10 SONGS (1200th Show Edition): 9/29/2023

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 # 1200. This show is available as a podcast.

THE STALLIONS: Why

We subtitled this week's blowout 1200th show as "Some Fave Raves From Our First 1199." Milestone shows present the challenge of trying to figure out which among many, many key tracks we wanna spin as representation of whatever the hell it is we do. But the result is always invigmoratin', and even though we had to omit a ton of epic greatness, I think this is one of the best milestone playlists we've done; and over the course of 1200 efforts, we've hit upon some pretty good ones along the way.

I determined weeks ago that I wanted to open this 1200th show with "Why," a cover of a '60s nugget originally done by an obscure group called the Dirty Wurds. The Pandoras covered "Why" in the '80s, but a version recorded in the '90s by NYC punk combo the Stallions just friggin' rules in all its chaotic splendor. For a very long time, the Stallions'"Why" was the all-time most-played track on TIRnRR, almost entirely on the strength of how often we played it in our first few years on the air. Big Star's "September Gurls" snatched the most-played title away from the Stallions quite some time ago, but "Why" is still an integral part of this show's DNA (even though we don't play it much anymore).

I used to introduce this song with a scream, a silly move that maybe two of our fans liked and half of our DJ team abhorred. But I tried to introduce it again in that rambunctious manner for this special show: It's not just any song! It's not just any band! It's...THE STALLIONS WITH "WHY"ON SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARK!!!!!!!

Tried it. Recorded it that way. It was...almost adequate, but not quite. I can't do the scream anymore, so I redid it without the scream. Time waits for no one, Stallion or otherwise. Ours is not to reason....

MANNIX: Highway Lines

When I opened with "Why," Dana immediately followed it with "Highway Lines" by Mannix. Good choice. After two years with the Stallions at the top of our season-ending countdowns, this track from Mannix's album Come To California was our # 1 track in 2001, and it has been a TIRnRR staple ever since. Even more than "Why" or "September Gurls," I regard "Highway Lines" as the single defining track of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio. It later appeared on our compilation This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 3, and it will have a chapter in my long-threatened book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1).

Another saga 'bout another love gone wrong

And the DJ knows what I'm goin' through

In "Highway Lines," the radio playing in the car serves as sympathetic companion to our lovelorn hero as he drives across the country to make one last stand to salvage a doomed relationship. For TIRnRR # 1200, "Highway Lines" seemed like an ideal lead-in to Laurie Biagini's "Hey Mr. DJ." 

LAURIE BIAGINI: Hey Mr. DJ

Hey Mr. DJ, play me a song

As much as we've loved pret' near everything Laurie has crafted over the years, "Hey Mr. DJ" stands at the pinnacle. We realize it's not about us--the song's titular DJ is Laurie's beacon on a Saturday night, the evening before our own declaration that the weekend stops here--but man, it resonates in a way that's just magic to anyone who ever loved the radio. The track was on her 2022 album Stranger In The Mirror; when we started putting together This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5 last year, "Hey Mr. DJ" was the only thing we considered for that compilation's opening track. It initiates TIRnRR Volume 5's girl-and-boy song cycle (an idea that was a sort-of reimagining of this song cycle). "Hey Mr. DJ" is absolutely essential to the concept for TIRnRR Volume 5. 

Hey Mr. DJ; play us some songs.

THE RAMONES: Sheena Is A Punk Rocker

For three years in a row--2009 through 2011--we undertook three year-long gimmicks on the show. And when I say we, I mean me. Dana's not really one for the gimmicks. Our first gimmick was The 50 KISS Strategy, a straightforward vow to play 50 different KISS tracks within a single calendar year. The following year offered the expanded ambition of The Hundred Hollies Initiative, with a vicious penalty for failure: if we didn't accomplish our goal of playing 100 different Hollies tracks before the year was up, we would have to play Bob Seger's awful "Old Time Rock & Roll" as penance.

Our audience shuddered. Cringed. We played 101 Hollies tracks, just to be sure. Crisis averted!

And 2011 brought us 301 Songs About 301 Girls, an effort to program 301 songs with a girl's name in each title. It started with a goal of 200 songs, grew to 300, and then I added one more because Dana played a 300th qualifying track before I could get to my intended 300th, "Christi Girl" by the Flashcubes. Dana may not be one for gimmicks, but he knows what records to play. 301 Songs About 301 Girls was a lot of fun, and it received the best sustained reaction of any crazy scheme we've ever executed. 

And the scheme started with Girl # 1: Sheena. AKA: The record that changed my life, performed by the American Beatles, the greatest American rock 'n' roll band of all time, the Ramones. I could write a book about 'em. New York City really has it all.

THE FLASHCUBES: Forget About You

Although we play a lot of new music nearly every week, a 1200th show should be about legacy. We determined that this week's playlist should only include tracks that accrued some previous TIRnRR airplay. We'll start to address the growing backlog of brand-new releases on our next show. On to # 1201!

But nor did we want to only play older tracks. So this week, in addition to some of the relatively recent individual gems that have already established themselves among our Fave Raves (treats by Kid Gulliver, the Linda Lindas, Dolph Chaney, Circe Link and Christian Nesmith, the Brothers Steve, Pop Co-Op, the Half Cubes, Harmonic Dirt, and the Gold Needles), some of our designated legacy acts are represented by pure gold from the 2020s rather than from previous decades. The Grip Weeds are here with "Lady Friend" instead of "Every Minute," Kelley Ryan with "The Church Of Laundry" instead of something by her old rockin' pop DBA astroPuppees, etc. If we'd gotten around to playing the Catholic Girls, it woulda been their current single "Hear My Prayer" in place of "Someone New" or "Should Have Been Mine."

A track from Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse the Flashcubes should be considered a given for any TIRnRR milestone. Hell, the 'Cubes are a given for us on most weeks. The Flashcubes have classic tracks from their original run in the '70s, reunion tracks from the '90s, and a treasure trove of fresh goodies since the dawn of this 21st century. They even wrote and recorded a song about us, a track which led off This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 1 in 2005.

The Flashcubes have a new album out, an all-covers set called Pop Masters. It will surprise absolutely no one to hear that it's my top album of 2023. Its current single is an ace cover of the Motors' "Forget About You." 

For our 1200th show, we played that one. Legacy grows. Don't forget to smile everybody! It's the Flashcubes.

TIRnRR ALLSTARS: Waterloo Sunset

TIRnRR first went on the air on December 27th, 1998. You can read up on our weird history here, from the first Dana & Carl radio series We're Your Friends For Now in 1992 through the various limited projects that occupied us during the bulk of the '90s, the debut of TIRnRR, and hijinks that ensued thereafter.

As TIRnRR approaches its 25th anniversary, our stubborn refusal to just go away already is enabled, at least in part, by our seamless mimicry of both Blanche DuBois and Billy Shears: we have always relied on the kindness of strangers, and we get by with a little help from our friends.

This strange kindness and friendly help saved the show (and the station itself) when we were all about to be kicked to the curb at the end of 2006. I'm not exaggerating; we were done, kaput, bereft of life, breathing our last gasps, about to transition from -ing to -ed. Our supporters dictated otherwise. Earlier this year, America's Sweetheart Irene Peña invited us to an interview on her Twitch channel, Irene Peña Music, and then surprised us by presenting a donation on behalf of Irene herself and a number of our other talented pals; you see that moment here. We are blessed with kind, strange, helpful friends.

Another example of this is the 2019 release Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio. Available as a Futureman Records digital download or a Kool Kat Musik CD, Waterloo Sunset collects tracks by the Click Beetles, Eytan Mirsky, Vegas With Randolph, Pop Co-Op, Michael Slawter, Gretchen's Wheel, the Grip Weeds, the Armoires, the Anderson Council, Pacific Soul Ltd., and Ms. Irene Peña. It was assembled in secret, and presented to us as a fait accompli. I added liner notes (already stressing the Blanche DuBois angle), but otherwise? We had nothing to do with it. It was all the work of our friends. All of it.

The compilation is toplined by a fresh cover of the Kinks' sublime "Waterloo Sunset," performed by TIRnRR Allstars. Our assembled avengers include all of Pop Co-Op--Steve Stoeckel, Bruce Gordon (the track's studio wunderkind), Joel Tinnel, and Stacy Carson--plus Keith Klingensmith (who masterminded the project), Eytan Mirsky, Teresa Cowles, Dan Pavelich, Rich Firestone, and, of course, Irene Peña. The Allstars deliver a stunning rendition of a much-loved classic, and we continue to play it with some frequency. It certainly had to be a part of our 1200th show.

1200 shows. See our friends? They got us here. And as long as we gaze on all of this, all of this...

...we are in paradise.

THE BOB SEGER SYSTEM: 2 + 2 = ?

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

We still ain't playin' "Old Time Rock & Roll."

THE POPTARTS: I Won't Let You Let Me Go

The very first song played on This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1, December 27, 1998. It wouldn't have been a proper 1200th show without a spin of the Poptarts.

EYTAN MIRSKY: This Year's Gonna Be Our Year

Maybe it will be, Brother Eytan. Maybe it will.

CHUCK BERRY: Promised Land

Is there a promised land? I don't know. But Chuck Berry wrote and recorded an irresistible song about that prospect, that possibility. We may as well keep headin' on down that road. Here's to the promise. Here's to the road that brought us this far. Here's to what we hope we'll find if we get to wherever it is we're going. Tell the folks back home: Dana & Carl are on the line.

If you like what you see here on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), please consider supporting this blog by becoming a patron on Patreon, or by visiting CC's Tip Jar. Additional products and projects are listed here.

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, streaming at SPARK stream and on the Radio Garden app as WESTCOTT RADIO. Recent shows are archived at Westcott Radio. You can read about our history here.

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl