Pop Geek Heaven: GABBA GABBA HEY! A CONVERSATION WITH THE RAMONES

I've been corresponding with Bruce Brodeen for decades. His label Not Lame Recordings released a ton of cool music; when Not Lame ceased, Bruce's subsequent venture Pop Geek Heaven kept the fires burning for all things POP. Bruce is a believer, and he is one of the best friends power pop fans have ever had. Ya don't know Bruce? His Remember The Lightning exit interview with S. W. Lauden will serve as another clue for you all.

As Bruce retires Pop Geek Heaven, relocates to different surroundings, and steps away from the public part of his flamekeeping duties, I'm particularly touched that he chose to recommend my book Gabba Gabba Gabba! A Conversation With The Ramones as his parting plug in the final Pop Geek Heaven newsletter:

ANOTHER BOOK and this one is about...THE RAMONES and is written by one of power pop's top shelf thought-leaders, Carl Cafarelli So we all have a handful of bands and artists that changed our lives, especially when we were teengagers. For me, they are T. Rex, Iggy & the Stooges, New York Dolls and...the Ramones. I bought the debut in the Spring of 1976 and...it was unlike anything that had come before it(granted, I was 14) - or came afterwards. It just made SENSE. Good sense and...the mix! Bass isolated in the left channel, guitars isolated in the right AND then vocals and drums pasted on top of both channels. Put that in your cheap headphone pipe and smoke *that*, dude! WTF!?! Right?! Right. None of us back then, any age, didn't know what hit us! You either got it, right away - or you didn't, and never would. God help you. Honestly, thinking about it now, add the artists that I mentioned that came before influencing me, the first Ramones album laid into the stone the path of working in rock 'n roll for me as a professional career. As it did for countless tens of thousands of other fans in the 70s. Anyway, I have my autographed copy of "Rocket To Russia" signed by the original band in the fall of 1977 at the Harvard Coop in Boston(great show that night w/ insane bill!) that I will be selling in the middle of 'the big move' but I am going to replace that slab of vinyl with...THIS BOOK. CLICK HERE to check it out!

Thanks, Bruce! We'll meet again. The power pop community remains in your debt.

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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/

If it's true that one book leads to another, my next book will be The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). Stay tuned. Your turn is coming.

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