10 SONGS: 9/23/2021

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 # 1095.

CHET ATKINS: I Feel Fine

In the hype for TIRnRR # 1095, I bragged about its playlist containing 25 tracks we'd never played before. That number included Dana's spin of "I Feel Fine" by Chet Atkins, from the country guitar legend's 1966 album Chet Atkins Picks On The Beatles.

But: oops. Yeah yeah yeah, we have played that track before. Specifically, I played it as a between-sets musical bed on July 2nd, 2017, in my second of two all-vinyl solo TIRnRRs. See, I thought it sounded familiar. However, this week did mark the first time we've played the track without talking over it. And 24 is still a lot of fresh tracks for one decades-spanning show, and I think--I think--we'll have 22 on next week's show.  (Incidentally, the first all-vinyl TIRnRR was April 9th, 2017. For those tracking our grooves.) 

NELSON BRAGG: Glorious Days

We've been playing the mighty Nelson Bragg's music since his debut album Day Into Night in 2007, with its track "Forever Days" a partic'lar Fave Rave on these airwaves. We've continued to play and adore his subsequent releases, and we're certainly not gonna stop now. We're beyond delighted to serve up this debut spin of "Glorious Days," an instant grabber from Nelson's forthcoming new album Gratitude Blues. We will also be delighted to play it again next week. As our regulars understand: we know a hit when we hear one.

THE CHARMS: Top Down

Boston band the Charms' 2003 debut album Charmed, I'm Sure was an immediate Pick Hit on this program, and its lead-off track "Top Down" is a full-throttle rockin' pop combustion that can rightly be considered one of the defining tracks of this little mutant radio show's long and storied history. Jeez, it has been way too long since we played this fantastic track. Top down, radio on!

FOXY: Hot Number

My lovely wife Brenda and I recently finished watching the one and only season of Freaks And Geeks. It was her first time through, my second or third time, and we agree that the show was just fantastic, its premature cancellation offering another sign that TV networks are generally headed by schmucks. Clueless, soulless, Philistine schmucks.

Freaks And Geeks inspired two selections on this week's playlist: Black Flag's "Rise Above" and Foxy's "Hot Number," the latter going out to Nick Andopolis, wherever he is. It's a disco song, but ol' Nick was right in claiming that its bass and drums and overall oomph are as rock 'n' roll as any of its contemporaries. I would argue that it's a damned sight more rock 'n' roll than, say, Styx, though Nick would disagree with that. (If there'd been a second season of Freaks And Geeks, Nick would have probably disavowed Foxy, but we can only speculate about that.)

THE LINDA LINDAS: No Clue

I don't think it's a joke when I refer to the Linda Lindas as "the buzz band of 2021." The very young quartet has racked up accolades from fans and critics all over, under, sideways, and down, and the group deserves every syllable of praise they've garnered. And, as we've noted previously, ya gotta love a combo named after a song by Japanese punk combo the Blue Hearts (or at least after a movie--Linda Linda Linda--named after a Blue Hearts song).

The Linda Lindas' "Claudia Kishi" is a near-lock for an appearance on TIRnRR's year-end countdown show, and both "Never Say Never" and "Oh!" have legit shots at keepin' Claudia company on the countdown. This is the first time we've played "No Clue," and it may be my favorite of the lot. But there's no need to pick a favorite; they're all cool. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

DANNY MALONE: You Were So Warm

This comes to us courtesy of the Flashcubes' drummer Tommy Allen, who is also a producer of considerable renown and talent. Tommy's working with singer Danny Malone, and that collaboration has yielded this sublime cover of the Dwight Twilley Band's pure pop classic "You Were So Warm." Danny's recording includes Tommy, plus Flashcubes bassist Gary Frenay, the outtasight Maura Kennedy, Fernando Perdomo, and the Choir's Danny Klawon, so it's got TIRnRR written all over it. Of course we played it on the radio!

PRINCE: Yes

Dana and I are always looking for fresh and fascinating content to play on this show. The July release of what's effectively a new Prince album somehow slipped past my net entirely. Recorded in 2010, Welcome 2 America sat in the Prince vault until this summer, and what I've heard of it so far is prime Prince. We'll hear another track on next week's show.

THREE DOG NIGHT: It's For You

Believe it or not, this is the very first time we've ever played Three Dog Night on TIRnRR. Yeah, nearly 1100 shows into this, we still have a lot of ground left to cover. "It's For You" is a John Lennon-Paul McCartney song (though it's likely just Macca), originally recorded by Cilla Black. I swear to God I remember Three Dog Night's version from my adolescence, like I heard it on AM radio in the late '60s or very early '70s. And maybe I did. But it wasn't a single in the U.S., so I probably remember it from one of my sister's (or even my babysitter Ginny's) Three Dog Night LPs. 

 For dramatic purposes, my circa 1971 babysitter shall be portrayed by actress Linda Cardellini

Mmmmm--babysitters. And pesky, misleading, Swiss-cheese memory. Wherever and however, "It's For You" is my favorite Three Dog Night track.

THE WEEKLINGS: Mona Lisa

The Weeklings At The Hollywood Bowl! The Live Weeklings! Weeklings Got Live If You Want It! I could go on, but it's time for a little mercy to go with your Mersey. Its title a willful twist of Lennon, In Their Own Write is a fab new in-concert document from the Weeklings, showcasing the band as they exercise their effervescent Britmania on covers and originals alike. Cue the screaming female fans, but don't plug your ears; you need to hear the Weeklings. You may even wanna scream right along with the lasses. We love you Weeklings, oh yes we do.

DANNY WILKERSON: Let It Go Tonight

Danny Wilkerson's fantastic track "Let It Go Tonight" (from his fabulous SpyderPop Records release Wilkerson) was TIRnRR's # 10 most-played track in 2018. The record was on many a year-end best-of list, but still didn't get the love and attention it deserved. One suspects the world at large is run by the same sort of clueless, soulless, Philistine schmucks who cancelled Freaks And Geeks. Cretins.

But now! NOW! The visionaries at Big Stir Records have partnered with SpyderPop to refocus your short attention span on Wilkerson, reissuing it alongside other SpyderPop irresistibles by Bill Lloyd and Lannie Flowers, all great, all deserving of a shrine-like spot in your permanent library of sound. Do not let it go. Get 'em all. Screw the Philistines anyway.

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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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