Hearing the Ramones in TV commercials is never gonna get old for me. I've been hearing "Blitzkrieg Bop" in current commercials for Southwest Airlines, and it makes me smile every damned time. I don't think it's a sell-out. This is pop music, and it has always been pop music. The increasing ubiquity of Ramones music is another sign of the group's further deification within the mainstream. Yeah, I wish Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee, and Marky had lived to see it. But I'm happy to see it and hear it now. As I wrote in my Ramones book:
"...And now? It wouldn’t surprise me if you saw some random kid today, someone far too young to remember the Ramones first-hand, nonetheless sporting a Ramones T-shirt. It doesn’t even matter if such kids really know the Ramones or if they just think the damned shirt looks cool. It’s evidence of the Ramones’ assimilation into the greater pop culture. In the seventies, they were outsiders, square pegs. Today, the Ramones are the Beatles, Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix, the Doors, AC/DC, Nirvana, Batman. The Ramones are everywhere...."
As they should be. And in Syracuse, they're on the radio, where they've always belonged. This is what rock 'n' roll radio sounded like on another Sunday night in Syracuse this week.
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 all about this show's long and weird history here: Boppin' The Whole Friggin' Planet (The History Of THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO). You can follow Carl's daily blog at Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do).
TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS are always welcome.
Carl's latest book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) is now available, and you can order an autographed copy here. You can still get Carl's previous book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones from publisher Rare Bird Books. If you like the books, please consider leaving a rating and/or review at the usual online resources.
The many fine This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio compilation albums are still available, each full of that rockin' pop sound you crave. A portion of all sales benefit our perpetually cash-strapped community radio project:
TIRnRR # 1335: 5/3/2026
TIRnRR FRESH SPINS! Tracks we think we ain’t played before are listed in bold
RIHANNA: Shut Up And Drive (Def Jam, Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded)
DAR WILLIAMS: It's Alright (Razor & Tie, End Of The Summer)
T. REX: Cosmic Dancer (Hip-O, MARC BOLAN & T. REX: 20th Century Boy: The Ultimate Collection)
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THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY: Singing My Song (Razor & Tie, The Partridge Family Album)
THE DRIFTERS: On Broadway (Atlantic, All-Time Greatest Hits & More 1959-1965)
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CINDY LEE BERRYHILL: She Had Everything (Rhino, Who's Gonna Save The World?)
THE HALF/CUBES FEATURING GLENN BURTNICK: Bend Me, Shape Me (Jem, single)
FRANZ FERDINAND: Evil And A Heathen (Domino, You Could Have It So Much Better)
LITTLE RICHARD: Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On (Specialty, The Georgia Peach)
CUB KODA: Ramblin' In My Mind (Blue Wave, Welcome To My Job)
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THE STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK: The Sky Isn't Falling (Big Stir, single)
ELASTICA: Vaseline (DGC, Elastica)
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AIMEE MANN: Baby Blue (Hip-O, Ultimate Collection)
THE RAMONES: Blitzkrieg Bop (Rhino, Ramones)
JACK LEE: Give Me Some Time (Alive, Anthology: Bigger Than Life)
BIG STAR: When My Baby's Beside Me (Ardent, # 1 Record/Radio City)
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SHOES: The Things You Do (Elektra, Tongue Twister)
THE TEMPTATIONS: The Way You Do The Things You Do (Motown, Gold)
THE WONDERS: That Thing You Do! (Play-Tone, VA: That Thing You Do! OST)
FANCY: Wild Thing (RPM, VA: Velvet Tinmine--20 Junk Shop Glam Ravers)
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The Greatest Record Ever Made!
GENERAL JOHNSON AND JOEY RAMONE: Rockaway Beach (On The Beach) (Forward, VA: Godchildren Of Soul: Anyone Can Play)
KIRSTY MacCOLL: He's On The Beach (IRS, Galore--The Best Of Kirsty MacColl)
THE GO-GO'S: Beatnik Beach (IRS, Vacation)
THE FLASHCUBES: Muscle Beach (Northside, Flashcubes On Fire)
THE 'B' GIRLS: Fun At The Beach (Other Peoples Music, Who Says Girls Can't Rock)
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THE CHELSEA CURVE: Ride (Rum Bar, single)
THE TEARDROP EXPLODES: Pure Joy (Mercury, Wilder)
THE GITS: Insecurities (Sub Pop, Frenching The Bully)
THE BEAT: Walking Out On Love (Wagon Wheel, The Beat)
BUDDY HOLLY: Changing All Those Changes (MCA, The Buddy Holly Collection)
WIRE: Champs (Pinkflag, Pink Flag)
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LES HANDCLAPS: Les Filles C'est Fait... (n/a, Ouh Ouh Ah!)
THE MONKEES: Pleasant Valley Sunday (Rhino, Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd.)
LET'S ACTIVE: Talking To Myself (Collectors' Choice Music, Big Plans For Everybody)
TEGAN AND SARA: Girls Talk (Legacy, VA: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Music From Season 5)
THE KINKS: Better Things (Velvel, Give The People What They Want)
THE BEATLES: I Feel Fine (Apple, Past Masters)
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THE RONETTES: Be My Baby (Abkco, The Best Of The Ronettes)
THE BEATLES: Her Majesty (Apple, Abbey Road)
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