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 # 1205. This show is available as a podcast.
DWIGHT TWILLEY: The Luck
It's not even the merest exaggeration to refer to the late Dwight Twilley as one of the giants of power pop. Twilley's been a part of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio's DNA since our second broadcast, January 3rd of 1999, when we played the Dwight Twilley Band's "That I Remember." For a show like ours, which lists "power pop" as its stated format--even if "power pop" is just a convenient shorthand for whatever the hell it is that we actually do--it was imperative for us to pay tribute to Twilley this week.
I chose "The Luck," from Dwight Twilley's 1999 album Tulsa, as our opening track. It wasn't until after the show aired that I realized "The Luck" was the first solo Twilley track played on TIRnRR, 7/4/1999. That serendipity added resonance and history to our selection.
(Thanks as always to the mighty, mighty Fritz Van Leaven for tending our stats. We wouldn' have any stats at all if not for Fritz.)
We stand on the shoulders of giants. One of those giants was named Dwight Twilley. Some people have all the luck. We were all lucky to live in a time of Dwight Twilley's music.
THE FLASHCUBES: Alone In My Room
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As noted in this week's playlist commentary, I don't remember hearing the Dwight Twilley Band on AM radio in the '70s. I was still in high school in '75, and still a devoted listener of Syracuse's WOLF-AM, and I must have heard the great "I'm On Fire" on the Big 15 at the time. Yet it didn't register in my teen consciousness.
Stupid teenager.
So: 1978. College. Bomp magazine's power pop issue. Paying attention by now. Stupid teenager trying to be, y'know, less stupid, at least in between keggers and girls. "I'm On Fire" was on a terrific compilation called Geef Voor New Wave, occupying grooves alongside the Sex Pistols, Generation X, Jonathan Richman, Motörhead, Eddie and the Hot Rods, Earth Quake, the Motors, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, the Rubinoos, the Adverts, X-Ray Spex, the Radiators From Space, Johnny Moped, and Radio Stars. You can be damned certain I snatched that sucker right up.
Still, I'm pretty sure my conscious introduction to "I'm On Fire" was when I saw the Flashcubes include it in a live set in '78. Really paying attention now! It was probably around the same time that the 'Cubes likewise hooked me on Big Star's "September Gurls." I cannot overstate the immense importance of the Flashcubes in my rockin' pop life.
Given all of the above, it was important to include the 'Cubes in our tribute to Dwight Twilley. The Flashcubes' current album Pop Masters gives us their vibrant cover of Twilley's "Alone In My Room." We had to play that.
(It should come as no surprise to anyone that we played the Flashcubes on our very first show, 12/27/98. Our first-aired 'Cubes track was "It's You Tonight.")
DWIGHT TWILLEY: 10,000 American Scuba Divers Dancin'
"10,000 American Scuba Divers Dancin'" is from Twilley's 1982 album Scuba Divers. The track has always been one of my top favorites among his many pure pop gems--maybe my # 1 Twilley solo number--and I was hellbent on mixing it into TIRnRR's tribute to Dwight Twilley. Mission accomplished!
However....
I was stunned to review our stats and discover that, over the course of nearly 25 years of doing this show, we'd never gotten around to playing "10,000 American Scuba Divers Dancin'" before this week. My favorite solo Twilley cut. What it means is what it means is what it really means.
And I guess it means better late than never. We're playing it again next week. The track has some catchin' up to do. On your mark. Get set. DIVE! And dance! Let's go swimming already.
THE GRIP WEEDS: Where Have All The Good Times Gone
New Jersey's phenomenal pop combo the Grip Weeds put on an absolutely epic live show last week at Syracuse's legendary home of rock 'n' roll The Lost Horizon. It was an evening full of highlights by the Grip Weeds themselves and billmates 1.4.5., Perilous, Preacher, and Kenne Highland's Air Force, and it provided an exuberant capper to a particularly rockin' month.
This week's radio shindig aired a couple of days after the Lost Horizon show, but was recorded prior to the Grip Weeds' live annexation of the greater Syracuse area. Dana and I had seen the Grip Weeds before, we knew they were gonna be amazing again, and we programmed accordingly. We had three Grip Weeds tracks on last week's show, and this week we programmed the Gripsters' ace take on the Kinks' "Where Have All The Good Tims Gone," from Jem Records' wonderful tribute compilation Jem Records Celebrates Ray Davies.
Ooo! And NEXT week, we're playing a track from the Grip Weeds' 2022 album DiG, a little something we ain't played before, but which the group performed at the Lost, fully wowing all and sundry. Whatta band! What a great, great band.
(The Grip Weeds made their TIRnRR debut with "Out Of Today" on 1/10/99. The track was later included on our compilation album This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 2.)
TOM PETTY AND THE HEARTBREAKERS: American Girl
The Greatest Record Ever Made!
(Tom Petty made his TIRnRR debut on 3/28/99, with his cover of the Byrds' "I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better.")
PERILOUS: Name In The Paper
Last Friday's Lost Horizon gig was the first time I got to see Preacher and Kenne Highland's Air Force, and about the thousandth (and COUNTING!!) time I've seen 1.4.5. (still counting 'cuz a thousand times ain't nearly enough), and actually my second 1.4.5. live set in October. It was my second time seeing the Grip Weeds, and my second time seeing Perilous.
(The first time I saw Perilous was in May of this year, with 1.4.5. at a release party at The 443 Social Club and Lounge for my book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones. I even got to sing "Rockaway Beach" on stage with members of 1.4.5. and Perilous. It was a decent night. It was a really decent night. I have a flair for understatement.)
At the Lost, Perilous elevated the razzafrazzin' ceiling with bravura renditions of every song on their forthcoming album YEAH!!!, plus a cover of the Ramones' "Cretin Hop." We've been playing the YEAH!!! single "Name In The Paper" a lot, and now Perilous has a video to go with the song. The name will come up again in next week's show. It's the only decent thing to do.
(TIRnRR's first spin of Perilous was the group's debut single "Rock & Roll Kiss," which played on our 5/8/2022 show. It went on to be our # 3 most-played track in 2023, and it was included on our compilation album This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5.)
DAVE KUCHLER: In It With You
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We played Dave Kuchler's former group Soul Engines some time in the wayback, at which time they asked us to stop sending them our playlists. Ouch. Nonetheless, we jumped on "In It With You" (from Kuchler's current Kool Kat Musik release Love + Glory ) from the get-go. We started playing it on 10/15/2023, and it's been a weekly fixture ever since. And sure, that's not a lot of weeks...
...Yet. Not a lot of weeks yet. We'll add another week this Sunday.
THE RAMONES: Swallow My Pride
Power pop? The Ramones were more than any one genre, but yeah, they were assuredly a power pop group--a FANTASTIC power pop group--on so many of their tracks. "Swallow My Pride" (from 1977's Leave Home) is a prime example of power pop Ramones.
(Hard to believe, but we didn't play our first Ramones track until our second show, with "I Don't Want To Grow Up" on 1/3/1999. On the other hand, "Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?" was our opening theme from the start.)
THE BEATLES: Please Please Me
Power pop? The Beatles were also more than any one genre, but they invented power pop with "Please Please Me." The Beatles directly inspired the formation of the Dwight Twilley Band, just as the Beatles inspired so many others.
(The Beatles' first This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio appearance was--duh--TIRnRR # 1 on 12/27/1998. "It's Only Love." We'll hear the lads' new single at the top of our next show.)
THE DWIGHT TWILLEY BAND: I'm On Fire
A true classic, forevermore one of the defining singles of this engaging, fascinating, fulfilling music we call power pop. Godspeed, Dwight Twilley. We thank you for bringing us fire.
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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, 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.
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