This week's edition of 10 Songs is the first of three drawing exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1032.
CHUCK BERRY: Johnny B. Goode
Part of the reason why Dana and I insist on mixing eras on TIRnRR is because that's how we heard music on the radio when we were (theoretically) growing up. Dana says it's also because we're lazy. I would argue the point, but it's too much bother. I listened to AM Top 40 in the early '70s. It was magic, and I occasionally heard things like The Beatles on Syracuse's WOLF or WNDR, mixed in with the prerequisite Jackson Five and Badfinger. And around 1972 or so, Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode" was in regular rotation on WOLF. I didn't know it was an old song from the '50s. If I had known, I wouldn't have cared about its vintage anyway. A great song is always great. And worth the trouble.
THE COWSILLS: She Said To Me
The Cowsills' Global may well be the best album of the '90s, and if it's not, I can't think of what else could be. Decades later, I continue to be annoyed that no major label would deign to release this wonderful record. The unstated reason for such short-sighted record company reticence? The superstitious and cowardly lot we call A & R guys didn't think they could market a group of former '60s hitmakers--especially a group with such a (perceived) squeaky-clean image--in the big 'n' bad '90s. Wimps.
Oh, when I say "wimps," I'm not referring to The Cowsills; the A & R guys were the wimps. The Cowsills friggin' rule, and anybody with a lick of pop grit and know-how could have sold the sound and the story. I love their classic stuff, especially "Hair" and "Love American Style," and many lesser-known tracks, and I ain't kiddin' when I proclaim Global as the best of the '90s. Jim Babjak of The Smithereens told me of his own frustration in trying to pitch Global to disinterested parties at Capitol Records, and Jim's recollections will be included in the Cowsills chapter of my eventual book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). For now, here's a peak at that chapter's opening lines:
A family band. The ongoing reference to The Cowsills as the real-life inspiration for TV's fictional Partridge Family is tiresome but unavoidable. The true story is so much more than what was fabricated for prime time.
Because The Cowsills were a real band, initially a band of brothers who--like so many others in the '60s--wanted to be The Beatles....
Of course, for all the groups who set out to be The Beatles, success in that particular goal would always be unattainable; there could only be one Beatles. But you know what? There could also be only one Cowsills. The Cowsills created a lot of fine music, well worthy of rediscovery and acclaim. They're still a fantastic live band, and they're working on a new album. I can't wait to hear it. A & R weasels? Screw 'em all, the lot of them. We know better.
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| Carl and Dana plus my lovely wife Brenda meet The Cowsills in 2019 |
"Teenage Head" by The Flamin Groovies has the rare honor of getting airplay on a Gotham City radio station in a Batman comic book story. It happened in Detective Comics # 589 (August 1989), the conclusion of a three-part serial called "Night People." All three chapters in this story used Gotham City radio as a recurring backdrop to the action, revealing that listeners in The Batman's hometown had a station that played The Rolling Stones, The New York Dolls, KISS, and Laura Branigan (among others) within a single format. Yeah, it's probably a talk radio station by now. But in 1989, it was playing The Flamin Groovies.
All this, yet no reference to The Joker being a smoker or a midnight toker. For all the violence and chaos that Gothamites must suffer on a regular basis, at least they had some decent radio. Ask any supervillain: with Batman, the hits just keep on coming. BAM!
THE GO-GO'S: Get Up And Go
This past Sunday, our pal Rich Firestone played "Get Up And Go," a fabulous cut by The Go-Go's, on his splendid weekly shindig Radio Deer Camp right here on SPARK! WSPJ in Syracuse. "Get Up And Go" was on the group's 1982 album Vacation, and it was also released as a single, though it couldn't crack the Top 40. Still, a fantastic record, even if it's not one of the first Go-Go's tracks most folks would think of when thinking of Go-Go's tracks.
Which didn't stop This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio from playing it again the very same night.
Oops? Nah, not in my view. Both shows are pre-recorded nowadays, so while we probably would have avoided duplicating one of Rich's selections if we'd realized it, I'm also perfectly okay with the idea of a cool record getting played more than once in a day. One wouldn't want to get carried away with it, but if a song can't stand up to a little bit of repeat play, it wasn't meant to be a pop record in the first place. Play it again! NOW...!!
HEART: Kick It Out
When I was 17, I met a girl whose short-term goal was to pose for Playboy. It was a brief and casual platonic meeting, we were not alone at any point (nor would anything noteworthy have been likely to occur anyway), so there's not much more to the story than that. When you're a 17-year-old boy, hearing a girl about your age say she wants to remove her clothing for a magazine pictorial tends to get your attention. I don't remember her name, I can't quite remember what she looked like (except that she was definitely cute), and I don't think she had quite yet achieved the legal age required for one to take off her shirt for the cameras. Nor had I, for that matter, not that anyone was asking. She was, I presume, just planning ahead.
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| Hey! That's...no, that's not her. Never mind. |
I have no idea if this particular angel was ever a centerfold, though I suspect not. "Kick It Out" was released as a single by the end of 1977, but it wasn't a hit. It remains one of my favorite Heart songs, its status enhanced by the memory of its introduction to me. When you're a 17-year-old boy, the allure of a pretty girl about your age can have an immediate and a pervasive effect, even if it means nothing. The moment fades. The soundtrack remains.
SAM AND DAVE: Soul Man
Like many people my age, I first encountered the Stax Records classic "Soul Man" via its late '70s cover by The Blues Brothers, aka Saturday Night Live yucksters John Belushi and Dan Akroyd. The Blues Brothers never meant much to me, whether as a skit on SNL or in that movie they made. Didn't hate 'em, didn't really care about 'em. But "Soul Man" got my attention, and the guitar on "Soul Man" got my attention. Some time after that, I learned the guitarist on The Blues Brothers' "Soul Man" was Steve Cropper, who had also played on the original 1967 recording by Sam and Dave. I heard Sam and Dave, and I had no further need of The Blues Brothers.
From the "Soul Man" chapter in The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1):
It ain't braggin' if you can do it...
...The song itself is an extended boast. But it's a boast backed up by its collective prowess. Responding to Sam & Dave's command Play it, Steve!, Cropper's guitar work cuts and advances like an agile offensive line, its easygoing sway belying the force and efficiency of its piledriving advance. The Memphis Horns add bounce to spare. Resistance is futile.
And, above it all, our soul men Sam Moore and Dave Prater testify....
It ain't braggin' if you can do it. No disrespect to Jake & Elwood, John & Dan, but there's no substitute for Sam and Dave.
THE BOB SEGER SYSTEM: 2 + 2 = ?
Forget about the awful Bob Seger records that everyone knows. I actively despise "We've Got Tonight" and "Old Time Rock & Roll," and that ain't gonna change any time soon...or ever. But some of his older stuff is terrific, including the rockin' Chuck Berry pastiche "Get Out Of Denver," the "Gloria" rip "East Side Story," and particularly the cantankerous brilliance of the anti-war diatribe "2 + 2 = ?" From The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1):
...Many of you are probably familiar with Nuggets, Lenny Kaye's groundbreaking 1972 collection and celebration of 1960s garage, punk, and psychedelic rockin' pop. Nuggets spawned imitations, expansions, and an accepted understanding of its guiding DIY philosophy. It's no exaggeration to call Nuggets the most influential various-artists rock compilation ever released. It established a recognized aesthetic of '60s garage punk, penciled in some broad parameters for discussion, and elevated critical appreciation of previously-undervalued acts like The Standells, The Chocolate Watchband, and The Electric Prunes.
Listen to me: Not only would "2 + 2 = ?" by The Bob Seger System have fit in perfectly on the original Nuggets, it would have been one of its single most striking cuts. As you consider that, consider also that Nuggets includes a couple of other tracks (by The Knickerbockers and The 13th Floor Elevators) discussed elsewhere in this very book, and a few others (by The Remains and The Electric Prunes, and more) that could have been. The surly brilliance of Seger's "2 + 2 = ?" is of that same transcendent proto-punk ilk.
The Greatest Record Ever Made. By Bob Seger. The mind bogglewoggles....
Maybe it's not enough to compensate for the lucrative sins of Seger's mega-selling monstrosities...or maybe it is. Put those old records back on the shelf. Listen to this great old record instead.
THE VELVET UNDERGROUND: Sunday Morning
"Sunday Morning" was the first Velvet Underground track I can recall hearing. As a burgeoning young punk fan in the late '70s, I read so much about the Velvets, but didn't have an opportunity to actually hear their music. It wasn't on the radio as far as I knew, and I couldn't afford to spring for the pricey import 2-LP VU anthology I saw on the rack at Korvettes when visiting my girlfriend on Staten Island. In 1981, I found a beat-up copy of The Velvet Underground & Nico in the used record bin at Brockport's Main Street Records, and I only had to surrender a little bit of cash to assume ownership.
I didn't even have time to listen to it; I was about to catch a ride to Albany, where I was going to visit my high school pals Jay and Beth. Jay, incidentally, is the guy who would much later introduce me to Dana, earning him a credit as midwife in the birth of TIRnRR. When I got to Jay's apartment in Albany, Beth came over, and we listened to some records, including my new 45s by New Math and Bow Wow Wow, and my introduction to The Velvet Underground. The album's first track, the lush, pop-sounding "Sunday Morning," wasn't at all what I was expecting, but I was duly hooked.
WHISTLESTOP ROCK: Queen Of The Drive-In
Why do we have a radio show? This is why we have a radio show: to play great stuff you know, and especially to play great stuff you don't know yet. Do you know WhistleStop Rock? I didn't. Now I do. Billing themselves as New England power pop punk queens, WhistleStop Rock is a collective of female musicians formed for the purpose of all of their respective bands playing and touring together. As COVID-19 cooties suffocated the live music scene this season, the members of WhistleStop Rock decided to write and record a new song together.
Oh, and it rocks. Written by Simone Birk (of Kid Gulliver and Sugar Snow) and Linnea Herzog of (Linnea's Garden and PowerSlut), "Queen Of The Drive-In" was inspired by the WhistleStoppers' memories of going to drive-in movies and not actually seeing the movie (effectively putting the Action! in Lights! Camera...y'know). WhistleStopper Justine Covault (of TIRnRR faves Justine and the Unclean) thought that sounded like it oughtta be a song. Action, indeed! Let's have the WhistleStop Rock hype machine tell us more:
Next thing you know, the women of WhistleStop had figured out a way to collaborate on a recording of the song from their respective pandemic-isolation bunkers, quickly volunteering to contribute all the needed components of the perfect summer pop song. Simone (Kid Gulliver, Sugar Snow) would sing dirty-sweet lead, Linnea (Linnea's Garden, PowerSlut) would drive with her rhythm guitar and deliver a blistering solo, Linda Bean Pardee (The Chelsea Curve) would anchor with her signature punk-lyrical bass sound, Justine (Justine and the Unclean, Justine’s Black Threads) would add a touch of 80s-style lead and rhythm guitar, Heather Rose (Heather Rose in Clover) would bring unexpected sonic depth with her Stylophone, and Lynda Mandolyn (Tiger Bomb, Crystal Canyon), JoEllen Saunders Yannis (Cold Expectations), and Heather would release their inner ABBA on the backing vocals. Sandy Summers (Kid Gulliver) then accepted the invitation to pound the hell out of the drums, Brian Charles captured Simone’s stellar lead vocals at Zippah Studios, and David Minehan agreed to engineer and produce the song at Woolly Mammoth Sound.
The result of their efforts is stunning, and it's made to be played on the radio. There's a video to go with it, and there's a free live event on Facebook this Friday, July 10th to premiere that video. Before all that, you could hear it on the radio. Why do we have a radio show? We serve at the pleasure of the queen of the drive-in. What greater cause could there be?
KISS: Shout It Out Loud
TIRnRR's intrepid stats keeper Fritz Van Leaven suggested we devote part of this week's show to countdowns of our top 10 all-time most-played artists and our top 10 all-time most-played tracks. Seizing the idea, we had already recorded the show before we realized that this weekend marked the 50th anniversary of Casey Kasem's first American Top 40, making our own humble little countdowns de facto tributes to keeping one's feet on the ground while reaching for the stars.
Fritz told us that KISS was our # 11 all-time most-played artist, missing a tie with The Beach Boys at # 10 by a single spin. Since The Beach Boys were automatically getting another spin any way, we figured we'd also throw in my favorite KISS track, "Shout It Out Loud." And yes, of course there's a chapter about "Shout It Out Loud" in my GREM! book. Branding, people! It's all about the branding.
Hey, speaking of that pair of Top 10 TIRnRR countdowns: none of those songs is represented in this week's first edition of 10 Songs because it makes more sense to give each of those countdowns its own separate 10 Songs piece. Come back the day after tomorrow for the second of three 10 Songs this week, as we celebrate TIRnRR's All-Time Top 10 Most-Played Artists. We'll follow that the very next day with TIRnRR's All-Time Top 10 Most-Played Tracks. Anything worth doing is worth overdoing. Casey Kasem would have expected no less.
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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
Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio: CD or download
Carl's writin' a book! The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) will contain 155 essays about 155 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 155 essays about 155 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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