Fake THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO Playlist: Songs About The Radio

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl is simply too large a concept to be neatly contained within a mere three-hour weekly time slot. Hence these occasional fake TIRnRR playlists, detailing shows we're never really going to do...but could.



I'm gonna guess that everyone knows by now that I love rock 'n' roll radio, at least my imaginary ideal of rock 'n' roll radio. This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio is built on that dream that Dana and I have always believed: that radio can be better; that radio can be the best; that, in the right hands, radio can transcend artificial limits, and connect us to music in a way nothing else can match. I believe in radio, no matter how many times it lets me down. Because I can't even imagine what my life would have been without the radio.

How many great acts did I hear on the radio before I heard them anywhere else? Man, I'm a DJ and a writer; I don't do math. But it's a long and intimidating list that includes The Beatles, Chuck Berry, The Ramones, Dusty Springfield, The Temptations, Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, The Sex Pistols, The Go-Go's, The Four Tops, The Rolling Stones, KISS, Janis Joplin, The Grass Roots, Otis Redding, The Isley Brothers, The Yardbirds, The Adverts, The Kinks, Aretha Franklin, Donna Summer, The Runaways, Slade, Badfinger, Johnny Nash, Stevie Wonder, The Turtles, Sweet, The Hollies, Elton John, David Bowie, Alice Cooper, Rufus, Graham Parker, Greg Kihn, The Rubinoos, The Beau Brummels, The Flamin' Groovies, The Jackson Five, X, The Hoodoo Gurus, Joy Division, Psychedelic Furs, The Teardrop Explodes, The Who, Led Zeppelin, The Long Ryders, Madonna, Laurie Anderson, The Bay City Rollers, The Foundations, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Bobby Fuller Four, Wanda Jackson, Todd Rundgren, Pink Floyd, The Raspberries, Bruce Springsteen, The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, 999, The English Beat, Eddy Grant, Cheap Trick, Prism, Chicago, Rush, The Allman Brothers Band, The Ohio Players, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, Blondie, The Dictators, The Stylistics, Dire Straits, AC/DC, Melanie, Roberta Flack, Shirley and Company, Def Leppard, Television, The O'Jays, The Jam, The Vogues, Lyres, Earth, Wind & Fire, and hell YES I could go on and on and on. I owe it all to radio. I owe everything to radio.

On the real-life This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, I've already done A Love Letter To Radio. Today's fake playlist takes it literally, collecting a bunch of songs about the radio. And hey! In a cool mingling of the factual and the phony, it includes a NEW song by The Forty Nineteens with Tony Valentino, a track which will make its actual TIRnRR debut this Sunday. Play the music, Mr. DJ. Turn it up. AM or FM, I listen to both of them. I've got the radio on.

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl--y'know, the real one--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 all about this show's long and weird history here: Boppin' The Whole Friggin' Planet (The History Of THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO). TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS are always welcome.

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

PS: SEND MONEY!!!! We need tech upgrades like Elvis needs boats. Spark Syracuse is supported by listeners like you. Tax-deductible donations are welcome at 
http://sparksyracuse.org/support/

You can follow Carl's daily blog Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) at 
https://carlcafarelli.blogspot.com/

Hey, Carl's writin' a book! The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) will contain 134 essays about 134 songs, each one of 'em THE greatest record ever made. An infinite number of songs can each be the greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Updated initial information can be seen here.

Fake TIRnRR Playlist: Songs About The Radio

THE RAMONES: Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?
--
SCREEN TEST: Sound Of The Radio
CHUCK BERRY: Roll Over Beethoven
HACKAMORE BRICK: Radio
THE MODERN LOVERS: Roadrunner
THE MARSHALLS: AM
THE SELECTER: On My Radio
--
DONNA SUMMER: On The Radio
JOE JACKSON: On Your Radio
THE FLASHCUBES: Radio
MANNIX: Highway Lines
THE FIRST CLASS: Wake Up America
THE KINKS: Around The Dial
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THE RAIDERS: Song Seller
THE RAMONES: We Want The Airwaves
BRUCE WOOLEY & THE CAMERA CLUB: Video Killed The Radio Star
THE RASPBERRIES: Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: Radio Nowhere
LANNIE FLOWERS: Turn Up The Radio
--
THE VELVET UNDERGROUND: Rock And Roll
IAN HUNTER: Cleveland Rocks
REUNION: Life Is A Rock (But The Radio Rolled Me)
THE "5" ROYALES: Dedicated To The One I Love
CHEAP TRICK: On The Radio
GOLDEN EARRING: Radar Love
--
JONI MITCHELL: You Turn Me On I'm A Radio
STARRY EYED AND LAUGHING: Song On The Radio
THE CARPENTERS: Yesterday Once More
THE REPLACEMENTS: Left Of The Dial
THE MASTICATORS: Radio Police
1.4.5.: Let's Groove
--
ELVIS COSTELLO: Radio Sweetheart
EX HEX: Radio On
WILLIE ALEXANDER & THE BOOM BOOM BAND: Radio Heart
KISS: Detroit Rock City
THE HOLE IN THE WALL GANG: Dana's On The Radio
THE FLASHCUBES: Carl (You Da Man)
--
MARY WEISS: Cry About The Radio
MR. ENCRYPTO & THE CYPHERS: Home On The Radio
WALL OF VOODOO: Mexican Radio
THE SUPAHIP: With The Radio On
PAUL COLLINS' BEAT: Hey DJ
APRIL DANCER: Put Me On The Radio
--
THE FORTY NINETEENS WITH TONY VALENTINO: Late Night Radio
FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE: Radio Bar
THE FINKERS: Tonight
SAM COOKE: Having A Party
ROXY MUSIC: Oh Yeah (On The Radio)
THE SPORTS: Who Listens To The RadioTHE CLASH: Capital Radio Two
ELVIS COSTELLO & THE ATTRACTIONS: Radio Radio
THE BEACH BOYS: That's Why God Made The Radio
THE RAMONETURES: Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll radio?