10 Songs is a weekly list of ten songs that happen to be on my mind at the moment. The lists are usually dominated by songs played on the previous Sunday 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.
DOLPH CHANEY: This Halloween
Even though this week's show fell on October 31st, I wasn't all that interested in playing many Halloween songs. I'm not opposed to Halloween at all, but nowadays I'm largely (and benignly) indifferent to its celebration. I buy candy to give out to the few kids who ring my doorbell, and I do still dig that part of Halloween; but, with one exception (which we'll get to in a couple of paragraphs), I didn't care to program much in the way of All Hallows' Eve tunes this year. There would be no Monster Mashing in this show.
However, we certainly couldn't pass up an opportunity to play a new gem from TIRnRR hitmaker Dolph Chaney. Dolph's new Big Stir Records digital single "This Halloween" was the precise no-trick treat we needed to kick off a quick three-song half-set of Halloween songs. And that led into the one Halloween track I will never, ever tire of hearing....
BARON DAEMON AND THE VAMPIRES: The Transylvania Twist
SCREAMIN' JAY HAWKINS: I Put A Spell On You
Other than the above classic by the Baron and his Bloody Buddies, there aren't a lot of songs I'm moved to play for Halloween. I could make a case for the Lollipop Shoppe's incredible '60s side "You Must Be A Witch," or Tegan and Sara's irresistible "Walking With A Ghost," and I guess a number of tracks by KISS or Alice Cooper would qualify by default. There are a few other viable choices, but I've gotta give it up for Dana's selection of "I Put A Spell On You" by the maniacal Screamin' Jay Hawkins. Man, this is great stuff, and it's a track I don't think I've appreciated as much as I shoulda in previous spins. Something about it clicked for me this year like never before. Because you're MINE...! BWAAH-HA-HA-HAAAA!
THE COCKTAIL SLIPPERS: Hush
One Sunday a few weeks back, two shows here on the mighty SPARK! Syracuse--This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio and Rich Firestone's Radio Deer Camp (the latter heard every Sunday from 5 to 7 pm Eastern at your familiar http://sparksyracuse.org/)--both played different tracks from the Cocktail Slippers' new album Shout It Out Loud! TIRnRR opted for "Be The One," and Reechie played the group's cover of the Billy Joe Royal/Deep Purple perennial "Hush." This week, we got around to playin "Hush." Your move, Reechie!
(Or not. Rich programs his show just fine without our input.)
LEE HARRINGTON AND LYNDA MANDOLIN: Sweet Child
Generally speaking, any Red On Red Records single is pretty damned likely to get at least one spin on TIRnRR. Among the label's releases so far, just about all of them have been prime examples of radio-ready rockin' pop, and the only reason we don't play more of them more often is because we only have a three-hour radio show. I'm thinking we should do a Red On Red feature on some future show, similar to a Big Stir Records feature we did earlier this year, and I'm waiting for one specific Red On Red release before we look into doing that. In the mean time: MORE RED ON RED! Lee Harrington and Lynda Mandolin's "Sweet Child" maintains Red On Red's above-cited string o' radio-ready reliables, and so does a new single by the Chelsea Curve that we'll be hearing on next week's show. We're all ready for more Red On Red.
KID GULLIVER: You'll Never Know
Speaking of Red On Red, Kid Gulliver's Kismet was the label's first full-length album release, and (I think) the first Red On Red physical media product. HuzZAH! Of course I bought it; I'm a fan! We've played a number of Kismet's tracks as digital singles--"Forget About Him" has earned particular distinction as an all-time TIRnRR Fave Rave--and now we add "You'll Never Know" to our Kid Gulliver parade of hits.
THE MONKEES: Love To Love
In 1967, when the members of the Monkees tried to assert some measure of control and/or participation in the making of records that bore their brand name, golden-eared (but shortsighted) musical supervisor Don Kirshner resisted the change. Seeking to maintain his preferred status quo, Kirshner snuck Davy Jones into the studio to record lead vocals for a trio of tracks prepared the old-fashioned way: Kirshner-controlled, with the Monkees only singing and never frickin' playing, ever. Two of the tracks, "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You" and "She Hangs Out," were issued as a single in Canada, an action that infuriated higher-ups in the Monkee machinery and resulted in Kirshner being shown the door into summer instead.
The Canadian single was withdrawn, and "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You" was issued as a U.S. 45, paired with a track sung and played by the Monkees, a Michael Nesmith song called "The Girl I Knew Somewhere." The Monkees later remade "She Hangs Out" for their album Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd.
"Love To Love" was the third of those three final Kirshner tracks, and it remained in the vault for more than a decade. It first surfaced (in lo-fi form) on an Australian compilation called Monkeemania around 1979, and it was subsequently exhumed by Rhino Records in better-sounding state for some Monkees repackages. Like "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You," and like earlier Monkees releases "I'm A Believer" and "(Look Out) Here Comes Tomorrow," "Love To Love" was written by Neil Diamond. It was remixed and tweaked (with new backing vocals by Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork) for the Monkees' triumphant 2016 album Good Times! No offense to "I'm A Believer," but "Love To Love" is my favorite Monkees performance of a Neil Diamond song, and possibly my single favorite Davy Jones vocal.
MANDY MOORE: I Could Break Your Heart Any Day Of The Week
Although my daughter was a Radio Disney listener in the Y2K decade, and I heard my share of Britney Spears and the like because of that, I completely missed Mandy Moore's teen pop offerings. Which is just as well, since it turned out that I didn't like 'em anyway. I do recall sampling (and buying) Moore's versions of XTC's "Senses Working Overtime" and Joan Armatrading's "Drop The Pilot," prompted by my friend John Borack's recommendation of her 2003 covers album Coverage. The production on Coverage is too slick for my taste, but Moore's performances are good, and you can see some stripped-down live performances on YouTube that provide a better showcase of her talent (and a glimpse of what the album could have been).
Her 2009 album Amanda Leigh gave us "I Could Break Your Heart Any Day Of The Week," a perfect pop song co-written by Moore and the Candy Butchers' Mike Viola (the voice of the Wonders!). My wife and I recently started watching the TV series This Is Us for the first time, bingeing episodes from the first and second seasons (and counting); Moore is one of the ensemble drama's co-stars, and that was sufficient motivation for "I Could Break Your Heart Any Day Of The Week" to make its return to the TIRnRR playlist.
QUINT: Good Morning London
We're gonna need a bigger boat. Our pal Robbie Rist didn't realize we've played his ace British punk pastiche "Good Morning London" a time or three on TIRnRR. But we have, and rightly so. Recorded under the nom du chomp Quint for the epic Sharknado film franchise, "Good Morning London" is...well, I was gonna say it's Jawsome, but that would be beneath even my lenient humor standards. Nonetheless, the song fits (wait for it!) swimmingly with whatever the hell it is we do on this show, so of course we played it again. Can't resist a sequel, right?
MILLIE SMALL: Killer Joe
Like "The Transylvania Twist," the great Millie Small's "My Boy Lollipop" is slated for individual attention in my long-threatened book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). In prepping to write that chapter, I figured I oughtta immerse myself in a little more of Small's work, so I snagged a nice 2-CD set called The Best Of Millie Small. One of its highlights is our Millie's take on the Rocky Fellers's "Killer Joe," flipping the gender POV from the original's fretting about his girl Marie dancing with that lothario Killer Joe to Millie Small lamenting as her guy Joe trips the light fantastic with that tramp Marie. It's Roshomon with a beat! Listen, kids: just ditch faithless Joe and Marie, and try a dance with each other instead. Hmmm. Wonder if Marie's boy might be named "Lollipop."
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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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