10 SONGS: 8/22/2025

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 # 1299.

JIM BASNIGHT: See It In Your Eyes

The music of Jim Basnight has found a welcoming berth on many a TIRnRR playlist over the years. Mr. Basnight's frequent rocker miles on this program include credits as a solo artist and with the Moberlys, the Meyce, the Jim Basnight Thing, and the Rockinghams, and the flight continues with this debut spin of his ace new digital single "See It In Your Eyes." As it oughta! We're gonna dip back into the archives for a slightly older Basnight track this Sunday, as part of the epic celebration of...wait, is this right? THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO # 1300...?! Jeez, we better turn things up a bit. And you can best be assured that ritual raising of the roof will include a Jim Basnight TIRnRR Fave Rave. As it oughta. As it oughta.

DIONNE WARWICK: Trains And Boats And Planes

I did a fair bit of traveling as a kid. My maternal grandparents lived in Southwest Missouri, so most summers found Mom and I leaving our suburban Syracuse home behind us and taking trains or buses or planes (never a boat, for some reason) to the Ozark region. There was also a 1966 family day trip to Ontario to see my sister's marching band, a Vermont vacation in 1967 (where my dad took me out fishing in a row boat--finally, a use for watercraft!), a car trip from Missouri to California and back in 1968 (as recounted as part of this autobiography of my life in the 1960s), and a visit to the Florida panhandle in 1970. All of these modest treks were accomplished before I entered sixth grade. As an adult, I've visited England, Belgium, and Spain, with very brief stopovers for dinners in France and Morocco. Plus, y'know, Jersey. And Disney World! I hope my future will include more opportunities for travel in this great big world of wonder.

For those of us who live in Syracuse, a visit to the great New York State Fair doesn't quite qualify as a travel plan. I was looking forward to seeing Dionne Warwick perform at the Fair on Labor Day this year, but alas, a scheduling conflict scotches that particular flight plan. Neither trains nor boats nor planes nor even a tricycle can get me to two places at once. 

And that's okay. We do what we can, and we acknowledge that we can't do everything. For now, we'll play Dionne Warwick singing somberly of modes of transportation as they pass her (and us) by. It be that sometimes. 

JOE JACKSON: Enough Is Not Enough

Pretty much all TIRnRR spins of Joe Jackson are offered as long-distance dedications to my dear pal Beth Woodell. I've known Beth since...er, she doesn't want me to complete that sentence. Suffice it to say we were teenagers when we met, and empirical evidence suggests we are not teenagers at this current point in time. I mean, if you're the sort of sucker who believes in math....

Today, Beth is celebrating her 23rd birthday. No, it's not the first (nor even just the fortieth) time she's observed her 23rd. Why limit such celebrations to a mere once? Happy Birthday, Beth! Birthday candles give off less heat when we limit 'em to 23. That's SCIENCE! If we can't believe math, man, let's at least follow the science!

THE TREMBLERS: I'll Be Taking Her Out Tonight

In the early '80s, former Herman's Hermits lead singer Peter Noone was trying to distance himself from his cute 'n' cuddly British Invasion image and establish a more mature rock 'n' roller persona. Toward that end, he formed a crack new wave pop combo called the Tremblers. The Tremblers recorded a very cool album called Twice Nightly, did a little TV (I recall catching them on The Midnight Special), and toured. I saw the Tremblers perform at a Rochester club show, and I can testify firsthand that this combo cooked. No Herman's Hermits songs! Just material from Twice Nightly, actually, including their cover of Elvis Costello's "Green Shirt." Herman had grown up!

But the Tremblers experiment was short-lived. If I have the chronology right, the Tremblers ended when Noone followed an opportunity to star in a production of The Pirates Of Penzance. As years may come and years may go, the lure of the oldies circuit proved more agreeable after Noone regained the right to bill himself as Herman's Hermits. Peter Noone is very, very good as this 'Erman fellow, and we're lucky to have him.

Still, some of us wish Noone could find room in his current second verse/same as the first repertoire for a nod to the Tremblers. Twice Nightly was wonderful, and "I'll Be Taking Her Out Tonight" in particular would have made a worthy big hit record. It's too bad Peter Noone hasn't seemed interested in revisiting that compelling portion of his career.

Hasn’t seemed.

Past tense. Phrased deliberately. 

I can say no more. Stay tuned. Maybe--just maybe--Peter will be taking her out tonight...again.

THE SPONGETONES: Honest Work

Second week in a row for TIRnRR airplay of "Honest Work," the third bonus studio single released in conjunction with the Spongetones' new live album The 40th Anniversary Concert...And Beyond. The Spongetones have certainly loomed large in this radio show's legend, so of course we'll be playing them again this Sunday on our 1300th show. Gotta go with one of the classics. Hey! Howzabout a LIVE version of a Spongetones classic for TIRnRR # 1300? As we try to get in as many songs as we possibly can, you'll understand why we've simply gotta include the Spongetones as part of Sunday's victory lap. YES!

THE GRATEFUL DEAD: Scarlet Begonias

And yeah, second week in a row of airplay for something from the Grateful Dead catalog. Across the veil of time, my late 1970s/early '80s self is seriously disgusted with me. I blame the local combination Delta Sonic/Tim Hortons, who lodged this Dead song "Scarlet Begonias" deep into my cranium by playing it over the sound system during two of my recent gasoline 'n' coffee acquisition safaris. It's...arghh, it's a really good pop track. I'm way more open to the Dead now than I was at 18-21 years of age. Hey, Beth! What would your 23-year-old self say? 

I...can't repeat that on the radio, Beth.

THE VERBS: I Need Glue

I continue to be knocked out by how radically the Verbs were able to revamp, restructure, and reimagine the Flashcubes' early punk stomper "I Need Glue" while still retaining a line of sight with the original's intent. One of my (many!) favorite tracks on Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes.

THE CYNZ: Can't Help Thinking About Me

I'm looking forward to hearing the entirety of the new tribute album Jem Records Celebrates David Bowie. I love what I've heard so far from Paul Collins ("Hang On To Yourself") and the High Frequencies ("Modern Love"), and I've been especially taken with this high-octane reading of early Bowie nugget "Can’t Help Thinking About Me" as performed by the Cynz. We're playing it again on the 1300th show this Sunday.

FONTELLA BASS: Rescue Me

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE FLASHCUBES: If These Hands

The culmination of a metric ton of work behind the scenes, the various-artists blockbuster Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes will finally see divine release on September 12th. Read about it here, buy it here. And stay close to the radio on Sunday night, as This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio's 1300th show spins all three of the new Flashcubes singles attached to this project, programs non-Make Something Happen! treats by four of the Flashcubes tribute album's other participants, throws in a reprise of another group's 2017 cover of the album's title tune, and digs out a fab Flashcubes gem that was the most recent original song recorded and released by the Flashcubes prior to the trio of current Cubic singles. TIRnRR is synonymous with the Flashcubes. I'm a Cicero boy, and my friend Dana rocks. We're the kings of power pop! Join us Sunday as we proudly present exhibit # 1300 in support of that argument.

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: 2/24/2023

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 # 1169. This show is available as a podcast.

HERB ALPERT AND THE TIJUANA BRASS: Casino Royale

As the pop world mourns the passing of the legendary Burt Bacharach, we decided to thread a tribute to Bacharach and his frequent songwriting partner Hal David throughout this week's program. I think we managed a nice blend of recognized prerequisites from the Bacharach-David songbook with a few less-expected choices in song and/or performer.

Our first strand of that thread was Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass' title tune from the all-star 1967 James Bond comedy Casino Royale. It's an instrumental, so you don't hear lyricist David's work here, but we chose the track deliberately as our snarky response to pundits who greeted news of Bacharach's passing with quotes from what they mistakenly believed were Bacharach's lyrics. Bacharach was the melody guy; he collaborated with gifted lyricists like David, and it's a disservice to those lyricists to assign credit to Bacharach.

Although Hal David passed in 2012, we wanted to pay equal tribute to David in our salute to Burt Bacharach. And, since "Casino Royale" does have lyrics--they're just not used in this instrumental version--the song is credited to Bacharach and David. And our Bacharach-David tribute was under way. With guns. And knives. We're fighting for our lives...!

STEVE STOECKEL: Mod Girl

In our position as hosts of The Best Three Hours Of Radio On The Whole Friggin' Planet, Dana and I possess the good sense, good taste, and good, good, good, good vibrations to be big fans of the music of Steve Stoeckel. Steve Stoeckel in the Spongetones? Check! Steve Stoeckel in Jamie and Steve? ALSO check! Steve Stoeckel in Pop Co-Op? Checkity-check-checkaroonie! Steve Stoeckel and his THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL Allstars? Duh. All good!

So of course we're delighted to expand that ongoing circle o' good with Steve's first-ever solo album The Power Of And. We've been playing stellar tracks from The Power Of And the past few weeks, and this week we got around to "Mod Girl." There's a lot of good stuff on this record.

And we got around to "Mod Girl" twice this week. We played the album track, and in the following set we played an unreleased a cappella mix that shows off the amazing backing vocals by Jamie Hoover and Elena Rogers. Goosebump City! We sure hope the good folks at Big Stir Records release this mix as well. And we'll play it again next week.

IRENE PEÑA: In This Room

Yes, it's America's Sweetheart Irene Peña! "In This Room" is my favorite among a big stack of sublime Irene Peña numbers, and it's available on her digital album Nothing To Do With You, and on our 2022 compilation This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5. This particular spin was in anticipation of Dana & Carl's guest appearance on Irene's Twitch TV channel Irene Peña Music this coming Sunday, February 26th, at 7 pm Eastern. SUNDAY! We'll chat! We'll laugh! She'll wonder why she's wasting her valuable time on the likes of Dana & Carl! But she'll manage it all with a smile (or at least a smirk), because she's AMERICA'S SWEETHEART! We hope you'll join us on Twitch this Sunday, and then come back for TIRnRR as we open our show with another example of Irene's musical magic. Sweet is its own reward.

MIKE BROWNING: Blood Of Oblivion

We have played Mike Browning's fabulous current cover of the Rainy Daze's 1967 obscurity "Blood Of Oblivion" each and every week since its release as a single earlier this year. It is guaranteed a berth on our 2023 year-end countdown show. An act of Congress couldn't keep it out. It's taking a break next week, but we absolutely love it, and it will be back very, very soon.

JOHNATHAN PUSHKAR: Let's Get Small

Fab musician Johnathan Pushkar is into the Marvel Comics movies, and I think he's also into the comic books that spawned that cinematic universe. Me, too! I identify as more of a DC Comics guy in general--I'm BATMAN!!--but I love DC and Marvel superheroes as much as I love my rockin' pop music. Johnathan's new single "Let's Get Small" provides an opportunity to combine those interests, with an engaging li'l radio-ready ditty in tribute to the latest Marvel cinematic outing, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Pop guys ASSEMBLE!

I go back a long, long way with Ant-Man. The current character (on film and on the comics page) is Scott Lang, but my Ant-Man in the '60s and '70s was Dr. Hank Pym. By the time I first saw the character in 1966, he'd already grown into being Giant-Man, a member of the Mighty Avengers. After my earlier introduction to Marvel with Sub-Mariner and the Incredible Hulk in Tales To Astonish, Giant-Man and his fellow Avengers the Wasp, the Mighty Thor, the Invincible Iron Man, and Captain America represented my second exposure to the Marvel Age of Comics.

This comic book was published in 1965. but I saw it in '66

I'm proud of my passions. At the still-(willfully) immature age of 63, I keep on blasting my music, reading my comic books, and seeing most of the new superhero flicks as they're released. Dig what you dig. 

A few recent purchases at Comix Zone in North Syracuse

Johnathan Pushkar gets it. Those who don't get it are just thinking too small.

GENE PITNEY: Twenty Four Hours From Tulsa

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

COLIN HAY: I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself

NANCY SINATRA: Wishin' And Hopin'

The results of playlist construction can surprise even the ones who construct 'em. It was a given that a Dusty Springfield track would be part of our Bacharach-David thread. I figured it would be Dusty's version of "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself"...until I decided some intangible oomphability in ex-Men At Work frontman Colin Hay's rendition suited our needs better.

Right. So! Dusty's "Wishin' And Hopin'," a record I fondly remember from my childhood. Slam dunk choice. Then I heard Nancy Sinatra's version, and really wanted to include that. I wasn't gonna give up on Dusty--no way, no how--so her shimmering performance of "The Look Of Love" became our designated Dusty Bacharach-David.

During the show, we heard from listeners who regard "The Look Of Love" as Dusty's best record, and their favorite rendition of any Bacharach-David gem ever recorded by anyone. See, the playlist takes care of itself. Even when it surprises us.

THE RAMONES: She's The One

The American Beatles. The greatest American rock 'n' roll band of all time. For me, 2023 is the year of the Ramones. Sure, every year is another 1-2-3-4! Ramones year in these quarters, but especially so this year because of my Ramones book. As someone who's spent the last five decades wanting to write books, finally getting my first book published is a pretty big deal. I'm going to try not to be a boor about it, try to rein in my enthusiasm as much as I can, but...yeah, this is a pretty big freakin' deal.

But it was Dana who played the Ramones on this week's show. From the group's fantastic 1978 album Road To Ruin, "She's The One" was described in Bomp! magazine as the Ramones' best-ever fast song. Since the lads weren't especially known for their ballads, that's high praise. And it's another high-octane part of my year of the Ramones.

DIONNE WARWICK: Do You Know The Way To San Jose

We end almost all of our shows with at least one after-the-tag bonus track--WAITWAITWAITWAITWAITWAIT! We got a little more This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio!--to spin immediately after Dana and I have signed off for the week. Given our Bacharach-David tribute thread, this week's bonus also needed to be something from that songbook.

My original intent was to use the 5th Dimension's "One Less Bell To Answer" in this spot. As I thought more about it, and knowing that Dionne Warwick was often said to be Bacharach's favorite interpreter of his work, and even though we'd already played her superb rendition of "Walk On By," it felt imperative to end with a Warwick track. 

And it had to be "Do You Know The Way To San Jose." I remember the song from its hit heyday in 1968, which just happened to be the summer I made my first trip to California (a tale told as part of this long narrative of my life in the '60s). The track's sprightly, winning ambiance belies the capitulation expressed in its lyrics. 

Or is it capitulation? Granted, the singer in this story is ditching dreams of stardom in L.A. for a reset in San Jose, presenting a spiritual predecessor to the luckless would-be superstar catching a midnight train to Georgia in the classic '70s hit by Gladys Knight and the Pips. But both Dionne and Gladys see a path to a potential happy ending. There are many ways to succeed. Some of those ways include success on one's own terms.

Do you know the way? It seems that Dionne Warwick did know. Bacharach and David definitely knew. Whether a great big freeway like L.A. or a chance to really breathe in San Jose, Hal David's words teamed with Burt Bacharach's melodies to craft the sound of the American...no, the International Dream.

(I almost included a little snippet of me trying to sing the first verse of "Do You Know The Way To San Jose" before introducing Dionne's record as the way the song is supposed to sound. I thought better of it. I'm certain Dionne would have remained Bacharach's favorite. And rightly so.)

If you like what you see here on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), please consider supporting this blog by becoming a patron on Patreon, or by visiting CC's Tip Jar. Additional products and projects are listed here.

Carl's new book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones is now available for preorder, courtesy of the good folks at Rare Bird Books. Gabba Gabba YAY!!

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.