Coming Distractions

There are a lot of posts percolatin' in the ol' Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) queue, each awaiting its moment in the dim widdle spotlight of my short attention span. Some of them may be finished pretty soon, some may take longer, and some may decide they like it on the back burner and set up permanent residence there. Let's have a look at what we have.

Boppin' The Whole Friggin' Planet (The History Of THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO)



I began this multi-part history of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl late last year, tied to our 20th anniversary in December. I posted the first five parts--that's parts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5--in a span from December to March, covering the show's prehistory 1992-1998, and the first few years of TIRnRR through the summer of 2000. Then...I paused to write other things. BUT! With TIRnRR # 1000 looming in November, it's time to go back and finish the story of who we are and how we came to be. Part 6 will commence with a reconstruction of how we started doing TIRnRR compilation CDs. The series will likely run for a total of eight parts, maybe nine. Hope to have 'em all done before the 1000th show on November 10th. 



The Comic Books I Read



This is going to be a three-part series, each with some introductory paragraphs above a listing of comic book titles I remember reading contemporary to the period of each part (1965-1970, 1970-1977, and the '80s). These won't be comprehensive lists because, y'know, memory, but they will be long, and I'll throw in some appropriate reminiscences as color commentary.



TALK TALK: Random Memories Of My GOLDMINE Interviews



I'm not sure whether or not I'm going to do this one, but I started thinking of a few facts, quotes, and bits of trivia from the interviews I did as a Goldmine freelancer, mostly in the '90s. 



My LP Appreciations



This has been the blanket category for my various series discussing specific albums and what they meant to me, including Rescued From The Budget Bin! (covering cutouts and discount records), The Best Of Everything (greatest-hits sets), Groove Gratitude: A Gift Of Music (albums received as presents), Love At First Spin (albums I loved from start to finish the first time through), and Second Hand Sound (used records). There are individual items in my draft queue under each of these categories, but the next one to see the light of day will probably be a Second Hand Sound about my purchase of The Monkees' Headquarters and The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees on a single mid '70s flea market trip.



The Beverage Chronicles



It's not all comic books and pop music here at Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do). Well, mostly it is, but not always. I started a piece about my love of coffee, quoting a couple of lines from my book-to-(maybe)-be The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) ("I enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning more than I ever enjoyed a beer at night. I still enjoy a beer at night."). I may extend that into a  short series about all of my favorite drinks (water, milk, chocolate milk, iced tea, English tea, Gatorade, V8, gin martini, Coca-Cola, orange juice...great, now I'm thirsty). I may just do coffee as one post, everything else as a second. Separately, I may have a one-off piece discussing my brand loyalty, under the title Brand Name Me.



Travelin' Man



This has been in the queue for a looooooong time. I originally envisioned it as a single piece reflecting my good fortune to have visited so many different places in my life. I've also considered a serial called Spain, detailing the emotional mishegas I navigated in 2011-2012, and how a trip to Spain represented a goal that helped see me through it. I have a feeling I'm never going to write that serial. But I have a number of other travel memories I may be more ready to share.



The Everlasting First



I tend to go a long time in between entries in this A-Z reminiscence of my introductions to various musical acts and fictional heroes. When I get to it, next up is T is for TARZAN.



100-Page FAKES!



One of the most popular features on this blog, because FREE COMICS! My series of imaginary expansions of individual 1970s DC comic books into a 100-Page Super Spectacular format will have a Christmas-themed Sandman issue, but I'm not doin' a Christmas post until after Thanksgiving. Strict rules here, man. There will be a number of 100-Page FAKES! before then, but I haven't yet decided which titles are next.



Those are the plans, and I betcha there'll be more than a few other things that my conscious mind hasn't quite conjured as of yet. A Bop a day, every day. Thanks for stoppin' by my little corner of the internet, Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do).

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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 it from Futureman.

(And you can still get our 2017 compilation This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 4, on CD from Kool Kat Musik and as a download from Futureman Records.)

Get MORE Carl! Check out the fourth and latest issue of the mighty Big Stir magazine at bigstirrecords.com/magazine

Hey, Carl's writin' a book! The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) 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).