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.
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| Kidd Video did not make our countdown. But their bass player did. |
This week's edition of 10 Songs draws exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1266: The Countdown Show. These are TIRnRR's ten most-played tracks in 2024, and the individual entries are reprised from previous 10 Songs features.
10. THE GRIP WEEDS: Lady Friend
The Grip Weeds' 2022 covers album DiG offers the enduring reward of New Jersey's Phenomenal Pop Combo taking on a splendid array of classics and obscurities alike. The standard single-disc version of DiG finds the Grip Weeds mining nuggets previously, um...dug by Paul Revere and the Raiders, the Zombies, the Velvet Underground, the Knickerbockers, the Rolling Stones, and more; the double-disc edition adds (among others) the Monkees, the Beatles, the Turtles, and Frosty's "Organ Grinder's Monkey." There's even a three-disc version, so, y'know, buy that. Whatever it takes: Get a GRIP!
TIRnRR's top DiG has been this sublime cover of the Byrds' "Lady Friend." It was # 6 on our 2022 Countdown, # 9 in 2023, and it hangs in at # 10 for 2024. Here it comes again.
9. THE GRIP WEEDS: Strange Bird
Hey, a chance to hear a TIRnRR classic again for the first time! The Grip Weeds' original version of "Strange Bird" was the B-side of a single released in Germany, later re-recorded for the group's album The Sound Is In You. The Grip Weeds also gave us an exclusive remix/retweak of the original single for our 2017 compilation This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 4 (a tale told here, and you can still get that CD here and its download edition here).
And now, the Grip Weeds have recorded brand-new versions of both "Strange Bird" and its original A-side "She Brings The Rain," offered in a teaser EP in advance of their forthcoming album. We're told the tracks will not be on the album, so grab 'em now. Strange birds of the world, UNITE!
8. LEATHER CATSUIT: Can't Get You Off My Mind
Leather Catsuit's "Can't Get You Off My Mind" comes equipped with a title that mirrors my opinion of the track: I can't get it off my mind. I don't wanna get it off my mind. It's pop music! I wanna hear it again and again.
7. SLYBOOTS: Blindsided
Ace NYC combo Slyboots made their TIRnRR debut in May, with a spin of their recent cover of Meat Puppets' "Oh, Me." All well 'n' groovy. Now, we dig a little bit deeper for a way swell Slyboots original called "Blindsided." "Blindsided" was released last summer, but you know the drill:
Any record you ain't heard is a new record.
And, new or old, we're delighted to hear this record. We'll hear it again.
(Worth noting: Slyboots' subsequent single "If We Could Let Go" made it to # 15 on our countdown, and it is my favorite new track of 2024.)
6. JUNIPER: Baby Doll
Our worlds collide. In a good way! From her absolutely wonderful 2023 album She Steals Candy, teen sensation and TIRnRR Fave Rave Juniper covers another TIRnRR Fave Rave, Amy Rigby. And Juniper does a mighty fine job of it, too, fortifying the world-weary shrug of Amy's original with a post-adolescent patina of quiet, simmering pissed-offedness. Both versions are equally mature, and in either case the listener really, really wants to track down the clueless would-be Lothario and swat him with extreme prejudice.
Would serve him right. Bastard!
5. CARLA OLSON AND TALL POPPY SYNDROME: Is It True
As pop fans, when we listen to multiple versions of the same song, we often develop an allegiance to the version that hooked us first. So even the combined forces of Carla Olson and Tall Poppy Syndrome may face long odds in trying to pry my devotion away from Brenda Lee with their new cover of our Brenda's 1964 single "Is It True."
"Is It True" is far and away my favorite Brenda Lee track. It wasn't a hit in America, and I didn't hear it until Rhino Records included "Is It True" in the fabulous 2005 various-artists boxed set One Kiss Can Lead To Another: Girl Group Sounds Lost And Found. This amazing 4-CD compilation is like the Nuggets of the '60s girl-group sound, and Brenda Lee's "Is It True" is one of its absolute highlights. I adored the song immediately, and have never stopped loving it.
So my gosh, Carla and her Tall Poppy comrades deserve mega accolades for holding their own here. It's not just that their "Is It True" is accomplished and well-performed--I would have expected nothing less from that level of talent--it's that the elusive mojo is there. You believe them. I believe them. I'm not prepared to relinquish my torch for Brenda Lee's original, but I'm very happy to say that I now have two go-to versions of "Is It True." Is it true? Yep. I'll testify to that under oath.
4. ELENA ROGERS: I Feel Alive
This is so good. Elena Rogers first entered TIRnRR's sovereign air space on a recommendation from pop giant Jamie Hoover. Jamie's been working with the young singer for a few years, he's clearly (and understandably) knocked out by her talent and musical prowess, and he would kindly like the world at large to wake the hell up and get hip to Elena Rogers awready.
Elena's 2024 single "I Feel Alive" is her best track yet, ambitious and audacious in its approach while remaining absolutely, unerringly pop. During Jamie's 2023 appearance on the way-swell Only Three Lads podcast, our esteemed Mr. Hoover promised a new Elena Rogers album in '24. That album was Prelude To Whatever, and its first advance single "I Feel Alive" ratcheted up the anticipation.
Can you feel it?
In a recent email to some musicians, I made a passing reference to Elena Rogers as "insanely talented." That is, if anything, selling her short.
3. THE CYNZ: Woman Child
This little mutant radio show has demonstrated its pervasive and prevailing interest in the music of the Cynz. We love 'em. We play 'em. We're fans.
Given the above truths, I think it means even more when I say the current Cynz single "Woman Child" just might be the best thing they've done yet. "Woman Child" offers further empirical evidence of their essential asskickin' capability. Bless us, Lord. We have CYNZ!
2. PAUL COLLINS: I'm The Only One For You
One of the new albums I was most looking forward to hearing this year was Stand Back And Take A Good Look, courtesy of power pop king Paul Collins and the intrepid Jem Records label. I've been a Paul Collins fan since I was in college in the late '70s, listening to his work with the Nerves, the Breakaways, and his own subsequent combo the Beat, aka the Paul Collins Beat. The Beat's 1979 debut LP is an acknowledged classic of power pop, and Paul's "Walking Out On Love" was among the tracks celebrated in my 2024 book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). Power pop fan? That's MY beat!
Based on a spin of the album's first single "I'm The Only One For You" (recorded alongside another power pop great, the late Dwight Twilley), it was immediately clear that this record was gonna kick what needed kickin'. Can't stop the beat, man. Can't stop the beat.
1. WONDERBOY: Girl Songs
The Greatest Record Ever Made!
I can't even tell you how much I love "Girl Songs" by Wonderboy. Recorded in the '90s, finally released just a few years back, this exuberant embrace of the transcendent act of swooning over chicks is like the TIRnRR mindset in microcosm. It was unchallenged as our # 1 most-played track in 2024. To paraphrase country singer Beyoncé: Who run the world? GIRL SONGS!
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Before we go, we wanna say a few words about our # 11 most-played track in 2024: "Make Something Happen" by Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse the Flashcubes. Let's start with these few words about an already-announced project, then circle back for a few more words about an as-yet-unannounced project
"Make something happen?" Okeydokey! I'm in the very early stages of writing a new book about Power Pop Hall of Famers the Flashcubes. The book's working (and probable official) title is Make Something Happen! The DIY Story Of A Power Pop Band Called THE FLASHCUBES, and the project was initiated by the Flashcubes themselves. Well, I'M in!
And when I say "early stages," I mean it, man. I've had a couple of planning meetings with members of the 'Cubes, and I've begun trying to find and learn appropriate tech to record and transcribe interviews. My next task is to write a one-sheet on the book's behalf, and then to start talking to the Flashcubes and their entourage. It's all very exciting, and we hope to bring the book to retail by the Summer of 2025. From the book's first public announcement:
"This will be an oral history of the band, with personal stories related by the 'Cubes themselves--Tommy Allen, Paul Armstrong, Gary Frenay, and Arty Lenin--discussing their roots as rockin' pop fans in the '60s and '70s, their formation in the punk rock crucible of 1977, their frenzied live shows with the Ramones, the Runaways, the Police, the Jam, David Johansen, Joe Jackson, the Scruffs, the Romantics, Artful Dodger, 999, and more, their irresistible original songs, their indie 45s, their demo tapes, their breakup at the end of the '70s, and the subsequent recognition that the Flashcubes were a legit power pop legend. This growing awareness and celebration reunited the Flashcubes in the '90s, culminating in their award-winning 2023 album Pop Masters.
"In Make Something Happen!, the Flashcubes story will also be told by eyewitnesses: Fans, fellow musicians, industry insiders, and maybe the occasional drunken pogo dancer yelling out GOT NO MIND!, or swooning to 'Christi Girl,' vowing to wait till next week, it'll be all right. This is the first-hand story of Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse, a band that thrived under bright lights of their own invention."
More details to come. Oh, rest assured there will be more details to come. As I've written elsewhere: I think everyone knows that I'm possibly the world's most insistent Flashcubes fan. The Flashcubes are my favorite power pop band, they rank with the Beatles and the Ramones in the troika of my top rock 'n' roll groups, and I've long wished they enjoyed the sort of mass notoriety and adulation I think they deserve. "Make Something Happen" was first recorded by Gary Frenay's post-Flashcubes band Screen Test in the '80s, then recorded again by the reunited 'Cubes for their 2003 album Brilliant. It's a hit record, no matter how few the number of people who've heard it.
And it makes a dandy title for a book about the Flashcubes.
"Make something happen."
Good advice.
BUT WAIT...! There's more....
I'm targeting the book's tentative publication date for September of this year. It will be accompanied by a companion project, something we've hinted at but not yet acknowledged on record. That project remains [REDACTED], but it's coming in September from Big Stir Records. [REDACTED] just so happens to involve a number of acts who made this year's TIRnRR countdown, including Slyboots, Librarians With Hickeys, sparkle*jets u.k., Pop Co-Op, Wonderboy's Robbie Rist, the Flashcubes themselves, and (we're hoping) Carla Olson, plus more TIRnRR Fave Raves like the Kennedys, Sorrows, Chris von Sneidern, Jim Basnight and Beth Peabody, Tom Kenny, and others we can't name quite yet.
But we will. Hell, let's name one more right now: The SpongeTones. We'll hear their [REDACTED] contribution on the radio in Syracuse this Sunday night. It's all part of this rewarding business of making something happen.
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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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