This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio is simply too large a concept to be neatly contained within a mere three-hour weekly time slot. Hence these occasional fake TIRnRR playlists, detailing shows we're never really going to do...but could.
Today's imaginary playlist is a salute to songs that fell within my very broad concept of punk and new wave circa 1977-1980, when I was a college student. In the Spring of '77, when I was nearing the end of my sentence in high school, Phonograph Record Magazine hooked me on the concept of punk, and hearing the Sex Pistols' "God Save The Queen" on the radio that summer just made me want to hear more. No future? Wrong conclusion. For me, this was indeed the future, and I wanted in.
Beginning in college that fall, I got to hear more of punk and its periphery, a periphery not yet widely referred to as new wave. I discovered the sounds of the Ramones, Blondie, Television, the Adverts, Richard Hell and the VoidOids, Talking Heads, and so many others. I bought 45s of "God Save The Queen" and "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker," the latter to become without a doubt the record that changed my life. My girlfriend gave me Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols for Christmas. In January I saw the Flashcubes for the first time. I still loved my oldies, my British Invasion and Monkees and Paul Revere and the Raiders. I saw punk as the natural-born cousin to all of that. I still do.
Looking at the songs listed below, it's easy to protest that Elvis Costello or the Rubinoos or Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers weren't punk. At the time, I can assure they felt a part of this new wave I was so intent upon surfin'. Power pop was part of it, too. Your definition of punk has no bearing here; this was my definition as a teen seeking salvation and liberation in the sound of rock 'n' roll. Punk? It was punk if I said it was punk.
So never mind the bollocks. Here are my school days, and what punk and new wave meant to me.
This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl--y'know, the real one--airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, and on the web at http://sparksyracuse.org/ 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.
Volume 1: download
Volume 2: CD or download
Volume 3: download
Volume 4: CD or download
Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio: CD or download
http://sparksyracuse.org/support/
Fake TIRnRR Playlist: SCHOOL DAYS! What punk and new wave meant to me when I was in college (1977-1980)
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