MAKE SOMETHING HAPPEN! Continuing to tweak the FLASHCUBES tribute album

As we edge toward finishing off the master for Big Stir Records' forthcoming collection Make Something Happen! A Tribute To A DIY Power Pop Band Called THE FLASHCUBES, it's increasingly clear that this is gonna be an absolutely kickass compilation. We start with great material--a selection of songs written by my favorite power pop group the Flashcubes--put 'em in the hands of fave rave acts who know their own bright-lights magic and how to conjure with it, and brilliance results. Add three brand-new tracks by the Flashcubes themselves, and by God, we are indeed making something happen. 

We've been slowly revealing more and more specifics about what artists will be on the album, and what Flashcubes gems they've covered. We've been rolling them out a little at a time on This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, including debut spins of Make Something Happen! tracks by Sorrows, the Choosers, and Librarians With Hickeys over the last two weeks, along with our second and third new Flashcubes track reveals in the same time frame. This Sunday night, we'll debut Chris von Sneidern's "No Promise" and Callan Foster's "It's You Tonight," and we'll reprise previous Make Something Happen! spins of the Flashcubes' "The Sweet Spot" and the Spongetones' "Nothing Really Matters When You're Young."

And I tell ya: It's all I can do to restrain myself from playing all of 'em in one show. This is some great rockin' pop stuff, and I'm proud to have my small part in helping to make this particular something happen.

Sunday's show will also feature a work-in-progress mix of another track from Make Something Happen!, as Mike Gent of the Figgs delivers a great cover of the 'Cubes perennial "Pathetic." Mike is working with another artist on this one, and that secret surprise artist's lead vocal contribution is gonna make "Pathetic" even greater. Not quite ready to reveal that artist's identity just yet, but we'll drop some pretty direct clues when we introduce Mike's early mix of "Pathetic" on the show Sunday night.

I've been tweaking the album's track order, mindful of having one song apiece by 'Cubes bassist Gary Frenay and guitarists Paul Armstrong and Arty Lenin in each three-song sequence. This isn't the final line-up, but here's what we're looking at right now:

1. THE FLASHCUBES: Reminisce

2. sparkle*jets u.k.: Make Something Happen

3. LIBRARIANS WITH HICKEYS: Gone Too Far

4. CHRIS VON SNEIDERN: No Promise

5. [REDACTED] WITH MIKE GENT: Pathetic

6. JOE GIDDINGS: You're Not Grounded

7. [REDACTED]: Five Personalities

8. THE FLASHCUBES: The Sweet Spot

9. THE KENNEDYS: Walking Through The Park

10. POP CO-OP: Wait Til Next Week

11. [REDACTED]: I Won't Wait Another Night

12. HAMELL ON TRIAL: Got No Mind

13. SUPER 8 FEATURING LISA MYCHOLS: When We Close Our Eyes

14. [REDACTED]: You're Not The Police

15. [REDACTED]: I Need Glue

16. THE FLASHCUBES: If These Hands

17. [REDACTED]: Muscle Beach

18. [REDACTED]: Born To Cry

19. [REDACTED]: She's Leaving

20. CALLAN FOSTER: It's You Tonight

21. THE CHOOSERS: Christi Girl

22. [REDACTED]: Welcome To The Working Class

23. SORROWS: Radio

24. THE SPONGETONES: Nothing Really Matters When You're Young

Sequencing is the most fun part of assembling a compilation album. With every compilation I've programmed or co-programmed over the last two decades, it's always been important to arrive at a sequence that flows like a great album should flow. Gotta have a compelling opening, backed up by further, mounting evidence of musical wonder at work. Every song is vital, everything needs to compel you to keep listening, and the final tracks at the end of the compilation have to be at least as exciting as everything that led up to them. Best mix tape ever.

I'm still working on the sequencing for Make Something Happen! This, I think, is very close, and it's getting closer. From "Reminisce" to "Nothing Really Matters When You're Young," this is gonna be a terrific pop album.

Skeptical? Tune in to This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio this Sunday, May 4th, from 9 to Midnight Eastern, as we open the show with Chris von Sneidern's "No Promise." I tell ya, that track by itself should be enough to convince you.

The album is due out in September. I finished the first draft of the liner notes last week. The first digital single is out...er, I may not be able to tell you that yet. But it's by the Flashcubes, I know what and when it is, and I look forward to sharing that information with you very, very soon. As always: Stay tuned. Smile everybody. It's the Flashcubes.

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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.