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 # 1309
THE GOLD NEEDLES: Ghost In The Airwaves
Awright! Even as we barrel past October 31st with manic intent, we're still playing goodies from Big Stir Records' fabulous Halloween compilation Chilling, Thrilling Hooks And Haunted Harmonies. Yeah, we pride ourselves on being jack o'lanterns for ALL seasons. This week, that deliberate pursuit of tricky treats brings us to the Gold Needles' Chilling-Thrilling-HAUNTED! hit "Ghost In The Airwaves," which seems a natural choice to put the ol' poltergeist into our little mutant radio signal. We'll hear Strawberry Alarm Clock's contribution to this album on our next show. And for further gilded 'n' pointed deviltry, stay tuned for more from the Gold Needles in two weeks, as we dive into their brand-new album Mood Elevator. Stick with us, you silver threads! We all shine on.
THE PRETENDERS: What You Gonna Do About It?
Both Dana and I love the music of the Small Faces, and I'm gonna guess that Chrissie Hynde and her great Pretenders are Small Faces fans as well. Their take on the Small Faces' "What You Gonna Do About It?" is outstanding, and might even surpass the original.
THE HALF/CUBES: When I Look In Your Eyes
"When I Look In Your Eyes" was the first track by the Romantics that I ever heard on the radio. It wasn't my first exposure to the Romantics; it was Romantics # 6 for me, as I already owned copies of their two indie singles ("Little White Lies"/"I Can't Tell You Anything" and "Tell It To Carrie"/"First In Line"), plus the compilation LP cut "Let's Swing." But in 1979, the only DJ I'd heard spinning any of those Romantics classics was future DJ me, either at home in the Syracuse suburbs or in my Brockport college dorm room.
In (I think) late '79, Syracuse's 95X started playing "When I Look In Your Eyes" as an advance track from the Romantics' forthcoming eponymous debut album. That album wasn't released until January 1980, but I clearly remember hearing the track on 95X prior to the LP's street date. My memory insists I heard it in the summer, but I suspect my memory mighta been drinking. Whenever it was, I was thrilled to hear power pop on commercial radio.
My hometown heroes the Flashcubes were contemporaries of the Romantics, and the two bands shared bills at shows in Syracuse and Detroit. Alas, the Romantics' appearances in the 315 always occurred when I was out of town, matriculatin' elsewhere. The Flashcubes also had a track ("Christi Girl") on the same compilation (Waves Vol. 1) that sported the Romantics' "Let's Swing."
Now, the Half/Cubes (featuring Flashcubes bassist Gary Frenay and drummer/producer Tommy Allen, plus Randy Klawon and Fernando Perdomo) have recorded an absolutely exquisite cover of "When I Look In Your Eyes" as a track on the uber-fab new Half/Cubes album Found Pearls. It still sounds great in its natural habitat: On the radio, playing loud.
THE SPONGETONES: It Seemed So Easy
Power Pop Hall of Famers the Spongetones are a regular and welcome presence on TIRnRR, and 2025 has provided us with a treasure trove of new Spongetones tracks to program with our usual delirious dedication. They released three swell new singles this year, and then packaged those studio winners as the "and beyond" portion of their new live album The 40th Anniversary Concert...And Beyond. They have a track on the above-hyped Chilling, Thrilling Hooks And Haunted Harmonies. Of course they have a track on my labor-o'-love compilation Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes. Duh.
And the Spongetones pay proper tribute to power pop's ur-band Raspberries with a kickin' cover of "It Seemed So Easy," as heard on our pal Ken Sharp's flat-out fantastic compilation Play On: A Raspberries Tribute. We're gonna play this again on our next show, too. All hail this Year of the Spongetones.
THE CHELSEA CURVE: Rally Round
Wait, how has this not already appeared in a previous 10 Songs...?! I swear to Joey Ramone. I'd fire me if I could find someone cheaper. The Chelsea Curve's "Rally Round" is wall-to-wall invigmoration, it's one of this year's best singles, and we're gonna keep on playing it for the specific purpose of invigmoratin' in earnest. Invigmoration is its own reward. Rally round!
SLADE: Gudbuy T' Jane
The Greatest Record Ever Made!
THE RAMONES: Do You Wanna Dance?
From a previous 10 Songs:
As much as we associate the film Rock 'n' Roll High School with the Ramones, actress P. J. Soles was the film's actual star, playing Riff Randell, teen rock 'n' roller. But the Ramones are at the heart of it all, and I can't imagine how the movie would have played with its previous intended band Cheap Trick (or director Allan Arkush's teen fantasy of a making a movie with the Yardbirds), nor how producer Roger Corman's original concept of Disco High could have succeeded on any aesthetic level. The essential nature of the Ramones' involvement here reminds me of what Roger Ebert said about the Beatles' first movie: If A Hard Day's Night had been shot in color, but was otherwise identical, frame by frame, it would not have been the same classic (and classic feeling) film as it is in black and white. The iconic black and white images of the Beatles are an essential part of A Hard Day's Night, just as the Ramones are central to Rock 'n' Roll High School.
Ramones music plays throughout the film, mixed with treats by Chuck Berry, Eddie and the Hot Rods, Devo, MC5, Alice Cooper, Brownsville Station, the Velvet Underground, and more. Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee, and Marky have brief "acting" bits, and five on-screen musical appearances. When we first see them, they lip-sync "I Just Want To Have Something To Do," and they show up in a dream sequence in Riff's bedroom--nice work if you can get it--serenading her with "I Want You Around."
The Ramones return for two more songs at the film's climax. The film ends with title tune "Rock 'n' Roll High School," but the first of the two is "Do You Wanna Dance?," a cover of the familiar rock 'n' roll classic. For a very, very long time I regarded this as my all-time favorite cover of anything by anybody. And while I've kinda shifted my allegiance to the Ramones' cover of Tom Waits's "I Don't Want To Grow Up," I still wanna dance.
Don't you?
KATRINA LESKANICH: Honey Lamb
Katrina and the Waves' sublime signature hit "Walking On Sunshine" was my own Song of the Summer in 1985, and it's not even the group's very best track (an honor I'd bestow upon "Red Wine And Whiskey"). I get a warm 'n' sunshiny feeling just knowing that Katrina Leskanich is still walking that walk, and her glorious new single "Honey Lamb" remakes a lesser-known Katrina and the Waves to spectacular result.
ACAPULCO LIPS: Fuzzy Sunshine
Gotta admit that I wasn't familiar with Acapulco Lips prior to hearing them as guests on a recent episode of the always-vital Only Three Lads podcast. The group's bassist/vocalist Maria-Elena Herrell immediately earned my respect by naming the Barracudas's Drop Out With The Barracudas (one of my all-time Love At First Spin perfect albums) among her Top 5 beach albums. PREACH!! And if mere great taste on the part of Herrell and her bandmates weren't enough to automatically make you a fan, a listen to their music will win you over to the righteous cause of all things Acapulco Lips. And while I'm cursing the fact that I didn't know about the group during [ahem] THE TWELVE YEARS THAT HAVE PASSED SINCE THEIR FIRST RELEASE, I thank O3L in there here and now, and we play this gorgeous track "Fuzzy Sunshine" from 2025's Now. Better late than not at all, and any record you ain't heard is a new record. If the sunshine's fuzzy, man, it feels fresh to me.
THE MONKEES: Daily Nightly
Psychedelic!
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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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