This week's edition of 10 Songs includes nine tracks played on This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1009, and one track I almost played but didn't.
ANTON BARBEAU: Jingle Jangle
Jingle jangle, jingle jangle, I've got a crush on your hand. Well, that implies a fun date, doesn't it? I hear it as a cautionary tale of the recording industry, where treacherous record label weasels will stroke you then discard you when you're no longer makin' with the hits. As Hunter S. Thompson warned us, “The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side.” My interpretation may or may not have anything to do with Anton Barbeau's actual intent. The ears hear what the ears hear. From Anton Barbeau's new album Kenny Vs. Thrust, on Big Stir Records.
CHUCK BERRY: Johnny B. Goode
I am so fortunate that AM Top 40 radio mixed incredible oldies like "Johnny B. Goode" into its playlists when I was a young listener in the early '70s. Hearing Chuck Berry alongside then-contemporary fare like Badfinger and Sweet instilled an inherent appreciation of the democracy of the pop airwaves, and demonstrated to me that essential records from different eras sound best when mixed up and played together. It remains one of my ongoing, oft-repeated mottoes: Great records don't care what year it is. Go, Johnny, go go go!
PAUL COLLINS: Glittering Gold
The new collection For The Record--A Tribute To John Wicks (available from Kool Kat Musik) knocked me out on first listen. It's a phenomenal and sincere various-artists salute to the late John Wicks, former frontman for fabulous late '70s British power-pop stars The Records. Every track on this set is stellar, and we played a bunch of them on this week's show. I'm particularly taken with contributions from Ray Paul, Bill Berry, and producer Jamie Hoover, but each track is top-notch, and I've gotta give extra-special honors to "Glittering Gold" by Paul Collins. Specific context enhances this track for Dana and me. When Collins and Wicks were touring together in 2009, they made an in-person stop at This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, participating in a live TIRnRR interview interspersed with performances of a few of their songs. They were so nice to us, and it was such a thrill to meet these guys whose work we'd adored since we were teens. Paul's recording of "Glittering Gold" opens with a spoken bit by John himself introducing the song in a live setting, leaving not a dry eye in the house here in 2020.
But you know what's even more wonderful about this track? Over and above all of its context and meaning to us, "Glittering Gold" is among the best things Paul Collins has done since those original, heady late '70s/early '80s days of his old combo The Beat. Given how much we love the latter-day Paul Collins songbook and cavalcade o' pop treasures, that is not faint praise. Three weeks into this newfangled new year, For The Record--A Tribute To John Wicks already joins 3 by The Weeklings as an early shoo-in for the year-end list of the best of 2020.
THE CONTOURS: It's So Hard Being A Loser
Most of us only know The Contours from their classic 1962 smash "Do You Love Me," and that single side is indeed sufficient to secure pop immortality for The Contours. It was the group's only Top 40 hit, though R & B chart hits like "Shake Sherry" and "First I Look At The Purse" deserved similar crossover acclaim. After "Do You Love Me," though, my second-favorite Contours track is this swaying little number from March of 1967, a soulful woe-is-me lament that would have sounded fantastic on pop radio, mingling with "Penny Lane" and "Ruby Tuesday" during that magic spring before the Summer of Love.
ROB MARTINEZ: All I Ever Wanted
Our friend Adam Marsland's Karma Frog label recently released Maybe Miss America, the latest album from Rob Martinez. It's another pure pop winner from Martinez, and this sublime slice of heavenly hooks and harmonies freely issues wings and halos to all starry-eyed, angelic lovers yearning to fly free.
THE MUFFS: On My Own
We don't do a lot of actual planning on This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio; that sense of spontaneity would be a large part of our charm, if we had any charm. I was thinking of playing this track from The Muffs' final album No Holiday (released in 2019 shortly after leader Kim Shattuck's death) on TIRnRR this week, but I held off when Dana played "Big Mouth" from The Muffs' eponymous debut album. Logistics, balance, flow, yadda yadda. "On My Own" has been buzzing in my head a lot lately, so it will be returning to the playlist soon. This is my favorite track on No Holiday, and it's becoming one of my top Muffs tracks.
THE RAMONES: I Don't Want To Grow Up
AKA The Greatest Record Ever Made! Last Friday was my 60th birthday. For all of my commutes that day, I locked my iPod into a single-song loop of The Ramones' transcendent, raised-fist cover of this Tom Waits song, and I listened to it over and over, wailin' along with Joey all the while. 60? My intent remains unchanged.
KEN SHARP: Break Down The Walls
My former Goldmine colleague Ken Sharp recently did an enhanced and beefed-up 25th anniversary reissue of his debut album 1301 Highland Avenue. The CD was originally only available in Japan, so this first domestic release is quite welcome and long overdue. "Break Down The Walls" was also included on the first Yellow Pills compilation in 1993, earning a rightful berth alongside pop luminaries like The Flashcubes, The Cowsills, Shoes, Dwight Twilley, 20/20, The Spongetones, The Rubinoos, Enuff Z'nuff, Tommy Keene, Chris von Sneidern, and more. It's ALL pop!
X-RAY SPEX: Oh Bondage! Up Yours!
Dana dedicated his spin of this punk classic to The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, in recognition of that glorified Hard Rock Cafe's pathetic and persistent shortcomings in inducting deserving female artists. Oh Rock Hall, up yours!
THE ZOMBIES: This Will Be Our Year
Yep. This year for sure. It goes hand-in-hand with my determination to not grow up.
And lemme tell ya: 60 won't even know what hit it.
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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).
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