10 SONGS: 5/16/2026

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 # 1336

BANDA AL9: I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend

Banda AL9 are an invigmoratin' pop combo from Brazil, with a new album called Hey! Hey! We're Banda AL9 due out this summer from Wicked Cool Records. The titular Hey! Hey! calls the Monkees to mind (and we approve of that message), and it also connects with this advance non-album single, covering the Rubinoos' power pop classic "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend." Hey hey you you! And what the Hey!, we're spinning this one again on our next show. Can't wait to hear the album.

GIRLSCHOOL: 20th Century Boy

I mentioned T. Rex in last week's 10 Songs, and also mentioned therein that "20th Century Boy" is my favorite T. Rex song. Knowing that this week's TIRnRR Greatest Record Ever Made! spotlight was set to shine on Headgirl (the combined forces of Girlschool and Motörhead, as discussed in my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! [Volume 1]), it seemed appropriate to serve up a first-set foreshadowing of that selection with a li'l sumpin' from Girlschool as well. Girlschool's able T. Rexstasy channeling of "20th Century Boy" just about programmed its own way into the first set. We're your boys, Girlschool!

(And recognizing Headgirl's other half, we'll get to Motörhead on our next show. In fact, we'll reprise the very first Motörhead song I ever heard.)

THE PORTUGAL JAPAN: Boy Meets Girl

Kick. Ass. 

"Boy Meets Girl" by early 21st century Japanese punk grrls the Portugal Japan has been an occasional TIRnRR playlist treat for years. From a previous 10 Songs:

"Man, this record is like sugar-frosted amphetamines. BOY MEETS GIRL! GIRL MEETS BOY! Dana had a compilation CD called Innocence Is Bliss, subtitled 'A Female Frenzy Of Sensational Sounds!' From that set, he played the Portugal Japan's 'Boy Meets Girl,' and I knew I needed my own copy, STAT...."

And while I did indeed score my very own Innocence Is Bliss (albeit in a time frame inexcusably longer than "stat"), I've never gotten around to further investigation of the Portugal Japan library. Their eponymous 2005 album appears to be the only Portugal Japan material to ever reach the marketplace, but I'm streaming it right now as I write, it's also transcendentally kickass, and I'm gonna need to own it. Radio's job is to sell records. Sometimes we sell the records to ourselves.. 

GO TIME!: Rules Don't Apply

"Rules Don't Apply?" Hey, it's the Federal government's theme song. NO! I KID! I'm a kidder. The music of Go Time! deserves better than my cheap jokes (though nothing will stop me from making cheap jokes), and as a rule, the group's new album 11 deserves to be applied to rockin' pop playlists everywhere. We'll do our part. Rules are rules, man. Rules are rules.

AMOS MILBURN: Down The Road Apiece

From 1947: Amos Milburn, and the first rock 'n' roll record. I doubt anyone could ever convince me otherwise. I made my argument on Milburn's rock 'n' roll behalf here.

THE LEGAL MATTERS: It Doesn't Matter

I'm far too lazy to do the research, but I believe TIRnRR was one of the first radio shows to program selections from the Legal Matters' ace current album Lost At Sea. "It Doesn't Matter" is my favorite track on Lost At Sea, and hearing it pop up again on my car stereo during a recent commute was more'n sufficient grounds to return it to the playlist, where it belongs. And do you know what the Legal Matters' "It Doesn't Matter" has in common with Banda AL9's cover of the Rubinoos' "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend?" It will also spin again on our next show. Hey HEY! It MATTERS!

THE PRODUCERS: What's He Got

Again: HEY!

THE MONKEES: She

And once again: HEY! I say, HEY!!! The Monkees sure knew their way around a proper HEY!!!

THE SHIRTS: Tell Me Your Plans

We've been offering advance airings of tracks from Live At Paradise 1979, Think Like A Key Music's exquisite new archival release from CBGB stalwarts the Shirts. And now: THE ALBUM IS OUT! BUY IT!! It's really good. To celebrate, we return to the Live At Paradise 1979 performance of "Tell Me Your Plans," which is probably my favorite Shirts number. 

HEADGIRL: Please Don't Touch

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

How do I know it's the greatest record ever made? Because the first time I heard it, I didn't want to hear any other track, just this one, over and over, again and again. A lot of records have that immediate, welcome effect on me. An infinite number of tracks can each be THE greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Here's to infinite turns, always and forever.

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: 7/26/2025

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 # 1295.

THE CYNZ: Can't Help Thinking About Me

This blog began in January of 2016, when my reaction to the death of David Bowie compelled me to start writing again. Following Blog Post # 1 on January 18th 2016 (my open letter to Bowie, later reconfigured as a chapter in my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! [Volume 1]), I began this daily blog. Other than a reduced schedule for a couple of months following the disaster of the November election, I never missed a single day, nor have I missed a day since resuming the regular schedule on January 18th of this year. As I wrote at that time:

"Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) began nine years ago today, when my lingering emotion in the aftermath of David Bowie's death compelled me to start a daily blog. This was a rash and possibly stupid decision, but I kept at it, with at least one post every single day until this past November. At that time, a combination of writing projects in need of my attention and my absolute disgust with the results of the Presidential election led me to pause and reconsider. I cut back to a reduced schedule of three to four posts a week, and I separated myself from the silly idea of maintaining a daily blog.

"Like John Lennon said when he reunited with Yoko Ono: The separation didn't work out...."

Given the prevailing (if unexpected) importance of Bowie in my story, a new various-artists tribute to Bowie has to be an automatic addition to the This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio playlist. This is especially true for Jem Records Celebrates David Bowie, which is chock full of appearances by so many familiar TIRnRR Fave Raves. C'mon! The Weeklings AND the Grip Weeds AND Paul Collins AND the Anderson Council AND Richard Barone AND Nick Piunti and the Complicated Men AND the Midnight Callers AND the Airport 77s AND the High Frequencies AND the On and Ons, all on one disc, all covering Bowie...?! To quote Lenny Haise, guitarist for '60s teen sensations the Wonders: "I'm signing, you're signing, we're ALL signing...!"

In addition to all of the Jem stars listed above, the first advance track from Jem Records Celebrates David Bowie comes to us courtesy of the Cynz. HuzZAH! We LOVE the Cynz, and they turn in an absolutely ace rendition of "Can't Help Thinking About Me." That's one of my own top Bowie tracks, and the Cynz friggin' nail it. It will spin again on our next show.

DAVID BOWIE: Queen Bitch

Well, we had to follow the Cynz singing Bowie with an example of Bowie singing Bowie, right? I think his BBC performance of "Queen Bitch" with the Spiders From Mars is our most-played Bowie track, making it the obvious choice here. 

THE FLASHCUBES: The Sweet Spot

This go'geous track "The Sweet Spot" was written by Flashcubes bassist Gary Frenay and the late Syracuse stalwart B. D. Love, and it's the latest advance single from the various-artists blockbuster Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes. Each of the 21 artists we invited to record Flashcubes covers for this project delivered to the fullest extent of their brilliance, and the addition of three new tracks by the 'Cubes makes the whole thing shine with even greater brightness. 

A sweet spot indeed.

MONOGROOVE: That Girl

A song for Marlo Thomas, wherever she is. NO! I KID! I'm a kidder. When I heard that Monogroove had a new digital single available, I bought it faster'n you can say Donald Hollinger. It's great, and it joins the playlist to continue our show's proud tradition of, y'know, playing Monogroove. We're playing it again on Sunday.

The good news doesn't stop there! The single is included on a new Monogroove album called Popsicle Drivethru. The CD is due soon from our friends at Kool Kat Musik, and the digital album is available now. MULTIgroove!

SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE: Hot Fun In The Summertime

My Greatest Record Ever Made! book contains a chapter about "Everybody Is A Star," which has generally been my top Sly and the Family Stone go-to. Since we lost Sly Stone in June, I've found "Hot Fun In The Summertime" has been on my mind and, consequently, in my ears and on the radio. If memory serves, a poll of Trouser Press magazine readers in the early '80s named "Hot Fun In The Summertime" as the # 1 choice for the title of all-time top summer song. Surpassing the Beach Boys in that category would seem a daunting task. But if anyone could do it, it would have to be Sly.

KEVIN ROBERTSON: We Found The Summer

Oooo--this is nice. Our buds at Futureman Records have a new album from Kevin Robertson of the Vapour Trails, and said new Kevin Robertson album Yellow Painted Moon kicks itself off with this luscious radio-ready tune "We Found The Summer." If you're seeking to find some summer, look no further. And "We Found The Summer" will shine again in Syracuse this coming Sunday night.

THE SHIRTS: Lost In A Rhyme

I am often amazed and delighted by unexpected discoveries from the vault. The visionaries at Think Like A Key Music have gone a-burrowin' through the archives of irresistible but unreleased rockin' pop, and they've pulled out a previously-unheard 1981 live-in-the-studio performance by '70s CBGB's fixtures the Shirts. Screw the Dead Sea Scrolls; finding what is essentially a fourth Shirts album from the group's original run is revelation and a half, especially considering the fact that I don't have (and don't really remember) the second Shirts album (1979's Street Light Shine) and have never heard their third (1980's Inner Sleeve).

No matter! Live Featuring Annie Golden is vintage, classic Shirts, of a piece with their magnificent eponymous debut album from 1978. "Lost In A Rhyme" is our immediate Pick T' Click, and these Shirts fit us perfectly.

AMOS MILBURN: Down The Road Apiece

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

SLADE: Gudbuy T' Jane

From a previous edition of 10 Songs:

My love of rock 'n' roll radio was forged by my absolute fascination with AM Top 40, beginning when I was a kid in the '60s, manifesting in earnest when I was in middle school and high school in the '70s. My migration to FM by the time I graduated from high school in 1977 didn't change the fact of the matter: Radio was everything. 

In those days, Top 40 stations in one city weren't necessarily playing all of the same potential hit records as Top 40 stations in other cities. Regional hits. Years later, I was surprised to learn that, say, "Tonight" by the Raspberries and "Blockbuster" by Sweet weren't radio smashes all across the USA. But here in Syracuse, they were. And so was "Gudbuy T' Jane" by UK stompers Slade.

My God, I loved this record. Still do. Slade were huge in their native land, but the colonies didn't catch on until the '80s, first via the numbskull proxy of covers by Quiet Riot and then by the much-belated appearance of Slade themselves on the American pop radar (and on MTV) with "My Oh My" and "Run Runaway."

My first is still favored: "Gudbuy T' Jane." Made for the airwaves, then and now. Get with it, America. Jane is all right, all right, all right, all right.

THE BEATLES: You Never Give Me Your Money

Most of our weekly playlists end with a little something by the Beatles. That fully Fab spin is followed by our sign-off and a bonus track or two, but the playlist proper usually concludes with your John, Paul, George, and/or Ringo, comin' at you from their secure perch at the Toppermost of the Poppermost.

And here's a Beatles track we've never played in any of the preceding 1,294 editions and additional sundry TIRnRR specials over the past 26.75 years: From Side 2 of Abbey Road, "You Never Give Me Your Money."

Yeah, I was surprised, too. Well! Time to cash in finally play it, I guess.

There isn't any money. But there are still more great things we ain't played yet, including a dwindling but discernible supply of Beatles tracks. And yes, before you ask, we have played "Revolution 9" at least once, possibly twice. More play remains. More work remains, old stuff and new stuff alike. Music justifies itself. Enthusiasm justifies itself. Once again: Here's to the act you've known for all these years.

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 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! Amos Milburn, "Down The Road Apiece"

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, as long as they take turns. Today, this is THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE!

AMOS MILBURN: Down The Road Apiece

Written by Don Raye

Single, Aladdin Records, 1947

Awright, maybe we're no more likely to get a consensus about identifying the very first rock 'n' roll record than we are to agree on a definition of power pop. But I have yet to hear a compelling argument that anything other than Amos Milburn's 1947 boogie-woogie jumper "Down The Road Apiece" could claim that title. 

(Um, I mean that First Rock 'n' Roll Record title. Calling it power pop would be a little bit of a stretch.)

When I was freelancing, unsolicited promo CDs routinely turned up in the mail. I was writing a lot of reviews then, and if I liked something enough to wanna write about it, I'd pitch Goldmine editor Jeff Tamarkin to get a review assignment. I never got a review assignment for Down The Road Apiece, a 1993 EMI Records compilation of R & B singer/pianist Amos Milburn's 1946-1957 output for the Aladdin label, but its title track grabbed me at first boogie-woogie. 

The song itself dates back to a 1940 version by the Will Bradley Trio. Milburn speeds it up just a little, and just enough to make it a bona fide rock 'n' roll song. Furthermore, it's a bona fide rock 'n' roll song that predates the rock 'n' roll era.

No one can tell me "Down The Road Apiece" ain't rock 'n' roll. If there was something earlier that rocks like this does, I haven't heard about it yet. Barring evidence to the contrary, I insist that Milburn's "Down The Road Apiece" is the very first rock 'n' roll record. It predates Fats Domino's "The Fat Man" (1949) and Jackie Brentson and his Delta Cats (1951), the latter really Brentson singing with Ike Turner's group. 

The first rock 'n' roll record? There is no reasonable definition of rock 'n' roll music nor any understanding of its origin that could exclude Amos Milburn's "Down The Road Apiece." Better'n chicken fried in bacon grease. If you wanna hear some boogie, stick with me. I know just the place.

And I know just where to find it. Keep walkin'!

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 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: 6/15/2024

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 # 1237

THE SHIRTS: Move On Groove On

Hey Carl! Dig THIS!

Over a span of years--decades, really--most music fans have benefitted from inspiration and specific recommendations to discover new (or at least new-to-us) sounds: New records, new artists, new discoveries, each a fresh revelation even when it happens to be a record released before we were born. Any record you ain't heard is a new record.

I benefitted from friends and family, from helpful and knowledgeable folks at record stores, and from mass media. Rock magazines. Radio stations. The pursuit of buzz. I'm still on the hunt for all of it.

Alas, no one hipped me to the Shirts in the '70s. A few live tracks on the Live At CBGB's various-artists set were the only Shirts material I recall hearing at the time, and that didn't grab me like, say, Bowery scene contemporaries the Ramones, Blondie, and Television grabbed me. i didn't get hip to how GREAT the Shirts were until the '90s at the earliest, whenever it was that I snapped up a used CD reissue of the Shirts' eponymous debut album from 1979.

Instant thrall. Maybe I said to myself, Hey Carl! Dig THIS! I know I cursed the passage of a couple of decades that I had wasted by delaying my entry into Shirts fandom. But what the hell--I'm there now. Any record you ain't heard....

Through all of that, I certainly didn't think it likely that I would ever be able to enjoy a brand-new Shirts release. 

But the Shirts are back! The Shirts' new single "Move On Groove On" retains the spunk and sass of the old days, sidestepping nostalgia and just, y'know, doing. NEW SHIRTS! And they fit just fine. Dig THIS!

(All of the above also applies to "Move On Groove On" 's virtual B-side "Deux Royale;" we opened this week's show with "Move On Groove On" and programmed "Deux Royale" near show's end. In between, we supplemented our Shirts appreciation with recent fave rave "The Man Behind The Man With A Gun" by Shirts guitarist Arthur Lamonica's group Rome 56 and another spin of the '79 Shirts nugget "Tell Me Your Plans." The Shirts return to TIRnRR next week. The digging never stops. Our overcompensation has gotta start somewhere.)

THE FLASHCUBES: Nothing Really Matters When You're Young

THE SPONGETONES: Have You Ever Been Torn Apart?

IYKYK

AMOS MILBURN: Down The Road Apiece

My new book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) is due out on July 10th, and it's available for preorder right now (as mentioned here). The book does not include a chapter about "Down The Road Apiece" by Amos Milburn; maybe I'll get around to writing that chapter for Volume 2. But Milburn's record is mentioned at least twice in Volume 1, within my chapters about Big Mama Thornton and Ike and Tina Turner. 

Why? Because I insist that Amos Milburn's 1947 recording of "Down The Road Apiece" is the very first rock 'n' roll record. It predates Fats Domino's "The Fat Man" (1949) and Jackie Brentson and his Delta Cats (1951), the latter really Brentson singing with Ike Turner's group. 

No one can tell me "Down The Road Apiece" ain't rock 'n' roll. If there was something earlier that rocks like this does, I haven't heard about it yet.

THE ANDERSON COUNCIL: Connection

THE MIGHTY LEMON DROPS: Paint It Black

A twin spin of Rolling Stones covers, starting with the Anderson Council's "Connection" (from the ace current tribute compilation Jem Records Celebrates Jagger & Richards) and barrelin' into the Mighty Lemon Drops' 1988 live performance of "Paint It Black." Wet paint connection! 

(Wet paint connection is like the rainbow connection except, y'know...black! Black as night! Black as coal! Connect away.)

THE MYNAH BIRDS: I Got You (In My Soul)

The Mynah Birds were signed to Motown in the mid '60s, and the group was fronted by a then-unknown Rick James and also included the likewise then-unknown Neil Young. The Mynah Birds broke up due to extracurricular circumstances--James was busted and incarcerated for being AWOL from the military--and Motown opted to let the group's recordings remain in the vault. Young went on to Buffalo Springfield and, I guess, did some other stuff after that. 

Unlike Amos Milburn's "Down The Road Apiece," I did complete a chapter about the Mynah Birds' originally-unreleased 1966 classic "I Got You (In My Soul)." It was written as part of a chapter about "Super Freak" by Rick James, a piece I later split into two separate chapters. "Super Freak" is in the book; "I Got You (In My Soul)" is in reserve, but you can read it here.

And I still can't get my head around the idea of what might have been. Rick James and Neil Young. That coulda been something else, man.

COTTON MATHER: The Book Of Too Late Changes

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

sparkle*jets u.k.: Box Of Letters

Man, I like this track. "Box Of Letters" is the current single from sparkle*jets u.k., and it turns out that it's also going to be the title track from their imminent (but not soon enough) new album. We debuted the single last week. We played it again this week. It notches up its third consecutive TIRnRR appearance this coming Sunday night. Sometimes it's best to think inside the box. Sparkle is as sparkle does.

GRAHAM PARKER AND THE GOLDTOPS: Back To Schooldays

Although it would be inaccurate to call the great Graham Parker a punk rocker, the irascible 'n' irrepressible vibe of some of his 1970s material places him (at the very least) on punk's periphery. Parker wasn't a punk...but a lot of punks loved him. This punk sure did.

As such, GP was among the first artists I ever heard within this broad not-really-a-category category of the punk-adjacent. In my senior year of high school, 1976-77, WOUR-FM in Utica, NY was playing Parker's "Hotel Chambermaid," and they were also playing Nick Lowe's "So It Goes." In the summer of '77, WOUR added the Sex Pistols' "God Save The Queen" to its parade of Hey, Carl! Dig THIS!! revelations. None of these three sounded at all like the other two. The common ground was attitude. 

The shared trait was transcendence.

Graham Parker is, of course, still at it, gloriously still at it, and still a reliable resource for Hey, Carl! Dig THIS! Graham Parker and the Goldtops' 2023 album Last Chance To Learn The Twist was one of the year's highlights, and our friends at Big Stir Records have just issued another digital single from that record.

The A-side, "Last Stretch Of The Road," is the de facto source of its album's title, and it scored TIRnRR airplay last year. Its B-side is a searin' live version of GP's classic 1976 rocker und roller "Back To Schooldays." 

I don't remember whether or not we've ever played Parker's original studio version, but we're playing the new live version now. Hey, listeners! Dig THIS! 

Label at your own risk. But perhaps there are still more chances to learn the Twist.

Dig?

If you like what you see here on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), please consider a visit to CC's Tip Jar. 

Carl's book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones is 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 The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) will be published in July. 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

10 SONGS: 3/3/2023

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 # 1170. This show is available as a podcast.

IRENE PEÑA: Must've Been Good

America's Sweetheart Irene Peña invited Dana and I to appear on her Twitch TV channel last Sunday, and we were delighted to do so. Evidence? Right HERE. But we had no idea that she was also going to surprise us with live cameos by our musical friends Dolph Chaney, Bruce Gordon, and Steve Stoeckel, and we had no clue whatsoever that this fantastic four had wrangled others to join them in a secret fundraiser for Syracuse Community Radio. We're told the looks on our faces when they announced a $500 donation to SCR tells the story of our shock and gratitude.

Maybe it's not enough to just say "thank you," but...thank you. Thank you Irene, and thank you everybody, all who participated and all who contributed. 

This week's TIRnRR was already recorded well before all of the above occurred. Knowing we were gonna be on the air (prerecorded) right after Irene's Twitch-and-shout presentation, we opened our own show with "Must've Been Good," the track that introduced us to Irene's music in 2016.

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio has the best listeners--the best friends--a little mutant radio show could ever want. And next week? Well, next week's TIRnRR playlist will be our chance to offer a proper thank you after all.

THE FLASHCUBES FEATURING RANDY KLAWON: Get The Message

At this writing, "Get The Message"--the 2022 digital single from the irresistible combined pop forces of the Flashcubes featuring Randy Klawon--has been the most recent 'Cubes release from the visionaries at Big Stir Records. It's a good one, so we keep playing it. 

Still, we want more. Listen, greed ain't so much a sin when you're seeking bounty on behalf of the greater good. For the people! For the FANS! 

(I mean, for us, too. Let's not get crazy. DJs need cool stuff to play just like you need cool stuff to play.)

Luckily, there will be more. I can speak with authority that the Flashcubes are working on [redacted]. 

Um...[redacted]?

Er...lemme try saying it louder, like Garrett Morris on Saturday Night Live: THE FLASHCUBES ARE WORKING ON [redacted]. I said [redacted]. [Redacted]. [REDACTED!] That's [REDACTED!!!].

Damn these NDAs! You'll find out soon enough. Just remember: you got the [redacted] message here first.

OSCAR TONEY JR: Moon River

Gotta admit I'd never even heard of Oscar Toney Jr. until last year. Yeah, late to the party again. But I brought tunes! Here's what I said in 2022:

"One of the many truths in our lives as pop fans is that there is always so much more magnificent music awaiting our discovery: new music, of course, and also old music that escaped our attention.

"I don't recallI hearing (or hearing of) '60s soul singer Oscar Toney Jr. before last week. Maybe? Even if so, Toney didn't register with me until, like, now. A chance dive into the CD bins at Sound Garden in Syracuse netted me The Soul Of The Memphis Boys, a compilation CD collecting some Memphis sides by Ben E. King, Elvis Presley, Arthur Conley, James and Bobby Purify, Arthur Alexander, Jerry Lee Lewis, Dusty Springfield, Solomon Burke, Ella Washington, and more. Impulse purchase, come to Poppa!

"On this disc, Toney's 'Ain't That True Love' freakin' knocked me out. On the radio it went, and on the radio it will return next week. This is a bona fide soul classic, even if hardly anyone knows it. Classic.

"There's so much out there, waiting for us to open our ears, eyes, and minds and just notice. The hunt continues. Ain't that...something?"

That hunt led me to a Toney best-of CD called Oscar's Winners, which made its TIRnRR debut with last week's spin of the exquisite "No More Sad Songs." Go'geous! Toney's heavenly take on Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer's stalwart "Moon River" crossed in style past dreammaker and heartbreaker alike to join this week's cavalcade o' hits, and we'll tune up more Toney next week. You know the mantra, mis amigos: Any record you ain't heard is a new record. Open up. Say OSCAR!

THE CYNZ: Tell That Girl To Shut Up

With this week's spin on the ol' playlist, the Cynz' current cover of Holly and the Italians' "Tell That Girl To Shut Up" has probably locked a berth on TIRnRR's year-end countdown of our most-played tracks in 2023. How high will it place? Remains to be seen, and it's gonna have competition. Still, it seems safe to predict it will be on the Countdown show. 

The track's taking a break next week. It'll be back. Don't even waste your breath tellin' this girl to be quiet. Quiet is not her nature. Lucky for us!

THE MONKEES: You Told Me

Peter Tork, Davy Jones, producer Chip Douglas, Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith

The Monkees will always, always be one of my all-time favorite acts. As the group's sole surviving member, Micky Dolenz is currently preparing a new concert tour in tribute to the Monkees' 1967 album Headquarters. Their third album, Headquarters (along with the non-LP B-side "The Girl I Knew Somewhere," which immediately preceded Headquarters) presented the Monkees as a working studio band for the first time. Following two albums of not being allowed to play at all on the records that bore their name, the Monkees played on every track on Headquarters. There were a few essential sidemen, and producer Chip Douglas served in spots as a de facto fifth Monkee, but it was mostly the Monkees themselves. The result was a solid win, both artistically and commercially. With Headquarters and a 1967 concert tour, the made-for-TV combo had become real.

I've seen a video of Micky and his ace ensemble rehearsing for this new tour, singing the album's opening track "You Told Me." It's a Michael Nesmith song, and Micky channels his departed friend's original presence in his own charismatic style. I'd love to hear what he does with more songs originally sung by Nesmith ("Sunny Girlfriend" and "You Just May Be The One"), Davy Jones (particularly "Early Morning Blues And Greens" and "Forget That Girl"), and Peter Tork (whose only lead vocal on the album was the second verse and one line of the chorus of "Shades Of Gray;" on this tour, Micky will presumably sing both Peter's and David's parts on this one). And I wanna hear Micky's live versions of songs he did sing on the Headquarters album, songs like "Mr. Webster" and "For Pete's Sake." It's gonna be a great show.

Alas, he may not--won't--be coming to my town, as the tour isn't planning stops anywhere near Syracuse. ADD MORE DATES!, I cry. But I know there are only so many shows they can do.

I have a great memory of seeing the Monkees in 2012, after Davy passed, but with Micky, Michael, and Peter. It was magic, one of my most-cherished concert experiences. We play the Monkees' records nearly every week on TIRnRR. This week, we played "You Told Me," the opening track from Headquarters, which remains the Monkees' most-respected full-length work. Next week, we'll play the opening track from one of the Monkees' least-respected albums. It's a great track nonetheless. Hey-hey. We're fans.

DONNA SUMMER: He's A Rebel

This one made it to the playlist outta nowhere. Dana played "Rebel Girl Rebel Girl" by Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby, and I figured I'd follow with "Rebel Rebel." Rather than play David Bowie's original, I opted for a cover by the Bay City Rollers. 

But I didn't want to play the album track (from 1977's It's A Game); I wanted to go with a live version. We've spoken in recent weeks about Voxx, the 1980 album the post-fame (and post-"Bay City") Rollers submitted as their contract-breaker with Arista Records. It's a very good record, I remembered a live cover of "Rebel Rebel" lurked in between its studio tracks, so I plopped the live Voxx "Rebel Rebel" into place as we set up the show.

It didn't work. 

Not in the context, not in the specific flow of the show. It's a fine track, but it wasn't the right track for the moment. Maybe the Crystals' "He's A Rebel" instead? Hmmm. Or maybe a cover of "He's A Rebel?" Or maybe, I dunno...

...maybe an entirely different song that happened to share that title? Yeah. That worked.

The only tracks I remembered from Donna Summer's 1983 hit album She Works Hard For The Money were the superb title track and "Unconditional Love," her collaboration with Musical Youth. "He's A Rebel" was an original song on that album, I stumbled across it while fumbling through "Rebel"-titled choices, and had my EUREKA! programming epiphany. 

I work hard for no money. That's...the opposite of being a rebel, innit? No matter. As long as the right songs get on the radio, my work is complete.

AMOS MILBURN: Down The Road Apiece

Awright, maybe we're no more likely to get a consensus about identifying the very first rock 'n' roll record than we are to agree on a definition of power pop. But I have yet to hear compelling evidence that anything other than Amos Milburn's 1947 boogie-woogie jumper "Down The Road Apiece" could claim that title. Um, I mean that First Rock 'n' Roll Record title. Calling it power pop would be a little bit of a stretch.

THE CLASH: Train In Vain

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

BLOTTO: Twist And Shout

RECORDED LIVE IN SYRACUSE! I may have even been at this September 1981 show at the Jab, because trust me: given the state of ME in the early '80s, the fact that I don't remember being there has no legit bearing on how likely it was that I was there anyway. Shake it up, baby.

THE KINKS: Destroyer

This is the first time we've ever played "Destroyer" on TIRnRR. I've never fully embraced this willfully bludgeonsome track from the Kinks' 1981 album Give The People What They Want. Other than the flat-out stellar "Better Things," Give The People What They Want isn't one of my favorite Kinks albums; it's always felt to me like a continuation of the arena-rock of 1979's Low Budget, and while I do like both albums, neither would be among the first ten non-compilation Kinks records I'd pick to play during free time.

That said, even if "Destroyer"'s stadium bluster and self-referential nods to "Lola" and "All Day And All Of The Night" are a tiny bit off-putting, I do still like it. The arena-rock phase helped the Kinks remain commercially viable, both Low Budget and Give The People What They Want have their share of well-respected moments, and their next two '80s albums State Of Confusion and Word Of Mouth are even better.

(And I wonder if, in this stadium period from the late '70s to the early/mid '80s, Ray Davies thought of a heavy-handed number called "Destroyer" as a callout to the bombast of KISS, who had a 1976 album called Destroyer. Probably a coincidence, but ya know what? I wanna rock 'n' roll, all day and all of the night. Maybe Ray did, too.)

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Carl's new book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones is now available for preorder, courtesy of the good folks at Rare Bird Books. Gabba Gabba YAY!!

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.