10 SONGS: 6/3/2020

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 # 1027. 

THE MONKEES: Good Times


"Good times!" was what we promised for this week's This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, as I was intent on saluting The Monkees' amazing 2016 album Good Times! on the occasion of its fourth anniversary. We did not predict what an awful week this would be in the dumb old real world. 

In bad times, of course, we need good times more than ever. Like kicks, they keep getting harder to find.

JAMES BROWN: Please, Please, Please



In my possibly-eventual, possibly-imaginary book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1), the chapter on James Brown's incredible "Please, Please, Please" is inspired by Brown's incendiary appearance in the 1964 film The T.A.M.I. Show. I regard Brown's set in that in that film as the single most electrifying live performance ever captured on video. And, in the very midst of Beatlemania, it depicted the hardest working man in show business establishing a beachhead to counter the Redcoat incursion:

The infidels attempted to usurp his crown, his kingdom. He would not have that. He was the king of them all, y'all. The Hardest Working Man In Show Business. The Godfather Of Soul. Soul Brother Number One.

James Brown was not about to surrender his sovereign territory to interlopers, foreigners. James Brown would not bow to the insurrectionists in this British Invasion...

...In truth, there was probably very little arrogance on the part of these British pop stars. The British Invasion succeeded because its practitioners were avid fans of American music, their enthusiasm for red, white, and rhythm 'n' blues driving them to international pop heights no previous generation of English kids could even dream of. The Beatles were thrilled to make it in America, and that visceral excitement was almost certainly shared by all the U.K. hitmakers who followed immediately in The Beatles' Cuban-heeled path, from The Dave Clark Five through Chad & Jeremy...

...Brown took the stage like a tornado barely (and not really) contained, a twister obliterating all objects in its path. He moved like no one on this mortal plane should have been able to do, sizzling, damned near combusting with energy. "Out Of Sight," then "Prisoner Of Love," the latter featuring Brown dropping to his knees, a teasing hint of what was about to transpire:

"Please, Please, Please."

If you're a rockin' pop fan and you've never seen The T.A.M.I. Show, you owe yourself the absolute treat of witnessing what is far and away my all-time favorite concert film, with stellar live turns from everyone involved, from Chuck Berry through The Rolling Stones. But James Brown steals the show. The king of them all, y'all.

EARTH, WIND & FIRE WITH THE EMOTIONS: Boogie Wonderland



In general, I do what my iPod tells me to do. In my car--my preferred place to listen to music--I switch back and forth between SPARK! WSPJ Syracuse on the radio and my trusty ol' iPod as my only mobile music resources. The results of the random music shuffles that power my morning and evening commutes often influence selections I make for the next available This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, as I move through traffic on 81-South and declare with authority, Yeah, we GOTTA play that one on the show this week! That's how "Boogie Wonderland," the masterful 1979 disco smash by Earth, Wind & Fire with The Emotions, made its way onto Sunday night's playlist. "Boogie Wonderland" is also the most recent addition to The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1), as I surrender eagerly to the 20th-century Greek chorus of The Emotions. DANCE! All respect to the amazing EWF, but the chick vocals provided by The Emotions send this one into the stratosphere. 

THE EASYBEATS: Friday On My Mind



My series The Everlasting First has already told the tale of how I belatedly became a fan of The Easybeats in the '70s. The Easybeats' classic "Friday On My Mind" also earns a chapter in The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1):

Rock 'n' roll has always been working class music. The landed and the privileged may also enjoy it, and many/most of its practitioners share a fever dream of breaking into the exclusive ranks of the upper crust, enjoying all the glittery, golden things money can buy, with an endless resource of the cold, hard cash one needs to buy them all. The same could be said of country, R & B, soul...any popular music. Rich folks aren't the target audience; the rest of us are.

It's no accident that so many pop songs have reflected that viewpoint, nor that so many have specifically embraced the treasure of the weekend. Work's done! Time for play! From Little Richard's "Ready Teddy" through any random recognition of the Monday-to-Friday death march ceding way for the wall-to-wall fun of Friday and Saturday night, we dig our weekend party anthems. The Easybeats' "Friday On My Mind" is the definitive example.

THE KINKS: All Day And All Of The Night

When discussing the monolithic 1-2 punch of The Kinks' first two U.S. hits, "You Really Got Me" tends to grab all of the loud 'n' grungy glory. It is, after all, the greatest record ever made. But its follow-up "All Day And All Of The Night" is even more savage and relentless, and if it lacks a tiny bit of "You Really Got Me"'s mesmerizing single-mindedness, it compensates with its sheer combustibility. "All Day And All Of The Night" sounds like it's 'bout to explode, and it sounds loud (if never quite loud enough) at even the lowest volume. As revealed in my Everlasting First piece about how I discovered the group, "All Day And All Of The Night" was the first Kinks track I ever owned. There would be many, many more to follow.

KISS: Calling Dr. Love



Trying to satisfy the voracious hunger of a daily blog means I'm constantly kicking around ideas that may or may not lead me to write something. One idea I've noted but not yet pursued is called "The Idea Of KISS." That would be about how I have greater affection for KISS as an abstract (if you will) than I have for their actual records or performances. This is not to say that I don't like KISS. KISS was my first rock concert, The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) will include a chapter on "Shout It Out Loud," I still wear my KISS t-shirt pretty regularly, and I'm always eager to get right back in the face of any punter who dares to question my right to like KISS if I want to like KISS. 

But my love of KISS is not on the level of my love of The Beatles, The Ramones, The Monkees, The Kinks, The Flashcubes, or any of dozens of other acts. I have a sporadic blog series called All-Time Top 25, wherein I talk about my 25 favorite tracks by a designated artist. I've published All-Time Top 25s about The Beatles, The Monkees, and Paul McCartney, and I've begun drafts of still more: The Hollies, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones...and KISS. The Stones piece is a placeholder, but I'll have no trouble coming up with a long list of great tracks that I'll need to narrow to a mere 25. The Hollies' short list is currently 28. The Kinks' short list is 48! 

With KISS, I only have 20 songs listed, and even a few of those are a stretch. I could do a rock-solid Top 10, and it would include some obscurities as well as some of the more familiar KISS tunes. But my passion for the music of KISS simply doesn't match my interest in the idea of KISS. It's complicated. But I love it loud. And I love "Calling Dr. Love," which would absolutely be in that above-mentioned rock-solid KISS Top 10.

MANNIX: Highway Lines



"Highway Lines" is a track from Come To California, a rich and rewarding 2001 album recorded by Mannix. Dana played the song shortly after its release, and it went on to be This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio's most-played track that year. I was hypnotized by the track from its first spin, and it should rightly be considered one of the defining fave raves of this show's long mutant history. Joe Mannix allowed us to use the song on This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 3 in 2013; its lyrical conceit of a desperate man listening to the radio as he drives across the country in one last-ditch effort to salvage a discarded love affair is a stone natural for whatever it is we do on TIRnRR. And it most certainly merits its own chapter in The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1):

"Hitting 95 and I'm feelin' half-alive
But I had to get things straight again
My engine's cryin' and my tranny she is dyin'
And the radio is my only friend"

There are times when the songs on the radio seem to know us better than we know ourselves. That's why we still need the radio.

"Another saga 'bout another love gone wrong
And the DJ knows what I'm goin' though..."

...Mannix's "Highway Lines" is probably the most obscure song discussed in this book. It's less heralded even in comparison to a local Syracuse hit single like Baron Daemon's "The Transylvania Twist," or the occasional cult act or lesser-known gem exalted elsewhere within these pages. Hell, even my favorite why-ain't-these-guys-stars?! underdog combo The Flashcubes have at least received some positive ink somewhere. But Mannix? Many of you don't know Mannix at all. But by God, you should....

No relation to the TV detective played by actor Mike Connors. Or so we've been lead to believe.



MARYKATE O'NEIL: I'm Ready For My Luck To Turn Around



Marykate O'Neil's "I'm Ready For My Luck To Turn Around" has made more appearances in 10 Songs than any other individual track. The track itself is wonderfully inviting and engaging, but its lyrical and thematic concerns have made it a particular go-to this year. We've played the song (from Marykate's 2006 album 1-800-Bankrupt) several times over the years, and it returned to the TIRnRR playlist in February. At that time, its airplay was prompted by my own feeling of spiritual restlessness; I had turned 60 the previous month, and had grown frustrated with the long and seemingly fruitless effort to get my book published. I was ready for...you know. The song has taken on a much wider meaning for me since then, as we've tried to deal with all of...this, from a pandemic and an incompetent pretend President through the latest episodes of violence, brutality, racism, and myopic resistance to the simple concept that Black Lives Matter. Marykate O'Neil has provided me with a spark of comfort throughout this weird and troubled time. I can't say it enough: we're all ready for our luck to turn around.

KEN SHARP: The Kids Are Alright



Ken Sharp recorded this cover of The Who's 1965 power pop classic as a 75th birthday tribute to Pete Townshend. When I was a senior in college in 1979-80, a British group called The Pleasers recorded their own determinedly Beatley take on "The Kids Are Alright," produced by none other than the legendary Tommy Boyce. Yay, Monkees pedigree! At the time I preferred The Pleasers' version to The Who's. Ah, the heresy of youth! Ken's new version is even more bubbly and poppy than what Boyce did with The Pleasers, but it please-pleases me just the same. Find out for yourself at https://kensharp.bandcamp.com/

THE WALKER BRIGADE: Fallout



This former digital B-side by The Walker Brigade is contained on Big Stir Records' recent compilation Big Stir Singles--The Sixth Wave, an essential set that benefits Sweet Relief's Musician Assistance Fund, so GREAT tunes, GREAT cause, radio's job is to sell records, and you have an overwhelming obligation to buy the thing already. I don't want want you to feel guilty, which is why you should order one and avoid that dreadful sense of not having done your part. See? I'm here for you!

"Fallout" deserves an extra-special shout-out, because it was originally done by a fab SoCal group called The Bunny Rabbits, whom I loved even though they ignored my suggestion to call themselves The Cherry Hearts. Artists. What can you do? The Bunny Rabbits' Larry Jacobson was an on-line pal in the early '90s, and when he was looking for musicians to join his group, I was among the people he asked for leads, as was another on-line pop acquaintance, Greg Ogarrio. The band that would be Bunny Rabbits was in L.A., Greg was in San Francisco, and I was in Syracuse and, by the way, couldn't play a freakin' instrument if my life depended on it. But Greg and I had another mutual pop friend who was within the greater City of Angels area: one Andrea Ullman. Andrea wound up joining the group, and she co-wrote "Fallout" with her fellow Bunny Rabbits. The Bunny Rabbits never released "Fallout," but their former bassist Mark Fletcher is now with The Walker Brigade, and finally able to bring this terrific track into the light.

Now, if you look at the songwriting credits for "Fallout" on the Big Stir Singles--The Sixth Wave CD, you'll note the lack of an Ullman but the presence of an Ogarrio. Andrea and Greg met not long after that flurry of hands-across-the-internet exchanges, they fell in love, they got married, and they've been together ever since. They remain two of my favorite pop people. I guess there are still some good times out there after all.


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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.

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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).