10 SONGS: 12/15/2022

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 # 1159. This show is available as a podcast.

FLEETWOOD MAC: Hold Me

In my life a pop fan, I cannot overstate the importance of AM Top 40 radio. Growing up in the '60s and '70s, the music we heard on the radio was everything. EVERYTHING. The lessons learned from AM Top 40 form a large part of whatever it is I do today.

The early '80s marked the final days (and nights) of my affair with AM Top 40. I had strayed from the AM frequency in the late '70s, but found myself listening again when I moved to Buffalo in the summer of 1982.  This was especially true when I got my first car in January of '83, an older model with no FM capability. My dial was set to 14 Rock.

And I liked some of what I heard there. I think 14 Rock played the Kinks' "Come Dancing" and Paul McCartney's "Take It Away," and I recall hearing the varied delights of Marvin Gaye, the Stray Cats, Eddy Grant, Dexy's Midnight Runners, Prince, Michael Jackson, Eurythmics, After The Fire, Adam Ant, Laura Branigan, Joe Jackson, Toni Basil, Billy Joel, Donna Summer, Culture Club, and more. Tracey Ullman's "They Don't Know" was my favorite. Another favorite was "Hold Me" by Fleetwood Mac.

The great and powerful Wikipedia informs us that "Hold Me" was released in June of '82, predating my relocation to Buffalo and discovery of 14 Rock. It was still on the radio when I moved in August, an already-broken young man shufflin' off to Buffalo in search of a fresh start. A fresh start requires fresh music. Hold me, hold me, hold me.

By 1982, my former teen obsession with Fleetwood Mac (particularly the Rumours album) had cooled a bit; I was, after all, a seasoned old punk rocker at the age of 22. But my interest in the Mac had not faded away, and I loved "Hold Me" as much I loved almost anything on Rumours. Actually, even comparing to tracks on my once-cherished (and never forsaken) Rumours, I preferred "Hold Me" to everything except "Go Your Own Way" and maybe "Second Hand News." "Hold Me" was--and is--something special.

The shock of Christine McVie's passing brought this all back in my mind. And given how much I've always adored "Hold Me," I was disappointed to check our stats and realize we had never played the track on TIRnRR. Shame on me. "Hold On" opened this week's show. It will not be the last time we play it.

When I was growing up, AM Top 40 was everything. It gave me the Beatles. It gave me Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. It even gave me Chuck Berry after the fact. And it gave me Fleetwood Mac. Did I ever complete the process of growing up? Evidence suggests no, not really. The music remains. Its hold on me is intact and steadfast. I take comfort in its embrace. Sing it, Christine. Godspeed, Christine.

FITO PÁEZ WITH ELVIS COSTELLO AND THE ATTRACTIONS: Radio Radio

FATS DOMINO: I'm Walkin'

This show has a format: It's ALL pop music. Simple enough, right? Pop music encompasses the Raspberries, the Shirelles, the O'Jays, the Sex Pistols, the 5th Dimension, and the Replacements, each of whom scored a berth on this week's playlist. It's not eclectic. It's. ALL. Pop. Pop segues into more pop. In that context, Fito Páez singing with Elvis Costello and the Attractions can flow naturally into a classic by Fats Domino.

Nonetheless, we were delighted when intrepid TIRnRR listener (and Pop Co-Op guitarist) Joel Tinnel reacted to the above sequence by commenting, "Where else can you hear 'Radio Radio' in Spanish, followed by Fats Domino? I *love* this show."

Thanks, Joel. We also love it. We're pop fans ourselves.

JETHRO TULL: ...And The Mouse Police Never Sleeps

No, this isn't the first time we've played Jethro Tull. It's not even the first time we played "...And The Mouse Police Never Sleeps." Still...I betcha ya didn't expect it. That's why the Mouse Police never sleeps; if you sleep, you might miss something. (Plus, it turns out Mouse Police are afraid of catnaps. Who knew?)

THE PRETENDERS: Day After Day

BADFINGER: Day After Day

Over the course of this show's 24 years, we've run a number of cutesy little gimmicks designed to amuse ourselves (if no one else). One of the gimmicks was "The Song Retains The Name," which assembled a series of sequences presenting two different songs that shared the exact same title. I don't remember whether or not "The Song Retains The Name" included "Day After Day", though I did use the dueling "Day After Day"s in a fake TIRnRR playlist devoted to the same concept. And this week, when Dana closed a set with the Pretenders' "Day After Day," I felt compelled to open the next set with Badfinger's "Day After Day." The song retains the name. Gimmicks? We retain those, too.

THE RAMONES: Blitzkrieg Bop

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE MONKEES: Mr. Webster

From the Monkees' landmark 1967 hey-hey-we're-a-real-band manifesto Headquarters, "Mr. Webster" is (like Fleetwood Mac's "Hold Me") another track we somehow never got around to playing until now. I have no idea why it took us so long. I mean, everyone in town knew Mr. Webster. He worked at the bank for 40 years! So, belatedly but no less sincerely, here's to Mr. Webster. With regards.

THE SMITHEREENS: Face The World With Pride

Our pal Rich Firestone returns to Radio Deer Camp this coming Sunday, December 18th, for his annual Christmas show, with weekly RDCs to resume shortly thereafter. RDC's long hiatus ends NOW! Well, it ends soon anyway. Let's start with SUNDAY! 5 to 7 pm Eastern, right here on SPARK!

Before our esteemed Reechie's leave of absence, he was urging all intelligent rockin' pop radio outlets to program the hell out of "Face The World With Pride," an absolutely ace track from the Smithereens' recent archival release The Lost Album. Richie says it's a HIT! And he is correct. TIRnRR has played it every week since it's release, and it will certainly be included in our year-end countdown show on January 1st. When Reechie talks, intelligent rockin' pop fans listen.

But of even greater importance: WELCOME BACK, REECHIE! Face the world. There's no sin in pride when you earn it.

LIBRARIANS WITH HICKEYS: Listen The Snow Is Falling

On Tuesday, Dana and I worked out the playlist for our December 18th program, the 24th annual This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio Christmas show. Another calendar page turns, and will turn again soon, to ash. Matches, candles. That is the nature of things, no matter how we try to hold on. Let's sit together by the fire, for as long as we can. Listen. The snow is falling all around.

Listen.

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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.