This week's edition of 10 Songs draws exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1131.
POP CO-OP: Suspension
Over the course of four consecutive weeks, it was our great honor and privilege to open each fresh broadcast with the debut of an exclusive new track from Suspension, the ultrafab new album from ultrafab pop guys Pop Co-Op. Now, they belong to the world. Lucky world! For our final act before ceding bragging rights, we served up the title tune, and reveled in the self-rewarding act of playing records. We were exclusive; now, we welcome all of you to the club.
And on Friday, June 3rd--TOMORROW!--Pop Co-Op is throwing a virtual Suspension release party, and you're invited. Music! Chatter! Prizes! FUN! And we have been personally promised that there is no danger of us learning anything substantive while we're at it. It all sprawls forth from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm Eastern Pop Co-Op Time, and YOU, mis amigos y amigas, really oughtta haveta.
(Oh, and what the hell--we'll play yet another new track from Suspension on next week's show. All radio shows should do that.)
EARTH, WIND AND FIRE: September
Back in the fall of 1978, when the darlin' I now refer to as my lovely wife Brenda was still billed as my lovely new girlfriend Brenda, our individual musical tastes appeared...well, if not incompatible, at least divergent. I favored rock 'n' roll, punk, power pop, the Sex Pistols and the Jam, and Brenda preferred a mix of pop, soul, disco, and soft rock, Santana and Earth, Wind and Fire.
Never the twain shall meet? Don't be silly. As Hoover and Martinez have been telling us in a recent TIRnRR Pick T'Click, the heart wants what the heart wants. The rest can be sorted over time.
And sort we did. Before very long, Brenda was writing Ramones lyrics in the margins of her notebook, and I was playing Sugarhill Gang's "Rappers Delight" (by my own choice) at a party in my dorm suite. Over the course of ensuing decades, Brenda and I have enjoyed dates to see performances by Carole King, KISS, Chicago, the above-mentioned Ramones, the above-mentioned Earth, Wind and Fire, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Peter, Paul and Mary, Cheap Trick, Billy Joel, David Bowie, and preexisting mutual interests from the Monkees to Paul McCartney. And more! Prince. Talking Heads. David Johansen. Harmony bridges artificial chasms. Turn it up, cross over...and dance.
When we met in '78, two of Brenda's favorite songs were Rose Royce's "I'm Wishing On A Star" and EWF's "September." I didn't appreciate either of them at the time. I do now. We're going to be seeing Earth, Wind and Fire again this summer, on a bill with Santana. Evolution is revolution. And the records keep going 'round.
Some years back, I gave Brenda an Earth, Wind and Fire boxed set for Christmas. Nowadays, I think I play it more often than she does. Love has changed the minds of pretenders, while chasing the clouds away.
THE FLASHCUBE WITH THE SPONGETONES: Have You Ever Been Torn Apart?
In announcing this epic summit meeting between the Flashcubes and the Spongetones, the good folks at Big Stir Records credited This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl for connecting the 'Cubes and Big Stir in the first place. Well, we're eager to accept that credit! I mean, I can't sing or play guitar, so I'll take whatever meager little musical claim t' fame I can scrounge up.
But, while we can pad our c.v. with whatever role we played in introducing artist to label, Dana and I were only talking about Big Stir releasing a single from the Flashcubes' live album Flashcubes On Fire. Instead, the 'Cubes came up with "Baby It's Cold Outside," their ace collaboration with Mimi Betinis of Pezband, and this series of Cubic covers for Big Stir was off and piledriving. See, the artists create. We are but humble servants.
Um...sort of humble. Let's not get crazy with the humility here.
PERILOUS: Rock & Roll Kiss
We've been dropping a few teases here and there about a new Dana & Carl project we cryptically refer to as Something Else! That is not the project's name. Many of you can probably guess what project it is. We'll have a whole set of Something Else! on our June 5th show, and that set will include "Rock & Roll Kiss" by Perilous, one of my favorite new tracks of 2022. Suffice it to say that "Rock & Roll Kiss" is indeed Something Else!
LAURIE BIAGINI: Imposter Syndrome Burn
We've had the pleasure of playing a few tracks from singer-songwriter and international treasure Laurie Biagini's forthcoming new album Stranger In The Mirror, so of course we jumped on her latest teaser track "Imposter Syndrome Burn" as soon as it became available. We're fans! (And incidentally, it's worth noting that an earlier track from Laurie's Stranger In The Mirror is also Something Else!)
KELLEY RYAN: The Church Of Laundry
Ah, long-time TIRnRR Fave Rave Kelley Ryan! Kelley's fab single "The Church Of Laundry" was this show's most-played track in 2021, and let us assure you, the tally wasn't at all close. And we're still playing it, 'cuz it's GREAT! And, although "The Church Of Laundry" won't appear on next week's playlist, let us further assure that it is--you guessed it!--Something Else!
DEADLIGHTS: Pretend To Pretend
While "Pretend To Pretend," the incomparable current hit from Jeff Shelton under his rockin' pop dba Deadlights, is absolutely positively Something Else!, it's more important to note that the song is available right now as a digital single, and its proceeds directly benefit humanitarian aid in Ukraine. What are we saying? GO BUY IT!
THE MONKEES: Birth Of An Accidental Hipster
This. Six years ago, when the Monkees were about to release their stunning, triumphant comeback album Good Times!, its advance singles "She Makes Me Laugh," "You Bring The Summer," and especially "Me & Magdalena" had already primed us to expect magnificence. The album track "Birth Of An Accidental Hipster" sealed the deal. The release of Good Times! prompted me to write my first review since I ended my two-decade freelancing stint for Goldmine in 2006. It was my favorite album of 2016. And if I were to rank my preferences among the thirteen official studio albums released under the Monkees' name, Good Times! might place as high as # 3 (behind Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd. and Headquarters), and no lower than # 5 (depending upon if I put the Head LP at # 4 or # 5). I like Good Times! even more than the two Don Kirshner-era albums (The Monkees and More Of The Monkees) and The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees. "Birth Of An Accidental Hipster" is the tipping point. The greatest comeback album ever made.
THE BUZZCOCKS: Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shoudn't've)
SPYGENIUS: So You Say You Lost Your Baby
On last week's exciting episode of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, we played "Son Of The Morning, Go Man Go!," the advance single from Spygenius' forthcoming (and, at the time, secret) new album Jobbernowl. This week, well, we didn't yet have Jobbernowl in hand when we did the programmin' the playlist thing, but we went waaaaaaay back to those quaint olde days of 2021 for a track from the previous Spygenius masterwork Spygenius Blow Their Covers. Virtually no thought went into this choice. Just felt like playing this very swell version of Gene Clark's "So You Say You Lost Your Baby;" we never need an excuse to play varied and sundry versions of Gene Clark tunes. Hey! We now have Jobbernowl in our possession! We'll hear a track from that on next week's show. Man, this radio gig is fun! Pop music on the radio. We are honored and privileged.
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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.
I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl
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