10 SONGS: 3/14/2026

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 # 1327

THE SURFRAJETTES: Easy As Pie

I swear to Joey Ramone that I chose this as the opening track for this week's 10 Songs before realizing today is Pi Day. It's not that I wouldn't sink to the level of making that joke; it's just that I didn't think of it.

No, this week's radio show and today's blog post start with the Surfrajettes because that incredible rockin' instrumental combo is coming to Syracuse next week for a show at Middle Ages Brewing. HuzZAH! That will be Thursday March 19th, a splendid time will be forcibly mandated for all, and you can get your tickets here. Do so! NOW...!!

Given all that, it was a no-brainer that we were gonna program some Surfrajettes music. And speaking of no-brainers, I was mortified to discover that this is the Surfrajettes' TIRnRR debut. Man, what the hell's wrong with us? But we're gonna make up for our lapse, starting now with the title tune from the Surfragettes' 2024 album Easy As Pie. We'll hear another fine Surfrajettes selection on Sunday night, and we promise more Surfrajettes to come.

Who wants pie? 

THE FLASHCUBES: Reminisce

On the air this week and in the commentary accompanying the posted playlist, I mentioned that Paul Armstrong--really loud guitarist for Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse the Flashcubes--was once cited by a local journalist (probably Russ Donahue) as the one person most responsible for bringing punk and new wave to Syracuse in the '70s. In my (eventually) forthcoming book Make Something Happen! The DIY Story Of A Power Pop Band Called THE FLASHCUBES, PA is referred to as the Godfather of Punk in Central New York. Ain't no one more deserving of that billing.

"Reminisce' was the first of three new original Flashcubes recordings I solicited to enhance Big Stir Records' 2025 various-artists blockbuster Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes. It's a testimony to the group's ongoing Cubic mojo that the three new songs--PA's "Reminisce," bassist Gary Frenay's "The Sweet Spot" (written with the late B.D. Love), and guitarist Arty Lenin's "If These Hands"--can stand with pride alongside other great songs the lads have written from 1977 to date. As I've said elsewhere:

The Ramones remembered rock 'n' roll radio. KISS vowed to rock and roll all night. The Bay City Rollers promised a rock 'n' roll love letter. Power Pop Hall of Famers THE FLASHCUBES were there, and they saw it all. And now? They wanna reminisce.

ORBIS MAX: Don't Lose Me Now

Pop music can swing, pop music can punch, and pop music can ache with loss and longing, fueled by its own regret and desire. The latest Orbis Max single "Don't Lose Me Now" aces the trifecta, built by guitars standing on the shoulders of guitars and driven by the desperation to make things right, or at least make one last stand in the effort. Heart on sleeve. Let the teardops fire at will.

THE CYNZ: Love's So Lovely

An absolutely dynamic cover of Tom Petty's "You Wreck Me" is the current single off Confess, the dynamic new album from the Cynz. We played "You Wreck Me" on last week's show, but this week and next we're returning to one of the album's previous singles, the irresistible original song "Love's So Lovely." Yes! ORIGINAL Cynz! I slay me. But I confess that we can't go wrong either way.

TAVARES: It Only Takes A Minute

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE SPONGETONES: So Long

Like the Flashcubes, North Carolina stalwarts the Spongetones are for damned sure also in The Power Pop Hall Of Fame. And whenever the Spongetones release something new, TIRnRR is for damned sure going to play it. An advance copy of their latest fab single "So Long" reached us after this week's show was already programmed, but just in time for us to make a quick substitution and squeeze it in. (Our apologies to the Dave Clark Five, but you'll be back.) "So Long?" Hello!

SLYBOOTS: If We Could Let Go

As the country and the world seem increasingly eager to leap into the abyss and take us all with it, I've been trying to draw strength from my current favorite phrase: The audacity of joy. It takes a lot--a lot--to even attempt any kind of positive outlook. But we can't give up on hope. That would mean giving in, and that's what the bad guys want us to do. I refuse. We need to do much more than just hold hands and sing "Kumbaya"...but we DO also need to hold hands and sing "Kumbaya." If we lose joy, we lose everything.

Slyboots' sublime 2024 single "If We Could Let Go" has become my top song choice to accompany the audacious pursuit of delight when delight feels elusive. Join hands. Let go of everything else.

DAVE EDMUNDS: Get Out Of Denver

CHUCK BERRY: Johnny B. Goode

Dave Edmunds covering Bob Seger, and Chuck Berry inspiring the Seger tune that Mr. Edmunds is covering. In or out of Denver, they play that guitar like a-ringin' a bell. Go GO!!

THE RAMONES: Do You Wanna Dance?

Yep. Always. In times of trouble, we maintain a steadfast embrace of the audacity of joy.

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.

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.

10 SONGS: 9/21/2024

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 # 1251.

HAYLEY AND THE CRUSHERS: Queen Of Hearts

We've been playing a couple of advance singles--"Unsubscribe" and "Alleyways"--from the new Hayley and the Crushers album Unsubscribe From The Underground. The album's out now, so we gave another spin to "Alleyways" in this week's opening set, and kicked off Set # 2 with Hayley and the Crushers' aggressive cover of Hank DeVito's "Queen Of Hearts." The song was first recorded by the ever-solid Dave Edmunds, and became a huge pop hit for Juice Newton. I may be alone among my peers in believing the definitive "Queen Of Hearts" belongs to Juice rather than Dave, but both versions are sublime, and the Crushers also turn in their own cool 'n' spunky rendition. 

Does this mean Hayley Cain is now the reigning Queen of Hearts? The cards say yes. There she is, Miss Queen of Hearts....

DAVE EDMUNDS: Girls Talk

Dana followed my spin of Hayley and the Crushers' "Queen Of Hearts" with Dave Edmunds' ace rendition of Elvis Costello's "Girls Talk." The song has also been recorded by its author, and covered with confidence by the Knack and Linda Ronstadt (among others), but Edmunds absolutely owns this one. My favorite Dave Edmunds track.

DENNIS SCHOCKET AND CLIFF HILLIS: The Girls Are Back In Town

Credit the discovery here to The Spoon podcast with Robbie Rist, Chris Jackson, and Thom Bowers. We had already played "Here Comes Joanna," a mighty fine track from the new Dennis Schocket and Cliff Hillis EP Pop, Girls, Etc., and that track has scored berths on two previous TIRnRR playlists. All good, and I betcha there woulda been more spins to come.

But when Cliff hisself was a recent guest on The Spoon, an in-show play of the Pop, Girls, Etc. track "The Girls Are Back In Town" prompted me to shout out loud: WHY AREN'T WE PLAYING THIS SONG...?! 

Well. Now we ARE. It will spin again this Sunday night. All credit to The Spoon. The girls are back in town? The Spoon says HELLO!

THE ARMOIRES: Ridley & Me After The Apocalypse

We've been hammerin' all available podiums on behalf of Octoberland, the forthcoming new album from SoCal/Appalachukrainia's phenomenal pop combo the Armoires. As we near its imminent release in...um, October, we have this opportunity to play one final teaser single. "Ridley & Me After The Apocalypse" demonstrates a sun still shining brightly after presumed Armageddon, and it adds to the mountain of evidence showing us that Octoberland is one of the very best albums of 2024. We'll hear yet another fab cut from Octoberland on our next show.

THE RUBINOOS: Government Center

THE GREG KIHN BAND: Roadrunner 

JONATHAN RICHMAN AND THE MODERN LOVERS: Back In The U.S.A.

The Rubinoos covering Jonathan Richman! The Greg Kihn Band covering Jonathan Richman! Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers covering Chuck Berry! See? We play the HITS!!

THE BAY CITY ROLLERS: Money Honey

As noted here, it was my great pleasure to appear last week as a guest DJ on Dedication--Fans Remember The Bay City Rollers on Scotland's TD1 Radio. You can hear my guest spot at this Tartan-festooned link, and it was great fun to talk with the show's hosts Laura Brady and Suz Rostron about the Bay City Rollers and reveal (and play!) my ten favorite Rollers tracks.

"Money Honey" wasn't on my Top Ten Rollers Songs list, but it was a runner-up, and I know it's a beguilin' li'l pop treat favored by Dedication's intrepid hosts. So! "Money Honey" returns to the TIRnRR airwaves, a dedication to Laura and Suz. Money in the bank.

VAN HALEN: Dance The Night Away

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE RAMONES: Rockaway Beach

A few days after my appearance on the Bay City Rollers show, Dana and I were guests on Only Three Lads, the invigmoratin' weekly classic alternate podcast hosted by Uncle Gregg and Brett Vargo. Whatta freakin' BLAST!! For those of you who miss the frantic banter of the pre-pandemic TIRnRR live shows, man, have we got a podcast for you: Two hours' worth of four music fans talking about music: Only Three Lads Episode 235.

Although our discussion was vast 'n' wide-rangin'--and included copious plugs for my books The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) and Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones--the main topic was the Ramones. The American Beatles! The greatest American rock 'n' roll band of all time! Each of us detailed our Top 5 Ramones tracks, and there was considerable crossover between the lists, but with enough individual variation to underscore the transcendent wonder of the Ramones.

"Rockaway Beach" was among the songs mentioned, the Ramones' highest-charting (# 66) single. It was a near-miss for my list--it would have been my # 6--but I'm happy that it did get mentioned. I tell ya, listening back to this podcast was a life-affirming experience. Not because Dana and Carl were on it, but because it was yet another delighted opportunity to immerse myself in the magic of the Ramones: The magic of the Ramones' music, and the magic of its ongoing impact upon my life.

Photo by John Tierney

Chewin' out a rhythm on my bubblegum. I listed my top 25 Ramones tracks last year. I sang "Rockaway Beach" with 1.4.5. at my Ramones book release party. TIRnRR doesn't will itself into existence if not for the Ramones. Not hard, not far to reach. Hitch a ride. We'll blast out the Ramones on the radio.

(And thanks again to Brett and Uncle Gregg. Riff Randell would be proud of 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; you can see details here. My 2023 book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones is also still available, courtesy of the good folks at Rare Bird Books. 

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: 5/20/2020

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.


This is the second of two separate editions of 10 Songs this week, each drawing exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1025.

MICHAEL CARPENTER AND MICHAEL OLIVER: It Only Hurts When I Breathe



Both Michael Carpenter and Michael Oliver have been long-time Fave Raves on TIRnRR, so it makes perfect sense that we should fall so fully for their new collaboration "It Only Hurts When I Breathe." We've been playing these guys for years, as solo artists and under group titles (Carpenter singing lead for The Finkers as well as with a series of his own combos like Michael Carpenter and the Cuban Heels, Oliver fronting Michael Oliver and Go, Dog, Go!), and they really oughtta be household names already. They've appeared on TIRnRR compilations, and each of their contributions has been a stunning highlight; hell, when I heard Oliver's This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 4 submission "You Won't Do," I immediately contacted Dana and Kool Kat Musik's Ray Gianchetti to tell them we'd just received a track that would single-handedly justify our project. Stunning stuff, and the Michaels offer rich catalogs of music that will delight you.  You can get "It Only Hurts When I Breathe" right here.

DAVE EDMUNDS: Queen Of Hearts



Even though I already owned Dave Edmunds' Repeat When Necessary album (purchased specifically to snag Edmunds' extraordinary cover of Elvis Costello's "Girls Talk") well before Juice Newton's "Queen Of Hearts" hit radio in 1981, I didn't immediately realize that this fabulous Juice Newton single was a cover of a song on Repeat When Necessary. Oops? That happens sometimes; I get preoccupied with one track--"Girls Talk" in this case--and forget about the rest of the album. I am as God made me. I admit the heresy of digging Juice Newton's version even more than the Edmunds original, but man, you can't go wrong with either version. 

THE FIRST CLASS: Beach Baby



I know that "Beach Baby" by The First Class occasionally shows up on some folks' lists of the all-time worst hit songs, but I must respectfully disagree. "Beach Baby" is an amazing evocation of the mythic California sound, executed by a British studio group, pulling the whole magic trick off without ever sounding like a Beach Boys imitation. Tony Burrows sings lead, and Dana and I like to refer to Burrows as the world's only five-time one-hit wonder, since he also lent his voice to the sole Billboard smashes credited to Edison Lighthouse ("Love Grows [Where My Rosemary Goes]"), White Plains ("My Baby Loves Lovin'"), The Brotherhood Of Man ("United We Stand"), and The Pipkins ("Gimme Dat Ding"). "Beach Baby" is Burrows' finest moment. One of the all-time worst? Please. "Beach Baby" earns its own chapter in my eventual book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1).

THE HEARTBREAKERS: Love Comes In Spurts


Although I was a teenage punk fan in 1977, I didn't have much enthusiasm for Richard Hell and the Voidoids. I loved The Sex Pistols and The Ramones, and I appreciated the naughtiness of a title like "Love Comes In Spurts," but even when I won a free copy of the Voidoids' debut album Blank Generation from my college campus radio station, I could find no reason to keep it in my collection.

Before the Voidoids, Hell had been bassist with The Heartbreakers, the legendarily disheveled group fronted by The New York Dolls' former guitarist Johnny Thunders. Hell was long gone from The Heartbreakers by the time of their lone studio album L.A.M.F., but Dana pulled out this 1975 demo of Hell 'n' Heartbreakers for airplay on this week's show. Musically, this earlier version of "Love Comes In Spurts" sounds a lot more like The Heartbreakers' subsequent L.A.M.F. track "One Track Mind"--one of my three favorite Heartbreakers cuts--than it does to the familiar Voidoids recording of the same song. And I like it a lot.

HÜSKER DÜ: Eight Miles High



Given my general affinity for melody and disdain for noise, Dana was surprised to discover how much I like Hüsker Dü's chaotic cover of The Byrds' "Eight Miles High." The Byrds' 1966 recording of "Eight Miles High" was probably the first Byrds record I ever owned, an oldies reissue 45 purchased when I was still a high school student in the mid '70s. I was (and remain) taken with the audacity and ambition The Byrds brought to the original, mixing their well-known vocal blend with an adventurous arrangement intended to adapt the free-form improvisational style of jazz saxophonist John Coltrane to a pop song played by an American folk-rock guitar band at the height of the British Invasion..

If there was a subtle embrace of cacophony inherent in The Byrds' creation of "Eight Miles High," Hüsker Dü grabs the noisier elements in a freakin' headlock, wringing out every bit of grunge and distortion to be found. On paper, I shouldn't dig this, and should probably hate it. But I've loved it for decades, ever since hearing it on Buffalo's WBNY-FM in the mid '80s and snappin' up my copy of the 45 from visionary rock writer Gary Sperrazza! at Apollo Records. As much as I still adore The Byrds' version, Hüsker Dü's cover has become my preferred take on "Eight Miles High."

THE MONKEES: The Door Into Summer



I like The Monkees. Their new live album The Mike & Micky Show is just fantastic, and this is its best track. Wonderfully played by a superb group of musicians (who, again, REALLY NEED TO RECORD A NEW MONKEES STUDIO ALBUM!), expertly and lovingly reproduced for your home enjoyment. Michael Nesmith is in fine voice, Micky Dolenz is always in fine voice, and I'm sorry, but I can't stop talking about how great their band sounds with them. New studio album. Now. Please?

MÖTORHEAD: RAMONES



I think I read about this song (from Mötorhead's 1991 album 1916) somewhere in the rock press, certainly long before I heard the track itself. My introduction to Mötorhead's music came back in the '70s, when their blistering track "Motorhead" was included on a sampler album called Geef Voor New Wave, a compilation that also included tracks by The Rubinoos, The Motors, Johnny Moped, Eddie and the Hot Rods, The Adverts, Generation X, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Jonathon Richman, The Sex Pistols, The Dwight Twilley Band, The Radiators From Space, Radio Stars, and Earth Quake. Geef Voor New Wave was one hell of a collection, and my copy of that LP has withstood every attempted purge of excess items in my vinyl collection. I still have that record, and it deserves a separate post of its own some day.

My Geef Voor New Wave and me. Evidence suggests this is a recent photo.

"Ace Of Spades" is probably the best-known Mötorhead track overall, and I heard that in the early '80s, probably not all that long after its 1980 release. I dug the idea of Mötorhead--grungy, unapologetic hard rock that was both punk and metal while violently shrugging off any attempt to categorize it--more than I really listened to them. But I loved the song "Motorhead," and I liked "Ace Of Spades" a lot.

I first heard Mötorhead's own original salute to The Ramones as a cover by--of course!--The Ramones themselves. The Carbona Quartet recorded two versions of the song, with bassist C. J. Ramone singing lead on their first released version (on 1995's ¡Adios Amigos!), and Joey Ramone resuming his usual place at the microphone for a studio cut on the 1996 album Greatest Hits Live. The Ramones included the song in their final live performance, August 6th of '96, with shared lead vocals by C.J. and Mötorhead's Lemmy (documented on the 1997 live album We're Outta Here!). I finally grabbed a copy of 1916 to hear the Mötorhead version after that. It's my favorite Mötorhead song. Duh.

THE MYNAH BIRDS: I Got You (In My Soul)



The Mynah Birds appear in 10 Songs for the second consecutive week. The historical hook for this lost 1966 Motown group is that it included both Rick James and Neil Young before they were famous, but honestly, I'm caring less and less about that curiosity. This stuff just cooks, and it's a shame it wasn't released in the '60s. A total of four tracks have been made available on digital compilations, and if there's still any more left in the vaults, I hope someone exhumes it all soon. I would buy a Mynah Birds CD right now, if only such a thing existed.

POPDUDES: Ridin' In My Car



Popdudes' ace cover of NRBQ's "Ridin' In My Car" returns to the playlist and to 10 Songs, as the track (previously available only as a digital single) is now available for the first time as a physical product. The occasion is the release of the brand-new compilation CD Big Stir Singles--The Sixth Wave, which collects virtual As and Bs from Popdudes, Librarians With Hickeys, Dolph Chaney, Jim Basnight, The Walker Brigade, Paula Carino, Joe Normal and the Anytown'rs, Trip Wire, The Corner Laughers, and Spygenius, a double A-side of XTC covers by Glowbox and Tom Curless and the 46%, plus The Well Wishers' fab "We Grow Up." 23 tracks! Good stuff! And a good cause, with 25% of the proceeds benefiting Sweet Relief's Musician Assistance Fund. Radio's job is to sell records; we've done our part, so now do yours: Big Stir Records compilations

THE STEMS: Never Be Friends



This week's playlist was dominated by our tribute to the late Little Richard. The pop world also lost Richard Lane, who had been a founding member of an absolutely incredible Australian pop group called The Stems. The Stems--Lane, Dom Mariani, Julian Matthews, and David Shaw--released one brilliant album, 1987's At First Sight Violets Are Blue before combusting. I can't get along with you/I can't can't get along with you/I can't get along with you/I can't get along with you. The album included this exuberant power pop kiss-off "Never Be Friends," and the song's verve and swagger shines on the radio, where it belongs.


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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

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Carl's writin' a book! The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) will contain 134 essays about 134 tracks, each one of 'em THE greatest record ever made. An infinite number of records can each be the greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Updated initial information can be seen here: THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! (Volume 1).