Way back in May of 2018, I wrote about my portable This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio stash, the carrying case I fill with CDs for each week's exciting edition of The Best Three Hours Of Radio On The Whole Friggin' Planet. The contents of the ol' carrying case are reviewed and revised constantly. But lately, nearly half of the case is taken up by CDs I've decided are essentials, discs that I think I should have at the ready each week. Here's a list of the current essential sets I bring with me to the studio every Sunday night:
VARIOUS ARTISTS: Poptopia! Power Pop Classics of The '70s, '80s and '90s
VARIOUS ARTISTS: Come On Let's Go! Power Pop Gems From The 70s & 80s
VARIOUS ARTISTS: This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volumes 1, 2, 3, and 4, plus the bonus disc for Volume 3
VARIOUS ARTISTS: Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio
THE RAMONES: Loud, Fast, Ramones
VARIOUS ARTISTS: The Birth Of Surf
KISS: The Very Best Of KISS
THE BAY CITY ROLLERS: The Definitive Collection
P. P. ARNOLD: The First Cut
THE KINKS: The Ultimate Collection
THE SEX PISTOLS: Kiss This
THE SPONGETONES: Always Carry On
THE MONKEES: 50
THE FLAMIN' GROOVIES: Between The Lines
ARETHA FRANKLIN: The Atlantic Singles Collection
CHUCK BERRY: The Anthology
THE SMITHEREENS: Blown To Smithereens
THE DAVE CLARK FIVE: The History Of The Dave Clark Five
THE O'JAYS: Love Train
BUCK OWENS: 21 # 1 Hits
SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE: Greatest Hits
SUZI QUATRO: The Essential Suzi Quatro
THE MONKEES Present MICHAEL NESMITH: The Monkee Stuff [CD-R]
LINDA RONSTADT: Greatest Hits
THE HOLLIES: All The Hits And More
THE FLASHCUBES: Bright Lights
SQUEEZE: The Squeeze Story
VARIOUS ARTISTS: Nuggets [disc one from the boxed set]
In the picture atop this blog entry, you will also note the presence of some thinner-profile CDs, including an Iggy Pop anthology, a 1.4.5. collection, a Cocktail Slippers album, two albums by Eytan Mirsky, all four of the Big Stir Singles sets released so far, and a CD-R expansion of The Monkees' 2016 album Good Times! There are a few others in that latter bundle, as well as a whole bunch of mini-disc mixes, but this is a basic picture of my weekly CD essentials for TIRnRR.
And frankly, I think it's still a little excessive. With more than half the case already occupied by these presumed essentials, that leaves little room for new arrivals and random older items. Generally, some newer favorites take up residency for at least a little while, each hoping for a little more TIRnRR airplay. That leaves even less room for, I dunno, a sudden urge to stuff some Damned, Four Tops, Go-Go's, Flirtations, Selecter, and Dino, Desi & Billy into the case. And recent releases eventually get crowded out, too. There's only so much room. If it doesn't fit in the case on Sunday night, it stays home.
I'm probably going to downsize a few of these essentials. I just removed a Toots & the Maytals collection, and there a few others I could likely live without in the short term, and could always plop back into the case when I need them. I may pick up a single-disc Prince or Herman's Hermits anthology as a potential new essential. It's an ongoing process.
And there's always next week. Stay tuned for more rock 'n' roll.
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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 3: download
Hey, Carl's writin' a book! The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) will contain 133 essays about 133 tracks, 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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