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 # 1325, celebrating Black History Month
RIHANNA: Shut Up And Drive
Rihanna's "Shut Up And Drive" is a stupid song about sex. But it's a great stupid song about sex, probably the best-ever stupid song about sex, and a legit contender for my all-time Hot 200. Yeah, even among songs that may or may not be stupid and may or may not be about sex.
"Shut Up And Drive" strikes me as a sort-of equivalent to "Heavy Music" by Bob Seger and the Last Heard, a track I initially dismissed as a stupid song about sex before realizing it was--you guessed it!--a great stupid song about sex. Rihanna's song is greater. We'll hear it again on the radio in Syracuse this Sunday night. Drive, baby. Drive.
CHUCK BERRY: Come On
Chuck Berry's 1961 single "Come On" was not a hit in the USA, but it did make the British Top 40 (# 38). One presumes that's where the boys who would soon become the Rolling Stones heard it, and their subsequent cover of "Come On" served as the A-side of the debut Stones single in 1963. Chuck Berry led the way.
SLYBOOTS: If We Could Let Go
Pop perfection, with an aching plea for harmony that resonates and reinforces our hopes for something better than the hateful tsuris surrounding us. Slyboots' 2024 single "If We Could Let Go" is just unforgettable, endlessly enriching, and for damned certain on the best new tracks of the decade to date.
LEMOYNE ALEXANDER: Insecurity
From a previous 10 Songs:
I often mention that there is so much more great music out there that most of us don't get around to hearing. Credit our friends Brett Vargo and Uncle Gregg at the essential weekly podcast Only Three Lads for my recent belated discovery of LeMoyne Alexander. Mr. Alexander is a singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer with a long list of credits in hip-hop and R & B, and his recent guest appearance on O3L not only introduced me to LeMoyne Alexander, but specifically to his extraordinary 2024 single "Insecurity." Whoa! I'm retroactively declaring "Insecurity" to be one of my top tracks of '24.
There's so much out there that we don't know, that we don't get an opportunity to know. With LeMoyne Alexander's superb rockin' pop track "Insecurity," we'll try to make up a little bit of lost time.
DONNA SUMMER: I Feel Love
From my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1):
1977 had the potential to be a year of musical revolution. When we say that, most of us are talking about punk, about the Sex Pistols, the Ramones, the Clash. Maybe we're not thinking as much about disco, and maybe that's fair. But if we want to consider the potential of pop music's revolution in '77, our discussions of "God Save The Queen," "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker," and "White Riot" had better allow some room on the dancefloor for "I Feel Love" by Donna Summer.
In the late '70s, disco and punk were supposed to be at war with each other. As a self-professed punk rocker in that era, I can attest that, yeah, punks didn't like disco, and the bumpin'-n-hustlin' set was appalled by the loud and fast noise my people favored. Hatfields and Capulets, meet McCoys and Montagues. Never mind the fact that the mainstream rock crowd held both punk and disco in nearly equal disdain; this was war!
Except that it wasn't. I'm skeptical of the notion that many of the Saturday Night Fevered ever took much interest in the Damned or the Dead Boys, but some among the new wave brigade did eventually allow their ears and minds to be a bit more open to non-pogo dance music, to the beat of dat ole debbil disco. Maybe it was just me, but I was a pop fan anyway; my intense dislike of disco music evolved into occasional tolerance, and tolerance evolved into a sporadic realization that some of the records weren't bad.
Plus: Donna Summer. Donna Summer was gorgeous. I feel love.
Donna Summers's first hit, "Love To Love You Baby," was basically an extended orgasm set to a disco beat (which is not necessarily a bad thing). But "I Feel Love" is more interesting; still shimmering and sexy--Donna Summer at that time could have covered the Singing Nun, and still been shimmering and sexy--but its European syncopation makes it even sexier, if not quite as sweaty. Or perhaps not as obviously sweaty....
WILSON PICKETT: Land Of 1000 Dances
"Land Of 1000 Dance." Our National Anthem. Well, it should be our National Anthem. And with no disrespect intended toward the 1962 original by Chris Kenner nor the hit 1965 remake by Cannibal and the Headhunters (whose fine version was the first to add the familiar na nana na na, nana na na na na na na na na, nana na naaaaaaa), I say folks attending baseball games across this occasionally (if not lately)-great land of ours should all rise for the wicked Wilson Pickett's evocation of doin' the Pony like Bony Maronie. Na nana na na, nana na na na na na na na na, nana na naaaaaaa. Batter up!
LL COOL J: Mama Said Knock You Out
The Greatest Record Ever Made!
THE BELLRAYS: One More Night
Like LeMoyne Alexander, the BellRays are another supercool act introduced to my eager ears via the Only Three Lads podcast. See? Ya learn stuff listening to O3L! You can catch up with your BellRays acclimation via their two-part O3L appearance in 2024: Part 1 and Part 2. To supplement your essential BellRays 101, let's review how the mighty Brett Vargo hyped their O3L spot:
"We're havin' a party this week! Joining us for a lively, laugh-filled exploration of 1973 albums is the heart and soul of the BellRays, singer Lisa Kekaula and guitarist Bob Vennum, who have been gloriously blending high octane punk, powerful soul music, deep blues, gritty garage rock, and whatever else they want to throw into the stew, since 1990. This is a band that defies expectations or pre-conceived notions and transcends any one genre or scene. Their music is all about energy and feel, and that makes them authentic no matter what the style is. To quote their 2020 compilation, It’s Never To Late To Fall In Love With...The BellRays."
NEVER too late! I can't explain why it took me so long to purchase some BellRays music and get it on the radio where it belongs. In that never-too-late spirit, the BellRays finally make their long-overdue TIRnRR debut with this killer track from their 2024 album Heavy Steady Go! They'll be back. We have a lot of time to overcompensate for, one more night at a time.
BOOKER T AND THE MG'S: Green Onions
Dana's pick for what oughta be our National Anthem. Booker T and the MG's with "Green Onions' or Wilson Pickett with "Land Of 1000 Dances?" Can't go wrong either way.
THE FOUR TOPS: Reach Out I'll Be There
Reach out. The bad guys have the power. We have the numbers. Reach out, my friends. Reach out.
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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. 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. You can read about our history here.
