" was my first attempt to really tell the story of how pop music affected my life, or at least how life and music intersected for me. I've written a lot about The Monkees on this blog (and before), and there's plenty more here for Monkees fans to search out even beyond these four links. My two decades freelancing for Goldmine (and others) included many, many reviews. I'm no longer interested in writing reviews. But I made an exception when The Monkees released their fabulous 2016 album Good Times! The giddy euphoria of Good Times! deluded me into thinking that The Monkees would finally (and rightly!) be inducted into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, inspiring one of my most-viewed posts. The "Batman Meets The Monkees" thing was immensely satisfying, and quite well-received.
COMIC BOOK RETROVIEW: Superboy # 129
COMIC BOOK RETROVIEW: DC Comics 100-Page Super Spectaculars
I like telling stories that mix my personal reminiscences with pop culture. I guess that falls into the danger zone of the narcissism I warned you about several paragraphs ago. My hope remains that the experience is sufficiently universal, and the observations sufficiently relevant, that the work transcends the limitation of just being about me. The goal remains to tell a story that's of interest to...someone! I think these two editions of Comic Book Retroview hit that target. Both of them mix my wide-eyed appreciation of seeing these comic books when I was younger with some facts and history so's ya learn stuff. The nine-part history of DC's 100-Page Super Spectaculars was particularly fulfilling to write.
THE NOTEBOOK NOTIONS, Part 1: The Bay City Rollers in CATCH US IF YOU CAN
THE NOTEBOOK NOTIONS, Part 2: Talk About Pop Musicals
Man, I really oughtta get back to writing more entries in this series. The Notebook Notions examines some of the frankly stupid ideas I scrawled in notebooks when I was a teenage wannabe writer in the '70s. The first two chapters discussed my ideas to concoct a Bay City Rollers feature film, a TV series starring Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart, a jukebox movie starring Bo Derek, and a film vehicle for Northern Ireland's Phenomenal Pop Combo The Undertones.
On Broadway
Among the handful of cherished supporters who make Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) a part of their daily schedule, I betcha there aren't many who come to read my opinion of Hamilton. But I tell ya, I would love to see that play, particularly if Leslie Odom, Jr. were still playing the role of Aaron Burr. Yes, yes, I want to be in the room where it happens.
Tom Kenny, My Daughter, And Me
BRIGHT LIGHTS! 2016
The Flashcubes: A Brighter Light In My Mind
Folks may be tired of hearing me say it, but Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse The Flashcubes will always be at the top of my all-time rockin' pop cosmology, sharing that peerless pinnacle with The Beatles and The Ramones (with The Monkees and The Kinks right below them). Each of these three pieces expresses my love of The Flashcubes and the late '70s Syracuse new wave music scene they created. The Tom Kenny bit is special to me because it co-stars my daughter Meghan. The five-part Bright Lights! 2016 lovingly details a dizzyingly spectacular night of memory and celebration, starring The Flashcubes, Tom Kenny, and more. A Brighter Light In My Mind winningly remakes this random world into a world that makes much more coherent sense: a world where The Flashcubes became stars (and December 8th, 1980 was mere footnote rather than tragedy).
I'm In Love With A Sound
A Letter To My 17-Year-Old Self
5 Great Movie Songs (From Films I Either Didn't Like Or Never Saw)
Five Songs I've Loved (Nearly) My Entire Life
I've shared a few posts with the blog Love Letters 2 Rock N Roll because I dig their commitment to expressing the pure love of music, the love that makes us fans to begin with. The idea of writing something for LL2RnR's use seems to spark a specific inspiration for me, or at least it feels that way when I'm writing it.
The Tottenham Sound Of...The Beatles?!
As much as I love The Dave Clark Five, I have to concede that they weren't always terribly original. But there was one instance where I insist that The Beatles copied them.
Thanksgiving
Cindy
If we never loved, our hearts would never hurt. But if we never love, we never live. Cindy was our cat, and she died last Saturday night. We miss her terribly. Time is the enemy. Family endures.
Diamonds Are Forever
My first and (so far) only baseball post.
I WAS THERE! A First-Person Account Of The Bowling Green Massacre
HA! And so easy to write!
April's Fool
Farewell, My Four-Wheeled Friend
My Back Pages
Personal stories, with little pop culture resonance, I fear. I have intense mixed feelings about "April's Fool." It was a story I needed to tell, and I think I told it well enough. It's also a story that bothers me, a lot, and for good reason. There is some overlap between "Farewell, My Four-Wheeled Friend" and "My Back Pages;" back surgery tends to be something that lingers on within the narrative of one's life story.
This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 4
TIRnRR # 4, Track By Track
Dana and I are so proud of our 2017 compilation CD This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 4. The first link above is to the official liner notes, while the second is a 30-part [!!] annotated track-by-track discussion of the album.
The Ramones: The Power Pop Hall Of Fame
The Spongetones: The Power Pop Hall Of Fame
Aaron Kupferberg invited me to write some entries for my choice among the 2017 inductees into his Power Pop Hall Of Fame (just as I had done in 2016 for The Rubinoos). The Ramones and The Spongetones were the ones that made me wanna testify.
TOPPERMOST OF THE POPPERMOST: My 25 Favorite Beatles Tracks
ONCE UPON A ONCE-IN-A-WHILE: My 25 Favorite Monkees Tracks
THE SONGS WE WERE SINGING: My 25 Favorite (Post-Beatles) Paul McCartney Tracks
It's all about the song. It's always all about the song.
Okay. Ya ready for more? Year Three of Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) continues tomorrow.
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Our new compilation CD This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 4 is now available from Kool Kat Musik! 29 tracks of irresistible rockin' pop, starring Pop Co-Op, Ray Paul, Circe Link & Christian Nesmith, Vegas With Randolph Featuring Lannie Flowers, The Slapbacks, P. Hux, Irene Peña, Michael Oliver & the Sacred Band Featuring Dave Merritt, The Rubinoos, Stepford Knives, The Grip Weeds, Popdudes, Ronnie Dark, The Flashcubes,Chris von Sneidern, The Bottle Kids, 1.4.5., The Smithereens, Paul Collins' Beat, The Hit Squad, The Rulers, The Legal Matters, Maura & the Bright Lights, Lisa Mychols, and Mr. Encrypto & the Cyphers. You gotta have it, so order it here.
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