10 SONGS: 2/28/2026

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 # 1325, celebrating Black History Month

RIHANNA: Shut Up And Drive

Rihanna's "Shut Up And Drive" is a stupid song about sex. But it's a great stupid song about sex, probably the best-ever stupid song about sex, and a legit contender for my all-time Hot 200. Yeah, even among songs that may or may not be stupid and may or may not be about sex.

"Shut Up And Drive" strikes me as a sort-of equivalent to "Heavy Music" by Bob Seger and the Last Heard, a track I initially dismissed as a stupid song about sex before realizing it was--you guessed it!--a great stupid song about sex. Rihanna's song is greater. We'll hear it again on the radio in Syracuse this Sunday night. Drive, baby. Drive.

CHUCK BERRY: Come On

Chuck Berry's 1961 single "Come On" was not a hit in the USA, but it did make the British Top 40 (# 38). One presumes that's where the boys who would soon become the Rolling Stones heard it, and their subsequent cover of "Come On" served as the A-side of the debut Stones single in 1963. Chuck Berry led the way.

SLYBOOTS: If We Could Let Go

Pop perfection, with an aching plea for harmony that resonates and reinforces our hopes for something better than the hateful tsuris surrounding us. Slyboots' 2024 single "If We Could Let Go" is just unforgettable, endlessly enriching, and for damned certain on the best new tracks of the decade to date.

LEMOYNE ALEXANDER: Insecurity

From a previous 10 Songs:

I often mention that there is so much more great music out there that most of us don't get around to hearing. Credit our friends Brett Vargo and Uncle Gregg at the essential weekly podcast Only Three Lads for my recent belated discovery of LeMoyne Alexander. Mr. Alexander is a singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer with a long list of credits in hip-hop and R & B, and his recent guest appearance on O3L not only introduced me to LeMoyne Alexander, but specifically to his extraordinary 2024 single "Insecurity." Whoa! I'm retroactively declaring "Insecurity" to be one of my top tracks of '24. 

There's so much out there that we don't know, that we don't get an opportunity to know. With LeMoyne Alexander's superb rockin' pop track "Insecurity," we'll try to make up a little bit of lost time.

DONNA SUMMER: I Feel Love

From my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1):

1977 had the potential to be a year of musical revolution. When we say that, most of us are talking about punk, about the Sex Pistols, the Ramones, the Clash. Maybe we're not thinking as much about disco, and maybe that's fair. But if we want to consider the potential of pop music's revolution in '77, our discussions of "God Save The Queen," "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker," and "White Riot" had better allow some room on the dancefloor for "I Feel Love" by Donna Summer.

In the late '70s, disco and punk were supposed to be at war with each other. As a self-professed punk rocker in that era, I can attest that, yeah, punks didn't like disco, and the bumpin'-n-hustlin' set was appalled by the loud and fast noise my people favored. Hatfields and Capulets, meet McCoys and Montagues. Never mind the fact that the mainstream rock crowd held both punk and disco in nearly equal disdain; this was war!

Except that it wasn't. I'm skeptical of the notion that many of the Saturday Night Fevered ever took much interest in the Damned or the Dead Boys, but some among the new wave brigade did eventually allow their ears and minds to be a bit more open to non-pogo dance music, to the beat of dat ole debbil disco. Maybe it was just me, but I was a pop fan anyway; my intense dislike of disco music evolved into occasional tolerance, and tolerance evolved into a sporadic realization that some of the records weren't bad. 

Plus: Donna Summer. Donna Summer was gorgeous. I feel love.

Donna Summers's first hit, "Love To Love You Baby," was basically an extended orgasm set to a disco beat (which is not necessarily a bad thing).  But "I Feel Love" is more interesting; still shimmering and sexy--Donna Summer at that time could have covered the Singing Nun, and still been shimmering and sexy--but its European syncopation makes it even sexier, if not quite as sweaty. Or perhaps not as obviously sweaty....

WILSON PICKETT: Land Of 1000 Dances

"Land Of 1000 Dance." Our National Anthem. Well, it should be our National Anthem. And with no disrespect intended toward the 1962 original by Chris Kenner nor the hit 1965 remake by Cannibal and the Headhunters (whose fine version was the first to add the familiar na nana na na, nana na na na na na na na na, nana na naaaaaaa), I say folks attending baseball games across this occasionally (if not lately)-great land of ours should all rise for the wicked Wilson Pickett's evocation of doin' the Pony like Bony Maronie. Na nana na na, nana na na na na na na na na, nana na naaaaaaa. Batter up!

LL COOL J: Mama Said Knock You Out

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE BELLRAYS: One More Night

Like LeMoyne Alexander, the BellRays are another supercool act introduced to my eager ears via the Only Three Lads podcast. See? Ya learn stuff listening to O3L! You can catch up with your BellRays acclimation via their two-part O3L appearance in 2024: Part 1 and Part 2. To supplement your essential BellRays 101, let's review how the mighty Brett Vargo hyped their O3L spot:

"We're havin' a party this week! Joining us for a lively, laugh-filled exploration of 1973 albums is the heart and soul of the BellRays, singer Lisa Kekaula and guitarist Bob Vennum, who have been gloriously blending high octane punk, powerful soul music, deep blues, gritty garage rock, and whatever else they want to throw into the stew, since 1990. This is a band that defies expectations or pre-conceived notions and transcends any one genre or scene. Their music is all about energy and feel, and that makes them authentic no matter what the style is. To quote their 2020 compilation, It’s Never To Late To Fall In Love With...The BellRays."

NEVER too late! I can't explain why it took me so long to purchase some BellRays music and get it on the radio where it belongs. In that never-too-late spirit, the BellRays finally make their long-overdue TIRnRR debut with this killer track from their 2024 album Heavy Steady Go! They'll be back. We have a lot of time to overcompensate for, one more night at a time.

BOOKER T AND THE MG'S: Green Onions

Dana's pick for what oughta be our National Anthem. Booker T and the MG's with "Green Onions' or Wilson Pickett with "Land Of 1000 Dances?" Can't go wrong either way.

THE FOUR TOPS: Reach Out I'll Be There

Reach out. The bad guys have the power. We have the numbers. Reach out, my friends. Reach out.

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: 3/28/2025

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 # 1278

SUPER 8 FEATURING LISA MYCHOLS: When We Close Our Eyes

I'm digging the process of putting together this tribute album celebrating Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse the Flashcubes. Make Something Happen! A Tribute To A DIY Power Pop Band Called THE FLASHCUBES is due in September from the irresistible Big Stir Records label, and we've already previewed a few of its Cubic covers courtesy of sparkle*jets u.k., the Kennedys, the Spongetones, and Pop Co-Op, as well as its opening track "Reminisce" by the Flashcubes themselves. This week's TIRnRR kicks off with the everywhere-wide radio debut of another treat from Make Something Happen!, as the combined rockin' pop forces of Super 8 Featuring Lisa Mychols turn in their own super-yummy take on the Flashcubes' "When We Close Our Eyes." Brilliant!

A brief bit of behind-the-scenes kudos to Super 8's Trip Ryan and his collaborator Lisa: "When We Close Our Eyes" was written by Flashcubes guitarist Arty Lenin, and it may be my favorite from Arty's songbook, rivaled only by "Nothing Really Matters When You're Young" (which the Spongetones have done a superb job of covering for this tribute album). Given my affection for the song, it was important for me to see it included on Make Something Happen! It had been assigned to another artist, but alas, that didn't work out. Trip 'n' Lisa stepped in to save us, and they did so pretty late in the game. YAY, Trip and Lisa! The Cubic legion salutes you!

Next week's show will offer another spin of the great current Super 8 Featuring Lisa Mychols single "Pop Radio," part of a stealth programming move to play a bunch of unrelated tracks by artists who will be represented on Make Something Happen!, mixing them in alongside a number of other acts, both classic and current (from the Beatles, the Ramones and the Rubinoos to Airport 77's, Amy Rigby, and Chris Church), who won't be on the tribute. We like to keep you guessing. We like to keep us guessing. With open eyes, and radio turned UP. 

THE FLASHCUBES: Reminisce

Speaking of that opening track from Make Something Happen!, 'Cubes guitarist Paul Armstrong's "Reminisce" is so far my favorite individual track of 2025, and it's gonna be a tough one to challenge. The song was first written in the '90s and (I think) only performed once before being filed away and mostly forgotten. (I remember it, of course, but I'm, y'know...me.)

If I understand the subsequent story correctly, several months back PA reconstructed the song from memory, moving what had been a somewhat perfunctory number into the magic realm of rock 'n' roll transcendence, toasting the past but raising the roof in the here and now, even adding a Ramones quote that nails a demonstration of the essential truth that what's cool once is cool forever. The present is built upon the past. We can still jump up, down, and all around to its sound. 

And we will!

sparkle*jets u.k.: Make Something Happen

On Make Something Happen!, "Reminisce" will segue into sparkle*jets u.k.'s luscious cover of the album's title tune, which was written by 'Cubes bassist Gary Frenay. It's a song I wanted the Monkees to record for their 2016 triumph Good Times! (and I'd still like to hear a version with a Micky Dolenz lead vocal), and I'm delighted with how wonderful the song sounds now in the always-capable hands of sparkle*jets u.k.

(On our next show, a track from sparkle*jets u.k.'s most recent album Box Of Letters will play its part in our unspoken salute to the performers on Make Something Happen! Box Of Letters was absolutely one of the best albums of 2024, maybe the single best album in a year of a lot of really, really good albums. I'm so grateful they also agreed to take part in the Flashcubes tribute album.)

THE RUBINOOS: Rock 'n' Roll Is Dead

"Rock 'n' roll is dead?" No. It's. NOT! Come on, Rubinoos! You know better than that! Hell, this very song proves its title was, like, ironic or something. 

My Rubinoos fandom is detailed here. What a great, great band, then and now. Just don't believe them when they kid you about the death of rock 'n' roll. Pranksters. Pranksters, the lot of them.

DONNA SUMMER: I Feel Love

The year of 1977--the same year when I first became a fan of the Rubinoos-- also provided me with the first Donna Summer song I ever loved. "I Feel Love" was the second Donna Summer song I heard, but 1975's "Love To Love You Baby" never meant anything to me (its implied 'n' earthy sense of bouncy-bouncy notwithstanding). By contrast, the new wave cool of "I Feel Love" was so monolithic and precise that even my practiced teen anti-disco stance couldn't hope to resist its sway. I feel it. As I wrote in my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1):

"1977 had the potential to be a year of musical revolution. When we say that, most of us are talking about punk, about the Sex Pistols, the Ramones, the Clash. Maybe we're not thinking as much about disco, and maybe that's fair. But if we want to consider the potential of pop music's revolution in '77, our discussions of 'God Save The Queen,' 'Sheena Is A Punk Rocker,' and 'White Riot' had better allow some room on the dancefloor for 'I Feel Love' by Donna Summer.

"In the late '70s, disco and punk were supposed to be at war with each other. As a self-professed punk rocker in that era, I can attest that, yeah, punks didn't like disco, and the bumpin'-n-hustlin' set was appalled by the loud and fast noise my people favored. Hatfields and Capulets, meet McCoys and Montagues. Never mind the fact that the mainstream rock crowd held both punk and disco in nearly equal disdain; this was war!

"Except that it wasn't. I'm skeptical of the notion that many of the Saturday Night Fevered ever took much interest in the Damned or the Dead Boys, but some among the new wave brigade did eventually allow their ears and minds to be a bit more open to non-pogo dance music, to the beat of dat ole debbil disco. Maybe it was just me, but I was a pop fan anyway; my intense dislike of disco music evolved into occasional tolerance, and tolerance evolved into a sporadic realization that some of the records weren't bad. 

"Plus: Donna Summer. Donna Summer was gorgeous. I feel love...."

THE MONKEES: For Pete's Sake

THE MONKEES: You Just May Be The One

Collectively, The Greatest Record Ever Made!

CHUBBY CHECKER: The Twist

I have not been shy in proclaiming that the ongoing failure of The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame to induct the Monkees is that institution's single most egregious omission among a big ol' stack of egregious omissions. #inductthemonkees awready!

Chubby Checker is likely my pick for the Hall's second-biggest snub to date. His 1960 hit "The Twist" is one of the most impactful singles of the rock 'n' roll roll era, and while it's good and proper that Hank Ballard and the Midnighters (who recorded the original version of "The Twist") are in the Hall, it was Chubby Checker's mass hit version that made history, broke barriers, changed the course of mighty rivers, bent steel in its bare hands, et cetera. The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame's wish to punish Chubby Checker for the mortal sin of not being Hank Ballard is--how shall I phrase this delicately?--fucking brain-dead stupid. At long last, Chubby Checker has been nominated FOR THE FIRST TIME [?!], and I pray he finally gets in this year.

(How seismic was Chubby Checker's "The Twist?" It is easily one of the all-time Top Five most impactful 45s, and you could make a case for it in the Top Three. "Heartbreak Hotel" by King Elvis I is # 1, and I don't consider that point subject to debate. Bill Haley and his Comets' "Rock Around The Clock" has to at least be in the discussion, just by virtue of being rock 'n' roll's first # 1 hit. And Beatlemania, of course, with either "She Loves You" in the UK or "I Want To Hold Your Hand" in America. I think those are the four, and I don't even have a ready candidate for a fifth 45. Impact. That's all I'm talking about here. There are records I like even more than I like these, but I can't think of any other picks that could rival their importance and effect upon the rock and pop world.)

JOE GIDDINGS: Tonite Tonite

Stories With Guitars is the excellent current album from Joe Giddings, and we've been playing its magnificent radio-ready track "Tonite Tonite" with all of the dizzyingly manic fervor people expect from obsessive pop fans like Dana and Carl. It's what we do!

We're playing our man Joe again on our next show, but we're giving "Tonite Tonite" the week off. What gift from Giddings are we programming in its stead? Joe Giddings IS one of the fine acts on this Flashcubes tribute album. So! Let's open this coming Sunday night's radio record party with Joe Giddings covering the Flashcubes. Set bright lights to stun. You won't want to miss this.

IRENE PEÑA: Come And Get It

Pop music. If you want it, here it is. You know what to do.

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, 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.

10 SONGS: 11/22/2024

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 # 1260.

THE COWSILLS: Shine

For years now, I've been proudly declaring that the Cowsills' under-heard and underrated 1998 work Global is my favorite album of the '90s. Its track "She Said To Me" is a TIRnRR standard; the Cowsills themselves allowed us its use on our compilation This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 2, and the song has its own chapter in my current book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). The rest of Global is just as good.

The original album has been out of print for decades, limiting chances for its discovery by potential new fans. During the course of interviews I've done on behalf of my GREM! book, radio host Jim Monaghan expressed his delight that I cast a spotlight on a track from Global, whereas journalist Jeff Tamarkin (who knows more about music than I'll ever know) wasn't familiar with it at all. My favorite album of the '90s, but for most music lovers the album may as well have never existed in the first place.

Omnivore Records' new deluxe reissue of Global remedies that. You can read Jeff Tamarkin's discussion with Bob Cowsill about Global and its reissue here, and you can get with it awready and buy your own copy of Global here. 

The updated Global includes three previously-unreleased tracks from the same era. Each of the three deserves to be part of the Global experience, and we're pleased to open this week's radio extravaganza with one of them. We'll hear another one on Sunday night. Global is as Global does.

DONNA SUMMER: She Works Hard For The Money 

When Donna Summer's "She Works Hard For The Money" hit big in the '80s, I wanted to hear how it would sound in the hands of a rock band, emphasizing the song's Kinks-like riff. I also wanted to hear a hard rock version of Summer's disco smash "I Feel Love." I don't think I was looking for capital-R ROCK! validation of the songs--I liked both songs just fine as they were--but I was, I dunno, imagining how they could cross over into a different market.

Even if those versions had happened, though, I'm confident Donna Summer's originals would have remained definitive.

We play Donna Summer on TIRnRR, perhaps not a lot, but enough that listeners aren't surprised when a "Hot Stuff" or an "I Feel Love" finds its way to our sovereign airwaves. I love both of those records, and frankly I'm surprised we've never gotten around to playing "She Works Hard For The Money" before this week. It's come close on a few previous occasions,  and it was specifically in our initial programming blueprints each of the two previous weeks. Yes, it worked hard for the airplay.

And it deserves it. 

SLYBOOTS: If We Could Let Go

NYC combo Slyboots made their TIRnRR debut on May 19th of this year with a cover of Meat Puppets' "Oh, Me." In June, we started playing their original tune "Blindsided," and that track's now a likely lock for the year-end countdown show of our most-played tracks in 2024.

As superb as "Blindsided" is, the new Slyboots single "If We Could Let Go" is somehow even better, and easily one of my favorite tracks of this year. The title offers a path forward in troubled times, even if it's a path I'm not sure I'm ready to take. Yet. But we'll play the song, again and again. Another great record from a great group.

THE ARMOIRES: Ridley & Me After The Apocalypse

I don't think we've quite reached the "after the apocalypse" stage. We might not even be into the thick of its spiraling malaise. We're approaching the onramp. The onramp to Armageddon. Road trip! We'll face the apocalypse with rings on our fingers, bells on our toes, chips on our shoulders, and a song by the Armoires in our hearts.

CARLA OLSON AND TALL POPPY SYNDROME: Is It True

With this turn on the ol' virtual turntable, Carla Olson and Tall Poppy Syndrome's cover of Brenda Lee's "Is It True" makes its seventh consecutive weekly appearance on the TIRnRR playlist. We'll go for eight in a row on Sunday. 

THE PALEY BROTHERS: Come Out And Play

Earlier this month, we received news that the great Andy Paley was nearing the end of his life. The information was not meant to made public at the time, so we paid unspoken tribute with another spin of "Come Out And Play," the 1978 pure pop gem from the Paley Brothers, Andy and Jonathan Paley. We circled back later in the playlist for "Come On Let's Go," the Paley Brothers' collaboration with the Ramones to render the definitive cover of that Ritchie Valens classic. We toasted amongst ourselves in appreciation of the life and gift of one of pop music's good guys.

Andy Paley passed this week. We mourn along with those who knew him better, including some mutual friends who are experiencing a personal loss far beyond what we feel as fans. Others are better suited to eulogize him, and to celebrate the pervasive breadth and depth of his legacy, a wide-ranging c.v. of heart and substance, inspiration and accomplishment, craft and artistry. 

Our suns only shine upon us for the briefest of times. While we are here, we are together. Come out and play.

LESLEY GORE: You Don't Own Me

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE BOBBY FULLER FOUR: I Fought The Law

Realizing that this week's show was TIRnRR # 1260, it felt important to celebrate the importance of that number in my life: 

1260 WNDR!!

1260 WNDR was (along with The Big 15 WOLF) one of the two Syracuse Top 40 AM radio stations that shaped so much of my development as a pop music fan in the '60s and '70s. We devoted the entirety of this week's closing set to songs Dana and/or I used to hear on WNDR and/or WOLF.

And the set began with a song I remember hearing on the radio when I was six years old. From my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1):

"In 1966, my brother Art had a red Alfa Romeo. I'm told it was a shitty car, and I remember its ignominious final days in his possession: A scarlet husk parked, prone, lying in state beyond the shed at the end of our back yard. Collecting dust, collecting rust. A tow truck came to whisk this luckless red shell to its final reward.

"But my prevailing memory of this doomed vehicle is a happy one. The memory involves the consumption of Royal Crown Cola, or possibly a root beer and Teen Burger at the nearby A & W Drive-In. The memory absolutely involves the car's one true immortal virtue: 

"Its radio. 

"That radio? When I was six years old, I thought that radio was magic.

"I mean, it must have been magic. There were songs I heard on that car's radio that I never heard anywhere else. But it was a different magic than I imagined; it was Syracuse's 1260 WNDR-AM. Set to 1260, the Alfa Romeo played 'I Like It Like That' by the Dave Clark Five, a record that--to me--only existed in Art’s star-crossed Alfa Romeo. Even better, it played--often!--another irresistible exclusive: 'I Fought the Law' by the Bobby Fuller Four. 

"My visceral memory of that terrific song remains inextricably linked to those moments in my brother's Alfa Romeo, of drums, guitars, and a singer bemoaning his fate of breakin' rocks in the hot sun, all pouring forth from the little car's speakers as my big brother cruised suburban streets with his pesky kid brother on board. It's indelible, and I embrace and cherish its vivid image...."

FREDA PAYNE: Band Of Gold

While my ears were stapled to WOLF and WNDR in Syracuse, my future wife Brenda was a little girl listening to WABC in New York. Also from The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1):

"Brenda also grew up listening to the radio. Jesus, didn't everyone our age do that? As a little girl originally from Brooklyn, living from school-age to young adulthood on Staten Island in a government housing project--an environment dramatically more racially- and culturally-diverse than my vanilla childhood surroundings--she was immersed in a lot more black music than this suburban kid was exposed to during the same time frame. 

"But Top 40 radio was an equal-opportunity rush. I heard Motown, just like she did. I heard the Honey Cone, Isaac Hayes, the Spinners, the Stylistics, the O'Jays, Rufus, Curtis Mayfield, and more, all pop music, offered for interracial, interfaith radio worship along with the Partridge Family, Three Dog Night, the Carpenters, Alice Cooper, and John Denver. It was the soundtrack of the seventies, in the city and the suburbs alike. Brenda heard more of it, and she heard it more often; but the soulful sounds certainly reached my ears sometimes, too.

"At the end of 1970, when Brenda was eleven years old, she listened to the year-end countdown on New York's WABC, the home of iconic NYC DJ Cousin Brucie. 

"Cousin Brooooooooooocieeee! 

"Ahem. As she listened to the radio's proclamations that New Year's Eve, as '70 became '71, Brenda knew exactly which great record would be anointed # 1 for the Year Of Our Lord Nineteen Hundred And Seventy. And she was right. Number ONE! ONE! ONE! ONE! ONE! Freda Payne, 'Band of Gold.' Brenda's belief was validated. And the hits just kept on coming...."

THE BEATLES: I Want To Hold Your Hand

Pop mania's Ground Zero. In Syracuse, we heard it on WNDR. Tweeeelve-sixty, double-you-enn-dee-ARRRRRRRE! 

I think you understand.

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, 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.

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.