Acting on a whim--a process which is at the heart of Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do)--I've compiled an alphabetical gallery of some stuff I just really, really like. Most of you already know of my abiding affection for Batman, The Monkees, The Ramones, power pop, Suzi Quatro, et al., so I tried to steer clear of subjects I've already written about at length. I'll likely return to some of these in future editions of The Greatest Record Ever Made or The Everlasting First, while others will only get their brief moment in the Boppin' spotlight right here. Let's GO!
All Over The Place by The Bangles
The group's first full-length album is a long-standing fave rave, and it would be a candidate for coverage in Love At First Spin if not for its underwhelming final track, "More Than Meets The Eye."
Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Although it's now one of my all-time favorite TV series, I never saw a single episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer during its original run. But I was a faithful fan of writer Peter David's run on DC Comics' Supergirl book, which shared a lot of surface similarities with Buffy. I figured it was too late to even try to catch up with the Buffyverse, and let it pass. Many years later, at a particularly difficult time in my life, it became the first TV series I ever binge-watched. There have been a few others since.
"Capital Radio Two" by The Clash
I bought The Clash's Cost Of Living EP to get their cover of The Bobby Fuller Four's "I Fought The Law," but "Capital Radio" (henceforth "Capital Radio Two," to differentiate it from the group's then-rare original version) was the true keeper. Now, this version is the less common one. I didn't hear the earlier take until much later, and it could never duplicate the affection I'd developed for the remake.
"Dizzy" by Tommy Roe
Pure pop. In my college days, when I joined the other guys in my suite for 25-cent pitcher night at a local watering hole, we would stumble back to campus singing this song. Dizzy, indeed.
El Diablo
I don't care to get into why discussing this great '80s DC series can be problematic today, except to note that we need to keep our view of creators separate from our view of their creations. I adored this comic book, and once wrote a letter to The Comics Buyer's Guide defending it against another comics fan who wanted DC to cancel El Diablo in favor of Infinity, Inc. (a book that never really grabbed me). I was polite.
The Flash
Smallville provided the template for modern TV series based on DC Comics characters. A few years later, The CW's Arrow initiated a specific shared universe--the Arrowverse--that led to The Flash, DC's Legends Of Tomorrow, Supergirl, and Black Lightning (though Supergirl is set on a different Earth that nonetheless crosses over with Earth-Arrowverse, and Black Lightning has yet to link to any of the other shows). Arrow has occasionally been up-and-down in quality, but is currently nearing the climax of a strong season. Legends Of Tomorrow hasn't been great, but it's been just good enough to keep me watching. Supergirl can be hit and miss, and Black Lightning's recently-concluded debut season was terrific. The Flash has been my favorite, a show that acknowledges and embraces its funnybook roots and...er, runs with them.
Global by The Cowsills
Not merely the best '90s album that no one heard, The Cowsills' 1990 release Global was one of the greatest albums of the decade...hell, maybe the greatest. We remain humbled and grateful that The Cowsills allowed us to use a track from Global--the magnificent "She Said To Me," my choice for The Cowsills' all-time finest work--on our second This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio compilation CD.
"He'd Be A Diamond" by The Bevis Frond
My This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio co-host Dana Bonn is a big fan of The Bevis Frond, and Dana turned me on to the wonder of this track, a timeless lament of lost love, with lyrics I wish to God I could have written. Credit belongs instead to Nick Saloman:
When the tape runs out, the music keeps playing
And when the walls come down, it's still hard to cross the line
And when his love is gone, he says he still needs you
And he wants to let you know
That if he had his chance again
He'd be a diamond
I, The Jury by Mickey Spillane
Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler were arguably the greatest writers to ever work within the genre of hardboiled detective fiction. They were certainly better writers than Mickey Spillane, a pulp workhorse who loathed the term "author" and cranked out potboiling page-turners with cold-blooded efficiency. But Spillane knew what he was doing, and he for damned sure knew how to tell a story. Spillane's I, The Jury introduced his dark knight Mike Hammer, and it is the single definitive private eye novel, hands down. Hammer's last line in the book (which I won't spoil here) is the absolute epitome of pulp noir.
Jessica Jones
I'm primarily a DC Comics guy, but I also love Marvel Comics, and I've gotta concede that Marvel is kicking DC's ass in creating a compelling cinematic universe. On broadcast television, I've found DC's The Flash more interesting than Marvel's Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. (which I do like, though I'm about a season behind at the moment). Marvel's Agent Carter was cool, and Marvel's Netflix series have occasionally been fantastic. Well, maybe not Iron Fist, and I'm not interested in The Punisher. Daredevil got a bit intense, but its two seasons were compelling as a whole. I liked The Defenders, too. My favorites, without question, have been Luke Cage and Jessica Jones, both of which are as good as this stuff gets.
"Kiss Your Ass Goodbye" by Styx
Lord, I hated Styx. Hated 'em. As a bourgeoning young punk rocker in the late '70s, I regarded Styx as The Enemy, pompous and bloated, anti-punk, anti-pop. I would have grudgingly conceded that Styx's "Lorelei" was a good tune, worthy of The Hollies, but otherwise? Hatred. I once carved "STYX STYNX" on a tabletop in a bar during my misspent young adulthood. BUT! In 2003, a friend and fellow pop fan named Kathryn Francis told me there was a new Styx song that would demolish my antipathy, no matter how hard I resisted. Man, when Kathyrn's right, she's right! "Kiss Your Ass Goodbye" is an incredible track, a power pop tune that has carved out a permanent berth in my ongoing All-Time Top 200. I haven't changed my mind about the older stuff, and I hear that many Styx fans disdain "Kiss Your Ass Goodbye," so I guess that dynamic remains in place between us.
Love Ain't Nothing But Sex Misspelled by Harlan Ellison
As a voracious reader and wannabe writer when I was in high school, I worshipped Harlan Ellison. I bought as many of Ellison's books as I could find, beginning with Paingod And Other Delusions and working my way through No Doors, No Windows (which I had Ellison autograph for me at a lecture appearance in '76), The Glass Teat, The Other Glass Teat, Spider Kiss, Memos From Purgatory, I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream, and Love Ain't Nothing But Sex Misspelled. Asked in English class to name my favorite book, the latter was my choice.
"May My Heart Be Cast Into Stone" by The Toys
The only reason this hasn't already been considered for an essay in The Greatest Record Ever Made is that I don't have much to say about it. Except that it's The Greatest Record Ever Made. It's such pimply hyperbole, such an over-the-top girl-group pop gush, that it renders me inarticulate. Each time I hear it, I wanna hear it again.
"Nothing But A Heartache" by The Flirtations
Speaking of over-the-top girl-group pop, this 45 by The Flirtations was just something hangin' around the house when I was an adolescent in the early '70s, and it has never bothered to relinquish its grip on me.
Our Town
Go ahead. Call me a sentimental ol' softie, because you would be correct in that assessment. All I can say is that I watched the 1977 TV adaptation of Thornton Wilder's Our Town, featuring Hal Holbrook, Robby Benson, and the absolutely adorable Glynnis O'Connor, and I bawled like a baby. 'Sokay. I am as God made me.
Pushing Daisies
The facts were these: A uniquely quirky TV series that should have lasted longer. I'm generally not much of a fan of quirk, to tell you the truth, but this show? Its quirk was heartfelt and sincere, its audacity given divine direction with unforgettable results.
"Queen Of Hearts" by Juice Newton
While I am aware of the sheer heresy of preferring Juice Newton's hit country-pop cover of "Queen Of Hearts" to Dave Edmunds' original version, I blame the media. Specifically, I blame radio, 'cause Ms. Newton's record was the best freakin' thing on AM Top 40 in 1981, and I was so grateful for its mere existence.
Ramones Songbook by The Nutley Brass
What may seem on paper a pointless exercise in smug snark--an album of elevator music covers of Ramones classics--transcends expectation and illustrates the durability and adaptability of The Ramones' canon. This is so cool.
Supergirl (Volume 4)
I mentioned writer Peter David's work on the Supergirl comic book contemporary to Buffy The Vampire Slayer. The similarities are coincidental--the works were contemporaneous, and neither could have really influenced the other--but I betcha most Buffy fans aren't even aware of this 1996-2003 comics run, and I further betcha some of 'em might dig it.
That Thing You Do!
The Greatest Movie Ever Made.
Undertones by The Undertones
Pristine, piledrivin' adrenalin. The Irish Ramones!
Veronica Mars
After Buffy The Vampire Slayer introduced me to the joy of binge-watching old TV shows that I'd missed, I moved on to the Buffy spinoff Angel, plus Firefly, The Newsroom, and Dollhouse, though I've still yet to move past the first season of the latter. Friday Night Lights is in the queue, but the show for which I fell the hardest was Veronica Mars. I couldn't get enough of this show, burned through its three seasons in no time, watched the feature film sequel, bought and read the tie-in novels...I was obsessed. I guess it's over now. But we'll always have Neptune.
What's Up, Doc?
No offense intended to Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn, but Peter Bogdonovich's 1972 film What's Up, Doc? is the greatest screwball comedy in the history of screwball comedies. Ryan O'Neal is winningly hapless, Barbra Streisand is wacky but somehow likable throughout her character's careless machinations, Madeline Kahn is a hoot, and everything is perfect. And funny. Like, laugh-out-loud, capering, giggling, funny. I've seen this, oh, a million times, and even read the paperback novelization to tatters when I was in middle school. In 1972, before the home video revolution, that paperback was the only way to keep re-living the film experience, and I wanted to keep living the sheer, giddy joy of What's Up, Doc?
XXI by Dwight Twilley
Is it cheating to use the Roman numeral for 21 as my X entry? I could've put Blondie's "X-Offender" in this spot, or X-Men (the comic book or the first two movies), Xaviera Meets Marilyn Chambers, or even X-Ray, the "unauthorized autobiography" by Ray Davies of The Kinks. But y'know, I really don't give enough attention to Dwight Twilley, who is certainly one of the key figures in power pop, and this anthology is a great introduction to some of his irresistible work, from "I'm On Fire" and other gems from his days fronting The Dwight Twilley Band through solo material like "Girls" and his proposed title theme for That Thing You Do!
"You Movin'" by The Byrds
When we think of the music of The Byrds, I'd say we're picturing earnest folk-rockers chimin' and singin' with an aura of cool detachment. "You Movin'" is an anomaly, an early Byrds track that revels in the goofy abandon of falling in love with a girl movin' on the dance floor, the sound of young men who'd just seen A Hard Day's Night and suddenly wanted to go paradin' like The Beatles.
Zorro by Isabel Allende
I've long been a fan of superhero prose novels, from the original pulp adventures of The Shadow and Doc Savage through Tom DeHaven's It's Superman! I'll be taking an extended look at Zorro in an upcoming edition of The Everlasting First, and today's A-Z gallery concludes with this magnificent novel from 2005.
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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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