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 # 1301.
sparkle*jets u.k.: Make Something Happen
There was an unconscious symmetry in play when we invited the mighty sparkle*jets u.k. to join in on the new Big Stir Records various-artists blockbuster Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes. I mean, we wanted them because they're freakin' fantastic, and their most recent album Box Of Letters was one of THE best releases of 2024. In pursuit of a better tribute album, of course we needed sparkle*jets u.k. with us on this.
Although Make Something Happen! was my idea, and I was its (I guess) project manager, I wanted the Flashcubes involved in the process. Over and above granting use of their original songs so all of these other fine artists could cover them, Gary, Paul, Arty, and Tommy offered input on song selections and wish lists for potential performers, and they personally recruited some of the acts who agreed to contribute. Furthermore, it was important that the album include at least one new recording by the Flashcubes; they gave me three new tracks, and they're all fabulous.
Some have commented (positively, I think) about how unusual it is for a band to appear on its own tribute album. I say sparkle*jets u.k. established a precedent in 2000 by assembling I ♥ sparkle*jets u.k. Yep, they piloted the creation of their own tribute album, group members Michael Simmons and Susan West participated on some of the tracks, and it was glorious. They made something happen!
They're still doing that. For our newly-released Flashcubes tribute, sparkle*jets u.k. executed a stunning rendition of the title track, and Michael Simmons mastered the entire album to irresistible result. Symmetry. That happened, and it is something.
LEMOYNE ALEXANDER: Insecurity
I often mention that there is so much more great music out there that most of us don't get around to hearing. Credit our friends Brett Vargo and Uncle Gregg at the essential weekly podcast Only Three Lads for my recent belated discovery of LeMoyne Alexander. Mr. Alexander is a singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer with a long list of credits in hip-hop and R & B, and his recent guest appearance on O3L not only introduced me to LeMoyne Alexander, but specifically to his extraordinary 2024 single "Insecurity." Whoa! I'm retroactively declaring "Insecurity" to be one of my top tracks of '24.
There's so much out there that we don't know, that we don't get an opportunity to know. With LeMoyne Alexander's superb rockin' pop track "Insecurity," we'll try to make up a little bit of lost time. It plays on this week's show. And it's secured a spot on our next show.
THE FLASHCUBES: If These Hands
The third single off Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes. And perhaps not the final single off Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes. Stay tuned.
THE VERBS: I Need Glue
From Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes. Hey, there's a video to go with it!
THE ROLLING STONES: One Hit (To The Body)
A single from the Rolling Stones' 1986 album Dirty Work, "One Hit (To The Body)" is my favorite Stones track of the '80s, my favorite since at least 1978's "Shattered," and possibly my favorite since 1972's "Happy." I'm a little surprised that this is the first time the song has ever appeared on a TIRnRR playlist. Our goal is to PLAY the hits! And this is one hit well worth playing.
THE RAMONES: Judy Is A Punk
On this little mutant radio show, we like to refer to the Ramones as "the American Beatles." This week, let's call 'em the American Herman's Hermits, if only for the familiar Second verse, same as the verse! that Joey Ramone employs as a call to arms for his band o' brudders on "Judy Is A Punk." Hermits singer Peter Noone will be the Featured Performer on our next show, and we'll supplement that feature with another spin of the Ramones' "Judy Is A Punk."
RIHANNA: Shut Up And Drive
Good advice. From a previous 10 Songs:
I remember hearing Rihanna's hit "Umbrella" in 2007, and not being especially taken with it. In 2008, the updated version of her Good Girl Gone Bad (Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded) landed into my consciousness via my then-teen daughter, whose interest in "Take A Bow" and "Disturbia" brought those songs to my attention as well. I was a little surprised to discover I liked them (especially "Disturbia"), but I did indeed like them.
I missed out on the track "Shut Up And Drive." I've heard it, but I never noticed it until a random search for playlist ideas brought me to it earlier this month. It was like a brand new song to me, and I loved it.
(How did I know I loved it? The fact that I played it on obsessive repeat would be a pretty clear clue to that.)
Wikipedia describes "Shut Up And Drive" as a new wave song--no, really!--based on "Blue Monday" by New Order. No offense to the mopey British guys, but I prefer it the way Rihanna did it.
THE HIT SQUAD: Best Of Me
The Greatest Record Ever Made!
Make Something Happen! isn't Big Stir Records' only new various-artists blockbuster. For Halloween, the friendly spirits at Big Stir offer Chilling, Thrilling Hooks And Haunted Harmonies, a collection pre-equipped with a self-descriptive title that sums itself up so I don't have to.
I'm knocked by this album's sheer audacity, and the collective ability of its participants to make it so. The collection has an old soul, and I mean that in the best way: It effortlessly mixes spoken-word introductions with season-appropriate music that revels in ghosts and ghouls and things that go bump in the night, and it effectively channels the ambition of every 1970s artist who attempted to pull off a concept album of any kind. And, unlike many who made the attempt back then, Big Stir's people do pull it off. Chilling! Thrilling! The Haunted! part is a bonus.
For on-the-air Chilling, Thrilling Hooks And Haunted Harmonies this week, we chose the album's two opening tracks, the Pepper's Ghost Players' spoken introduction "Chilling, Thrilling Tales: The Eldritch LP" and Librarians With Hickeys' "Ghoul You Want," which is my first immediate favorite from the album's accumulated tricks and treats.
Chilling, Thrilling Hooks And Haunted Harmonies is a holiday blessing, even if it is for a holiday not traditionally associated with blessings. We'll have another track from the album on our next show. This bubbling cauldron can use a big stir.
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I compiled a various-artists tribute album called Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes, and it's pretty damned good; you can read about it here and order it here. 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. You can read about our history here.
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