MARK EVANIER AND MEL TORMÉ: One of my favorite Christmas stories (and the secret origin of this blog)

One of my favorite Christmas stories--perhaps my # 1 favorite--is writer Mark Evanier's account of a December afternoon many years ago, when Mark was having lunch at Farmers Market in LA and noticed that singer Mel Tormé was also enjoying a nosh at Farmers Market at the same time. Mark's story of the events that followed is heartwarming, life-affirming, and bittersweet as all things in this mortal world must be. I re-read the story every year at this time, and it never fails to...get me, the way one should be affected by a touching story told well. If you've never read it, I recommend you read it now. If you have read it, I recommend you read it again:

The Mel Tormé Xmas Story

I don't think I mention often enough how much influence Mark Evanier has had upon my own writing. His blog News From ME is the model for whatever the hell it is I do on my own blog, and that "whatever the hell it is I do" line is itself stolen from Mark's description of his role in writing Groo The Wanderer comic books. That model goes back to the 1980s, specifically to the text pieces Mark crafted for the comic book series he was writing at the time--Blackhawk, DNAgents, and especially Crossfire--and to his Comics Buyer's Guide column POV, which evolved into News From ME. Mark's personal style has had both conscious and unconscious impact on my first-person narratives, and his commitment to regular and frequent blogging conveys the message that blogging is a commitment; if you can't commit to blogging on some kind of consistent schedule, maybe blogging isn't for you. He has a larger audience than I do--most bloggers have a larger audience than I do--but News From ME is the reason I decided my blog had to be a daily thing. Other than cutting back for several months while dealing with the emotional aftermath of last year's stupid-head election results, I've hit that goal. Even with that slow-down, today's entry is Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do)'s 3,727th public post since kicking off on January 18th, 2016.

If you're not a fan of (ahem) whatever the hell it is I do, it's not Mark's fault. But if you've dug Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) at any point over the last almost-decade, Mark Evanier deserves credit for the inspiration.

I do not know Mark Evanier personally. I interviewed him for a history of bubblegum music I wrote for Goldmine magazine in 1997, we've exchanged a few emails (I've written, he's responded), but for the most part, the dynamic is that he writes stuff, and I'm a big fan of the stuff he writes. And one of the points of Mark's Mel Tormé story is that we should express our appreciation for things we deem important, for people who create things that delight us.

I appreciate what Mark Evanier creates. Check out News From ME, and most especially check out Mark Evanier's story about Mel Tormé. Your own appreciation awaits. And though it's been said many times many ways, Merry Christmas to you.

If you like what you see here on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), please consider a visit to CC's Tip Jar. You can also become a Boppin' booster on my Patreon page.

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

10 SONGS: 12/23/2025

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 # 1316: The 27th Annual THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO Christmas show

THE WEEKLINGS: Gonna Be Christmas

Why, yes! It IS gonna be Christmas! Very soon! Following our standard Christmas show introduction--John and Yoko's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)"--The 27th Annual THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL Christmas show opens with this delightful track from the Weeklings' Christmas album. It's a perfect song to kick off our seasonal celebration, its eyes bright with wonder and its heart open to the promise of possibility. It's gonna be Christmas. Here's a toast and a wish for the best of what that might be.

BLAINE CAMPBELL AND THE CALIFORNIA SOUND: Christmas Day

The annual TIRnRR Christmas shows are built in large part with familiar favorites. We don't want to do the same ol' show every December, but Dana and I do have a few specific tracks we're hell's-jingle-bells bent on programming. We never even come close to accommodating all of the music we wanna play, and this year's holiday playlist (like its 26 predecessors) did not have time to include a number of our perennial picks. Santa understands our dilemma, and he does not assign us naughty points for our omissions.

As berths on the playlist fill up faster'n a little kid's Christmas wish list, we still try to squeeze in a little bit of new Yuletunes alongside our beloved classics. We debuted 2025 offerings by Perilous, Jamie Hoover, and the Krayolas on last week's show, and saved this gem from Blaine Campbell and the California Sound's recent Holidays EP for this week. 

QUINT: Almost Christmas Eve

I'm not much of a Hallmark-style Christmas TV movie fan, but I recognize the sweet sugar-cookie comfort appeal of those flicks, and more power to those who celebrate. Love at Christmas? Can't fault that.

Before my mom passed in 2021, I used to catch extended glimpses of some works within this ho-ho-Hallmark genre playing in the common room at her nursing home. I think the only one I've ever deliberately watched in its entirety is 2021's Blending Christmas, which I made a point of seeing because TIRnRR's long-time friend Robbie Rist is in it (as are some of his former castmates from The Brady Bunch). I didn't get around to seeing Blending Christmas until well after he fact--I don't think I was aware of its existence until last year--but it was inoffensive and agreeable, and there's nothing wrong with that.

For the TIRnRR Christmas shows, the Hallmark and Company movie music content comes from Beaus Of Holly, a 2020 production with soundtrack contributions by Quint, which is our Robbie with film director Anthony C. Ferrante. Some years we play "Bows Of Holly," the de facto title theme as performed by Quint with guest vocalist Karen Bassett. Sometimes we go with "Almost Christmas Eve." Can't go wrong either way, and you can stuff your own virtual stocking with digital copies of both songs on the Quint collection Yes, It's Christmas. 

Warmth and comfort. Love for Christmas. Meet cute. I refuse to summon snark against anything that brings joy to the world. 

ELVIS PRESLEY: Santa Claus Is Back In Town

King Elvis I. Repeating what I've said in previous years: It's not Christmas without the King.

DARLENE LOVE: Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)

One long-ago holiday season, back when our pal (and Radio Deer Camp host) Rich Firestone was slavin' away in commercial radio, a clueless suit once told him that nobody wants to hear anything from Phil Spector's Christmas album A Christmas Gift For You. See, that guy's getting coal for Christmas. The late Spector himself is also getting coal; in fact he's probably helping to produce the (literally) damned coal nowadays--warm and toasty!--but I digress. 

We endeavor to include a track from Spector's Christmas album in each year's TIRnRR Xmas Xtravaganza. The picks vary from year to year; last year and the year before, it was the Ronettes' "Frosty The Snowman," and in 2022 it was the Ronettes' "Sleigh Ride." We've skipped some years, but A Christmas Gift For You is always in the mix as we consider what to play on our Christmas show.

The above-mentioned "Sleigh Ride" is the track I most remember hearing on December AM radio airwaves when I was younger, and it's a fabulous number indeed. But the truest classic on the Spector Christmas album is Darlene Love's "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)," and it was way overdue for a return to our playlist. This year, it finally comes back home.

SLADE: Merry Xmas Everybody

Slade's 1973 we're-gonna-have-a-GLITTERY-Christmas treat "Merry Xmas Everybody" was a huge, huge hit in the band's native England, but it's merely something of a cult fave rave on these shores. Pity, because I've absolutely adored it since first hearing it on a various-artists Christmas collection more than a decade later.

Does your Granny always tell you that the old songs are the best? Then she's up and rock 'n' rolling with the rest

Old and new. As the philosopher Linus once told his friend Charlie: That's what Christmas is all about.

LIBRARIANS WITH HICKEYS: Listen The Snow Is Falling

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE MONKEES: House Of Broken Gingerbread

Last week, for the first time in a long time, I listened to the Monkees' 2018 album Christmas Party. At the time of the album's release, I was disappointed--very disappointed--that the Monkees were following up the sheer triumph of their 2016 album Good Times! with a Christmas record rather than, y'know, a real record. This disappointment grew three sizes when the subsequent deaths of Peter Tork and Michael Nesmith meant that Christmas Party would be the final Monkees studio album.

The playlist for this year's Christmas show was already set, and the show itself already recorded, before I listened to The Spoon podcast's 2025 Christmas show. The Spoon, hosted by that Robbie Rist guy with his buds Chris Jackson and Thom Bowers, is always a must-listen event, and their holiday presentation this year includes a track from Christmas Party, as Michael Nesmith croons "The Christmas Song." Papa Nez wasn't exactly Nat King Cole, nor did he wish to be, but his rendition is warm and inviting. I didn't hate it.

That was sufficient impetus for me to spin the whole album again, half of it during my Saturday morning commute, the rest of it when I arrived at work. It's a better record than my knee-jerk resistance to it would have conceded at the time of release. Micky Dolenz has always been one of my favorite pop singers, and he acquits himself well here, even on a palatable version of Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Dishwatertime," or whatever we wanna call that awful Macca song I've despised for decades. Mostly produced by the late Adam Schlesinger, Christmas Party is almost a Dolenz solo album, with two independent contributions from Nesmith, two archival tracks by Davy Jones (whom we lost in 2012), and a heavily-autotuned solo vocal and banjo performance by a very fragile-sounding Tork on "Angels We Have Heard On High;" cancer claimed Tork in February of 2019, mere months after Christmas Party came out.

As noted above, our Christmas show was wrapped 'n' ready before I heard Michael Nesmith on The Spoon extolling the virtues of chestnuts roasting on an open fire, before my re-listen to Christmas Party. The Christmas Party track "House Of Broken Gingerbread" made its way to our playlist on its own virtue and vice and everything nice. Co-written by Adam Schlesinger and novelist Michael Chabon, "House Of Broken Gingerbread" is sung from the POV of a child of divorce, spending part-time holidays at the separate households of his estranged parents. Perhaps not the stuff from which traditional Christmas cards were crafted. Dolenz sings it so well, so commandingly, applying a candy-cane coating that does not conceal its underlying ache and discontent.

(The Monkees have appeared in some form on most of our 27 annual Christmas shows. Our usual go-to Christmas Monkees track is the simply gorgeous a cappella "Riu Chiu" from 1967 [discussed here], but we occasionally play "House Of Gingerbread" instead. This year, I was thinking of subbing "Christmas Is My Time Of Year," a 1976 single by Dolenz, Jones, and Tork, but as I was mulling song choices, Micky's insistent Fa la LA la la la-la-laaaaa from "House Of Broken Gingerbread" stage-dived into the visions of sugarplums that had been dancing in my head, causing 'em to flee for their lives. So: "House Of Broken Gingerbread" got the slot. Fa la LA...!)

THE RAMONES: Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight)

Seems like a worthy goal.

THE IDEA: It's About That Time

John and Yoko at the top. George Harrison's "Ding Dong, Ding Dong" at or near the end. In between, our Christmas show perennials generally include "The Man In The Santa Suit" by Fountains Of Wayne, "Purple Snowflakes" by Marvin Gaye, "Gonna Ask Santa Claus" by Bibi Farber with the Michael Lynch Orchestra, "Jesus Christ" by Big Star, "Christmas" by the Rooks, "I Don't Intend To Spend Christmas Without You" by Margo Guryan, "2000 Miles" by the Pretenders, usually "Father Christmas" by the Kinks, usually something by James Brown, the Waitresses' "Christmas Wrapping" when we can carve out enough space for it. Other than the Beatles' Christmas messages 1963-1969, no individual track has been played on all 27 of our annual Christmas shows.

The Idea's "It's About That Time" has been on most of them. It's my # 1 all-time favorite Christmas track, and it's not Christmas for me if I can't play it.

It's about that time. Gather 'round the Christmas tree, or just around the artifact of your choice. "Happy Holidays!" remains one of many valid and welcome expressions of well wishes, and these trying times are in dire need of as many well wishes as we can generate. Peace on Earth. Good will toward all. It should always be about that time. We wish you the merriest.

If you like what you see here on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), please consider a visit to CC's Tip Jar. You can also become a Boppin' booster on my Patreon page.

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.

THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! Librarians With Hickeys, "Listen, The Snow Is Falling"

Drawn from previous posts, this is not part of my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1).

An infinite number of tracks can each be THE greatest record ever made. Today, this is THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE!

LIBRARIANS WITH HICKEYS: Listen, The Snow Is Falling

Written by Yoko Ono

Produced by Mike Crooker

Single [B-side of "Jingle Jangle Heart"], Big Stir Records, 2021

Listen.

Each year, as the calendar turns from November to December, I'm generally not yet ready to play or listen to Christmas music. When holiday music comes on the radio during that (to me) too-early-for-Christmas season, I change the channel. It's just not what I want to hear, not at that moment.

Librarians With Hickeys' wonderful cover of Yoko Ono's "Listen, The Snow Is Falling" first reached my ears at the dawn of December 2021, right around the time I began to face the certainty that my mom wouldn't be around for much longer. She passed just after that, on December 9th. "Listen, The Snow Is Falling" was one of the songs from which I tried to draw solace.

LWH's "Listen, The Snow Is Falling" is the virtual B-side to the group's digital single "Jingle Jangle Heart." From the press release accompanying the single's release: "The flip side is a cover of Yoko Ono’s excellent 'Listen, The Snow Is Falling' which was the B-side of John and Yoko’s 'Happy Xmas (War Is Over)' single (for those of you keeping score at home). This version is based on a demo that singing Librarian Ray Carmen made in the early 2000s, and comes complete with a keyboard part played on an old 1985 Casio SK-1 toy sampler. Ray recorded new vocals, and producer Mike Crooker gave it a new mix and EQ wax so it shines like new. He also added sleigh bells and a gong. Get it on!"

Prior to falling for the Librarians With Hickeys cover version, I'm not sure that I'd ever heard Yoko's original, even though it was the flip side of one of my very favorite Christmas records. Her original is also wonderful and sublime--Yoko haters need not comment here--but there is something about Librarians With Hickeys' take that reaches inside of my soul as if to say:

"It's okay, Carl."

I have always sought refuge in my music. This song's contemplative feel suited my fragile mood, a comfort and a catharsis, a beautiful ache that keeps inviting me into its comforting embrace. Beautiful ache? Yeah. The soundtrack to beautiful ache.

The calendar's pages sometimes tend to flutter by a bit too quickly for my taste. But that's me. Whether you're lighting your tree, finishing your eight days of candles, celebrating (or preparing to celebrate) whatever other magic you hold dear, or just hitting the pause button until you can catch up, the radio is on. As the snow falls, the music continues. Maybe it's mocking us, but...no. No, it's trying to remind us of all we've ever cherished, all that's ever provided meaning, all we've ever held dear, and all that has ever held us in turn. 

If we had never loved, maybe we would never have been hurt. But if we never love, we never live in the first place. 

Listen.

Another calendar page turns, and will turn again soon, to ash. Matches, candles, the spark's remnants all covered in short order by the snow that falls, the years that pass, the regrets that sting, the promises that slip away unfulfilled. That is the nature of things, no matter how we try to hold on. For now: Just listen. Let's sit together by the fire. Let's listen for as long as we are able.

Snow falls. I can hear it. I can feel it. And it will be all right.

If you like what you see here on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), please consider a visit to CC's Tip Jar. You can also become a Boppin' booster on my Patreon page.

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

The 27th Annual THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO Christmas Show

Written at the time of the pandemic Christmas of 2020, and still applicable.

Father Christmas sighed.

He was a saint, but he was in many ways still as human as any of us. It had been such a long, difficult year. He could feel the pain of so, so many, of the children and the grown-up children alike, all over this world of wonder. Pain. Fear. Despair. The chilling gray of uncertainty. He knew the magic of hope. He embraced the redemptive power of faith. And yet he understood that even the belief in something better might not be enough to cast sufficient light into the darkness.

He also knew that the magic--of hope, of faith, of belief, of light itself--was often the only resource one could summon. The magic could fuel courage, and be fueled by courage in turn. The magic could draw strength from love, and fortify love with strength. 

It wasn't about the toys. It was never really about the toys. It was always about striving to be better, kinder, to be good rather than evil, nice rather than naughty. He still believed. He would always believe. 

That ache in his shoulder, that heaviness in his chest--did he suffer those mundane ailments a century ago? Did he feel them last year? He couldn't remember, and he decided it didn't matter anyway. He had a job to do. 

Father Christmas rose from his chair. He wiped away the stray tear that stung his eye, and he hoisted his sack over his back. The damned thing got heavier every year. But he stood, determined and resolute. He was a symbol; he knew his importance and he knew his limitations. He didn't have Playstations, nor playthings of any kind. No His and Hers sports cars, no Beatles records, not even a fruitcake. The material gifts would be given and received outside of his provenance. His sack was filled with the magic itself: the wishes, the dreams, the prayers for brighter days, and the will to make days brighter to the best of our mortal ability.

As he boarded his sleigh, Father Christmas thought back once again to the words of Robert Frost, the words he recalled every year as he began his miracle trek around the globe: 

I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep.

He would not fail. His belief would see him through.

Things aren't getting any easier. Nonetheless: We join Father Christmas in believing in brightness ahead, in songs to be sung, in loved ones to be cherished. We have miles to go. But we'll get there together.

Whatever season you celebrate, we wish you strength and magic. Happy Christmas from Dana and Carl.

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.

TIRnRR # 1316: The 27th Annual THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO Christmas Show [12/21/2025]

JOHN AND YOKO: Happy Xmas (War Is Over) (Capitol, The John Lennon Collection)

--

THE WEEKLINGS: Gonna Be Christmas (Jem, Christmas)

THE LINDA LINDAS: Groovy Xmas (single)

THE BEATMAS: Mary's Boy Child (ISBA, Xmas!)

THE BEATLES: 1963 Christmas message

THE WAITRESSES: Christmas Wrapping (PolyGram, VA: A Rock 'n' Roll Christmas)

MARGO GURYAN: I Don't Intend To Spend Christmas Without You (Oglio, 27 Demos)

THE SHAMBLES: Warm This Winter (Futureman, VA: This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 1)

--

BLAINE CAMPBELL AND THE CALIFORNIA SOUND: Christmas Day (n/a, Holidays EP)

THE BEACH BOYS: Little Saint Nick (Capitol, The Beach Boys' Christmas Album)

QUINT: Almost Christmas Eve (Zero Charisma, Yes, It's Christmas)

THE BEATLES: 1964 Christmas message

THE KINKS: Father Christmas (Velvel, Misfits)

JAMES BROWN: Santa Claus Go Straight To The Ghetto (Polygram, James Brown's Funky Christmas)

OTIS REDDING: Merry Christmas Baby (Razor & Tie, VA: Rockin' Christmas)

--

ELVIS PRESLEY: Santa Claus Is Back In Town (RCA, Elvis' Christmas Album)

FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE: The Man In The Santa Suit (Virgin, Out-Of-State Plates)

MINDY SMITH: Santa Will Find You (Vanguard, My Holiday)

THE BEATLES: 1965 Christmas message

BIG STAR: Jesus Christ (Collectors Choice Music, VA: Christmas Time Again!)

DARLENE LOVE: Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) (Abkco, VA: A Christmas Gift For You)

KIMBERLEY REW AND LEE CAVE-BERRY: All I Want Is You For Christmas (Big Stir, VA: Big Stir Singles: The Yuletide Wave)

--

THE KRAYOLAS: Maria Believes In Christmas Again (Box, Christmas Candy)

THE BROTHERS STEVE: I Love The Christmastime (Big Stir, VA: Big Stir Singles: The Yuletide Wave)

BIBI FARBER WITH THE MICHAEL LYNCH ORCHESTRA: Gonna Ask Santa Claus (single)

THE BEATLES: 1966 Christmas message

MARVIN GAYE: Purple Snowflakes (Motown, VA: Christmas In The City)

MAPLE MARS: Christmastime In The City (Big Stir, single)

THE MONTGOMERY CLIFFS: O Come All Ye Faithful (RPM, Christmas Stocking Stuffer EP)

--

LISA MYCHOLS AND SUPER 8: A Very Merry Christmas (n/a, SUPER 8: Super 8 Goes Xmas!)

THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS: Santa's Beard (Rhino, VA: Just Can't Get Enough: New Wave Xmas)

THE FLIRTATIONS: Christmas Time Is Here Again (RPM, Sounds Like The Flirtations)

THE BEATLES: 1967 Christmas message

THE SONICS: Santa Claus (Rhino, VA: The Best Of Cool Yule)

SLADE: Merry Xmas Everybody (Polydor, Greatest Hits)

THE ROOKS: Christmas (Not Lame, Encore Echoes)

--

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

LIBRARIANS WITH HICKEYS: Listen, The Snow Is Falling (Big Stir, "Jingle Jangle Heart" single)

THE DECIBELS: Christmas Wish (Kool Kat Musik, VA: A Kool Kat Kristmas Vol. 3)

THE FLESHTONES: Hurray For Santa Claus (Yep Roc, Stocking Stuffer)

THE BEATLES: 1968 Christmas message

CARLA THOMAS: Gee Whiz, It's Christmas (Atco, VA: Soul Christmas)

THE MONKEES: House Of Broken Gingerbread (Rhino, Christmas Party)

IRENE PEÑA: Will You Turn Up (For Christmas) (Big Stir, VA: Big Stir Singles: The Yuletide Wave)

--

THE RAMONES: Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight) (Sire, Brain Drain)

TWISTED SISTER: Deck The Halls (Razor & Tie, A Twisted Christmas)

PERILOUS: Can't Stand The Holidaze (single)

THE BEATLES: 1969 Christmas message

SHAKE SOME ACTION!: Christmas In The Sun (Kool Kat Musik, VA: A Kool Kat Kristmas Volume Two)

THE IDEA: It's About That Time (Black Vinyl, VA: Yuletunes)

THE PRETENDERS: 2000 Miles (Sire, The Singles)

--

SEX CLARK FIVE: Christmastime (single)

GEORGE HARRISON: Ding Dong, Ding Dong (Apple, Dark Horse)

Tonight on THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO: The 27th Annual THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO Christmas Show

Matches? Check! Candles? Check! Each and every one of THE BEATLES' annual Christmas messages? Yeah-Yeah-YEAH check! We've also stuffed the ol' stocking with seasonal sides by THE WEEKLINGS, MARVIN GAYE, FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE, THE KRAYOLAS, THE MONKEES, THE BROTHERS STEVE, BIBI FARBER WITH THE MICHAEL LYNCH ORCHESTRA, DARLENE LOVE, THE RAMONES, JAMES BROWN, QUINT, SLADE, THE KINKS, MAPLE MARS, THE ROOKS, THE WAITRESSES, THE FLESHTONES, TWISTED SISTER, CARLA THOMAS, OTIS REDDING, PERILOUS, LISA MYCHOLS AND SUPER 8, THE FLIRTATIONS, THE PRETENDERS, BLAINE CAMPBELL AND THE CALIFORNIA SOUND, and whatever additional holiday sounds Santa says we need while we're waiting to get some razzafrazzin' figgy pudding already. It's our Christmas gift to you! Sunday night, 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, streaming via sparksyracuse.org, and as WESTCOTT RADIO on the Radio Garden app. The weekend stops HERE!

10 SONGS: 12/20/2025

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 # 1315

SAM AND DAVE: Soul Man

The passing of Stax Records legend Steve Cropper compelled us to attempt a modest tribute to Cropper's legacy, and the show itself opened with Cropper's immortal guitar work on Sam and Dave's classic "Soul Man." Play it, Steve.

From the "Soul Man" chapter in my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1):

"It ain't braggin' if you can do it.

"Like many others among my generation of pop fans, my introduction to the music of Sam and Dave was ass-backwards. I have no recollection whatsoever of Sam and Dave's music from when I was a kid in the '60s, nor did I develop any awareness of them as an oldies-obsessed adolescent and teen in the '70s. I'm embarrassed to admit that I first heard the song 'Soul Man' via Saturday Night Live, when John Belushi and Dan Akroyd performed it on the show in their incarnation as Jake and Elwood, the Blues Brothers.

"I didn't care much about the Blues Brothers on SNL, but the Blues Brothers' subsequent recorded version sizzled, thanks largely to the irresistible guitar work of Stax Records legend Steve Cropper. Cropper and bassist Duck Dunn had also played on the original Sam and Dave recording of 'Soul Man,' and Jake and Elwood's faux soul revival eventually led me to the real deal. Gotta give Belushi and Akroyd some respect for knowing who to hang with. But once I did hear Sam and Dave's 'Soul Man' and 'Hold On, I'm Coming,' I would have neither time nor inclination to ever listen to the Blues Brothers again.

"The song itself is an extended boast. But it's a boast backed up by its collective prowess. Responding to Sam and Dave's command Play it, Steve!, Cropper's guitar work cuts and advances like an agile offensive line, its easygoing sway belying the force and efficiency of its piledriving advance. The Memphis Horns add bounce to spare. Resistance is futile...."

THE LITTLE GIRLS: How To Pick Up Girls

It has been a very, very long time since we've played anything by the Little Girls, a fab 1980s SoCal pop combo fronted by sisters Caron Maso and Michele Maso. Their track "Earthquake Song" scored at least one TIRnRR spin some time back in the way back; a recent message from Caron prompted me to snap up a digital copy of their Thank Heaven For Valley Pop compilation, with an eye and ear toward renewed Little Girls airplay. I was immediately struck by the snarky pop perfection of "How To Pick Up Girls," and PRESTO! The Little Girls have at long last returned to This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio. Betcha we'll be hearing 'em again as we pick up 2026. Thank heaven!

JIM BASNIGHT: Get It Out

This week's TIRnRR was our last regular show of 2025, as the rest of December is taken up by The 27th Annual THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO Christmas Show this coming Sunday and then the year-end Countdown show on December 28th. The Christmas show has already been recorded, and we submitted an advance copy of that playlist to our stats man Fritz Van Leaven. He, in turn, has provided us with the rankings of our 50 most-played tracks this year.

This week's show included 13 of the tracks that will be in our Top 50 Countdown. Jim Basnight's "Get It Out" happens to be one of 'em. I have seen the Countdown and it is good!

OTIS REDDING: (Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay

Also in tribute to the song's producer and co-author Steve Cropper, and also from The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1):

 "Far from home, with nothing to do. Nothing worth doing, anyway.

"But who can say what might have been?

"Soul singer Otis Redding's only crossover pop hit was '(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay,' an incredible mix of pride and resignation, a swagger reduced to a shrug. It was a posthumous # 1, ascending the charts after Redding perished in a plane crash in 1967. 

"But there was more to the story. There was much, much more to that story.

"Redding was a huge, huge star on the R & B charts. Rock promoter Bill Graham referred to Redding as "the black Elvis," an electrifying showman with a nigh-unique potential to unite black and white audiences under one big soulful pop rock 'n' roll tent. He wasn't a crossover artist, not in the same sense as the Motown acts selling 45s by the truckload to young America. Redding was the single greatest voice of Stax/Volt Records, a Memphis label that was pure soul. Crossover? Let the white kids cross over to us, man. If anyone could achieve that specific level of destiny in the '60s, it was gonna be Otis Redding.

"Except that it wasn't...."

WILSON PICKETT: In The Midnight Hour

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

PERILOUS: Can't Stand The Holidaze

JAMIE HOOVER: Surfin' With Santa

THE KRAYOLAS: Maria Believes In Christmas Again

OTIS REDDING: Merry Christmas Baby

As each December comes rollin' around, we're reluctant to start programming much (if any) Christmas music, generally preferring to save the Yuletunes for the Christmas show itself. We did include "Carol Of The Guitars" by the Spongetones in the post-tag spot at the very end of last week's show. Otherwise? Deck your own halls if you wish. We weren't ready yet.

Knowing how difficult it is to squeeze all the seasonal sides we wanna play into the always-crowded playlist for the actual Christmas show, I wanted to mix some of our new 2025 holiday-centric acquisitions into this week's pre-Christmas show extravaganza. Our pals Perilous bring us the gift of cantankerousness with their new single "Can't Stand The Holidaze," Spongetones guitarist Jamie Hoover (working with TIRnRR stalwart Rich Rossi) bails entirely on the silly concept of winter wonderland with his new single "Surfin' With Santa," and the Krayolas fire up replenished faith in something brighter with "Maria Believes In Chjristmas Again." All great, all well worthy of airplay, and the Krayolas' track has the potential to be an evergreen on future This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio Christmas shows. (We weren't able to find room this week for a track from Blaine Campbell and the California Sound's Holidays EP, but one will appear in the Christmas show.)

Dovetailing our Steve Cropper feature with our late-December concession that Christmas is indeed coming, we also played Otis Redding's version of "Merry Christmas Baby." The song was first recorded in 1947 by Johnny Moore's Three Blazers--someone send a thank-you eggnog to Wikipedia!--and my first recollection of the tune was when the 1987 various-artists Special Olympics benefit album A Very Special Christmas included a live rendition performed by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. The Boss provided me with a fine introduction to the song; it's also been recorded by Ike and Tina Turner, King Elvis I, Chuck Berry, the Monkees, and a sleigh-full of other artists.

Otis Redding's version is definitive.

BOOKER T AND THE MG'S: Jingle Bells

As we get ready for The 27th Annual THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO Christmas Show, our celebrative dash through the snow is once again accompanied by the guitar sound of Steve Cropper. Godspeed to the axe of Stax.  

If you like what you see here on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), please consider a visit to CC's Tip Jar. You can also become a Boppin' booster on my Patreon page.

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.