This week's edition of 10 Songs draws exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 140. Furthermore, each of these ten acts was among the 27 artists cited in my recently-published sci-fi rock 'n' roll comedy short story "Guitars Vs. Rayguns."
CHUCK BERRY: Johnny B. Goode
Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode" provided the indirect impetus for "Guitars Vs. Rayguns," a story built on the premise that extraterrestrials reacted positively to ol' Chuck wailin' on the Greetings From EARTH! disc carried into deep space by the Voyager probes launched by NASA in 1977. Turns out that aliens love rock 'n' roll, and they wanna hear more of it. Smart folks, those aliens.
THE CRICKETS: T Shirt
Thanks once again to Brother Rich Firestone of Radio Deer Camp (heard every Sunday 5-7 pm Eastern right here at SPARK WSPJ http://sparksyracuse.org/) for supplying us with this track in time for the show (my copy disappeared). If one's going to play The Crickets (as one should), the classic '50s stuff with Buddy Holly is can't-miss. But I wanted to play this great '80s track instead. "T Shirt" was produced by Paul McCartney, who also plays and sings here alongside his heroes. I always thought our Macca wrote the tune, but it was composed by one Jim Imray, his only professional credit. I'm tempted to ask if Jim Imray was any relation to Bernard Webb or Percy Thrillington, but I have no evidence to support that. Rich suggested that Imray may have won a songwriting contest to craft a new tune that sounded like Buddy Holly. Whoever Jim Imray is, he wrote at least one more great song than I've ever written.
I had an opportunity to see The Crickets in (I think) the late '80s, at an outdoor gig at Jamesville Beach. It was the first time I ever heard "T Shirt," and I've loved it ever since.
THE FLASHCUBES: When We Close Our Eyes
Man, what else can I say about Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse The Flashcubes? This blog offers a big ol' stack of my testimonials on behalf of the 'Cubes, and I have no intention of ever backing away from the proclamation of my rockin' pop trinity: The Beatles, The Ramones, and The Flashcubes. Of course my outer space combo covers all three. "When We Close Our Eyes" was written by 'Cubes guitarist Arty Lenin, and it's one of my two favorite Lenin songs (along with "Nothing Really Matters When You're Young"). From The Flashcubes' 2003 album Brilliant.
ARETHA FRANKLIN: Respect
My book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) includes a chapter about Aretha Franklin's astounding cover of Otis Redding's "Respect." Duh. Here's an excerpt:
..."Respect" should be on any legitimate list of the all-time great soul singles, the all-time great pop singles, the all-time great...anything. Franklin effortlessly annexes the swagger of Redding's original and somehow amplifies it into something beyond swagger, beyond doubt or apprehension, beyond the limitations and restraints of the everyday, well into the holy realm of worship and praise. Thou shalt have no singer before her.
Perhaps the single most amazing thing about Aretha Franklin's rendition of "Respect" is that it seems so casual, so matter of fact. Even as she belts out the vocals, there isn't the merest suggestion of histrionics, no heretical notion that Lady Soul can't make magic real simply by wishing it so. Miracles are hers to give. What you want, baby she's got it. All she's asking for is respect. What she earns is pure awe and wonder, a delight in Heaven on Earth....
THE GRIP WEEDS: Strange Bird
The Grip Weeds were kind enough to allow us the use of this track on our 2017 compilation This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 4. My extended supplemental liner notes for that collection tells you a little about this fabulous, fabulous group:
...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....
 |
| This fantastic compilation is STILL available on CD and as a digital download. You oughtta buy it. |
With "Give It To Me Baby," "Super Freak" was one of the first two Rick James songs I ever knew, introduced to me when he performed them on Saturday Night Live in 1981. From The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1):
...The story goes that James only recorded "Super Freak" because he wanted a track that white people could dance to. With backing vocals by The Temptations, "Super Freak"'s tale of a very kinky girl oozes sex and debauchery, its pursuit of satisfaction all day and all of the night burning like intertwining candles atop a riff as infectious and dangerous as an STD. It's such a freaky scene....
POP CO-OP: No Man's Land
What's the point of creating your own fictional worlds if you can't include your friends? It's good to be in charge. "No Man's Land" is from Pop Co-Op's most recent release Factory Settings, aka Your Favorite Album Of 2020.
OTIS REDDING: Pounds And Hundreds [LBs + 100s]
A 1992 set called Remember Me was my first Otis Redding CD, and only my second Otis album after my mid-'80s acquisition of the Live In Europe LP. Remember Me contains 22 previously-unissued tracks, including two early takes of "(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay," but my favorite was this soulful rave-up. I'm not sure if this was a finished master or if Redding abandoned it, but it rocks, and it remains a fabulous outta-left-field choice among Redding's gems.
THE SEX PISTOLS: C'mon Everybody
Sid Vicious sings Eddie Cochran! That's how it's done on distant planets. I believe our Sid is the only Sex Pistol present on this track, which was recorded and released after the Pistols' January '78 combustion and collapse, and eventually included on the 2-LP set The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle. This was one of two Eddie Cochran covers Vicious did at this time, roughly contemporary to his well-known bludgeoning of Frank Sinatra's "My Way" (which, coincidentally, was also the title of another Cochran song; I wish Sid had done that one instead of the Ol' Blue Eyes number).
I'm a fan of The Sex Pistols. As a band, they are criminally underrated, as so many have focused on the clatter and the noise of punk while ignoring the solid rock 'n' roll combo--guitarist Steve Jones, drummer Paul Cook, and original bassist Glen Matlock--chuggin' away beneath Johnny Rotten's (effective) wailing. Sid Vicious could neither sing nor play, and replacing Glen with Sid threw the group's musical aspect out the broken window.
Which makes it all the more notable that Sid Vicious sounds perfectly fine on his two Cochran songs, "C'mon Everybody" and "Somethin' Else." He's no Eddie Cochran--let's not get crazy--but the tracks are solid and worth playing.
THE SMALL FACES: What'cha Gonna Do About It
The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle also includes the actual Pistols' attempt to cover this classic Mod pop song from the Small Faces catalog. Johnny Rotten changed the line I want you to know that I love you baby to I want you to know that I hate you baby. Punks. What'cha gonna do about it?
 |
| What'cha gonna do about it? Well...howzabout buying a copy of Billionaire Island # 5 and reading my short story "Guitars Vs. Rayguns" for a start? |
TIP THE BLOGGER: CC's Tip Jar!
You can support this blog by becoming a patron on Patreon: Fund me, baby!
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 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
Carl's writin' a book! The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) will contain 165 essays about 165 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).
No comments:
Post a Comment