10 SONGS: 11/3/2022

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.

This week's edition of 10 Songs draws exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1153.

JOHNNY JOHNSON AND THE BANDWAGON: Mr. Tambourine Man

If memory serves (and sometimes it does), "Mr. Tambourine Man" was the second Johnny Johnson and the Bandwagon track I ever heard (the first being their shoulda-been-huge 1970 bubblesoul classic "[Blame It On] The Pony Express"). I think it was a blog (don't remember which) that introduced me to the Bandwagon's fabulous, unique take on Bashful Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man," and I was sufficiently smitten. I later heard the Bandwagon's cover of the Four Seasons' "Let's Hang On," and this accumulation of sublime soulful pop compelled me to seek out more Bandwagon. Nowadays, the Bandwagon's music is a staple of TIRnRR, and their incredible single "Breakin' Down The Walls Of Heartache" merits a chapter in my long-threatened book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1).

It occurs to me that, as much as I've always adored the Byrds' absolutely spine-tingling rendition of "Mr. Tambourine Man," I've been turning to the Bandwagon's version more and more often. Both great, of course, and both inventive in adapting Dylan's strolling folk original to suit their own disparate pop needs. Cast your dancing spell my way. I promise to go wandering.

IRENE PEÑA: In This Room

America's Sweetheart Irene Peña was kind enough to grant us use of her wonderful gem "In This Room" on our new compilation album This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5. Here's a peak behind the curtain for a dramatic recreation of the intense negotiations involved in securing Irene's permission to use her track:

DANA & CARL: Hey, Irene! Can we use "In This Room" on our CD?

IRENE: 'K.

Brutal. BRUTAL! But well worth all of the trouble...I mean, even if there had been trouble. What a gorgeous song, and we are so grateful to have it on our compilation. Thanks again, Irene!

THE RAMONES: Surfin' Safari

In my continuing efforts to fool people into thinking I'm way cooler than I really I am, I'll casually mention that I first learned that the Ramones had recorded a cover of the Beach Boys' "Surfin' Safari" when Joey Ramone told me that the Ramones had recorded a cover of the Beach Boys' "Surfin' Safari." Gabba Gabba HEY! 

The revelation came during my 1994 telephone interviews with the Ramones. Our Carbona-huffin' heroes had tackled the song previously, their version used as a backing track for a 1978 single by Rodney and the Brunettes. That would be legendary DJ Rodney Bingenheimer, with the Honeys handling the vocal heavy lifting. The Ramones had hoped to exhume their original parts (minus Rodney and his Brunette Honeys) to use in their All The Stuff (And More) reissue series, but the tracks could not be located.

Instead, the Ramones wound up recording it again during the sessions for their 1993 all-covers album Acid Eaters. Their '90s "Surfin' Safari" was only used as a bonus track on the album's Japanese edition, though it did eventually appear on a British reissue of Acid Eaters. It has never been released in America.

THE BAY CITY ROLLERS: The Hero

I should probably put the "Bay City" in parentheses; this was originally credited to the Rollers, the post-mania late '70s/early '80s edition of the Bay City Rollers, with Duncan Faure replacing Les McKeown as lead singer. BUT! The CD reissues of the Rollers' three albums--Elevator, Voxx, and Ricochet--opt for the more marketable Bay City Rollers brand name, so that's usually how we credit 'em on TIRnRR. The Bay City Rollers, by any other name, would still be the Bay City Rollers.

(And I'm still hopin' for a CD and/or digital reissue of the Rollers' cassette-only soundtrack album Burning Rubber. The Burning Rubber tracks I've heard were appealing, and I'd love to have 'em in my collection o' tunes.)

Anyway. "The Hero" comes from Voxx, the Rollers' 1980 contract-fulfillment album. See ya, suckers! But the album is way, way better than the odds-and-sods barrel-scraping you'd expect. I like the Rollers, with or without the Bay City prefix; you can read evidence of my pro-Rollers position here, here, here, here, and most especially here. So it ain't faint praise when I say that some of the material on Voxx ranks among the best stuff either incarnation of the Rollers ever did.

This certainly isn't the first time we've played selections from Voxx, but it's the first time we got around to playing "The Hero." "God Save Rock & Roll" and "85" have been our previous Voxx go-tos, but it was high time we took a deeper dive. That dive brings us "The Hero" this week. TIRnRR rolls on.

LIBRARIANS WITH HICKEYS: Ghost Singer

A peek behind the ol' TIRnRR programming curtain: this week, we intended to play "I Better Get Home," which is my top track among top tracks on Handclaps & Tambourines, the current album from Ohio's gift to pop music, Librarians With Hickeys. Why "I Better Get Home?" It's the HEY!s. Can't go wrong with HEY!s.

But: we got a request! It happens. Occasionally. It was a Halloween-timed request for a different Handclaps & Tambourines track, "Ghost Singer." Well! Ya can't go wrong with HEY!s, sure, but you also can't go wrong with a request for a cool song by a cool band you were gonna play anyway. "I Better Get Home" returns to the playlist next week instead. 

EMMYLOU HARRIS: Pancho & Lefty

Emmylou Harris isn't exactly a stranger to TIRnRR playlists, but nor have we programmed her music with quite the carpet-bombing approach we employ when selecting tracks by, say, the Kinks. Nonetheless, I was a tiny bit surprised to discover that we had never played Emmylou's version of Townes Van Zandt's "Pancho & Lefty" before this week's show. We've played her "Luxury Liner" and "Born To Run," and we have played Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard's version, but it was high time we heard Emmylou Harris sing sweetly of those federales letting an aging and broken gunslinger slip away. Out of kindness, I suppose. 

THE NEW YORK DOLLS: Personality Crisis

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE MUFFS: Oh Nina

The late Kim Shattuck possessed one of the best screams in the history of the rock and the roll. That scream is on ample display in "Oh Nina," a track from the Muffs' second album Blonder And Blonder. Heaven is a much louder place than it used to be. Rest in righteous volume, Kim.

THE FLASHCUBES WITH THE SPONGETONES: Have You Ever Been Torn Apart

On the eve of release for another epic entry in the Flashcubes' series of superlative digital singles for the mighty Big Stir Records label, we pause to revisit a Fave Rave from earlier this year. See, Fave Raves are their own reward. This summit meeting between the 'Cubes and the Spongetones--two of the all-time greatest power pop acts--is a lock for the year-end countdown of our most-played tracks in 2022. We figured we'd give it another spin any way. A new Flashcubes single will open next week's show, as we relish these continued opportunities to rave about our faves.

JERRY LEE LEWIS: Great Balls Of Fire

The last of the elite class of 1950s rock 'n' rollers has left the building. The passing of Jerry Lee Lewis signals the final curtain for the first wave of rock 'n' roll legends. Buddy Holly. Eddie Cochran. Gene Vincent. Elvis Presley. Ray Charles. Chuck Berry. Carl Perkins. Fats Domino. Little Richard. The Everly Brothers. And now, the Killer, Jerry Lee. All gone. One could make a case on behalf of a few artists we're happy to say are still with us (including Brenda Lee and Wanda Jackson), but clearly the torch has been...well, perhaps the torch hasn't exactly been passed, but nor is it lit as brightly as it once was.

I am aware of Lewis' human failings, and worse. His incredible talent and broad impact do not exempt him from responsibility. But I'm not qualified to discuss what he did or didn't do, and I'm not at all interested in delving into those matters today. For the moment, we separate the art from the artist, and remember the sheer potency of one of rock 'n' roll's undisputed greats. 

(And for a killer tribute to the Killer, check out this past Saturday's edition of Whole Lotta Shakin' on Different Radio WRUR-FM in Rochester. Our pal [and yours] Mike Murray opened the show with a solid half hour of prime Jerry Lee, presenting an authoritative Case CLOSED! on behalf of Lewis' rock 'n' roll legacy. Goodness gracious. The music lives on.)

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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