5 ABOVE: Songs With "Heart" In The Title

5 Above picks five great things within a specific category. Look out below--these are five that rise above.

Well, it was just a couple of days ago that I used a 5 Above column to tie in with the Only Three Lads podcast, anticipating an imminent episode where O3L hosts Uncle Gregg and Brett Vargo (and a Third Lad to be named later) will each offer a list of favorite albums that ya gotta own on vinyl. The question intrigued me enough that I decided to provide my own Top Five list of vinyl imperatives in response.

Each episode of O3L poses a Top Five challenge along those lines, with answers usually limited to stuff from the O3L classic alternative era of 1974-1999. And I don't know if I wanna get in the habit of answering those weekly challenges here at Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) HQ...but I don't know if don't wanna get in that habit either. You think you never know with me? Man, I never know with me.

Either way, after I wrote that previous 5 Above vinyl list, I finished listening to the most recent O3L, a two-part conversation with members of the Darling Buds, which found our assembled lads and ladette addressing the question of top five songs with the word "heart" in the title. And I found myself once again compelled to participate.

I spent the metric equivalent of no time at all coming up with this list. If I just looked at my iPod, I'd probably come up with a dozen more worthies. But the 5 Above placed paradoxically below are the five that occurred to me first.

HONORABLE MENTION 1: Not really, because it doesn't qualify. But mentioning "heart" makes me think of the band Heart, and thinking of the band Heart makes me think of that time when I was 17 in 1977, and a teen girl introduced me to Heart's "Kick It Out" while telling me about her ambition to pose for Playboy. That's...actually the whole story, but I padded it like a bra here.

HONORABLE MENTION 2: "Some Hearts" by Marshall Crenshaw. I don't even mind Carrie Underwood's version.

HONORABLE MENTION 3: "Heart And Soul" by the Monkees, the first single and best track from their uneven 1987 album Pool It! Sure, the album's iffy, but "Heart And Soul" is solid, its video was perfect, and it shoulda been a hit. Its path to chart success was impeded in part by T'Pau's contemporaneous smash record with the.same title, but the real blame lies with swinish programming mooks 'n' suits at MTV, who snubbed audience demand for the Monkees and instead suffocated the resurgent Monkeemania the network itself had helped to build just the year before. Bastards.

Now: Let's lay our hearts on the line.

5. LYRES WITH STIV BATORS: Here's A Heart

When I lived in Buffalo in the '80s, the Buff State radio station WBNY-FM hooked me on Boston's phenomenal fuzz combo Lyres and their Nuggets-worthy album On Fyre. I'd already been listening to Stiv Bators for a few years by then, commencing with his work fronting the Dead Boys while I was still in college in the '70s, his incredible power pop solo singles and album for Bomp Records after that, and his subsequent role as the lead singer of Lord of the New Church; I don't recall if I heard our Stiv's interim stint with the Wanderers before I heard the Lords or later on, after the fact. My Buffalo years had their ups, downs, and way-downs, but they did grant me opportunities to see separate club shows by Lyres and the Lords of the New Church, and I remain grateful for my good fortune.

I fell particularly hard for On Fyre, and often proclaimed (as a compliment) that Lyres didn't just want to be like the early Kinks, they wanted to BE the early Kinks. Cool goal! They succeeded in being Lyres, and that was fine by me.

Here's a heart crying out for love

Here's a heart that's been guilty of loving you too much

"Here's A Heart" was originally recorded by 1960s British popmeisters Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich. I dig a lot of DDDBM&T (especially "Hold Tight"), but I don't even remember their "Here's A Heart." To me, the song belongs to Lyres and Stiv Bators, who combined forces for this 1988 single.

4. ACTION SWINGERS: No Heart And Soul

Listen: a band cool enough to twist the title of my favorite Sweet album Desolation Boulevard into their own Decimation Blvd merits immediate props in these quarters. I'd never heard of Action Swingers before plucking a used copy of that 1993 CD out of a record rack at a store in Lake George, NY some years after its release, but the punk urgency of "No Heart And Soul" got my attention, and it earned significant spinnage on This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio.

3. THE FLASHCUBES: Sold Your Heart

"Sold Your Heart" by Flashcubes guitarist Paul Armstrong was one of my many Cubic fave raves in the late '70s, a loud and angry rant about the ache of rejection. But it's also pop, catchy as an STD, its rage borne by hooks, its melody unashamed to proclaim its essential pissed-offedness. The track was one of the Flashcubes' demos, originally unreleased, repunched and reclaimed for public consumption on the 1997 collection Bright Lights.

It was also a staple of the Flashcubes' live sets in '79, and the definitive "Sold Your Heart" is preserved on Flashcubes On Fire, a 2022 CD release of an absolutely incendiary 'Cubes show recorded at The Firebarn in Syracuse on May 26, 1979. My liner notes for that album explain why I'm such a fan; the disc itself provides an insistent, high-volume CASE CLOSED! in that regard.

2. THE RAMONES: Poison Heart

It's a given that my list would include the Ramones. My initial pick was "Listen To My Heart" from the Ramones' 1976 debut album Ramones, but "Poison Heart" (from 1992's Mondo Bizarro) emerged unbidden as the best choice. Mondo Bizarro was the first Ramones album recorded after bassist, songwriter, and founding member Dee Dee Ramone abruptly split from the group, but Dee Dee continued to write and submit songs to his erstwhile brudders-in-arms. Dee Dee co-wrote "Poison Heart" with Daniel Ray, and it's one of the very best latter-day Ramones tracks: Moody, surly, seething with a restlessness it can neither deny nor identify, delivered at a pace that breaks no necks but still simmers with the pure poison of resentment. 

D-U-M-B? It turned out that accusation was incorrect. 

1. THE SEARCHERS: Hearts In Her Eyes 

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

And DAMN, I just thought of "Radio Heart" by Willie Alexander and the Boom Boom Band. But the list stands as is. Its heart, at least, is in the right place.

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Carl's new book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones is now available, courtesy of the good folks at Rare Bird Books. Gabba Gabba YAY!! https://rarebirdlit.com/gabba-gabba-hey-a-conversation-with-the-ramones-by-carl-cafarelli/

If it's true that one book leads to another, my next book will be The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). Stay tuned. Your turn is coming.

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. Recent shows are archived at Westcott Radio. You can read about our history here.

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl

POP-A-LOOZA: THE EVERLASTING FIRST! ABBA, Action Comics, Action Swingers, Adventure Comics, The Adverts, and Astonishing Tales

Each week, the pop culture website Pop-A-Looza shares some posts from my vast 'n' captivating Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) archives. The latest shared post is a reprise of the very first edition of my series The Everlasting First, offering quick takes on my introductions to ABBA, Action Comics, Action Swingers, Adventure Comics, the Adverts, and Astonishing Tales.

This piece was a little bit longer when it was first posted back in August of 2016. My original intent for The Everlasting First was for each alphabetical entry to spotlight my introductions to a musical act and a superhero or other fictional entity, supplemented by the quick takes, consisting of an equal number of music and comics/pulp fiction subjects. As the series progressed, I realized that many comics fans didn't want to read about rock 'n' roll, and some pop music aficionados didn't care about the funnybook stuff.

So I started separating the music from the comics and pulp stuff, and retroactively split all the previously-posted Everlasting Firsts, as well. 

Over the course of nearly six years of The Everlasting First, I still haven't made it through the damned alphabet. I have gotten through the letter T, with T is for TARZAN, T is for THE TURTLES, and T's Quick Takes For Comics (Teen Titans, Thor, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, and The Twilight Zone) and Quick Takes For Music. (Television, the Temptations, Tommy Tutone and the Troggs). I haven't yet decided on the U entries--Uncle Scrooge? The Ugly Ducklings? U.N.C.L.E.? The Undertones? Uncle Sam? Tracey Ullman?--but I'll get to 'em eventually. When I finally do finish making my way through EF A-Z, I'll circle back to do others in no particular order, perhaps including the Animals and the Lone Ranger.

Two other dormant series are also due for a near-future comeback here: 5 Above (covering five songs from a specific artist or within a specific category) and Comic Book Retroview (covering short runs and/or single issues of comic book titles). Among the subjects potentially looming in one or t'other, we have the Romantics, Iron Man And Sub-Mariner, KISS, Daredevil Battles Hitler, the Hollies, Shazam!, Herman's Hermits, Detective Comics, Suzi Quatro, Captain Action, the Kinks in the '80s, the Spectre in the Silver Age, and comic book songs.

They say you never forget your first time; that may be true, but it's the subsequent visits--the second time, the fourth time, the twentieth time, the hundredth time--that define our relationships with the things we cherish. Ultimately, the first meeting is less important than what comes after that. But every love story still needs to begin with that first kiss. 

That's the boilerplate intro for The Everlasting First. And the origin of The Everlasting First serves as the latest Boppin' Pop-A-Looza.

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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, and on the web at http://sparksyracuse.org/ You can read about our history here.

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl

THE EVERLASTING FIRST: Quick Takes For A

Everything's gotta start somewhere. Before it becomes your favorite food, your favorite movie, or the love of your life, it's just something you've never tasted, something you've never seen, or someone you haven't yet met. And it's also true of favorite musical performers, and of favorite fictional characters.  For The Everlasting First, we'll take a series of looks back at my first exposures to a number of rock 'n' roll acts and superheroes (or other denizens of print or periodical publication), some of which were passing fancies, and some of which I went on to kinda like. Each entry in this 26-part series will be devoted to a single letter of the alphabet, and will include my reminiscence of both a rock group or singer and a comic book or comic book character (or other print-related topic) whose name starts with the letter of the day. Yes, it's Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do)'s answer to Sesame Street! 

They say you never forget your first time; that may be true, but it's the subsequent visits--the second time, the fourth time, the twentieth time, the hundredth time--that define our relationships with the things we cherish. Ultimately, the first meeting is less important than what comes after that. But every love story still needs to begin with that first kiss.

 


ABBA: First ABBA song I ever heard was "Waterloo," on WOLF-AM.

ACTION COMICS:  First issue I owned was Action Comics # 356 (November 1967), starring Superman in "The Son Of The Annihilator!," plus Supergirl in "The Girl Of Straw!"

ACTION SWINGERS: I don't think I'd even heard of them before coming across a used copy of the group's Decimation Blvd. CD at a shop in Lake George, NY. Bought it on a whim--the album title's sly reference to Sweet's Desolation Boulevard was a positive factor--and subsequently enjoyed it at a rather loud volume. "No Heart & Soul" became an early favorite on This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio.

ADVENTURE COMICS:  Adventure Comics # 358 (May 1968), starring The Legion of Super-Heroes in "The Mutiny Of The Super-Heroines!"

THE ADVERTS:  "Gary Gilmore's Eyes" on Brockport's college station WBSU.

ASTONISHING TALES: A Marvel split-book, published after the era of split-books--Tales To Astonish, Tales Of Suspense, Strange Tales--had passed with the end of the '60s. Nonetheless, Marvel tried it again 1970, and I came in with Astonishing Tales # 2 (October 1970), starring the jungle hero Ka-Zar in "Frenzy On The Fortieth Floor!" and the evil Dr. Doom in "Revolution!" The Ka-Zar story was pencilled by Jack Kirby, and Dr. Doom was drawn by Wally Wood--two legendary comics artists under one cover, for a mere 15 cents! Picked this up off the spinner rack while on vacation in Pensacola.



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Our new compilation CD This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 4 is now available from Kool Kat Musik! 29 tracks of irresistible rockin' pop, starring Pop Co-Op, Ray Paul, Circe Link & Christian Nesmith, Vegas With Randolph Featuring Lannie Flowers, The Slapbacks, P. Hux, Irene Peña, Michael Oliver & the Sacred Band Featuring Dave Merritt, The Rubinoos, Stepford Knives, The Grip Weeds, Popdudes, Ronnie Dark, The Flashcubes,Chris von Sneidern, The Bottle Kids, 1.4.5., The Smithereens, Paul Collins' Beat, The Hit Squad, The Rulers, The Legal Matters, Maura & the Bright Lights, Lisa Mychols, and Mr. Encrypto & the Cyphers. You gotta have it, so order it here.