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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This week's edition of 10 Songs draws exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1285
JILL SOBULE: Someone's Gonna Break Your Heart
As we mourn the passing of Jill Sobule, the commentary accompanying this week's posted playlist wondered out loud why TIRnRR hasn't played more--a lot more--of Jill Sobule's music over the years. "Someone's Gonna Break Your Heart" is a prime example of the sort of sublime rockin' pop splendor this show favors; I can't offer any excuse for the fact that I've owned the track (from Sobule's 2000 album Pink Pearl) for a quarter of a century, yet we didn't program it until now.
But we're playing it now, and we'll play it again on our next show. No shortage of broken hearts, not then, not now, nor in any direction going forward. Godspeed, Ms. Sobule.
GRAHAM PARKER AND THE GOLDTOPS: Last Stretch Of The Road
I've been digging the music of Graham Parker since I was in high school, when WOUR-FM in Utica, NY started playing "Hotel Chambermaid." That was almost five decades ago, meaning my interest in GP predates my subsequent thralldom to the Rubinoos, the Ramones, and the Flashcubes.
The esteemed Mr. Parker has a brand-new, as-yet unreleased track we hope to play for you within the next few weeks. I've heard a work-in-progress mix, it's flippin' fantastic, and I can't wait for the moment when you'll be able to hear it.
Meanwhile, we play "Last Stretch Of The Road," the de facto title track from Graham Parker and the Goldtops' 2023 album Last Chance To Learn The Twist. Last chance? Man, we're just getting started.
THE BONGOS: In The Congo
Although I can't claim to have been a fan of the Bongos for quite as long as I've been into Graham Parker, it's only about a five-year discrepancy, still totaling nearly 45 years since a couple of tracks on a various-artists live compilation called Start Swimming served as my introduction to the wonderful world of the Bongos.
The Bongos' tracks on Start Swimming were "Telephoto Lens" and "In The Congo," and the studio versions on their first album Drums Along The Hudson remain my top two Bongotunes. Both are represented on the new archival live album The Shroud Of Touring--Live In 1985, due out soon from everyone's friends Jem Records, and we spin that in-your-face in-concert "In The Congo" on this week's show. We'll hear another Shroud Of Touring selection on the radio this coming Sunday night. We are, in fact, gonna glow in the dark that night. Glow with us!
NELSON BRAGG: We're Gonna Laugh About It
A new single from long-time TIRnRR Fave Rave Nelson Bragg? Yeah, we're playing that for sure. Our man Nelson's tenure playing with Brian Wilson serves him well on his luxurious new confection "We're Gonna Laugh About It," and we've now learned that this perfect li'l pet sound will be on a cool new Nelson Bragg anthology called Mèlodie De Nelson: A Pop Anthology. HuzZAH! We're not laughing. We're CHEERING!
How to build nonpareil rock 'n' roll radio playlists, Lesson One: Know what works and, y'know, do that. In this example of better radio through better radio, Dana followed my spin of Nelson Bragg's "We're Gonna Laugh About It" with Sonny (of Sonny and Cher) warblin' his amiable 1965 protest single "Laugh At Me." As one does if one is a superior radio programmer like Dana.
I love that track, but I don't recall hearing Sonny's original until many years after the fact. In place of Mr. Bono, my initial exposure to "Laugh At Me" came from witnessing America's Coolest Band the Skeletons cover it in their live sets in the early '90s. In programming this week's show, that specific Sonny-to-Skeletons connection compelled me to respond to Dana's pick with the Skeletons' own original 1980 protest single "Trans Am." That, in turn, prompted Dana to say that he'd almost played the Skeletons' studio cover of "Laugh At Me" instead of Sonny's. Serendipity at work, my friends. Superior playlist achieved. Plenty of laughter in that ol' Trans Am.
THE RAMONES: Here Today, Gone Tomorrow
From the previous piece "Chewin' Out A Rhythm On My Bubblegum: My 25 Favorite Ramones Tracks:"
We don't generally think of the Ramones as balladeers. But the Ramones were raised on AM Top 40 radio when AM Top 40 was fantastic, bred by the sounds of girl groups, British Invasion, Motown, garage, bubblegum, rock, and pop. Ballads were part of that environment.
And the Ramones were--perhaps incongruously--great at ballads. That should not be true...but it is. I'm not much for power ballads myself. But Ramones power ballads? The Ramones made power ballads cool.
We got a new album out. It's called Rocket To Russia. This one's called "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow."
With Dee Dee's count-in following Joey's introduction, the first time I heard "Here Today. Gone Tomorrow" was when the Ramones played it at my first Ramones live show. Stunning, and a remarkably effective slow burn amidst the fast-loud-rules of the Blitzkrieg Boppin' and Cretin Hoppin' that surrounded it in concert.
By then, I think I'd already read Greg Shaw's rave about the song in the pages of Bomp! magazine. Hearing it live delivered on Shaw's promise, and the studio track lived up to it. The Ramones as balladeers. Someone had to pay the price.
It was worth it.
THE FIVE STAIRSTEPS: O-o-h Child
The Greatest Record Ever Made!
THE FLASHCUBES: If These Hands
As we settle everything into its perfect Cubic place for Big Stir Records' forthcoming various-artists set Make Something Happen! A Tribute To A DIY Power Pop Band Called THE FLASHCUBES, we've been treating our lucky listeners to serial advance immersions in itty-bitty teases of this fabulous record's bounty. This week's show includes spins of Make Something Happen! tracks by Librarians With Hickeys and Chris von Sneidern, our next show will debut new Flashcubes covers by the Mayflowers and the Peppermint Kicks, and there's way more bright-lights brilliance to come. I may have suggested a Rumour of one as-yet-unrevealed Make Something Happen! participant earlier in today's post.
At our beggin...er, our request, the Flashcubes have contributed three newly-recorded tracks to Make Something Happen! Each of those fresh gems--Paul Armstrong's "Reminisce," Gary Frenay's "The Sweet Spot," and Arty Lenin's "If These Hands"--will also be issued as digital singles, prepping an eager power pop world for the album's September release. It's all happening!
BARON DAEMON AND THE VAMPIRES: The Transylvania Twist
I've spoken elsewhere of the importance of Syracuse television personality Mike Price, particularly in his role as our beloved 1960s local TV vampire Baron Daemon. His single "The Transylvania Twist" (credited to Baron Daemon and the Vampires) earned a chapter in my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1), I did a video about it, and Price's death last week marks the loss of yet another cherished part of my childhood. I wrote about that here. And it's worth repeating this portion from the introduction of my GREM! book's chapter about "The Transylvania Twist:"
"My home town of Syracuse, NY is best known for its snowfall, its college basketball, and its foolproof plan to turn the area into a tourist Mecca by building a really big shopping mall where a bunch of oil tanks used to squat. What could possibly go wrong?
"But in the early 1960s, Syracuse gave the world Baron Daemon, the willfully goofy TV vampire host of Baron Daemon's Buddies on Channel 9. Believe me, if you were a kid around here at that time, Baron Daemon was as big as the Beatles to you.
"In the fifties and sixties, many local markets had their own flamboyant vampire kiddie TV host. Only Syracuse had Baron Daemon. From 1962 to 1967, the Baron and his cohorts cavorted in televised escapades and performed schtick between cartoons and Flash Gordon serial adventures, live (or undead) from the Channel 9 studio in the basement of the Shoppingtown shopping center. Every kid in Syracuse was a fan of Baron Daemon...."
And as I added last week:
"Today, Syracuse mourns its favorite vampire. Mike Price had a long and successful career with Channel 9, racking up a résumé that went far beyond just the bloody Baron. But the Baron could never be just a footnote. The Baron was too big for that.
"Our area has produced its share of stars, from Richard Gere to Tom Kenny, David Muir, and so many more. They're all great, and we're proud they came from the 315. But Syracuse has never produced a bigger star than Baron Daemon...
"...This bloody buddy will never forget you."
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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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