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 # 1083.
CHUCK BERRY: Sweet Little Sixteen
"Johnny B. Goode" was my gateway drug to the timeless music of Mr. Chuck Berry, as AM Top 40 radio in Syracuse included this classic song from 1958 in regular rotation circa 1972. That, my friends, is what radio should do. But almost a decade later, "Sweet Little Sixteen" was the record that made me wanna seek out more. I'd heard the song prior to the '80s, sure, just as I'd heard a number of other Chuck Berry songs after WOLF-AM introduced early-70s me to the sound of a guy playin' a guitar just like a-ringin' a bell, go GO! But I dunno, something both specific and undefined clicked in my head with "Sweet Little Sixteen," heard on an oldies show when I was a recent college graduate in 1980, and I had to own it. Obsession ensued. A purchase of a used copy of Chuck Berry's Greatest Hits at Brockport's Main Street Records was the precise fix necessary to satisfy the too-much-monkey-business on my back.
THE CHECKERED HEARTS: They Don't Know
Joystick, the debut EP from Hilary Burton and Lisa Mychols under their newest nom du bop the Checkered Hearts, is a collection of five fabulous covers (of songs previously recorded by the Cars, the Housemartins, Phil Seymour, Kirsty MacColl, and the Knack), plus one bonus Lisa 'n' Hilary song on the CD version. We've been playing their cover of the Cars' "My Best Friend's Girl," but this invigorating performance of MacColl's (and/or Tracey Ullman's) "They Don't Know" is my pick so far. Or is it? Better listen to the whole record again, just to be sure.THE FLASHCUBES: I Need You
As mentioned elsewhere, the Flashcubes' live cover of the Kinks' "I Need You" was my introduction to the song. "I Need You" isn't as well-known as its primal brethren "You Really Got Me" and "All Day And All Of The Night," but it oughtta be. The Flashcubes' ace rendition will finally be preserved for mass public appreciation as part of Flashcubes On Fire, the forthcoming CD release of a live Flashcubes show recorded at Syracuse's beloved Firebarn Tavern in May of 1979. God save the Flashcubes!
THE GODS: Come On Down To My Boat Baby
The Gods were a '60s British combo that included future Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor. I'd never heard of them (nor of their subsequent incarnation as Toe Fat) prior to Dana playing the Gods' version of the Rare Breed/Every Mother's Son bubblenugget "Come On Down To My Boat Baby" on this week's broadcast. Taylor left the group to join John Mayall's Bluesbreakers shortly after this single's release in 1967. Greg Lake (later to find fame as one of the names in Emerson, Lake and Palmer) was briefly a bassist with the Gods, but his short tenure occurred after "Come On Down To My Boat Baby." So, when it comes to the Gods, Greg Lake was perhaps meant to be there from the beginning...but he wasn't.
THE ISLEY BROTHERS: It's Your Thing
My favorite Isley Brothers track is their absolutely amazing version of the Seals and Crofts hit "Summer Breeze," and I suspect we'd play that nearly every week if the thought of programming a song that's 6:12 in length didn't make me break out in cold panic (kinda like Maynard G. Krebs reacting to the notion of work...work? WORK...?!).
But the Isleys are no strangers to our playlists. We played "Twist And Shout" last week, and it wouldn't surprise me if "It's Your Thing" makes our year-end countdown. That's our thing.
LINNEA'S GARDEN: Friday Night
Linnea's Garden is an essential part of the same Red On Red Records axis that fed this week's TIRnRR spotlight on our Featured Performer Simone Berk (of Kid Gulliver, Sugar Snow, and WhistleStop Rock). Like Kid Gulliver (and Justine and the Unclean, The Chelsea Curve, Cold Expectations, Andrea Gillis, and other stars in Red On Red's answer to the Play-Tone galaxy), the efforts of Linnea's Garden come to us via the stewardship of Red On Red's visionary CEO Justine Covault. The group is piloted by Linnea Herzog, and "Friday Night" is from their recent Red On Red EP Nowhere Friday Nights. And a spin of "Friday Night" led directly into Uncle Tupelo's "I Got Drunk" and WhistleStop Rock's "Queen Of The Drive-In." Friday night, I got drunk, Queen of the drive-in--yeah, sounds like the ideal weekend, for sure.
THE RAMONES: Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue
We have a big show planned for July 4th, as TIRnRR celebrates its own stubborn sense of giddy independence with a countdown of our 55 all-time most-played artists, with each one's all-time # 1 most-played song. It is no spoiler to reveal that the Ramones are high on that countdown. The countdown will include a Ramones studio track, but this week we went with the unique thrill of live Ramones, from my own all-time favorite live album, the 2-LP It's Alive!
THE THOUGHTS: All Night Stand
On the one hand, I guess it's a shame that the Kinks never did a full-on recording of this compelling Ray Davies composition (though Ray's demo is included on the Kinks boxed set The Anthology 1964-1971). On the other hand, well, this 1966 reading by British group the Thoughts is pretty cool in its own right, capturing the surly 'n' cantankerous brilliance the song requires. Relatively obscure and under-recognized, the Thoughts' "All Night Stand" stands--or leans against the wall--as one of the best Kinks songs done by people who weren't the Kinks.
VEGAS WITH RANDOLPH: Lake Paradise
A new single from Vegas With Randolph...?! Sounds like paradise to us!
STEVIE WONDER: Higher Ground
As my Greatest Record Ever Made! piece about "I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever)" reveals, I was a latecomer to appreciating Stevie Wonder. We've been playing Wonder a bit more over the past several months, particularly his irresistible "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours." We've also been playing "Higher Ground," its funky opening riff an effective call for aspiration and action.
And volume!
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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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