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.
This week's edition of 10 Songs draws exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1306
THE HALF/CUBES FEATURING ROBERT CRENSHAW AND TOM TEELEY: Whenever You're On My Mind
One of the many things on my mind right now is Found Pearls, the straight-up kickass new album from the Half/Cubes. We've been poundin' the well-beaten console on behalf of the album's advance single "I'll Be Taking Her Out Tonight," an irresistible collaboration with Peter Noone to remake a shoulda-been-a-smash first done by his early '80s new wave pop group the Tremblers.
With the October 17th release of the album, the storied Jem Records label has lifted its radio embargo on the rest of this great, great record, finally freeing us to open this week's little mutant radio show with the lead-off track from Found Pearls: An epic oomphasizing of Marshall Crenshaw's "Whenever You're On My Mind," which the Half/Cubes accomplish with the ample added oomph of assistance from Robert Crenshaw and Tom Teeley.
You can read my gushing hype on behalf of Found Pearls here. And tune in to TIRnRR this coming Sunday night, October 19th, as the Half/Cubes will be our Featured Performers, and two lucky listeners will each win their own copy of Found Pearls.
That, my assembled comrades, is worth keeping on your mind as well.
THE DRIFTERS: Save The Last Dance For Me
Decades ago, it occurred to me that if there is a Heaven above, its celestial soundscape has gotta be the music of the Drifters. You could make a case that it's Brian Wilson instead, and I'd also argue that it ain't Heaven without the Ramones, Ronnie Spector, and many others.
But the Drifters? For sure. Heaven's vocal group. Save the eternal dance for me.
THE COWSILLS: Is Your Love Alive?
At last! The visionaries at Omnivore Records have given the Cowsills' 1978 Cocaine Drain tapes a proper release, and the result is glorious. We are big, big fans of the Cowsills, but as much as we cherish their hits like "Hair" and "The Rain, The Park And Other Things," it's the stuff they did later on that really nails it for me. The Cowsills' Global is my favorite album of the 1990s, and its track "She Said To Me" earns a chapter in my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1).
Recorded about two decades before the release of Global, the material on Omnivore's The "Cocaine Drain" Album is similarly worthy of acclaim. And comparing it to the lo-fi copy I've had for a bit, this version of The Cocaine Drain is of (very!) noticeably superior sound quality. Reissue of the year? Could be. "Is Your Love Alive?" makes its TIRnRR debut this week. We'll hear another track from The "Cocaine Drain" Album on our next show.
THE ARMOIRES: Full-On Witch Mode
We've been playing tracks from Big Stir Records' magnificent new Halloween extravaganza Chilling, Thrilling Hooks And Haunted Harmonies, treating our listeners to at least one of the album's tricked-out goodies every week. This week's full-size candy offering comes courtesy of the label's de facto house band the Armoires, who conjure their appropriately spellbinding original "Full-On Witch Mode." You can hear a new interview with Big Stir CAOs (Chief Armoires Officers) Christina Bulbenko and Rex Broome (plus Big Stir's resident wizard Michael Simmons) on a new episode of Only Three Lads podcast, AND on a new episode of The Spoon podcast. It's better than bobbing for hand grenades! And our ritual programming of Chilling, Thrilling Hooks And Haunted Harmonies will continue on Sunday night.
In 1979, "Radio" was the B-side of the Flashcubes' second single "Wait Til Next Week." The A-side has long been a Cubic prerequisite, but "Radio" was kinda shrugged off and ultimately consigned to the group's odds-n-sods dustbin.
For Big Stir's various-artists blockbuster Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes, I recruited classic NYC power pop combo Sorrows to contribute a track, and they selected "Radio" as their designated flash of reflected brilliance. Good choice! The Flashcubes themselves now regard this Sorrows rendition of "Radio" as the definitive version of the song.
I recently heard from Sorrows member Arthur Alexander, expressing his opinion that the three best tracks on Make Something Happen! are the three new cuts by the Flashcubes themselves: "Reminisce" by Paul Armstrong, "The Sweet Spot" by Gary Frenay and B.D. Love, and "If These Hands" by Arty Lenin. Arthur wrote, "There is something quite endearing in the fact that the best tracks on a tribute album belong to the band being paid tribute to!"
Arthur singled out "If These Hands" as his fave among faves. And I'll just add that all of it was made to be played on the radio. Got our transmitter ready to go.
THE YARDBIRDS: Heart Full Of Soul
The Yardbirds' "Heart Full Of Soul" holds a permanent berth on my all-time Hot 100; hell, it's a legit contender for my all-time Top 10. Coincidentally, it's also the song that served as the (perhaps unlikely) tipping point for my initiation as a Flashcubes fan, when the 'Cubes covered "Heart Full Of Soul" at my first Flashcubes show in January of 1978.
THE RAMONES: Babysitter
When Dana and I were guests on Only Three Lads last year, I named "Babysitter" as one of my five favorite Ramones songs. I don't recall ever hearing the song anywhere except when I've played it, whether at home, in my car, or on the radio. I was so pleasantly surprised to hear Palmyra Delran play it last week on her essential Underground Garage radio show. I always love hearing the Ramones; I really loved hearing this particular Ramones song in the Palmyra Delran-directed wild. PALMYRA DELRAN FOR PRESIDENT!
I wrote about "Babysitter" in a piece about my 25 favorite Ramones tracks: " 'Babysitter' was the B-side of the Ramones' 1978 single "Do You Wanna Dance?" Previously, it had been included on later UK pressings of the 1977 Leave Home album (replacing 'Carbona Not Glue'), but the song was non-LP in America. When I bought the 45 in the spring of '78, hearing 'Babysitter' for the first time prompted me to say, "My GAWD, the Searchers live on!" I for damned sure meant that as a compliment."
(I went into greater detail about "Babysitter" in this piece.
IRENE PEÑA: Must've Been Good
The Greatest Record Ever Made!
DAVID JOHANSEN: Funky But Chic
I think "Funky But Chic" was the first David Johansen solo track I ever heard, a college radio spin on the Brockport campus radio station WBSU in...well, probably 1979. I'm not sure if I heard my first-ever New York Dolls tunes--"Personality Crisis" and "Who Are The Mystery Girls"--shortly before or shortly after being introduced to "Funky But Chic." It was all within the same time frame, though I was definitely already familiar with "Personality Crisis" via its inclusion in the Flashcubes' live sets. In full circle fashion, the Flashcubes were subsequently the opening act at my first David Johansen show a few months after I heard "Funky But Chic" on WBSU.
Given "Funky But Chic" 's status as my rock 'n' roll nurse's gateway pills to solo David Jo, it's weird that this week marks the first time "Funky But Chic" has made it into a TIRnRR playlist. It was on the short list of tracks considered for our combined David Johansen/Joey Molland tribute in March, but it was crowded out by other selections. Hearing Palmyra Delran play it on Underground Garage (in the same show as her above-referenced Ramones spin) finally nudged the song into its rightful place here on The Best Three Hours Of Radio On The Whole Friggin' Planet.
"Personality Crisis" is my favorite Dolls track. "Frenchette" is my go-to solo Johansen pick. But as we go on and on looking for a kiss, one should never forget their first. Funky. But chic. Trés chic, man. Thanks to the ever-chic Palmyra Delran for the reminder.
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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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