5 ABOVE: Bands Who Were ALMOST Famous

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

As my nearly half-dozen regular readers are aware, I recently decided to cut back on blogging, reducing my posting schedule from its clinically stupid daily frequency to three or maybe four posts a week. So, of course, right after walkin' away from the ol' Bop a day grind, the latest episode of one of my favorite podcasts compels me to slap together a fifth post this week. Just when I think I'm out....

The podcast is Only Three Lads, the weekly celebration of classic alternative music from the '70s through the '90s. For this week's O3L, hosts Uncle Gregg and Brett Vargo, along with guest Third Lad Alex Boucher, discussed their choices for the top five bands who were almost famous. It's a fascinating subject, it made for a fascinating show, and it made me want to compile my own Top 5 list.

It's difficult for me to separate the idea of great bands who were almost famous from the idea of great bands who were unfairly obscure. They're similar categories, but not quite the same. The "almost famous" qualifier suggests we're specifically talking about acts who seemed poised to grab the brass ring in some big and spectacular way.

Before we get to my Top 5, let's mention a few acts who are just outside our chosen parameters:

TOO SOON!

The Remains and the Mynah Birds should be legit contenders to top anyone's list of rock's all-time Almosts, but both groups had their brief careers in the 1960s, predating the O3L era. The Remains were Boston's most popular rock combo in the mid '60s, and they seemed to have it all: Songs, talent, charisma, a major label deal, national TV exposure, and oh, by the way, THEY OPENED FOR THE BEATLES in 1966. They had everything but record sales. 

The Mynah Birds, with future superstars Rick James and Neil Young, were set to be Motown's first rock group, but they broke up when James was arrested for being AWOL from Uncle Sam.

THEY WERE FAMOUS! Then they weren't

The Cowsills and the Bay City Rollers had huge hits (in the '60s and '70s respectively), but the public at large was uninterested in their second acts. The Cowsills' 1998 album Global is my # 1 favorite album of the '90s, yet it's been an obscure rarity until its recent deluxe reissue.

When the Bay City Rollers' lead singer Les McKeown left the group at the end of the '70s, the remaining Rollers recruited new lead singer Duncan Faure, shortened their name to just "the Rollers," and released some very fine rockin' pop records that sold a metric bupkis.

FAMOUS...later

The Ramones. Icons now, so we can't claim they're a mere almost. At the time, though, they did not receive anywhere near the recognition or record sales they deserved.

And now...MY list of the Top 5 almost-famous bands of the O3L era.

5. ARTFUL DODGER

Artful Dodger released three albums on Columbia in the '70s, then a fourth (the long outta print Rave On) on Ariola. Live and on record alike, the group seemed like an irresistible cross between the best of Badfinger and the best of the Faces. I don't think I'd ever heard a note of their music before catching them at a club show in '79, but their performance nailed everything worth nailing. Goosebumps. Goosebumps, and a raised fist. Although they hailed from Virginia, I understand they were big, big stars in Cleveland, where they received notable FM radio exposure. The stardom did not translate elsewhere.

4. THE PANDORAS

There were at least two distinctly different phases of the Pandoras' career in the '80s. The original line-up was a proud product of the garage, armed with Nuggets-inspired attitude and a fantastic original song called "It's About Time." That version of the Pandoras exploded into rock and dust after just one album. Founding member Gwynne Kahn went on to form the magnificent Mad Monster Party, the single best '80s group that no one got to hear. Paula Pierce formed a new Pandoras group, which included Kim Shattuck, later of the Muffs.

Paula's version of the Pandoras recorded a brilliant pop album (Stop Pretending) for Rhino Records, and the group was subsequently signed to Mercury. They recorded an album called Come Inside, bigger things appeared imminent, but the record was never released. Mercury dropped the Pandoras without ever issuing even a single Pandoras track.

3. THE NEW YORK DOLLS

Everything I know and love about punk rock owes its rambunctious genesis to the New York Dolls. No Dolls? That would mean no Ramones, no Sex Pistols, no Clash, no punk scene, no new wave scene, no alternative scene; just something bland and boring in its place. The Dolls weren't built to last, but man, they were important, and man they were kickass fun. And they looked fine on television: Go watch 'em on YouTube clips from The Midnight Special, cavortin' and paradin' in America's face like they were--book it!!--The Next Big Thing. Stars. STARS!, I tell ya!

America turned its face to...well, probably to something bland and boring. The New York Dolls are not in The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Odds are they never will be. 

2. THE FLASHCUBES

Yeah, I know. Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse the Flashcubes never came close to breaking out, only released a couple of singles during their original 1977-1980 lifespan, never got a record deal. What's so almost famous! about that?

You. Weren't. There.

In the '70s, Flashcubes fans like me absolutely and completely believed the group was going to be huge. They were such a great live band, they wrote such irresistible songs, they had such sheer rock 'n' roll presence, that we all knew--knew--their stardom was inevitable. On paper, sure, I guess they never came all that close. But in our hearts, our imaginations? The first time I saw them, I was certain it was like seeing the Beatles at The Cavern. 

A few years back, I wrote a what-if story about what could have happened if the Flashcubes had achieved the success they deserved. But in that imaginary world, the Flashcubes stopped being Flashcubes. Our real world still has the Flashcubes--score a rare win for the real world! They're working on new recordings. I heard one of the new songs a couple of days ago, and it's guaranteed to be one of my favorite tracks in 2025.

Fame. Pfui. Who needs fame when you have the Flashcubes?

1. THE RUBINOOS

In this discussion of bands who almost hit it big, the Rubinoos are my unchallenged # 1. Unlike the Flashcubes, the Rubinoos did come tantalizingly close to the top, top, top of the pops. Their 1977 cover of Tommy James and the Shondells' "I Think We're Alone Now" missed the Top 40 by just five notches, and they seemed on the brink of mega success. I saw 'em on American Bandstand! They had the look, the image, the spirit, the chops, the charm...everything. 

And they had the songs. "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" is like THE surefire # 1 hit that, y'know, didn't even chart. Didn't. Even. CHART?! Oh, the humanity! Hey, hey, you, you, I wanna see a recount!

But like the Flashcubes, the Rubinoos are still with us, still making extraordinary music, still putting on incredible live shows. I wish more people knew about them. 

But I'm glad I know about them.

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

POP-A-LOOZA: THE EVERLASTING FIRST: Artful Dodger

Each week, the pop culture website Pop-A-Looza shares some posts from my vast 'n' captivating Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) archives. The latest shared post is a look back at my introduction to the music of Fairfax, Virginia's phenomenal pop combo Artful Dodger.

Given that The Everlasting First was intended from the get-go as an A-Z reminiscence about my first exposures to various rock 'n' roll acts and comic book heroes, it's no shock that my first music entry was A is for ARTFUL DODGER. When The Everlasting First debuted on this blog on August 17th of 2016, the original plan was to combine the music and comics entries, commencing with The Everlasting First # 1's presentation of A is for AQUAMAN and A is for ARTFUL DODGER, supplemented by five Quick Takes for A (covering my intros to ABBA, Action Comics, Action Swingers, Adventure Comics, The Adverts, and Astonishing Tales). Eventually, I realized that some music fans didn't want to read about comics, and vice versa. So I retroactively split all the previously-posted EFs into their separate categories, and carried on from that point forward. (And I really need to get back to that series, picking up with the still-to-be-written T is for THE TURTLES. If I ever get past the letter Z, I'm going to follow with additional entries for past letters, like A is for THE ANIMALS and L is for THE LONE RANGER.)

Back to Artful Dodger. They were an amazing group, and it's unfortunate that they've never really received their due. I gave them a mention in my history of power pop, but even there I didn't really have room to wax the appropriate level of rhapsodic about these guys. But lemme tell ya: get yourself a copy of Real Gone Music's 2-CD Artful Dodger set The Complete Columbia Recordings, and turn it up. UP, I say! Follow me! My introduction to the fabulous music of Artful Dodger is the latest Boppin' Pop-A-Looza.

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This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, and on the web at http://sparksyracuse.org/ You can read about our history here.

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:

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Volume 4: CD or download
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10 SONGS: 3/24/2020

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.


There was no This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio this week, but we did have an incredible simulation. This week's edition of 10 Songs draws exclusively from the virtual playlist of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio: Isolation Edition.

JOAN ARMATRADING: Me Myself I


I've had a complicated relationship with social interaction. Just a few years ago, I told a friend that I tend to feel out of place no matter where I am or what I'm doing. I'm a square peg, and I'm shy. I conceal it pretty well--anyone who has heard me on the radio will attest to that--and sometimes I can continue playing the role of bon vivant for short spells in real life. It's not really me, but it's the me I think I want to be. I think. I guess. I don't know.

In the early '80s, when I was a recent college graduate still living with my undergraduate girlfriend in our college town of Brockport, radio stations in Buffalo introduced me to the music of Joan Armatrading. It was probably on 97 Rock, an AOR station that aired a better'n decent Sunday night alternative show called 97 Power Rock, or it may have been WUWU-FM, the squarest peg commercial radio station I ever did hear. Either way (or both), I heard radio commercials for Armatrading's 1981 album Walk Under Ladders, and I heard a Walk Under Ladders album track called "Eating The Bear," and liked it. It took me a while to become an Armatrading fan (and I'm still but a casual fan, with her Greatest Hits CD the sole Armatrading offering in my collection), but I got there. As time went on, I became particularly taken with her songs "Drop The Pilot," "When I Get It Right," "I'm Lucky," and "Me Myself I."

"Me Myself I" is a clarion call of willful solitude. It's not who I am either, but there are times when it feels right. Damned good song, too.

ARTFUL DODGER: It's Over


By the summer of 1979, I had read a little bit about Fairfax, Virginia's Artful Dodger, but I had yet to hear a note of their music.  That changed when they played a show at Stage East, a rock club located in a shopping center in Syracuse's Eastern suburbs. I was drawn to this rock 'n' roll Mecca of East Syracuse that night in part because The Flashcubes were the opening act, and I tried very hard to see The Flashcubes as often as I could. 

But I was also curious about Artful Dodger, and man, they did not disappoint. I would later look back on that show and describe the group as a cross between Badfinger and The Faces, a comparison somewhat lacking in total accuracy, but which conveyed my impression of Artful Dodger as a power pop group with rock 'n' roll swagger. God, I loved 'em, and their performance of "It's Over" had me absolutely transfixed. And that evening, the price of admission at Stage East included a souvenir: a four-song EP of tracks from Artful Dodger's eponymous debut album. "Wayside." "Think Think." "Follow Me." "It's Over." My Artful Dodger fandom was set to begin in earnest.

THE BEATLES: For No One



The Beatles! I wrote about this wonderful Paul McCartney song in my annotated list of my all-time 25 favorite Beatles songs: This is perhaps the most dignified and simultaneously one of the saddest descriptions of desperation as love slips inexorably through one's hapless, helpless fingers. It would not have sounded out of place on The Beach Boys' masterpiece Pet Sounds. I will add that its lyrics display a depth and maturity that bely the notion that our Paulie was only capable of writing silly love songs.

SUSAN COWSILL: River Of Love


There is a magic point in art, in creation, where our pain becomes redemption, our sorrow turns to strength, our devastating losses flow like a river into our determination to endure. "River Of Love" was written by Barry Cowsill of The Cowsills, and it's a stunning study in heartbreak, in holding on, in letting go, in hoping against hope that what was lost can still be found again. 

Barry Cowsill perished in 2005, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. His sister Susan Cowsill performed the song during the months that he was missing. Its meaning had changed, but its sheer beauty had not.  Susan recorded it for her 2010 album Lighthouse, and its impossible mix of the ache of farewell with the determined buoyancy of pop music makes me want to dance and cry at the same time. We'll meet again. Waiting at the river of love.

FIRST AID KIT: America



My daughter Meghan knew about First Aid Kit well before I did, and she played their Emmylou Harris tribute song "Emmylou" during one of her guest DJ stints on This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio. First Aid Kit were among the final musical guests on Late Night With David Letterman in May of 2015, which was where and when they floored me with their sublime cover of Simon & Garfunkel's "America." 

As a teen, I was a Simon & Garfunkel fan, ranking them up in my pop pantheon not all that far below The Beatles. I never stopped being a fan, though I did listen to them with decreasing frequency. My introduction to the song "America" came via the incongruous means of a comic book letters column in the early '70s, wherein a reader closed his missive about the (then) topically-relevant Green Lantern/Green Arrow series by quoting the song's line, And we walked off to look for America. You can scoff if you wanna, and maybe you should, but that seemingly innocuous tag line has stuck with me for decades. I was 12 or 13. I was on a bus going to or from visiting my grandparents in Missouri. Not knowing the song itself yet, I had no idea how very appropriate it was to learn of its existence while traveling on a Greyhound.

Relevance. We search for it in our entertainment and in our art, a connection to what we feel, to what we desire, to where we think we are and what this place looks like today. Relevance. Meaning. Sometimes we imagine a meaning an artist did not intend, but that's fine. That's how art becomes a part of our lives.

First Aid Kit is from Sweden, consisting of sisters Klara and Johanna Söderberg. In their rendition of "America," First Aid Kit's reading of Paul Simon's lyrics takes on a shimmering, gossamer quality that not even Paul and Artie's delicate harmonies could match. 

Cathy, I'm lost, I said though I knew she was sleeping
And I'm empty and aching and I don't know why

The American experiment is nearly two and a half centuries old. This experiment--a nation governed of the people, by the people, for the people, we the people--is ongoing. It has had successes, and it has had failures. There have been times when we've fallen far short of our goal of who we want to be. There have been times when our collective efforts have shined like a beacon of hope around the world.

I still believe in this experiment. The experiment's guiding principle isn't unique--there are other nations that also embrace these concepts of freedom and possibility--but it is, and must remain, America's defining quality. We can be better than we are. We can always seek to be better than we are. The American experiment can choose acceptance over exclusion, charity over greed, humility over arrogance, love over hate. We can. We will. We must. Our goal is written in our mission statement: a more perfect union. This experiment continues. 

All come to look for America.

Let freedom ring.



THE GO-GO'S: Vacation


It puzzles me that The Go-Go's remain so under-appreciated. They were a fabulous group, they wrote great pop songs, and executed those great pop songs as great pop recordings. Yet many still view them as something, I dunno...frilly, or ephemeral. They deserve a lot better consideration than that. Their debut album Beauty And The Beat is nearly flawless; only the quirky, forgettable "Automatic" prevents me from embracing it as a solid, start-to-finish Love At First Spin record. I loved The Go-Go's then, and I love The Go-Go's still.

Before joining The Go-Go's, bassist Kathy Valentine had been in The Textones, a punk-influenced Texas pop group that also featured future solo performer (and future Gene Clark collaborator) Carla Olsen. Valentine's "Vacation" was one of two songs on the B-side of The Textones' 1980 single "I Can't Fight It." The Textones' original version of "Vacation" shares just enough DNA with the 1982 hit version by The Go-Go's to say that yeah, it's the same song. Sort of. The lyrics are different, the melody is different, and the choppy DIY feel of the original offers little clue to how The Go-Go's could change it into such an irresistible, shining object that cuts with the sharp edges of its wistful regret and unfulfilled wishes. A pop masterpiece, I tell ya, and the title track from the second Go-Go's LP.

DAVID JOHANSEN: Frenchette


As in the case of my first Artful Dodger show, that same summer of '79 also made me a David Johansen fan, when I saw him on a bill with--duh--The Flashcubes. Now--how shall I put this? I was 19, I was with friends at both shows, and we were...well, let's say we were really, really psyched to have a good and transcendent rock 'n' roll time by whatever means necessary. At the Artful Dodger show, I remember grooving on what seemed like an endless, extended opening vamp to "It's Over." With David Jo, I remember "Frenchette" blowin' my freakin' mind, its slow, beguilingly pretty intro giving thunderous way to the forceful boom of its big-Rock battering ram. And its lyrical refrain of Let's just dance! embodied a paradox of triumphant surrender. I can't get the kind of love that I want, so let's just dance and I'll forget. Maybe it was nonsense. Maybe it was deep and meaningful. Maybe it was both. Let's just dance.

THE KENNEDYS: Safe Until Tomorrow


During our current necessary period of social distancing, The Kennedys--expatriate North Syracusan Maura Kennedy and her husband (and honorary Central New Yorker) Pete Kennedy--have been doing one-hour live stream performances from their Greenwich Village apartment every Sunday afternoon at 2:00 Eastern. It's a lovely and uplifting way to spend an hour of your time, and you can join 'em for another virtual show this Sunday. Their original tune "Safe Until Tomorrow" closes their show, and its an appropriate theme song to adopt in this time of trouble.

BEN E. KING: Stand By Me


Ben E. King's classic song "Stand By Me" is one of the 124 fine records scheduled to be featured in my proposed book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). Last week, I had an unpleasant dream where my agent sat me down and told me directly that she would not be able to sell the book because my writing just isn't good enough.

Hmmm. I can be self-deprecating and full of genuine doubt about virtually any aspect of what I do or try to do...except my writing. I always believe in my writing.

Maybe the dream was a reflection of the doubt and uncertainty that I sense all around us lately. I'm probably not really as accomplished a writer as I think I am, sure, but my conviction and belief in my ability is my sole practiced arrogance. Because I'm aware that writing is the only thing I've ever been any damned bit of good at doing. The book still may not find a home--that's always a possibility in any attempted commercial endeavor--but I think the work itself is decidedly, like, not terrible.

"Stand By Me" borders on a religious experience, a timeless ode to the power and strength to be derived simply from faith and devotion. Yet it's not a religious song at all; it's a tacit recognition that such a transcendent feeling of renewal and hope can come not just from the heavens, but also from the genuine loyalty of (and loyalty to) a lover or friend. That's the opening paragraph from my book's Ben E. King chapter. As this world continues to give us more and more reason to question what we think we know, to lose faith in what we believe to be unshakeable truth, it's a sentiment worth adopting as both shield and sword. Stand by me.


MARYKATE O'NEIL: I'm Ready For My Luck To Turn Around


Well. Aren't we all?

Stay safe, my friends.


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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

Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio:  CD or download

Hey, Carl's writin' a book! The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) will contain 124 essays about 124 tracks, each one of 'em THE greatest record ever made. An infinite number of records can each be the greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Updated initial information can be seen here: THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! (Volume 1).

THE EVERLASTING FIRST: Artful Dodger

Continuing a look back at my first exposure to a number of rock 'n' roll acts and superheroes (or other denizens of print or periodical publication), some of which were passing fancies, and some of which I went on to kinda like. They say you never forget your first time; that may be true, but it's the subsequent visits--the second time, the fourth time, the twentieth time, the hundredth time--that define our relationships with the things we cherish. Ultimately, the first meeting is less important than what comes after that. But every love story still needs to begin with that first kiss.

I very, very much recommend you add a copy of this CD set to your collection.

This was originally posted as part of a longer piece covering both pop music and comic book characters. It's separated here for convenience.



Was Fairfax, Virginia's phenomenal pop combo Artful Dodger mentioned in Bomp! magazine's epic 1978 power pop issue? Either way, the earliest memory of Artful Dodger I can summon would be from Cleveland Scene magazine, a tabloid I used to see sometimes when I visited my sister Denise in Cleveland Heights. I think it was a review of an Artful Dodger show (possibly at The Agora), and the review mentioned that Artful Dodger's set included a cover of The Dave Clark Five's "Any Way You Want It." Well! In 1978, one way to get my attention was to cover the DC5. But I don't remember hearing any of Artful Dodger's music anywhere, so I didn't really pursue the matter.

In the summer of '79, I got my first real six-string (bought it at the five-and-dime)...wait, wrong summer, and wrong performer reference. Artful Dodger came to town that summer for a show at Stage East in East Syracuse, with Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse The Flashcubes opening. If I have the story straight, Artful Dodger played a sparsely-attended Stage East gig the previous week; after three albums that didn't sell as well as anyone hoped, the band was nearing the end of its tenure with Columbia Records, but hadn't quite given up on makin' a grab for that damned elusive brass ring. A second Stage East gig was scheduled, with The Flashcubes (who had a large local following) added to the bill; as an added incentive, the first 100 ladies admitted would receive a copy of The Flashcubes' most recent single, "Wait Till Next Week"/"Radio," while the first 100 guys would receive an Artful Dodger EP.  The Flashcubes did radio commercials for the gig, with 'Cubes drummer Tommy Allen referring to Artful Dodger as "one of the great pop-rock acts of our time." The message: Get to Stage East to see Artful Dodger, you lot!



The gig itself hit a snag early on: with so much of the crowd drawn there specifically by The Flashcubes--and specifically there to see The Flashcubes--the fans were reluctant to let The Flashcubes finish their opening set and make way for the headliners. The 'Cubes kept getting called back for encores, until our local lads finally put their collective foot down, announcing that they were done for the night. 'Cubes bassist Gary Frenay all but pleaded with the crowd to get set for Artful Dodger, "a really great band!," as the 'Cubes were finally allowed to leave the stage.

By this time, I guess Artful Dodger had a lot to prove to a skeptical crowd. I wasn't among the skeptical--I was eager to hear AD for the first time--but I was unprepared for the pinpoint accuracy of Tommy and Gary's description of Artful Dodger: A really great band? One of the great pop-rock acts of our time? Yes. Oh God, yes!

Artful Dodger seemed like a perfect combination of the best aspects of The Faces and Badfinger, with lead singer Billy Paliselli's raspy vocals calling to mind Rod Stewart, and the band's rockin' crunch conjuring a meeting of Ron Wood's swagger and the power-pop dynamics of Pete Ham and Joey Molland.  I was mesmerized. Granted, I had a pretty good buzz on by now, after an evening at the bar with my pals, but the Artful Dodger boys delivered on their end of the bargain, with a ready 'n' steady supply of hook-filled rock 'n' roll music. They didn't do any DC5 material--the only cover I remember from that night is Chuck Berry's "Sweet Little Rock 'n' Roller"--but they earned my allegiance with their original material. I was particularly captivated by "It's Over," a mid-tempo number, drawn out in its live incarnation by a hypmotizin' extension of its musical intro. From that evening on, I consider myself at home as an Artful Dodger fan.



The next day, I played the Artful Dodger EP that my Y chromosome had awarded me at Stage East's door: four songs from the group's eponymous 1975 debut album: "It's Over,""Wayside,""Think Think," and my favorite, "Follow Me."  I eventually acquired all four of Artful Dodger's LPs, and re-acquired the first two in the CD format, but my Artful Dodger collection began with that EP.

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