This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1079: Micky Dolenz

Micky Dolenz is one of the greatest pop singers of the rock 'n' roll era, and one of the most underrated. I'm not pitting him against Aretha Franklin or Elvis Presley--there's a reason they were crowned as the respective Queen of Soul and King Elvis I--but Dolenz deserves more recognition, more acknowledgment of his status as an accomplished pop vocalist. His lead vocal turns on so many of The Monkees' hits and deep tracks remain engaging examples of how to deliver a song. The fact that The Monkees were a made-for-TV combo is irrelevant; talent will out. Micky's voice is made for radio. Radio is made for Micky's voice.

With the release of the simply wonderful new album Dolenz Sings Nesmith, we figured it's high time an episode of this little mutant radio show cast a spotlight on Micky Dolenz as our Featured Performer. The Monkees are one of TIRnRR's all-time most-played acts, commencing with a spin of the group's 1996 track "Regional Girl" on TIRnRR # 1 in 1998 (only the third song we ever played). This week it was a pure pleasure to gather a few of Dolenz's many fine performances--solo, with The Monkees, with Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart, with Starship (no, not that Starship), and in various other incarnations-- and play 'em on the radio where they belong. We threw in Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode" (the song Micky played on guitar when he auditioned for The Monkees), The Minus 5's "Micky's A Cool Drummer," and The Flashcubes' ace cover of the Monkees classic "She," and mixed all this phantasmagoric splendor with new music from The Checkered Hearts, Cloud Eleven, Dennis Dalcin, and Jeremy, plus everything from Fats Domino and The Muffs through Johnathan Pushkar and The Linda Lindas.

And we played Micky Dolenz. All radio shows should play Micky Dolenz. The new album Dolenz Sings Nesmith is flippin' fantastic, and I hope it turns up on playlists everywhere. If there are stations that don't wanna play this, well, we're too busy singing along with Micky to put anybody down. 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.

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/

TIRnRR # 1079: 5/30/2021

TIRnRR FRESH SPINS! Tracks we think we ain't played before are listed in bold

THE RAMONES: Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio? (Rhino, End Of The Century)

--

MICKY DOLENZ: Circle Sky (7a, Dolenz Sings Nesmith)

THE MONKEES: Sometime In The Morning (Rhino, More Of The Monkees)

MICKY DOLENZ WITH CIRCE LINK & CHRISTIAN NESMITH: Porpoise Song (Theme From Head)/Good Morning, Good Morning (7a, MICKY DOLENZ: The MGM Singles Collection)

THE PRIMITIVES: All The Way Down [beat version] (RCA, Bombshell)

CHUCK BERRY: Johnny B. Goode (MCA, The Anthology)

THE SAINTS: L-I-E-S (Raven, Wild About You 1976-1978)

--

THE CHECKERED HEARTS: My Best Friend's Girl (ChicaneryChick, Joystick)

BILL LLOYD: Kissed Your Sister (New Boss Sounds, Back To Even)

JOHNATHAN PUSHKAR: Any Second Now (Jem, Compositions)

PYLON: Gravity (New West, Gyrate)

DOLENZ, JONES, BOYCE & HART: You Didn't Feel That Way Last Night (Don't You Remember) (Capitol, Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart)

THE SMITHS: What Difference Does It Make? (Warner Strategic Marketing, The Very Best Of The Smiths)

--

DENNIS DALCIN: Words Weren't Said (Kool Kat Musik, The Incomplete Completeness)

THE RUTLES: I Must Be In Love (Rhino, The Rutles)

RENAISSANCE: Carpet Of The Sun (Capitol, Ashes Are Burning)

FATS DOMINO: Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except For Me And My Monkey (Ace, VA: Come Together: Black America Sings Lennon & McCartney)

THE MONKEES: Oh My My (Rhino, Changes)

SCREAMIN' JAY HAWKINS: Monkberry Moon Delight (Red Lightnin', Screamin' The Blues)

--

STARSHIP: It's Amazing To Me (7a, MICKY DOLENZ: The MGM Singles Collection)

MICKY DOLENZ: Many Years (Robo, Remember)

THE MINUS 5: Micky's A Cool Drummer (Yep Roc, Of Monkees And Men)

THE LINDA LINDAS: Claudia Kishi (single)

PARANMAUM: Linda Linda (Universal, We Are Paranmaum)

THE LINDA LINDAS: Monica (n/a, The Linda Lindas)

--

CLOUD ELEVEN: Homework (Kool Kat Musik, Pandora's Box)

AMY RIGBY: The Trouble With Jeanie (Signature Sounds, Little Fugitive)

BRANDON CRUZ WITH MICKY DOLENZ: Best Friend (Taang!, Eddie Is A Punk)

THE MUFFS: Big Mouth (Warner Brothers, The Muffs)

ARETHA FRANKLIN: Save Me (Atlantic, I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You)

MARY LOU LORD: Right On 'Till Dawn (Kill Rock Stars, Speeding Motorcycle)

--

JEREMY: Take Me Home (JAM, Distant Dream)

THE VITAMINS: New Town (Cherry Red, VA: 1978: The Year The UK Turned Day-Glo)

MICKY DOLENZ & THE AMERICAN METROPOLE ORCHESTRA: (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone (7a, Out Of Nowhere)

THE PRETTY THINGS: Honey I Need (Fontana, Get A Buzz)

SUGAR SNOW: She Goes On (n/a, Woodface Reimagined)

THE HUMAN INSTINCT: Pink Dawn (Strawberry, VA: Halcyon Days)

--

THE MONKEES: Terrifying (Rhino, Good Times! [digital version])

THE YARDBIRDS: Over Under Sideways Down (Rhino, Ultimate!)

ELVIS PRESLEY: Kentucky Rain (RCA, The Essential Elvis Presley)

VIC GODARD & THE SUBWAY SECT: Parallel Lines (Motion, Twenty Odd Years)

MICKEY DOLENZ & DAVY JONES: Do It In The Name Of Love (Rhino, THE MONKEES: Music Box)

ALEX HARVEY & HIS SOUL BAND: Parchman Farm (Spectrum, Shout: The Essential Alex Harvey)

--

MICKY DOLENZ: Living On Lies (7a, single)

LOS SHAKERS: Break It All (Rhino, VA: Nuggets II)

NELSON BRAGG: Lost All Our Sundays (Big Stir, single)

LES FLEUR DE LYS: Circles (Rhino, VA: Nuggets II)

HEADGIRL: Please Don't Touch (Lemon, GIRLSCHOOL: The Singles)

THE MARMALADE: I See The Rain (Rhino, VA: Nuggets II)

COLD EXPECTATIONS: Summer Dress (Red On Red, single)

THEE HEADCOATS: I Don't Like The Man I Am (Sub Pop, Heavens To Murgatroyd, Even! It's Thee Headcoats! [Already])

--

MICKY DOLENZ & PETER TORK (OF THE MONKEES): That Was Then, This Is Now (Arista, single)

THE CYNICS: Baby What's Wrong (Rhino, VA: Children Of Nuggets)

THE FUZZTONES: Bad News Travels Fast (Rhino, VA: Children Of Nuggets)

THE PLIMSOULS: Everyday Things (Rhino, The Plimsouls...Plus)

THE FLASHCUBES: She (Northside, Flashcubes Forever)

THAT PETROL EMOTION: It's A Good Thing (Rhino, VA: Children Of Nuggets)

MICKY DOLENZ WITH CIRCE LINK & CHRISTIAN NESMITH: Randy Scouse Git (7a, MICKY DOLENZ: The MGM Singles Collection)

THE MONKEES: Pleasant Valley Sunday (Rhino, Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd.)

MICKY DOLENZ: Different Drum (7a, Dolenz Sings Nesmith)

--

THE BEATLES: Wild Honey Pie (Apple, The Beatles)

Tonight On THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO

Hey, hey--we got a FEATURED PERFORMER! With the recent release of the superb new album Dolenz Sings Nesmith, TIRnRR is proud to cast its spotlight on the music of MICKY DOLENZ! We've got solo Micky! We've got Micky with THE MONKEES! We've got Micky with DOLENZ, JONES, BOYCE & HART! And we've got MORE Micky still! Let's face it, we've got a barrel full o' Mickys, and what could be more fun than that? We'll sweeten the deal with new music from THE CHECKERED HEARTS, CLOUD ELEVEN, JEREMY, and DENNIS DALCIN, and fill in with all sortsa irresistibles from the '50s through, like, last week. And it all starts with new music from Micky Dolenz. Be a believer already. Sunday night, 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, http://sparksyracuse.org/

POP-A-LOOZA: Martin Pasko's THE ALBATROSS (DC Comics, 1975)

Each week, the pop culture website Pop-A-Looza shares some posts from my vast 'n' captivating Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) archives. The latest shared post is my look back at a never-published DC Comics superhero from the '70s, Martin Pasko's The Albatross. The piece was written immediately after Pasko's death in May of last year.

Pasko had a ton of writing credits, and the unpublished exploits of The Albatross wouldn't even rate a footnote in his life story. I'm still a bit surprised that I have never seen it mentioned anywhere--anywhere--outside of my own reminiscence of hearing Pasko talk about The Albatross one afternoon in February of 1976, at the Super DC Con in New York. I mean, even if it were turn out that Pasko made the whole thing up as a story to tell comics fans at a convention (and I doubt that was the case), it still seems like something some pundit should have written about somewhere. The task of remembering The Albatross shouldn't rely solely upon a middle-aged blogger straining to recall what he heard at a writers' panel in a hotel ballroom when he was sixteen years old.

I wish there were a detailed account of that convention. I had such a wonderful time, and I would love to re-live that experience. Back Issue magazine published a brief retrospective of the Super DC Con, but I really, really want to read more about it. I've toyed with the idea of trying to craft a proper historical account of that convention, but my POV is too limited to do it justice. If anyone out there was there, I would dearly love to read your memories of that weekend.

In the mean time, you can browse through the convention's program book here. And until someone else comes forward with the true story of Martin Pasko's incarcerated crusader, we'll have to settle for my memory of The Albatross in the latest Boppin' Pop-A-Looza.

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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

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl.

GUITARS VS. RAYGUNS (a foul-mouthed rock 'n' roll science-fiction comedy short story)

After decades of non-fiction freelancing, this short story was my first-ever fiction sale. It was written and sold in 2019, and published by the good folks at AHOY Comics in the pages of Billionaire Island # 5 in August of 2020. It's energetic and profane, proudly immature, and I like it a lot.

GUITARS VS. RAYGUNS

by Carl Cafarelli

I hate to complain. No really, I do. But I tell ya, we just wanna play some rock 'n' roll on every distant planet, and a fight's gotta break out at every gig. Every. Single. Gig. Doesn't matter what planet we're playing. It's like space cowboys figure "Battle of the Bands" has to be literal. I've gone through more drummers than Spinal Tap; percussionists seem the most likely victim of stray raygun blasts. I tell these guys, "Dude, don't set your riser so freakin' high, man. You're makin' yourself a target!" They never listen. They're drummers. They wouldn't be drummers if they listened.

But that's life on the galactic rock 'n' roll circuit. Another world, another gig, another chance to duck when some punter whips out his blaster and yells, Yeeeeee-haaaaaaaaa!

And it's not like it was better on Earth. Well, it was better for the drummers, with the significantly lower gig-related mortality rate. But back there, crowds were either so jaded it was like playing to a hipster still life, or so chatty and oblivious we may as well have been in lunar orbit. Or worse, they were drunk and wanted to hear "Freebird." In space, no one wants to hear fucking "Freebird."

So being abducted by aliens worked out okay for me. You remember when NASA launched Voyager 1 and 2 into deep space in 1977? Those two spacecrafts each carried a gold record that was supposed to serve as a summary of life on Earth, and the record included "Johnny B. Goode." Rightly so. When extraterrestrials heard "Johnny B. Goode," they responded the only way intelligent life possibly could: We need more Chuck Berry! Rather than wait for a follow-up from NASA, the ETs dispatched their own scouts to scoop up Terran rock 'n' rollers and bring 'em to the stars.

Li'l ol' me was taken in '79. My band had just broken up, and the scouts beamed me up in mid bender. The alien probe was actually not unpleasant. It's been forty years, but I haven't aged much at all, thanks to the miracle of outer space livin'. Aside from the inherent danger when angry drunken aliens set their phasers on fricassee, me and my bandmates--a mix of Terrans of varying ancestry--are kept safe and comfortable. None of that To Serve Man bullshit; pretty much everyone in space is a friggin' vegan, believe it or not. We get an unlimited free bar tab, free room and board, all travel accommodations taken care of. We're our own roadies, but our gear is well-kept, and I got a Rickenbacker 12-string out of the deal. We want for nothing. All we have to do is play.

And we do. Rock 'n' roll's like a universal language, and the interstellar crowds can't get enough. They don't mind when we do originals, and they go nuts for the classics. No one wants to interrupt a Chuck Berry song with a raygun blast. We play The Kinks, The Isley Brothers, Crickets, Ramones, Miracles, Sam & Dave, Dusty Springfield, Otis, Aretha, Bay City Rollers, KISS, Beatles, Larry Williams, Sex Pistols, Little Richard, Sly Stone, Bowie, Flashcubes, Rick James, old stuff, new stuff, what have you. The fringe benefits are what you'd expect: adulation, and groupies. Man, the groupies! There was this particularly energetic shapeshifter on some planet I can't spell or pronounce, and our brief but intense time together was like being intimate with Bettie Page, Ronnie Spector, Ursula Andress, P. P. Arnold, Suzi Quatro, and Playboy's Miss February--all of the Misses February--in rapid succession. Also with Marie Antoinette and Cloris Leachman. Don't judge. And just imagine shakin' the sheets with an eager young lady from a planet where everyone has the ability to multiply themselves in triplicate--three girls for the price of one! I'm going to try to hook up again with her and the shapeshifter at the same time on some return engagement. Some day! Another girl, another planet.

We can go back to Earth if we want to. We were kidnapped originally, sure, but we're not prisoners, and we can retire from rock 'n' roll planet-hopping any time we wish. A few have gone home for visits, a few maybe even with an intent to stay there, but the allure of our unique lifestyle makes a mundane existence on the third rock from the sun seem unsatisfying. We hear about the good new rock 'n' roll back home--and there is still great new rock 'n' roll being made back home, no matter what any idiot tries to tell you otherwise--and we incorporate it into what we do out here. I haven't gone back, and haven't wanted to. By leaving Earth in '79, I spared myself from Reaganomics, "The Super Bowl Shuffle," reality television, talk radio, auto-tune, and The Bachelor, whatever the fuck that is. I've never had to live with the idea of something as stupid as a President Trump. Or kale.

Tonight's gig's been going well. Just one fight so far, and the drummer was only wounded; he's out for the night, but we'll get by with just two guitars and a bass if we gotta. Some Big Star, some Everly Brothers, Prince, Grip Weeds, Supremes, Pop Co-Op, Small Faces, and always, always some Chuck Berry. We're about midway through "Promised Land" when an asshole in the audience tries to interrupt us.

Freebird!

What the actual fuck...?!

Freebird! He yells it again. I squint and I see him: an Earthling, of course, drunk out of his motherlovin' gourd. Some folks can hold their Antarean ale, and some plainly can not. FREEBIRD! WOOOOO! I stop our set to talk directly to our obnoxious loudmouth.

"How we doin', m'man?" He grins the stupid grin of the easily flummoxed. "Enjoyin' the show?"

He bellows his approval, and demands "Freebird" one more time.

"How'd you like to be our drummer tonight?"

Art by Brian Butler

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

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl.

MY WEEKLY VIDEO BLOG: THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! # 32: The Monkees, "Porpoise Song (Theme From. HEAD)"

An infinite number of songs can each be THE greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. I like that idea so much I'm writing a book about it. And I'm promoting that book with a weekly video series, discussing each of the book's chosen tracks one by one.

With the upcoming Sunday night, May 30th edition of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl set to spotlight Micky Dolenz as a featured performer, it seems a good time for the weekly GREM! video to turn its attention to The Monkees' magnificent 1968 single "Porpoise Song (Theme From Head)." Go experience the original song again here, then come back to witness my rant on its sublime behalf:

If you dig whatever the hell it is I'm doing in these weekly videos, please subscribe to my YouTube channel. NEXT WEEK: we'll be back with more from The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THIS WEEK'S VIDEO: The Monkees, "Porpoise Song (Theme From Head)

GREM! # 31: Translator, "Everywhere That I'm Not"

GREM! # 30: The Go-Go's, "We Got The Beat"

GREM! # 29: The Grateful Dead, "Uncle John's Band"

GREM! # 28: Sam Cooke, "Chain Gang"

GREM! # 27: The Wonders, "That Thing You Do!"

GREM! # 26: Johnny Nash, "I Can See Clearly Now"

GREM! # 25: Aretha Franklin, "Respect"

GREM! # 24: Pink Floyd, "Wish You Were Here"

GREM! # 23: The Carpenters, "Only Yesterday" and Material Issue, "Kim The Waitress"

GREM! # 22: The Beatles,"Yesterday"

GREM! # 21: The Bay City Rollers, "Rock And Roll Love Letter"

GREM! # 20: Buddy Holly, "Peggy Sue"/"Everyday"

GREM! # 19: The Monkees, "The Girl I Knew Somewhere"

GREM! # 18: Melanie with the Edwin Hawking Singers, "Lay Down (Candles In The Rain)"

GREM! # 17: The Romantics, "What I Like About You"

GREM! # 16: The Hollies, "I Can't Let Go"

GREM! # 15: Wilson Pickett, "In The Midnight Hour"

GREM! # 14: Crazy Elephant, "Gimme Gimme Good Lovin'"

GREM! # 13: Neil Diamond, "Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show"

GREM! # 12: Little Richard, "The Girl Can't Help It"

GREM! # 11: Eytan Mirsky, "This Year's Gonna Be Our Year"

GREM! # 10: The Monkees, "Riu Chiu"

GREM! # 9: Patti Smith, "Gloria"

GREM! # 8: Big Mama Thornton, "Hound Dog"

GREM! # 7: Elvis Presley, "Heartbreak Hotel"

GREM! # 6: The Sex Pistols,"God Save The Queen"

GREM! # 5: Dusty Springfield,"I Only Want To Be With You"

GREM! # 4: Chuck Berry, "Promised Land"

GREM! # 3: Baron Daemon and the Vampires, "The TransylvaniaTwist"

GREM! # 2: Badfinger, "Baby Blue"

GREM! # 1: The Ramones, "Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?

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

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl.

POP-A-LOOZA: LOST IN THE GROOVES: The [Bay City] Rollers, ELEVATOR

Each week, the pop culture website Pop-A-Looza shares some posts from my vast 'n' captivating Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) archives. The latest shared post is a look back at the 1979 album Elevator by The Rollers (formerly The Bay City Rollers).

This piece was my third and final entry for Lost In The Grooves, a 2005 book edited by Kim Cooper and David Smay. Kim and David used my bits about Subterranean Jungle by The Ramones and Tell America by Fools Face, but weren't interested in my Rollers entry. They never saw the finished Rollers piece, which I completed (based on memory of the original thumbnail submission) for this blog in 2016. 

The Lost In The Grooves concept--a capricious guide to the music you missed--is engaging and durable. As music fans, we have no shortage of sounds we think deserve wider acclaim and a larger audience. I'm kicking around the idea of continuing the concept as a sporadic series on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), with each entry accompanied by an acknowledgement of Cooper and Smay. I would need a different series title--Lost In The Grooves belongs to Kim and David--but I'll come up with an appropriate name if I decide to pursue this.

In the mean time, here's a look at the end of the beginning, the final piece of my original Lost In The Grooves triumvirate. Elevator by The Rollers provides the subject for the latest Boppin' Pop-A-Looza.

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

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl.

10 SONGS: 5/25/2021

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.

This week's edition of 10 Songs draws exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1078.

HEADGIRL [Motörhead and Girlschool]: Please Don't Touch

Yeah, I know I already spent the entirety of this week's playlist commentary a-ramblin' and a-ravin' about "Please Don't Touch," the one-off 1981 consolidation of Motörhead and Girlschool as Headgirl. My obsession remains proudly in place. You could (rightly) call this a bludgeoning of the old Johnny Kidd and the Pirates ditty, but it's an affectionate roughhousing, faithful in its way to the swing and spirit of the original, heavier and more ominous, yet unerringly pop. And righteous. And LOUD! It could do with another spin right now. Obsessive? I am as Headgirl made me.

NELSON BRAGG: Lost All Our Sundays

The biggest single entry on the mighty Nelson Bragg's rock 'n' roll c.v. is his record of service as a percussionist for Brian Wilson, which also led to Bragg participating in The Beach Boys' acclaimed 50th anniversary tour. 

Well. Is that all? 

That's, um...actually that's a pretty big deal, innit? The fact that Nelson has also done a lot of other great stuff outside of the Wilson aegis further illustrates the significance of his rockin' pop propers. He's done some fine work with perennial TiRnRR Fave Rave Anny Celsi, and his solo tracks "Forever Days" and "Tell Me I'm Wrong" have been essential building blocks in this show's ongoing jones for assembling The Best Three Hours Of Radio In The Whole Friggin' Planet. A great show is constructed of great parts. We can rely on Nelson Bragg for that.

Nelson's working on a new album, Gratitude Blues, which is due out before 2021 dims its lights and heads to bed. The album is teased now with an advance single of one of its tracks, a cover of Elton John's "I Want Love," a fresh digital release in the ongoing saga of Big Stir Singles. "I Want Love" will be included on Gratitude Blues, but its virtual B-side "Lost All Our Sundays" will not. So, we figured we oughtta play that one. On a Sunday night radio show. That's how ya win back all those lost Sundays, friends. We're happy to help.

COLD EXPECTATIONS: Summer Dress

Ah, such a cool, yearning summer song. Red On Red Records does it again.

MICKY DOLENZ: Different Drum

At this writing, I have just received my CD copy of the new Micky Dolenz album Dolenz Sings Nesmith. But I've already heard enough of it to know I love it. We've been playing the digital single of "Different Drum," and we'll be playing at least one other track from Dolenz Sings Nesmith on next week's show.

(We will, in fact, be playing a lot of Micky Dolenz material on next week's show: new and old, solo and with The Monkees, and in other incarnations, too. It's been a long time since we've been able to spotlight a Featured Performer on TIRnRR. It's time for that spotlight to fall upon Micky Dolenz.)

THE FOUNDATIONS: Build Me Up Buttercup

Familiarity has not bred anything resembling contempt for The Foundations' signature hit "Build Me Up Buttercup." Great songs are supposed to get played again and again, fercryinoutloud, and the best tunes can survive such saturation spins without losing luster. It's true that I've become more immediately interested in some of The Foundations' other numbers (especially "In The Bad Bad Old Days [Before You Loved Me]"), but I doubt I'll ever become sick of hearing "Build Me Up Buttercup." Hell, I doubt I'll ever get even a little bit tired of hearing it.

LINNEA'S GARDEN: Replacement

Ah, such a cool (if bittersweet) observation of a parting of the ways. Red On Red Records does it again...again!

THE NEW YORK DOLLS: Personality Crisis

A basic rule of this blog: when I complain about The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, don't bother telling me that the RnRHOF doesn't matter; I already know it doesn't matter. But rock 'n' roll should honor is own, and I will continue to rant on behalf of deserving acts that are snubbed by that overblown Hard Rock Cafe on the banks of Lake Erie.

The Monkees remain the Hall's most egregious snub to date. With this year's inductees, long-standing snubs of Tina Turner, Carole King, The Go-Go's, and Todd Rundgren have finally been set right. The New York Dolls were also nominated this round, but they didn't get the damned votes. Oy. The Dolls were among the most influential rock 'n' roll acts of the '70s, and failing to recognize their sheer and ongoing impact is willful lunacy.

DIANA ROSS AND THE SUPREMES: Love Child

Playing the Dolls on the latest TIRnRR had no conscious influence on my decision to also include Diana Ross and the Supremes in this week's playlist. After the fact, it occurred to me that The David Johansen Group used to cover "Love Child" in late '70s live sets. I don't remember whether or not DJ and his boys did the song at my first Johansen show in 1979, but it's on The David Johansen Group Live, which preserves a hot-hot-hot 1978 NYC show, and is a much more compelling live document than Johansen's Live It Up! The Johansen Group's '78 performance of "Love Child" was a conscious influence on Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse The Flashcubes, who subsequently started covering The Supremes' "Stop! In The Name Of Love" in their own killer live shows. As much as I still love The Supremes' original, I really liked the 'Cubes' arrangement of "Stop! In The Name Of Love," which nicked its opening from The Four Tops and sounded perfectly of a piece with the Flashcubes sound.

But "Love Child?" Gotta love The David Johansen Group, sure, but you can't top Diana Ross and the Supremes on "Love Child."

THE RUTLES: Doubleback Alley

Pop fans like us remain fond of The Rutles' music and TV special, which were an effective and engaging parody of some little-known combo called The Beatles. I am reasonably certain you've heard of The Beatles, and I betcha you know The Rutles, too.

But The Rutles' album and show were both relative commercial failures in 1978. Not in my ears nor in my eyes, of course; I adored all of it without reservation, and I still do. In the period between watching All You Need Is Cash in my freshman dorm and receiving an import LP of The Rutles as a gift from my sister, I bought the Prefab Four's U.S. 45, "I Must Be In Love"/"Doubleback Alley." The Merseymania A-side was the song that had introduced me to The Rutles on Saturday Night Live, and the flip was a pastiche of "Penny Lane." As an 18-year-old power-pop punk in '78, I was beginning to distance myself from the post-1966 Beatles sound, and therefore found "I Must Be In Love" intrinsically more interesting than "Doubleback Alley." Dig 'em both now. A legend that will last a lunchtime. 

SPIRIT: I Got A Line On You

Classic rock! In a good way. I became particularly enamored with Spirit's 1968 gem "I Got A Line On You" when I was living in Buffalo in the early '80s. There was no distinctive impetus for this; I must have heard the song on an oldies radio show somewhere, and it clicked.

I do remember seeing a local oldies cover band a few times at a bar near the corner of Kensington and Bailey, a short walk from my rat-infested apartment. My stubborn brain cells have reluctantly conceded that the bar was called McGillicuddy's, but even a quick span of my Virtual Ticket Stub Gallery fails to jog my memory enough to recall the name of the band. I know I liked 'em okay, so it wasn't Phil and the Spectors (whom I didn't like). The true ID of the band in question is likely lost. 

But, whoever they were,  they weren't bad at all: a nice, meat 'n' potatoes oldies bar band, providing the soundtrack to good times. I'll drink to that. And I did! Did I mention the bar was within walking distance? It was within staggering distance, too.

On one of the occasions that I saw them, this capable oldies combo did a more-than-capable cover of Spirit's "I Got A Line On You." As the song finished, I shouted out, "YEAH, THAT'S THE SPIRIT!" The band's leader chuckled and winced at the same time, moaning, "Who said that?"

Lines? I got a million of 'em. One or two might even be funny.

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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.

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