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 # 1268
THE NON-PROPHETS: Alibi
We're as punched as pleased to welcome the Non-Prophets back to the TIRnRR playlist. The Non-Prophets are the dba of our bud Allan Kaplon, who scored some significant airplay here with his solo album Notes On A Napkin. Our Allan returns to the collective Non-Prophets billing for "Alibi." For this track, the Non-Prophets also include Stacy Carson and Bruce Gordon (half of TIRnRR Fave Raves Pop Co-Op), it's produced by Don Dixon, and it's a match made in Heaven's boppin' li'l nightspot. "Alibi" opens this week's show, and it will be back next week. We believe this particular "Alibi."
One Osmonds hit that I did enjoy contemporary to its chart life was 1971's "Down By The Lazy River." I was eleven years old, and it may have been the first instance of me realizing that I liked a song or group that wasn't considered cool, but I didn't care--I liked it anyway. There's your blueprint for my life, right there, the precursor of when I was in college a few years later, with a Bay City Rollers poster tacked on my dorm room wall as a conscious act of defiance (and of many decades proudly sneering in the face of any sucker who tried to tell me I couldn't love the Monkees). Get thee behind me, hipsters!
"Down By The Lazy River" is represented on the playlist by a faithful, rollickin' cover performed by TIRnRR superstars Wonderboy. Wonderboy's ace rendition appeared on the fantastic 2002 various-artists set Right To Chews: Bubblegum Classic Revisited, and it's also available as a digital single.
As experienced rockin' pop radio programmers, Dana and I know better than to shy away from a good segue, no matter how obvious the segue is. Sometimes the obvious choice is the unerringly proper choice. We pursued that notion in this week's show with a four-play of tambourine-related ditties by the Tambourine People, Johnny Johnson and the Bandwagon, the Lemon Pipers, and ABBA, and again a bit later in the playlist, as Dana's selection of Amy Rigby's coiffure-related cut "Bangs" compelled me to follow with the Cowsills' follicly-focused gem "Hair." We are SO damned clever.
By the same literal-minded token, it seemed imperative to tailgate the paradoxically righteous self-doubt of the Coolies' "Pathetica" with the Flashcubes' disdainful dismissal "Pathetic." The former was written by the late, great Kim Shattuck, and is native to the Coolies' certified great EP Uh-Oh! It's...The Coolies, the latter penned by 'Cubes guitarist Paul Armstrong and featured on the Flashcubes' 2003 album Brilliant. Opposing POVs, but they go great together.
(Speaking of the Flashcubes' "Pathetic:" A persistent rumor--if not quite the Rumour--suggests we can look forward to a newly-recorded cover of "Pathetic," courtesy of a British singer, songwriter, and performer of some note. We must note that rumour...er, rumor is not yet confirmed.)
ELVIS PRESLEY: Heartbreak Hotel
The Greatest Record Ever Made!
THE SPONGETONES: Nothing Really Matters When You're Young
As debuted on last week's show: The SpongeTones cover the Flashcubes. This track is not yet available to the general public. The same can be said of as-yet-unreleased Flashcubes covers by sparkle*jets u.k., the Kennedys, and Pop Co-Op, each of which we've already played here, and forthcoming dives into the Cubic songbook courtesy of such fabulous acts as...well, that would be telling. For now: [REDACTED]. But perhaps not redacted for very much longer. At some point, you've just gotta make something happen.
THE ON AND ONS: Been There
The On and Ons' new album Come On In is officially released this Friday, January 17th. Hey, Happy Birthday to ME!! I celebrate with pop music. And pop music from the On and Ons is for damned sure worth celebrating. Nonetheless: Get off my lawn, you kids.
20/20: King Of The Whole Wide World
20/20's new album Back To California is officially released this Friday, January 17th. Hey, another Happy Birthday to me! I am indeed worth it. The celebration continues. Hell, I guess the kids can stay on my lawn if they really want to.
THE RAMONES: I Don't Want To Grow Up
As I near the completion of my 65th solar orbit, my thoughts on the strange concept of Growing up...?! remain resolute and unchanged:
Don't want to.
Won't need to.
Ain't gonna.
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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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