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 # 1208. This show is available as a podcast.
THE RAMONES: Bad Brain
Near the end of last year, our irreplaceable stats man Fritz Van Leaven sent us a list of every track we've ever played over the course of what was then This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio's first twenty-four years as...well, this, whatever this is. Coincidentally, "Bad Brain" probably about covers it. But I digress....
I refer to that list a lot, always cross-referencing to see if there's some great thing we oughta play that we ain't played yet. It's most amazing to realize there are tracks by some of our all-time Fave Raves that we've never gotten around to programming, and then rectifying a bunch of those omissions.
2023 has been my year of the Ramones. Yeah, mostly because my Ramones book was published this year, but the book was itself the result of my decades-long fascination with everyone's favorite Carbona-huffin' quartet. I love the Ramones. Duh. This show is named after a line in a Ramones song. This show would never have happened in the first place if not for the inspiration we draw from the Ramones.
Throughout the year, I've been using Fritz's list to help me program a few of the Ramones tracks that had not graced any previous TIRnRR playlist. This week's show opened with "Bad Brain," the only track from the group's masterpiece Road To Ruin that had never seen previous airplay on our little mutant radio program. Next week, we'll spin the only remaining Rocket To Russia track to escape airplay here to date. More Ramones. More. Ramones!
On this year's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Jimmy Fallon fronted the Roots for a lip-sync performance of the Ramones' "Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight)." Everyone complaining about it is dead wrong. Things like this, my friends, are further evidence of the Ramones' growing (and overdue) assimilation into our greater pop culture. Year of the Ramones? EVERY year is my yrear of the Ramones. Bad, bad brain? Bad brain made good, I say.
THE GRIP WEEDS: Journey To The Center Of The Mind
Working with the mighty Jem Records, the phenomenal rockin' pop force known as the Grip Weeds have recently reissued their irresistible holiday album Under The Influence Of Christmas. If you've begun the serious business of this year's letter to Santa Claus (in yet another valiant attempt to convince the old elf to white-out your permanent-inked entry on his naughty-as-hell list), TIRnRR would like to remind you that the Grip Weeds' Under The Influence Of Christmas is exactly the coal you need for rekindlin' that frigid block of black ice you call a soul. Nice! You CAN be nice! Santa might even believe you this time!
Still, we're not quite ready to start programming Christmas music for at least a few weeks yet. You can probably expect a track from Under The Influence Of Christmas to lead off our December 10th show. Meanwhile, we reach back to the Grip Weeds' 2022 all-covers album DiG for their confident take on the Amboy Dukes' "Journey To The Center Of The Mind." The original was great, but the Grip Weeds' version benefits by having a much more intelligent lead guitarist. We'll dig into yet another DiG track next week.
KLAATU: Anus Of Uranus
Hey, a crack in the sky!
CINDY LAWSON: I Don't Want You Anymore
The divine Cindy Lawson's ace number "I Don't Want You Anymore" comes to us from her current album Don't Come Crying To Me, a superswell six-song effort that earns beaucoup bonus points in this spot for sporting a cover graphic that conjures comparison to the 1973 eponymous debut album by Suzi Quatro. Ya can't go wrong paying tribute to our li'l Suzi!
Even better, this week's spin of "I Don't Want You Anymore" caught the fancy of intrepid TIRnRR listeners Rich and Kathy Firestone, who thought the song was a laugh anna half. See? We play the hits! And we'll play this particular hit again on our next show.
I'm sure Ms. Quatro would approve. I hope Ms.Lawson will likewise dig the notion.
1.4.5.: Right Now
"Syracuse's own power pop powerhouses the Flashcubes are the third lad in my rockin' pop trinity: The Beatles, the Ramones, and the Flashcubes. After the 'Cubes split at the end of the '70s (the end of the century), 'Cubes guitarist Paul Armstrong piloted an evolving membership of unrepentant rock 'n' rollers as 1.4.5. The legacy of 1.4.5.'s original trio--PA hisself, bassist Dave Anderson, and the late, great Ducky Carlisle on drums--is well represented on the compilation 3 Chords & A Cloud Of Dust, and that collection also provides proper representation of the latter-day 1.4.5. following the original formula. Hey! It's 1.4.5.! Let's GROOVE! "Missing in action is the late '80s version of 1.4.5., a combo who morphed into the Richards. The late Norm Mattice sang lead during this period; the Richards' 1995 album Over The Top is out there, and their non-album masterpiece 'Five Personalties' (later redone by the reunited Flashcubes) was one of many highlights on This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 3.
"But the Richards started out billed as 1.4.5., and their 1988 album Rhythm n' Booze is an undiscovered gem. The confident strut of the album-opening 'Right Now,' the pretty pop of 'Girl In The Window,' vibe-establishing covers of Slade and the Swinging Blue Jeans, the tongue-in-cheek 'Famous Local Hero,' and the just incredible 'Your Own World' (which original-formula 1.4.5. subsequently remade) combine for a record that freakin' cries out for wider acclaim. We were able to use the Rhythm n' Booze 'Your Own World' on This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 4. The rest of the album still awaits overdue discovery by the pop world at large. Right here."
And right now. I said, RIGHT NOW! Someone needs to reissue this record, stat.
THE PRETENDERS: Vainglorious
I am quite pleased to live in a world where there is still such a thing as new music from the Pretenders. So far, I've only heard a couple of tracks from the Pretenders' current album Relentless, but I'm absolutely ready to continue. Precious? No. Relentless!
ARTHUR CONLEY: Sweet Soul Music
PRINCE: Hot Summer
LIBRARIANS WITH HICKEYS: Can't Wait 'Till Summer
His Royal Purpleness Prince, from the posthumous release Welcome 2 America, with "Hot Summer." Librarians With Hickeys, from their 2022 album Handclaps & Tambourines, with "Can't Wait 'Till Summer." Great songs, for sure, and welcome any time of year, but...c'mon, people! IT'S NOT EVEN DECEMBER YET!! Jeez, howzabout some friggin' patience here? Man, you'll never get through a Central New York winter with that kind of attitude.
(Wait. On the other hand, willful denial is kind of its own reward, innit? Awright. Carry on. Surf's up, you snowbirds.)
MICKY DOLENZ: Man On The Moon
I am in awe of how great Micky Dolenz and Christian Nesmith work as a team. After some individual live tracks they performed with Circe Link (released as latter-day bonus tracks on The MGM Singles Collection), Micky 'n' Christian collaborated on the sublime 2021 album Dolenz Sings Nesmith and its able follow-up Dolenz Sings Nesmith--The EP, offering simply stunning renditions of gems written by Michael Nesmith. The current four-song Dolenz Sings R.E.M. EP is equally magnificent, and I pray Micky Dolenz and Christian Nesmith will have many, many more such rewarding team-ups yet to come.
Dolenz Sings R.E.M. is just delicious: inventive, luxurious, compelling, and celebratory without being the merest bit slavish. With this week's spin of "Man On The Moon," we've now played three of the EP's four tracks on TIRnRR. We'll get to the fourth track next time.
Beside yourself that radio's going to stay? Don't worry on that account. Micky and Christian have your back.
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| Christian Nesmith, Micky Dolenz, Circe Link |
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