While this post shows the genesis of my Love Letter To Radio, you can also read the finished playlist, and you can download the actual radio show: A LOVE LETTER TO RADIO.
Dana's taking next week off, so the April 8th edition of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio will be a solo show for me. I was originally planning to do another all-vinyl show, but then I hit on a different idea. Radio has been very, very important for me, from the music I heard as a little kid in the '60s through the stuff I absorbed as I theoretically grew up in the '70s and beyond. I wanted to put together a love letter to radio. That's what next week's TIRnRR will be.
Here's a peak behind the scenes of that love letter. I won't know the specific songs or sequence until I actually do the show live on Sunday, but these are the tracks I'm considering at the moment. I'll probably add a few more to the mix between now and showtime, though this list already includes waaaay more records than I'll have time to play. I'm keeping the parameters simple: I'm only going to play records I remember hearing on the radio before I heard them anyplace else; I'm only going to play records I heard roughly contemporary to their release and/or radio heyday (no oldies, as tempting as it would be to dive into "Five O'Clock World" by The Vogues or "Lies" by The Knickerbockers, both of which I discovered via college radio more than a decade after they were hits); and I'm only going to play one track per artist (though multiple tracks listed below by The Kinks and The Rolling Stones indicate I haven't quite settled on which individual tracks will represent those artists).
AM. FM. Top 40. Free-form. AOR. Alternative. College radio. Community radio. It's all meant a lot to me. Consider this a thank-you note. More importantly: consider this a rock 'n' roll love letter. Sign it. Seal it. Mail it away.
999: Let's Face It
ABBA: S.O.S.
AC/DC: Rock 'n' Roll Damnation
ADAM & THE ANTS: Antmusic
THE ALLMAN BROTHERS: Ramblin' Man
AMERICA: Sister Golden Hair
THE AMERICAN BREED: Bend Me, Shape Me
THE ARCHIES: Sugar, Sugar
ARGENT: Hold Your Head Up
JOAN ARMATRADING: Drop The Pilot
THE BABYS: Isn't It Time
BADFINGER: Baby Blue
THE BAY CITY ROLLERS: Rock And Roll Love Letter
THE BEACH BOYS: Good Timin'
THE BEATLES: All My Loving
THE BEE GEES: Lonely Days
BLONDIE: X-Offender
AMY BOLTON: Do Me A Favor
BOW WOW WOW: Do You Wanna Hold Me?
DAVID BOWIE: Changes
THE BUGGLES: Video Killed The Radio Star
THE CARPENTERS: Only Yesterday
SHAUN CASSIDY: Hey Deanie
THE CASTAWAYS: Liar, Liar
CHARLIE: She Loves To Be In Love
CHEAP TRICK: So Good To See You
THE CHESTERFIELD KINGS: I've Gotta Way With Girls
THE CHI-LITES: Have You Seen Her
CHICAGO: Feelin' Stronger Every Day
THE DAVE CLARK FIVE: I Like It Like That
PETULA CLARK: A Sign Of The Times
THE CLASH: Police On My Back
COCKTAIL SLIPPERS: You Do Run
JUDY COLLINS: Both Sides Now
THE COMMODORES: Night Shift
ELVIS COSTELLO & THE ATTRACTIONS: Hand In Hand
ALICE COOPER: No More Mr. Nice Guy
THE COWSILLS: Hair
CULTURE CLUB: Church Of The Poison Mind
DAWN: Knock Three Times
DAZZ BAND: Let It Whip
THE DEAN BROTHERS: Sell My Misery
DEF LEPPARD: Let It Go
DEREK & THE DOMINOES: Bell Bottom Blues
THE DICTATORS: Sleepin' With The TV On
THE DIODES: Tired Of Waking Up Tired
DIRTY LOOKS: Let Go
BO DONALDSON & THE HEYWOODS: Who Do You Think You Are
CARL DOUGLAS: Kung Fu Fighting
BOB DYLAN: Knockin' On Heaven's Door
EARTH, WIND & FIRE: Shining Star
DAVE EDMUNDS: Girls Talk
ELF: Hoochie Koochie Lady
EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER: Lucky Man
ROKY ERICKSON: Don't Slander Me
DAVID ESSEX: Rock On
THE FACES: Stay With Me
FANCY: Wild Thing
THE 5TH DIMENSION: Age Of Aquarius/Let The Sun Shine In (The Flesh Failures)
THE FIRST CLASS: Beach Baby
THE FIVE AMERICANS: Western Union
THE FLESHTONES: American Beat '84
THE FOUR TOPS: Are You Man Enough?
THE BOBBY FULLER FOUR: I Fought The Law
THE FUZZTONES: Bad News Travels Fast
MARVIN GAYE: Sexual Healing
GEN X: Dancing With Myself
LESLEY GORE: California Nights
GRAND FUNK: We're An American Band
GRANDMASTER FLASH & MELLE MEL: White Lines (Don't Don't Do It)
EDDY GRANT: Electric Avenue
THE GRASS ROOTS: Temptation Eyes
GUNHILL ROAD: Back When My Hair Was Short
ARLO GUTHRIE: City Of New Orleans
HALL & OATES: Rich Girl
ISAAC HAYES: Theme From Shaft
HEAVEN 17: (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang
HERMAN'S HERMITS: Mrs. Brown, You've Got A Lovely Daughter
THE HOLLIES: Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress
THELMA HOUSTON: Don't Leave Me This Way
THE HUDSON BROTHERS: So You Are A Star
THE HUMAN LEAGUE: (Keep Feeling) Fascination
HUSKER DU: Eight Miles High
THE ISLEY BROTHERS: Fight The Power
JEFFERSON AIRPLANE: Somebody To Love
ELTON JOHN: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
GARY LEWIS & THE PLAYBOYS: Everybody Loves A Clown
THE JACKSON FIVE: I'll Be There
THE JAM: Down In The Tube Station At Midnight
TOMMY JAMES & THE SHONDELLS: Hanky Panky
JAN & DEAN: The Little Old Lady From Pasadena
JIGSAW: Sky High
JOY DIVISION: Love Will Tear Us Apart
JUDAS PRIEST: Diamonds And Rust
THE GREG KIHN BAND: For You
THE KINGS: This Beat Goes On/Switchin' To Glide
THE KINKS: Juke Box Music
THE KINKS: Lola
KISS: Rock And Roll All Nite [live]
GLADYS KNIGHT & THE PIPS: Midnight Train To Georgia
KOOL & THE GANG: Hollywood Swinging
MAJOR LANCE: Love Won't Let Me Wait
THE LAUGHING DOGS: Get 'Im Outa Town
LET'S ACTIVE: Blue Line
LOBO: Me And You And A Dog Named Boo
THE LONG RYDERS: Looking For Lewis & Clark
NICK LOWE: So It Goes
LYRES: Really Want You Right Now
THE MAIN INGREDIENT: Everybody Plays The Fool
THE MAMAS & THE PAPAS: Monday, Monday
MATERIAL ISSUE: Kim The Waitress
CURTIS MAYFIELD: Superfly
MELANIE: Candles In The Rain
HAROLD MELVIN & THE BLUE NOTES: If You Don't Know Me By Now
MFSB: TSOP
JONI MITCHELL: Help Me
THE MONKEES: That Was Then, This Is Now
THE MONROES: What Do All The People Know
MOTT THE HOOPLE: The Golden Age Of Rock 'n' Roll
ELLIOTT MURPHY: Drive All Night
JOHNNY NASH: I Can See Clearly Now
NAZARETH: Love Hurts
MICHAEL NESMITH: Rio
JUICE NEWTON: Queen Of Hearts
OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN: If Not For You
NILSSON: Daybreak
THE NOMADS: Have Love Will Travel
THE OHIO PLAYERS: Love Rollercoaster
THE O'JAYS: Love Train
THE OSMONDS: Down By The Lazy River
GRAHAM PARKER: Hotel Chambermaid
FREDA PAYNE: Band Of Gold
TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS: American Girl
THE POLICE: Roxanne
ELVIS PRESLEY: Burning Love
PRINCE: When Doves Cry
PRISM: See Forever Eyes
QUEEN: Killer Queen
THE RAMONES: I Wanna Be Sedated
THE RASPBERRIES: Tonight
R.E.M.: Radio Free Europe
THE REDUCERS: Let's Go
CLIFF RICHARD: Devil Woman
SMOKEY ROBINSON & THE MIRACLES: The Tears Of A Clown
THE ROLLING STONES: Get Off Of My Cloud
THE ROLLING STONES: Happy
THE ROMANTICS: When I Look In your Eyes
LINDA RONSTADT: You're No Good
ROXY MUSIC: Dance Away
THE RUBETTES: Sugar Baby Love
THE RUBINOOS: Wouldn't It Be Nice
RUFUS: Tell Me Something Good
RUN DMC: Rock Box
TODD RUNDGREN: Hello It's Me
RUSH: Circumstances
THE SAINTS: Big Hits (On The Underground)
BOZ SCAGGS: Lido Shuffle
SCREAMS: Imagine Me Without You
THE SEARCHERS: Love Potion No. 9
NEIL SEDAKA: Bad Blood
THE SEX PISTOLS: God Save The Queen
SHOES: Tomorrow Night
NANCY SINATRA: These Boots Are Made For Walking
SLADE: Gudbuy T' Jane
THE PATTI SMITH GROUP: So You Want To Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star
SNIFF 'N' THE TEARS: Driver's Seat
SPANDAU BALLET: To Cut A Long Story Short
RONNIE SPECTOR & THE E STREET BAND: Say Goodbye To Hollywood
THE SPINNERS: I'll Be Around
THE SPORTS: Who Listens To The Radio?
STARZ: Cherry Baby
STEELY DAN: Rikki Don't Lose That Number
AMII STEWART: Knock On Wood
STYX: Lorelei
SWEET: Blockbuster
RACHEL SWEET: Who Does Lisa Like?
THE T-BONES: No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach's In)
TALK TALK: Talk Talk
TAVARES: It Only Takes A Minute
R. DEAN TAYLOR: Indiana Wants Me
THE TEARDROP EXPLODES: When I Dream
TEENAGE HEADS: Tornado
TEGAN & SARA: Walking With A Ghost
TELEVISION: Elevation
THE TEMPTATIONS: Papa Was A Rollin' Stone
THE TIME: Ice Cream Castles
THE TRAMMPS: Disco Inferno
TRANSLATOR: Everywhere That I'm Not
TRIO: Da Da Da I Don't Love You You Don't Love Me Aha Aha Aha
THE TURTLES: Happy Together
TWISTED SISTER: We're Not Gonna Take It
U2: I Will Follow
UB40: Red, Red Wine
TRACEY ULLMAN: They Don't Know
LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III: Dead Skunk
WAR: Why Can't We Be Friends?
DIONNE WARWICK: Do You Know The Way To San Jose
WHAM!: Freedom
THE WHO: See Me, Feel Me
THE EDGAR WINTER GROUP: Free Ride
STEVIE WONDER: Superstition
X: True Love
XTC: Senses Working Overtime
WARREN ZEVON: Werewolves Of London
POSTSCRIPT: I wound up sticking almost entirely to selections from this list, though I switched my KISS selection to "Shout It Out Loud," my Monkees choice to "I'm A Believer," and went with the more thematically-relevant "Roadrunner" as my Greg Kihn track. The last tracks cut from the show were Trio's "Da Da Da I Don't Love You You Don't Love Me Aha Aha Aha," Gladys Knight & the Pips' "Midnight Train To Georgia," Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart," and Dawn's "Knock Three Times." We played all of them on subsequent shows. The love letter continues.
This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl, Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse on The Spark WSPJ-LP 103.3 and 93.7, and on the web at http://sparksyracuse.org/
Spark Syracuse is supported by listeners like you. Tax-deductible donations are welcome at http://sparksyracuse.org/support/
You can follow Carl's daily blog Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) at
https://carlcafarelli.blogspot.com/
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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