10 SONGS: 1/23/2026

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 # 1320

SERGIO CECCANTI: Leave The Past, Don't Look Behind

Our little mutant radio show has a long and rewarding history with the mighty Kool Kat Muzik label. Even before Ray Gianchetti (Mr. Kool Kat hisself) made his superfine rockin' pop imprint the home of our TIRnRR compilation albums, we've been programming Kool Kat cuts since the dawn of ever. Every new Kool Kat release is automatically under consideration for TIRnRR airplay, and almost all of them result in at least one track getting a spin on one (or more!) of our playlists. We're FANS!

And right now, I'm a big fan of Leave The Past, Don't Look Behind, the new Kool Kat Musik release by Sergio Ceccanti. The title track is just perfect--perfect!--for the radio-ready vibe we crave, channeling a '60s garage-pop atmosphere in service of a steely-eyed determination to seek a sure-footed next step forward. It opens this week's show, and it plays again this Sunday night. As it oughta! This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio is kool for kats.

THE RAMONES: I Don't Want To Grow Up

"I Don't Want To Grow Up." Still true, and always gonna be true. I used a Greatest Record Ever Made! essay about the track in my 2023 book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones, I included it on a list of my 25 favorite Ramones tracks, and upped the ante to cite it among my top five Ramones picks when Dana and I appeared as guests on a 2024 episode of the essential Only Three Lads podcast. I play it a lot every January, when science insists I've aged another year. As a flip of a calendar page means I'm getting older, I resolutely flip off the abhorrent notion of growing up. And as I've written before:

I take great satisfaction in the fact that a track on the very last Ramones record is among my all-time Fave Raves, right alongside the irresistible music on the Ramones' first four albums at the end of the '70s. Grow up? As if.

We're told that growing up is inevitable. It isn't. We age, sure, but there's more to life and living than the accumulation of calendar pages. What do you want to be when you grow up? When I was a kid, I wanted to be a writer. Somewhere along the way, I figured out I could be a better writer if skipped the maturity phase entirely. Honestly, I don't think I could have hacked adulting. Grow up! I say no. Why on Earth would I ever wanna do that?

Understand: I'm not Peter Pan, nor do I wish to be. I have responsibilities, and I carry them out. That's part of the deal, and that's cool. We can accomplish stuff, serious shit, without abandoning the sense of glee that helped get us this far.

Because I am proudly and emphatically a senior-citizen kid who still dreams, still reads superhero comic books, still listens to my rockin' pop music a little louder than I should.

And I've written books, books crafted by the wide-eyed spark that's always driven me, whether I was a six-year-old discovering Batman or a teenager hearing "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker" for the first time.

As always: Growing up is for squares, man. The Ramones weren't gonna do it. We don't have to do it either. Don't want to. Won't need to. Ain't gonna.

BOB WEIR: One More Saturday Night

In the course of the 1994 interviews that eventually became my Ramones book, I told Johnny Ramone that one could compare the Ramones to (of all people) the Grateful Dead; though the two acts were otherwise dissimilar and then some, both bands built their fan base upon a foundation of live shows rather than record sales or radio exposure. Johnny bristled at the merest suggestion that the Ramones and the Dead could be mentioned in the same discussion.

My younger self would have likewise bristled at the notion of ever developing any sort of appreciation for the music of the Grateful Dead. It turned out that declining the odious dead-end option of growing up didn't require me to keep my mind and ears closed. I resisted for a long time, but even amidst my intransigence I could never deny the sheer splendor of the Dead's "Uncle John's Band," nor the pure pop gravitas of their 1987 MTV smash "Touch Of Grey," nor the Nuggets-worthy blast of 1967 gems "The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion)" and "Cream Puff War." My long strange trip trucked its way into grudging acceptance of the Dead, and ultimately into a greater interest. While my preferred short-attention approach to digging music precludes the likelihood of me embracing extended jams, I have to admit that I've come to like a number of Grateful Dead tracks. I don't even hate "Sugar Magnolia" anymore--and I REALLY hated "Sugar Magnolia" when I was a teen.

TIRnRR occasionally (if infrequently) plays the Dead. Dana played "Box Of Rain" on August 10th, and I played "Scarlet Begonias" the following week. Now, the passing of guitarist Bob Weir compels us to play a couple of tracks, in tribute, in recognition and, of course, in gratitude. Sticking with songs that Weir co-wrote, we settled on "One More Saturday Night" and "Hell In A Bucket."

I've known "One More Saturday Night" for years, but my brain didn't remember it was a live track. Wikipedia directed me to the song's original retail appearance, as a studio track on Weir's 1972 solo album Ace. Solo album status notwithstanding, the other members of the Dead accompany Weir throughout Ace.

Whether live Dead or studio Weir with the Dead, "One More Saturday Night" bops with barroom authority. Early '80s new wave Americana beat rockers the Kingpins could have covered it pretty much as-is, and I wish my younger self had been more willing to listen. Hey, younger self! We won't waste time asking you grow up. But maybe you could lighten up? After all, what's one more Saturday night among friends?

THE LITTLE GIRLS: How To Pick Up Girls

I'd never heard this song from the Little Girls' 1983 album Thank Heaven! until about a month ago, but it's for damned sure become one of my current pop obsessions. And hey! There's a video for it!

We'll play "How To Pick Up Girls" again on our next show. When obsessions call, we better pick up.

BADFINGER: Baby Blue

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

Badfinger's "Baby Blue" is also my all-time # 1 favorite track, and I can't believe it took me this long to put the song into one of our weekly GREM! spots.

BLUE ASH: Say Goodbye

A chance to play previously-unavailable material by 1970s power pop stars Blue Ash? Yes, please. Dinner At Mr. Billy's dives into the archive to gather eighteen Blue Ash tracks recorded in a span from 1970 to 1974, and it's promised as the first in a series of Blue Ash rarity releases. The legacy grows!

HONEYCHAIN: Let's Get Pretty

"Let's get pretty." Worthy goal! Playing Honeychain on the radio is also a worthy goal, and their new single "Let's Get Pretty" is pretty amazing. I feel prettier already.

THE GRATEFUL DEAD: Hell In A Bucket

The Dead's other MTV hit, and just a fantastic track in its own right. Godspeed, Bob Weir.

DAVID BOWIE: Life On Mars?

On January 18th of 2016, an open letter to David Bowie served as the inaugural post of my new daily blog. I later expanded that original blog entry with additional commentary, to serve as a chapter in my 2024 book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1):

I didn't see it coming.

David Bowie's death in January of 2016 had far more impact on me than I would have ever thought likely. There were external factors in play; my daughter had just begun a semester in London, and it would be, by far, the longest time I would ever go without seeing her. I felt fragile, mortal. I felt sad, my pride in her accomplishments and delight in her opportunities not quite sufficient to ease the ache inside. Bowie died. I wasn't even all that much of a fan. Yet his passing hit me harder than any celebrity death since losing Joey Ramone on Easter Sunday in 2001.

I needed to release the feeling. Somehow. I wrote this open letter to David Bowie, intending to use it as commentary for the posted playlist of our This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio tribute to Bowie, which played on January 17th of '16. My 56th birthday. Look at that caveman go.

It wasn't enough. I couldn't email the playlist out and just let it go. I needed more. I started my blog on January 18th, with this letter to Bowie as my inaugural post. It had been ten years since I gave up freelancing; it hadn't been fun anymore. I promised myself I would post something, however slight, every single day. Every. Goddamned. Day. No excuses. I had largely stopped writing. I needed to get back to writing. Immediately.

Although I had always liked the track "Life On Mars?," particularly when I saw Bowie perform it in concert, it had never been one of my top Bowie tracks. "Rebel Rebel," "Panic In Detroit," and "Suffragette City" had been my go-to Bowie tunes. That changed in 2016, as I found myself listening to "Life On Mars?" obsessively, clinging to its...what? Its artiness? Its desperation? The smoke and mirror of its implied depth, the verve of its execution, the simple beauty of its being? Yes. And Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman, tickling the ivories so expressively on that recording. Sailors fighting in the dancehall, a lawman beating up the wrong guy. The song felt like a connection to what was lost, to what could still be recovered, to what could always be remembered.

The drumbeat of mortality seemed just incessant in 2016. Prince's death in June felt like the last straw, but it wasn't. Trump's election was a vicious blow. On election night, Meghan texted me from college, looking in vain for reassurance as we both watched the electoral results with growing dread and horror. Jesus, 2016 wasn't even two weeks old when Bowie died. We should have taken that as a sign to return the damned year to sender, postage due.

We survived. Not intact, not good as new, but...survived. As I mourned David Bowie here, my daughter was in England mourning actor Alan Rickman, so beloved by her for his role as Severus Snape in the Harry Potter movies. We commiserated with each other's loss. She wrote Rickman a touching thank-you note, which she placed at Charing Cross Station in his memory. I wrote a letter to David Bowie, and I started a blog. I cried. I wrote. I wrote more in 2016 than in any single year before that.

And I played a song called "Life On Mars?" Is there life on Mars? Is there life anywhere? The ache we feel is part of it. Talking about it helps. Writing about it helps. It's about to be writ again. It's a God-awful small affair. That's life.

THE HIGH FREQUENCIES: Cleanup Time

Looking at the news of the nation and the world, I say it's long past time for a cleanup, especially in the Oval Office. The High Frequencies have a soundtrack. Grab your disinfectant, and the will to use it.

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: 8/16/2025

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 # 1298.

THE SPONGETONES: Honest Work

WORK...?!

Like their fellow Power Pop Hall of Fame honorees the Flashcubes (see below), the Spongetones have recorded a trio of brand-new studio singles that are attached to their own special commemorative project. For the Spongetones, that project is a Big Stir Records release called The 40th Anniversary Concert...And Beyond

The 40th Anniversary Concert...And Beyond preserves a 2021 live show celebrating the band's fab long-standing tenure as North Carolina's phenomenal pop combo. The third single is "Honest Work," written by guitarists Patrick Walters and Jamie Hoover and sung by Walters, following bassist Steve Stoeckel's lovely "Lulu's In Love" and Hoover's AM radio-ready "Help Me Janie." "Honest Work" is a stable and reliable punch of the clock, acknowledging the ethic that gets things done. The work may not be its own reward, but the resulting music provides welcome reimbursement.

Punch that clock. Punch it with vigor. We got work to do. "Honest Work" will spin again here on Sunday night. 

DEAN LANDEW: After Work

THE VOGUES: Five O'Clock World

Dana followed the Spongetones' salute to honest work with a spin of Dean Landew's all-time TIRnRR classic "After Work," compelling me to complete the wage-slave hat trick with the Vogues' sublime "Five O'Clock World." WORK..?! Somewhere, Maynard G. Krebs approves the notion of leaving the ol' work day behind us.

THE HIGH FREQUENCIES: Modern Love

I only saw David Bowie once, during his mid '80s Serious Moonlight tour. I don't regard that as his peak period (the commercial success of the Let's Dance album and its title tune hit single notwithstanding), but witnessing Bowie perform was certainly among the highlights of my concert-going experience. From the forthcoming tribute album Jem Records Celebrates David Bowie, the High Frequencies take "Modern Love"--my favorite track from Let's Dance--and set it free to twist 'n' bop under its own earnest lunar glow. 

THE RULERS: I Want My Ramones Records Back

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

BORIS THE SPRINKLER: Kill The Ramones

Rude!

THE RAMONES: I Wanna Live

Words to...um, live by. And, to paraphrase the Rulers in the song mentioned two spots north of here: I'd be dyin' without my Ramones.

From a previous 10 Songs:

"I moved back to Syracuse from Buffalo in 1987. It was not a great time in my life, and it was still going to be a little while before things got better. 

"In good times and less-good times, music has always been a highlight. I don't remember if I heard 'I Wanna Live' before picking up my copy of Halfway To Sanity. I may have seen its video on MTV, but my memory insists I didn't even know the Ramones had a new album out when I spotted and immediately purchased Halfway To Sanity at The Record Theatre up on the SU hill. 

"The album includes a fab guest appearance by Blondie's Debbie Harry on 'Go Li'l Camaro Go,' a meeting of CBGB's minds I'd been wishing for since the late '70s. Nonetheless, my favorite was (and is) 'I Wanna Live.'

"Is it a life-affirming track? By default, I guess, though it could also be read as a suicide note. But the guitar sounds like it wants to live. Joey likewise sounds like he's digging in for the long haul. It's what I want, and I'm going with that."

THE FLASHCUBES: If These Hands

More than a year's work is about to pay off, as our friends at Big Stir Records prepare an eager rockin' pop world for the September 12th release of Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes. But while poundin' the console on behalf of Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse is technically work, it's also a calling. Plus it's fun! Given all the fabulous covers the Flashcubes have recorded and released over the past several years, I wanted to call more attention to the wonder of the Flashcubes' own brilliant songbook. A various-artists Flashcubes tribute album seemed the best way to accomplish that, so we gathered a bunch of talented artists, matched them with a bunch of songs written or co-written by members of the Flashcubes, and sent 'em off with one simple directive:

Make something happen.

And oh, did they ever come through, and then some. That's been reflected in consistent TIRnRR airplay, with this week's spins of Make Something Happen! gems by Dolph Chaney, Sorrows, and Callan Foster following in the Cubic-heeled footsteps of last week's MSH! treats from Tom Kenny and the Hi-Seas, Librarians With Hickeys, and Chris von Sneidern, and Sunday will bring a reprise of Librarians With Hickeys as well as the Verbs and the Armoires. On the album, these all frolic and frug alongside fascinating interpretations of Flashcubes songs as rendered by sparkle*jets u.k., Graham Parker and Mike Gent, Joe Giddings, Ballzy Tomorrow, the Kennedys, Pop Co-Op, the Peppermint Kicks, the Choosers, Hamell On Trial, Rob Moss and Skin-Tight Skin, the Mayflowers, Super 8 featuring Lisa Mychols, and the Spongetones.

As referenced in the Spongetones entry up top, the Flashcubes have also contributed three new singles of their own to this project. The first Make Something Happen! single was guitarist Paul Armstrong's epic burner "Reminisce." The second was the gorgeous big pop number "The Sweet Spot," co-written by 'Cubes bassist Gary Frenay with the late B. D. Love. 

And now comes the third and final single in advance of this tribute. Back in 1978, the Flashcubes' first 45 was "Christi Girl," a ballad written by 'Cubes guitarist Arty Lenin. In 2025, Arty closes this portion of the Flashcubes' singles discography with another lovely ballad, "If These Hands." 

We naturally talk about the songwriters, as befits an album intended as a salute to a group's original songs. Let's also throw in a bit of praise for Flashcubes drummer Tommy Allen, not just for his irresistible percussive skill, but for the sheer pop and power he brings to this material as a producer. This stuff sounds amazing, and that's due in large part to our boy Tommy.

Putting this album together has been a lot of work, and there's a long, long list of people who deserve credit for making this particular something happen. Even though others did most--almost all--of the heavy lifting here, I find myself exhausted in its aftermath. Exhausted, but proud. If memory serves, the last original song recorded and released by the Flashcubes prior to these three new singles was "Carl (You Da Man)" for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 1 more than twenty years ago. As flattering and fulfilling as it was that this band that's been so important to me wrote and recorded a killer song about Dana and me, I could not allow that to stand as the last word in original Flashcubes recordings.

It isn't the last one anymore. "Reminisce." "The Sweet Spot." Maybe "If These Hands" will be the Flashcubes' final recording, or maybe there will be more yet to come. I hope so. Either way, man, we made something happen. It was well, well worth the work.

MONDO TOPLESS: Think With Your Hands

BALLZY TOMORROW: Back Of My Hand

The Flashcubes' "If These Hands" leads us naturally into "Think With Your Hands" by Mondo Topless. Naturally. Whenever Dana plays a track by Mondo Topless, I naturally have to say, "Oh, so it's THAT kind of show, is it?" Because, y'know...topless. I amuse me.

Hadda follow "Think With Your Hands" with a cover of the Jags' new wave pop perennial "Back Of My Hand," as performed by our bud Robbie Rist under his Ballzy Tomorrow moniker. A delightful number in any incarnation, Ballzy Tomorrow's rendition of "Back Of My Hand" comes to us via DJ/uber fan Adam Waltemire's ace curated 2022 various-artists coverfest Sing Me A Song--A 50th Birthday Celebration. We've programmed a number of tracks from Sing Me A Song (particularly Barry Holdship's divine reading of Conway Twitty's "It's Only Make Believe") on past shows, but I'm mortified to discover we ain't ever played Ballzy Tomorrow's "Back Of My Hand" before this week. I tell ya: WE deserve the back of the hand.

But what can I say? It's just that kind of show. And it works for us.

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. You can read about our history here

10 SONGS: 7/26/2025

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 # 1295.

THE CYNZ: Can't Help Thinking About Me

This blog began in January of 2016, when my reaction to the death of David Bowie compelled me to start writing again. Following Blog Post # 1 on January 18th 2016 (my open letter to Bowie, later reconfigured as a chapter in my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! [Volume 1]), I began this daily blog. Other than a reduced schedule for a couple of months following the disaster of the November election, I never missed a single day, nor have I missed a day since resuming the regular schedule on January 18th of this year. As I wrote at that time:

"Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) began nine years ago today, when my lingering emotion in the aftermath of David Bowie's death compelled me to start a daily blog. This was a rash and possibly stupid decision, but I kept at it, with at least one post every single day until this past November. At that time, a combination of writing projects in need of my attention and my absolute disgust with the results of the Presidential election led me to pause and reconsider. I cut back to a reduced schedule of three to four posts a week, and I separated myself from the silly idea of maintaining a daily blog.

"Like John Lennon said when he reunited with Yoko Ono: The separation didn't work out...."

Given the prevailing (if unexpected) importance of Bowie in my story, a new various-artists tribute to Bowie has to be an automatic addition to the This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio playlist. This is especially true for Jem Records Celebrates David Bowie, which is chock full of appearances by so many familiar TIRnRR Fave Raves. C'mon! The Weeklings AND the Grip Weeds AND Paul Collins AND the Anderson Council AND Richard Barone AND Nick Piunti and the Complicated Men AND the Midnight Callers AND the Airport 77s AND the High Frequencies AND the On and Ons, all on one disc, all covering Bowie...?! To quote Lenny Haise, guitarist for '60s teen sensations the Wonders: "I'm signing, you're signing, we're ALL signing...!"

In addition to all of the Jem stars listed above, the first advance track from Jem Records Celebrates David Bowie comes to us courtesy of the Cynz. HuzZAH! We LOVE the Cynz, and they turn in an absolutely ace rendition of "Can't Help Thinking About Me." That's one of my own top Bowie tracks, and the Cynz friggin' nail it. It will spin again on our next show.

DAVID BOWIE: Queen Bitch

Well, we had to follow the Cynz singing Bowie with an example of Bowie singing Bowie, right? I think his BBC performance of "Queen Bitch" with the Spiders From Mars is our most-played Bowie track, making it the obvious choice here. 

THE FLASHCUBES: The Sweet Spot

This go'geous track "The Sweet Spot" was written by Flashcubes bassist Gary Frenay and the late Syracuse stalwart B. D. Love, and it's the latest advance single from the various-artists blockbuster Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes. Each of the 21 artists we invited to record Flashcubes covers for this project delivered to the fullest extent of their brilliance, and the addition of three new tracks by the 'Cubes makes the whole thing shine with even greater brightness. 

A sweet spot indeed.

MONOGROOVE: That Girl

A song for Marlo Thomas, wherever she is. NO! I KID! I'm a kidder. When I heard that Monogroove had a new digital single available, I bought it faster'n you can say Donald Hollinger. It's great, and it joins the playlist to continue our show's proud tradition of, y'know, playing Monogroove. We're playing it again on Sunday.

The good news doesn't stop there! The single is included on a new Monogroove album called Popsicle Drivethru. The CD is due soon from our friends at Kool Kat Musik, and the digital album is available now. MULTIgroove!

SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE: Hot Fun In The Summertime

My Greatest Record Ever Made! book contains a chapter about "Everybody Is A Star," which has generally been my top Sly and the Family Stone go-to. Since we lost Sly Stone in June, I've found "Hot Fun In The Summertime" has been on my mind and, consequently, in my ears and on the radio. If memory serves, a poll of Trouser Press magazine readers in the early '80s named "Hot Fun In The Summertime" as the # 1 choice for the title of all-time top summer song. Surpassing the Beach Boys in that category would seem a daunting task. But if anyone could do it, it would have to be Sly.

KEVIN ROBERTSON: We Found The Summer

Oooo--this is nice. Our buds at Futureman Records have a new album from Kevin Robertson of the Vapour Trails, and said new Kevin Robertson album Yellow Painted Moon kicks itself off with this luscious radio-ready tune "We Found The Summer." If you're seeking to find some summer, look no further. And "We Found The Summer" will shine again in Syracuse this coming Sunday night.

THE SHIRTS: Lost In A Rhyme

I am often amazed and delighted by unexpected discoveries from the vault. The visionaries at Think Like A Key Music have gone a-burrowin' through the archives of irresistible but unreleased rockin' pop, and they've pulled out a previously-unheard 1981 live-in-the-studio performance by '70s CBGB's fixtures the Shirts. Screw the Dead Sea Scrolls; finding what is essentially a fourth Shirts album from the group's original run is revelation and a half, especially considering the fact that I don't have (and don't really remember) the second Shirts album (1979's Street Light Shine) and have never heard their third (1980's Inner Sleeve).

No matter! Live Featuring Annie Golden is vintage, classic Shirts, of a piece with their magnificent eponymous debut album from 1978. "Lost In A Rhyme" is our immediate Pick T' Click, and these Shirts fit us perfectly.

AMOS MILBURN: Down The Road Apiece

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

SLADE: Gudbuy T' Jane

From a previous edition of 10 Songs:

My love of rock 'n' roll radio was forged by my absolute fascination with AM Top 40, beginning when I was a kid in the '60s, manifesting in earnest when I was in middle school and high school in the '70s. My migration to FM by the time I graduated from high school in 1977 didn't change the fact of the matter: Radio was everything. 

In those days, Top 40 stations in one city weren't necessarily playing all of the same potential hit records as Top 40 stations in other cities. Regional hits. Years later, I was surprised to learn that, say, "Tonight" by the Raspberries and "Blockbuster" by Sweet weren't radio smashes all across the USA. But here in Syracuse, they were. And so was "Gudbuy T' Jane" by UK stompers Slade.

My God, I loved this record. Still do. Slade were huge in their native land, but the colonies didn't catch on until the '80s, first via the numbskull proxy of covers by Quiet Riot and then by the much-belated appearance of Slade themselves on the American pop radar (and on MTV) with "My Oh My" and "Run Runaway."

My first is still favored: "Gudbuy T' Jane." Made for the airwaves, then and now. Get with it, America. Jane is all right, all right, all right, all right.

THE BEATLES: You Never Give Me Your Money

Most of our weekly playlists end with a little something by the Beatles. That fully Fab spin is followed by our sign-off and a bonus track or two, but the playlist proper usually concludes with your John, Paul, George, and/or Ringo, comin' at you from their secure perch at the Toppermost of the Poppermost.

And here's a Beatles track we've never played in any of the preceding 1,294 editions and additional sundry TIRnRR specials over the past 26.75 years: From Side 2 of Abbey Road, "You Never Give Me Your Money."

Yeah, I was surprised, too. Well! Time to cash in finally play it, I guess.

There isn't any money. But there are still more great things we ain't played yet, including a dwindling but discernible supply of Beatles tracks. And yes, before you ask, we have played "Revolution 9" at least once, possibly twice. More play remains. More work remains, old stuff and new stuff alike. Music justifies itself. Enthusiasm justifies itself. Once again: Here's to the act you've known for all these years.

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. You can read about our history here

10 SONGS: 10/11/2024

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 # 1254.

THE ON AND ONS: Long Ride

Australia's phenomenal pop combo the On and Ons have been TIRnRR Fave Raves for several years already, and news that the lads are now affiliated with the mighty Jem Records label makes us kvell. Kvelling is a good thing, expressing a giddy 'n' delighted feeling inside. Rockin' pop music makes us kvell. As it oughta.

Two new tracks from the On and Ons' forthcoming Jem Records debut Come On In reinforce our confidence in the kvell-worthy nature of this alliance. We opened this week's broadcast with the better'n nifty Come On In Jem gem "Long Ride," and circled back to open our closing set with its equally-effervescent album mate "Sunny Jim." We'll have a third Come On In treat on our next show. Come on in! The On and Ons have granted us a license to kvell.

DWIGHT TWILLEY: Alone In My Room

I intended to play this great Dwight Twilley track (from his 1979 album Twilley) on last week's epic Cubic Roots salute to songs that inspired the Flashcubes and the Half/Cubes. Recognizing the need to program something from the Flashcubes' sublime 2023 all-covers album Pop Masters, we subbed in the Pop Masters version of "Alone In My Room" and postponed the Twilley original to this week. I give the edge to the Flashcubes' take on this, but ya can't go wrong either way.

CARLA OLSON AND TALL POPPY SYNDROME: Is It True

As pop fans, when we listen to multiple versions of the same song, we often develop an allegiance to the version that hooked us first. For example, with the Dwight Twilley song that opens this week's 10 Songs, my first real awareness of "Alone In My Room" came via the Flashcubes' cover; I probably heard Twilley's original some time before the last couple of weeks, but it was the Cubic rendition that got my attention, and kept it.

So even the combined forces of Carla Olson and Tall Poppy Syndrome may face long odds in trying to pry my devotion away from Brenda Lee with their new cover of our Brenda's 1964 single "Is It True."

"Is It True" is far and away my favorite Brenda Lee track. It wasn't a hit in America, and I didn't hear it until Rhino Records included "Is It True" in the fabulous 2005 various-artists boxed set One Kiss Can Lead To Another: Girl Group Sounds Lost And Found. This amazing 4-CD compilation is like the Nuggets of the '60s girl-group sound, and Brenda Lee's "Is It True" is one of its absolute highlights. I adored the song immediately, and have never stopped loving it.

So my gosh, Carla and her Tall Poppy comrades deserve mega accolades for holding their own here. It's not just that their "Is It True" is accomplished and well-performed--I would have expected nothing less from that level of talent--it's that the elusive mojo is there. You believe them. I believe them. I'm not prepared to relinquish my torch for Brenda Lee's original, but I'm very happy to say that I now have two go-to versions of "Is It True." Is it true? Yep. I'll testify to that under oath. 

LIBRARIANS WITH HICKEYS: No More Goodbyes

What could sway TIRnRR from its single-minded determination to program recent Librarians With Hickeys single "Hello Operator" with the subtle restraint one expects from carpet-bombing? The release of another new Librarians With Hickeys single. Duh. In truth, we played both "Hello Operator" and its brand spankin' new brother "No More Goodbyes" this week, and "No More Goodbyes" will return next week. Even there, I almost played "Hello Operator" again in place of "No More Goodbyes"--I really, really dig "Hello Operator"--but then I realized that I also really, really dig "No More Goodbyes." Both singles serve as teasers for the group's forthcoming new album How To Make Friends By Telephone, and I am secure in the certainty that I am really, really going to dig the whole album when it appears. No more goodbyes. Hello...!

THE CYNZ: Woman Child

Like Librarians With Hickeys, the Cynz are another A-list rock 'n' roll group whose each new release is likely a given for some TIRnRR airplay burn. No reason to make an exception here, as the new Cynz single "Woman Child" offers further empirical evidence of their essential asskickin' capability. Deadly Cynz! "Woman Child" will spin again on our next show.

THE BAY CITY ROLLERS: Rebel, Rebel

During my recent guest appearance on Dedication--Fans Remember The Bay City Rollers, I mentioned the slow evolution of my interest in the Rollers. When I was a college student bin the late '70s, I put a Bay City Rollers poster on the wall of my dorm room as an act of defiance...but I didn't actually own a lot of Rollers music at the time. I had two 45s ("Saturday Night" and "Rock And Roll Love Letter") and two LPs (Dedication and It's A Game), and an intense curiosity about one other Rollers song that I didn't yet own. It took a while, but my Rollers collection did grow in time.

On Dedication, hosts Laura Brady and Suz Rostron invited me to list my ten favorite Rollers tracks. My list includes two selections from the It's A Game, but not the track from that album that scored the most turntable time when I was matriculatin': The Bay City Rollers' cover of David Bowie's "Rebel, Rebel."

Nowadays, I rarely play the Rollers' version of "Rebel, Rebel." It's not that I dislike it, but nor is it in the front quarters of my consciousness anymore. I wasn't all that much of a Bowie fan in '78; a Bowie-loving college pal despised the Rollers' version, but I liked it either about the same as or a little more than I liked Bowie's original. At the time. That time changed, as time will do. I have other Rollers tracks I like or love a lot more. 

Nonetheless, after mentioning it on Dedication, it seemed high time for "Rebel, Rebel" by the Bay City Rollers to make its return to This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio. I do now prefer Bowie's original...but I retain my long-ago affection for Tartan-clad rebellion as well. Hot tramp, I love you so. She's a rebel.

DAVID BOWIE: I Dig Everything

So noted, David. So noted.

DONNA SUMMER: Hot Stuff

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE HALF/CUBES: Let Me Make Love To You

During a couple of previous TIRnRR broadcasts, legendary Maui DJ Michael McCartney expressed his appreciation for some of our intrepid programming decisions, specifically noting his delight in blastin' his speakers as we played Donna Summer's "Hot Stuff" and delighting in our Cubic Roots spin of Flo and Eddie's "Let Me Make Love To You." This week, we played "Hot Stuff" and the Half/Cubes' cover of "Let Me Make Love To You" (from the Half/Cubes' recent Pop Treasures album) in the same set, and offered both of 'em as a tip o' the hat to everyone's pal Michael. Blast away, Michael! Blast away.

THE FLASHCUBES: Christi Girl

The decision to program the Flashcubes' "Alone In My Room" last week forced us to cut another 'Cubes track we'd planned to play, specifically guitarist Arty Lenin's "When We Close Our Eyes." We figured we would make up for it by spinning an Arty song this week, but instead of "When We Close Our Eyes," we reached all the way back to 1978 for a fresh play of the Flashcubes' debut single.

"Christi Girl" was the Flashcubes' first record, a 45 (backed with "Guernica" and "Got No Mind") released in 1978. It's a pretty pop ballad written by Arty, and it also made its way to a Bomp Records various-artists set called Waves, Vol. 1, and years later it was exhumed for a Rhino Records power pop compilation CD. Since the Flashcubes only released a grand total of two records during their original late '70s run--1979's "Wait Till Next Week"/"Radio" 45 was the other one--"Christi Girl" was, by default, the Flashcubes' best-known song, at least to the extent that any Flashcubes song could be described as "best-known."

Prior to its release in 1978, I haunted Gerber Music in North Syracuse, badgering clerks there nearly every day about when the damned thing would be available for me to buy. The store had an advance promo copy of the 45 at the store, and they indulged me by playing it on the store's stereo, and then instructing me to go away and come back when it's actually released, ya pesky kid.

And I did. Er...plus a few more stops at Gerber in the interim, asking that musical question, Is it in yet? Is it in yet? Is it in yet...? I bought it the first day it was available.

I cannot overstate how important the Flashcubes have been to me. As I've said elsewhere, it's possible that I would have gotten around to writing about pop music and co-hosting a weekly rock 'n' roll radio show even without the Flashcubes' influence, but it would be a stretch for me to imagine how that would have been. When I was given the honor of inducting the Flashcubes into the Syracuse Area Music Awards Hall of Fame in 2014, I noted once again the three groups that had the greatest and most lasting influence upon my life as a pop fan: The Beatles, the Ramones, and the Flashcubes.

A few months back, I bristled when someone referred to the Flashcubes as a cover band. No. No. I get the genesis of that presumption, given that that the Flashcubes' last two non-compilation albums have indeed been all-covers. But people need to dig a little deeper and discover the brilliance of their originals, a collection of ace tunes crafted by Arty Lenin, Paul Armstrong, and Gary Frenay. I tell ya: More artists should be covering them.

In 2021, a supercool Japanese pop group called the Choosers posted a video of their fab in-studio live performance of "Christi Girl." It would be WAY Fab if the Choosers would...um, choose to record an official version of "Christi Girl." It's time for the world to know the things that only we can know.

Somebody: Make something happen.

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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.

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.