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.
JIM BASNIGHT AND THE MOBERLYS: Tonight
Our little mutant radio show has been programming music from Jim Basnight's various noms du bop for a couple of decades. But I was a latecomer to all things Basnight. Jim's old Seattle-area punk-pop combo The Moberlys woulda been a natural-born contemporary Perfect Fit Fave Rave for me in the late '70s and early '80s. Alas, I don't think I heard them until the '90s...at which point they automatically became a natural-born retroactive Perfect Fit Fave Rave for me. Great records don't care what year it is.
"Tonight" may have been the first Basnight/Moberlys track I ever heard. Good introduction! I think it was on a pop compilation VHS tape that Jeremy Morris sent my way, but however I got there, hell yeah, MOBERLYMANIA!! "Tonight" subsequently found a home on the 2000 Jim Basnight and the Moberlys set Seattle - New York - Los Angeles, and that essential collection is now available as a Bandcamp download. Go! Get it! You need this tonight.
LARRY COLLINS: See The Hills
Yet another illustration of the happenstance that feeds TIRnRR playlists. A listener recommended we play some material by '50s rockabilly guitar teen wunderkind Larry Collins; we've played his "Whistle Bait" in the past, and of course we've played the stalwart "Hoy Hoy," recorded in 1958 by The Collins Kids (Larry and his older sister Lorrie Collins). Time for more!
A search for deeper Larry Collins cuts led to a stumble across "See The Hills," a track from a collection called Sharon Sheeley: Songwriter. Sheeley wrote or co-wrote a number of tunes you may know, including Ricky Nelson's "Poor Little Fool" and her boyfriend Eddie Cochran's "Somethin' Else." "See The Hills" is country pop, and presumably just a demo recording. I don't know if anyone else ever recorded this, but The Beau Brummels should have. It's worthy of wider exposure, and it's certainly worth a spin on the radio. Thanks again, happenstance.
SAM COOKE: (Ain't That) Good News
Actor Leslie Odom, Jr.'s Oscar-nominated portrayal of Sam Cooke in the film One Night In Miami... has prompted us to play a lot more Sam Cooke on TIRnRR this year. We are willing thralls to the stimuli of pop culture. While Cooke classics like "Chain Gang" and "Another Saturday Night" are recognized pop-soul juggernauts, "(Ain't That) Good News" isn't quite as well-known. I mean, it was a hit (# 11 in Billboard in 1964, achieving a higher chart position than Cooke's iconic "A Change Is Gonna Come"), but it's usually not one of the first five or six songs to come to the mind of most folks when discussing Sam Cooke's c.v. I remember it from a TV ad for some mail-order Sam Cooke best-of LP decades ago, and its easygoing sway and casual confidence retain Cooke's swagger and cool groove, now and forever. Good news.
THE FORTY NINETEENS: It's The Worst Thing I Could Do
We've been corresponding with The Forty Nineteens' singin' drummer Nick Zeigler for ages already, so it was always a no-brainer we'd play new Forty Nineteens music as it became available. The group's new album New Roaring Twenties adds an extra irresistible with the inclusion of "It's The Worst Thing I Could Do," a song previously done by Zeigler and The Forty Nineteens' front number John Pozza with their old gang The Leonards. The song's been an ongoing obsession for me since its appearance on a fab 1992 various-artists set called Hit By A Succession Of Bricks. The Forty Nineteens slow down The Leonards' original breakneck approach, but retain the inherent bludgeoning charm of a great song built to survive and thrive in varying arrangements and environments. It's the BEST thing we could do!
THE KENNEDYS: Half Of Us
Several years back, The Kennedys coined the phrase "coffeehouse pop" to describe their music, a catchphrase built upon the understanding that their music is just, well, their music. It's an apt description, but if you don't know The Kennedys--and my God, how could you possibly not know The Kennedys?!--it may not convey the sheer depth of Pete and Maura's POV. You'll get some of it quickly: they met as members of Nanci Griffith's band; their first date was a visit to Buddy Holly's grave in Lubbock, Texas; their sound incorporates folk and Americana, a singer-songwriter vibe, a pervasive love of all that music can be. Awrighty. The idea of coffeehouse pop can probably convey all of that.
But does it hint at Maura's roots in the early '80s Syracuse punk scene? Does it suggest the sheer virtuosity of Pete as an incomparable player of anything that has strings to pluck, pick, or strum? Do you hear Gershwin? Howzabout The Hollies? And are you ready for a coffeehouse pop song inspired by The Ramones?
"Half Of Us" is that song, an absolutely lovely li'l bopper from The Kennedys' 2002 album Get It Right. Maura once said they wrote it under the influence of Forest Hills' phenomenal pop combo, and who are we to argue? If "Half Of Us" doesn't sound immediately like music to huff Carbona by, the 1-2-3-4! pop instinct is nonetheless there, distinct and undeniable. And it's coffeehouse pop. Joey Ramone would have loved it.
(And if you really don't know The Kennedys, you can remedy that woeful situation by checking out Pete and Maura's weekly YouTube shows, which stream every Sunday afternoon at 2:00 Eastern. Coffeehouse pop never tasted sweeter than this.)
NIGHTSPELL: Sea Of Thieves
A beguilingly sing-songy intro leads into a kaleidoscopic goosing of the flesh, all courtesy of Boston's Nightspell and their new Red On Red Records single "Sea Of Thieves." The brittle claustrophobia of the lyrics may seem to contrast with the confident bounce of the tune, but that dichotomy creates the precise cathartic jolt that's central to the song. Take anything you want/Take anything but me. The result is one of the most pleasant-sounding expressions of that familiar sentiment, Hit the road, Jack!
(But yeah, pleasant or not: take a hike, ya worthless crumb.)
POP CO-OP: You Don't Love Me Any More
I say again: if Chad and Jeremy had recorded Pop Co-Op's "You Don't Love Me Anymore," it would have been the very best thing Chad and Jeremy ever did. And I love Chad and Jeremy. Pop Co-Op's own stirring version is available as a CD or as a digital download on our 2017 compilation album This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 4.
THE RAMONES: Swallow My Pride
Power pop from The Ramones. Specifically, it's power pop from The Ramones' second album, 1977's Leave Home. There are knowledgeable pop pundits (some of whom are my pals) who don't regard any of The Ramones' records as fitting within the critical parameters of power pop. I disagree. "Swallow My Pride" is a prime example of why I disagree. It's not da Brudders' only power-pop masterwork--that list also includes "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker," "Oh Oh I Love Her So," "Rockaway Beach," "Babysitter," and more--but it serves as an opening argument. Power pop from The Ramones. Proud power pop from The Ramones. But isn't it always that way?
KEVIN ROBERTSON: Love's Blue Yonder
Man, this is pure sunshine. "Love's Blue Yonder" is a single off the forthcoming debut solo album from Kevin Robertson of The Vapour Trails. If the single's any indication of how great the album's gonna be, we hereby advise you to make some space on your CD shelf and plan your budget accordingly.
THE ROLLING STONES: She's A Rainbow
Standing in the shadows of Sgt. Pepper, or a bold Stonesy step the pop world wasn't ready to take in 1967? It's been many, many years since I've listened to The Rolling Stones' Their Satanic Majesties Request, and I owe myself a refresher course in its virtues, vices, lanterns, and gompers. My first copy of the record came a little more than a decade after the fact, a used reissue pressing sans 3D cover graphics, but still dripping with the black-light atmosphere of its psychedelic reputation. It was...fine. Good. It was no Aftermath, certainly no Big Hits (High Tide And Green Grass), but really, what was? I kinda liked the hippie vibe of the LP's opening track "Sing This All Together." My proto-punk teen self took to the riff-driven "Citadel," and I paid occasional tribute to the bass player with spins of Bill Wyman's "In Another Land." The rest of the record rarely registered on my Satanic Majesties' request line in 1978.
That said, Side Two did contain a couple of tracks I knew from my battered 'n' cherished copy of Through The Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2): "2000 Light Years From Home" and "She's A Rainbow." When Dana included the latter among his selections for this week's radio show, we opted for the slightly longer Their Satanic Majesties Request album version--with its unique dialogue intro--rather than the single. Satanic? Majestic! Ooh-la-la-ooh-la-la-lala....
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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 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
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