This week, I wrote another chapter for a potential novel called Meet The Frantiks! It's a dirty story about a dirty man...wait, that's not it. It's a relatively clean story about a middle-aged widow remembering an obscure TV sitcom she loved when she was a little girl in 1965, especially the show's two-part episode featuring a concocted-for-television British Invasion beat combo called the Frantiks. Magic, loss, and other hijinks ensue. It was 1965. Anything could happen in 1965.
I've now written four chapters in this story, and while it remains to be seen whether or not I'll be able to apply the force of will to turn these nascent notions into a novel...it is possible. Shortly after I wrote this fourth chapter, the novel's end came to mind. The ideas aren't properly focused yet. But I have a beginning, and I have the beginning of an ending. I am also remarkably stubborn. That can be (and often is) a very bad personal characteristic.
But it can come in handy when you're trying to get something done.
I have now published two books, Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones and The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1), both nonfiction, with three other nonfiction books (and one other novel and a short story anthology) in progress. This year it was also my great pleasure to help proofread a pair of accomplished and rewarding novels written by a pair of accomplished and rewarding associates, A Breath Of Fresh Air (A Transplant Tale) by my friend Dave Murray and Shy by my brother-in-law Tony Dees. Stunning works. I have a large number of other talented writers (and artists, and photographers, and filmmakers, and musicians, et al.) within my circle of pals and (I hope) peers. I'm honored to be in such company, thrilled to be in contact with so many creative minds across the arts, from the written word to the captured image to the manipulation of sound to bring music into this world. We all shine on.
And so do you.
Sing your song. Paint your masterpiece. Craft the great American haiku. Hell, do a radio show. Identify your Polaris and welcome its guidance, follow its glow, seek its remote warmth and draw it as near as a star can dare to be. Be stubborn if you have to. But be open to the spark--the art--of life as it happens along your path.
I...don't know where any of the above just came from. I suspect my Polaris has been drinking. But that's okay. We have some records to play, and we invite you to listen with us. One inspiration can lead to another. This is what rock 'n' roll radio sounded like on another Sunday night in Syracuse this week.
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 all about this show's long and weird history here: Boppin' The Whole Friggin' Planet (The History Of THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO).
TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS are always welcome.
Carl's new book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) is now available, and you can order an autographed copy here. You can still get Carl's previous book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones from publisher Rare Bird Books, OR an autographed copy here. If you like the books, please consider leaving a rating and/or review at the usual online resources.
KIRSTY MacCOLL: They Don't Know (IRS, Galore)
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