10 SONGS: 5/18/2024

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 # 1233.

DUANE EDDY: (Dance With The) Guitar Man

The late, great Duane Eddy was a giant of rock 'n' roll guitar. His signature number "Rebel Rouser" closes out this week's show, but I also wanted to spin a less-recognized Eddy treat within our opening set. 

Duane Eddy built most of his legacy with twangy instrumentals. 1962's "(Dance With The) Guitar Man" sported sassy girl-group vocals by the Rebelettes, who were in reality sassy girl group the Blossoms. I knew the song from its use in a TV commercial for Rochester, NY's great, great House Of Guitars, but fantastic records don't care how you get to them. All that matters is the getting. Come on and dance.

THE MIDNIGHT CALLERS: Jumpin' Jack Flash

Last week's show offered our first taste of the forthcoming tribute album Jem Records Celebrates Jagger & Richards, debuting with king of power pop Paul Collins taking on the Rolling Stones' "Tell Me." This week, we have the Midnight Callers rising to the challenge of covering "Jumpin' Jack Flash." Remaking such an established classic rock tune can be a daunting task indeed, but our Midnight Callers cede not an inch while lookin' Mick and Keith straight in the eyes in pursuit of a gas-gas-gas-gas. It IS all right now! In fact...

...you know.

VEGAS WITH RANDOLPH: Triple Play: Saturday/Best Day/Rock Beside Me/Heartsick/Days & Days/Wheels Of Love/Every Time

Our radio program's built-in short attention span means this week is probably the only time we'll ever play this particular gem, but its single spin was totally, totally worth it.

"Triple Play" is a just-under-ten-minute song suite from The Future Store, the tres nifty new album by TIRnRR superstars Vegas With Randolph. Our playlists thrive on shorter song selections...but my gosh, "Triple Play" is just so, so cool. It's my immediate initial favorite on The Future Store; the very first time I heard it, I knew we had to--had to--make room for it on the next available playlist.

And we did! Such a swell-sounding track, our short attention span be damned. We'll hear another example of The Future Store's splendor on our next show.

HUNGRYTOWN: Tuesday Sun

The third teaser single from Hungrytown's forthcoming new album Circus For Sale builds upon the already-compelling stream of lush Americana heard in preceding sneak-peek tracks "Feel Like Falling" and especially "Another Year." If "lush Americana" seems like an oxymoron, imagine, say, Nanci Griffith produced by Brian Wilson, or Emmylou Harris fronting the Wondermints in a reflective mood. Or a more grounded Renaissance. 

None of these fantasy scenarios is truly descriptive of the Hungrytown sound, but I hope they kinda conjure a mental image of pretty pop music with blue-highway roots: Indie folk that's not afraid of a little bit of sheen. The sheen enhances its truth.

Circus For Sale is out June 21st. We'll hear more as its release date draws near. Satisfaction awaits you in Hungrytown.

SHADOWY MEN ON A SHADOWY PLANET: Exit From Vince Lombardi High

P. J. SOLES: Rock 'n' Roll High School

This two-fer serves as a de facto salute to the late B-movie king Roger Corman, whose many film credits include 1979's Rock 'n' Roll High School. The fact that the show was recorded before we heard of Corman's passing makes the tribute a coincidence, but no less sincere.

And we never need an excuse to celebrate Rock 'n' Roll High School. Given the fact that I routinely refer to the Ramones as the American Beatles, the greatest American rock 'n' roll band of all time, it falls waaaaaay short of revelatory for me to say, yeah, the Ramones' movie Rock 'n' Roll High School is one of my fave rave jukebox flicks. Duh. Most of the film was set at the fictional Vince Lombardi High School, so Dana's spin of "Exit From Vince Lombardi High" by Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet led inevitably into Riff Randall, Rock 'n' Roller, as played by actress P. J. Soles. 

SHONEN KNIFE: The KKK Took My Baby Away

THE RAMONES: I Don't Care

Demonstrating the mutant synergy of TIRnRR, Dana followed Riff Randall's "Rock 'n' Roll High School" with Osaka, Japan's phenomenal pop combo Shonen Knife covering the Ramones. Hey-HO! Shonen Knife's 2011 album Osaka Ramones is one of the best Ramones covers album, maybe THE best (though I do also have a great deal of affection for the easy-listening audacity of the Nutley Brass' Ramones Songbook). Osaka Ramones has been a reliable resource for many recent TIRnRR playlists. As it should be.

And I hadda segue that into the Ramones themselves. "I Don't Care." It's FUNNY! The KKK took my baby away? I don't care, man. I don't care. But we shouldn't take the title literally, at least not in this context. TIRnRR couldn't do whatever the hell it is TIRnRR does if we didn't care.

(And Dana concluded the above set with the Donnas covering Alice Cooper's "School's Out." I love this show.)

THE KINKS: Juke Box Music

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE FLASHCUBES: Make Something Happen

Two initial interviews done, a third initial interview scheduled next week. The book's publication is still a year away, but work on Make Something Happen! The DIY Story Of A Power Pop Band Called THE FLASHCUBES has officially begun.

No promise, no guara..no, scratch that. You got my promise. That's what making something happen! is all about.

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 book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones is 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