Everything's on a one-day delay this week. This Wednesday edition of 10 Songs draws exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1024.
THE BEATLES: No Reply
I wrote a piece some time back asking the rhetorical question "Is Beatles VI Really My All-Time Favorite Album?" And it is, especially if we could combine it as a two-in-one with its predecessor Beatles '65, creating a compilation of two American record company cash-grabs. Beatles '65 and Beatles VI were Capitol Records hatchet jobs, scarfing up tracks from the British Beatles For Sale along with scattered single sides, mods, rockers, and mockers. But they were glorious hatchet jobs, and they were how I (like most Americans at the time) came to know and cherish this material. Pretty much everything The Beatles released from 1964 through 1966 forms my collective touchstone of what pop music can be. That is not likely to change, ever. And I was introduced to all of it via Capitol's Philistine patchworks.
From Beatles '65, or from Beatles For Sale if you must, "No Reply" is staggering, just irresistible in its majesty and mastery of pop form. It's one of my 25 favorite Beatles tracks, and its middle eight may be the single best bridge ever accomplished by anyone. Its main competition for that title is also by The Beatles: "I Don't Want To Spoil The Party," from Beatles VI (or from Beatles For Sale, if you must). I will never tire of hearing this stuff. Even sitting here just thinking about this music, with the stereo off, makes me smile. I saw the light. I saw that light a long, long time ago. It shines for me still.
CULTURE CLUB: Church Of The Poison Mind
Culture Club may seem one of the odder entries in my concert-goin' ticket-stub gallery, but my then-fiancee Brenda and I did indeed see Boy George and his cohorts in 1984 at the Aud in Buffalo. My most distinctive memory of the show is the young girls going batty over the members of the group, as one such female fan squealed with delight, Oh my God, she touched him...! I thought that sequence of events was amusing, but not in a condescending or (worse) hipper-than-thou way; I was in favor of pop mania, from The Beatles to, I dunno, Duran Duran, so I approved of such teen idolatry.
Why were we there? Why not? We couldn't afford to go to many concerts, but this must have come along at the right moment, we liked Culture Club's radio hits, so yeah, why the hell not? Maybe I wouldn't have gone for it just on the basis of "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me" or "Time (Clock Of The Heart)," or even "Karma Chameleon." "Church Of The Poison Mind" was a different story.
"Church Of The Poison Mind" was one of my favorite songs on the radio in '83. I'm not sure if I heard it first on the AM Top 40 station 14 Rock or on the engagingly eclectic WUWU-FM, but I found the song pleasingly reminiscent of Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, and I adored it.
DIRTY LOOKS: Let Go
Statement of intent. This Staten Island trio's eponymous debut LP was released on the Stiff America label in 1980, and "Let Go" was an immediate fave rave on 97 Power Rock, a Sunday night alternative-rock showcase aired on Buffalo's 97 Rock FM. Hmmm. A Sunday night rock 'n' roll radio show? I may have made note of that particular notion for possible future use. "Let Go" is a perfect post-punk radio pop song, fueled by new wave rock energy, rooted in catchy 1960s radio fare, and dead certain that The Ramones, The Who, Joe Jackson, and Paul Revere and the Raiders are Heaven-sent inspirations. It's not easy to write a song about rock 'n' roll. It's not. Too many attempts at rock anthems feel forced, or overly earnest, pompous, clueless, heavy-handed, and...blechh. With "Let Go," Dirty Looks pull it off with style, and they make it seem like a cinch. Don't you know that rock 'n' roll is still the best drug? The drumming is hyperactive, the bass pushy (in a good way), the guitar simple and authoritative, the vocals and harmonies steadfast, reflecting the confidence of a group secure in the knowledge that it has God on its side. All you gotta do, let go, let go, let GO! GO! GO! GO! Belief is infectious. And godDAMN, this sounds so exhilarating on the radio. It always has.
THE GRIP WEEDS: For Pete's Sake (Stay At Home!)
The Grip Weeds are a great, great band. They're a superb live band, they make fantastic records, they're a bunch of nice folks, and we like 'em a lot. They've allowed us to use two of their tracks on TIRnRR compilation albums, and this is part of what I wrote about them when their "Strange Bird" appeared on This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 4:
...The chronology of my rapid and total indoctrination into the blissful Grip of Weedsmania blurs. I may have become more interested via the group's connection with The Rooks, another of the great pop bands of the '90s. Rooks guitarist Kristin Pinell was (and is) also in The Grip Weeds. Kristin's husband Kurt Reil was (and is) the drummer and lead singer for The Grip Weeds, and he played with The Rooks, too. I don't know whether or not guitarist Rick Reil also served any Rooks time, but either way: The Grip Weeds seemed like a band I oughtta know.
And getting to know The Grip Weeds was its own sweet reward...
...The Grips Weeds are a treasure. They kick ass live, too; Dana and I had a chance to see 'em in Rochester on the How I Won The War tour (with special guest Ray Paul), and The Grip Weeds deliver, man. If you've never heard them, we firmly recommend you gather everything they've ever released directly from the band, and beg their forgiveness for taking so long to get hip. But it's okay. Music has no expiration date. I discovered Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly in the early '70s, and that music was as fresh to me then (and now) as it woulda been if I'd been spinning 45s in the fabulous '50s. We always say: right now is the best time ever to be a rockin' pop fan, because you have everything that came before, everything in the moment, and everything yet to come. Turn it up. That's what it's there for.
And right now--in this generation, in this loving time--The Grip Weeds have a brand new cover of The Monkees' shoulda-been-a-hit "For Pete's Sake," the song that used to close second-season episodes of The Monkees' television series. We used The Grip Weeds' version to open this week's radio show. With its title altered slightly to "For Pete's Sake (Stay At Home!)" for our quarantined times, there's a fab YouTube video of the song, and the track may or may not find its way into the next Grip Weeds album. This is something we all need.
MANDY MOORE: I Could Break Your Heart Any Day Of The Week
I don't remember who it was that hipped me to "I Could Break Your Heart Any Day Of The Week," an absolutely ace 2009 single by Mandy Moore. I may have read about it on a blog, but wherever I discovered it, I loved it at once.
Prior to that single, I didn't know all that much about Moore. Other than her capable covers of some XTC and Joan Armatrading material (from her 2003 all-covers album Coverage, which John Borack had recommended), I don't remember hearing any of Moore's earlier records. I must have heard her on Radio Disney when my daughter was young, but I have no recollection of that. And I don't think I've ever seen any of her movies; I do remember seeing her brief guest tenure on the TV sitcom Scrubs. I've never seen This Is Us or A Walk To Remember. I know who Mandy Moore is, but my awareness of her work doesn't even rise to the level of perfunctory.
But this song, man. This song...!
"I Could Break Your Heart Any Day Of The Week" was co-written by Moore with Mike Viola of The Candy Butchers (and the voice of The Wonders' "That Thing You Do!"). It's from her album Amanda Leigh, and while I've owned the digital single for more than a decade, I've just picked up a copy of the CD. It's time I learned more about Mandy Moore. But meanwhile: this song, man. Any day of the week.
THE MYNAH BIRDS: It's My Time
The Mynah Birds' story is one of pop music's most intriguing almost/what-ifs. The group included both Rick James and Neil Young, and they were set to release a single of "It's My Time"/"Go On And Cry" on Motown in 1966. We can debate genre labels, but I think The Mynah Birds would have been Motown's first rock group. Instead, the single's release was cancelled when James was arrested for being AWOL from the Navy. The Mynah Birds ended, Young and fellow group member Bruce Palmer wound up joining Buffalo Springfield, and Rick James went on to craft '70s and '80s punk funk of his own after leaving the hoosegow.
What might have been? "It's My Time" is a strong pop single, and while there's no guarantee it would have been a hit even if it had been released, one wonders how things could have played out differently. The handful of Mynah Birds tracks that surfaced decades after the fact are intriguing, and I wish we could have been enjoying those tracks, along with more that were never made, over all these years that have passed. I wouldn't want to sacrifice Buffalo Springfield. But The Mynah Birds coulda been something.
THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY: I Woke Up In Love This Morning
I don't care.
I don't care that this is supposed to be teenybopper pop music, created as a TV sitcom soundtrack, marketed to a puppy-eyed Teen Beat demographic of adolescent girls staring with undefined intent at their David Cassidy pinup. I don't care if it was created in a boardroom, a stockholders' meeting, a business planning session, or on the island of Dr. Moreau. I don't care if anyone thinks it's uncool, because anyone who does think that way is wrong, period. This record rocks. That's all I care about.
Like The Monkees before them, the music of The Partridge Family didn't have to be good; it just had to be commercial. The fictional Partridges didn't reach the effervescent zenith of the less-fictional Monkees, nor of the Partridges' real-life inspiration The Cowsills, but their machinery was likewise well-constructed, and with Cassidy's accomplished lead vocals backed by the studio magic of The Wrecking Crew, The Partridge Family were occasionally able to transcend their test-tube genesis. Unlike The Monkees or The Cowsills, The Partridge Family never existed. But their records did. Some of those records were actually pretty damned good, with debut LP tracks "Somebody Wants To Love You" and "Singing My Song" particularly worthy of a fresh and appreciative listen.
"I Woke Up In Love This Morning" is the truest gem. Drummer Hal Blaine is just a monster on this track, and David Cassidy once again proves he was so much more than just a face, with a voice so perfectly suited to deliver on the promise of pop music. The little girls understood. Maybe we should pay attention, too.
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| A token picture of Partridge Family actress Susan Dey, who had nothing whatsoever to do with "I Woke Up In Love This Morning." |
PRINCE: I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man
We'd been playing Prince's "When Doves Cry" on This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio a bit throughout the first few months of 2016, and I betcha it would have made our year-end countdown even if Prince had remained one of our greatest living rock stars into 2017. His death in April sealed the case for that year's ongoing infamy, prompting me to post, "2016 is fired."
"I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man" was never a song I thought much about before--if I were going to play Prince, I'd be more likely to go with "When Doves Cry" or "When You Were Mine"--but a request for the song from TIRnRR listener Joel Tinnel prompted us to play it on the show the week after Prince died. And it just clicked with me, suddenly but unerringly. I've been playing it ever since.
WILLIE MAE "BIG MAMA" THORNTON: Hound Dog
From this song's chapter in my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1):
Where and when did rock 'n' roll start? There are a few key records that one could name as possibilities for the first rock 'n' roll record. "Rocket 88" by Jackie Brentson and his Delta Cats (1951, and really Ike Turner and his Kings of Rhythm) is the closest we have to a consensus choice, though some would point to "The Fat Man" by Fats Domino (1950). I would at least add Amos Milburn's "Down The Road Apiece" (1947) to the discussion, and no less an authority than Lenny and Squiggy (on TV's Laverne And Shirley) spoke on behalf of "Call The Police," a 1941 single Nat King Cole made with The King Cole Trio. There are other progenitors and trailblazers from across the heady mingling of jump blues, R & B, country, and swing that birthed this bastard child we call rock 'n' roll. What was the daddy of them all? Not even a blood test is going to make that determination...
...Most of us know "Hound Dog" best from Elvis Presley's incredible 1956 hit rendition. But as much of a legitimate threat as King Elvis I represented to the straight-laced status quo in the '50s, his version of "Hound Dog" is an agreeably goofy novelty tune, patterned after a sanitized 1955 cover by Freddie Bell and the Bell Boys rather than Big Mama Thornton's rude and salacious kiss-off. Elvis' version is still great--it's freakin' Elvis in his prime, for cryin' out loud--but not even the King could touch the sheer orneriness of Thornton kicking that ol' hound dog out the door....
Among songs closely associated with Elvis, there aren't very many that I would concede the heresy that someone else did it better than the King did. Wanda Jackson's "Let's Have A Party" may be one exception. Big Mama Thornton's "Hound Dog" definitely is another.
I would like to tell you all about this track: its mysterious origin, the players hidden in the shadows, the mythic circumstances that sparked its creation. But I can't. It's not just a secret; it's a super secret, just like its title insists. Rumor has it that the song was written and originally recorded by a left-handed bass player from England--Sir Prize, or Sir Plus, something along those lines--and that eventual TIRnRR singin' star Rich Firestone is connected to it in some way. It's currently only available on the digital download version of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 3. I can say no more. Shhhh. It's a secret.
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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
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Carl's writin' a book! The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) will contain 134 essays about 134 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).
Carl's writin' a book! The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) will contain 134 essays about 134 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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