I'm gonna be talking about the Ramones.
My new book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones (https://rarebirdlit.com/gabba-gabba-hey-a-conversation-with-the-ramones-by-carl-cafarelli/) has been published. It's still officially listed as a preorder, with a publication date of May 8th, but several people have reported already receiving their copies. So! It's real. And it's here.
And it's time to fire up the Gabba Gabba Hey! hype gizmo. These are my confirmed soapboxes so far, listed chronologically:
MONDAY, MAY 8: I will be a guest on Syracuse's live morning TV talk show Bridge Street, discussing the Ramones, the book, and whatever related Blitzkrieg Boppin' comes up in conversation. Bridge Street airs from 10 am to 11 am Eastern time on our local ABC affiliate WSYR News Channel 9.
SATURDAY, MAY 13: A book release party at The 443 Social Club and Lounge, located at 443 Burnet Avenue in Syracuse. Your hosts are Dana & Carl, and we'll have live performances from Perilous and 1.4.5., with Ramones music playing in between sets. We're calling this the loudest book release party you'll ever attend. The volume for my volume runs from 7 pm to 9 pm, and there will be copies of the book available for sale. Tickets for this event will be extremely limited, so if you're interested, grab 'em now: Gabba Gabba Hey! book release party Tickets are $15, and there is an additional $15 minimum bar/kitchen purchase per person. Your ticket price helps pay the bands, and your eating, drinking, and tipping helps pay the staff. Gabba Gabba YAY!
THURSDAY, MAY 18: An in-store appearance at Parthenon Books, 333 South Salina Street in Syracuse. I dig what the good folks at Parthenon had to say about this, so I'll just reproduce it here:
"The Ramones may be gone, but they will never be forgotten, seemingly rediscovered by new generations of coming of age rockers. For the first time, you can read the Ramones' comments about their own history in this intimate series of interviews with the legendary band. Carl will be telling the story behind the interviews and signing his book."
HuzZAH! The Parthenon gig starts at 7 pm, and the fact that I have no idea what I'm getting into just makes it all that much more fun. And Parthenon is like a block or so away from the former site of Economy Bookstore, which was very nearly a place of worship for me when I was a teen. It feels so good to be appearing at a downtown Syracuse bookstore, talking about a book I wrote. This is a free event.
FRIDAY, MAY 19: Joey Ramone's birthday. No events. Day of rest.
SATURDAY, MAY 20: An in-store at Barnes & Noble, 3454 Erie Boulevard East in the Syracuse suburb of DeWitt. This will be an afternoon appearance, and I'll update the time as soon as it's been set. This Barnes & Noble is just East of the former location of a now-razed nightclub called Uncle Sam's, a place where I saw the Pretenders, Joe Jackson, the Necessaries (with British guitar god Chris Spedding), and Tommy James. More to the point, on July 6, 1979, Uncle Sam's was where I saw my second Ramones live show, with an opening set by the Flashcubes, preceded by an in-club screening of the Ramones' then-new movie Rock 'n' Roll High School. I write about that night in Gabba Gabba Hey!, and if we can get some interested folks to come see me at Barnes & Noble on May 20, well, maybe I'll tell 'em all about it. This is a free event.
ON THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO WITH DANA & CARL: We featured the music of the Ramones on our weekly shows throughout the month of April, and we're gonna continue that in May. Our Sunday, May 7 show kicks off a three-week celebration of THE RAMONES AT THE MOVIES, playing Ramones tracks associated with various films. As always, we mix the Ramones with everything from Major Lance to the Cocktail Slippers, 'cuz that's what builds a radio show.
TIRnRR's Ramones Mania culminates Memorial Day weekend with Gabba Gabba Hey! A Celebration Of The Ramones on May 28th: three hours of the Ramones themselves, Ramones collaborations with other artists, tracks recorded by members of the Ramones outside of the group's aegis, acts and tracks that inspired the Ramones, songs about the Ramones, and Ramones songs covered by other artists. This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs from 9 to Midnight Eastern time, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, on the web at http://sparksyracuse.org/, and via the Radio Garden and TuneIn Radio apps as Westcott Radio.
THE FUTURE: The date hasn't been set yet, but during the last week of June I should be making an in-store appearance at Generation Records, 210 Thompson Street in NYC. Details are still pending, and there is a possibility of an in-store in Boston that same week.
There are tentative plans for me to do some radio interviews, and I will post updates on those schemes as they come together. In the mean time, BIG thanks to S. W. Lauden for interviewing me ("Talking Ramones With Carl Cafarelli") for his blog Remember The Lightning. Mr. Lauden also talked up Gabba Gabba Hey! during his recent appearance as a guest on The Spoon podcast, with Robbie Rist, Chris Jackson, and Thom Bowers. I feel like a big shot. Thanks, fellas!
If YOU have a radio show, podcast, blog, or other appropriate venue interested in hearing me preach the Gospel of the Ramones, get in touch, man, get in touch! These books aren't gonna sell themselves.
Which brings us back to the books. THEY'RE OUT THERE, in the world and everything. Time has come today.
Carl's new book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones is now available, courtesy of the good folks at Rare Bird Books. Gabba Gabba YAY!! https://rarebirdlit.com/gabba-gabba-hey-a-conversation-with-the-ramones-by-carl-cafarelli/
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.
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