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.
The first of two editions of 10 Songs this week draws exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1100.
THE ARMOIRES: Appalachukrainia
We are, of course, big fans of Big Stir Records, the reliable rockin' pop label run by noted beautiful people Rex Broome and Christina Bulbenko. We opened TIRnRR # 1100 with Big Stir recording artists the Brothers Steve promising "We Got The Hits," and a bit later we added Rex and Christina's own combo the Armoires and Dana's favorite Armoires track, "Appalachukrainia." I like it, too!
BILL BERRY: 1-800-Colonoscopy
Congratulations are in order, hypothetically....
Yep, it's the love theme from 2020. Bill Berry's "1-800-Colonoscopy" is from the John Wicks tribute album For The Record, a song co-written by the late John Wicks and TIRnRR's old friend Rich Rossi. It remains way, way catchier than a song with "colonoscopy" in its title has any right to be.
CHUCK BERRY: Promised Land
For as many beloved acts who have cast their benevolent influence on Dana and I, there are a handful whose impact is beyond all others. The Beatles and the Ramones are the most obvious examples, but none of what we do is possible without Chuck Berry first showing us the way. Berry and Elvis Presley are virtually tied for the title of the single most important act in the history of rock 'n' roll, and ya can't go wrong with either choice. Nothing else happens without both Chuck Berry and King Elvis I lighting the spark. This is what I wrote when Berry passed in 2017:
"It is impossible to overstate the impact of Chuck Berry. Chuck Berry didn't invent rock 'n' roll; that music and its tangled roots were already in place before he started playing his guitar like a-ringin' a bell. But Chuck Berry defined rock 'n' roll. He gave it shape and substance, depth and meaning, a resonance that transcended its roadhouse and jukebox genesis as simple party music, while still remaining simple party music. Chuck Berry invented rock's swagger, its bounce, its groove, its very identity. He crafted the words that had 'em rocking in Boston, and Pittsburgh, PA, deep in the heart of Texas, and around Frisco Bay. Sure, Chuck Berry didn't invent rock 'n' roll; he merely transformed it into the music that we now all know and love.
"In the story of rock 'n' roll, there is no one--no group or individual--more integral than Chuck Berry. No one. Not the Beatles and not the Rolling Stones, neither of whom would have even existed if not for Chuck Berry. Not Ray Charles, not Buddy Holly, the Everly Brothers, Bob Dylan, Hendrix, Stevie Wonder, the Kinks, the Ramones, Smokey Robinson, the Isley Brothers, Otis, Janis, Bowie, Prince, the Who, the Sex Pistols, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bo Diddley, the Beach Boys, and not anyone else you wanna try to slip into the conversation, either. Not even Elvis Presley, who would likely have the strongest claim otherwise. These are giants. These are the seemingly peerless stars who forged this music we love. Giants.
"Giants? Absolutely. Yet Chuck Berry stood above them all.
"Chuck Berry's influence rose above pop music, crossed racial and social and economic divides, and reached across generations. I discovered it second hand, via the Beatles' cover of 'Rock And Roll Music' on Beatles '65. When either WOLF-AM or WNDR-AM (or both) started playing 'Johnny B. Goode' regularly in the early '70s, I don't think I even realized it was an oldie, and I wouldn't have cared either way. I loved it, and I wanted to hear it all the time. I still do. 'Sweet Little Sixteen' 'School Day.' 'Memphis, Tennessee.' 'Let It Rock.' 'Promised Land.' So many others, so many songs that I will never tire of hearing again and again.
"John Lennon said, 'If you had to give rock 'n' roll another name, you might call it Chuck Berry.' Writer and rocker Mick Farren warned us that we should never trust a rock band that didn't know any Chuck Berry songs. Ben Vaughn notes that 'Our Shakespeare has left us.' Roll over, Beethoven; there was only one Chuck Berry: motorvatin' over the hill, campaign shoutin' like a Southern diplomat, roundin' third and headin' for home, a brown-eyed handsome man. Bye bye, Johnny, goodbye Johnny B. Goode."
"Johnny B. Goode" is one of my favorite Chuck Berry numbers, and it almost made the playlist for TIRnRR # 1100. But "Promised Land" is the greatest record ever made.
COTTON MATHER: My Before And After
When we started playing Cotton Mather's "My Before And After" in 1999, our friend Dave Murray contacted us to say it might not actually be an unreleased Beatles track but it sure sounds like one. We've played a ton of other Cotton Mather songs, from "Payday" to "The Book Of Too Late Changes" and more, but "My Before And After" will always be among the defining tracks of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio.
HOLLY GOLIGHTLY: Time Will Tell
We like to refer to the Kinks as our House Band. Holly Golightly's ace reading of "Time Will Tell" is one of the greatest renditions of a Ray Davies song by anyone not named "the Kinks." Holly's "Time Will Tell" merits a chapter in my long-threatened book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1).
JEREMY: Living The Dream
Singer-songwriter-musician Jeremy Morris has released roughly, oh, a zillion albums in varying styles over a span of decades. His label JAM Recordings was the home of the first two This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio compilation CDs, and we wanted to include Jeremy in this celebration of whatever the hell it is we do here. "Living The Dream" comes from Jeremy's 2020 album--wait for it!--Living The Dream, which also includes Jeremy's ace take on the Byrds' "So You Want To Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star." Keep living the dream, Jeremy--and thanks!
THE MUFFS: On My Own
Bill Berry's "1-800-Colonoscopy" was our second-most-played track in 2020. The Muffs' "On My Own" was # 1.
We have a long history of playing the Muffs. Dana and I played their track "Saying Goodbye" on one of our old pre-TIRnRR shows in the mid '90s, and we played it again on TIRnRR # 1 in 1998. We continued to play that and many other Muffs gems over the following decades. We were crushed when the group's leader Kim Shattuck died in 2019.
We mourned Kim's passing in the most positive way we could muster: we kept on playing her music. When the Muffs' de facto farewell album No Holiday was released in late '19, we jumped on the track "On My Own," embracing its transcendent sadness as our own. Godspeed, Kim.
THE ORION EXPERIENCE: Adrianne
If memory serves, we first heard of the Orion Experience when our pal Robbie Rist raved about their album Cosmicandy in 2007. SOLD!! "Adrianne" went on to be one of our most-played tracks that year, and its shiny pop luster is undimmed by the rigors of the decade-and-change that have passed since then. (Robbie was himself represented on this week's extravaganza as a member of the Andersons!, whose "From The Get-Go" was a shoo-in for airplay this week.)
THE PHENOMENAL CATS: Seagirl
I've been corresponding with Keith Klingensmith since the '90s, a story told here and here. Over the course of TIRnRR # 1-1099, we've played some of Keith's work with Popdudes, Chris Richards, the Slapbacks, possibly Hippodrome, and probably someone else my brain's currently hoarding in its miserly memory bank. And we've for sure played the Legal Matters, whose "Light Up The Sky" seems to be on a collision course with our 2021 year-end countdown.
Keith's long history of airplay here began with the Phenomenal Cats. I mean, ya gotta love an act that takes its name from a track on my favorite Kinks album, The Village Green Preservation Society. I reviewed their 1996 EP Seagirl And 5 Other Dogs for Goldmine, and its title tune scored some early burn here once we started this Best Three Hours Of Radio On The Whole Friggin' Planet gig. Keith's Futureman Records imprint is also the home of the digital downloads of our TIRnRR compilations, so Gabba Gabba, one of us! Then, as now, glad to have you on the team, Keith.
THE RAMONES: Sheena Is A Punk Rocker
The American Beatles. The greatest American rock 'n' roll band of all time. The record that changed my life. And also the first song in our warmly-received 301 Songs About 301 Girls gimmick in 2011 (a gimmick which concluded with "Christi Girl" by the Flashcubes). The Ramones absolutely had to be part of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1100. We'll look at ten more of TIRnRR # 1100's songs on Thursday.
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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
I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl.
