Wednesday, November 8, 2023

POP-A-LOOZA! The Boppin' Pop-A-Looza Archives

Your Boppin' blogger, as depicted by Dan Pavelich

Pop-A-Looza was a pop culture website run by artist and musician Dan Pavelich. Dan is a long-time friend of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, scoring significant TIRnRR airplay with his various rockin' pop DBAs the Bradburys and the Click Beetles, and participating in Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio. He's also the auteur of the comic strip Just Say Uncle, and we're lucky to have him.

Pop-A-Looza was a neat collection of pure pop appreciation and exercises, dealing with music, comics, film, and all of the things that delight our ever-fannish souls. In early 2020, Dan asked me if he could share some of my blog posts as a regular feature on Pop-A-Looza. My response was YEAH! YEAH...!! I announced my participation here, and Dan posted my first Boppin' Pop-A-Looza on January 25, 2020.

I was initially a weekly contributor, and then Dan asked me to up that to twice a week. I was honored, and I continued with Pop-A-Looza until Dan finally dimmed its lights and locked its door in November of 2022. My final Pop-A-Looza piece posted on 11/19/2022. It was great to be a part of Dan's project.

Since the Pop-A-Looza site itself no longer exists, I wanted to preserve a record of my participation. So! Below us you will see a very long list of links, each one taking you to my own blog's announcement of the then-latest Boppin' Pop-A-Looza. The announcements themselves gave me an opportunity to supplement each post with additional thoughts on that day's subject matter--Batman, the Monkees, Buddy Holly, That Thing You Do!, whatever--and then direct my readers (yes, both of you) to Dan's site to enjoy more.

With the actual Boppin' Pop-A-Looza links now departed from this mortal realm, I've updated the original announcements with internal links to the individual Pop-A-Looza pieces as they appeared right here at Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do). For fans of my stuff--yes, both of you--this presents a deep, deep dive into my writings about everything from the Inferior Five to the Ramones to coffee. 

Let's BOP!

Dan Pavelich's rendition of two of my Boppin' Pop-A-Looza characters


Although Dan had warned me in the fall of 2022 that he was probably going to be shutting Pop-A-Looza down in short order, I don't think I realized my Everlasting First reminiscence of discovering Klaatu, the Knack, and the Knickerbockers was going to be the final Boppin' Pop-A-Looza. But it serves as a kind of fitting (if unwitting) coda to the experience, as its Boppin' blog announcement includes comments from Beau Charles of the Knickerbockers, who had responded to a previous Boppin' Pop-A-Looza about his great, underrated group's fantastic single "Lies." 

If not for Pop-A-Looza, I don't know if Beau would have ever seen my written appreciation of the Knickerbockers. Connection. I owe that specific connection to Dan Pavelich. It was an honor to be involved with Pop-A-Looza.

If you like what you see here on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), please consider a visit to CC's Tip Jar

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

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