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 # 1158. This show is available as a podcast.
GARY FRENAY: Just Like Me
I'm approaching the 45th anniversary of my first Flashcubes show. That took place on January 28th, 1978, just over two months after a 45 of the Ramones' "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker" became the record that changed my life. Becoming a Flashcubes fan was as seismic as becoming Ramones fan, which was as seismic as becoming a Beatles fan. The Beatles, the Ramones, and the Flashcubes. My rockin' pop Trinity.
When the Flashcubes split at the end of the '70s, I became an avid fan of both of the separate acts that emerged: 1.4.5. with guitarist Paul Armstrong, and Screen Test with guitarist Arty Lenin, bassist Gary Frenay, and drummer Tommy Allen.
"Just Like Me" was originally an unreleased Screen Test track from the '80s, and I've cherished the song for decades. This year, a new recording of "Just Like Me" made its CD debut on our compilation album This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5. Billed as a Gary Frenay track, Gary enlisted Arty and Tommy to help him out, along with Nick Frenay and Fernando Perdomo. Cubic convergence! Ain't that just like me?
THE SPONGETONES: Got Nothing Left To Hide
News that North Carolina's phenomenal pop combo the Spongetones have scheduled a show on March 25th, 2023 at Smokey Joe's in Charlotte, NC gives us an excuse to play the Spongetones on TIRnRR. We...don't need an excuse to play the Spongetones on TIRnRR. But we'll take it! Wish we could see them play at Smokey Joe's, but Charlotte would be a really pricey Lyft ride from Syracuse. HOWEVER! If you're in the Charlotte area on 3/25/2023, we urge you to go see the Spongetones on behalf of those who can't.
No excuses.
VERDELLE SMITH: Life Goes On
The Greatest Record Ever Made!
THE BEATLES: I'll Cry Instead
Up top, I mentioned the Beatles, Ramones, and Flashcubes as my toppermost of the poppermost. The Monkees have been of nearly equal importance. My favorite Monkees album is Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd., but their preceding LP Headquarters is where the made-for-TV band became a real studio band. That fact gives Headquarters a deservedly special in the hearts of Monkees fans. My first copy of Headquarters was a flea-market find circa 1975-76, snapped up at the same time I acquired my first copy of The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees.
Headquarters is Dana's favorite Monkees album, and it's just been reissued in a four-disc (plus one 45) super-deluxe edition. I already own the three-disc Headquarters Sessions from 2000, but there was no way I was gonna pass on adding this new set to my collection. The package includes Andrew Sandoval's new stereo remix of the album; from the remix, Dana picked the stunning new version of Michael Nesmith's album-opener "You Told Me" for airplay this week, and I look forward to diving into the rest of this super-deluxe treat as soon as possible.
(Y'know, I haven't yet gotten around to purchasing any of the Beatles' deluxe repackages; I've purchased almost all of the Monkees' archive dives. My Trinity's secure, but maybe I should expand it to a Quaternity. Hey, hey.)
FLEETWOOD MAC: Over My Head
"This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio remembers Christine McVie."
That is not a phrase I ever imagined saying on the radio. News of McVie's passing broke last Tuesday, after we had already recorded this week's show. A quick edit placed Fleetwood Mac's "Over My Head" at show's end, acknowledging the loss of an essential performer, someone we never thought we'd have to mourn.
1975's "Over My Head" was my introduction to McVie, delivered via WOLF-AM in Syracuse. It wasn't the first time I heard Fleetwood Mac; 1969's "Oh Well" scored some airplay at the dawn of the decade, but I wasn't aware of who sang it (so don't ask me what I think of you, I might not give the answer that you want me to). A kid on my bus in middle school had a Fleetwood Mac album, but I didn't attach the group's name to a sound until I heard Christine McVie declare she was over her head. And it sure felt nice.
The song even turned up in an issue of the Marvel comic book Master Of Kung Fu
In 1977, as I completed my senior year in high school and entered college in the fall, the music I listened to was the crucible that forged my tastes in rockin' pop. I had just discovered the splendor of the Kinks. I heard the Sex Pistols, Blondie, Television. The Ramones. January of '78 brought me to the Flashcubes.
And Rumours was still one of my favorite albums.
There's a line in the introduction to my forthcoming book that attaches a "Believe it or not" to the statement about Rumours being one of my Fave Raves in '77. I guess that could be read as some sort of guilty-pleasure dismissal of Fleetwood Mac's music, but that wasn't my intent and I absolutely disavow any such stupid notion. I won't claim to be one of the world's biggest Fleetwood Mac fans, but there was never a time when I didn't like them. I felt no dichotomy in digging both "Go Your Own Way" and "Blitzkrieg Bop" at the same time. It's all pop music. It remains part of who I am, and proudly so. Over my head? It sure feels nice.
Christine McVie's passing makes me sad. I did not envision that we'd ever have to bid her farewell. Next week's show will open with my favorite Christine McVie Mac track. This week's show closed with my introduction to the singer formerly called Christine Perfect. Perfect name for her.
Perfect.
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment