Fake THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO Playlist: Meet The Song! (By Whatever Means Necessary)

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl is simply too large a concept to be neatly contained within a mere three-hour weekly time slot. Hence these occasional fake TIRnRR playlists, detailing shows we're never really going to do...but could.


We discover new songs--or songs that are at least new to us--in all manner of ways. Sometimes the way we discover a specific song is significantly different from how the same song is discovered by a larger audience. Maybe an obscure song you know becomes a hit when covered by another artist, shedding its obscurity and entering a wider pop consciousness. Or maybe you fell hard for a lesser-known cover tune, not even realizing the song had a life of fame and acclaim before you even knew of it.

This playlist collects a number of songs in the versions my memory insists I heard first. Real-world chronology is meaningless in this context; regardless of what version came first or later, these were my introductions to songs that are ultimately at least somewhat better-known in other versions. Some "lesser-known" versions were big hits in their own right, and some supposedly better-known versions are still relatively unknown. Nonetheless, in each case, this is how I got to the song.

And getting to the song is all that matters anyway.

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl--y'know, the real one--plays Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse on The Spark WSPJ-LP 103.3 and 93.7 FM, 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/

Hey, Carl's writin' a book! The Greatest Record Ever Made will contain 100 essays (and then some) about 100 tracks, plus two bonus instrumentals, each one of 'em THE greatest record ever made. An infinite number of records can each be the greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Updated initial information can be seen here: THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! (Volume 1)

Fans of pop music will want to check out Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, a new pop compilation benefiting SPARK! Syracuse, the home of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl. TIR'N'RR Allstars--Steve Stoeckel, Bruce Gordon, Joel Tinnel, Stacy Carson, Eytan Mirsky, Teresa Cowles, Dan Pavelich, Irene Peña, Keith Klingensmith, and Rich Firestone--offer a fantastic new version of The Kinks' classic "Waterloo Sunset." That's supplemented by eleven more tracks (plus a hidden bonus track), including previously-unreleased gems from The Click Beetles, Eytan Mirsky, Pop Co-Op, Irene Peña, Michael Slawter (covering The Posies), and The Anderson Council (covering XTC), a new remix of "Infinite Soul" by The Grip Weeds, and familiar TIRnRR Fave Raves by Vegas With Randolph, Gretchen's Wheel, The Armoires, and Pacific Soul Ltd. Oh, and that mystery bonus track? It's exquisite. You need this. You're buying the digital download from Futureman and/or the CD from Kool Kat Musik.

Fake TIRnRR Playlist: Meet The Song! (By Whatever Means Necessary)

[Notation in brackets following each track indicates artist of the song's best-known version]

THE NERVES: Hanging On The Telephone [Blondie]
ANNE MURRAY: You Won't See Me [The Beatles]
HERMAN'S HERMITS: Where Were You When I Needed You [The Grass Roots]
THE BANGLES: Live [The Merry-Go-Round]
GLADHANDS: Forget All About It [The Nazz]
NANCI HAMMOND: In My Room [The Beach Boys]
--
THE DAVE CLARK FIVE: Do You Love Me [The Contours]
FANCY: Wild Thing [The Troggs]
DAVID BOWIE: See Emily Play [Pink Floyd]
THE RAMONES: Surfin' Bird [The Trashmen]
KISS: Then She Kissed Me [The Crystals]
THE SEARCHERS: Have You Ever Loved Somebody [The Hollies]
-
FLASHCUBES LIVE SET!
THE FLASHCUBES: September Gurls [Big Star]
THE FLASHCUBES: Personality Crisis [The New York Dolls]
THE FLASHCUBES: Somethin' Else [Eddie Cochran]
THE FLASHCUBES: Tonight Is A Wonderful Time To Fall In Love [April Wine]
THE FLASHCUBES: I Need You [The Kinks]
THE FLASHCUBES: I Need You (For Someone) [The Jam]
THE FLASHCUBES: Get Out Of Denver [Bob Seger]
THE FLASHCUBES: Do Anything You Wanna Do [Eddie & the Hot Rods]
--
THE RUNAWAYS: Rock And Roll [The Velvet Underground]
JOAN JETT: Doin' Alright With The Boys [Gary Glitter]
BETTE MIDLER: Do You Wanna Dance [Bobby Freeman]
THE SKELETONS: Laugh At Me [Sonny]
THE RAIDERS: The Shape Of Things To Come [Max Frost & the Troopers]
RACHAEL GORDON: Drop By And Stay [Piper]
--
THE ANIMALS: Many Rivers To Cross [Jimmy Cliff]
THE CARPENTERS: There's A Kind Of Hush [Herman's Hermits]
GARY LEWIS & THE PLAYBOYS: Keep Searchin' [Del Shannon]
MOTT THE HOOPLE: Sweet Jane [The Velvet Underground]
THE NOMADS: Have Love Will Travel [The Sonics]
DAVE EDMUNDS: Me And The Boys [NRBQ]
--
THE RECORDS: See My Friends [The Kinks]
THE RECORDS: Abracadabra (Have You Seen Her?) [Blue Ash]
THE RECORDS: Hearts In Her Eyes [The Searchers]
PHIL SEYMOUR: Let Her Dance [The Bobby Fuller Four]
AMII STEWART: Knock On Wood [Eddie Floyd]
THE LOUD FAMILY: We're For The Dark [Badfinger]
--
THE ROYAL GUARDSMEN: Jolly Green Giant [The Kingsmen]
GENE PITNEY: Hello Mary Lou [Ricky Nelson]
THE CHESTERFIELD KINGS: I Can Only Give You Everything [Them, The Troggs]
THE O'JAYS: Wildflower [Skylark]
THE LORDS OF THE NEW CHURCH: Question Of Temperature [The Balloon Farm]
THE BEATLES: Crying, Waiting, Hoping [Buddy Holly]
--
ROCKPILE with ROBERT PLANT: Little Sister [Elvis Presley]
PAUL REVERE & THE RAIDERS: Catch The Wind [Donovan]
THE BYRDS: Hey Joe [The Leaves, Jimi Hendrix]
RAIN: Helter Skelter [The Beatles]
THE RAMONES: Chinese Rocks [The Heartbreakers]
RADIO BIRDMAN: You're Gonna Miss Me [The 13th Floor Elevators]
THE VENTURES: Apache [The Shadows]