10 SONGS: 4/25/2026

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 # 1333

VICKI PETERSON AND JOHN COWSILL: Downtown

We've been way too late in programming music from the fabulous Vicki Peterson and John Cowsill. We've played their respective alma maters the Bangles and the Cowsills a lot, and we've played Vicki Peterson's work with sister-in-law Susan Cowsill in the Continental Drifters, but so far our pal Rich Firestone's sublime SPARK Syracuse show Radio Deer Camp has enjoyed an exclusive right to fill the airwaves with Vicki 'n' John. Now, news that pop music's favorite couple will be visiting Syracuse's Westhill High School for a show on June 4th has us all giddy. We hope Rich doesn't mind us sharing the love for Vicki Peterson and John Cowsill.

The specifics of the duo's 6/4 Syracuse appearance are especially enticing:

"The first ever West Side Rock Show featuring The Westhill Rock Music Program! The show will feature all of the bands in Westhill’s Rock Music Program including the Killer Pancakes, Clockwork, and our faculty band, After School Special. Student performances to be followed by our headliner and special guests, Vicki Peterson and John Cowsill! Vicki was the lead guitarist and founding member of the iconic all female band in the 1980s, the Bangles. Their hits included "Walk Like an Egyptian," "Manic Monday" and "Eternal Flame." John was part of the Cowsills and also toured with the Beach Boys for almost 25 years. Vicki and John are currently touring in support of their brand new album, Long After the Fire. Vicki will even be performing some Bangles hits with the kids in the Rock Music Program! It will be an amazing evening of great music! Doors open at 6:00 PM. Performance begins at 6:45 PM. FREE CONCERT BUT TICKET RESERVATIONS ARE REQUIRED!"

To paraphrase Lenny Haise, former guitarist for teen sensations the Wonders: I'm going, you're going, we're ALL going.

And starting this week, TIRnRR is playing selections from Vicki and John's album Long After The Fire. "Downtown" joins TIRnRR here, and another track from the album will spin this Sunday night. We're happy to follow Radio Deer Camp's lead. Giddy, I tell ya. Giddy.

GENERATION X: Ready Steady Go

Congratulations to Billy Idol on being named to The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. My interest in the esteemed Mr. Idol goes back to his pre-solo days with the dynamic punk/pop combo Generation X. Man, I loved Generation X, and my favorite among Gen X favorites remains "Ready Steady Go," a willfully and triumphantly over-the-top celebration of watching the Who on UK TV in the '60s. In love with Cathy McGowan? Can't blame you, Billy. Can't blame you.

THE RAMONES: I Don't Want To Grow Up

Preach, brudders. I understand exactly what you mean.

THE ROLLING STONES: Can't You Hear Me Knocking

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

DEAN LANDEW: Summertime Friday Night

No, it's not summertime yet. And this posts on a Saturday, so even our next Friday feels like a Plimsouls-sanctioned million miles away. No matter! And why wait to the last minute anyway? Dean Landew has the song we need now. Winter? Spring? Summer? Fall? It's a year-round feeling, and I say it's Friday night until the Bay City Rollers declare otherwise.

THE GREENBERRY WOODS: Whenever You Want Me Too

It's All Good, Sugar... is a new album from fabled rockin' pop group the Greenberry Woods, and the very fact that there is such a thing as a new album from the Greenberry Woods oughta be cause for joy and merriment across the friggin' globe. The album reached us too late to include in this week's playlist, and our next show's humble salute to the life and legacy of the late Flashcubes/1.4.5. guitarist Paul Armstrong didn't allow us enough room to program any Greenberry Woods. BUT! This week's extravaganza did include an encore spin of the album's fab advance single "Whenever You Want Me Too." From a previous 10 Songs:

"Rapple Dapple! In my liner notes to Rhino's 1997 compilation Poptopia! Power Pop Classics Of The '90s, I wrote:

" 'The unfortunate fate of the Greenberry Woods offers a sobering reminder that even the best pop bands can still be resolutely ignored by the buying public. Maryland's favorite pop sons released two absolutely dreamy albums--1994's Rapple Dapple and 1995's Big Money Item--only to be met with appalling indifference by retail and radio. Following the group's apparent demise, a couple members resurfaced in a new group called Splitsville, and released an interesting, cartoony debut album on Big Deal in '96. But Splitsville ain't a proper substitute for the Greenberry Woods, whose passing we mourn here with a spin of their signature tune "Trampoline," an impossible-to-resist barrage of singalong charm and halcyon AM-pop style. Come back, guys!"

"(Before we go any further, it's important to note that, my '97 self notwithstanding, I soon became a Splitsville fan as well. Pop pundits. We can be a mite slow on the uptake sometimes.)

"And now, the return of '90s pop stars the Greenberry Woods should merit a guaranteed berth on any power pop radio playlist, and their new single 'Whenever You Want Me Too' certainly deserves that instant-add status. Hell, 'Whenever You Want Me Too' woulda fit in on Rapple Dapple, and I further dig its correct titular use of the word 'too' to create an effective pun for would-be lovers everywhere. We want this. We hope you want it too."

COCKEYED GHOST: I Hate Rock 'n' Roll

ARTHUR CONLEY: Sweet Soul Music

"I hate rock 'n' roll." "Do you like good music? That sweet soul music?" Sometimes the segues just write themselves.

THE BEATLES: Taxman

THE MONKEES: The Door Into Summer

Aftermath of Tax Day: With your fools' gold stacked up all around you, declare the pennies on your eyes. Consult your travelogue of maybe-next-year places, and be thankful they don't take it all.

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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.

VIRTUAL TICKET STUB GALLERY: Seeing the band in its original lineup (or in partial groupings thereof), Part 2

Here's Part 2 of a Virtual Ticket Stub Gallery tour of bands I've seen in their original lineup (or in partial groupings thereof). Part 1 listed bands I saw with their founding configurations intact. Now, let's look at groups who were one player shy of their charter membership when I saw 'em perform:

BLOTTO [5/6]

My first Blotto show occurred during a visit to Albany in the spring of 1981. The occasion was a lost extended weekend with some friends, the venue was J. B. Scott's, and the band consisted of Bowtie Blotto, Broadway Blotto, Cheese Blotto, Chevrolet Blotto, Lee Harvey Blotto, and Sergeant Blotto, Chevrolet having recently replaced Blanche Blotto. No offense to Mr. Chevrolet, but Blanche looks kinda cute in the photos I've seen (like the one directly above), so I kinda regret missing out on seeing her. Chevy hit the road [HAR!] after that, and Blotto was a quintet from then on. I only saw them a few more times in the '80s, but I remained a fan. In 2006, I saw Blotto one more time on April 1st--no foolin', really!--with the Flashcubes at Turning Stone Casino. And they did indeed play something good.

COCKEYED GHOST [2/3]

This one may be a ritual splitting of hair's separation from landing in the complete original lineup category. In the '90s, I'd been corresponding with Cockeyed Ghost frontman Adam Marsland for a while, and a tour brought the group to Planet 505 in Syracuse. 1997, I think. The touring group was the same lineup--guitarist Marsland, bassist Rob Cassell, and drummer James Hazley--that had recorded most of their 1996 debut album Keep Yourself Amused. But Hazley had been a later addition to the group, and hadn't played on their first single, "About Jill"/"Disappear," which featured Paul "Wally" Presson keeping time on the A-side, and Kurt Medlin poundin' on them Pagan skins on the flip. Splitting hairs, but technically I saw 2/3 of OG Cockeyed Ghost.

The gig itself was fascinating and invigorating. Editors at The Syracuse New Times allowed me to write an article hyping the show, and I was able to get the Flashcubes' Gary Frenay and Arty Lenin added to the bill as opening act. A splendid time was strongly implied for all.

The evening provided a quirky note of interest when I met another attendee, a woman from Cockeyed Ghost's L.A.-area stomping grounds. I don't remember her name, but she said she was married to one of the members of SoCal stalwarts the Jigsaw Seen. She was in Syracuse for a funeral, and was surprised to read my New Times rah-rah about Cockeyed Ghost's Planet 505 show. That seemed exactly the sort of event one could use to lift one's spirits, should one's spirits be in need of lifting.

At 505, someone introduced us. We'd never met before and didn't know each other at all. The weird thing was when she realized she and I had in fact spoken on the phone the past Christmas. I had been at home moping my way through the holiday season, recovering from chicken pox (not a great thing for someone my age), when David Bash happened to call me from his home in California. Why? I have absolutely no recollection. But his call cheered me up a bit. He was having a party, and he passed the phone to one of his guests and bid her to share some good vibes.

And yeah, that guest at Casa Bash happened to be the same Jigsaw Seen-adjacent pop fan who turned up that night at Planet 505. You saw that comin', I'm sure. Weird the way these things unfold. 

But it's how we keep ourselves amused.

THE KINKS [3/4]

The first two (out of three) times I saw the Kinks, they still had three-fourths of their classic well-respected men in place, with guitarists Ray Davies and Dave Davies and drummer Mick Avory, missing only bassist Peter Quaife, who left in the band in the late '60s. Avory also left by the time of my third and final Kinks show in '89.

My third Kinks concert was weird, taking place in a college gymnasium that (on a separate visit) smothered the sound of the Ramones. A mid-'80s arena show was my second live Kinks experience.

But my first Kinks show? I was in paradise.

LET'S ACTIVE [2/3]

I saw a bunch of shows when I lived in Buffalo, late 1982 to early '87. I think I only saw a small number of shows at Buffalo's punk club The Continental; my Continental gigs included Johnny Thunders (YEAH!!!, and making up for a missed opportunity to see Thunders with the Heartbreakers in Rochester a few years earlier), the Waitresses (perhaps with the original lineup, definitely including singer Patty Donahue), and the Bangles. Oh, and Intergalactic Burnt Toast. Obviously.

I also saw a two-thirds original edition of Let's Active at The Continental, with Mitch Easter and Faye Hunter, without Sara Romweber, who had already split from the band. Good show, of course, but my primary memory of the night is calling out a non sequitur request for "September Gurls" during Let's Active's set. Hunter seemed surprised and amused, and said, "Did someone just request Big Star?" It was not a common song to request at club gigs in the '80s.

They didn't actually play it, mind you. When a band responds to an unsolicited audience request, every word means no,

TOM PETTY AND THE HEARTBREAKERS [4/5]

1989 at the great New York Stater Fair: Tom Petty hisself, with Mike Campbell, Benmont Tench, and Stan Lynch, plus Howie Epstein, who had replaced original bassist Ron Blair a few years back. Fantastic show, but its unique highlight was its encore, when Axl Rose strolled onstage to join in for renditions of "Free Fallin'" and Bashful Bob Dylan's "Knockin' On Heaven's Door." This was just shortly before the Guns N' Roses singer appeared with Petty on The MTV Video Music Awards that year--maybe just days before--and Axl's State Fair cameo was a complete surprise to the audience.

(We'll circle back to this show a few paragraphs south of here, when we discuss its opening act.)

THE RASCALS [3/4]

In either the very late '80s or the very early '90s, I saw the Rascals (formerly the Young Rascals) play at a bar in East Syracuse. Eddie Brigati opted not to participate in this reunion tour, but Felix Cavaliere, Gene Cornish, and Dino Danelli did, and it was very, very cool. All four of the Rascals eventually made it back to Syracuse for a higher-profile gig at The Landmark Theatre many years later, but circumstances--I WAS OUT OF TOWN, DAMMIT TO HELL!--prevented me from attending.

THE REPLACEMENTS [3/4]

I was a latecomer to the Replacements; I don't recall even hearing them prior to MTV airing their video for "Bastards Of Young," but I must have heard them on WBNY-FM when I lived in Buffalo. In any case, my first of two Replacement shows was on the Don't Tell A Soul tour in 1989, by which time Bob Stinson was long gone. So: Paul Westerberg, Tommy Stinson, and Chris Mars, plus newer replacement Replacement Slim Dunlap at The Lost Horizon. The 'Mats later told Rolling Stone it was the single worst gig of the tour. I...suspect they may have been drinking that night. Shhhh. Don't tell a soul.

(My second and last Replacements show was when they opened for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers at the above-mentioned State Fair Grandstand date, also in '89. I liked 'em. Most of the Petty audience did not.)

THE ROLLING STONES [4/5]

You know who was missing: Brian Jones, who died in 1969, twenty years before the Steel Wheels tour brought the Stones back to Syracuse's Carrier Dome. Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, and Bill Wyman, of course, with Ronnie Wood having replaced Mick Taylor, who replaced Mr. Jones.

I had made a lame attempt to get in to see the Stones at the Dome in the early '80s, hoping a scalper was desperate to unload his/her supply. You can't always get what you want. In '89 I tried the radical move of actually buying tickets. See? If you try sometimes, you get what you need.

This was, I think, my first ever time inside the Dome. Subsequently, some friends took my wife and me to a Syracuse University men's basketball game in the early '90s, but I didn't really become an Orange fan until much, much later. I saw a few games at the Dome after that, the most recent occurring in 2017. I saw the Stones there again in 1994, and Paul McCartney in 2017, probably mere weeks before my last in-person SU hoops game (so far). I do see the Dome (now JMG Wireless Dome) on TV a lot. Go, Orange!

The Steel Wheels tour came to Syracuse the same week I saw the Kinks in Oswego. Not a bad week, right?

This series concludes tomorrow, with three acts for whom I've seen all or most of the original lineup...but not at the same time.

Photo by Dana Bonn

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Carl's new book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones is now available, courtesy of the good folks at Rare Bird Books. Gabba Gabba YAY!! https://rarebirdlit.com/gabba-gabba-hey-a-conversation-with-the-ramones-by-carl-cafarelli/

If it's true that one book leads to another, my next book will be The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). Stay tuned. Your turn is coming.

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.

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl

10 SONGS: 5/12/2022

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 # 1128.

POP CO-OP: I Just Love To Watch Her Dance

As chronicled waaaaaay back here, This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio has a unique sense of pride and investment in the music of Pop Co-Op. The Post-Fab Four of Steve Stoeckel, Bruce Gordon, Joel Tinnel, and Stacy Carson are good guys who make good music, and their specific connection with our little mutant radio program makes us feel like their music is just, well, our music, too.

And we're thrilled that the lads (and marketing overlord lass Laura Sessions Tinnel) chose TIRnRR as the platform to announce their forthcoming new album Suspension. We've heard it, and YOU, my friend, are gonna love it. We selected "I Just Love To Watch Her Dance" as the on-air introduction to our belief in Suspension, and we'll premiere three more tracks over the next three weeks. We'll have details on ordering the album as soon as we can, and you'll have that grand opportunity to further immerse yourself in the magic of these guys and their music. 

Their music? Our music? Listen: Pop Co-Op should be your music, too. Pride is infectious. Investment is fulfilling. Your mileage may not vary. Check your Suspension.

THE SPONGETONES: Have You Ever Been Torn Apart?

Knowing that we were opening the show with new music from Pop Co-Op, Dana had the marvelous idea of devoting our entire first set to music from the members of the group. Hey, look at Dana, with the marvelous ideas! So we followed "I Just Love To Watch Her Dance" with a track by the Spongetones. The mighty, mighty 'Tones were our introduction to Steve Stoeckel, and Steve wrote what is probably my favorite Spongetones song, "(My Girl) Maryanne." But we opted to play "Have You Ever Been Torn Apart?," an ace tune written by Spongetones guitarist Pat Walters for 1984's Torn Apart, the same EP that gave the world "(My Girl) Maryanne." We couldn't go wrong either way. 

(And, coincidentally, the Spongetones' other singin' and songwritin' guitarist Jamie Hoover was also represented later in the playlist by another spin of "What The Heart Wants," from the current three-song single by his current duo Hoover and Martinez. We live in a world of pop plenty!)

MR. ENCRYPTO: Long After Long

Our Pop Co-Op appreciation thread continued with Bruce Gordon, under his nom du bop Mr. Encrypto. Mr. Encrypto's a cappella mix of Bruce's "The Last Time" is one of the defining tracks of TIRnRR's long and storied history (and, we're told, the specific impetus for Joel Tinnel telling Steve Stoeckel, "Listen to this track. I think we need to find a way to work with the Bruce Gordon guy."). As tempting as it was to play that fantastic track again, we wanted to mix up the selections an eensy little bit, so we programmed "Long After Long" from the first Mr. Encrypto album, Hero And Villain. As with the case of the Spongetones, Mr. Encrypto offers a lot of pop plenty to choose from.

POP CO-OP AND THE THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO ALL STARS: He And She

I was very tempted to include all six of the tracks from our Pop Co-Op appreciation set in this week's 10 Songs, but I prolly oughtta leave room for some acts that don't include your Steve, your Bruce, your Joel, and/or your Stacy. (Either that, or expand this thing to 15 Songs, which is, y'know, too much work.)

But we'll include one more here before moving forward. 2018's "He And She" was originally credited to Steve Stoeckel and his This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio All Stars, an informal combo of Steve and friends, and yeah, we did indeed give them that name. Humility is overrated. The All Stars debuted circa 2013 with "I Could Be Good For You," a track which appeared on our compilation This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 3. The billing for "He And She" has since been changed to Pop Co-Op and the This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio All Stars.

For "He And She," the All Stars are Pop Co-Op--Steve, Bruce, Joel, Steve--supplemented by Dan Pavelich of the Click Beetles on keyboards and Radio Deer Camp's Rich Firestone on vocals, with Laura Tinnel, Kathy Firestone, and Elizabeth Racz singing backup. Lyrically, it's kinda sorta kinda about those lovebirds the Tinnels, and it seemed a prerequisite for our Pop Co-Op set.

(The final two tracks in our Pop Co-Op set were the above-mentioned Rich Firestone with Steve, Joel, and Stacy [plus Alex Tinnel on keys] covering the Smithereens' "If The Sun Doesn't Shine" and Stoeckel and Peña--Steve with America's Sweetheart Irene Peña--and their Big Stir Records single "Why.")

PERILOUS: Rock & Roll Kiss

Rockin' pop resumé! Perilous includes our pals Paul Dougherty of the Trend and Bob Cat Rawks of Hurtin' Units, plus Pauline Digati from early '80s Buffalo stalwarts Pauline and the Perils and Renee Rettie from Screaming Meemies. Their debut single "Rock & Roll Kiss" honors and expands their collective legacy, and makes us wanna dance to rock 'n' roll radio played at really loud volume. We know just the radio show to do that.

THE MONKEES: You Bring The Summer

"You Bring The Summer" was the second single released in advance of the Monkees' triumphant 2016 album Good Times! While the preceding single "She Makes Me Laugh" had to grow on me a bit, I was captivated on first spin by the perky charm of "You Bring The Summer." Its release prompted a personal reminiscence of a high school friend who helped expand my awareness of the Monkees in 1977, the spring of my senior year. And "You Bring The Summer" heightened my anticipation for the album that would follow.

TONY VALENTINO: Dirty Water

Return of the riff! Tony Valentino was guitarist for the Standells, and he played that distinctive bomp-bompbomp-BOMP-bompbomp lick that distinguished the group's biggest hit, 1966's "Dirty Water." Tony's back to reclaim his riff, with a Big Stir digital single of his own new version of "Dirty Water." Guitarists! You know this one! We air guitarists know it, too. Play along. We love that dirty water.

COCKEYED GHOST: Karma Frog

We've been corresponding with Cockeyed Ghost's Adam Marsland since before there was a This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, and Cockeyed Ghost has been a consistent TIRnRR fave rave since the beginning of always. That blatant favoritism certainly includes the group's 2001 farewell album Ludlow 6:18 and its incredible track "Karma Frog."

Adam lives in Indonesia now, but he was back in the States recently, long enough to play a SoCal live date with his cracklin' combo Adam Marsland's Chaos Band and to reconvene the Ludlow 6:18 line-up of Cockeyed Ghost to finally do a "Karma Frog" video. It was a couple of decades overdue, sure, but it was well worth waiting for.

THE YARDBIRDS: Stroll On

Going out once again to Jane Birkin, wherever she is.

THE FLASHCUBES: No Promise

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

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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.

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl