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.
.jpg)
This week's edition of 10 Songs draws exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1284
CHRIS VON SNEIDERN: No Promise
Peerless pop performer Chris von Sneidern is an expatriate Central New Yorker--315 represent!--and he's been on each of the five This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio compilation albums: "Lonely Tonight" and a TIRnRR show ID on Volume 1, another show ID on Volume 2, yet another show ID on Volume 3, "Insomniac Summer" on Volume 4, and "Goodnight Sailor" on Volume 5. CVS is nothing short of an international treasure, and we are honored that he's allowed us to share his wonderful, wonderful work.
Given his firsthand local boy familiarity with Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse the Flashcubes, Chris was an obvious and prerequisite choice to include in the forthcoming album Make Something Happen! A Tribute To A DIY Power Pop Band Called THE FLASHCUBES. And man, our Chris does not disappoint. He took on the tribute's most daunting task: A cover of my favorite Flashcubes song, "No Promise."
"No Promise" was written by 'Cubes bassist Gary Frenay. We included the Flashcubes' demo version of "No Promise" on This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 4 (as discussed here), and the official version from the group's Bright Lights anthology earned its own chapter in my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). One suspects that I kinda like the song.
Chris von Sneidern's cover nails it. Drop the freakin' mic awready. And it reinforces my belief that Make Something Happen! is destined to be one of this year's best collections.
That is a promise.
Family night at TIRnRR! From Joe Giddings' ace current record Stories With Guitars, we've been playing this way fab track "Tonite Tonite" with the saturation bombardment approach you should expect from a proper rockin' pop radio show. The esteemed Mr. Giddings has also given us a superb cover of Flashcubes guitarist Arty Lenin's "You're Not Grounded" for the above-extolled Make Something Happen! project. You can safely consider us in favor of all things Giddings.
Joe recently posted that his daughter Maddy Maclaine has a new single out. Intriguing! The single is "So What?," we did our due diligence in tracking down a copy for airplay, and we hereby declare it go'geous. Go'geous! The Giddings blood line runs true.
PERILOUS: Dear Heart
A new single from Perilous...?! Oh YEAH! "Dear Heart" may be the group's most flat-out POP!! record yet, sacrificing none of their CBGB's-level passion and drive while committing to a head-over-heels swoon into the arms of, y'know, swooning. Production by TIRnRR Fave Rave Kurt Reil adds extra dollops of gravitas, and we're all eager to swoon right along. This "Dear Heart" beats again on our next show.
THE GRIP WEEDS: Gene Clark (Broken Wing)
Speaking of the mighty Kurt Reil, his own phenomenal pop combo the Grip Weeds also have a new single out, further teasing the presumed magnificence of their forthcoming album Soul Bender. Given how much airplay this little mutant radio show has allotted to the Grip Weeds' cover of the Byrds' "Lady Friend," it's a given that we'll likewise wanna spin an original Grip Weeds gem that name-checks the Byrds' Gene Clark. Byrdseriffic! We can not wait to go on a Soul Bender ourselves.
THE ROLLING STONES: Happy
The Greatest Record Ever Made!
THE SPONGETONES: Nothing Really Matters When You're Young
Although Make Something Happens!'s track sequence is still subject to much further tweaking, the Spongetones' cover of Arty Lenin's "Nothing Really Matters When You're Young" remains the likely closing track. How could it not be? As we exult in the legacy of the Flashcubes and how much their music has meant to me over a span of nearly five decades, I dig the flow and symmetry of opening the album with the new Flashcubes track "Reminisce" (written by 'Cubes guitarist Paul Armstrong) and barreling our way to "Nothing Really Matters When You're Young" at the end. Reminisce. Nothing Really Matters When You're Young. Look back. Reflect. And rock out with fist raised.
A great album's final track has to be as irresistible as a great album's first track. Mission accomplished here.
THE NEW BRUTARIANS: Born Out Of Time
A recent episode of The Spoon podcast introduced us to St. Petersburg, Florida group the New Brutarians. We figured we can't go wrong copying The Spoon and grabbed latest New Brutarians single "Born Out Of Time" for our own selfish playlist-stuffin' purposes. Listen, these three-hour weekly radio shows don't just fill themselves, people. "Born Out Of Time" carries the added approved-by-TIRnRR patina of drummin' and productionin' by The Spoon's overhost Robbie Rist, though we credited those respective roles on air to Oliver Martin and David Baxter. Let's face it: We're too cute and clever for all but a select few words. Sadly, we can't say most of those words on the radio.
Brutal.
MIKE GENT: Pathetic [work-in-progress mix]
Mike Gent of the Figgs is working on a very special contribution to Make Something Happen!, and he allowed us to play his work-in-progress cover of Flashcubes guitarist Paul Armstrong's song "Pathetic."
The finished version of Mike's track will sport a lead vocal by a noted rock 'n' roll artist whose work I've enjoyed since I was still in high school. I have also heard a subsequent work-in-progress mix with that lead vocal in place, and the result lives up to all of my giddy expectations. Or, as Paul Armstrong hisself noted, "It's unreal hearing [REDACTED] FUCKING [REDACTED] sing a song I wrote!"
We're not quite ready to address the Rumour of this secret guest singer's identity. Though sometimes I feel like pouring it all out.
Passion is no ordinary word.
CALLAN FOSTER: It's You Tonight
It's tempting to say that Callan Foster's epic take on Gary Frenay's "It's You Tonight" was one of the precipitating events that made Make Something Happen! happen. That's not exactly true--the vague idea of maybe someday doing a Flashcubes tribute album predates Callan's one-man-'Cubes cover--but his version and its accompanying video blew me away. And it provided instant validation of my belief that a Flashcubes tribute album was viable and necessary.
And now we are making it happen. Thanks, Callan! It's you tonight.
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment