THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE: House Of The Rising Sun

This appeared here previously in a different context. It is not a part of my long-threatened book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1), though I may re-use bits of it in an eventual GREM! piece about "It's My Life."

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!

Guitar.

The late Hilton Valentine played guitar for the Animals. That means Valentine's playing was the very first thing most of us heard when we were introduced to the Animals' music: the distinctive, bluesy lick that opens "The House Of The Rising Sun," the Animals' first hit in these American colonies in the British Invasion year of 1964. 

It was a traditional folk song, dating back to at least the early 1900s. The Animals rearranged it into a powerful, mesmerizing rock 'n' roll record, a ballsy move that particularly impressed Bob Dylan. The Animals' take on "The House Of The Rising Sun" was (along with the Beatles) among the key influences upon Dylan's eventual act of ignoring folk purists' ignorant catcalls of JUDAS! as he went electric himself. Animals keyboardist Alan Price took the lucrative credit for the song's arrangement--that's a rant for another day--but it had been a group effort, and a group execution. Price's swirling play propels the record, the rhythm section of bassist Chas Chandler and drummer John Steel lock into an authoritarian groove, and the incredible lead singer Eric Burdon wails like the possessed soul he is. Hilton Valentine plays guitar. He hooks you first, and keeps you hooked, bound, helpless, boarding a train for New Orleans to wear that ball and chain. The House of the Rising Sun. It's been the ruin of many a poor boy. And God, you know you're one.

I was fortunate enough to see Hilton Valentine perform on a few occasions. He came to Syracuse a couple of times to participate in BeatleCuse, a wonderful concert series captained by local musician Paul Davie. Valentine seemed friendly and easy-going, secure in his position within the history of our beloved beat music. In the early '80s, I got to see the Animals themselves--Eric, Alan, Chas, John, and Hilton--and that was a dream come true.

I've been a fan of the Animals even longer than I've been a fan of the Kinks or the Rolling Stones. As a senior in high school, I expressed my dissatisfaction with the state of pop music circa '76 and '77 by scrawling a desperate WHERE IS ERIC BURDON NOW THAT WE NEED HIM? on the underside of an office cabinet. I, Rebel. Sort of. The stated plea was for Burdon, but it was a wish for the Animals. Eric, Alan, Chas, John, and Hilton. Vocals, organ, bass, drums...and guitar. Hilton Valentine played guitar. One foot on the platform, the other foot on the train. The ruin of many a poor boy. Play it, Hilton. 

If you like what you see here on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), please consider supporting this blog by becoming a patron on Patreon, or by visiting CC's Tip Jar. Additional products and projects are listed here.

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

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl

10 SONGS: 6/16/2023

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 # 1185. This show is available as a podcast.

JUSTINE AND THE UNCLEAN: The Signal Light

This was supposed to be a celebration.

The Signal Light is the first Justine and the Unclean album since Heartaches And Hot Problems in 2018, and also the first since the group made its TIRnRR debut with the fantastic "Vengeance" single in 2020. Love at first spin! We've played each and every one of the singles they've released since then, and we included "Vengeance" on our own compilation album This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5 in 2022. We were so looking forward to the release of The Signal Light, and the album does not disappoint, collecting all of those great singles (including "Vengeance") alongside more brilliant new music from Justine and the Unclean. If ever an album was primed for carpet-bomb programming on TIRnRR, The Signal Light is that album.

So we opened this week's show with Justine and the Unclean, with the title track from The Signal Light. As most of you must know by now, this show was recorded before we learned of the sudden, unexpected passing of Justine Covault. What a loss. What an awful loss for our shared pop music community. 

We recorded a brief statement to run at the top of this show, expressing our sorrow and our condolences to Justine's family and friends. We left the show itself intact, to stand as a record of our enthusiasm for the work, and for all that Justine did.

This was supposed to be a celebration. It wound up a sadder celebration than we planned. We will pay tribute to Justine on our next show.

THE ANIMALS: We Gotta Get Out Of This Place

Even before we heard the news about Justine, we knew this week's show would include an element of mourning with the loss of songwriter Cynthia Weil. Weil and her husband and writing partner Barry Mann created so many timeless classic songs. The first Mann-Weil song I owned was a 45 of Eydie Gormé's "Blame It On The Bossa Nova;" sure, I was only three years old when the song was a hit in '63, but I knew it and adored it. I may not have acquired any other Mann-Weil works until the mid '70s, when a flea-market purchase of the Monkees' Headquarters LP added their song "Shades Of Grey" to CC's record library. Many more would follow.

One of my favorites was the Animals' "We Gotta Get Out Of This Place," which I borrowed from my cousin Maryann before a rockin' and rollin' emissary of Santa Claus hisself placed the double-album The Best Of The Animals under the Christmas tree for me in 1976.

THE  MONKEES: Love Is Only Sleeping

I told my story here of the sheer revelation of falling for the Monkees' Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd a decade after the fact, when I was a high school senior in 1977. "Blame It On The Bossa Nova," "Shades Of Grey," "We Gotta Get Out Of This Place," and maybe a 45 of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling' by the Righteous Brothers preceded the entry of Pisces into my collection, but its track "Love Is Only Sleeping" knocked me out to the extent that I finally--FINALLY!--took notice of the songwriting credit. Mann and Weil, huh? Awrighty. The search was on. 

THE FLASHCUBES: Wouldn't You Like It

THE FLASHCUBES WITH RANDY KLAWON: Get The Message

The Flashcubes THEN, and the Flashcubes NOW! Sort of. "Get The Message" will be on the Flashcubes' new album Pop Masters, coming soon from the visionary rockin' pop forces of Big Stir Records. Pop Masters is an all-covers effort, and it will be one of your favorite albums this year. It's already one of mine.

And we figured we'd include "Get The Message" as the back end of a twin spin of the Flashcubes demonstrating their nonpareil prowess as interpretive artists. That one-two punch began with a dynamic Cubic reading of the Bay City Rollers' "Wouldn't You Like It," which the 'Cubes recorded (at our suggestion) for the 1999 Rollers tribute album Men In Plaid. I've always loved the Rollers' version to begin with, and the 'Cubes absolutely nail their rendition of it.

THE NERVES: Hanging On The Telephone

Another passing, as the pop world mourns musician and songwriter Jack Lee. Word of Lee's death reached us as we had just finished recording basic tracks and back announcements for this week's show, but not too late to make any changes we deemed necessary. Saluting Jack Lee was necessary.

Blondie's international hit cover of Lee's song "Hanging On The Telephone" was actually in the playlist already, so Dana suggested adding the song's original version, which Lee recorded with his legendary pop combo the Nerves. We swapped out another track, redid a couple of the back announcements, and paid our own humble tribute to Jack Lee.

THE DRIFTERS: On Broadway

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

BLONDIE: Hanging On The Telephone

Yeah, we kept Blondie's take in as well. I remember that, in college, I knew the song from the Nerves' EP; it's a testimony to how great that EP is that "Hanging On The Telephone" was my third favorite among its four tracks, after two songs written by other members of the Nerves (Peter Case's "When You Find Out" and Paul Collins' "Working Too Hard"), and ahead of Lee's "Give Me Some Time." All four tracks were and remain superb.

But like I said, this was a Nerves song as far as I was concerned. When my pal Jay called to tell me how flat-out jazzed he was with Blondie's then-new Parallel Lines album, his mention of "Hanging On The Telephone" prompted a Wait...WHAT? outta me. Cool moment of connection.

ASTRUD GILBERTO: Where Have You Been?

The late Astrud Gilberto's best-known moment is her vocal turn fronting Stan Getz and company on the massive hit "The Girl From Ipanema." I don't think Ms. Gilberto ever graced any previousTIRnRR playlist, but her recent passing made it seem imperative to at least play the hit.

Upon further review, it felt necessary to go a tiny bit deeper, and include one more Gilberto performance. When news of Gilberto's death broke, our friend and fellow DJ Michael McCartney waxed rhapsodic of his memory of listening to Astrud Gilberto, particularly this track "Where Have You Been?," from her 1972 album Now.

Beautiful and haunting. Beguiling. Irresistible. Outside of our experience and familiarity, but nonetheless undeniable in the moment. There is so much we don't know, so much we haven't heard yet. 

Where have we been? Our trail to this point has been obscured. What next? We'll have to find out, won't we? Godspeed, Astrud. And thank you. Michael.

PAUL REVERE AND THE RAIDERS: Kicks

An anti-drug message was not the hippest stance for a rock 'n' roll single to assume in the '60s. And having that message delivered by a costumed combo known for sashayin' their synchronized steps on various TV shows likely didn't enhance its perceived hipness. 

Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil did not care about any of that.

Their intent was sober and serious, to craft a cautionary tale about the dangers of addiction, and to do so within the catchy parameters of a 45 bound for the pop charts. They pulled it off magnificently, and the mighty Paul Revere and the Raiders did their able part by proving once again that their gaudy Revolutionary War outfits didn't mean they were some sort of freakin' clown act; they were America's answer to the Rolling Stones.

Kicks just keep getting harder to find? On record, man, there are always, always kicks aplenty. Paul Revere and the Raiders were among the many worthy artists that saw to that. Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil were one of the ace songwriting teams that made it happen. Get your kicks. Get your kicks right here.

IN-PERSON EVENT! On June 29, I will be making an in-store appearance at GENERATION RECORDS, 210 Thompson Street in NYC on behalf of my  new book GABBA GABBA HEY! A CONVERSATION WITH THE RAMONES. The book contains my 1994 interviews with Joey, Johnny, Marky, and C.J., which were cited by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as essential reading. I'll be at Generation to chat with fellow Ramones fans, talk about the book, the interviews, and how the music of the Ramones impacted my life. If you are in the New York area on June 29th, I would love to see you at Generation Records. Hey-ho, let's GO!  

If you like what you see here on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), please consider supporting this blog by becoming a patron on Patreon, or by visiting CC's Tip Jar. Additional products and projects are listed here.

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/

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

VIRTUAL TICKET STUB GALLERY: First live performance experiences of an artist's work (in person or by proxy), Part 1

The title for today's post is a little bit clunky, and it's resisted my attempts to unclunkify it. But I was thinking the other day about performers I've seen in concert, and wondering how many times my first concert experience with a given act was also the first time I'd ever seen anyone play that act's music live.

For example: I don't think I'd ever witnessed anyone play a Prince song live before I saw Prince and the Revolution in concert, but I certainly saw a million bands play Beatles and even Wings songs waaaaay before I went to a Paul McCartney show. 

So! Let's look back at a few of the performers in my Virtual Ticket Stub Gallery and determine whether of not my first [artist name here] concert was also my live introduction to [artist name here]'s songbook.

THE ANIMALS

Seeing the reunited Animals--Eric Burdon, Alan Price, Hilton Valentine, Chas Chandler, and John Steel--was a dream come true. This was around 1983. Before that, I'm reasonably certain a great Rochester, NY combo called the Insiders included some Animals covers in their live shows.

But we can go all the way back to the early '70s for my first exposure to Animals material played live. When I was in middle school, circa 1972 or '73, a student assembly in the auditorium presented a variety show during one school day. I don't remember much about it, except that I think there was a representative of one of the armed services branches singing "Don't Rain On My Parade," and there was most definitely a teen band from one of the Central New York high schools, plugged in and playin' "House Of The Rising Sun."

This was my first live rock 'n' roll experience, and I loved it. My classmates were nonplussed, but I was in freakin' Heaven. I wish I knew who that teen band was; I wonder if any of its members went on to do more, and if I ever saw any of them in later incarnations. We'll likely never know. Though anonymous, my virtual ticket stub gallery started right here.

THE BEACH BOYS

I didn't see the Beach Boys until the late '80s, and common sense dictates I must have already seen someone perform an "I Get Around" or an "In My Room" or the like. 

I can't think of a single specific instance. 

Nonetheless, I'm gonna go with common sense. There's no way the Beach Boys in concert could have plausibly been my introduction to Beach Boys songs played live. 

KISS

Tabula rasa, baby. KISS was my first concert, and none of the school assembly or wedding bands I'd seen prior to that show ever exhorted an audience to rock and roll all night and party every day.

IGGY POP

In the early '80s, a Brockport, NY bar band called the Party Dogs regularly included Iggy's "Funtime" and the Stooges' "I Wanna Be Your Dog" in their live sets.

TINA TURNER

I think the band at my brother's wedding reception in 1973 played "Proud Mary," but their performance used Creedence Clearwater Revival's original arrangement rather than aping Ike and Tina Turner. I think. Anyway, if we don't count that, I doubt I saw anyone attempt any Turner classic moves before I saw Tina Turner in the late '80s.

That's three outta five where my first concert wasn't my first chance to hear one or more of an act's songs performed live by...somebody! We'll revisit this topic in a near-future post. 

IN-PERSON EVENT! On June 29, I will be making an in-store appearance at GENERATION RECORDS, 210 Thompson Street in NYC on behalf of my  new book GABBA GABBA HEY! A CONVERSATION WITH THE RAMONES. The book contains my 1994 interviews with Joey, Johnny, Marky, and C.J., which were cited by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as essential reading. I'll be at Generation to chat with fellow Ramones fans, talk about the book, the interviews, and how the music of the Ramones impacted my life. If you are in the New York area on June 29th, I would love to see you at Generation Records. Hey-ho, let's GO! 

If you like what you see here on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), please consider supporting this blog by becoming a patron on Patreon, or by visiting CC's Tip Jar. Additional products and projects are listed here.

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/

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

10 SONGS: 5/18/2021

10 Songs is a weekly list of ten songs that happen to be on my mind at the moment. Given my intention to usually write these on Mondays, the lists are often dominated by songs played on the previous 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 # 1077.

THE ANIMALS: Baby Let Me Take You Home

"Baby Let Me Take You Home" was The Animals' first single, released in their native England in 1964. It wasn't a hit here in the colonies, and my first real awareness of it came in December of 1976, when my residency on Santa's Nice List resulted in a copy of the 2-LP Best Of The Animals under the Christmas tree. In the hand...paws of The Animals, the song was a British Invasion raved-up version of the traditional folk tune "Baby Let Me Follow You Down," which Bashful Bob Dylan recorded for his debut album. 

The arrangements were very different. As an unabashed rockin' pop fan less than a month shy of his 17th birthday, I respected Dylan and thought I probably liked him--I was supposed to like Dylan, right?--but I'd never heard his nor anyone's folk reading of "Baby Let Me Follow You Down" prior to hearing The Animals go electric with it. Animals guitarist Hilton Valentine opens the track with a mesmerizing lick that captivated me in an instant. Through my first dozen (or two) spins of it, I was initially disappointed that the rest of the song didn't match the style of the intro (something I also felt about "Think For Yourself" by The Beatles). I got over that resistance soon enough, and embraced "Baby Let Me Take You Home" as yet another effervescent British Invasion treasure. Rock 'n' roll. Pop music. Baby, let me play it again!

TAMAR BERK: Skipping The Cracks

Singer-songwriter-musician Tamar Berk joins our little Play-Tone Galaxy Of Stars with "Skipping The Cracks," the leadoff track from her new release The Restless Dreams Of Youth. The song earworms its way into the ol' cranium, recalling Penelope Houston, TIRnRR Fave Rave Irene Pena, and a shinier (and FCC-friendly) version of early Liz Phair. There is an oh-so-sweet bitterness in play, and it makes for a radio-ready rush of catharsis. (And note that Tamar insists that she didn't step on the cracks; if you happen to be a faithless lover suddenly afflicted with a broken back, well, it's your own stupid fault, ya jerk.)

THE BROTHERS STEVE: We Got The Hits

We play the hits. The Brothers Steve GOT the hits--whatta deal! The group's 2019 album # 1 provides a solid pummeling of the sort of energetic pop music this little mutant radio show has in mind when we say the word hits, a wall-to-wall hookfest of engaging janglebuzz.  I often find myself singing "Beat Generation Poet Turned Assassin" at random moments, and we really need to play a few more tracks from this gem. But we can't resist the lure of "We Got The Hits," which is well on its way to becoming an all-time TIRnRR classic. As befits a hit.

CADDY: Cost Of Love

Norway's Phenomenal Pop Act Caddy is a singular rather than a collective; one-man band Tomas Dahl is Caddy's Smart One, Caddy's Cute One, Caddy's Quiet One, Caddy's Funny One, Caddy's Reluctant One, Caddy's Misunderstood Mad Scientist One, Caddy's...yeah, like that. I still call Caddy "they," because habit. The latest Caddy release Detours And Dead Ends Vol. 1 (brand new on Kool Kat Musik) presents ten new covers of '70s and '80s pop songs. None of the original versions (by SVT, Gary Charlson, The Freshies, Sgt. Arms, Junior Campbell, Screaming Sneakers, The Invaders, and Chrissy) was exactly a household name to begin with, though maybe a few more people remember Ronnie Lane and the Chartbusters. As well they should! 

The best-known song here is likely "Cost Of Love." Even if too few fans purchased the original by The Cretones (on their fab 1980 debut Thin Red Line), it was also one of three Cretones songs covered by Linda Ronstadt on her 1980 hit LP Mad Love. "Cost Of Love" has been a record made for radio play in both of its previous incarnations, and it remains so in Caddy's current take. Well done, lads! Um...lad.

ERMA FRANKLIN: I Don't Want No Mama's Boy

It couldn't have been easy to be a soul singer trying to make your mark on the charts when your sister happens to be the greatest soul singer of all time. Both older sister Erma Franklin and baby dynamite sis Carolyn Franklin spent their careers in the juggernaut-sized shadow of middle sister Aretha, but both did deliver an impressive supply of compelling tracks. I've played some of Carolyn's stuff on recent shows, and Dana's long favored Erma's sassy kiss-off "I Don't Want No Mama's Boy." We all know Aretha. We should get to know Erma and Carolyn, too.

THE GO-GO'S: We Got The Beat

At long last, welcome to The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Sure, there are still many, many other acts overdue for such recognition (including, of course, my choice for the Hall's most egregious snub to date), but I'm so happy that The Go-Go's are finally, finally set to be inducted. Their 2020 single "Club Zero" served notice that the group still retains possession of the beat, and we look forward to hearing more new music from this fab combo. But this week, we went back to the beginning, playing the group's debut release from 1981, the original Stiff Records single of "We Got The Beat." While I ultimately prefer the full, familiar sound of their 1982 hit remake, I really dig the backing vocals--They're walking in time!--that were shed in the subsequent recording. When I listen to the hit, I add those parts back in (just like I add the missing shooby-doo-wops to The Beatles' "Revolution" single). 

"We Got The Beat" was also the subject of last week's rant in my weekly video series The Greatest Record Ever Made!

JOAN JETT: Bad Reputation

My daughter Meghan is getting married. It's a happy moment, even as we acknowledge this continued avalanche of sand plummeting so damned fast in the hourglass. Where does the time go? And could it maybe slow down every once in a while, just for a short little bit?

The event itself is still off somewhere in the future. Meghan and I have a long-time agreement that when that party does kick into place, the song for our father-daughter dance will be "Bad Reputation" by Joan Jett. That agreement stands. And this paragraph (which appeared in a previous 10 Songs) expresses the importance of the song's message:

"In real life, there is perhaps no greater super power than the ability to shrug off the disapproval of others. Dig what you dig. Love who you love. Be who you want to be, not whatever some gray they want you to be. Don't give a damn about your reputation."

Let the sand fall. Let time do what time does. The fleeting moments are worth it. Love is worth it. Mazel tov. Let's dance.

THE MONKEES: The Door Into Summer

The Monkees understood that sobering sense of days cascading away from us:

And he thought he heard the echoes of a pennywhistle van

And the laughter from a distant caravan

And the brightly-painted line of circus wagons in the sand

Fading through the door into summer

And still: let's dance.

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

I continue to be taken with this story of The Mynah Birds, a band that included then-unknowns Rick James and Neil Young, signed to Motown in 1966, but broke up before releasing any records. What might have been? Beyond the soon-to-be-realized star power in the group, I'm even more fascinated by the fact that the tiny handful of Mynah Birds material that has been rescued from the vault so far--four songs to my knowledge--has offered glimpses of a potentially killer soul-pop rock 'n' roll act. The almost-single "It's My Time" sounds like it coulda been a big hit in '66, and "I Got You (In My Soul)" would have been a natural for The Yardbirds, especially if The Yardbirds had recorded for Motown.

SEGARINI: Gotta Have Pop

Statement of intent. Gotta have it. Gotta.

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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.

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:

Volume 1: download
Volume 2: CD or download
Volume 3: download
Volume 4: CD or download
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I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl.

10 SONGS: 5/4/2021

10 Songs is a weekly list of ten songs that happen to be on my mind at the moment. Given my intention to usually write these on Mondays, the lists are often dominated by songs played on the previous 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 # 1075.

THE BAY CITY ROLLERS: Wouldn't You Like It [live]

Musician Binky Philips has written a number of fascinating recollections of his life in and around music. His autobiography My Life In The Ghost Of Planets: The Story Of A CBGB Almost-Was is an essential read, and each of his many scattered pieces showcases his ability to tell a story and put you at the scene of rock 'n' roll as it happened. 

One of my favorite Binky Philips stories is his account of seeing The Bay City Rollers in 1977. Binky went to the concert with the intent of snickering at this teen-hype boy band; to his surprise, the minute the Rollers began to play, Binky turned to his buddy as they both said, They're GOOD!

And they were. The Bay City Rollers were way, way better than a fresh-faced combo of poster boys had to be. I like them a lot; I've never had any use for their ballads and teen-dream goop, but when they wanted to rock, they could indeed rock. You don't like them? Not my problem. As I wrote recently in a different context: "In the real world, there is perhaps no greater super power than the ability to shrug off the disapproval of others. Dig what you dig. Love who you love. Be who you want to be, not whatever some gray THEY want you to be. Don’t give a damn about your reputation.”

As a college student in the late '70s, lost in a sea of Southern rockers and Deadheads trying to dictate my taste to me, I put a Bay City Rollers poster on the wall of my dorm suite as an act of defiance. In my room, on my walls, The Bay City Rollers joined The Beatles, The Runaways, The Sex Pistols, KISS, The Flashcubes, Suzi Quatro, The Heartbreakers, The Beach Boys, Louise Goffin, and many other graven rockin' pop images (as well as Suzanne Somers and various Playboy centerfolds) as my chosen tokens and talismans. What I liked, not what outsiders told me to like. Get thee behind me, Jerry Garcia.

The death of former Rollers frontman Les McKeown prompted me to sum up my Rollers fandom in a post last week. And of course we played the Rollers on this week's show, opening the proceedings with "Yesterday's Hero," including both "Saturday Night" and "Rock And Roll Love Letter"--The Greatest Record Ever Made--in our final set. We would have played more if the rules allowed us to do that.

We also played one live Rollers track: the fantastic "Wouldn't You Like It," as performed by The Bay City Rollers live at Budokan in 1977, the same year Binky Phillips saw them in New York. Binky was right; they were good.

I regret I never had an opportunity to witness that first-hand. I would have been ready. Defiance still sounds pretty good to me.

ERIC BURDON AND THE ANIMALS: White Houses

This was a track I'd all but forgotten until last week, but it was one of my many go-tos as a teen. You better get STRAIGHT! When I was in high school, more than a decade after the British Invasion, I developed a casual obsession with the music of The Animals, particularly "It's My Life" and "We Gotta Get Out Of This Place." The obsession led to an acquisition of the 2-LP Best Of The Animals at Christmas '76. From there, I started to also discover Eric Burdon and the Animals.

The Animals and Eric Burdon and the Animals were two different groups, with lead singer Burdon the only common member. Otherwise: never the twain shall meet. I was taken with the latter group's "Sky Pilot" and "When I Was Young," and I picked up a used copy of the Every One Of Us LP while visiting my sister in Cleveland Heights, circa (I think) Summer '77. That would have put Every One Of Us (as well as the original group's then-recent reunion album Before We Were So Rudely Interrupted, another Cleveland Heights score) among the records I carted off to college in August. Bay City Rollers poster? Check! Animals and Eric Burdon and the Animals LPs? Also check!

I believe Every One Of Us provided my introduction to the stalwart "St. James Infirmary," though I would hear Cab Calloway's rendition (in a Betty Boop cartoon) not long thereafter. I'd be lying if I said anything on this album grabbed me to the extent that The Animals' hits grabbed me. I'd also be lying if I claimed I didn't listen to it anyway. Most of the tracks were too lengthy for my proto-punk short attention span. But I played "The Year Of The Guru." And I played "White Houses."

I still have that album in my library, periodic collection purges notwithstanding, an LP I plucked off the shelf at either Record Revolution or The Record Exchange in Cleveland Heights more than forty years ago. Um...unless I got it for 50 cents at Mike's Sound Center in North Syracuse. My memory wages constant war with my whatchamacallit and my whosis and whatsis. Over that span of decades, "White Houses" withdrew from my memory bank completely, until a random search-and-deploy brought it back to my ears with a vengeance, just in time for this week's playlist. You better get STRAIGHT! I didn't heed that advice then. I'm not heeding it now. But I'll play it and love it. Crooked or straight. Dig what you dig.

COUNTING CROWS: Mr. Jones

I didn't have cable TV in the first part of the '80s, so my prime period of MTV-watching was mostly 1987 through the early '90s. The Sunday night left-of-the-dial showcase 120 Minutes introduced me to a lot of new stuff, and in 1993 that's probably how I first heard the irresistible "Mr. Jones" by Counting Crows. I used to record 120 Minutes every week on VHS, and "Mr. Jones" captivated me, conjuring an image of Van Morrison (in my ears, anyway) and demanding as much volume as my intrepid 27" Hitachi TV could offer.

MICKY DOLENZ: Propinquity (I've Just Begun To Care)

Five years ago, This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio was playing teaser tracks from The Monkees' then-forthcoming album Good Times!, a work that transcended even our giddy fanboy expectations. Now, in this far-future post-apocalyptic world of 2021, we're playing both sides of the advance single from the new Micky Dolenz album Dolenz Sings Nesmith, which is due May 21st. We played A-side "Different Drum" last week, B-side "Propinquity (I've Just Begun To Care)" this week, and May 21st really is too, too far away. We already care! We've been caring!  

STEVE EARLE: Guitar Town

Lacking MTV, I had to get my video music fixes wherever I could. I saw country maverick Steve Earle perform the title tune from his debut album Guitar Town on The Tonight Show in 1986. See, the MTV video jocks had nothing on Johnny Carson. Martha Quinn was significantly cuter, though.

THE ISLEY BROTHERS: Nobody But Me

The sheer magnificence of The Isley Brothers' records make it tough to cover one of their songs and surpass their version. Generally, it ain't gonna happen. My pick for the definitive "Twist And Shout" (a song originally recorded with less distinction by The Top Notes) vacillates between Beatles and Isleys, and we're all winners in that contest.

I used to regard The Human Beinz' hit cover of the Isleys' "Nobody But Me" as an exception. But while the hypnotic NO!NO!NO!NO!NO!No-no-no-NO! chanted by The Human Beinz certainly makes their "Nobody But Me" a consistent frat-rock fave rave, I've started to favor the Isleys here. Slightly. We're all winners in this contest, too.

JUSTINE AND THE UNCLEAN: Vengeance

Man, this is such a great track. In the unlikely event we ever do another TIRnRR compilation, this would be high on our want list.

KID GULLIVER: Forget About Him

Man, this is such a great track. In the unlikely event we ever do another TIRnRR compilation...you know.

LIVING COLOUR: Should I Stay Or Should I Go

My Virtual Ticket Stub Gallery includes one concert by The Clash. Unfortunately, that was in 1983, after guitarist and founding member Mick Jones had been declared a non-person and exiled from the group. So, did I really see The Clash in concert? Technically, I did, as singer-guitarist Joe Strummer and bassist Paul Simonon were both there on stage at the University of Buffalo, playing with deputized Clash-type people who weren't (in my view) members of The Clash. They certainly didn't perform any Mick Jones songs. After all, ya can't perform songs written by a non-person, can ya?

So, unless I heard a bar band cover it some time in the interim, my first live experience of The Clash's "Should I Stay Or Should I Go" came in 1989, delivered by Living Colour as they opened for The Rolling Stones at The Carrier Dome in Syracuse. My first Stones show! It was also the same week I saw The Kinks for the third (and final) time. Pretty good week for concerts. 

Living Colour's Vivid album had been released in 1988, and there was quite a buzz around them in '89. "Cult Of Personality" and "Glamour Boys" had been MTV hits, and I was keen to see them with the Stones. Sure, for this life-long British Invasion enthusiast, The Rolling Stones were obviously the reason I was there. But Living Colour did not disappoint.

And Living Colour's set included their rollickin' rendition of "Should I Stay Or Should I Go." That puts 'em one up on The Not-Clash in my book.

POP CO-OP: Joe Public

The able folks of The TM Collective have assembled a tribute to the music of The Rutles, and I bet it's fab anna half. I...haven't actually heard it yet. But I have heard "Joe Public," Pop Co-Op's contribution to the tribute, and that one cut is like an album's worth of tribute in one compact track. Beatles fans, Rutles fan, pop fans, and pure fun fans, the lads of Pop Co-Op have channeled their effervescent love of all things JohnPaulGeorgeRingoStigNastyDirkBarry, a disdain for George Martin's tie, and a religious conviction that E burres stigano is very bad Spanish for "Have you a water buffalo?" into Something Borrowed and somehow made new. You can listen and play spot-the-reference, and you can listen and marvel with wide eyes and ears at the invention and ingenuity that went into this. I love The Rutles. I may love this track more than I love The Rutles. 

Bring your own trousers. Put your faith in these powers that be. Joe Public, that's me!

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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.

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:

Volume 1: download
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Volume 3: download
Volume 4: CD or download
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