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 # 1076.
THE BABLERS: I Hope It Wouldn't Rain Tomorrow
We debuted this track from The Bablers' new album Psychadilly Circus on last week's show, we like it, so we played it again this week. DJs play the hits, man. This week's spin prompted Pop Co-Op guitarist/intrepid TIRnRR fan Joel Tinnel to note, "The show is always good, of course, but...is it just me, or has there been a veritable explosion of ultra-catchy pop/rock music in the past 6 months? My music library has a big bump in size from just the last 6 months. Maybe there's one good thing from the pandemic...."
Well, as you know Agent J, radio's job is to sell records. We're happy to help empty your wallet to the tune of The Bablers.
THE BAY CITY ROLLERS: Ain't It Strange
As far as I know, this obscure track from The Bay City Rollers' 1974 debut album Rollin' has never been issued in the U.S. "Ain't It Strange" was written by Rollers Eric Faulkner, Woody Wood, and Les McKeown, and it doesn't sound much like any of the group's best-known material; in my head, it sounds more along the lines of a ballad by the likes of Ronnie Lane with The Faces, or maybe a Badfinger album track, rather than a "Saturday Night" or a "Rock And Roll Love Letter." That comparison isn't exact, and probably not even accurate. But it's what my mind is telling me as I hear the song play. Ain't it...y'know?
THE CHELSEA CURVE: All In Time
Our friends at Red On Red Records have proven to be a reliable resource for some of the fresh sounds this show needs to balance out our natural impulse to succumb to the seductive appeal of an All Oldies All The Time format. Hello there, Oldies. How you doin'...?
The thing we look for in new music is the pizazz, pop, and poise that can make a track stand out and stand proud alongside the best of The Kinks, Miracles, Aretha, Monkees, Bangles, et al. A playlist is only as strong as its weakest tune.
Well, there's no weakness here. A set that opens with the fabulous "All In Time," the latest Red On Red single from The Chelsea Curve, and ends up with The Beatles is the sort of set we wanna play. So we played it. This ain't exactly rocket surgery here. The Oldies won't get jealous. They get to play, too.
THE EQUALS: I Can See, But You Don't Know
We've programmed the music of The Equals a time or many over the years, with their hit "Baby Come Back" and their shoulda-been-hit "Police On My Back" (a song later covered by The Clash) likely our most favored among Equals. This was (I think) the first time we've ever played "I Can See, But You Don't Know," a dynamic 1970 Equals single that was mentioned in Bomp! magazine's landmark power pop issue in 1978. The editors of Bomp! included "I Can See, But You Don't Know" on their list of the all-time YEAH, MAN! list of power pop greats, and I would be hard-pressed to dispute that. We shoulda started playing it years ago.
THE FLASHCUBES: It's You Tonight
Last week, your irascible TIRnRR guys Dana & Carl were delighted to appear as guests on The Spoon, the weekly podcast hosted by Robbie Rist, Chris Jackson, and Thom Bowers. You can download and assimilate that particular slice o' podcast magic here. It was a blast anna half, and we thank The Men Of The Spoon once again for feeding our delusions of adequacy.
The Greatest Record You've Never Heard is a regular feature on The Spoon, allowing the show's honored guests to select a song that ain't getting the massive popular acclaim it so richly deserves. The "you" in this example doesn't apply to, y'know, you; if you listen to TIRnRR, you already get to hear all the cool sounds that fly beneath, between, or above the earspace of the general public. We wanna reach those poor unfortunates too, so Dana and I were each given the opportunity to select one worthy track to display on this more grandiose sonic soapbox.
Dana chose "It's You Tonight" by Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse The Flashcubes. It's Dana's top Pick T'Click among many irresistible Cubic Fave Raves, and both he and I enjoy pointing out that this energetic number is the opening song in just about every live Flashcubes show. SHOWMANSHIP 101: Open BIG, then keep right on hitting; the audience is yours.
ANDREA GILLIS: Leave The Light On
Hey, remember when we were talking about Red On Red Records a few entries ago? Ah, those were the days! This particular Red On Red single would be tearin' up the TIRnRR charts right now, if there were such a thing as TIRnRR charts. During this week's show, the above-cited Joel Tinnel also described "Leave The Light On" by Andrea Gillis as "catchy as !@#$." That's an exact quote. And we agree wholeheartedly.
KID GULLIVER: Forget About Him
THE LINDA LINDAS: Claudia Kishi
Our appearance on The Spoon was mostly a talk show, a back-and-forth exchange fueled by giddy enthusiasm and (in my case) a cup of hot cocoa. But in addition to those two examples of The Greatest Record You've Never Heard, the show opened and closed with songs picked by us: an excerpt of The Bay City Rollers' "Wouldn't You Like It" at the top, and a complete spin of The Linda Lindas' "Claudia Kishi" at the sign-off spot. Whatta song! The Linda Lindas are a quartet of teen (and even preteen) musicmakers channeling The Muffs to engagingly lethal effect. Plus, they named their band after a song by Japan's Phenomenal Pop Combo The Blue Hearts! Acts that channel The Muffs and rip their noms du bop from the inspiration served up by other cool bands score automatic points on the TIRnRR WOW! scale. The Linda Lindas are a natural fit for whatever the hell it is we do.
(And, although my daughter Meghan was an avid fan of The Baby-Sitters Club books when she was younger, I did not recall that one of the series' main characters was named Claudia Kishi. So, add a literary reference to the many reasons why TIRnRR has just gotta play The Linda Lindas.)
EYTAN MIRSKY: This Year's Gonna Be Our Year
Back to The Spoon! For my Greatest Record You've Never Heard pick, I opted for Brother Eytan MIrsky's all-powerful juggernaut "This Year's Gonna Be Our Year." After all, not only is it The Greatest Record You've Never Heard, it is also The Greatest Record Ever Made!
THE RAMONES: I Just Want To Have Something To Do
It's true: I do indeed want to have something to do. Just like The Ramones! And I have just the thing in mind. Details to follow. 1-2-3-4...!
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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
I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl.
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