10 (no--13!!) SONGS: 7/25/2026

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 # 1346

THE AMPLIFIER HEADS: A Girl Named Chop Suey

A rock 'n' roll riot! That's the promise offered and honored by the Amplifier Heads' new album Super 8. Amplified head Head Sal Baglio has made it clear in whose memory Super 8 is proclaimed:

"The Amplifier Heads' new album Super 8 is dedicated to Paul Armstrong and Ducky Carlisle — two much beloved and missed friends gone way too soon.

"Ducky introduced me to Paul the way he introduced everyone. He said: 'Do you know Paul Armstrong? Yeah, he’s a genius. You two guys should be friends.'

"And that’s exactly what happened. Both Ducky and Paul were crazed rock n’ roll FANATICS and we loved all the same music.

"We played on many stages together, including The Cavern in Liverpool. They both appear on the Amplifier Heads' Loudah album, which was also recorded and mixed by Ducky Carlisle at his Ice Station Zebra Studio.

"Both are missed very much. Super 8 is dedicated to their shining light and crazed rock n’ roll spirit. They live on in all the music we created back then, that we create right now, and that we are destined to create in the future."

TIRnRR offers a great big HELL YEAH!! to all of the above. To the Amplifier Heads, I say Ducky and PA would be proud of you.

THE MONKEES: A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You

From a previous blog post about my 25 favorite Monkees tracks:

Don Kirshner's last stand, but it's a really, really good last stand. Most regard this Neil Diamond ditty as an inferior follow-up to his SuperMegaSmash Monkees hit "I'm A Believer," but I actually like it better. Part of the reason is circumstantial: the original Colgems 45 of "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You" pounds and pops in a way no CD (or LP) reissue has ever managed to recapture. "I'm A Believer" is a better song, and arguably a better record, but I feel a vibrant and pervasive connection to "A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You," a connection its "Believer" big brother can't equal. (For a coincidental commentary on Kirshner's exit from the Monkees project, read the lyrics to this song as an approximation of what I think Kirshner shoulda said to the Monkees at the time. Except maybe not addressing the group as "Girl.")

CIRCE LINK: I'm On Your Side

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

MONOGROOVE: Back To School

THE MnM'S: I'm Tired

P. J. SOLES: Rock 'n' Roll High School

THE MUFFS: That's For Me

THE RUNAWAYS: School Days

THE RAMONES: 7 And 7 Is

THE COASTERS: Charlie Brown

JUNIPER: Boys! Boys! Boys! Boys! Boys!

High school reunion time! I'm pretty sure I haven't learned anything. Here's my chance to prove it.

For my share of programming this week's penultimate set, I picked four tracks to sorta kinda represent the high school experience. The set begins with Monogroove's "Back To School," a certifiable TIRnRR Pick Hit found on the group's current 30th anniversary collection Anthology. Let Alice Cooper crow that school's out for the summer; Monogroove has your essential teen guide to navigating the halls and kicking the cliques. Back? It's like I never left.

The MnM's

Following Dana's spin of "I'm Tired" by the MnM's, we inserted a bit of dialogue from the classic--that's motherlovin' CLASSIC, man!-1979 feature film Rock 'n' Roll High School, as the Ramones walk around campus and the evil principal Miss Togar asks them in a shrieking tone, Do your parents KNOW you're Ramones...?! This snippet segues into a performance of the movie's title theme as executed by its star, perfectly-cast actress P. J. Soles in her hypmotizin' role as Riff Randell, rock 'n' roller.

Riff's winning warbling flows into Dana's selection of the Muffs' "That's For Me" (from their farewell album No Holiday), which in turn sets up "School Days" by the Runaways. That song was the subject of a previous Greatest Record Ever Made! post, and it remains my favorite Runaways track. Then--just like when I saw the Runaways open for the Ramones in 1978!--the Queens of Noise lead us into glue-sniffin' temptation, as the Ramones cover Love's supercharged '60s proto-punk nugget "7 And 7 Is."

And then, the Coasters! I've described "Yakety Yak" as the all-time best song about the generation gap, and it would have seemed the likeliest Coasters track to place here. Instead, we return to my introduction to the Coasters; I heard "Charlie Brown" when I discovered a copy of the 45 in the family collection circa 1972-73--eighth grade for me--and delighted in the fee-fee-fi-fi-fo-fo-fum tale of this cat Charlie who was either the high school's biggest troublemaker or just terribly, terribly misunderstood. Dana closes the set with Juniper's "Boys! Boys! Boys! Boys! Boys!," which properly places the blame for mischief on those unruly lads. I bet they're ALL named Charlie Brown! WHY'S everybody always picking on me? I'm innocent, I tell ya! INNOCENT!

Right. I'm ditching study hall. Wanna meet up in the smoking area? But in the immortal words of Peter Tork: I don't smoke...those.

THE GREENBERRY WOODS: Waiting 'Round For Something To Go Wrong

Speaking of high school, the Greenberry Woods' new album It's All Good, Sugar includes a track called "Waiting 'Round For Something To Go Wrong," and that song title describes high school about as accurately as anything ever. The album as a whole is a welcome return for these power pop greats, and "Waiting 'Round For Something To Go Wrong" has become my go-to. We'll play it again on our next show.

THE BEATLES: I'm A Loser

And still speaking of high school....

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

10 SONGS (plus a High School Reunion BONUS!): 7/18/2026

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 # 1345

THE HIGH FREQUENCIES: Subterranean Homesick Blues

We open this week's broadcast bop-a-thon with another great track from the forthcoming tribute album Jem Records Celebrates Bob Dylan, this one courtesy of that force of rockin' pop nature known as the High Frequencies. As our pal Fritz Van Leaven reminds us, Elvis Costello's "Pump It Up" was directly inspired by Bashful Bobby's "Subterranean Homesick Blues;" for their take on the song, the High Frequencies retain the original punk and bile of Robert Zimmerman and Declan McManus alike, while applying an accomplished dash of pure, pretty effervescence that enhances the experience without diluting its anger. The pumps still work! Maybe vandals tried to take the handles, but the mighty muscle of the High Frequencies stopped the damned vandals cold. LOOK OUT, KID! You will absolutely be seeing and hearing this one in future playlists. 

RAMSEY LEWIS: Wade In The Water

Before viewing Questlove's excellent new documentary Earth, Wind & Fire: To Be Celestial vs. That's The Weight Of The World, I did not know that EWF's Maurice White had been a drummer with the Ramsey Lewis Trio from 1966 to 1970. See, ya learn stuff watching TV. That connection was sufficient to prompt Ramsey Lewis's return to the TIRnRR playlist, a feat accomplished with the title tune from Wade In The Water, the first Lewis album to feature White. Wade in the water? Smokin' on the water! We'll hear another track from the same album this Sunday night.

Why? We got a good reason. (And we're not taking the easy way out.)

THE ICICLES: I Wanna Know

THE BLUE HERONS: Take A Break

From this week's playlist commentary:

"... A recent Only Three Lads podcast introduced me to the music of the Blue Herons, and further informed me that Blue Herons singer Gretchen DeVault was also in the Icicles. And I love the Icicles! That compelled me to buy the current Blue Herons album Demon Slayer, to pull out my trusty CD copy of the Icicles' A Hundred Patterns, and to include a track from each in this week's playlist...."

Over the past couple of decades, the Icicles' "Snowman" has been a frequent fixture of our seasonal playlists, and I confess my short attention span--which my daughter once described as AD...OS! (Attention Deficit...Ooo, SHINY!)--prevented me from delving further. We remedied that by playing "I Wanna Know," another go'geous track from A Hundred Patterns, and I cursed the AD..OS! that stopped us from programming this perfect crystal twenty years ago. 

When Gretchen and her Blue Herons collaborator Andy Jossi were on O3L, the show's hosts Brett Vargo and Uncle Gregg played the title track from Demon Slayer, and I was duly mesmerized: Dreamy and vibrant, with echoes of '90s worthies like the Primitives and the Darling Buds. WANT! And got. That's why a benevolent deity gave me a credit card in the first place.

I intended to include that title track in this week's show, but the playlist ran a teensy bit too long, forcing me to sub the slightly shorter "Take A Break" in its place. Not to worry! We will slay that soulless demon on our next show.

THE RAMONES: I Wanna Live

From a previous edition of 10 Songs:

I moved back to Syracuse from Buffalo in 1987. It was not a great time in my life, and it was still going to be a little while before things got better. 

In good times and less-good times, music has always been a highlight. I don't remember if I heard "I Wanna Live" before picking up my copy of the Ramones' 1987 album Halfway To Sanity. I may have seen its video on MTV, but my memory insists I didn't even know the Ramones had a new album out when I spotted and immediately purchased Halfway To Sanity at The Record Theatre up on the SU hill. 

The album includes a fab guest appearance by Blondie's Debbie Harry on "Go Li'l Camaro Go," a meeting of CBGB's minds I'd been wishing for since the late '70s. Nonetheless, my favorite was (and is) "I Wanna Live." 

Is it a life-affirming track? By default, I guess, though it could also be read as a suicide note. But the guitar sounds like it wants to live. Joey Ramone likewise sounds like he's digging in for the long haul. It's what I want, and I'm going with that. 

GENERATION X: Dancing With Myself

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE SPONGETONES: Lifetimeline

This week's show was already programmed when we received word that TIRnRR Fave Raves the Spongetones were releasing a new single. Well, we've gotta play THAT!. Advance copy secured, playlist tweaked ever-so-slightly, and this uberfab track "Lifetimeline" was on the radio where it belongs. And it's back where it belongs again on our next show. The lifetimeline is secure.

SKOOSHNY: It Hides More Than It Tells

Think Like A Key Music is one of our favorite archival labels, particularly for their recent slate of previously-unreleased '70s and '80s live tracks by the majesty of the Shirts (as heard here and here). Think Like A Key's new Skooshny collection The Recordings 1971-1981 plays right into our lovably ornery demographic, preserving 21 tracks of left-of-the-dial pop music that merited a much wider audience. I remember reading about Skooshny in the pages of Bomp! magazine (and I think in Trouser Press) when I was in my teens and early twenties, but I don't think I heard any of their music at the time.

Well! We're hearing it now, thanks to the good folks at Think Like A Key Music. And we're putting it on the radio. More next week.

BETH PEABODY: Out And About

A lot of the coolest radio shows on the whole friggin' planet have been playing "Get It Out," the fabulous current single by Beth Peabody. It's a great song choice, and "Get It Out" deserves every second of that airplay.

We also played Beth's "Get It Out" last week, but we've been playing its virtual flip side "Out And About" all along. Both songs were written and previously recorded by Jim Basnight, Beth sang on Jim's versions, and Jim now plays on Beth's new versions, too. Jim's "Get It Out" has itself received its share of TIRnRR spinnage, and maybe that's why our current Beth Peabody selections have gravitated to "Out And About" instead of "Get It Out."

Still, I don't think we're merely defaulting to "Out And About." Man, both tracks are as radio-ready as one could wish, but there is a specific groove in "Out And About" that just annexes my attention, making its continued TIRnRR playlist appearances both inevitable and unerringly, righteously appropriate.

THE AMPLIFIER HEADS: Rock 'n' Roll Riot

This little mutant radio show has been all in for the Amplifier Heads' forthcoming album Super 8, doling out advance singles as they've become available. That willfully manic plan brings us this week to "Rock 'n' Roll Riot," an exercise in a-stompin' and a-rompin' that lives up to the celebratory promise of its title. Rock 'n' roll riot? Sign us up! And yet another track from Super 8 will open our next radio riot on Sunday. Man your stations, Amplifier Heads! There's a riot going on the air.

MONOGROOVE: Back To School

Back to school? Yep. Got a 1976 high school reunion party that I'll be crashing next week. I'm sure that night's soundtrack will stick to the music of the Me Decade, but for now we start our prep time with a spin of  Monogroove's TIRnRR Pick Hit "Back To School." We'll continue that prep on our next show, supplementing "Back To School" with three additional secondary-education tracks (two from the '70s, one from before I was born) that put the proper BOOM! in the ol' sis-boom-bah. 

And just like when I was in high school: I solemnly swear not to learn anything.

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

10 SONGS: 5/30/2026

 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 # 1338

THE HALF/CUBES: Starless Summer Sky

It was a rare treat for us to preview no less than three new and as-yet-unreleased tracks from the Half/Cubes. Their next single (a cover of Jellyfish's "Ghost At Number One") is due out soon, and we gave that li'l gem its debut airing in this week's closing set. We placed the Half/Cubes' ace cover of Gilbert O'Sullivan's "Get Down" in the middle of the show, and we kicked our shindig off with their superb rendition of Marshall Crenshaw's luscious pop treasure "Starless Summer Sky." AND! We threw in another spin of the Half/Cubes' current single, joining forces with Glenn Burtnick for a bravura rendition of the American Breed's "Bend Me, Shape Me." The three new tracks will surely return in eventual future playlists. "Bend Me, Shape Me" plays again this Sunday night.

THE KNACK: Pop Is Dead

Get the Knack! Dana has been quite taken with the new Knack retrospective Knackology: The Zen Recordings, a set that mixes studio and live tracks from the 1990s and early 2000s, supplemented by demos and a live "Let Me Out" from 1979. The Knack's 1998 album Zoom was my favorite album that year, and it's possible that I like Zoom even more than I like Get The Knack. I'm delighted that Dana programmed Zoom's "Pop Is Dead," and you can bet on more Knackology to come on TIRnRR.

GRAHAM PARKER AND THE GOLDTOPS: Hotel Chambermaid

As pop fans worldwide clear space in their music libraries for Quality Footwear: Live At The Brook, the forthcoming new live album from the mighty Graham Parker and the Goldtops, we've been playing the album's advance singles. This week, I wanted to program a live version of a Graham Parker song that has specific meaning for me.

From a previous 10 Songs:

"Hotel Chambermaid" was the first Graham Parker and the Rumour I recall hearing, a favorite on Utica's WOUR-FM circa '76-'77, my senior year in high school. For some reason, I thought it was by Greg Kihn, whose take on Bruce Springsteen's "For You" was also getting some significant airplay on OUR, and I don't know why my mind put those two songs together. But both were part of my early FM radio listening, along with Nick Lowe's "So It Goes," the Kinks' "No More Looking Back," Joan Baez's "Time Rag," Michael Nesmith's "Rio," and, eventually, the Sex Pistols' "God Save The Queen." Radio's been good to me.

THE AMPLIFIER HEADS: A Song Called Sha La La

And the song chose its name well! The Amplifier Heads' new single "A Song Called Sha La La" is a perfect addition to our sovereign airwaves, channeling the Troggs and fortifying each Sha, La, and La with the essential oomph we require. Sha la LA! All three syllables (and, y;know, the rest of the record, too) return to the playlist on our next show.

THE SMALL FACES: Sha-La-La-La-Lee

Well, how else could you follow our first spin of "A Song Called Sha La La?" The Small Faces answer the call!

THE FLASHCUBES: Got No Mind

I've come to regard the Flashcubes' "Got No Mind" as 'Cubes guitarist Paul Armstrong's signature song. "Got No Mind" made its retail debut in a 4-track recording found (alongside a 4-track of 'Cubes bassist Gary Frenay's "Guernica") on the B-side of the Flashcubes' debut single "Christi Girl" in 1978. The definitive version was recorded live at The Firebarn in Syracuse in 1979, included on the group's 1997 anthology Bright Lights, and eventually reprised on the live at The Firebarn CD document Flashcubes On Fire. In the wake of PA's recent passing, we've been playing it a lot, and we will continue to do so. A friend recently told me that she used to think "Got No Mind" was a Sex Pistols cover rather than a Flashcubes original, and I say that's a testament to the great Paul Armstrong's ability to embody the raucous best of punk, and the Flashcubes' collective knack for making punk pop, and pop punk. Got no mind? I don't mind.

THE RUNAWAYS: Wait For Me

When I was a college student in the late '70s, I became a huge fan of the Runaways, and I consider myself fortunate to have seen them on a 1978 live bill with the Flashcubes and the Ramones (a concert memory recalled here). I played their third album Waitin' For The Night a lot--a lot--and I'm a little surprised we never got around to playlisting the album track "Wait For Me" until this week. Glad they were willing to wait!

THE CYNZ: Ghost Rider

My new book Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies is finished, with a fingers-crossed publication date of June 12th. HEY! That's an excuse to display the book's cover graphic again right here!

Well, that felt good. The book is a collection of some of my short fiction, and the rock 'n' roll in its DNA mandates passing references to a long list of real-life music performers (and you can read that list here). The Cynz are, of course, among TIRnRR's Fave Raves, so it makes sense that my imaginary planet-hoppin' combo Guitars Vs. Rayguns likes to include the occasional Cynz cover in their own outer space live sets:

"...Now, Leiko, Beckie, and FeeFEE! were all dressed the same as me (though each of 'em considerably better-looking than your boy Rocky), like co-ed Beatles at CBGB. The setlist was still peppered with covers, everything from the Buzzcocks and the Selecter to the Cynz and Etta James...."

Literary immortality! This week, we celebrate the notion of the Cynz as intergalactic superstars by returning their recent single "Ghost Rider" (from their current album Confess) to the real-world airwaves.

RIHANNA: Shut Up And Drive

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE RAMONES: Surfin' Safari

From a previous 10 Songs:

In my continuing efforts to fool people into thinking I'm way cooler than I really I am, I'll casually mention that I first learned that the Ramones had recorded a cover of the Beach Boys' "Surfin' Safari" when Joey Ramone told me that the Ramones had recorded a cover of the Beach Boys' "Surfin' Safari." Gabba Gabba HEY! 

The revelation came during my 1994 telephone interviews with the Ramones [as detailed in my first book, Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones]. Our Carbona-huffin' heroes had tackled the song previously, their version used as a backing track for a 1978 single by Rodney and the Brunettes. That would be legendary DJ Rodney Bingenheimer, with the Honeys handling the vocal heavy lifting. The Ramones had hoped to exhume their original parts (minus Rodney and his Brunette Honeys) to use in their All The Stuff (And More) reissue series, but the tracks could not be located.

Instead, the Ramones wound up recording it again during the sessions for their 1993 all-covers album Acid Eaters. Their '90s "Surfin' Safari" was only used as a bonus track on the album's Japanese edition, though it did eventually appear on a British reissue of Acid Eaters. It has never been released in America.

And lemme just add here in the present day: Surf's UP. A safari awaits.

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 of short stories Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies is due out soon; meanwhile, you can get an autographed copy of my previous book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) here, and 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.

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: 4/20/2024

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 # 1229. This show is available as a podcast.

THE HALF CUBES: The Girl

'Rubes and 'Cubes! The Half Cubes, of course, are piloted by two members of Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse the Flashcubes--Tommy Allen and Gary Frenay--working with Randy Klawon and Fernando Perdomo. For their latest single, a remake of the Rubinoos' fabulous song "The Girl," the Half Cubes recruited half of the Rubinoos--Jon Rubin and Tommy Dunbar are your designated Half Rubes--and the result is the livin', breathin', boppin' embodiment of radio-ready. This one's for "The Girl!" We'll hear the track again on our next show. 

WONDERBOY: Girl Songs

Could not resist following our opening spin of "The Girl" with "Girl Songs" by Wonderboy. Man, why would we wanna resist? As I've been saying: Girl songs mean a lot to me.

PAUL COLLINS: In Another World

I believe This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio has demonstrated our allegiance to the music of Paul Collins. I've been a fan since I snapped up his former group the Nerves' EP when I was a college student in the '70s, moving on from there to Paul's incredible "Walking Out On Love" and the debut of his next group, the Beat. The Beat's eponymous 1979 debut album is recognized as one power pop's all-time classics, and Paul Collins is legend in that genre. You don't need me to tell you that, sure, but I like saying it: Paul Collins is legend.

And his current album Stand Back And Take A Good Look is a worthy continuation of the legend. Its lead-off single "I'm The Only One For You" is already guaranteed a berth on our year-end countdown of TIRnRR's most-played tracks in 2024. 

Now, we turn our attention to the album's latest single. "In Another World" renders its sense of wistful yearning all pretty 'n' pop, a janglier embodiment of eyes on the freakin' prize. We played it this week, and we're playing it again Sunday night. Airplay befits a power pop legend. We'll do our part.

In this world.

MONOGROOVE: One Tin Soldier

Last week's edition of 10 Songs recounted my history as a fan of Rin Lennon, starting decades ago with her former group On The Air and continuing into her contemporary work with Monogroove. From their most recent album The Flip Side, Monogroove made their TIRnRR debut with last week's spin of "I Think Of You."

This week, we returned to The Flip Side for Monogroove's cover of "One Tin Soldier." When I was an adolescent, I considered the Original Caste's 1969 hit version The Greatest Record Ever Made, and I ain't kiddin'. The song's plea for peace amid brutality struck a chord within my own simplistic young quest for deeper meaning; its subsequent use (via a cover by Coven) in the film Billy Jack placed its decrying of hating one's neighbor and cheating one's friend in a film otherwise devoted to scenes of its titular hero's ritual I-just-go-BERSERK! kicking of Fascist ass. A contradiction? I was thirteen when I saw the movie in '73, and I was all in. I figured the bad guys had it coming. GO AHEAD, Billy Jack!

The song is still welcome to my ears. Rin Lennon told me Monogroove "chose that song because it's a message that really needs to be heard. We indeed made it a bit more edgy so that the younger generation might listen to it."

The (subtle) edge serves Monogroove's version well. Maybe there will be trumpets blowing come the Judgement Day. A kingdom on a mountain. Peace on Earth. That's all we say.

ELENA ROGERS: Queen

In a recent email to some musicians, I made a passing reference to Elena Rogers as "insanely talented." That is, if anything, selling her short. We've been playing Elena's sublime single "I Feel Alive," and we'll follow suit with spins of her newest single "Queen." Insanely talented. We'd be crazy to even consider missing out on the chance to program all this great stuff. God save "Queen."

THE FLASHCUBES: Come Out And Play

Playtime! The Flashcubes have been a large part of my life for more than forty-five years. Looks like that's gonna continue in the near future. Work and play. Time to make something happen.

THE RAMONES: Swallow My Pride

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE CYNZ: Just A Boy

Seven deadly Cynz! 1) We play the music of the Cynz; 2) We started our Cynzmania with their 2022 single "Narrow Hips;" 3) "Narrow Hips" accrued enough spins to be among our most-played tracks that year; 4) The Cynz keep releasing 'em, we keep playing them, from their covers of Holly and the Italians and the Kinks through decadent delights from their current album Little Miss Lost, and also delving into the ol' back catalogue here 'n' there; 5) The Little Miss Lost track "Just A Boy" made its first TIRnRR appearance on our April 7th show; 6) We played it again this week; 7) We make it three weeks in a row with our next show.

Great song. Bless us, Father (and Mother): We have CYNZ!

THE AMPLIFIER HEADS [FEATURING JEN D'ANGORA]: Something Went Down

I tell ya, we've been trying to squeeze this into one of our playlists for weeks. You'd be amazed how quickly a three-hour time slot overfills itself. We were going to play "Something Went Down" when it was a single by the Amplifier Heads featuring Jen D'Angora. Never quite got to it. Now, that self-same rockin' pop summit meeting is on the freshly-minted new Amplifier Heads album Songs From They Came To Rock, and we'd damn well better get with the razzafrazzin' program awready. It spins again on Sunday. We're inept, but we mean well. And we can't deny those who came to rock.

KISS: Calling Dr. Love

Between recording this week's show on April 10th and airing it on April 14th, we learned that our friend Dominique King passed in late March. Dom was an active member of our little TIRnRR community; she fell ill a couple of years back, and we've missed having her participate in our Sunday night chat group, usually bugging us to play more Michigan-bred rock 'n' roll. Losing her now is not a surprise. We mourn nonetheless.

I wouldn't say that Dom was necessarily a big KISS fan. Maybe you'd figure this fire-breathin' NYC combo's "Detroit Rock City" mighta been a pick hit for a woman proud to bill herself as Midwest Guest. But I do know that Dom liked "Calling Dr. Love." She sent us a virtual thumbs-up every time we played it. 

"Calling Dr. Love" 's appearance on this week's playlist is a coincidence. But we dedicate it after the fact to our friend Dominique King. And will open our next show with a deliberate three-song salute to Dom. Godspeed, Midwest Guest. Farewell, my friend.

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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 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