WHEN YOU WISH UPON ROCKIN' POP: Gathering a constellation of stars for compilation albums

Most rockin' pop fans have probably wished for an opportunity to assemble a various-artists compilation album. A chance to take our carefully-curated various-artists mixtapes to another level? Man, why wouldn't we wish for that? It embodies the same rush of enthusiastic missionary work that compels DJs like Dana and me to craft and/or slap together playlists and turn 'em into weekly radio shows. It's an ongoing embrace of the durable joy of music-loving friends turning to other music-loving friends and saying, Hey, check this out!

I've had the great fortune of working on a number of commercially-released compilations. I had nothing to do with the song selection for Rhino Records' Poptopia! Power Pop Classics Of The '90s--I was hired just to write liner notes--but Dana and I did put together five fantastic This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio compilations. I'm currently working on Make Something Happen! A Tribute To A DIY Power Pop Band Called THE FLASHCUBES, which is set for September release by our friends at Big Stir Records. You can read up on that project here.

Make Something Happen! will include a newly-recorded Flashcubes cover sung by an artist I used to hear on the radio when I was a teenager. This is someone I never dreamed would be on a compilation album I'm directing. That's a heady, heady feeling. 

And it's not the first time it's happened.

This got me thinking about the many times an act whom I loved when I was in my twenties (or younger) wound up representing in some form on a compilation album I helped to assemble. In some cases it was a single performer (as noted in parentheses in the list below) who had been in a great band I enjoyed hearing in the '60s, '70s, and/or '80s, and in some cases it was the same group, or at least a latter-day incarnation of that group. Let's have a look:

The Beat (Paul Collins)

The Bee Gees (Vince Melouney)

Blondie (Clem Burke)

Blotto

The Bongos (Richard Barone)

The Catholic Girls

The Cowsills

The Flashcubes

Klaatu (Terry Draper)

Carolyne Mas

The Nerves (Paul Collins)

The Pandoras (Gwynne Kelly, Karen Bassett)

Graham Parker and the Rumour (Graham Parker)

Pauline and the Perils (Pauline)

The Poppees (Arthur Alexander)

The Poptarts (Meegan Voss)

The Rattlers (Mickey Leigh)

The Records (John Wicks)

The Rubinoos

The Smithereens

Sorrows

The Trend (Paul Dougherty)

The Tubes (Prairie Prince)

Wreckless Eric

I could easily add Parthenon Huxley, Bill Lloyd, the Moberlys, Ray Paul, the Spongetones, and the Stems to that list, if only I'd gotten around to hearing them in the '80s rather than belatedly discovering their fine work in the '90s, after I'd passed the untrustworthy age threshold of my thirties. But what the hell, let's add an honorable mention of one TV show--The Mary Tyler Moore Show--via Robbie Rist's participation in four CC-adjacent compilations. And if we include performers who played in later recording or touring versions of some classic fave raves, we can tack on this supplemental list:

The Beach Boys (John Cowsill)

Dave Davies (Jonathan Lea)

Electric Light Orchestra (Parthenon Huxley)

The Flamin' Groovies (Chris von Sneidern, Prairie Prince)

The Monkees (Christian Nesmith)

The Plimsouls (Clem Burke)

The Ramones (Clem Burke)

The Rolling Stones (Steve Jordan)

The Romantics (Clem Burke)

The Seeds (Paul Kopf)

So we have a compilation constellation of stars, acts I've loved ever since a younger version of me heard them on the radio, saw them on TV, or witnessed them in live performance. It's a kick to know I've been able to include their work in projects I've done, just as it's been a kick to discover so many new or new-to-me pop heroes in the same context.

It's starting to dawn on me that Make Something Happen! will probably be my last compilation. Never say never, but as much as I love the process and result of doing these, I don't foresee a likely set of circumstances prompting me to work on any more of 'em in the future. I'm so happy with the work I did, and so, so proud to have been involved in bringing such worthy collections to fans.

Fans like me.

Make Something Happen! will provide a way cool finale for my little collection-compiling side hustle. The radio show will continue, the blog will continue, and I have a bunch of books I want to write. Along the way, I got to reach out to the stars. My younger self would be so jealous. I'm grateful I've had this opportunity--this privilege--to make something happen.

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.