10 SONGS: 8/31/2023

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 # 1196. This show is available as a podcast.

THE ANDERSON COUNCIL: This Is Where I Belong

Heh. Right before the announcement that the good folks at Underground Garage had selected the Anderson Council's cover of the Kinks' "Do You Remember Walter?" as this week's Coolest Song In The World, we'd already picked a different Anderson Council track from the same Jem Records Celebrates Ray Davies tribute album to kick off our own show. The more the mightier! Heck, our pal and colleague Rich Firestone also gave a spin to "Do You Remember Walter?" on this weekend's edition of Radio Deer Camp, so Jem Records Celebrates Ray Davies is clearly well on its way to utter and delighted world domination.

And that's where it belongs.

GRAHAM PARKER AND THE GOLDTOPS: Wicked Wit

Our friends at Big Stir Records scored a major huzZAH! when they signed a deal to put out a new album by venerable British rocker Graham Parker. Credited to Graham Parker and the Goldtops, Last Chance To Learn The Twist stands proud and tall alongside the impressive body of work Parker has created over a span of decades. 

This week, we specifically whooped up that string of excellence with a one-two then-and-now shot of primo Parker, with Graham Parker and the Rumour's 1976 classic "Pouring It All Out" clearing a righteous path for ace new number "Wicked Wit." This will not be your last chance to learn the new Graham Parker record on TIRnRR.

Oh. And in between "Pouring It All Out" and "Wicked Wit," we dropped in a new TIRnRR show ID by none other than Graham Parker himself. Graham freakin' Parker recorded an ID for our little mutant radio program. I need to commandeer a time machine and tell my younger self about that.

WENDI DUNLAP: Season Of Loss

Can one find catharsis in pop music? Yeah. Of course. Art can challenge us, but it can also comfort us when comfort is our basic need. Take a sad song and make it better. Reach out, I'll be there. Ain't no mountain high enough. Stand by me. I'm ready for my luck to turn around.

This December will mark the second anniversary of my Mom's passing. She would have been 98 years old this week, on Monday. I'm okay, really quite okay. I'm aware of her absence, especially when some milestone occurs or some cool thing happens and my first reaction is I gotta tell Mom! I'll be very aware of it when my daughter gets married in October. But while Mom's life was no stranger to sorrow, it was still a long life filled with love. I'm not sad. I'm grateful.

I didn't have any of the above in mind when I programmed Wendi Dunlap's sublime "Season Of Loss" into this playlist. The track is from Wendi's album Looking For Buildings, and I confess I was originally thinking of playing the track at the top of the show, an acknowledgement of the loss all around us. The devastation in Maui was my primary influence, as I've been unable to say anything of use or value to that awful situation. Fires. Hurricanes. Illness. Violence. It's alway a season of loss.

Upon further review, I realized that's just too much burden to place on a beguiling pop track. We let the song play in the middle of our second set instead. Freed of expectations.

A comfort nonetheless. 'Tis the season. It always is.

THE RAMONES: It's Not My Place (In The 9 To 5 World)

I've been thinking about retirement. That event is still a ways off--three years, four months, two weeks, and three days, but who's counting?--and I do indeed dig that one should be careful how one wishes. Right, Mr. Limpet?

Yeah, can't be too careful with wishes to be fishes. Meanwhile, I still work full-time in retail. I'm not unhappy; it's a job, it's a paycheck, and I'm comfortable with the circumstances. I'd like more time to write, travel, write, dance, write, read, write, play, and write, and I make use of what time I have for all of that in the here and now. For the moment, it is my place in the 9 to 5 world.

The Ramones are the subject of my first book, published earlier this year. "It's Not My Place (In The 9 To 5 World)" is from the Ramones' 1981 album Pleasant Dreams. Of the Ramones' 16 studio albums, Pleasant Dreams sounds the least like classic Ramones. The group's first four albums are always gonna be my favorites, but I've been getting into this sixth album a lot this year. It's not the equal of Ramones, Leave Home, Rocket To Russia, or Road To Ruin, but it is great, and it's way, way underrated.

And it has its place. 

BOBBY SUTLIFF: Same Way Tomorrow

I didn't know Bobby Sutliff. We were friends on Facebook, but I don't remember whether or not we ever had any substantive contact via the great and powerful interwebs.

Nonetheless, I know for damned sure that our indie pop world has suffered a loss with Bobby's passing last week. His body of work, both as a solo artist and with the great rockin' pop combo the Windbreakers (fronted by Bobby and his fellow popsmith Tim Lee), is rightly revered among true rockin' pop believers, and the work will live on. We mourn the loss of the man who created that work.

I wrote the above about a year ago, shortly after we heard that Sutliff had died. Now, Jem Records is celebrating Bobby's legacy with an expanded reissue of his 1987 album Only Ghosts Remain. With its title tweaked to Only Ghosts Remain Plus, the Jem release adds eleven bonus tracks from throughout Sutliff's solo career, doubling the original album's selections. The bonus tracks effectively make this The Best Of Bobby Sutliff, and that's saying something. I already have most of the bonus tracks (which include my favorite Sutcliff gem "Griffin Bay"), but somehow I never owned a copy of Only Ghosts Remain.

I have it now, and it's just splendid. If you likewise revere all that's jangly, I recommend you get this one, too.

THE FLASHCUBES: Forget About You

Our friends at Big Stir Records scored a major huhZAH! when they signed a deal to put out a new album by Syracuse's own power pop powerhouses the Flashcubes. Dana and I may have played a tiny little part in introducing one party to the other--Rex and Christina! Gary, Paul, Arty, and Tommy! DO SOMETHING TOGETHER!!--but our preexisting bias isn't necessary to recognize that the new 'Cubes album Pop Masters is flat-out incredible. Album of the year, mates. 

And this week we introduced yet another spin of the Flashcubes' Pop Masters cover of the Motors' "Forget About You" with a brand-new TIRnRR show ID by none other than Gary Frenay of the Flashcubes. I need to commandeer a time machine and tell my younger self about that, too.

THE LOVIN' SPOONFUL: She Is Still A Mystery

My recent Greatest Record Ever Made! piece about the Lovin' Spoonful's "Summer In The City" included these comments about the group's 1967 single "She Is Still A Mystery:"

In addition to my undying allegiance to "Summer In The City," another favorite Spoonful tune was a lesser-known hit that I also heard on oldies radio: "She Is Still A Mystery." This fragile-sounding ode to love's quirks and uncertainties, its elusive nature and endless allure, took command of my equally-fragile inner romantic, which surrendered unconditionally. My inner romantic fights like a wimp.

CHUBBY CHECKER AND DEE DEE SHARP: Slow Twistin'

I wrote here about seeing Chubby Checker perform live last week. Checker is not represented in my long-threatened book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1), though his "Let's Do The Freddie" does get a mention in that book's Freddie and the Dreamers chapter. But I tell ya, Chubby's 1960 smash "The Twist" is quite possibly THE single most seismic 45 of all time, and it certainly merits its own GREM! spotlight. The task of writing that has been added to my voluminous to-do list. Come on, baby!

Greatest is its own distinct (and infinite) category. Favorite is a separate consideration. My favorite Chubby Checker record is "Slow Twistin'," his 1962 hit collaboration with Dee Dee Sharp. Listening to a Chubby Checker best-of CD (and now having seen him perform) proves that, man, there's a lot of greatness to be found in the Checker catalog. Slow Twist? Fast Twist?All the Twists, and all the Ponys, Flys, Limbos, and--what the hell--Freddies, too. Round and round and round we go.

THE BEATLES: Revolution

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

EARTH, WIND AND FIRE: September

September is upon us. And it's high time for The 12th Annual DANA'S FUNKY SOUL PIT! We figured we'd start gettin' psyched for next week's epic new Soul Pit by closing this week's show with a double-length set of soul and R & B. And that set commenced with the irresistible elemental force of Earth, Wind and Fire. 

I didn't even realize the accidental serendipity of opening this end-of-August Soul Pit set with "September" until after the show aired. But we'll take it. September looms. The 12th Annual Dana's Funky Soul Pit awaits on September 3.

Say that you'll remember.

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, courtesy of the good folks at Rare Bird Books. Gabba Gabba YAY!! https://rarebirdlit.com/gabba-gabba-hey-a-conversation-with-the-ramones-by-carl-cafarelli/

If it's true that one book leads to another, my next book will be The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). Stay tuned. Your turn is coming.

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.

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl

10 SONGS: 8/25/2022: In The SOUL PIT!

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 # 1143: The 11th Annual DANA'S FUNKY SOUL PIT!

AL GREEN: I Want To Hold Your Hand

Yeah, we got the feelin' now! For this year's edition of the Soul Pit, Dana wanted to focus on soul and R & B covers of classics from the Beatles' songbook.  With that goal in mind, the obvious choice to open The 11th Annual Dana's Funky Soul Pit had to be the Reverend Al Green's cover of the Fab Four's breakthrough American hit  "I Want To Hold Your Hand." If the good Reverend's winning groove on this track isn't our single most-played Beatles cover over the course of TIRnRR's long and storied tenure, I can't imagine what else could possibly hold that distinction. An absolutely fabulous record. I think you understand.

BILLY PRESTON: Blackbird

Everyone who watched the Beatles documentary Get Back witnessed irrefutable evidence of Billy Preston as a de facto Fifth Beatle. Preston's entry into the disjointed, chaotic mess that had characterized the Get Back sessions up to that point brought sudden life and redemption to the project, energized the Beatles, and (if you will) took a sad song and made it better. Preston is also, I think, the only Apple Records recording artist to appear on this week's playlist.

And Preston appears twice. Preston's "Eight Days A Week" opens our second set, and his "Blackbird" follows Al Green's "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and Aretha Franklin's "Eleanor Rigby" to form the show's introductory triptych.

Paul McCartney has claimed that he wrote "Blackbird" as a song of solidarity for the civil rights movement. I'm not convinced that our Macca didn't maybe apply that motivation retroactively, but what do I know? The lyrics do fit Paul's stated intent. I confess I don't love the Beatles' version quite as much as I did when I got my first copy of the White Album in 1977. Preston's rendition still sounds fresh to my ears.

MARTHA REEVES AND THE VANDELLAS: Something

Much has been written about George Harrison's presumed frustration as a songwriter stuck in a group with a couple of other prolific songwriters. Perhaps the Quiet One had the last laugh, as "Something" and "Here Comes The Sun," his two contributions to the Beatles' final album Abbey Road, were the highlights on one of rockin' pops all-time greatest LPs. I mean, John Lennon and Paul McCartney also brought A-level material to Abbey Road, and Ringo Starr turned in "Octopus's Garden" (which maybe isn't quite A-level, but is way preferable to Paul's "Maxwell's Silver Hammer"), but George's songs steal the show.

(And how mixed must George's feelings have been when none other than Frank Sinatra performed "Something" in concert, but referred to it as his favorite Lennon-McCartney song? Ouch, Mr. Blue Eyes.)

"Something" does lend itself to interpretations across styles. I don't think a metal or punk version would work as anything beyond pointless parody, but the song fits Sinatra, and Martha Reeves and the Vandellas make it sound like a natural-born Motown hit. Something in the way they move.

SCREAMIN' JAY HAWKINS: A Hard Day's Night

Much of the appeal of a show like this year's Soul Pit is the thrill of hearing familiar songs in unfamiliar and novel versions. Prior to hearing Dana's selections, I wouldn't have even imagined manic "I Put A Spell On You" auteur Screamin' Jay Hawkins attempting a Beatles cover. But he did! And it's friggin' GREAT! I don't think ol' Screamin' had any real affinity for the song, and I wouldn't be shocked to find out it wasn't his idea to record it. Nonetheless...that growl! That SCREAM! Yeah yeah YEAH!!

THE SUPREMES: A World Without Love

Never recorded by the Beatles, "A World Without Love" is a song Lennon and McCarney gave away. They just GAVE it away! And then collected royalties on Peter and Gordon's hit version. After Peter and Gordon were done with it, I guess the Supremes picked it up second-hand. One group's trash, another group's treasure. From the Supremes' British Evasion LP A Bit Of Liverpool.

EARTH, WIND & FIRE: Got To Get You Into My Life

A superb track from a shitty movie.

I'm one of the many dozens of people who saw Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in a theater at the time of its release in 1978. Ask me why, I'll say...I dunno. My tastes ran to punk, power pop, and '60s rock 'n' roll, certainly not the disco sounds of the film's stars the Bee Gees, nor really the AM/FM fare offered by its other star Peter Frampton. I was sufficiently open to Aerosmith to allow their version of "Come Together" (but agreed with a contemporary film reviewer who said a punk band like the Dead Boys would have been a more appropriate choice to play the dangerous 'n' evil rock band). Otherwise? Not even the presence of Steve Martin and Alice Cooper could redeem this cinematic disaster.

I didn't appreciate Earth, Wind and Fire's "Got To Get You Into My Life" until much, much later. At the time, I was enough of a Beatles purist to be shocked--SHOCKED!--that any act would have the gall to rearrange a Beatles song to suit their own style. Imagine!

Now? I prefer Earth, Wind and Fire's "Got To Get You Into My Life" to the Beatles' original, and I do still like the Beatles' original. The song was not my gateway into embracing EWF's music; that entry came via Brenda, a girl I met at school later that same Sgt. Pepper year of '78. 

Brenda loved Earth, Wind and Fire; over time, I gave EWF a fair listen, and eventually realized I love 'em, too. Brenda, in turn, gave the Ramones and the Kinks--and the Beatles!--a fair listen, and she became interested in them as well. New 1978 Girlfriend Brenda has been Lovely Wife Brenda since 1984. I was alone, I took a ride, I didn't know what I would find there.

Last week, Brenda and I saw Earth, Wind and Fire in concert, on a bill with Santana (another of Brenda's favorites). It was our first time seeing Santana, our second time seeing EWF. What a great, great band, both live and on record. "Got To Get You Into My Life" isn't my # 1 favorite EWF track--that would be either "Let's Groove," "Boogie Wonderland," or "September," followed by "After The Love Has Gone"--but it's one of my favorites, it's fantastic to hear in concert, and it's one of but a handful of Beatles covers I think surpasses the original. 

Thank you, Brenda, for turning me on to Earth, Wind and Fire. The music and the love continue. Got to get you into my life, into my life.

LITTLE RICHARD: Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey (Goin' Back To Birmingham)

For the final set of 2022's Soul Pit, Dana turned from soul and R & B covers of the Beatles to a few of the soul and R & B legends who inspired the young Beatles in the first place. As an unknown act playing dives (and worse), the early Beatles wanted to be a soul group. Little Richard provided one of their biggest influences, a flamboyant explosion of WOW! emanating with incendiary intent outta Macon, Georgia. 

Little Richard taught Paul McCartney how to scream. Perhaps more than any other among the many acts the Beatles wanted to copy, Little Richard gave John, Paul, and George (and, one presumes, Stu Sutcliffe and Pete Best) a working model of dynamism, of rock 'n' roll assault with intent to thrill. 

The Beatles were a great cover band. A great, great cover band. Most of the covers the Beatles recorded improved on the originals. 

Not even the Beatles could improve upon Little Richard.

CHUCK BERRY: Rock And Roll Music

Just let me hear some more of that rock 'n' roll music.

If we try to assess the overall impact of individual rock 'n' roll performers, two names stand high above all others: Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley. No one else comes close to the importance of Elvis and Chuck; the Beatles were immensely important, but there wouldn't have been a Beatles if both the brown-eyed handsome man and the King hadn't made rock 'n' roll rock in the first place. Rock 'n' roll predates the debuts of Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry. Without Chuck and Elvis, we're not still talkin' about rock 'n' roll all these decades on.

John Lennon named Elvis as his own prime inspiration. But Chuck Berry's influence is easier to hear within the Beatles' work, not just in the Berry covers the Fabs did, but in wordplay, in groove, and in playin' guitars just like a-ringin' a bell. And in "Back In The USSR." King Elvis I made the Beatles want to become the Beatles. Chuck Berry showed 'em how it's done.

The Beatles introduced me to Chuck Berry, just like they introduced me to Little Richard, Buddy Holly, Carl Perkins, Larry Williams, and more. I didn't hear any version of "Roll Over Beethoven" until much later; The Beatles' Second Album wasn't one of the LPs I heard in my formative years, but Beatles '65 was, and its scorchin' rendition of "Rock And Roll Music" remains my # 1 Chuck Berry cover. It's the only Chuck Berry cover I prefer to the original.

THE MARVELETTES: Please Mr. Postman

The Beatles also loved the girl group sound. They covered the Shirelles, the Cookies, and the Donays, and the above-cited record The Beatles' Second Album (or With The Beatles in the UK) gave us their version of the Marvelettes' "Please Mr. Postman." 

The Beatles own the song. Own it. But the Marvelettes did record something else that is The Greatest Record Ever Made!

ARTHUR ALEXANDER: A Shot Of Rhythm & Blues

Yep. The Beatles wanted to be a soul group. Specifically, Paul McCartney said that the Beatles wanted to be like Arthur Alexander. The late, great Arthur Alexander didn't enjoy much chart success--only 1962's "You Better Move On" breached Billboard's Top 20, and only "Anna (Go To Him)" was a real success on the soul chart (# 10, also in '62)--but he had fans. 

Fans like the Beatles. Fans like the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan, and many more. Though not a musician himself, Alexander wrote a number of his songs, and he could likewise make a song written by someone else into something uniquely Arthur Alexander. He was an incredible talent, and it's unfortunate that most who do know his works know them via better-known covers by those Beatles, Stones, Dylan, and others.

But without those covers, maybe we wouldn't know Alexander at all. Alexander's versions are nearly always the superior; about the only exception I can think of is Elvis Presley's "Burning Love," which Alexander didn't write but did record first. Alexander's disciples spread his Gospel as best they could. "Anna" was the only Alexander cover the Beatles released in a finished studio recording, but "A Shot Of Rhythm And Blues" and "Soldier Of Love" were staples of their early, pre-fame live shows, and their renditions survive in tapes of BBC radio performances.

The Beatles wanted to be like Arthur Alexander. That was a pretty high goal, and it was a goal they could not achieve. But they did pretty well for themselves, didn't they? And that means we all owe Arthur Alexander a huge debt of gratitude. 

We can start to repay that by playing his records. If you don't know Arthur Alexander, man, it is waaay past time you fixed that. Get a shot of rhythm and blues, and just a little rock 'n' roll on the side. Just for good measure. It was good enough for the Beatles. 

So here's the thing that you should do...

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.

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.

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl

10 SONGS: 6/2/2022

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 # 1131.

POP CO-OP: Suspension

Over the course of four consecutive weeks, it was our great honor and privilege to open each fresh broadcast with the debut of an exclusive new track from Suspension, the ultrafab new album from ultrafab pop guys Pop Co-Op. Now, they belong to the world. Lucky world! For our final act before ceding bragging rights, we served up the title tune, and reveled in the self-rewarding act of playing records. We were exclusive; now, we welcome all of you to the club.

And on Friday, June 3rd--TOMORROW!--Pop Co-Op is throwing a virtual Suspension release party, and you're invited. Music! Chatter! Prizes! FUN! And we have been personally promised that there is no danger of us learning anything substantive while we're at it. It all sprawls forth from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm Eastern Pop Co-Op Time, and YOU, mis amigos y amigas, really oughtta haveta. 

(Oh, and what the hell--we'll play yet another new track from Suspension on next week's show. All radio shows should do that.)

EARTH, WIND AND FIRE: September

Back in the fall of 1978, when the darlin' I now refer to as my lovely wife Brenda was still billed as my lovely new girlfriend Brenda, our individual musical tastes appeared...well, if not incompatible, at least divergent. I favored rock 'n' roll, punk, power pop, the Sex Pistols and the Jam, and Brenda preferred a mix of pop, soul, disco, and soft rock, Santana and Earth, Wind and Fire.

Never the twain shall meet? Don't be silly. As Hoover and Martinez have been telling us in a recent TIRnRR Pick T'Click, the heart wants what the heart wants. The rest can be sorted over time.

And sort we did. Before very long, Brenda was writing Ramones lyrics in the margins of her notebook, and I was playing Sugarhill Gang's "Rappers Delight" (by my own choice) at a party in my dorm suite. Over the course of ensuing decades, Brenda and I have enjoyed dates to see performances by Carole King, KISS, Chicago, the above-mentioned Ramones, the above-mentioned Earth, Wind and Fire, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Peter, Paul and Mary, Cheap Trick, Billy Joel, David Bowie, and preexisting mutual interests from the Monkees to Paul McCartney. And more! Prince. Talking Heads. David Johansen. Harmony bridges artificial chasms. Turn it up, cross over...and dance.

When we met in '78, two of Brenda's favorite songs were Rose Royce's "I'm Wishing On A Star" and EWF's "September." I didn't appreciate either of them at the time. I do now. We're going to be seeing Earth, Wind and Fire again this summer, on a bill with Santana. Evolution is revolution. And the records keep going 'round.

Some years back, I gave Brenda an Earth, Wind and Fire boxed set for Christmas. Nowadays, I think I play it more often than she does. Love has changed the minds of pretenders, while chasing the clouds away.

THE FLASHCUBE WITH THE SPONGETONES: Have You Ever Been Torn Apart?

In announcing this epic summit meeting between the Flashcubes and the Spongetones, the good folks at Big Stir Records credited This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl for connecting the 'Cubes and Big Stir in the first place. Well, we're eager to accept that credit! I mean, I can't sing or play guitar, so I'll take whatever meager little musical claim t' fame I can scrounge up. 

But, while we can pad our c.v. with whatever role we played in introducing artist to label, Dana and I were only talking about Big Stir releasing a single from the Flashcubes' live album Flashcubes On Fire. Instead, the 'Cubes came up with "Baby It's Cold Outside," their ace collaboration with Mimi Betinis of Pezband, and this series of Cubic covers for Big Stir was off and piledriving. See, the artists create. We are but humble servants.

Um...sort of humble. Let's not get crazy with the humility here.

PERILOUS: Rock & Roll Kiss

We've been dropping a few teases here and there about a new Dana & Carl project we cryptically refer to as Something Else! That is not the project's name. Many of you can probably guess what project it is. We'll have a whole set of Something Else! on our June 5th show, and that set will include "Rock & Roll Kiss" by Perilous, one of my favorite new tracks of 2022. Suffice it to say that "Rock & Roll Kiss" is indeed Something Else!

LAURIE BIAGINI: Imposter Syndrome Burn

We've had the pleasure of playing a few tracks from singer-songwriter and international treasure Laurie Biagini's forthcoming new album Stranger In The Mirror, so of course we jumped on her latest teaser track "Imposter Syndrome Burn" as soon as it became available. We're fans! (And incidentally, it's worth noting that an earlier track from Laurie's Stranger In The Mirror is also Something Else!)

KELLEY RYAN: The Church Of Laundry

Ah, long-time TIRnRR Fave Rave Kelley Ryan! Kelley's fab single "The Church Of Laundry" was this show's most-played track in 2021, and let us assure you, the tally wasn't at all close. And we're still playing it, 'cuz it's GREAT! And, although "The Church Of Laundry" won't appear on next week's playlist, let us further assure that it is--you guessed it!--Something Else!

DEADLIGHTS: Pretend To Pretend

While "Pretend To Pretend," the incomparable current hit from Jeff Shelton under his rockin' pop dba Deadlights, is absolutely positively Something Else!, it's more important to note that the song is available right now as a digital single, and its proceeds directly benefit humanitarian aid in Ukraine. What are we saying? GO BUY IT!

THE MONKEES: Birth Of An Accidental Hipster

This. Six years ago, when the Monkees were about to release their stunning, triumphant comeback album Good Times!, its advance singles "She Makes Me Laugh," "You Bring The Summer," and especially "Me & Magdalena" had already primed us to expect magnificence. The album track "Birth Of An Accidental Hipster" sealed the deal. The release of Good Times! prompted me to write my first review since I ended my two-decade freelancing stint for Goldmine in 2006. It was my favorite album of 2016. And if I were to rank my preferences among the thirteen official studio albums released under the Monkees' name, Good Times! might place as high as # 3 (behind Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd. and Headquarters), and no lower than # 5 (depending upon if I put the Head LP at # 4 or # 5). I like Good Times! even more than the two Don Kirshner-era albums (The Monkees and More Of The Monkees) and The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees. "Birth Of An Accidental Hipster" is the tipping point. The greatest comeback album ever made.

THE BUZZCOCKS: Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shoudn't've)

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

SPYGENIUS: So You Say You Lost Your Baby

On last week's exciting episode of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, we played "Son Of The Morning, Go Man Go!," the advance single from Spygenius' forthcoming (and, at the time, secret) new album Jobbernowl. This week, well, we didn't yet have Jobbernowl in hand when we did the programmin' the playlist thing, but we went waaaaaaay back to those quaint olde days of 2021 for a track from the previous Spygenius masterwork Spygenius Blow Their Covers. Virtually no thought went into this choice. Just felt like playing this very swell version of Gene Clark's "So You Say You Lost Your Baby;" we never need an excuse to play varied and sundry versions of Gene Clark tunes. Hey! We now have Jobbernowl in our possession! We'll hear a track from that on next week's show. Man, this radio gig is fun! Pop music on the radio. We are honored and privileged. 

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.

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.

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl

10 SONGS: 9/8/2020

10 Songs is a weekly list of ten songs that happen to be on my mind at the moment. Given my intention to usually write these on Mondays, the lists are often dominated by songs played on the previous night's edition of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl. The idea was inspired by Don Valentine of the essential blog I Don't Hear A Single.


This week's edition of 10 Songs draws exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1041.

T BONE BURNETT: Jellico Coal Man


I'm fascinated by the varying random ways in which we discover music. My discovery of this track was about as random as it gets. A co-worker was testing some wi-fi streaming audio thing that I don't actually understand, and without warning this majestic, hypnotic music enveloped my ears and inner monologue. There was only one rational response I could offer in reply to this sublime sound: What. Is. THIS...?!



"This" was "Jellico Coal Man" by T Bone Burnett. Based on a poem by Johnny Cash, Burnett composed the music and recorded the song for Forever Words, a 2018 compilation of various artists adding melody to Cash's words. "Jellico Coal Man" is simply wonderful, one of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio's most-played tracks in 2019, and it's something I would likely have never even heard if not for serendipitous happenstance. Fascinating.

EARTH, WIND & FIRE: Shining Star


When I think of rock 'n' roll or pop music movies, I have something specific in mind. I'm not thinking of documentaries or concert films, and I'm not really thinking of biopics (though I wouldn't necessarily exclude them); I'm thinking of films with some kind of storyline, however slight or substantial, where the musical element is the main thing but not quite the only thing. The Girl Can't Help It. Jailhouse Rock. Expresso Bongo. A Hard Day's Night. Head. Rock 'n' Roll High School. That Thing You Do! Bloodstone in Train Ride To Hollywood, or (if it had been completed) The Sex Pistols in Who Killed Bambi? Some are better than others, and some are terrible, but when thinking of beat flicks, these pop into my head before any performance film would.

(I mean, except for The T.A.M.I. Show, which is the perfect rock 'n' roll movie. I am large. I contain multitudes.)

Lovely wife Brenda and I recently watched the 1975 film That's The Way Of The World, which featured Earth, Wind & Fire in a supporting role (playing a group called...The Group). Maurice White and other members of the group--sorry, The Group--are fine with the little bits of acting required of them, though obviously it's their music that's the real shining star here.

The film itself is a low-key melodrama about the record industry, starring Harvey Keitel as a hotshot producer navigating the demands of his label, a Mob boss, his belief in (and commitment to) The Group, a (seemingly) clean-cut family act foisted upon him by his boss, and both the personal and professional desires of that act's pretty lead singer, Velour Page (played by actress Cynthia Bostick, a former Miss Kentucky whom a quick Google search indicates is a currently a Trumper, which is disappointing but in perfect keeping with her character in That's The Way Of The World).



Writing in the book Hollywood Rock, Marshall Crenshaw gave That's The Way Of The World a full five-star ranking, which seems a couple of stars too high for me. It is very much a '70s film, in its ambiance and in its pacing, its attitude, its curious mix of idealism and cynicism. I liked it for what it was: a hokey but interesting time capsule with some great music. Plus Bert Parks and Murray the K. It's on Amazon Prime if you're keen on seeing it for yourself.

And in one scene, EWF's "Shining Star" plays on the radio. That's sufficient motivation to get the track back on the TIRnRR playlist (in an alternate mix from the group's--arghh, THE GROUP'S--boxed set, The Eternal Dance). Shining star for you to see what your life can truly be. 

FOOLS FACE: Always The Last To Know



Pop fans have stacks 'n' stacks of stories about favorite almosts and shoulda-beens, cherished acts that seemed to have everything--everything--one could look for in a rockin' pop success story, missing only, y'know, the success part. Springfield, Missouri's Fools Face were a prime example, a nonpareil group that wrote great songs, reportedly put on dynamic live shows, made some fantastic independent records in the '70s and '80s, and did not get noticed. I own the only copies I've ever seen of their second and third albums, 1981's Tell America and 1983's Public Places, and I've only ever seen one other copy of their debut LP, 1979's Here To Observe. Tell America is an all-time Top 20 record for me.

The group's eponymous 2002 reunion album lived up to their legacy, and that album's "Always The Last To Know" is as good as anything released by anyone that year. Few heard it. Fools Face was the group's only studio album to be released on CD; it's now nearly as tough to come by as their old LPs.

IAN HUNTER: Soul Of America



Ian Hunter's Shrunken Heads was one of my favorite albums of 2007, and possibly my favorite of Hunter's long and storied career. Yeah, even including the absolute classic stuff he did with Mott the Hoople. I had the good fortune to see Hunter play with Mick Ronson at a club show in 1989--hey, Thanksgiving night at The Lost Horizon!--and I continue to marvel at the length and breadth of his career. Ian Hunter is, of course, not in The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

"Soul Of America" from Shrunken Heads was requested this week by intrepid TIRnRR listener Dave Murray, as a long-distance dedication to Joe Biden. The soul of America. Vote blue.

THE LIKE: Release Me



I don't know anything at all about The Like, an all-female combo that was signed to Geffen Records earlier in this newfangled 21st century. I can only tell you that I heard the title tune from their 2010 album Release Me, and was immediately enthralled by its boppin' appropriation of '60s girl-group hooks within a vaguely alt-rock setting. Shoulda been a hit.

THE MONKEES: I'll Be Back Up On My Feet



This track from The Monkees' 1968 album The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees represents one of the first times I was aware that there could be different versions of the same song by the same group. I purchased the Bees LP at the flea market in the mid '70s, right around the same time I was re-connecting with the group's TV show via reruns on cable. Before long, I noticed that the version of "I'll Be Back Up On My Feet" on my album sounded very different from the version heard on TV. (I mean, aside from the fact that my Bees album skipped on that track, changing the line I won't disappear to I won't deeeear. Well. As long as you promise you won't.) No backing brass, different overall feel. I began to wonder about such variations, and in college wished that the TV version could be released. I got it on a bootleg in the early '80s, and of course Rhino eventually gave it a legit issue as part of the label's ongoing crusade to just take my money.

Oddly enough, I now prefer the album version. See, it sounds fine without the skip, Deeeear.

POP CO-OP: Persistence Of Memory



Oh, what a beautiful song. It sounds so frail and delicate, yet possessed of its own stubborn resilience, its steadfast remembrance of what was, the prevailing persistence of memory. From Pop Co-Op's most recent effort Factory Settings, Your Favorite Album Of 2020.

THE POPTARTS: I Won't Let You Let Me Go

The Poptarts were a terrific all-female quintet in the late '70s, playing in the same effervescent Syracuse scene as The Flashcubes, The Ohms, and The Tearjerkers. The '60s-influenced look and sound of The Poptarts presaged the successful formula of The Go-Go's in the '80s, but The Poptarts weren't able to break through, and disbanded without ever releasing any records. Their handful of demos, rehearsal tapes, and studio recordings have never seen official release.

"I Won't Let You Let Me Go" was the first song ever played on This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, kicking off TIRnRR # 1 on December 27th, 1998. We've played it again many times since then, and we usually favor the more energetic demo version. This week, we opted to play the studio version, produced by Bill Murphy. The members of The Poptarts hated the results of their studio sessions, with guitarist Cathy VanPatten once telling me that the producer "cut off our balls...and we didn't even have any!" 

But, just as The Poptarts anticipated The Go-Go's, their reaction to a producer's slightly slicker realization of their sound was later duplicated by the feelings of The Go-Go's when they first heard what producer Richard Gottehrer had done to their punk-bred approach. It must have been jarring. Nonetheless, Gotterher's gloss helped make The Go-Go's household names. I adore those records, and I wish The Poptarts had been able to achieve similar success.

Decades ago, in an overview of The Poptarts' recordings, I referred to Bill Murphy's work with the group as "woefully overproduced." While I still prefer the earlier demo versions, I've come to appreciate Murphy's valiant attempt to accentuate the first syllable in Poptarts. It's good stuff. I wish more people had a chance to hear it.

ROSETTA STONE: Drive On



I was and remain an unapologetic fan of The Bay City Rollers. The late Ian Mitchell was only in the Rollers for a very brief time in the '70s, so we wanted to pay tribute to him with a spin of something by his post-Rollers group Rosetta Stone. Rest in peace, Ian.

ANDY WILLIAMS: A Fool Never Learns



This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio is also large enough to contain multitudes. This isn't the first time we've played this great Andy Williams track, nor is it the only Andy Williams track ever played on the show; I played "Moon River" on an all-vinyl edition of TIRnRR in 2017, sandwiched in between X and James Brown. Multitudes, I tell ya! "A Fool Never Learns" was written by former Buddy Holly collaborator Sonny Curtis, whose popcrafting resumé also includes "I Fought The Law" and the familiar Mary Tyler Moore Show theme song "Love Is All Around." The 1963 Andy Williams 45 of "A Fool Never Learns"/"Charade" was in the family record collection when I was a kid, and I've loved it since then. I have learned that there is nothing foolish about that.

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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.

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