10 SONGS: 3/10/2022

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 # 1119.

EYTAN MIRSKY: Watching From The Balcony

We opened last week's show with a track from Brother Eytan Mirsky's debut album, 1996's Songs About Girls (And Other Painful Subjects), in memory of drummer Chris Garges. This week, we open with Eytan for a happier reason: the release of his brand-new album Lord, Have Mirsky! Eytan's eighth album is another straight-up winner, and its closing track "Watching The Balcony" secures a berth on this week's playlist, and again on next week's playlist. I betcha we'll play more of its tracks in the coming weeks, too. 

TAJ MAHAL: Six Days On The Road

Each week, Dana and I try to mix familiar favorites with a few tracks we've never played before. New releases obviously help out in the latter category, but we also like to dig deep into the archives for classic cuts--both popular and obscure, by acts that might fit either description--in search of something that hasn't yet graced a TIRnRR playlist. In recent weeks, my specific wishes to play something by Rotary Connection, Led Zeppelin, and even Eagles manifested in fresh playlist appearances (though, of course, we have played each of those acts before). Same goes for Taj Mahal this week. I got it into my head that I wanted to play a Taj Mahal song, ideally a Taj Mahal song we ain't played before, and so the hunt began. It was a short hunt; once I stumbled across Taj Mahal's irresistible cover of Dave Dudley's durable country stalwart "Six Days On The Road," I knew I'd bagged my quarry. On to the next round!

THE SHANG HI LOS: Billy

Others have already commented that the Shang Hi Los' new single "Billy" sounds like it could be a theme from an imaginary Western. Listen, when Hollywood inevitably decides to make a big-budget feature film out of my story "The Last Ride Of The Copperhead Kid," I'm most definitely in favor of having the Shang Hi Los on its soundtrack.

THE PRETENDERS: Cuban Slide

Dana is generally the one to put some Pretenders in the playlist, and this week's Pretenders spin is no exception. Great choice, too; "Cuban Slide," an outtake from their debut album Pretenders, employs a version of the Bo Diddley beat to power one of my top Pretenders tracks. It originally surfaced on the Pretenders' 1981 four-song release Extended Play, and I've come to prefer it to anything that was on the group's second album Pretenders II. That's not faint praise, considering that Pretenders II did include two simply fabulous selections from Extended Play ("Talk Of The Town" and "Message Of Love"), as well as the great "Day After Day." Those are all sublime. I just like "Cuban Slide" even more.

RICHIE MAYER: You Don't Get Me High

Interesting little story here. We've been playing tracks from Richie Mayer's 2021 album The Inn Of Temporary Happiness, because we enjoy playing good records. But this week's Richie Mayer spin comes instead from The Inn Of Temporary Happiness Revisted, a truncated and reimagined version that makes an already-fine album finer still. Some credit goes to everyone's pop pal Bruce Brodeen, who suggested this tweak, reducing the album from 17 tracks to (officially) ten, maximizing its punch with a fresh, more fully pop remix. Gets me high, lemme tell ya.

THE BEATLES: No Reply

For all the attention I give to the concept for my long-threatened book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1), its inclusive nature--an infinite number of tracks can each be THE greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns--renders it distinct from a listing of my own Top 10 or Top 100 or Top 3047. For a near-future blog post, I'm putting together a list of my favorite songs, an all-time Top 10 or maybe Top 20. To keep it manageable, I'm limiting myself to one track per artist. The list will not be ranked, but I'll tell you right now that my # 1 favorite song ever is Badfinger's "Baby Blue" (which also happened to be the subject of the first chapter I wrote for GREM!).

The list will not include anything by the Beatles. My love of the Beatles' music, particularly their output from 1964 (A Hard Day's Night) through 1966 (Revolver) can't be limited to just one song. I wrote about that here, and listed my 25 favorite Beatles tracks here. But, for the sake of argument, if I were to pick a single song to represent my Beatlemania, it could be "Thank You, Girl" or "Rain," or it might be "Help!," "A Hard Day's Night," "The Night Before," "She Said She Said"...

...and it could very well be "No Reply." Honestly, this track's bridge just kills me, kills me, every time. If I were you/I'd realize that I/Love you more/Than any other guy/And I'd forgive/The lies that I/Heard before/When you gave me no reply. Best bridge ever. The rest of the song's pretty fab, as well.

THE BANGLES: The Rain Song

The best-known configuration of the Bangles--with three of its founding members, drummer Debbi Peterson and guitarists Vicki Peterson and Susanna Hoffs, plus bassist Michael Steele (who replaced Annette Zilinskas at the four-string spot in between the group's 1982 eponymous debut EP and their first full-length album All Over The Place in 1984)--split in 1989. The quartet regrouped for the 2003 album Doll Revolution, a splendid and underrated effort that gave us this wonderful track "The Rain Song." Written by Susan Cowsill and Vicki Peterson, and previously recorded by Susan 'n' Vicki with their other group the Continental Drifters, "The Rain Song" is both dreamy and invigorating. And its airplay on this week's TIRnRR scored the reaction DJs always hope for: a listener demanding to know the ID of that great song we just played. (The fact that said listener was himself an ace popsmith--none other than the above-mentioned Eytan Mirsky--made the connection even sweeter. Let it rain.)

ANTON BARBEAU: American Road

Last week, upon the release of Anton Barbeau's new album Power Pop!!! (which both Anton and his intrepid label Big Stir Records rightly insist is not power pop), I attempted to coin the new marketing term CATCHYBUZZ! to describe its not-power-pop appeal. That...did not catch on. Maybe it shouldn't've. Undeterred, we offer another track from Power Pop!!!, and humbly direct you to catch its buzz on your own terms.

TWISTED SISTER: We're Not Gonna Take It

Neither this blog nor this radio show has any power to enact meaningful change in this world of wonder and woe. Hearts and prayers accomplish nothing. Signs and flag decals, however well-intentioned, accomplish nothing. Action speaks. Money talks. To assist in humanitarian relief for victims of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, please consider a targeted donation to Operation USA, an organization with an established record of getting aid to where it's needed the most, without a lot of overhead. And I hope my fellow Americans will join me in not whining about rising fuel prices during this crisis. Our petty hardships are nothing, NOTHING, compared to the plight of the Ukranian people. If you feel differently, well, unless this situation is actually putting you in direct jeopardy, I cordially invite you to button your lip for the duration.

I first heard Twisted Sister's "We're Not Gonna Take It" on my car radio during a morning commute in Buffalo in 1984. I liked it immediately, but its meaning has changed as Ukranian refugees and freedom fighters have adopted it as an unofficial anthem. We sing it along with them. Hearts and prayers. But none of it has any value unless we back it up. 

THE CLICK BEETLES: If Not Now, Then When

Like the song says. Once again: Operation USA. The Click Beetles know what they're talking about.

You can support this blog by becoming a patron on Patreon, or by visiting CC's Tip Jar. Additional products and projects are listed 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, and on the web at http://sparksyracuse.org/ You can read about our history here.

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl

10 SONGS: 3/3/2022

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 # 1118.

EYTAN MIRSKY: Conversation

As we were preparing this week's show, we heard the sad news that drummer Chris Garges had passed. We didn't know Chris personally, but our hearts and condolences go out to his family and friends, especially to some of our friends who did know Chris, and for whom this is a personal loss. We hear Chris' voice in nearly every weekly edition of TIRnRR, speaking with his fellow members of the Spongetones in the superswell show ID bumper they recorded for us. You'll likely continue to hear that for as long as we have a radio show.

Dana and I had already set this week's playlist before we learned of Chris' passing. But we felt it was important to open the show with at least some brief tribute to him, and it was fairly simple to swap out and rearrange a few tracks and sets to accomplish that. We figured we'd reach back to what must have been the first of Chris' work we ever heard: Songs About Girls (And Other Painful Subjects), the 1996 debut album by Eytan Mirsky. Our best wishes and commiseration to all who knew Chris. He sounds like he was a hell of a guy.

ROTARY CONNECTION: Love Me Now

The music of Rotary Connection is still mostly undiscovered to my ears; I know of Rotary Connection more than I know Rotary Connection, and I don't know all that much of them, either, other than the fact that one of the many members over the group's timeline was the late Minnie Riperton. Much of what I have heard is intriguing, reminding me (perhaps incongruously) of a more soulful Renaissance or a more progressive 5th Dimension, though neither impression is accurate. I aim to learn more, much more, and the best way to learn more about Rotary Connection is to hear more Rotary Connection. Stay tuned. 

ANTON BARBEAU: Rain, Rain

The new album from Anton Barbeau is called Power Pop!!!, and I very much dig how the good folks at Big Stir Records hyped its representation on our little mutant radio show this week:

"Anton Barbeau hits the This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio playlist with music that may or may not be power pop (it isn't!) along with the Flashcubes featuring Shoes (both of which are) and Addison Love and Irene Peña (who may vary from track to track)... but like it says, it IS Rock 'N' Roll as only Dana and Carl can bring it to you!" TESTIFY, brothers and sisters!

"Rain, Rain" is the first single off Power Pop!!!, and I would concur that it's not power pop as I envision power pop. But it is a glorious example of catchybuzz--I just made that up--a luxurious blend of psych-tinged, '80s-influenced left-of-the-dial pretty noise. Dana felt compelled to follow it with a track from Let's Active's Big Plans For Everyone, and I felt compelled to turn it all up for maximum boppin' accomplishment. Catchybuzz. We'll have another track from Power Pop next week. It's also not power pop. But we like it anyway.

SCOTT ROBERTSON: Hours Feel Like Minutes

We've played music from the Vapor Trails a time or several on TIRnRR. The fabulous Vapor Trails are piloted by Kevin Robertson, and Kevin's son Scott Robertson has a likewise-fabulous new EP called Physical Education. The EP comes courtesy of Futureman Records, the same visionary label that introduced us to the Vapor Trails. Of course we played it! It's what we do! We'll play it again next week. Nice, nice stuff.

THEE OH SEES: No Spell

Nope; I've never heard of Thee Oh Sees before. I really need to get out more. The almighty Wikipedia says the group has been around since the late '90s, and is currently known by the truncated moniker Osees. All I know is that Dana played Thee Oh Sees' "No Spell" (from the 2013 album Floating Coffin), prompting listener Rich Firestone to comment, "Mind blower of a song playing right now!" We agree, Rich. We agree.

CAROLYNE MAS: In The Rain

Hey, congratulations to the incomparable Carolyne Mas, who's just entered into a deal with the German label MIG Music. The Mas/MIG alliance will bring some of Carolyne's music back within the reach of an eager buying public, and we're in favor of that. "In The Rain" is my favorite Carolyne Mas track, a song I love even more than I love her MTV classic "Quote Goodbye Quote." I have a feeling we're gonna be giving some significant spinnage to "In The Rain" this year. It's all part of our ongoing service to you, the loyal TIRnRR listener. As always: playing pop music is its own reward.

TEGAN AND SARA: Walking With A Ghost

"So I heard a song on the radio...."

That's the first line of a chapter in my long-threatened book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1), the beginning of an entry celebrating "Walking With A Ghost" by the Canadian duo Tegan and Sara. "Walking With A Ghost" was indeed a song I heard on the radio, and its wraith-like ambiance hypnotized me on first spin.

"...If I never learned anything else about Tegan and Sara, if I never heard another note of their music, 'Walking With A Ghost' would be enough to haunt me, a spirit to possess me, a reminder of secrets thought to be dead and buried, yet rising from their graves to float beside me. Torments? No...well, sometimes. But always: reminders. Traces of what was and what could have (or should have) been, and the depressing gap between the two.

"The ghosts of our past walk beside us. I know I'm not unique in this. The spirits of past missteps and misdeeds are with us every day, sometimes with greater presence than others. No medium or ghostbreaker can dispel these particular poltergeists. It's not every minute of every day; we can apply context and balance, and we can concede that being human--mortal--comes with the certainty of fallibility, the inevitability of imperfection. But we also have to acknowledge the sins and the regrets, the times we were victim or villain, the aggressor or the aggrieved. I hope lessons were learned along the way. The ghosts remind us how much we still have to learn."

THE FLAMIN' GROOVIES: So Much In Love

"So Much In Love" was the B-side of the Flamin' Groovies' cover of Ike and Tina Turner's "River Deep Mountain High," both tracks coupled as a non-LP 45 issued in France in 1981. It was, to all intents and purposes, the final release by the Groovies during their initial lifespan, a continuity that stretched back to the '60s and through varying lineups. Original lead singer Roy Loney had split in the very early '70s, and he was replaced by Chris Wilson. Chris himself left somewhere 'roundabout this single's release. Original Groovies Cyril Jordan and George Alexander attempted to soldier on for a bit, but the flame died, and the Groovies were gone, at least for a little while. They would return.

This B-side was something of an orphan track; not exactly lost, but kind of, I dunno...sidelined? Both the A- and B-sides were collected on The Gold Star Tapes, an LP of dubious legitimacy. Or a bootleg. Or a rare import. You bought it, you name it. "River Deep Mountain High" was later included on the wonderful Groovies CD compilation Groovies' Greatest Grooves, while "So Much In Love" remained in the wild. It was given proper reissue as part of Between The Lines, a 2019 CD subtitled The Complete Jordan-Wilson Songbook '71-'81. Between The Lines is my go-to Flamin' Groovies collection.

WILSON PICKETT: In The Midnight Hour

As I mentioned yesterday, I'm mulling a plan to renovate my GREM! book, a work that has been in development for years and still hasn't found a path to publication. Even if I do split the book into two parts, my chapter about Wilson Pickett's "In The Midnight Hour" will almost certainly remain a part of Volume 1. That chapter begins as follows:

"Sometimes even a great record--the greatest record--is taken for granted. For all the classic 45s or album tracks that tackled you and gloriously pinned you to the pavement on first exposure, there are many other shots o' sonic bliss that you just didn't quite get immediately, songs you didn't fully appreciate on first spin, or third spin, or even for a long while after that. Maybe some of these are records you initially deemed merely 'Okay, I guess,' if you gave them any thought at all; perhaps some are little ditties you ignored, or even actively disliked. And then one day or night--preferably night--you hear the song again, and it suddenly clicks, as if you're hearing it for the very first time. And it's like the trite old story of the presumably-mousy secretary whose beauty suddenly reveals itself when she removes her glasses...except that she was always beautiful, with or without the glasses, ya freakin' dimwit. You just didn't notice. 

"But you're paying attention now. And whether it's a girl or a song or some other sublime gem, you've fallen in love. What took you so long?"

THE MIGHTY LEMON DROPS: Inside Out

Gilmore Girls was one of my favorite TV series. The opening scene in its first episode played out to a soundtrack of "There She Goes" by the La's. The final scene of the last episode of its original run used "Inside Out" by the Mighty Lemon Drops. So this one goes out to Lorelai and Luke in Stars Hollow, Connecticut. Here's to your little corner of the world.

You can support this blog by becoming a patron on Patreon, or by visiting CC's Tip Jar. Additional products and projects are listed 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, and on the web at http://sparksyracuse.org/ You can read about our history here.

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl