10 SONGS: 7/27/2021

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 week's edition of 10 Songs draws exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1087.

THE ANDERSON COUNCIL: I'd Love Just Once To See You

The fabulous 2021 tribute album Jem Records Celebrates Brian Wilson has already fed the ravenous needs of the TIRnRR playlist with sweet treats from the Grip Weeds and Lisa Mychols and Super 8, and this week's edition adds the Anderson Council to that sun-kissed roll call. The Anderson Council turn in a lovely reading of the Beach Boys' cheeky "I'd Love Just Once To See You," which we took the liberty of dedicating to Miss February.

Wherever she is.

THE BEATLES: Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds

"Picture yourself in a boat on a river with tangerine trees and marmalade skies?"

Hmph. A boy band tries to go all progressive on us. 

NO! I KID! I'm a kidder. I'm on record (again and again) stating my absolute adoration of the music the Beatles released before Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play, but I'm also on record praising Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and the White Album. When it comes to the Beatles, I'm just a guy who can say yeah-yeah-yeah. 

Always loved "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds." In high school and college, late '70s, most of my peers preferred Elton John's then-recent cover of "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" to the peerless original; I did like how ol' Reg did the song (especially with its participation from John Lennon hisself), but I never thought it within light years of the exquisite version rendered by the act I've known for all these years. 

(And this week's playlist was set, the show recorded, before I saw Paul McCartney discussing "Lucy In The Sky With iamonds" with Rick Rubin on the third episode of the Hulu show McCartney 3, 2, 1. The act we've known for all these years? There's still so much more left for us to discover. Cue the girl with kaleidoscope eyes. As always: yeah yeah yeah!)

MIKE BROWNING: Picture Book

We played Mike Browning's able take on the Kinks' "Picture Book" a few weeks back. It returns to the playlist now, just in time for the announcement of Mike's upcoming album Class Act. Class Act collects a number of recordings our lad Mike did for Jamie Hoover's recording and production class, including covers of familiar faves by the Monkees, Tommy Tutone, the Spencer Davis Group, XTC, Bashful Bod Dylan (via the Byrds), the Strangeloves, the Springfields, and the Reflections, plus the surfer dudes and British boy band mentioned in the two 10 Songs entries above. And THE KINKS! We've only heard the Kinks cover so far, but that's enough to make us wanna hear more. Classy!

FANNY: Hey Bulldog

I have a lingering feeling that I had at least some sort of peripheral awareness of the all-female '70s rock group Fanny some time prior to my first conscious exposure to their music. Maybe? I remember seeing them on American Bandstand in August of 1974, lip-syncing their covers of the Bell Notes' "I've Had it" and the Rolling Stones' "Let's Spend The Night Together." Both tracks were from the group's '74 LP Rock And Roll Survivors, their fifth album, their last album, and their only album for Casablanca Records. The group's founder, guitarist June Millington, left the band before Rock And Roll Survivors, and one could argue that it wasn't really Fanny after June's departure.

The AB appearance was my introduction to Fanny--I'm pretty sure I never heard them on the radio before (or after) that--and it may have been the first I heard of them, too. But...I dunno. I have this nagging pinprick at the edge of my consciousness, insisting that I'd read about Fanny in a magazine or seen a print ad for one of their albums (or even seen one of their albums on the racks at Gerber Music) before seeing their cathode-ray image talking with Dick Clark. Nagging pinpricks can't be trusted, mind you, but they should be acknowledged. Sometimes they're even right.

Fanny's cover of the Beatles' "Hey Bulldog" comes from 1972's Fanny Hill, Fanny's third album. For further Beatleproofing, the album was recorded at Apple, and engineered by Geoff Emerick. And I wish I'd heard all of this a lot earlier in my timeline.

THE FLASHCUBES WITH MIMI BETINIS: Baby It's Cold Outside

Radio's job is to sell records. Let's get to work! "Baby It's Cold Outside," the new single from the Flashcubes with Mimi Betinis, is out this Friday from the visionary pop people at Big Stir Records. But it's available as a preorder RIGHT NOW. So--how to put this delicately?--BUY IT AWREADY!!!! Do what your radio tells you to do. That's your job!

JOHNNY JOHNSON AND THE BANDWAGON: Mr. Tambourine Man

Ignoring Golden Throats crap like William Shatner's phasers-on-blechh reading from the Book of Zimmerman, one of the most unusual but still agreeable Dylan covers has gotta be "Mr. Tambourine Man" by the great Johnny Johnson and the Bandwagon. The song is almost unrecognizable, but fascinating in its willful determination to cast its dancing spell its way. It's not folk, it's not folk rock, and it eschews the easy notion of jingling or jangling in favor of an AM radio groove that can only be called bubblesoul. The Bandwagon never breached the Billboard Hot 100, but "Breakin' Down The  Walls Of Heartache" and "Blame It (On The Pony Express)" deserved much wider acclaim, and the same could be said of their "Mr. Tambourine Man." Dylan goes eclectic!

GLADYS KNIGHT AND THE PIPS: I Heard It Through The Grapevine

Until fairly recently--say, within the last several years--I never cared for Gladys Knight and the Pips' version of "I Heard It Through The Grapevine." I must have had rocks in my head, and/or stale cotton candy stuffed in my ears. I didn't especially care for Creedence Clearwater Revival's cover, but I preferred it to Gladys and her Pips' rendition at the time. I always adored Marvin Gaye's definitive take on the song--neither rocks nor cotton candy could diminish me to quite that extent--but as I developed a belated appreciation of Motown in the late '70s and early '80s, my tone-deaf audio receptors thought the Pips' version sounded--wait for it!--too show biz, too Vegas.

Rocks. Cotton candy. Musta been somethin' in there, occupying all that nothing.

And it took me way too long to see the error of my ways, to knock the stupid outta my noggin and let Gladys and company testify with righteous fervor about the ugly ramifications of word-of-mouth revelations. It certainly wasn't a case of me not recognizing the talent in play here--I've loved "Midnight Train To Georgia" for nearly five decades now--but I guess I couldn't sufficiently loosen my embrace of Marvin Gaye's definitive version to allow myself the pure pleasure of Gladys Knight and the Pips' own stirring chronicle of a loose and faithless lover exposed by loose and chatty lips. Vegas...?! I should eat the rocks and throw the cotton candy in Charlie Brown's trick-or-treat sack.

I know better now. And I knew it before watching Summer Of Soul, where Glady Knight and the Pips' mesmerizing live performance of "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" is an absolute highlight in a film loaded with highlights. I betcha wonder how I knew. Glorious. I shoulda listened earlier.

PAGLIARO: Some Sing Some Dance

Like the Equals' "I Can See, But You Don't Know" (which also graced this week's playlist), Pagliaro's "Some Sing Some Dance" was cited in Bomp! magazine's 1978 power pop manifesto as one of the defining examples of the style. Much later, Ray Paul and Emitt Rhodes teamed for a lovely cover of the song, but I don't think it's all that well-known among power pop fans even now. Nonetheless: power pop. Bomp! said so.

SORROWS: Play This Song (On The Radio)

An easy direction to follow, and we were happy to comply. From Sorrows' minty-fresh album Love Too Late--The Real Album, courtesy of Big Stir Records. 

DIAN ZAIN/THE MOST: Take A Chance

Rest in peace, Dian Zain.

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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
Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio:  CD or download

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl.

She's Dian. And she was the Most

Singer Dian Zain passed away last week. You may not have heard her name before. But if you were part of the Bright Lights punk/new wave scene here in Syracuse in the late '70s and very early '80s, you knew Dian. She was, in some ways, our brightest light, a pint-sized bundle of energy and enthusiasm, dancing, singing, bopping, and preaching a Gospel of rock 'n' roll. 

Dian's highest public profile came as the lead singer of the Most from 1979 to 1980. Even before that, she was the face of punk in Syracuse, an androgynous figure with razor-cut hair and razor-cut clothing, reigning benevolently o'er the dancefloor at Flashcubes shows circa '77-'79. 'Cubes guitarist Paul Armstrong was her boyfriend at the time, and Dian was a relentless de facto 'Cubes promoter. Dian thought the Flashcubes deserved to be stars. She never shied from proclaiming that conviction.

I saw her join the Flashcubes on stage a couple times, I think. I remember a show at the Firebarn in 1978, when the 'Cubes backed Dian as she sang the Patti Smith Group's "Because The Night." She wanted the Flashcubes to hit big, but she had personal ambitions, as well. She didn't just want to be a star's girlfriend. Dian wanted to be a star herself.

Toward that end, Dian recorded a single in 1979. Paul Armstrong's on there, along with Zenny Caucasian and Ducky Carlisle of the Ohms. The B-side was "(Do The) Jumping Jack," a Paul Armstrong song from the Flashcubes' early days. The A-side was a Dain Zain original, "Take A Chance."

PA: Hey, ya goin' to the dance tonight?

Dian: Yeah, what else is there?

Paul and Dian's spoken exchange opens "Take A Chance," a pure pop confection that would have been worthy of Blondie. The "Take A Chance"/"(Do The) Jumping Jack" 45 was pressed and nearly ready for release that summer of '79, when Paul Armstrong was suddenly dismissed from the Flashcubes. Paul joined Dian's new combo, alongside members of a Watertown band called the Upbeats: guitarist Derek Knott, bassist Tommy O'Reilly, and drummer Judd Williams. It was too late to change the label on the 45, which credits the single to just Dian Zain. But there was time to create a picture sleeve, showing the members of this new band and introducing them to the world with their debut single. Ladies and gentlemen, THE MOST!!

That's Judd. He's the Most! That's Derek. He's the Most! That's Paul. He's the Most! That's Tommy. He's the Most! I'm Dian. And WE'RE THE MOST!

The Most made their live debut in August of '79, opening for the fabulous British pop group the Records at Stage East in East Syracuse. As she did at all of the Most's early live shows, Dian started the set by introducing the members of the Most before they launched into their opening number, an incredible pop song called "Let's Go Out Tonight."

Come on all you little girls and boys

Let's all go out tonight!

Chills. I was there at that first show, and at as many subsequent shows as I could witness. Over the approximate year of their existence, through three different distinct line-ups, the Most developed a killer repertoire, including Paul's Cubic remnants "Sold Your Heart" and "I'm Not The Liar," Tommy's "Best Of Me," ace interpretations of the Rolling Stones, the Heartbreakers, and the Rascals, and more originals: "(I Wanna) Bop With You," "Pinball NY," "Girls Don't Pay," "Think Twice," "Rockerfeller," "Who Am I?," "Habits," "Tomboys," "Cold War," "I Love You," "Not Guilty," "After School," and still more my memory refuses to concede at this late date. I was a fan. I was a big, big fan.

Image courtesy of Tamaralee Shutt

The members of the Upbeats returned to Watertown by the end of '79. Paul and Dian formed a brief alliance with the Ohms, as that group would open for the Most and then become the Most, Dian, PA, Zenny, Ducky, and Keith Korvair. A new Most formed in 1980, with bassist Dave Anderson and drummer Dick Hummer. In the summer of 1980, Hummer departed the group for his own solo act the Machine + Hummer; Ducky returned to the kit for the short remainder of the Most's tenure.

Dian and Paul's personal relationship ended in 1980, though they stayed together in the Most until, I guess, around August of 1980. Dian formed a new group, Zain Grey, and Paul, Dave, and Ducky became 1.4.5.

From my first Flashcubes shows in 1978 through my final Most shows in 1980, Dian was always nice to me. She appreciated people who shared her passion for rock 'n' roll, fellow fans of the beat and the bounce and the bright, bright lights. We'd chat between sets at 'Cubes gigs, and we'd talk more and more as the Most happened. At one Firebarn show, I was among several revelers brought on stage to help the Most sing the Flashcubes' "Got No Mind." The stage collapsed under all that extra weight--not my extra weight, 'cuz my part of the stage remained intact--and I reached out and grabbed Dian before she fell. Hey, I'm a fan and a hero!

Hey, speaking of that. I decided I wanted the Most to play in my college town of Brockport. I visited Dian and Paul's house in Solvay (actually within Syracuse city limits, but PA said everything west of Cookie Caloia's was in Solvay), and we hatched plans to bring the Most to Brockport. That show was a huge success, and Dian thanked me from the stage. Members of my circle shouted back, "He's my roommate!," "He's my boyfriend!," and "He's my hero!" Dian responded, "Well, he's our hero, too." Preen! I was paid forty dollars cash for securing the Brockport gig. As Dian gave me my commission, she said, "Here's the money, honey. You earned it."

Scan courtesy of Wes Connors

In that time frame, when I firmly (and correctly) believed that Syracuse groups were at least as good as any groups anywhere, the Most were my favorite local group. Yes, even more than the Flashcubes, at least in '79-'80. Both groups should have been huge. When I was 20, I imagined a jukebox rock 'n' roll flick called Let's Go Out Tonight!, a never-in-a-million-years movie that would have starred then-recent Playboy model Bo Derek and featured the Most on-screen singing the title tune. I so wanted them to succeed. But after that debut 45 of "Take A Chance," the Most only released one more track, "Rockerfeller," on a Rochester, NY compilation LP called From The City That Brought You...Absolutely Nothing. I did not return to Syracuse after graduating from college in 1980. I never had an opportunity to see Zain Grey. I didn't have any chance to speak with Dian Zain for decades.

I remain a fan. I remain disappointed that the Most's great songs are mostly lost to the public; if anyone wants to go into the vaults and dig out the Most's unreleased tracks for a CD compilation, I call dibs on writing the liner notes. Hell, this piece could be the liner notes. Yeah, I for damned sure remain a fan.

And I did speak again with Dian in 2014, when my This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio co-host Dana Bonn and I were helping to put together the first Bright Lights! Syracuse punk and new wave rock 'n' roll reunion show at Syracuse's Lost Horizon. The show was Paul Armstrong's idea; he had rejoined the Flashcubes years ago, and he would be playing at Bright Lights! with both 1.4.5. and the headlining 'Cubes. I asked him about the possibility of reuniting the Most, and he agreed. With that decided, I coordinated some logistics with Dian via email and telephone. On July 19, 2014, Dana and I introduced the Most as they reclaimed the Lost Horizon stage. Dian took over from there. I'm Dian, and WE'RE THE MOST! Yeah. Let's all go out tonight!

Today, Dian Zain is mourned by her family and friends, remembered as a mother and grandmother and a rock 'n' roll spirit beyond compare. I wish a wider audience had the chance to remember her now as a star. She was a star. The face of the Syracuse new wave. The voice of the fans, and the diminutive embodiment of our brightest lights. The lights are dimmer today. She was Dian. And she was the Most. She still is.

Ya goin' to the dance tonight?

Yeah.

What else is there?

Image courtesy of Tamaralee Shutt

TIP THE BLOGGER: CC's Tip Jar!

You can support this blog by becoming a patron on Patreon: Fund me, baby! 

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
Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio:  CD or download

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl.