10 SONGS: 8/10/2024

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 # 1245.

COLMAN GOTA: Don't Stop Playing Guitar

"Don't stop playing guitar." Good advice, and it's good advice even if you're as crappy 'n' inept a player as I am. Rephrase it as "Don't stop honing your skills or mode of expression," and it's a freaking credo. Sing. Act. Write. Paint. Pencil. Photograph. Sculpt. Design. Build. Create. 

And don't stop.

Don't Stop Playing Guitar also serves as an apt title for a snappy new album from guitar-pop maestro Colman Gota. We open this week's shindig with Colman's titular statement of intent, and revel in the sheer thrill of doing. Play on, Colman. Play on.

SLYBOOTS: Blindsided

I confess I had not heard of NYC group Slyboots before May of this year, when we received (and programmed) their ace cover of Meat Puppets' "Oh, Me." A subsequent deeper dip into the Slyboots songbook yielded "Blindsided," an irresistible track from 2023 that stands a fair shot of making our year-end countdown of TIRnRR's most-played tracks in 2024. Luxurious and irresistible, "Blindsided" will continue its march to the countdown this Sunday night. 

THE BEACH BOYS: That's Why God Made The Radio

Yep.

DOLENZ, JONES, BOYCE AND HART: I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight

The Monkees usually get a spin in each week's TIRnRR playlist, but this week their too-busy-singing-to-put-anybody-down slot is instead occupied by Monkees tangent Dolenz, Jones, Boyce and Hart. DJB&H was the 1970s collaboration between actual Monkees Micky Dolenz and Davy Jones and frequent Monkees songwriters Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart. The guys who sang 'em and the guys who wrote 'em! The group did one studio album and one import live album, and both albums were combined in 2022 for a 2-CD reissue courtesy of 7a Records.

From the live disc, we offer a lively in-concert rendition of "I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight," Boyce and Hart's biggest hit as performers. I love Tommy and Bobby's hit studio version, but I love the song even more with Micky and Davy helping out. 

THE RAMONES: Babysitter

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE COWSILLS: She Said To Me

With the publication of my long-threatened book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1), it seemed a fine idea to play one of the tracks I discuss in that book. In a recent interview I did on the book's behalf, journalist Jeff Tamarkin asked me why I picked "She Said To Me"-- a relatively obscure song from the Cowsills' 1998 album Global-- to represent that group's splendor, rather than one of their big '60s hits (like "The Rain, The Park And Other Things"). I replied in part:

"Addressing a well-known act’s grooves less traveled can be its own best reward. It’s not hipsterism; I despise hipsterism. It’s just a deeper dive, best realized without snark or derision. I love the Cowsills’ earlier work, especially 'Hair' and 'Love American Style.' The Global stuff enhances my affection for what came before. Like I say about the Monkees’ box office dud Head: It’s the grit that gives the cotton candy substance...."

You can read the whole interview here. (And Jeff later mentioned how much he loves the Cowsills' 2022 album Rhythm Of The World, but that Global somehow escaped his notice until now. Any record you ain't heard is a new record.)

BALLZY TOMORROW: Double Our Numbers

We have said this many times, yet it bears repeating: Enthusiasm is its own reward.

Enthusiasm drives our individual fandom, and I mean that in a good way. It certainly drives this little mutant radio show. Sure, there can be something said on behalf of detached objectivity...but ferchrissakes not in pop music, or at least not when we're listening to pop music. Objectivity? No. Not on our watch.

Robbie Rist occasionally feigns detachment, but he's never afraid to let his enthusiasm be known. Robbie loves pop as much as anyone loves pop; he loves it unashamedly, proudly. As a performer, Robbie will not hesitate to share his own enthusiasm with the audience

Case in point: Robbie Rist loves the music of Parthenon Huxley, particularly the music on Parthenon Huxley's 1988 album Sunny Nights, and most particularly the Sunny Nights track "Double Our Numbers."

Robbie is right about all of that. "Double Our Numbers" is exquisite, and the subject of one of my Greatest Record Ever Made! rants (and a seeming shoo-in for the hypothetical GREM! Volume 2). The song never became the rockin' pop staple it deserved to be, and I don't think it's available on any current streaming service.

So Robbie's kept the song alive, with a faithful rendition released under his Ballsy Tomorrow dba, all the while tipping his hat and dutifully applying heart to sleeve in recognition of Parthenon Huxley's original.

If you love a song, you wanna play that song, sing that song, dance to that song. And you want to introduce that song to your friends. 

Double our numbers. Triple our numbers. Robbie Rist has the right idea. Greater strength in numbers. Enthusiasm rewards and renews.  

THE RUBINOOS: Honey From The Honeycombs

THE HONEYCOMBS: Have I The Right

When we saw the Rubinoos a couple of weeks ago--and again: DREAM COME TRUE!--their live set included "Honey From The Honeycombs," a track from the Rubinoos' 2019 album From Home, and an irresistible tribute to Honey Lantree, drummer for '60s British Invasion combo the Honeycombs. Abuzz in the afterglow of live Rubinoos, it was therefore inevitable that our next playlist would have to include a two-fer of "Honey From The Honeycombs" into the Honeycombs' own classic "Have I The Right." That's OUR right. Take it, Honey!

(And, although I've written two Greatest Record Ever Made! essays about the Rubinoos ["I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" and "Wouldn't It Be Nice"], I am way, way overdue to cast the ol' GREM! spotlight on "Have I The Right." I'll get to it. Come right back!)

sparkle*jets u.k.: You Complete Me

The current sparkle*jets u.k. album Box Of Letters is so good, just so, so good. "You Complete Me" is the fifth different Box Of Letters to secure TIRnRR airplay so far, and a sixth will find its way into this Sunday's radio party. Yeah, enthusiasm is its own reward. 

It completes us.

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

My new book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) is now available for order; you can see details here. My 2023 book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones is also still available, courtesy of the good folks at Rare Bird Books. 

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