10...no, 11 SONGS!: 5/31/2025

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 expands to 11 songs, and draws exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1287

THE SPONGETONES: Lulu's In Love

From Sir, with love. New music from North Carolina's phenomenal pop combo the Spongetones is always a welcome (if rare) cause for a round of Oh YEAH!s, so we're dead chuffed to begin this week's proceedings with the group's brand-new single "Lulu's In Love." 

Not counting their collaboration with the Flashcubes on the latter's WAY fab 2016 remake of the Spongetones' "Have You Ever Been Torn Apart," this new single is the Spongetones' first group appearance on the Big Stir Records label. "Lulu's In Love" also serves as the recorded debut of the group's new drummer Eric Willhelm, joining bassist Steve Stoeckel and guitarists Jamie Hoover and Pat Walters as they devise the next step in the Spongetones' master pop plan. "Lulu's In Love" is the first of three new 'Tones studio singles, and Big Stir will be collecting all three singles later this year in a special package with some live music recorded at the Spongetones' 40th Anniversary gig. The Spongetones' legacy of beat music survives and thrives. No wonder Lulu loves them so.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: Hurry Up Sundown

TAYLOR SWIFT: The Last Great American Dynasty [Long Pond Studio Session]

Here's to a pair of American folk heroes, Bruce Springsteen and Taylor Swift. Their celebrity gives them a forum if they choose to use it, and I'm delighted that they've both opted to speak out against homegrown tyranny. Even at their dizzying level of fame and acclaim, they are not necessarily insulated from the threat of pushback, and I respect them all the more for doing the right thing anyway. Born in the USA? It's a love story, so baby just say YES.

From the 2014 EP American Beauty, "Hurry Up Sundown" is one of my favorite Boss tunes. I've never been a Springsteen fan on the level of so many of my peers, but nor would I or could I ever deny the man's passion and accomplishment. He's recorded a number of things I like, a handful of works I love, and one song--"Girls In Their Summer Clothes"--that I just adore. My book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) includes a chapter on "Girls In Their Summer Clothes," and that articulates my feelings about Springsteen better than anything else I could ever attempt in that regard.

I'm not in Taylor Swift's demo, but I've come to appreciate her more and more, and I've even discovered a few of her tracks capable of annexing some pop-starved corner of my little wheelhouse. This is particularly true of "The Last Great American Dynasty," a stunning track from Swift's 2020 album Folklore; it's even more true of the alternate version of "The Last Great American Dynasty" found on Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, which feels more intimate and artful. As I said to a friend recently: I can't see anyone who likes Rumours-era Stevie Nicks disliking "The Last Great American Dynasty."

And I'm glad we have both Bruce and Taylor on our side.

THE BONGOS: The Beat Hotel

THE CYNZ: Heartbreak Time

THE GRIP WEEDS: Gene Clark (Broken Wing)

Tonight in Asbury Park, the Bongos--one of my many favorite bands of the 1980s--will be marking the release of their fabulous archival in-concert album The Shroud Of Touring: Live In 1985 with a reunion gig. TIRnRR Fave Raves the Cynz and the Grip Weeds are also on the bill with their Jem Records labelmates the Bongos, and I really, really wanted to be in attendance. Alas, I wasn't able to execute the logistics of making the trip, so I have to sit this one out. It's going to be an incredible show, and I'm bummed that I have to miss it. But we spin a track apiece from each of the three groups as a virtual long-distance cigarette lighter held high above our heads.

We've been programming the recent singles by the Cynz ("Heartbreak Time") and the Grip Weeds ("Gene Clark [Broken Wing]") anyway, and we've been on a weekly Bongos kick as well, starting with studio tracks then moving to live cuts from The Shroud Of Touring as soon as they were cleared for airplay. Other than a spin of the live "In The Congo"--probably my single favorite Bongos song--we've been sticking with Bongos numbers (with wings!) that have never made it to any previous TIRnRR playlist in either a live or a studio incarnation.

That continues with this week's airing of "The Beat Hotel" from The Shroud Of Touring. The studio version was the title track from an album the Bongos released when I was working at a record store in the '80s. I gave it a lot of in-store play, and I can't believe I never got around to playing it on the radio before including its live performance in this week's show.

We'll have another track from The Shroud Of Touring on our next show, a song we have played in its original studio version, but which wasn't originally credited as an official Bongos track. And we toast all of our friends in Asbury Park tonight. Wish we were there.

KISS: Calling Dr. Love

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE FLASHCUBES: Reminisce

Ahead of the September release of Make Something Happen! A Tribute To A DIY Power Pop Band Called THE FLASHCUBES, our friends at Big Stir Records have announced a June 27 date for the various-artists tribute album's first digital single: "Reminisce" by the Flashcubes with Mike Gent.

Our regular listeners already know the song quite well. We've been playing "Reminisce" for months, each spin somehow even more enthusiastic than the last. After a few years celebrating the Flashcubes' prowess in covering other artists, it was imperative to remind all 'n' sundry of the magnificence to be found in the band's own songwriting catalog. Hence a tribute album, gathering a bunch of accomplished rockin' pop performers to offer their own interpretations of some Cubic classics. 

I felt it was important--very important--that this tribute album should also include at least one newly-recorded original track by the Flashcubes themselves. Independent of what passes for my thought process, the 'Cubes were already working on three new tracks--"Reminisce" by Paul Armstrong, "If These Hands" by Arty Lenin, and "The Sweet Spot" by Gary Frenay (with the late B. D. Love)--so this was a match made in Bomp! magazine.

In addition to being the first single, "Reminisce" will open the album, kicking off this magic immersion in the Flashcubes' songbook, culminating in the Spongetones' album-closing cover of Arty Lenin's "Nothing Really Matters When You're Young." Make Something Happen! is a fantastic record, and I'm looking forward to the day you can hear it in its entirety. For now, we start with the single. June 27th will be your first opportunity to make something happen.

(An advance look at my liner notes for Make Something Happen! will be distributed privately to my $3-a-month paid Patreon supporters tomorrow, along with a mostly-unredacted look at the album's line-up. Wanna see it? Fund me, baby!)

THE RAMONES: Rockaway Beach

HEY!WE'RETHERAMONESANDTHISONE'SCALLED"ROCKAWAYBEACH!"

Outside of the Beatles, no band has ever meant more to me than the American Beatles, the greatest American rock 'n' roll band of all time, the Ramones. The Flashcubes are the only other band in my all-time pop Trinity. The Ramones were the subject of my first book, and the creators of the record that changed my life. It's Alive is my favorite live album.

This week's spin of "Rockaway Beach" comes from NYC 1978, a 2003 King Biscuit Flower Hour CD that preserves a January 7th, 1978 Ramones performance at the Palladium. That date was eight days after the London New Year's Eve performance captured on It's Alive, ten days before my 18th birthday (which was the day I bought the "Rockaway Beach" 45), and about a week shy of three months before the March 31st, 1978 Ramones/Flashcubes/Runaways Syracuse gig that was my first Ramones show.

There is no substitute for live Ramones. There's also no substitute for studio Ramones, but let's talk in-concert brudders for a sec. Both It's Alive and NYC 1978 offer essential shots of Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee, and Tommy in their natural element.

It's not hard, not far to reach. Everything is as it was then...except you are there. Take it, Dee Dee!

BEATLES: No Reply

Speaking of the Beatles: 

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

Pop music's best bridge ever. Narrowly edging out the Beatles' "I Don't Want To Spoil The Party," which narrowly edges out Badfinger's Beatles-inspired "Baby Blue." Toppermost of the poppermost, lads.

DAVIE ALLAN AND THE ARROWS: Blues' Theme

Our old theme song! Before the late-evening dawn (What...?!) of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio at the very end of 1998, the first Dana and Carl radio shows were the short-lived 1992 series We're Your Friends For Now. The trek from We're Your Friends For Now through the first two decades of TIRnRR is chronicled in my mini-memoir Boppin' The Whole Friggin' Planet (The History Of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio).

On We're Your Friends For Now, our opening and closing theme song was usually Davie Allan and the Arrows' chopperrific classic "Blues' Theme." It's a track from the soundtrack of The Wild Angels, a 1966 biker flick starring Peter Fonda (as Blues) and Nancy Sinatra (as Blues' go'geous girlfriend Mike).

I saw The Wild Angels on a mid-'70s matinee double bill with The Born Losers, the 1967 film that introduced Tom Laughlin as Billy Jack. At the time, I didn't pay much attention to "Blues' Theme," and I don't recall what sequence of circumstance led me back to the song in the '80s. It became one of my top tunes, so I was more than all-in when Dana started playing it at the Hola! and Sayonara! spots in each week's exciting episode of We're Your Friends For Now.

And it still sounds great--and chopperrific!--ridin' into the sunset of this week's eleven-song 10 Songs. Hey, Blues! Tell Mike we said hi.

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 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.

10 SONGS: 5/24/2025

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 # 1286

THE PEPPERMINT KICKS: Muscle Beach

We continue to piledrive our way toward the September release of Big Stir Records' epic various-artists rockin' pop love letter Make Something Happen! A Tribute To A DIY Power Pop Band Called THE FLASHCUBES. We've been assembling like Avengers, and my $3-a-month Patreon supporters will get a sneak peek at the album's liner notes on June 1st.

This has been a dream project for me. I've been a Flashcubes fan since my first 'Cubes show more than 47 years ago, and it is such a kick--a peppermint kick!-- to hear so many other incredible pop performers give us their own sublime interpretations of songs written by members of the Flashcubes.

TIRnRR stalwarts the Peppermint Kicks serve up a case in point with their blood-pumpin' rendition of "Muscle Beach." Written by 'Cubes guitarist Paul Armstrong, "Muscle Beach" was a fan-favorite staple of Flashcubes live shows circa 1979, and you can hear evidence of its sheer in-person power on the '79 club set preserved on the Flashcubes On Fire live album.

Our peppermint kicksters--Sal Baglio of the Amplifier Heads and Dan Kopko of the Shang Hi Los--capture that original Cubic vibe to perfection, making the song their own while retaining a line of sight with teen me 'n' my bright-lights peers swilling beer and doing the Jumping Jack upstairs at the Firebarn at the end of the '70s, the end of the century.

I do not want to be nineteen again. I would not even consider trying to surf through all that tsuris anew. But "Muscle Beach?" That's where I wanna be. Well done, you Peppermint Kicks.

THE MAYFLOWERS: Born To Cry

Aw, this is just beautiful. Kyoto's phenomenal pop combo the Mayflowers are long-time friends of the Flashcubes. Our previous compilation This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5 included a great Mayflowers track called "Sunflower Girl," co-written by Osamu Satoyama of the Mayflowers and Flashcubes bassist Gary Frenay. With these connections already in place, it made picture-perfect sense for the Mayflowers to cover a Gary Frenay song for Make Something Happen!

The Mayflowers chose to make something happen with "Born To Cry," a gorgeous Frenay ballad the Flashcubes recorded circa '79 or '80, after Paul Armstrong had left the 'Cubes and before the 'Cubes morphed into Screen Test, the Cubic-based trio of Frenay, Flashcubes guitarist Arty Lenin, and 'Cubes drummer-Tommy Allen. "Born To Cry" was a captivating song then, and it remains captivating in the capable hands of the Mayflowers.

When we posted an earlier work-in-progress look at the tentative line-up for Make Something Happen!, one 'Cubes fan responded immediately with the question, Where's "Born To Cry?" Now, here 'tis. The Mayflowers were born to make this particular something happen.

GRAHAM PARKER: Every Day I Have To Cry

The mighty Graham Parker covering soul great Arthur Alexander. Man, Mr. Parker sure does have a way of executing cool covers, doesn't he? Imagine if he were to cover a Flashcubes song!

We'll leave that notion to your imagination for now.

But we won't leave it to imagination alone for very much longer.

TONY MARSICO AND THE UGLY THINGZ: Goodbye To Lonely Town

Even a relatively low-profile media outlet like our little mutant radio show gets inundated with new music submissions. It helps that we have a handful of preferred resources that tend to jump to the top of our to-be-considered pile, and the Rum Bar Records label should certainly be considered among our favored nations. 

From the submission stack, I was taken with "Goodbye To Lonely Town," a recent single from the current Tony Marsico and the Ugly Thingz album No Future. On Rum Bar Records, of course. No future? There's ALWAYS a future for the radio-ready! Hello "Lonely Town," and welcome to This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio.

After we'd already programmed the track, recorded the show, and announced it in this week's hype, we realized that friend of the show Jonathan Lea plays guitar on "Goodbye To Lonely Town." We...would have realized that sooner if we were paying attention. But at least the Rum Bar Seal O' Approval had already brought the track to the top of the submission stack, and its intrinsic mojo was sufficiently dazzling to place it on our playlist. Word of Jonathan's involvement compels us to repeat the track on our next show. Hello AGAIN, "Lonely Town."

THE SPONGETONES: Anyway Town

Ahem. On this coming Sunday night, our next edition of TIRnRR will open with NEW MUSIC FROM THE SPONGETONES!! 

Yes, you're welcome. We aims t'please.

Meanwhile, we offer an older Spongetones classic to keep your beat music as Fab as it wants to be. From their 2005 album Number 9, the 'Tones lads allowed us the use of "Anyway Town" on our own compilation album This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 2. Wonderful track, and it always conjures an image of Thornton Wilder's Our Town in the wide-range region of my free associatin' mind. 

And come Sunday, let's free-associate us up some NEW Spongetones sounds. 

THE COOLIES: Bad Bad Boy

The supergroup known as the Coolies debuted with the 2019 EP Uh Oh! It's...The Coolies, and their music found an immediate and appreciative home on our sovereign airwaves. And we ain't kiddin' 'bout the "supergroup" part, as the Coolies included Kim Shattuck of the Muffs and the Pandoras, Melanie Vammen of the Muffs and the Pandoras, and Underground Garage host Palmyra Delran of the Friggs and a scattered zillion other worthy projects. Tracks from the Coolies' lone EP have been frequent fixtures on this show ever since.

The great Kim Shattuck left us later in that same year of 2019. Her dear pals Palmyra and Melanie channel Kim's immortal spirit on a new Coolies single, accompanied by Kathy Valentine of the Go-Go's and the late percussive powerhouse Clem Burke. The single's A-side "Bad Bad Boy" was co-written by Shattuck and Delran, and the result embodies something essential that I often seek in my music, books, film, and art: 

A defiant single finger, flashed with determined intent at the cruel transience of this mortal sphere.

(The single's digital B-side is a superb cover of "Over You," a song previously done by British neo-Modsters Squire. The Coolies' version is irresistible, and we'll prove that when we play it on our next show.)

THE RAMONES: Oh Oh I Love Her So

Combining bits from two different posts offered after my book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones was published in 2023:

My motto remains that a day without the Ramones would be like...I don't have any idea what a day without the Ramones would be like. Nor do I ever intend to find out.

The Leave Home album track "Oh Oh I Love Her So" shoulda been a single. Hell, it shoulda been a Burger King commercial. It still should! I met her at the Burger King/We fell in love by the soda machine. See, now I want a Whopper. Advertising in action. 

"Oh Oh I Love Her So" is an explosion of adrenaline-charged joy, one of my 25 favorite Ramones tracks. Like most of the Ramones' best works, it is pure in a way that may seem unexpected by heathens who don't worship at the Church of Ramones.

But it is pure. It is exciting and life-affirming and vividly real, even at its most cartoonish, even in the midst of its Bowery-bred seediness, the danger of its genesis redeemed by the exuberance of its pop. Fast. Loud. Pure. Oh oh, I love it so.

THE VENTURES: Walk--Don't Run

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE BONGOS: Glow In The Dark

After weeks of patient (HA!!) anticipation from this rock 'n' roll radio outlet, we've nearly reached the threshold of the release of The Shroud Of Touring: Live In 1985, Jem Records' new archival in-concert document of a performance by the Bongos. "Glow In The Dark" has long been one of my favorite Bongos tracks, and I'm shocked that we've never played the studio version (from Drums Along The Hudson) on any of our previous shows. But no matter! This week, we spin the live cut of "Glow In The Dark," and we'll utilize The Shroud Of Touring as the source for the TIRnRR debut of yet another Bongos gem on tomorrow night's program.

THE BEATLES: Dear Prudence

You're listening to the White Album on SPARK! Syracuse. From a previous reminiscence:

"The White Album is a pop touchstone like no other. Few regard it as the Beatles' best album, some regard it as one of their worst, and many would prefer if it had been pared down to a single-album release, rather than the sprawling (apparent) overreach of a double album. But owning a copy of it was, at one time, a prerequisite for...well, not status, exactly, but some undefined measure of cool. The White Album was cool in a way that not even Sgt. Pepper or Abbey Road could match. It's never been my favorite Beatles album. I would never dream of doing without it."

You can read that complete reminiscence here. And when you're finished reading: Won't you come out and play?

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 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.

10 SONGS: 5/17/2025

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 # 1285

JILL SOBULE: Someone's Gonna Break Your Heart

As we mourn the passing of Jill Sobule, the commentary accompanying this week's posted playlist wondered out loud why TIRnRR hasn't played more--a lot more--of Jill Sobule's music over the years. "Someone's Gonna Break Your Heart" is a prime example of the sort of sublime rockin' pop splendor this show favors; I can't offer any excuse for the fact that I've owned the track (from Sobule's 2000 album Pink Pearl) for a quarter of a century, yet we didn't program it until now.

But we're playing it now, and we'll play it again on our next show. No shortage of broken hearts, not then, not now, nor in any direction going forward. Godspeed, Ms. Sobule.

GRAHAM PARKER AND THE GOLDTOPS: Last Stretch Of The Road

I've been digging the music of Graham Parker since I was in high school, when WOUR-FM in Utica, NY started playing "Hotel Chambermaid." That was almost five decades ago, meaning my interest in GP predates my subsequent thralldom to the Rubinoos, the Ramones, and the Flashcubes. 

The esteemed Mr. Parker has a brand-new, as-yet unreleased track we hope to play for you within the next few weeks. I've heard a work-in-progress mix, it's flippin' fantastic, and I can't wait for the moment when you'll be able to hear it. 

Meanwhile, we play "Last Stretch Of The Road," the de facto title track from Graham Parker and the Goldtops' 2023 album Last Chance To Learn The Twist. Last chance? Man, we're just getting started. 

THE BONGOS: In The Congo

Although I can't claim to have been a fan of the Bongos for quite as long as I've been into Graham Parker, it's only about a five-year discrepancy, still totaling nearly 45 years since a couple of tracks on a various-artists live compilation called Start Swimming served as my introduction to the wonderful world of the Bongos.

The Bongos' tracks on Start Swimming were "Telephoto Lens" and "In The Congo," and the studio versions on their first album Drums Along The Hudson remain my top two Bongotunes. Both are represented on the new archival live album The Shroud Of Touring--Live In 1985, due out soon from everyone's friends Jem Records, and we spin that in-your-face in-concert "In The Congo" on this week's show. We'll hear another Shroud Of Touring selection on the radio this coming Sunday night. We are, in fact, gonna glow in the dark that night. Glow with us!

NELSON BRAGG: We're Gonna Laugh About It

A new single from long-time TIRnRR Fave Rave Nelson Bragg? Yeah, we're playing that for sure. Our man Nelson's tenure playing with Brian Wilson serves him well on his luxurious new confection "We're Gonna Laugh About It," and we've now learned that this perfect li'l pet sound will be on a cool new Nelson Bragg anthology called Mèlodie De Nelson: A Pop Anthology. HuzZAH! We're not laughing. We're CHEERING! 

SONNY: Laugh At Me

THE SKELETONS: Trans Am

How to build nonpareil rock 'n' roll radio playlists, Lesson One: Know what works and, y'know, do that. In this example of better radio through better radio, Dana followed my spin of Nelson Bragg's "We're Gonna Laugh About It" with Sonny (of Sonny and Cher) warblin' his amiable 1965 protest single "Laugh At Me." As one does if one is a superior radio programmer like Dana.

I love that track, but I don't recall hearing Sonny's original until many years after the fact. In place of Mr. Bono, my initial exposure to "Laugh At Me" came from witnessing America's Coolest Band the Skeletons cover it in their live sets in the early '90s. In programming this week's show, that specific Sonny-to-Skeletons connection compelled me to respond to Dana's pick with the Skeletons' own original 1980 protest single "Trans Am." That, in turn, prompted Dana to say that he'd almost played the Skeletons' studio cover of "Laugh At Me" instead of Sonny's. Serendipity at work, my friends. Superior playlist achieved. Plenty of laughter in that ol' Trans Am.

THE RAMONES: Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

From the previous piece "Chewin' Out A Rhythm On My Bubblegum: My 25 Favorite Ramones Tracks:"

We don't generally think of the Ramones as balladeers. But the Ramones were raised on AM Top 40 radio when AM Top 40 was fantastic, bred by the sounds of girl groups, British Invasion, Motown, garage, bubblegum, rock, and pop. Ballads were part of that environment.

And the Ramones were--perhaps incongruously--great at ballads. That should not be true...but it is. I'm not much for power ballads myself. But Ramones power ballads? The Ramones made power ballads cool.

We got a new album out. It's called Rocket To Russia. This one's called "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow."

With Dee Dee's count-in following Joey's introduction, the first time I heard "Here Today. Gone Tomorrow" was when the Ramones played it at my first Ramones live show. Stunning, and a remarkably effective slow burn amidst the fast-loud-rules of the Blitzkrieg Boppin' and Cretin Hoppin' that surrounded it in concert. 

By then, I think I'd already read Greg Shaw's rave about the song in the pages of Bomp! magazine. Hearing it live delivered on Shaw's promise, and the studio track lived up to it. The Ramones as balladeers. Someone had to pay the price.

It was worth it.

THE FIVE STAIRSTEPS: O-o-h Child

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE FLASHCUBES: If These Hands

As we settle everything into its perfect Cubic place for Big Stir Records' forthcoming various-artists set Make Something Happen! A Tribute To A DIY Power Pop Band Called THE FLASHCUBES, we've been treating our lucky listeners to serial advance immersions in itty-bitty teases of this fabulous record's bounty. This week's show includes spins of Make Something Happen! tracks by Librarians With Hickeys and Chris von Sneidern, our next show will debut new Flashcubes covers by the Mayflowers and the Peppermint Kicks, and there's way more bright-lights brilliance to come. I may have suggested a Rumour of one as-yet-unrevealed Make Something Happen! participant earlier in today's post. 

At our beggin...er, our request, the Flashcubes have contributed three newly-recorded tracks to Make Something Happen! Each of those fresh gems--Paul Armstrong's "Reminisce," Gary Frenay's "The Sweet Spot," and Arty Lenin's "If These Hands"--will also be issued as digital singles, prepping an eager power pop world for the album's September release. It's all happening!

BARON DAEMON AND THE VAMPIRES: The Transylvania Twist

I've spoken elsewhere of the importance of Syracuse television personality Mike Price, particularly in his role as our beloved 1960s local TV vampire Baron Daemon. His single "The Transylvania Twist" (credited to Baron Daemon and the Vampires) earned a chapter in my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1), I did a video about it, and Price's death last week marks the loss of yet another cherished part of my childhood. I wrote about that here. And it's worth repeating this portion from the introduction of my GREM! book's chapter about "The Transylvania Twist:"

"My home town of Syracuse, NY is best known for its snowfall, its college basketball, and its foolproof plan to turn the area into a tourist Mecca by building a really big shopping mall where a bunch of oil tanks used to squat. What could possibly go wrong?

"But in the early 1960s, Syracuse gave the world Baron Daemon, the willfully goofy TV vampire host of Baron Daemon's Buddies on Channel 9. Believe me, if you were a kid around here at that time, Baron Daemon was as big as the Beatles to you.

"In the fifties and sixties, many local markets had their own flamboyant vampire kiddie TV host. Only Syracuse had Baron Daemon. From 1962 to 1967, the Baron and his cohorts cavorted in televised escapades and performed schtick between cartoons and Flash Gordon serial adventures, live (or undead) from the Channel 9 studio in the basement of the Shoppingtown shopping center. Every kid in Syracuse was a fan of Baron Daemon...."

And as I added last week:

"Today, Syracuse mourns its favorite vampire. Mike Price had a long and successful career with Channel 9, racking up a résumé that went far beyond just the bloody Baron. But the Baron could never be just a footnote. The Baron was too big for that.

"Our area has produced its share of stars, from Richard Gere to Tom Kenny, David Muir, and so many more. They're all great, and we're proud they came from the 315. But Syracuse has never produced a bigger star than Baron Daemon...

"...This bloody buddy will never forget you."

If you like what you see here on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), please consider a visit to CC's Tip Jar. 

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.

10 SONGS: 5/3/2025

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.

Awww, look at me trying to make something happen!

This week's edition of 10 Songs draws exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1283

THE FLASHCUBES: If These Hands

Around the office here, it's full-speed-ahead toward the September release of Big Stir Records' various-artists compilation Make Something Happen! A Tribute To A DIY Power Pop Band Called THE FLASHCUBES. The Flashcubes have always been my favorite power pop group, and I've long wished for wider appreciation of the group's own original songbook. A tribute album gathering fab pop performers to cover some Flashcubes tunes felt like it could be the best Cubic celebration ever. Make something happen, already!

We've been rolling out teases and previews of Make Something Happen!, and we'll debut Flashcubes tribute stunners by Chris von Sneidern and Callan Foster on our next show. We were also determined to include at least one new original Flashcubes track on the tribute; we lucked out and secured THREE new 'Cubes treats, one apiece from each of the band's songwriters, Gary Frenay, Paul Armstrong, and Arty Lenin. (We figure all of Gary, PA, and Arty's songs inherently honor the propulsive poundin' prowess of 'Cubes drummer Tommy Allen.)

Paul's righteous, rockin' statement of intent "Reminisce" has been invigmoratin' our TIRnRR  playlists for months. Gary's irresistible seizing of the day "The Sweet Spot" (co-written by the late B.D. Love) debuted on last week's playlist, played again this week, and returns to our sovereign airwaves this coming Sunday night. And now, Arty completes the hat trick with "If These Hands," a yearning bit of folk rock that would have sounded right at home on one of the Searchers' late '70s/early '80s albums. 

That is not faint praise. And it's still more evidence that Make Something Happen! seems certain to be one of 2025's very best new releases.

CHUBBY CHECKER: Birdland

On Sunday's show, we back-announced "Birdland" as a track by Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer Chubby Checker. Our shows are prerecorded, and although we knew the Hall's 2025 inductees would be announced that night, we didn't know whether or not the often-myopic RnRHOF would deign to give Checker his long-overdue propers. I hedged my on-air statement by adding that, regardless of what happened with this year's (nor any future year's) voting, Checker is and will always a Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer.

Turns out the Hall did get it right this year. In fact as well as act: Welcome to The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, Mr. Checker.

LIBRARIANS WITH HICKEYS: Gone Too Far

Another track from Make Something Happen! "Gone Too Far" was among my many top picks in the Flashcubes' live sets in the '70s. I'm in awe of how Librarians With Hickeys took this already-great Arty Lenin tune and transformed it from its original hybrid vibe of '70s power pop meets the Monkees into something that sounds instead like a mythical '60s side that only existed in dreams that were too much to dream last night. 

The transcendent result conjures an imaginary lost garage pop 45 that could have made its way to a Pebbles compilation. In my mind, it creates an image of a forgotten sidebar in pop history, where an unknown Midwest combo played local sock hops and teen scenes, and stayed together just long enough to cut this one killer single. The B-side was either an inept frat-rock cover or an undistinguished beatless beat ballad. 

The A-side was "Gone Too Far." 

Then this hapless group's lead singer was drafted, and most of the rest of the group left music behind. Maybe the guitarist went on to be a cult figure in subsequent pop, rock, and indie work, maybe he remained as obscure as his erstwhile bandmates. Either way, this band that never was left us this one enduring example of tattered, battered brilliance.

I made that all up, and I don't have any specific real-world counterpart to any of the above fancifying. But this reaction was immediate for me when I first heard Librarians With Hickeys' cover of "Gone Too Far." They did a fantastic job of making this their own.

THE TREMBLERS: Maybe I'll Stay

In the early '80s, (then-) former Herman's Hermits lead singer Peter Noone had a brief goal of separating himself from his hit fling with Mrs. Brown's lovely daughter and establish himself as a straight-up rock 'n' roll singer. Twice Nightly, the sole album credited to Noone's short-lived combo the Tremblers, remains a stirring, no-nonsense realization of this goal. I've referred to the Tremblers as "New Wave Herman," but that may imply an element of gimmicky fad-following that is not at all in evidence on this fine record. I wish the Tremblers had decided to stay.

SAM PHILLIPS: Faster Pussycat To The Library!

If someone ever pulls off a B-movie called Faster Pussycat To The Library!, I would totally go see it, especially if it were to play at the drive-in on a double bill with another make-believe grindhouse flick:

THE PLIMSOULS: Dangerous Book

Faster Pussycat To The Library! and Dangerous Book. Man, someone get a call into Tarantino. We'll bring the popcorn. Maybe Librarians With Hickeys can make an on-screen cameo, like the Strawberry Alarm Clock in Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls?

THE SEX PISTOLS: God Save The Queen

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE BONGOS: Come Back To Me

Later this month, Jem Records will be releasing The Shroud Of Touring, a fabulous archival document of a 1985 live set by the Bongos. I've been a Bongos fan for decades, my own earnest Bongomania commencing with live versions of "Telephoto Lens" and "In The Congo," as heard on Start Swimming, a 1981 compilation that presented two in-concert tracks apiece from the Bongos, the Raybeats, the dB's, the Bush Tetras, and the Fleshtones. This introduction compelled me to pick up the Bongos' full-length debut album Drums Along The Hudson at my earliest opportunity. Hooked by the live cuts on Start Swimming, the studio versions of "Telephoto Lens" and "In The Congo" became my Fave Raves in the Bongos' hit parade, and they have retained that status nearly 45 years later. I also adored their Numbers With Wings EP and Beat Hotel album, and the latter was a go-to for in-store play when I worked at a record store in 1985. (Until this moment, I was not even aware of a 2013 Bongos release called Phantom Train. I will be acquiring that target shortly.)

As we await the release of The Shroud Of Touring, which will itself be celebrated on May 30th with a Bongos live reunion show in Asbury Park (on a bill with TIRnRR superstars the Cynz and the Grip Weeds), we're gonna spin a few tracks from the Bongos' studio catalog. That campaign begins with "Come Back To Me," a superb Beat Hotel number that I'm surprised to say we ain't played before. We'll hear an earlier Bongos cut on our next show, and material from The Shroud Of Touring will start swimming in our stream on May 11th.

THE RAMONES: I Wanna Be Sedated [Ramones-On-45 Mega-Mix!]

From a previous post:

One doesn't normally associate the Ramones with extended dance mixes. That seeming dichotomy works to perfection in "I Wanna Be Sedated [Ramones-On-45 Mega-Mix!]."

It's loud. It's danceable. It's the bubblepunk of the Ramones caught makin' out with club chicks. It's "I Wanna Be Sedated" set to a heavier beat, with bits of "Blitzkrieg Bop," "Teenage Lobotomy," and "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker" edited in, peppered with prerequisite dance-mix Sensurround moves, but retaining a far-from-sedate line-of-sight with the purity of the Ramones.

I should hate this. I freakin' love it. Awright, all you punks 'n' bumpin' bunnies alike: we can't control our fingers, we can't control our brains. Can't control our feets, either. BAMbambumpbam, ba-BAMbambumpbam. We know what we want.

THE BEATLES: I'm Only Sleeping

And we'll leave the light on for you.

If you like what you see here on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), please consider a visit to CC's Tip Jar. 

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.