10 SONGS: 7/4/2026

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 # 1343

PAUL COLLINS: Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again

Here comes the Zimmer...man. Our friends at Jem Records continue their superb series of various-artists songwriter spotlights with Jem Records Celebrates Bob Dylan, and that series ain't made a misstep yet. Jem Records Celebrates Bob Dylan is due in August, and its release is heralded with this first teaser track, as TIRnRR fave rave Paul Collins takes on Bashful Bobby's "Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again." Dylan is (deservedly) one of the most-covered songwriters of the Rock 'n' Roll Era, and the Bard of Hibbing is in very good hands here. I'm very much looking forward to hearing more of this album.

(And if this series ever gets around to Jem Records Celebrates Michael Nesmith, I would really love to hear what our hometown heroes and Jem recording artists the Half/Cubes could do with Nesmith's "Rising In Love.")

MONOGROOVE: Back To School

From a previous 10 Songs:

"I've been a fan of Monogroove's Rin Lennon since hearing her former group On The Air's contribution to the 1984 Rhino Records (then-) contemporary girl group compilation The Girls Can't Help It. My pal Andrea Ogarrio included an On The Air track in a mixtape she sent me in the early '90s, and I snagged my very own copy of On The Air's 1987 eponymous six-song EP during a Florida vacation in 1994. More recently, we've been delighted to add Monogroove to our little Play-Tone galaxy o' stars, and 'That Girl' (from Monogroove's recent album Popsicle Drivethru) was TIRnRR's # 35 most-played track in 2025. Yep: ON THE AIR! It's what we do.

"In 2026, our on-the-air Monogroove presence has been established by the group's recent single 'Back To School,' and that's been a perfectly peppy rah rah siss boom bop in its own right. Pencils? Books? Teacher's dirty looks? It's all writ in # 2 graphite. 'Back To School' pushes against the scornful demands of high school's cliques and ninnies, on behalf of all of us who lurked in the nooks and crannies instead. School is in."

While this time of year may seem more suited to Alice Cooper crooning that school is out for the summer, Monogroove's "Back To School" returns now to the playlist as part of the new Kool Kat Musik release Anthology, a 20-track set commemorating Monogroove's 30th anniversary. And "Back To School" will be back again in a near-future playlist. We can't let the truants have ALL the fun.

BETH PEABODY: Out And About

JIM BASNIGHT: Get It Out

Beth Peabody is a singer and a member of Jim Basnight's band. We've been playing Jim in a variety of his rockin' pop dbas (including the Moberlys, the Rockinghams, Meice, and more) since the dawn of ever, and Beth has just released a new two-song digital 45 with her own ace lead vocal renditions of two Basnight songs, "Out And About" and "Get It Out." We debuted Beth's version of "Out And About" this week, and we also encored Jim's "Get It Out" in that same set. Now duly empowered, we'll hear Beth's take on "Get It Out" in our next show, AND we'll also hear her sing "Out And About" again. Can't have a hit record if you only play it once.

THE RAMONES: Rockaway Beach

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

SPECTRAFLAME: Life Is Fine

In between the lines, we all know that life is not fine. Maybe it never was, and maybe it never can be. The struggle continues. The feeling of struggle continues, too.

A new song by Spectraflame offers...well, not quite solace, but "Life Is Fine" does offer solidarity in standing against the forces of yechh. 

Things don't always go your way
Unless you've got something to say
But it's just a game you play

Love is fine
Can't get you off my mind
Love is blind you see it all the time
In my mind you always look divine

But they get smarter every day
It makes your game harder to play
But just who's playing anyway

Struggles can be physical or emotional, personal or societal, winnable or...not winnable. The battle rages on. Spectraflame is on our side.

"Life Is Fine" music and lyrics by Steve Burgess

KIRSTY MacCOLL: He's On The Beach

SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE: Hot Fun In The Summertime

'Cause the summer's here and the time is right.

Oh! And if you're looking for some summer reading: I write books!

BUY!!

THE BEATLES: All You Need Is Love

As we stated earlier this week: If love isn't the only thing, it may be the most important thing. Without it, we won't progress at all. Without it, we are nothing. Is love all we need? No. But it remains a damned good start.

THE DAHLMANNS: Dark Side With You

The Dahlmanns are a great, great recording combo from Norway, and we don't play them nearly as much as we oughta. Their 2012 track "Shake Me Up Tonight" remains a legit contender for my all-time Hot 200, and recently we've been programming the righteous hell out of "Dark Side With You" (from the Dahlmanns' current album Life In Reverse). With tough and tender chick vocals, a bruised but resilient heart safety-pinned to its sleeve and the first four Ramones long-players blastin' on its trusty Walkman, "Dark Side With You" is so unerringly TIRnRR we should nickname it "Dana & Carl With You." But we won't! It's already perfect just as it is. It spins again this Sunday night. Light up the dark, man. Light up the dark.

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.

My new book of short stories Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies is out now, and you can get autographed copies of the new book and my previous book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) directly from me. You can still get my previous 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.

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. 

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

Words O' Wisdom

What did Patsy Cline say when promising to bring home a pair of pepperoni and cheese pies?

"I vow two pizzas."

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.

My new book of short stories Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies is out now, and you can get autographed copies of the new book and my previous book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) directly from me. You can still get my previous 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.

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. 

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

Praise for GUITARS VS. RAYGUNS!! SHORT STORIES AND OTHER WHITE LIES

My new book Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies has scored its first review. A FIVE-STAR review! Okay, granted, it's a five-star review written by a friend, but c'mon! My friends are the ONLY people likely to read this book to begin with!

So big thanks to DAVE MURRAY for putting pen to paper/fingers to keyboard to bring his review of GvsR!! into the public light of Amazon. Here 'tis:

A remarkable collection of short stories

Reviewed in the United States on July 1, 2026

Format: Paperback

Superheroes, “superheroes” , profane interplanetary rock bands, cowboys, heaven and hell. These are just some of the varied subjects of the short stories that spring from the fertile mind of music writer, prolific blogger, and long time cohost of “This is Rock ‘n’ Roll Radio with Dana and Carl,” Carl Cafarelli.

There are 27 stories here and most of them work. The many highlights include the travails of that interplanetary rock band, and the title of this collection, Guitars vs. Rayguns. The ones I enjoyed the most were the Beatles 1976 reunion concert, and two back-to-back stories that tackle the weighty subject of both hell (hilarious) and heaven (poignant).

Cafarelli is a very talented writer and I hope to see more of his “white lies” soon.

***** 

Thanks, Dave! And if any other friends wanna chime in, I betcha Amazon and Barnes and Noble would love to hear what you have to say. Outside of the big guys, the book is available as a special order from YOUR favorite indie bookstore--KEEP BOOKSTORES ALIVE!--and you can get autographed copies directly from me ($18 including Media Mail shipping within the lower 48 states, PayPal to ccdatsme@aol.com), or from me via eBay (as listed here). Buy! Read! WRITE! 

It's a pretty good book. Dave Murray says so!

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.

My new book of short stories Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies is out now, and you can get autographed copies of the new book and my previous book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) directly from me. You can still get my previous 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.

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. 

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! Annette Funicello with the Beach Boys, "The Monkey's Uncle"

Drawn from a previous post, 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, as long as they take turns. Today, this is THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE!

ANNETTE [FUNICELLO, with THE BEACH BOYS]: The Monkey's Uncle

Written by Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman

Produced by Salvadore Camarata

Single, Buena Vista Records, 1965 (from the film The Monkey's Uncle)

In my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1), my chapter about the Monkees' magnificent single "Porpoise Song (Theme From Head)" notes:

"...Everyone who knows me knows that I love the Monkees. I love the TV series, I love the prefab Kirshner-era records, the hey-hey-we're-a-real band triumph of the Headquarters LP, the Monkees with sidemen compromise of Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd. (my favorite Monkees album), the schtick, the ambition, the songs, the image, the truth behind the image. I'm a believer already. But there's something emphatically special about the movie Head and its soundtrack. It's part of the grit that gives the cotton candy substance...."

That said, let us not be too quick to presume the cotton candy has no substance of its own. Pop music is its own reward, and any music that moves you or touches you or engages you has no need to justify itself to anyone else. Let 'em get their own soundtrack. AND their own goddamned cotton candy.

I bring this up here to acknowledge that, for some, the legend which has grown around Brian Wilson will exalt Pet Sounds and SMiLE, but perhaps not so much the Beach Boys' earlier frothy favorites. "Surf's Up" ¡SÍ!, "Surfin' Safari" ¡NO! 

If that POV exists, I disavow its validity. "I Get Around" is essential. "Help Me Rhonda" is essential. "Little Deuce Coupe," "Shut Down," "Surfin' USA," and the rest of this fun-fun-FUN! catalog are timeless, well-crafted, well-executed absolute pop gems, and they would be worthy of accolade even if Brian Wilson's ambition and vision had never went on to declare he just wasn't made for these times.

Paradoxically as ephemeral and eternal as it gets, "The Monkey's Uncle" (written by Walt Disney Studio tunesmiths the Sherman Brothers) is the title theme from a 1965 Disney flick co-starring Tommy Kirk and Annette Funicello. The film opens with Annette singing the song on-screen with the Beach Boys backing her up, and it's a winningly goofy confection perfection. It doesn't even NEED any grit!

Straitjackets are not appropriate beach wear. We are infinite. We can dance and we can think, we can dream and we can plan, goof around and create, dive into the possibility of the immediate and conjure the promise of the abstract. We can be the beach boys and beach girls we wish to be. 

Fun, fun, fun. Life is too short to disdain fleeting opportunities to enjoy it.

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.

My new book of short stories Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies is out now, and you can get autographed copies of the new book and my previous book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) directly from me. You can still get my previous 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.

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. 

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

COMIC BOOK COVER GALLERY: SUPERGIRL appearances on the covers of comics acquired in the '60s, '70s, and '80s

                         

With last week's release of the new Supergirl movie, let's devote a Comic Book Cover Gallery to the Woman of Tomorrow, the one and only Maid of Might, SUPERGIRL!

My introduction to the character was a story in 1966's Superboy # 129, an all-reprint 80-Page Giant that fascinated me when I was a kid (an experience detailed here). Supergirl isn't seen on the book's cover, but her appearance is hyped as a "Special Guest Star." From there, I started reading her backup feature in Action Comics, her occasional participation as a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes in Adventure Comics, her subsequent lead feature in Adventure Comics, and various solo titles thereafter. I confess that my eyes stung when I read the story of Supergirl's death in 1985's Crisis On Infinite Earths # 7. Post-Crisis, I was a big fan of writer Peter David's work on the '90s reboot (which falls outside our timeline here, but let's show one cover anyway.)

The 1990s Supergirl was not Superman's cousin, a different character than the one I first encountered when I was six. Later reboots reestablished the Kryptonian connection, but the current Supergirl is also not the pre-Crisis Supergirl of my youth.

I'm okay with that. I very much enjoyed the new Supergirl movie, and Milly Alcock is terrific in the starring role. If you've seen the film and didn't like it, well, dig what you dig. I liked it a lot, particularly an early sequence where an unpowered Kara interrupts her partying to face some bullies bothering a young girl, and Kara takes the bastards down. As a hero should. I'm very much looking forward to Alcott's return to the role in next year's Man Of Tomorrow.

As always, we'll be sticking exclusively to the '60s, '70s, and '80s era of acquisition I've established for these galleries. Today's selections include books I bought new, back issues I acquired after the fact (but within the timeline), and B-stock contraband originally purchased without their covers. These aren't actual photos of comics in my collection; most images are courtesy of the Grand Comics Database, which is grand indeed. But I did have each and every one of 'em at some point in time.

EDIT: It occurs to me that my introduction to Supergirl predates Superboy # 129, and goes back to 1965's 80-Page Giant # 14, a Lois Lane issue that is the first comic book I remember reading (or having read to me).

And now, we return to your Comic Book Cover Gallery, already in progress.

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.

My new book of short stories Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies is out now, and you can get autographed copies of the new book and my previous book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) directly from me. You can still get my previous 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.

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. 

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