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 # 1313
THE FLASHCUBES: The Sweet Spot
While I didn't get any books published in 2025, I'm insanely proud of the one major project I did manage to complete this year: Compiling and curating the various-artists blockbuster Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes for the mighty Big Stir Records label. The release of this salute to my all-time favorite power pop group was a dream come true, fulfilling my long-standing wish that some of the Flashcubes' outstanding original songs needed to be recognized and celebrated, in this case via fresh interpretations by a number of other rockin' pop bright lights, from Graham Parker and Mike Gent through Tom Kenny and the Hi-Seas. We even got the Flashcubes themselves to contribute three stellar new tracks, and each of those seems certain to be among TIRnRR's most-played tracks of 2025. (We'll find out for sure when we get to our COUNTDOWN! show on December 28th.)
Meanwhile, the good folks at Big Stir are doing their own well-deserved end of year victory lap with the release of the budget compilation 25 For '25: The Big Stir Records Hit Machine. With the CD priced at a mere $5 American, it presents a unique opportunity to program 2025 Big Stir winners by Sorrows, 20/20, Chris Church, the Bablers, Crossword Smiles, Nelson Bragg, Splitsville, the Spongetones, Maple Mars, Shplang, the Jack Rubies, Strawberry Alarm Clock, the Armoires, Hungrytown, Dolph Chaney featuring the Speed of Sound, the Pepper's Ghost Players, the Gold Needles, Lady Darkevyl, the Corner Laughers, Michael Simmons, and the Legal Matters in one swell foop. In one glorious, low-priced swell foop!
Since the above listing only presents 21 for '25, you would be correct in presuming the other four tracks are from the Flashcubes tribute: "Make Something Happen" by sparkle*jets u.k., "Gone Too Far" by Librarians With Hickeys. the Graham Parker-Mike Gent triumph "Pathetic," and the Flashcubes' "The Sweet Spot."
In my ongoing capacity as the world's most-insistent Flashcubes fan, I purchased my very own copy for my burgeoning collection of compilation albums that include a little sumpin by Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse. From Waves Vol. 1 in 1979 through 2025's I Wanna Be A Teen Again--American Power Pop 1980-1989, Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes, and now 25 For '25: The Big Stir Records Hit Machine, the lights remain bright and glow even brighter still. Smile everyone! It's the Flashcubes.
THE RAMONES: I'm Affected
The 2023 publication of my first book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones prompted me to reassess my feelings toward each of the Ramones' studio albums. I'd always regarded the first four albums--Ramones, Leave Home, Rocket To Russia, and Road To Ruin--as bedrock, while still thinking Road To Ruin was a slight step down from the essential Ramonesness of its three predecessors. Now, I regard Road To Ruin as the Ramones' masterpiece, but ya can't go wrong with any of that nonpareil set of 1-2-3-4!!
I'm still disappointed with the fifth album, 1980's End Of The Century, which has moments of promise, even brilliance, but just ain't in the same league as Ramones through Road To Ruin. As I wrote in my second book, 2024's The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1):
"...By this point, legendary record producer Phil Spector viewed himself as the Ramones' anointed savior, and he wanted the chance to prove it. "Do you want to make a good record," he asked them, "or do you wanna make a great one?" His resumé of 45 rpm success was impressive, his early '60s Wall of Sound production responsible for the Ronettes and Crystals hits that were integral parts of the AM pop world during the formative years of the young Ramones-to-be. A perfect match?
"No. It was not a perfect match.
"Sure, the Spector-produced End Of The Century would be the Ramones' highest-charting album (albeit still with no radio hits), but his painstaking, glossy technique diluted the Ramones' power rather than enhancing it. Joey and Phil got along well--it's been said that Spector really wanted to produce a Joey Ramone solo LP--while Johnny despised Spector, and Spector pulled a gun on Dee Dee during the making of the album. End Of The Century has its moments, but it is nowhere near the equal of the four Ramones albums that preceded it. Spector delivered the opposite of what he'd promised: With Spector at the helm, the Ramones had made a good album rather than a great one...."
The album's lead-off track "Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?" is perfect--there's a reason we named our little mutant radio show after a line in that song--and second track "I'm Affected" sure does rock, even with Spector's ham-handed weakening of its power. It would have been something to hear it as, y'know, a purer Ramones track.
(For the record: I'm also way fonder of the Ramones' sixth album Pleasant Dreams than I was before, and it now rivals its follow-up Subterranean Jungle for the # 5 spot on my Ramones Albums Hit Parade. I remain one of the few Ramones fans who thinks Too Tough To Die is merely...okay. The Ramones never made a bad studio album, and they only made one bad live album [Loco Live]. But yeah, some of the albums were better than others.)
THE HIGH FREQUENCIES: Cleanup Time
"Cleanup Time" is my fave among faves on the High Frequencies ace new album Get High, and that's a statement of Hell, YEAH! when you're dealing with an album as good as this. I wish I'd jumped on the track a tiny bit sooner than I did--mathematically, it's too late for "Cleanup Time" to accrue sufficient spins to secure a berth on the countdown show--but I betcha it would have otherwise cleaned up nicely.
JIMMY SILVA AND THE EMPTY SET FEATURING KIM WONDERLY: Train Crossing
Always steal from the best. When friend to TIRnRR Rich Firestone played this wonderful Jimmy Silva track on his fab Spark Radio show Radio Deer Camp last week, I immediately realized it was a programming idea well worth swiping outright. Thanks, Reechie! I've owned the track for many years, but sometimes you need a good DJ to remind you of what ya should have already known. Always, always steal from the best.
JIMMY CLIFF: Miss Jamaica
This week's show included a few spins in memory of reggae music icon Jimmy Cliff. From a previous 10 Songs:
As I think back, I can't remember where I first heard the music of Jimmy Cliff. I've never seen the film The Harder They Come, and I don't know when I was first exposed to Cliff's classic tracks "Many Rivers To Cross" and "You Can Get It If You Really Want It." The latter was included on the mix tapes I made for my daughter Meghan when she was little. My first vicarious contact with Cliff was likely the Animals' cover of "Many Rivers To Cross" on their 1977 reunion album Before We Were So Rudely Interrupted.
But I do know that I first heard Cliff's 1962 ska tune "Miss Jamaica" in 1992, when Dana played it one week on our old TIRnRR precursor We're Your Friends For Now on WNMA. The song is certainly unlike Cliff's subsequent and better-known reggae sides; it's agreeably goofy, and I immediately found the difference between early Jimmy Cliff and later Jimmy Cliff noteworthy and fascinating.
THE OHMS: License To Kill
The Greatest Record Ever Made!
POPDUDES: Drivin' Around
This intrepid radio show has been carpet-bombing our playlists with selections from Play On: A Raspberries Tribute. This week's ritual Play On spin belongs to the always-reliable Popdudes, who give us an effervescently cruisin' take on Raspberrries' beach-bound classic "Drivin' Around." We have a lengthy and way cool history with Popdudes principals John M. Borack and Michael Simmons, and we're delighted to program their fine, fine music. Popdudes have appeared on several of the This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio compilation CDs, John was a colleague when I was freelancing for Goldmine magazine (for whom John still writes), and Michael Simmons was the magic maestro masterin' the magnificent music on Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes. We're fans!!
We're also big fans of Michael's own music, both with his group sparkle*jets u.k. (whose most recent album Box Of Letters was one of the tippety-top best records of 2024) and as a solo guy. Our Michael has released a simply splendid new covers album called Fun Where You Can Find It, and it is an absolutely essential purchase. We've already played the album's cover of the Beach Boys' "Sail On, Sailor" back when it was a pre-release teaser, and we will open our next show with another fine shot of Fun Where You Can Find It.
Meanwhile: PLAY ON! Long hot days, we'll be catchin' the rays. Popdudes at the wheel. Let's cruise.
Speaking of John M. Borack, he was also the drummer on the world's first Flashcubes cover, the Slapbacks' "Make Something Happen." Man, that title is familiar. The Slapbacks provided this treat for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 4 in 2017, and you can read that track's back story right here.
The Slapbacks were fronted by Keith Klingensmith, whose Futureman Records label is the digital home of most of the TIRnRR compilations. Keith's main rockin' pop recording gig is with indie sooperstars the Legal Matters, and that combo has a new album (Lost At Sea) due out on Big Stir in 2026. We started playing the advance single "Everybody Knows" last week, we played it again this week, it will spin again on our next show, and it's out in physical form on the 25 For '25 comp we extolled at the top of today's blog. Everybody knows? Everybody WINS!
JIMMY CLIFF: The Harder They Come
We will all fall. We are defined by how we stand before that inevitable fall. Across all rivers, Jimmy Cliff stood tall. Godspeed to one of reggae's enduring legends.
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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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