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 nine of its selections from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1271, with the tenth song offering a sneak peek at our next show.
Man, I was there. "Reminisce" captures what it was like.
With "Reminisce" setting the stage, we followed with two more irresistible tracks from Make Something Happen!, courtesy of two more of our Fave Raves. sparkle*jets u.k. give us a luxurious, inviting rendition of the album's title track (written by Gary Frenay), and the SpongeTones drop the mic with deliberate intent, flashing one specific finger at teen alienation with a defiantly confident victory lap through Arty Lenin's "Nothing Really Matters When You're Young." Man, if I weren't already such a big fan of the Flashcubes, sparkle*jets u.k., and the SpongeTones, these tracks would spontaneously generate fresh, full-on thralldom on their own merit.
You'll get your chance to hear the whole thing in all its Cubic splendor this September. when the mighty Big Stir Records releases this tribute to a DIY power pop band called the Flashcubes. You can read a (largely still redacted) early blueprint for the tribute album right here.
THE GRIP WEEDS: Flowers For Cynthia
One of the motivations driving my determination to do a Flashcubes tribute album is that all of the group's new recordings over the last twenty years have been covers. They've been superb covers, and I've been so delighted to have 'em, but they take focus away from the Flashcubes' prowess as songwriters. Last year, when I was discussing this still-secret Flashcubes tribute project with a (very) knowledgeable music biz person, he expressed surprise, saying, "Aren't the Flashcubes a cover band?" I can see how one could reasonably come to that conclusion. That made it all the more imperative to provide evidence of the power of the Flashcubes' original tunes.
Like the Flashcubes, the Grip Weeds' recent representation at retail has been all-covers. That status upgrades now, with the group's way ginchy new three-song digital EP Early Clues. And yeah yeah yeah, Beatle people, it is an early clue to the new direction, as it heralds the release of the all-new Grip Weeds album Soul Bender some time in 2025. From Early Clues, we plucked "Flowers For Cynthia" to add to TIRnRR's bountiful bouquet. More from Early Clues in the weeks ahead, and we can't wait to follow those clues all the way to Soul Bender.
THE HANDCUFFS: I Cry For You
From a previous 10 Songs back in 2022:
I first heard the pulse-poundin' prowess of drummer Brad Elvis when he was in the group Screams in the '70s, and subsequently when he was with the Elvis Brothers in the '80s. Later, I became a big fan of Big Hello, an ace combo that included Brad and his wife, super-powerhouse singer-guitarist Chloe F. Orwell. Brad 'n' Chloe eventually bid farewell to Big Hello to form their current team, the Handcuffs.
On this little mutant radio program, we've played Screams, the Elvis Brothers, Big Hello, the New Monkees covering the Elvis Brothers, Brad's other group the Romantics, and we've played tracks from each 'n' every one of the Handcuffs' previous albums, Model For A Revolution, Electroluv, and Waiting For The Robot, continuing through their most recent effort, Burn The Rails. Let's face it, we have a history with Handcuffs. That...doesn't sound right. But we dig the Handcuffs, and we play the Handcuffs.
2025 addendum: And we still do. The Burn The Rails gem "I Cry For You" has become my Handcuffs go-to. With Brad and Chloe, we have a proud tradition to uphold.
THE BECKIES: Song Called Love
I know of the Beckies, but I don't feel like I really know the Beckies. Famed in pop circles as the short-lived act that included the Left Banke's auteur Michael Brown--y'know, the guy who wrote "Walk Away, Renee"--the Beckies' only released album was their eponymous debut record in 1976. The Beckies is considered a lost classic, and I believe it's one of pop pundit David Bash's all-time tippy toppermost of the poppermost albums. I'm not sure that I've ever heard it. I tell ya, I think I owned a copy of it at some point in my vinyl-hoarding past, but I don't have it now and I don't recall ever listening to it. My loss.
Omnivore Records to the rescue! Not content to preserve my favorite album of the '90s (the Cowsills' Global), Omnivore has performed the additional public service of returning the Beckies to retail. Good To Know: The Beckies Story bolsters its reissue of the entirety of The Beckies with thirteen previously-unreleased demos. Writer and photographer Daniel Coston provides the vision and the liner notes, and I'm grateful for this opportunity to get to know this act that others have known for all these years.
SORROWS: Never Mind
My gosh, the new Sorrows album Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow is so, so good. Recorded in 1981, unheard until right now, is classic Sorrows, a peer (at the very least) to their superfine 1980 debut Teenage Heartbreak. I mean, the title track from Teenage Heartbreak should be a prerequisite consideration for anyone attempting a credible list of the best power pop of the '70s and '80s, and the material on Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow stands Beatle boot toe to Beatle boot toe with that. The new album's opening track "Never Mind" is my initial pick t'click, but I'll be immersing myself in Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow over the coming weeks.
(Rumors persist that there will also be at least one new Sorrows track--a cover--appearing later this year. In September, I'd say.)
SLYBOOTS: If We Could Let Go
Another spin of Slyboots' "If We Could Let Go," which was my favorite new track of 2024. Its plea for harmony feels especially urgent now, and I fear the goal is slipping ever more out of our reach.
But there are things we should hold on to nonetheless. We should hold on to our values, our love, our respect. Our hope. Our music.
And we should hold on to each other, while trying to let go of the things that drive us apart. Here's a song to accompany that effort. Hold on to what we can.
Let go of what we can't.
(And rumors persist that there there will be at least one new Slyboots track--a cover--appearing later this year. In September, I'd say. Hold on.)
THE HOLLIES: I Can't Let Go
The Greatest Record Ever Made!
ARTHUR CONLEY: Sweet Soul Music
This week's show was already programmed and recorded before official news broke that the Federal government will no longer recognize February as Black History Month. But I'm looking at a calendar right now, and the February page very clearly states "BLACK HISTORY MONTH," so I'm goin' with that. This Sunday, we'll have a special edition of TIRnRR, as This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio celebrates BLACK HISTORY MONTH. Say it loud. Say it proud. Arthur Conley's "Sweet Soul Music" will serve as our theme song. Do you like good music? Well, have we got a show for you.
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, and you can order an autographed copy here. You can still get my 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.
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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