BOPPIN's Monthly Day Off

Once a month, Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) takes a brief break from its schedule of daily delights to offer a private post for its subscribers. This month's private post for patrons is another unpublished chapter from my book-in-progress The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1), discussing "I'll Be There" by The Jackson Five.

(In the interest of full disclosure, I should point out that much of this chapter has already appeared on this blog in different form, but not as an installment in the GREM! series. I've made additions to the original piece, and I think it has a slightly different identity now, versus what was posted previously.)

The eagle-eyed among you will note that Boppin' is taking its monthly break a day early, as the private posts are distributed on the first of each month (or sometimes a day or two later). February's private post will indeed go out tomorrow, February 1st, but there will also be a public post tomorrow, an annotated link to this week's Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) appearance at Pop-A-Looza.

Hey! This early warning gives non-subscribers a chance to become subscribers in time for February's private post! You can support Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) for as little as $2 a month, and all paid supporters receive the monthly private post. Details and payment portal can be viewed over at Patreon, you debonair patron of the arts, you. 

Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) returns tomorrow with a Boppin' Pop-A-Looza BATLINK! Thanks for boppin' by, citizen.

Series Fun

Yes, I AM only in blogging for the money. There are dozens of dollars to be made in this lucrative field.

If necessity is the mother of invention, then the logistics of maintaining a daily blog likewise demand a certain level of inspiration on demand. It's been four years and twelve days since I committed to this cockamamie idea of posting at least one item each day in this forum, and although there are days when that instant spark of invention proves more elusive, I remain committed to that schedule. (Some would say I should be committed, but that's another story.)

For dramatic purposes, the part of a reader who says I should be committed shall be played by actress Margot Robbie

One of the things that has kept this goal within reach is my use of recurring series, like The Greatest Record Ever Made! and Virtual Ticket Stub Gallery. I debuted a new series yesterday: Didn't Hear THAT Coming! (Unexpected Covers In Concert). This series was born from my usual method when I don't have a blog subject in mind for the next day's post: I look through my vast 'n' voluminous archive of drafts in search of an idea. Among my drafts was a piece called "Unexpected Covers In Concert," which was intended to be a shortish collection of five in-concert memories where a performer surprised me with a choice of cover song. As I began writing that, I realized the initial section about The Flashcubes covering the Herman's Hermits oldie "Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter" was a slightly larger story than could be told in a paragraph or two. It was clear that this subject of unexpected covers was better suited to a series of separate posts rather than an all-in-one one-shot. 

So a series it became. I'm not sure how often Didn't Hear THAT Coming! will run, but I have placeholder posts set up to discuss my in-concert cover memories starring David Johansen, Let's Active, The Skeletons, Paul Revere & the Raiders, Cheap Trick, The Bangles, The Ramones, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, The Rascals, and The Smithereens. As I think of more, I'll add 'em to my draft queue and post them as I complete them.



Tuesday marked the third weekly edition of 10 Songs, a series inspired by I Don't Hear A Single's auteur Don Valentine. These have been a blast to write, and they give me a natural segue from the weekly This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio playlist (posted each Monday) into a new week of blog posts. The reaction to these has been encouraging, and they will continue for the foreseeable future. 

I don't have any more new series planned for imminent introduction. Then again, Didn't Hear THAT Coming! wasn't planned as a series until the day before yesterday. I like to keep me guessing. 

Many of my previous series will likely return for fresh posts at some point. Some maybe sooner than others. The Everlasting First has its eye on Tarzan and The Troggs, The Best Of Everything is thinking about The Kinks, The Who, and The Rolling Stones, Comic Book Retroview has a 100-page issue of Shazam! in view, Guilt-Free Pleasures wants a look at The Partridge Family, and Love At First Spin still has a crush on an LP by The Jam. There are a lot of blog posts left for me to write. That's why Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) is here every day. Thanks for boppin' by.

Guilt-free, guilt-free you found me....

TIP THE BLOGGER: CC's Tip Jar!

You can support this blog by becoming a patron on Patreon: Fund me, baby! 

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, and on the web at http://sparksyracuse.org/ You can read about our history here.

The many fine This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio compilation albums are still available, each full of that rockin' pop sound you crave. A portion of all sales benefit our perpetually cash-strapped community radio project:

Volume 1: download
Volume 2: CD or download
Volume 3: download
Volume 4: CD or download
Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio:  CD or download

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).

Didn't Hear THAT Coming! (Unexpected Covers In Concert): THE FLASHCUBES, "Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter"

THE FLASHCUBES: Arty Lenin, Tommy Allen, Gary Frenay, Paul Armstrong

Didn't Hear THAT Coming! (Unexpected Covers In Concert) discusses songs I was surprised to hear covered in a live show by an act I'd gone to see.

Cover songs can add zip and spark to a rock 'n' roll group's live repertoire. In their earliest gigs, most groups start out playing covers, and integrate more of their own original material into their sets as they play more dates, develop more of an identity, and attract more fans with an interest beyond just hearing bar-band interpretations of songs associated with other acts. It's a basic long-term strategy for groups hoping to get noticed, to get somewhere; there's a reason The Rolling Stones cut back on Chuck Berry songs and started writing their own material.

Still, a well-placed cover tune can enhance a live set, while the wrong choice can result in irritating a fan who doesn't want to hear a fave rave act pandering to a lower common denominator. Whether it works or falls flat, the unexpected cover prompts us to say, "Wow--didn't hear THAT coming!"



THE FLASHCUBES: Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter [Herman's Hermits]

I believe I've already mentioned that I kinda like Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse The Flashcubes; insisting that my all-time favorite groups are The Beatles, The Ramones, and The Flashcubes is a pretty direct statement, right? 'Cubes shows in 1977 and '78 included a lot of covers; as time went on, the bulk of their set lists became (rightfully) dominated by their own compositions.

The Flashcubes had terrific taste in covers, encompassing '60s British Invasion, '70s punk, power pop, new wave, and Eddie Cochran. The 'Cubes introduced me to the music of The New York Dolls, Big Star, Chris Spedding, and Eddie & the Hot Rods. They covered The Troggs, The Jam, The Hollies, Television, The Raspberries, The Sex Pistols, The Yardbirds, and "Dizzy Miss Lizzy." 

And The Flashcubes covered Herman's Hermits. Just, y'know, usually not the song listed above.



"A Must To Avoid" was the Hermits track that eventually made its way onto Cubic set lists, a song ready-made for live power pop (though the 'Cubes always skipped its final verse, presumably to keep it lean 'n' stripped). But one night in 1978, upstairs at either The Orange or The Firebarn, the 'Cubes did a seemingly impromptu snippet of "Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter." They were introducing a Sex Pistols cover, guitarist Paul Armstrong saying they were going to do a song by a group that had just broken up. "The Beatles...?!," bassist Gary Frenay joked. "No," said Armstrong, "and it's not Herman's Hermits either."

For dramatic purposes, the part of Mrs. Brown's lovely daughter will be played by the lovely actress Pamela Sue Martin

At which point guitarist Arty Lenin started picking the distinctive faux ukulele intro to "Mrs. Brown." Paul paused, conferred with Arty, who then resumed his picking as Paul joined in briefly to wail along, Missus Brown you've gahht a luuuuvleeee dawwwwwwwterrr...! Drummer Tommy Allen may have thrown in a rim shot, completing this Borscht Belt power pop connection. The gag completed, The Flashcubes launched into their planned cover of either "God Save The Queen" or "Pretty Vacant." 

She's so lovely, she's so lovely...she's a DAUGHTER...!

Was this whole schtick planned out in advance? Maybe. Probably? If so, The Flashcubes pulled off the illusion of spontaneity with grace and aplomb, perhaps not a phrase often applied to the clattering Wall of Noise that defined the sound of Flashcubes '78. 

My memory insists that I witnessed Arty throw in his "Mrs. Brown" lick during at least one other Flashcubes show, that time without Paul Armstrong channeling a punk Peter Noone. If he ever did it again, it was still an isolated incident. "Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter" would not be listed in any document of songs The Flashcubes ever covered. But I saw it. I heard it. I just didn't hear it coming.



WHEN DIDN'T HEAR THAT COMING! RETURNS: David Johansen sings disco




TIP THE BLOGGER: CC's Tip Jar!

You can support this blog by becoming a patron on Patreon: Fund me, baby! 

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, and on the web at http://sparksyracuse.org/ You can read about our history here.

The many fine This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio compilation albums are still available, each full of that rockin' pop sound you crave. A portion of all sales benefit our perpetually cash-strapped community radio project:

Volume 1: download
Volume 2: CD or download
Volume 3: download
Volume 4: CD or download
Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio:  CD or download

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).

10 SONGS: 1/28/2020

10 Songs is a weekly list of ten songs that happen to be on my mind at the moment. Given my intention to usually write these on Mondays, the lists are often dominated by songs played on the previous night's edition of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl. The idea was inspired by Don Valentine of the essential blog I Don't Hear A Single.



This week's edition of 10 Songs draws exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1010.

THE ANIMALS: It's My Life


I became a big fan of The Animals about 10-11 years after the fact, when my mid-'70s embrace of all things British Invasion made me the only teenager in North Syracuse who preferred The Dave Clark Five to Led Zeppelin. I loved "House Of The Rising Sun" and "We Gotta Get Out Of This Place," but "It's My Life" was the one that always struck me as something extra special. This track is perfect; I remember listening to it intently a few years later, as a college student alone in my dorm room, playing my unfashionable rockin' pop music amidst the white noise of Southern rock and Grateful Dead that my peers chose as their soundtrack. I was out of step with the times. I didn't care, and I still don't. It's my life.

THE BAY CITY ROLLERS: Who'll Be My Keeper



Technically this is by "The Rollers," the group's name truncated for the release of 1979's Elevator album in a doomed bid for acceptance beyond its vanishing teenybopper base. But the CD reissues of three albums (Elevator, Voxx, and Ricochet) originally credited to the just-plain Rollers restored the "Bay City" billing, so we'll go with that. This is a fantastic track, with Duncan Faure's Lennonesque vocals soaring above a chuggin', rockin' Rollers sound that deserved the wider audience it was denied. All three of those albums are well worth checking out (if you can find them), and I'm all for reissues of the two other Rollers albums, the cassette-only Burning Rubber soundtrack, and the...well, awful synth mistake Breakout. I'm an unapologetic fan of a lot of The Bay City Rollers' hit-era material, especially "Rock And Roll Love Letter" and "Wouldn't You Like It," and I even wanted to write a Bay City Rollers movie when I was a teen.  But I tell ya, I betcha Elevator, Voxx, and Ricochet would have garnered more appreciation in power pop circles if not for the unwarranted stigma of The Bay City Rollers' Tartan-clad teen-idol image.

ROSANNE CASH: Pink Bedroom



Rosanne Cash's album Rhythm & Romance got a lot of in-store play when I was workin' for a downtown Buffalo record retailer in the spring and summer of '85. I was 25 years old, married, holding down that full-time record-store job plus a part-time position as a burger-flipper under the Golden Arches, and finally starting to make a few freelance writing sales (a tale I've already told elsewhere). In this time frame, Cash's magnificent and definitive take of John Hiatt's "Pink Bedroom" was as much a joyous part of my everyday sonic milieu as The Del Fuegos, The Ramones, Prince, and Katrina & the Waves. The Neil Diamond vibe of the song immediately put me in mind of The Monkees, and made me dream the impossible dream of a Monkees reunion. Sure, The Monkees (three-quarters of them, anyway) did reunite a year later, but they never got around to recording any John Hiatt songs. They should have.

ANNY CELSI: Sideways Rain



I first heard the music of Anny Celsi in 2003, when her album Little Black Dress & Other Stories was released. A copy of that CD found its way to Dana, and he played the track "Empty Hangers" on TIRnRR; for me, it was love at first spin. Anny's been a TIRnRR Fave Rave ever since, and "Empty Hangers" has secured a permanent berth on my all-time Hot 100. "Sideways Rain" is a previously-unreleased track that appeared on Anny's 2019 best-of LP Kaleidoscope Heart--12 Golden Greats, and my God, it rivals the seemingly nonpareil greatness of "Empty Hangers." Love at first spin? That love endures.

THE CLICK BEETLES: If Not Now Then When



The Click Beetles' Dan Pavelich has been a friend of TIRnRR for many years, and his new pop culture blog Pop-A-Looza carries a weekly dose of Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do). Huzzah! "If Not Now Then When" is my top pick among the many fine tracks that Dan has done over the years, and we were delighted to hear it as part of the 2019 compilation Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio. Now, it's poised to enter Click Beetles canon on the group's forthcoming new album Pop Fossil. Please budget your CD-buyin' plans accordingly.

THE ISLEY BROTHERS: You Walk Your Way



This 1975 Isley Brothers B-side of "For The Love Of You [Part 1 & 2]" should have been an A-side. I didn't even realize it had gotten a single release at all; I thought it was just an album track on the group's 3 + 3 LP, the album that also contains their transcendent version of Seals & Crofts' "Summer Breeze" and their own timeless hit "Who's That Lady." The sad sway of "You Walk Your Way" presents a heartbreaking tale of paths diverging at love's end, a soulful shrug as former partners go their separate ways. 

CAROLYNE MAS: In The Rain



Gotta credit singer/songwriter/aficionado Dean Landew for pointing us in the direction of this fine track, which made its first (and thus far only) appearance on the 2003 Carloyne Mas retrospective Beyond Mercury. Prior to that, my go-to Carolyne Mas track was the fabulous, driving "Quote Goodbye Quote" from 1979, but I think I dig the beguiling pleasure of "In The Rain" just as much. Her Carolyne Mas, Hold On, and Modern Dreams albums are scheduled for CD reissue in February; alas, Beyond Mercury is now out of print, but one hopes "In The Rain" will regain its rightful place at retail...somewhere!

MIDNIGHT OIL: The Dead Heart



After graduating from college and moving into an apartment in 1980, I didn't have cable TV until the late '80s. I saw MTV on occasional visits back home to North Syracuse, and in 1986 my upstairs neighbor Cheryl let me watch MTV's afternoon reruns of The Monkees every now and again. I finally did get cable at the end of '86, right before I moved out of Buffalo and back to Syracuse in the spring of 1987. I got cable for my new Syracuse apartment immediately, and again when I bought a house in 1989. I've had MTV ever since.

I don't watch it anymore, of course, but I do have it. 

Midnight Oil's "Beds Are Burning" was a huge MTV hit in '87, but I was more taken with their subsequent vid-hits "The Dead Heart" and "Dreamworld." All three of those cuts came from the group's Diesel And Dust album, which I dutifully purchased some time in the late '80s. 

THE RARE BREED: Beg, Borrow And Steal



I've told the strange saga of "Beg, Borrow And Steal" as a chapter in my forthcoming book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). Released versions of the song credited variously to The Rare Breed and The Ohio Express are both the exact same master, with only a little remixing to differentiate the Breed from the Express. Released by the Attack Records label in 1966, The Rare Breed's original single of "Beg, Borrow And Steal" missed the Hot 100, so its producers Jerry Kasenetz and Jeff Katz turned around and re-sold it to Neil Bogart at Cameo Records, where it became the first chart hit for The Ohio Express. Again, same record as The Rare Breed's release, just with its mix tweaked and its credit altered.

The Cameo Records catalog came into the possession of Allen Klein, who had a reputation as being something of a schmuck. In the '90s, when labels like Rhino and Varese Sarabande wanted to include "Beg, Borrow And Steal" on '60s compilations, they bypassed the notoriously hardassed Klein, licensed the track directly from Kasenetz and Katz, and credited it to The Rare Breed. BUT! Both labels used the punchier Ohio Express mix rather than the original, comparatively tentative-sounding Rare Breed mix. Call it a shell game or call it musical chairs, but what we know as a Rare Breed track on CD reissues is really an Ohio Express track in disguise. The intrigue! The drama! The...all right, the fact that few beside me care about this at all. Listen: get your own blog. 

Anyway. To my knowledge, only two CD reissues of "Beg, Borrow And Steal" correctly match the mix used with the artist named on the package. Real Gone Music reissued the debut Ohio Express album as Beg, Borrow And Steal: The Complete Cameo Recordings, which I believe is the sole authorized reissue of "Beg, Borrow And Steal" by The Ohio Express. The budget label Collectables issued a Rare Breed compilation called The Super K Kollection, which I think--I think--is the only place you can hear the Rare Breed mix of "Beg, Borrow And Steal" outside of a vintage 45. We played the version from The Super K Kollection on this week's TIRnRR: the first time we've ever played "Beg, Borrow And Steal" by The Rare Breed...even though we've already been playing "Beg, Borrow And Steal" by The Rare Breed for decades. 

That was complicated. I need a drink.

RONNIE SPECTOR & THE E STREET BAND: Say Goodbye To Hollywood



Billy Joel wrote "Say Goodbye To Hollywood" as a tribute to Phil Spector's wall-of-sound production, and specifically to Spector's work with The Ronettes. Presuming Joel is the die-hard music fan I'm sure he is, I can't even imagine how thrilled he must have been when Ronettes lead singer Ronnie Spector covered "Say Goodbye To Hollywood" in 1977. It's like if The Beatles had covered The Knickerbockers' "Lies," or Creedence Clearwater Revival had covered The Hollies' "Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress." GO, Billy! I used to think that the E Street Band's backing on this record slathered things on a little too thick for my taste, but I've come to embrace that over-the-top kitchen-sink approach as absolutely appropriate for the task at hand. The wall of lawsuits Bruce Springsteen had to navigate between Born To Run and Darkness Of The Edge Of Town prevented his name from appearing on Spector's record, but he's sure the boss of all he surveys here. Ronnie Spector's voice conveys frailty and strength in paradoxically equal measure, and there are days when I believe this is even greater than The Ronettes' "Be My Baby." 

TIP THE BLOGGER: CC's Tip Jar!

You can support this blog by becoming a patron on Patreon: Fund me, baby! 

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, and on the web at http://sparksyracuse.org/ You can read about our history here.

The many fine This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio compilation albums are still available, each full of that rockin' pop sound you crave. A portion of all sales benefit our perpetually cash-strapped community radio project:

Volume 1: download
Volume 2: CD or download
Volume 3: download
Volume 4: CD or download
Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio:  CD or download

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).

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1010

It was the kind of a day where there just isn't much to say.

Hearing the news of Kobe Bryant's death was a shock, a gasp-out-loud moment. It was made even worse as we learned that eight more people also perished in the helicopter crash that ended the life of this basketball legend, and that Bryant's 13-year-old daughter Gianna was among the casualties.

I can't even. It doesn't matter if you were a fan. You're a human being. You have to feel. You have to. If we can't feel, we are all lost.

We play songs on the radio. It's what we do, and it's all we can offer. Our show is a bubble, a pleasant diversion, nothing more, nothing less. It was the kind of a day where there just isn't much to say. Hold on to the people you love. Just hold on, as long as you can. I don't want to be glib. I just want to wish you well, and play you some music. Hold on.

Hold on. 

This is what rock 'n' roll radio sounded like on a Sunday night in Syracuse this week.

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, and on the web at http://sparksyracuse.org/ You can read about our history here. TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS are always welcome.

TIRnRR # 1010: 1/26/2020

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio FRESH SPINS! (tracks we think we ain't played before) are listed in bold

THE RAMONES: Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio? (Rhino, End Of The Century)
--
JILL OLSON: My Best Yesterday (Sound Asleep, VA: Hit The Hay Vol. 11)
LES HANDCLAPS: Je Pense Encore O Toi (Handclaps, Sessions: Brooklyn)
THE ISLEY BROTHERS: You Walk Your Way (T Neck, 3 + 3)
JEFF BECK GROUP: Plynth (Water Down The Drain) (Ace, VA: John Savage's 1969-1971)
MIDNIGHT OIL: The Dead Heart (Columbia, Diesel And Dust)
MOTT THE HOOPLE: Rock And Roll Queen (Columbia, The Ballad Of Mott)
--
THE RARE BREED: Beg, Borrow And Steal (Collectables, The Super K Kollection)
THE RARE BREED: Beg, Borrow And Steal (Rhino, VA: Nuggets)
THE ROLLING STONES: Get Off Of My Cloud (Abkco, Big Hits [High Tide & Green Grass])
THE KINKS: King Kong (Reprise, The Kink Kronikles)
ANNY CELSI: Sideways Rain (Ragazza, Kaleidoscope Heart: 12 Golden Hits)
THE VELVET UNDERGROUND: Sweet Jane (Cotillion, Loaded)
--
AL STEWART: The Beltway (Kool Kat Musik, VA: For The Record--A Tribute To John Wicks)
THE GO-BETWEENS: Bye Bye Pride (Big Time, Tallulah)
ROSANNE CASH: Pink Bedroom (Rhythm & Romance)
THE MONKEES: You Told Me (Rhino, Headquarters)
THE MUFFS: On My Own (Omnivore, No Holiday)
LES HANDCLAPS: Trop Tard (Handclaps, Sessions: Brooklyn)
--
ROB MARTINEZ: All I Ever Wanted (Karma Frog, Maybe Miss America)
JETHRO TULL: The Witch's Promise (Ace, VA: John Savage's 1969-1971)
SIBLING RIVALRY: See My Way (Alternative Tentacles, In A Family Way)
DETROIT FEATURING MITCH RYDER: Rock 'N Roll (Ace, VA: John Savage's 1969-1971)
CHUCK BERRY: I'm Talking About You (MCA, The Anthology)
SHOES: The Things You Do (Numero, Pre-Tense)
--
THE BAY CITY ROLLERS: Who'll Be My Keeper (7T's, Elevator)
SWEET: Action (RCA, Action)
THE 5TH DIMENSION: Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures) (Arista, The Ultimate 5th Dimension)
MATTHEW SWEET & SUSANNA HOFFS: Different Drum (Shout Factory, Under The Covers Vol. 1)
RONNIE SPECTOR & THE E STREET BAND: Say Goodbye To Hollywood (Sony, VA: Cleveland International Records 1977-1983)
DAVID BOWIE: In The Heat Of The Morning (Virgin, Bowie At The Beeb)
--
THE WEEKLINGS: In The Moment (Jem, 3)
SQUEEZE: Annie Get Your Gun (A & M, Singles--45's And Under)
THE LOVIN' SPOONFUL: Summer In The City (Buddha, Greatest Hits)
THE WHO: Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand [U. S. single mono mix] (MCA, The Who Sell Out)
ANTON BARBEAU: Jingle Jangle (Big Stir, Kenny Vs. Thrust)
MARY LOU LORD: Right On 'Till Dawn (Rubric, Speeding Motorcycle)
--
EYTAN MIRSKY: Share If You Agree (Sound Asleep, VA: Hit The Hay Vol. 11)
DAVE DAVIES: Creeping Jean (Pye, single)
CAROLYNE MAS: In The Rain (Savage Juliet, Beyond Mercury)
THE BEATLES: Rain (Capitol, single)
DEAN LANDEW: After Work (deanlandew.bandcamp.com)
THE PRETENDERS: Cuban Slide (Rhino, Pretenders)
--
THE CLICK BEETLES: If Not Now Then When (Kool Kat Musik [CD]/Futureman [download], VA: Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio)
THE MUFFS: On And On (Reprise, Blonder And Blonder)
THE ANIMALS: It's My Life (Abkco, Retrospective)
PERE UBU: The Modern Dance (Soul Jazz, VA: Punk 45 Vol. 1)
THE RAMONES: I Wanna Be Sedated (Rhino, Road To Ruin)
ROBERT GORDON: Someday Someway (Razor & Tie, Red Hot)
LES HANDCLAPS: Surfin' Barista (Handclaps, Sessions: Brooklyn)

Tonight On THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO

Well, this approaches the unique. There's a great oldie from the 1960s that we've played on the show many, many times before. But tonight, we're going to play it for our first time ever. It's a paradox! If we wind up rupturing the time-space continuum, I've gotta say it was probably worth it. Oh, plus! Courtesy of Sweden's way-fab Sound Asleep Records, we'll hear a track or two from the new compilation Hit The Hay Vol. 11. Sunday night, 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, on the web at http://sparksyracuse.org/

POP-A-LOOZA: I'm In Love With Sound

Every Friday, the pop culture website Pop-A-Looza runs a post from my vast 'n' captivating Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) archives. This week's Boppin' Pop-A-Looza is "I'm In Love With A Sound," my personal manifesto of the importance of diggin' pop music. It's important! DIG IT! And check it out at Pop-A-Looza.



More Boppin' Pop-A-Loozas to come at the end of each week. Some will be old, some will be new. But old or new, every one of them will bop. Boppin' has got Fridays on its mind.






TIP THE BLOGGER: CC's Tip Jar!

You can support this blog by becoming a patron on Patreon: Fund me, baby! 

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, and on the web at http://sparksyracuse.org/ You can read about our history here.

The many fine This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio compilation albums are still available, each full of that rockin' pop sound you crave. A portion of all sales benefit our perpetually cash-strapped community radio project:

Volume 1: download
Volume 2: CD or download
Volume 3: download
Volume 4: CD or download
Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio:  CD or download

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).