THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! Paul McCartney, "Not Such A Bad Boy"

Drawn from previous posts, this is not part of my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1).

An infinite number of tracks can each be THE greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Today, this is THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE!

PAUL McCARTNEY: Not Such A Bad Boy

Written by Paul McCartney

Produced by George Martin

From the album Give My Regards To Broad Street, Parlophone Records [UK]/Columbia Records [USA], 1984

Rock 'n' roll as we know it might not even exist if not for the movies. That may be an overstatement, but it's certainly true that rock's first crossover success came via Hollywood. When the film The Blackboard Jungle appeared in 1955, its opening credits sequence propelled a novelty fox trot called "Rock Around The Clock" to the top of the pops, making the seemingly unlikely figures of Bill Haley and his Comets the world's first rock 'n' roll stars. The ongoing sheet-shakin' between rock and film has been consummated again and again over the ensuing decades, from Jailhouse Rock through A Hard Day's Night, the Monkees in Head, the Ramones in Rock 'n' Roll High School, Earth, Wind & Fire in That's The Way Of The World, and the fictional Wonders in That Thing You Do!, plus whatever more recent iterations have occurred since I grew too old to keep up with what you crazy kids are up to. Just stay off of my lawn already.

Paul McCartney's 1985 film vehicle Give My Regards To Broad Street is not very good. It's probably not that bad; I should watch it again to see if it holds up better than my memory claims. If nothing else, hey: It's Paul McCartney! I mean, what the hell, right? It's not like he owes us anything. And the soundtrack is frequently terrific, with remakes of "Eleanor Rigby" and "Ballroom Dancing," and a great hit single in "No More Lonely Nights." The album's highest points are two tracks Paul recorded with an ace combo consisting of Linda McCartney, Ringo Starr, Dave Edmunds, and Chris Spedding, and I woulda killed to see that combo live! McCartney claimed that a new song called "No Values" came to him in a dream, a song he imagined seeing the Rolling Stones perform in concert. When he realized no such Stones song existed, he wrote and recorded it himself. It's the second best song on the Give My Regards To Broad Street soundtrack. 

The best song? Glad you asked! "Not Such A Bad Boy" is not just the best song on Give My Regards To Broad Street, it's one of McCartney's very best tracks, period. Its relative obscurity is maddening. And it's second only to "Maybe I'm Amazed" among my favorite post-Beatles McCartney songs.

Give My Regards To Broad Street may get a worse rap than it really deserves. It's not bad, but nor is it in any way special. Well, let's amend that a bit--even by itself, the presence of McCartney does make it sorta special. The soundtrack justifies it, approaching the transcendent with "No Values" and "Not Such A Bad Boy," neither of which is on any other album, and they're just as solid as anything Sir Paul ever did after leaving the act you've known for all these years. 

In particular, "Not Such A Bad Boy" is such a confident rockin' pop number, oozing with swagger and amiable panache. It's aching for rediscovery as one of McCartney's best. Not such a bad song after all. Give it my highest regards.

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, its six-chapter novelette digest A Band Called GUITARS VS. RAYGUNS!, 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:9/17/2026

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 # 1353

PERILOUS: Overwhelmed By Reality

We jump-start this week's demostration of better radio through better radio with the debut spin of "Overwhelmed By Reality," the great new single from Perilous. In our ongoing effort to be an eensy bit less, y'know, whelmed, we will hear this fine track again on our next show. In the mean time, rock und rollers in the 315 have a chance to witness Perilous perform the song live on Friday, September 18th--TOMORROW!--at Funk 'n Waffles in Syracuse. It's a SPARK RADIO FUNDRAISER, and Perilous will be on a bill with the Flashing Astonishers and Know Nothing. YOU should be there! It is, after all, an overwhelmingly worthy cause.

THE KENNEDYS: Girl On A Motorcycle

The release of a new album by esteemed coffeehouse pop masters the Kennedys always scores an automatic and irrefutable claim to a piece of TIRnRR airspace, and their latest effort Smoketree continues that well-earned tradition. My immediate Smoketree favorite is "Girl On A Motorcycle," partially for its immediate titular connection to the enduring mystique of Marianne Faithfull...but mostly 'cuz it sounds so good. See, we're proud to be suckers for stuff that sounds good.

THE COCKTAIL SLIPPERS: Back Where You Belong

Ooo--more stuff that sounds good! We've been meaning to play the Cocktail Slippers' exuberant "Back Where You Belong" for quite some time, starting from way back when it was an ace advance single from the group's then-forthcoming album Joyride. Yeah, we're late to the party, but the album's out now, and trust me: This party is where we all belong. Welcome back, Cocktail Slippers!

SPECTRAFLAME: The Look In Your Eyes

Continuing the saga of TIRnRR's dedication to being suckers for stuff that sounds good, from a previous edition of 10 Songs:

Awright, we've been playing St. Petersburg, Florida's phenomenal pop combo Spectraflame a lot this year, a situation cued up by our pal Robbie Rist's involvement with (and recommendation of) the group, but maintained in dedicated earnest by the quality of Steve Burgess's original pop songcraft. We have three hours of airtime to occupy each week, and it's more efficient to occupy that airtime with good stuff. Spectraflame has proven to be a reliable resource for the good stuff, and "The Look In Your Eyes" is Spectraflame's best one yet. Resistance is futile. Occupation continues. I know that look.

DAVID RUFFIN: I Want You Back

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

RADIO DAYS: Keep Me Straight

Aw, this is just so unerringly radio-ready, and I say that without intending a reference to the band's name. They're called Radio Days, but this is meant for radio days and nights and maybe even early mornings, too. It's from their new album Off The Record, but I'll go on the record with a straight-up vow to play this again on our next show.

THE MONKEES: Love To Love

September 12th marked the 60th anniversary of the debut broadcast of The Monkees TV series. I didn't see that first episode, but my sister got me watching not long thereafter, and I've been a fan ever since. We completely forgot about the anniversary when programming this week's show, but we did wind up including the Monkees anyway, with this spin of the 2016 remix of "Love To Love." As I wrote in a round up of my 25 favorite Monkees tracks:

Neil Diamond wrote four songs for the Monkees. We've discussed "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You," "Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)," and (in passing) "I'm A Believer," but my pick of the bunch is "Love To Love," recorded right before Don Kirshner's expulsion in '67 and officially unreleased until the '80s (on Rhino Records' 1982 picture disc Monkee Business, though a lo-fi, bootleg-quality recording of the track appeared on a 1979 Australian compilation called Monkeemania, released by Arista). This is my favorite Davy Jones song, an absolutely winning confection of pure, sweet pop music. The version released on the 1996 vault dive Missing Links Volume Three is sublime, but I've come to prefer the 2016 remix used for the Good Times! album, with its added backing vocals by Peter Tork and Micky Dolenz.

[REDACTED] FEATURING [REDACTED]: [REDACTED]

Due out in November from the visionary Big Stir Records label. The 45 RPM single will be available for sale at Syracuse's legendary home for rock 'n' roll The Lost Horizon on the evening of November 7th, which just happens to be the night of a really loud memorial show honoring Syracuse punk/new wave patron saint Paul Armstrong. A coincidence, I'm sure.

We've been playing it here for weeks, while coyly refusing to name it. We are such mother[redacted]ing teases. We will name it at the top of our very next show. And before that--hey, TOMORROW!--I'll talk about it when I guest on The Spoon podcast with Robbie Rist, Chris Jackson, and Thom Bowers.

And if you already know what it is, that's fine, too. I don't mind.

THE BEATLES: Dizzy Miss Lizzy

Hey, speakin' of Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse [redacted], their '70s live sets used to include a cover of "Dizzy Miss Lizzy," a Larry Williams R 'n' B gem they (like most of us) learned from the Beatles. When [redacted] opened for the Runaways and the Ramones in 1978, I recall [redacted] guitarist Arty [Redacted] telling me that he'd always thought it was a Beatles original, and had then just recently discovered the Fabs didn't create it. Yeah, I replied helpfully, It was like Little Richard, I think. This serves as a reminder that, at the age of 18, I was already a dumbass.

I did learn better. No, honest! And recently, when I was interviewing Arty [Redacted] for a book I'm writing, he told me:

"Well, you know, the Beatles, you learn more and more when you listen to the songs that they were doing, all those beautiful gems of American black music. I mean, it's an incredible thing. I finally heard the original version of "Devil In Her Heart" [by the Donays] fairly recently. And it's just one of the greatest records you've ever heard. You know, the Beatles just had such unbelievable taste. Because those records, when you listen to Larry Williams and stuff, his versions really hold up in a big way. I mean, [the Beatles] were copying some of the greatest music...."

Agreed. Even the best of the best had to learn somewhere.

PERILOUS: Rock & Roll Runaway

Run away? From this reality? Oh, I am IN...!

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: 8/22/2026

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 # 1349

SPECTRAFLAME: The Look In Your Eyes

Awright, we've been playing St. Petersburg, Florida's phenomenal pop combo Spectraflame a lot this year, a situation cued up by our pal Robbie Rist's involvement with (and recommendation of) the group, but maintained in dedicated earnest by the quality of Steve Burgess's original pop songcraft. We have three hours of airtime to occupy each week, and it's more efficient to occupy that airtime with good stuff. Spectraflame has proven to be a reliable resource for the good stuff, and "The Look In Your Eyes" is Spectraflame's best one yet. Resistance is futile. Occupation continues. I know that look.

VERDELLE SMITH: Life Goes On

Today's post is the first entry in my theoretically-weekly 10 Songs series since July 25th. The absence has been a byproduct of my decision to suspend Boppin's status as a daily blog, limiting posting to two or three times a week. I believe this period has been the first interruption in 10 Songs'' schedule since the feature's debut in early 2020.

Is it back now? I dunno. The world around us has felt increasingly discouraging, and I'm sometimes overwhelmed by the pointlessness of whatever the hell it is I do here. But...I dunno.

I do know that life goes on. George Harrison said it goes on within you and without you. In 1965, singer Verdelle Smith insisted it just goes on, our troubles notwithstanding. There will come another day. There will be another Spring. Life goes on.

Or so one hopes.

THE SPONGETONES: The Music At The Close

More new music from the Spongetones? Yes, please! A "We'll Meet Again" to meet the overarching yechh of modern times, "The Music At The Close" is the virtual 45 RPM equivalent of whistling through the graveyard, a joyride on the Titanic, stubbornly blessed with incongruous will to keep boppin' no matter how futile the boppin' may seem. 

The song was co-written by Spongetones bassist Steve Stoeckel and his Pop Co-Op cohort Joel Tinnel--two longtime friends of TIRnRR-- and if its stiff upper lip might be equally likely to contort into a sneer or a smile, one senses it's open to the promise of singing past the close--particularly if the "close" refers to what the damned walls feel like they're doing all around us.

(Furthermore, I betcha our Joel is thrilled to have co-written a single for the freaking Spongetones. Well done, Agent J! We're playing this one again on this Sunday night's celebration of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1350. And what the hell, we'll play a little Pop Co-Op as well. Let's put off closing time for at least a little bit longer.)

JUDAS PRIEST: Heading Out To The Highway

From a previous post:

I'm not really a metal guy. But there have been a few fist-shakin', head-bangin' truncheonfests that I have found to be agreeably bludgeoning, albeit all of them on the pop side. I love Twisted Sister's "We're Not Gonna Take It" without any hint of guilt or apology. I enjoy some Def Leppard, a little bit of Black Sabbath, and--maybe stretching the parameters--some Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin, plus the light hair-metal of "We Stand Alone" by Killer Dwarfs. And Motörhead. And KISS! I mean, if you wanna count KISS as metal, I guess.

And Judas Priest?

There was something about the Priest that made me unable to take them seriously...which would be okay if they didn't seem so hell-bent-for-leather intent on being taken seriously. I very much liked the first Judas Priest track I ever heard, which was their gloriously unsubtle take on the Joan Baez folk chestnut "Diamonds And Rust." After that, though, I thought "Breaking The Law" was tiresome, and its video really made Judas Priest look dumb beyond redemption. CREEM magazine started to make fun of them, and I went right along with that spirit of derision and dismissal.

But..."Heading Out To The Highway." GodDAMN I loved that from its first bombastic chug and squeal, and in the present day it still inspires turn-it-UP volume and a defiantly paradoxical mix of sneering and grinning when it plays in my car. 

Especially if I happen to be heading out to the highway. LOUDER! LOUDER!!! 

CINDY LAWSON: The Reckoning

ANGER! Sheer, pissed-off rock 'n' roll anger! Cindy Lawson knows the story, and she is not afraid to spit that story right back in the face of those in dire need of a freakin' reckoning, stat. From her forthcoming new release ¡Long Live The Resistance!, "The Reckoning" channels the lesson the Clash taught us all those years ago: Let fury have the hour. Anger can be power! How can you refuse it?

Cindy Lawson is not inclined to refuse, nor to back down. It's the only reckoning that matters.

LITTLE EVA: Stand By Me

SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE: Stand!

THE PRETENDERS: I'll Stand By You

I tell ya, sometimes these segues just write themselves.

THE MONKEES: Words

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE BEATLES: Tomorrow Never Knows

It's now been a full sixty years since the Beatles' released the Revolver album. And it still feels like the daunting yet inviting sound of tomorrow. Turn off your mind. Relax. Float downstream. We got you.

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 (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: 7/4/2026

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 # 1343

PAUL COLLINS: Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again

Here comes the Zimmer...man. Our friends at Jem Records continue their superb series of various-artists songwriter spotlights with Jem Records Celebrates Bob Dylan, and that series ain't made a misstep yet. Jem Records Celebrates Bob Dylan is due in August, and its release is heralded with this first teaser track, as TIRnRR fave rave Paul Collins takes on Bashful Bobby's "Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again." Dylan is (deservedly) one of the most-covered songwriters of the Rock 'n' Roll Era, and the Bard of Hibbing is in very good hands here. I'm very much looking forward to hearing more of this album.

(And if this series ever gets around to Jem Records Celebrates Michael Nesmith, I would really love to hear what our hometown heroes and Jem recording artists the Half/Cubes could do with Nesmith's "Rising In Love.")

MONOGROOVE: Back To School

From a previous 10 Songs:

"I've been a fan of Monogroove's Rin Lennon since hearing her former group On The Air's contribution to the 1984 Rhino Records (then-) contemporary girl group compilation The Girls Can't Help It. My pal Andrea Ogarrio included an On The Air track in a mixtape she sent me in the early '90s, and I snagged my very own copy of On The Air's 1987 eponymous six-song EP during a Florida vacation in 1994. More recently, we've been delighted to add Monogroove to our little Play-Tone galaxy o' stars, and 'That Girl' (from Monogroove's recent album Popsicle Drivethru) was TIRnRR's # 35 most-played track in 2025. Yep: ON THE AIR! It's what we do.

"In 2026, our on-the-air Monogroove presence has been established by the group's recent single 'Back To School,' and that's been a perfectly peppy rah rah siss boom bop in its own right. Pencils? Books? Teacher's dirty looks? It's all writ in # 2 graphite. 'Back To School' pushes against the scornful demands of high school's cliques and ninnies, on behalf of all of us who lurked in the nooks and crannies instead. School is in."

While this time of year may seem more suited to Alice Cooper crooning that school is out for the summer, Monogroove's "Back To School" returns now to the playlist as part of the new Kool Kat Musik release Anthology, a 20-track set commemorating Monogroove's 30th anniversary. And "Back To School" will be back again in a near-future playlist. We can't let the truants have ALL the fun.

BETH PEABODY: Out And About

JIM BASNIGHT: Get It Out

Beth Peabody is a singer and a member of Jim Basnight's band. We've been playing Jim in a variety of his rockin' pop dbas (including the Moberlys, the Rockinghams, Meice, and more) since the dawn of ever, and Beth has just released a new two-song digital 45 with her own ace lead vocal renditions of two Basnight songs, "Out And About" and "Get It Out." We debuted Beth's version of "Out And About" this week, and we also encored Jim's "Get It Out" in that same set. Now duly empowered, we'll hear Beth's take on "Get It Out" in our next show, AND we'll also hear her sing "Out And About" again. Can't have a hit record if you only play it once.

THE RAMONES: Rockaway Beach

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

SPECTRAFLAME: Life Is Fine

In between the lines, we all know that life is not fine. Maybe it never was, and maybe it never can be. The struggle continues. The feeling of struggle continues, too.

A new song by Spectraflame offers...well, not quite solace, but "Life Is Fine" does offer solidarity in standing against the forces of yechh. 

Things don't always go your way
Unless you've got something to say
But it's just a game you play

Love is fine
Can't get you off my mind
Love is blind you see it all the time
In my mind you always look divine

But they get smarter every day
It makes your game harder to play
But just who's playing anyway

Struggles can be physical or emotional, personal or societal, winnable or...not winnable. The battle rages on. Spectraflame is on our side.

"Life Is Fine" music and lyrics by Steve Burgess

KIRSTY MacCOLL: He's On The Beach

SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE: Hot Fun In The Summertime

'Cause the summer's here and the time is right.

Oh! And if you're looking for some summer reading: I write books!

BUY!!

THE BEATLES: All You Need Is Love

As we stated earlier this week: If love isn't the only thing, it may be the most important thing. Without it, we won't progress at all. Without it, we are nothing. Is love all we need? No. But it remains a damned good start.

THE DAHLMANNS: Dark Side With You

The Dahlmanns are a great, great recording combo from Norway, and we don't play them nearly as much as we oughta. Their 2012 track "Shake Me Up Tonight" remains a legit contender for my all-time Hot 200, and recently we've been programming the righteous hell out of "Dark Side With You" (from the Dahlmanns' current album Life In Reverse). With tough and tender chick vocals, a bruised but resilient heart safety-pinned to its sleeve and the first four Ramones long-players blastin' on its trusty Walkman, "Dark Side With You" is so unerringly TIRnRR we should nickname it "Dana & Carl With You." But we won't! It's already perfect just as it is. It spins again this Sunday night. Light up the dark, man. Light up the dark.

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