Last week on my blog, I posted the liner notes I wrote for the 1997 Rhino Records compilation Poptopia! Power Pop Classics Of The '90s. The opening paragraphs from that essay bear repeating:
"The 1990s are the best of times to be a power pop fan.
"Oh, you can scoff if you wish, but the evidence is incontrovertible. Aside from the plethora of classic pop reissues available now in greater abundance than ever before, the '90s have seen a veritable explosion of worthy acts working within the broad context of pure pop and power pop, vying for your heart, mind, and wallet with unabashed hooks and harmonies, and a killer instinct that'll go for your throat if your heart won't answer."
Let me amend that first line: Right now is always the best time to be a fan of pop music. Always. You have decades and decades of accumulated fave raves, from Chuck Berry to The Ramones to Amy Rigby. You have tons of additional great old stuff you don't really know about yet, magical musical treasures awaiting your eventual discovery. And you have the delight of the new, the sheer thrill of fresh wonders being created in the moment. Right now.
You don't like what's on pop radio today? Whether you do or don't, there's more out there, so much more. Dig what you dig. But keep your ears open. Review pop music's core mantras, recited so often in this space: every favorite record begins as something you've never heard before; any record you ain't heard is a new record; great records don't care what year it is; right now is always the best time to be a fan of pop music.
This week's TIRnRR offers sublime new (or new to us) sounds from Gretchen's Wheel, Kid Gulliver, Dear Stella, Ken Sharp, Jim Basnight, Popdudes, The Beths, Orbis Max with Emperor Penguin, Jeremy, and Allyson Seconds and Anton Barbeau. We gleefully mingle all of these with the tried-and-true brilliance of The Four Tops, The Replacements, Bow Wow Wow, Joan Armatrading, Mott the Hoople, The Marvelettes, Gang of Four, Dusty Springfield, and Badfinger, as well as recent gems by The BAR, The Midnight Callers, Mike Browning, and The Shang Hi Los. Your calendar does not apply to us. Right now. Always. Right now. This is what rock 'n' roll radio sounded like on a Sunday night in Syracuse this week.
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 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.
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
http://sparksyracuse.org/support/
https://carlcafarelli.blogspot.com/
Hey, Carl's writin' a book! The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) will contain 165 essays about 165 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. My weekly video series The Greatest Record Ever Made! on YouTube has posted my rants about The Ramones' "Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?," Badfinger's "Baby Blue," Baron Damon and the Vampires' "The Transylvania Twist," Chuck Berry's "Promised Land," and Dusty Springfield's "I Only Want To Be With You."
TIRnRR # 1051: 11/15/2020
THE RAMONES: Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio? (Rhino, End Of The Century)
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