10 SONGS: 2/18/2026

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 # 1324

MIKE BROWNING FEATURING ELENA ROGERS: Over And Under And All Around

THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO TEAM-UP! Like the first time Marvel Comics bowslinger Hawkeye joined forces with Marvel Comics bowslinger other Hawkeye, TIRnRR Fave Raves Mike Browning and Elena Rogers pool their mighty talents for the amazing, fantastic, and incredible new single "Over And Under And All Around." I can do this all day, and I can play this all day. AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!

DAVID RUFFIN: I've Got A Need For You

From a previous 10 Songs: 

"I continue to be mystified about why Motown Records didn't release David Ruffin's proposed album David in the early '70s. It's such a fantastic record, and I wish we'd been able to experience it fifty years ago...

"...Sublime stuff. It borders on heresy, but I may even prefer the tracks on David to Ruffin's classic work with the Temptations."

From the originally-unreleased David, Ruffin's exquisite take on the Jackson Five's "I Want You Back" earned a chapter in my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1), and we've programmed a number of the album's other tracks at various times here on TIRnRR. Stellar, stellar album. I can't fathom what Motown execs were thinking when they shelved it. 

MICHAEL SIMMONS: America

America feels like a dream to me now.

As duly ranted here, I'm in absolute thrall to Fun Where You Can Find It, the recent all-covers album by Michael Simmons. Among its garden of earthly sweets 'n' treats, my go-to selection has become Michael's lovely and moving version of Simon and Garfunkel's "America." Much of this interest is driven by the need for comfort in the midst of the country's spiraling miasma. The song provides some of that comfort, at least to the extent that a record can provide comfort. 

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

Most music-lovers likely consider Marvin Gaye's performance of "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" definitive, and I would agree. If I understand the story right, Gaye recorded the song before Gladys Knight and the Pips did, but Gladys's "Grapevine" reached retail well before Marvin's, and it became a hit. Years ago, and for many years thereafter, I dismissed the Pips' take as too...show biz? Vegas, even? That was nonsense--nonsense!!--and I disavow my former POV as the hopelessly chuckleheaded take it was. Stupid young punk! 

WORMSTEW: Spinning

SUPERgroup! SoCal pop combo Wormstew has been around for ages honestly, originally as a solo DIY recording project for songwriter Mike Schnee. Now a trio, with the right honorable Mr. Schnee joining forces with longtime TIRnRR stalwarts Teresa Cowles and the above-mentioned Michael Simmons, Wormstew's new digital single "Spinning" heralds the release of their forthcoming album Last Days Of Loma. We're spinning! It's what good DJs do.

THE FLASHCUBES: Reminisce

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE HALF/CUBES: Whenever You're On My Mind

As we continue to bliss out with the pristine perfection of the Half/Cubes' current album Found Pearls, a long-player filled t'burstin' with nonpareil covers of underappreciated  pop pearls, my mind wanders to prolonged consideration of what other worthy source material our Half/Cubes could unearth for a hypothetical third album. It's...a long list, and I'm still adding to it as an idle exercise in delighted daydreaming. In the here and now, we're enthusiastically digging the latest single from Found Pearls, a go'geous cover of Marshall Crenshaw's "Whenever You're On My Mind," which the Half/Cubes accomplish with able assistance from Tom Teeley and Robert Crenshaw. Whenever pop music's on my mind, the Half/Cubes are THERE!

PARTHENON HUXLEY: Double Our Numbers

ALSO The Greatest Record Ever Made! We played Ballzy Tomorrow's ace cover of "Double Our Numbers" on last week's epic tribute to Parthenon Huxley. We program the original version this week. Once again: Godspeed, Parthenon.

TELEVISION: Elevation

Yet another hero passes, as This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio remembers Television bassist Fred Smith. Television's 1977 debut album Marquee Moon is rightly recognized as classic, and I've always been particularly drawn to its Side Two opener "Elevation." From its chapter in my GREM! book:

"Vertigo.

"For the disaffected and dissatisfied in 1977, no track expressed the feeling of rock music in dizzying free fall with greater menace and implied ennui as 'Elevation' by Television...

"...From Television's debut album Marquee Moon, the track 'Elevation' just fascinated me when I was 17. Fall of 1977, freshman in college, trying to finally hear all these punk or new wave or whaddayacallit bands I'd read so much about in the pages of Phonograph Record Magazine. I asked the campus radio station for help, and was rewarded with the sounds of the Ramones, Blondie, the Dictators, the Adverts, the Jam, Willie Alexander and the Boom Boom Band, the Runaways, and oh yeah!, Television. I could never get enough of this jagged, loping, serpentine noise, so mesmerizing, so different, so gratifyingly dizzying in its willful application of elevation going to my head. And staying there. Marquee Moon was among my earliest LP purchases in this broad category of NEW MUSIC circa '77 and '78. It would not be the last...."

SLYBOOTS: If We Could Let Go

The only thing more powerful than hate is love. And yes, Slyboots' "If We Could Let Go" is indeed another sterling example of The Greatest Record Ever Made! My favorite individual track of 2024 and one of my favorite tracks of the decade, we'll hear this wonderous gem again on our next show. 

If you like what you see here on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), please consider a visit to CC's Tip Jar. You can also become a Boppin' booster on my Patreon page.

I compiled a various-artists tribute album called Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes, and it's pretty damned good; you can read about it here and order it here. My new book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) is now available, and you can order an autographed copy here. You can still get my previous book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones from publisher Rare Bird Books, OR an autographed copy here. If you like the books, please consider leaving a rating and/or review at the usual online resources.

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, streaming at SPARK stream and on the Radio Garden app as WESTCOTT RADIO. You can read about our history here.

10 SONGS: 8/9/2025

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.

Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes

Various Artists

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BIG STIR RECORDS and producer/curator Carl Cafarelli bring you a very special collection saluting – and featuring – Power Pop Hall Of Famers THE FLASHCUBES: the all-new new album MAKE SOMETHING HAPPEN! A TRIBUTE TO THE Read more

This week's edition of 10 Songs draws exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1297.

PAUL COLLINS: Hang On To Yourself

Another ace new track from the forthcoming tribute album Jem Records Celebrates David Bowie, as Power Pop Hall of Famer Paul Collins takes on "Hang On To Yourself." The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars was my favorite David Bowie album during my misspent (but perfectly soundtracked) youth, and it's an absolute kick to hear Paul Collins bring his own American Beat to bear on one of my top Ziggy picks. As Paul's Bowie cover makes its TIRnRR debut this week, it's joined by another gem from Jem Records Celebrates David Bowie ("Can't Help Thinking About Me" by the Cynz) in its third straight week on our playlist. Both of these will return on our next show, and we'll also offer our first spin of the High Frequencies' Bowie tribute cover of "Modern Love." Hang on!

CAST FEATURING P.P. ARNOLD: Poison Vine

Apologies to fans of Oasis and Blue, but my favorite '90s Britpop combo was Cast. It didn't hurt that Cast included John Power, formerly of the La's, but I'm not sure I even knew that when I fell into the thrall of Cast's "Alright" and "Promised Land." When Rhino Records contracted me to write the liner notes for a compilation album called Poptopia! Power Pop Classics Of The '90s, I know the good folks at Rhino really wanted to include a track by Cast, but they were unable to clear the rights for it.

P. P. Arnold is one of my favorite singers, and possibly my very favorite among female soul singers. Her incredible rendition of "The First Cut Is The Deepest" is the song's definitive version, and it rightly earns its own chapter in my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). I'm delighted that she is still making music, and still unerringly excellent.

So: The combined forces of Cast and P. P. Arnold on a new single in 2025? I'm IN! "Poison Vine" is vintage Cast, grand, sweeping, and powerful, and P.P. Arnold is, y'know, P. P. ARNOLD!! Everyone sounds as great as ever. Its five-minute running time will make it difficult to squeeze into our short-attention-span format very often, but it is five minutes well spent. No power in the known or unknown universe could prevent us from playing it at least once. Cast AND the mighty P. P. Arnold. Most inviting poison vine ever.

RICHARD TURGEON: Signs

Ever-reliable rockin' pop performer Richard Turgeon has a supercool new album on the likewise-supercool Kool Kat Musik label. His new record Shungite is named after the radioactive element that's deadly to natives of the planet Shung, and...okay, that's not even remotely true. But I'm sticking with it! You'll BELIEVE a record can fly! Ain't nothing mild-mannered about Richard Turgeon. 

THE FLASHCUBES: The Sweet Spot

Awright. Go time! 

"The Sweet Spot" is the second of three new singles from Syracuse's own power pop powerhouses the Flashcubes. "The Sweet Spot" is available here, its rockin' predecessor "Reminisce" can still be scarfed up here, and the go'geous forthcoming single "If These Hands" can be preordered here. Everything's coming up Cubic!

All of the above serve as integral components of the September 12th release Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes, as the three new Flashcubes tracks rub Rickenbackers with 21 great acts serving up 21 inspired covers of original tunes from the Flashcubes' songbook. Our Cubesmania participants include sparkle*jets u.k., Librarians With Hickeys, Chris von Sneidern, Graham Parker and Mike Gent, Joe Giddings, Ballzy Tomorrow, the Kennedys, the Verbs, Dolph Chaney, Pop Co-Op, the Peppermint Kicks, Tom Kenny & the Hi-Seas, the Choosers, Hamell On Trial, the Armoires Rob Moss and Skin-Tight Skin, the Mayflowers, Super 8 featuring Lisa Mychols, Callan Foster, Sorrows, and the Spongetones. It is indeed a tribute fit for the brilliance of the Flashcubes.

At long last, Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes is beginning to appear as available for preorder. It's already listed on Amazon, but c'mon, there are better options than that. You can get it directly from its visionary record label Big Stir Records. It's up on Bandcamp, complete with a first look at my liner notes for the album, plus its individual track credits. I imagine Kool Kat Musik will start accepting preorders soon, and we love Kool Kat. 

Bottom line: You have purchase options to enrich your music library with the addition of your own soon-to-be-cherished personal copy of Make Something Happen! We've done our part. Now it's YOUR turn to make something happen.

THE PEPPERMINT KICKS: Too Sweet (Oh Yeah!)

Oh Yeah! for SURE! Make Something Happen! superstars the Peppermint Kicks' new album Pop Rocks In My Chewing Gum is bad for you in all the best ways, risking potential damage to dentures while redeeming its dietary dangers with sweet, sweet confections that stick to your ribs and to the underside of your desk. My current Pick T'Click is "Too Sweet (Oh Yeah!)," but nine out of ten dentists will agree there's much to taste and savor on Pop Rocks In My Chewing Gum. (Nine out of ten dentists will also gang up to beat the livin' chicklets outta that stubborn tenth dentist. Irascible lot, those dentists.)

THE VIBEKE SAUGESTAD BAND: Hey Now Sunshine

"Hey Now Sunshine" is a thoroughly effervescent and endearing new track from the Vibeke Saugestad Band, an advance treat from a forthcoming EP called The Sun Sessions. Norwegian pop singer Vibeke, originally billed under just her first name, has been bringing the sunshine for quite some time now, and I'm mortified that I butchered the pronunciation of her name on-air during this week's broadcast. VEE-buh-kuh SAUWguh-stah. VEE-buh-kuh SAUWguh-stah. Although screwing up the names of musicians may continue in the tradition of Ed Sullivan introducing "Diane Warwick" on his really big show, I know that my own last name has been routinely mispronounced by many, so I'm further bummed when I screw up someone's name. The song's great, the singer and her band are great, and I'll get a little closer to announcing the band's name correctly when "Hey Now Sunshine" plays again on our next show this Sunday night.

THE JACKSON 5: I'll Be There

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

ELENA ROGERS: A Little Bit Of Lovely

The newest Elena Rogers EP Song About Me arrived a few days too late to be considered for this week's show. Unabashed, we played our familiar programming choice from Elena's previous EP Always Trying, with a vow to get something from Song About Me into the mix on the next available playlist. You'll hear that vow fulfilled on Sunday.

BALLZY TOMORROW: Five Personalities

We couldn't let 10 Songs play to its inner groove without one more track from Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes. Operating under his rockin' pop dba Ballzy Tomorrow, everyone's pal Robbie Rist gives us an interpretation of the Flashcubes' "Five Personalities" that our friends at Big Stir describe as "majestically Queen-like whimsy." We concur!

On our next show, we'll hear further evidence of Robbie Rist's interpretive ability, delivered in the form of another, different cover tune he also recorded as Ballzy Tomorrow. And it's one we ain't ever played here before. Well! We're gonna play it Sunday. We have that specific plan written on the back of my hand.

THE BEATLES: She Came In Through The Bathroom Window

And we're heading out the way she came in. Lend me your comb. It's time to go home.

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: 3/1/2025

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 # 1274

ELENA ROGERS: A Little Bit Of Lovely

Exquisite. Elena Rogers has such an impressive command of vocal prowess, always inventive yet also always serving the song. With every note, you can sense that she knows exactly what she's doing, and somehow she still makes it all feel casual. Like Superman leaping over tall buildings in a single bound, Elena Rogers uses her powers and abilities because it's the right thing to do, and because she can.

Elena's new EP Always Trying offers further evidence of her pop magic, and "A Little Bit Of Lovely" is one of her strongest individual tracks to date. That's more than just a little bit of lovely.

THE JAM: Bricks And Mortar

When I was in college in the late '70s, the Jam were among a handful of the most important then-current bands for me. Only the Ramones and the Flashcubes loomed larger in my legend at the time, and I preferred the Jam to even the Clash, the Buzzcocks, the Undertones, Elvis Costello, the Sex Pistols, and...well, just about anybody else.

With the passing of the Jam's drummer Rick Buckler, we wanted to mix a few Jam tracks into this week's playlist. Our first set included a spin of the Jam's ace single "The Modern World," a track which once prompted Tom Kenny to shout out, "CARL! I just figured it out! The Jam is Michael Caine fronting a punk band! [Tom in thick Cockney accent:] Thissus th' moduhn wulhld!"

We opened our second set with "Bricks And Mortar," a Jam selection we'd never before gotten around to playing on TIRnRR. My first Jam purchase was in 1978, the American single release of "I Need You (For Someone)"/"In The City," followed in short order by the import 45s "The Modern World" and "All Over The World." The B-side of "The Modern World" was occupied by live performances of the Jam ragin' through covers of soul classics "Sweet Soul Music" and "Back In My Arms Again," followed by a quick live snippet of the band's own "Bricks And Mortar." This week, we play the studio version as part of our tribute to the Jam, as This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio remembers Rick Buckler.

THE FLASHCUBES: Reminisce

I'm not sure when I'm ready to reveal more details about the forthcoming tribute album Make Something Happen! A Tribute To A DIY Power Pop Band Called THE FLASHCUBES. We've already said the album will contain twenty-one tracks by various artists covering songs written by members of the Flashcubes, plus three new tracks by the 'Cubes themselves. The album is scheduled for September release by our friends at Big Stir Records, and we've played Make Something Happen! contributions from sparkle*jets u.k., the SpongeTones, Pop Co-Op, and the Kennedys. We've acknowledged that Chris von Sneidern is covering "No Promise," and I will tell you now that I have received Hamell On Trial's version of "Got No Mind."

For now, I'm holding off on public announcement of who else is on the album, even though all but a handful of the tracks have been assigned and confirmed. But rest assured: We're making something happen, and we won't be shy about  it.

The most recent (heavily redacted) public update of the album's track listing tacked all three of the new Flashcubes tracks at the end of the album. I've now returned to my earlier intent to instead space out these tracks at the beginning, approximate middle (give or take), and end of the album. 

Make Something Happen! will open with "Reminisce." It's such a great track, and it provides an irresistible introduction to what I hope will be one of this year's very best rockin' pop compilation albums.

THE JAM: In The City

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE CYNZ: Woman Child

The Cynz' 2024 single "Woman Child" scored significant airplay on our little mutant radio show, securing a berth (# 3!!) on the year-end countdown of our most-played fave raves. A new Cynz single "Heartbreak Time" has just been released, and we will have it on the radio Sunday night.

CHUBBY CHECKER: The Twist

I am very pleased that Mr. Chubby Checker has at long last finally--FINALLY!!--been nominated for The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. It's about friggin' time. Aside from the Monkees, Chubby Checker is my pick for the Hall's second most egregious omission to date. It's not an exaggeration to say that Chubby Checker's 1960 hit "The Twist" is one of the most impactful singles of the rock 'n' roll era--definitely one of the top five, possibly one of the top three. Come on, baby--let's get Chubby Checker in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

THE MONKEES: Listen To The Band

And jeez, induct the Monkees already. I plead that case here.

SORROWS: Never Mind

"Never Mind" is the leadoff blast from Sorrows' essential album Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow, and if it's not already planned as a single release we hereby recommend that it oughta be planned as a single release. Whatta track! It spins here again this Sunday night.

THE BEATLES: Paperback Writer

I happened to be working on something for my own next paperback book as this Beatles classic played on TIRnRR this past Sunday night. Dear Sir or Madam, will you ready my book? WAIT...! I need to finish writing it first. Hey, BeATle! Keep singing. I'll keep writing.

THE JAM: That's Entertainment

ALSO The Greatest Record Ever Made! Godspeed, Rick Buckler.

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: 1/4/2025--THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO's Most-Played Tracks In 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.

Kidd Video did not make our countdown. But their bass player did.

This week's edition of 10 Songs draws exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1266: The Countdown Show. These are TIRnRR's ten most-played tracks in 2024, and the individual entries are reprised from previous 10 Songs features.

10. THE GRIP WEEDS: Lady Friend

The Grip Weeds' 2022 covers album DiG offers the enduring reward of New Jersey's Phenomenal Pop Combo taking on a splendid array of classics and obscurities alike. The standard single-disc version of DiG finds the Grip Weeds mining nuggets previously, um...dug by Paul Revere and the Raiders, the Zombies, the Velvet Underground, the Knickerbockers, the Rolling Stones, and more; the double-disc edition adds (among others) the Monkees, the Beatles, the Turtles, and Frosty's "Organ Grinder's Monkey." There's even a three-disc version, so, y'know, buy that. Whatever it takes: Get a GRIP!

TIRnRR's top DiG has been this sublime cover of the Byrds' "Lady Friend." It was # 6 on our 2022 Countdown, # 9 in 2023, and it hangs in at # 10 for 2024. Here it comes again. 

9. THE GRIP WEEDS: Strange Bird

Hey, a chance to hear a TIRnRR classic again for the first time! The Grip Weeds' original version of "Strange Bird" was the B-side of a single released in Germany, later re-recorded for the group's album The Sound Is In You. The Grip Weeds also gave us an exclusive remix/retweak of the original single for our 2017 compilation This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 4 (a tale told here, and you can still get that CD here and its download edition here). 

And now, the Grip Weeds have recorded brand-new versions of both "Strange Bird" and its original A-side "She Brings The Rain," offered in a teaser EP in advance of their forthcoming album. We're told the tracks will not be on the album, so grab 'em now. Strange birds of the world, UNITE!

8. LEATHER CATSUIT: Can't Get You Off My Mind

Leather Catsuit's "Can't Get You Off My Mind" comes equipped with a title that mirrors my opinion of the track: I can't get it off my mind. I don't wanna get it off my mind. It's pop music! I wanna hear it again and again. 

7. SLYBOOTS: Blindsided

Ace NYC combo Slyboots made their TIRnRR debut in May, with a spin of their recent cover of Meat Puppets' "Oh, Me." All well 'n' groovy. Now, we dig a little bit deeper for a way swell Slyboots original called "Blindsided." "Blindsided" was released last summer, but you know the drill: 

Any record you ain't heard is a new record.

And, new or old, we're delighted to hear this record. We'll hear it again.

(Worth noting: Slyboots' subsequent single "If We Could Let Go" made it to # 15 on our countdown, and it is my favorite new track of 2024.)

6. JUNIPER: Baby Doll

Our worlds collide. In a good way! From her absolutely wonderful 2023 album She Steals Candy, teen sensation and TIRnRR Fave Rave Juniper covers another TIRnRR Fave Rave, Amy Rigby. And Juniper does a mighty fine job of it, too, fortifying the world-weary shrug of Amy's original with a post-adolescent patina of quiet, simmering pissed-offedness. Both versions are equally mature, and in either case the listener really, really wants to track down the clueless would-be Lothario and swat him with extreme prejudice.

Would serve him right. Bastard!

5. 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. 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. 

4. ELENA ROGERS: I Feel Alive

This is so good. Elena Rogers first entered TIRnRR's sovereign air space on a recommendation from pop giant Jamie Hoover. Jamie's been working with the young singer for a few years, he's clearly (and understandably) knocked out by her talent and musical prowess, and he would kindly like the world at large to wake the hell up and get hip to Elena Rogers awready. 

Elena's 2024 single "I Feel Alive" is her best track yet, ambitious and audacious in its approach while remaining absolutely, unerringly pop. During Jamie's 2023 appearance on the way-swell Only Three Lads podcast, our esteemed Mr. Hoover promised a new Elena Rogers album in '24. That album was Prelude To Whatever, and its first advance single "I Feel Alive" ratcheted up the anticipation.

Can you feel it? 

In a recent email to some musicians, I made a passing reference to Elena Rogers as "insanely talented." That is, if anything, selling her short.

3. THE CYNZ: Woman Child

This little mutant radio show has demonstrated its pervasive and prevailing interest in the music of the Cynz. We love 'em. We play 'em. We're fans.

Given the above truths, I think it means even more when I say the current Cynz single "Woman Child" just might be the best thing they've done yet. "Woman Child" offers further empirical evidence of their essential asskickin' capability. Bless us, Lord. We have CYNZ!

2. PAUL COLLINS: I'm The Only One For You

One of the new albums I was most looking forward to hearing this year was Stand Back And Take A Good Look, courtesy of power pop king Paul Collins and the intrepid Jem Records label. I've been a Paul Collins fan since I was in college in the late '70s, listening to his work with the Nerves, the Breakaways, and his own subsequent combo the Beat, aka the Paul Collins Beat. The Beat's 1979 debut LP is an acknowledged classic of power pop, and Paul's "Walking Out On Love" was among the tracks celebrated in my 2024 book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). Power pop fan? That's MY beat!

Based on a spin of the album's first single "I'm The Only One For You" (recorded alongside another power pop great, the late Dwight Twilley), it was immediately clear that this record was gonna kick what needed kickin'. Can't stop the beat, man. Can't stop the beat.

1. WONDERBOY: Girl Songs

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

I can't even tell you how much I love "Girl Songs" by Wonderboy. Recorded in the '90s, finally released just a few years back, this exuberant embrace of the transcendent act of swooning over chicks is like the TIRnRR mindset in microcosm. It was unchallenged as our # 1 most-played track in 2024. To paraphrase country singer Beyoncé: Who run the world? GIRL SONGS!

BONUS TRACK!!

11. THE FLASHCUBES: Make Something Happen

Before we go, we wanna say a few words about our # 11 most-played track in 2024: "Make Something Happen" by Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse the Flashcubes.  Let's start with these few words about an already-announced project, then circle back for a few more words about an as-yet-unannounced project

"Make something happen?" Okeydokey! I'm in the very early stages of writing a new book about Power Pop Hall of Famers the Flashcubes. The book's working (and probable official) title is Make Something Happen! The DIY Story Of A Power Pop Band Called THE FLASHCUBES, and the project was initiated by the Flashcubes themselves. Well, I'M in! 

And when I say "early stages," I mean it, man. I've had a couple of planning meetings with members of the 'Cubes, and I've begun trying to find and learn appropriate tech to record and transcribe interviews. My next task is to write a one-sheet on the book's behalf, and then to start talking to the Flashcubes and their entourage. It's all very exciting, and we hope to bring the book to retail by the Summer of 2025. From the book's first public announcement:

"This will be an oral history of the band, with personal stories related by the 'Cubes themselves--Tommy Allen, Paul Armstrong, Gary Frenay, and Arty Lenin--discussing their roots as rockin' pop fans in the '60s and '70s, their formation in the punk rock crucible of 1977, their frenzied live shows with the Ramones, the Runaways, the Police, the Jam, David Johansen, Joe Jackson, the Scruffs, the Romantics, Artful Dodger, 999, and more, their irresistible original songs, their indie 45s, their demo tapes, their breakup at the end of the '70s, and the subsequent recognition that the Flashcubes were a legit power pop legend. This growing awareness and celebration reunited the Flashcubes in the '90s, culminating in their award-winning 2023 album Pop Masters.

"In Make Something Happen!, the Flashcubes story will also be told by eyewitnesses: Fans, fellow musicians, industry insiders, and maybe the occasional drunken pogo dancer yelling out GOT NO MIND!, or swooning to 'Christi Girl,' vowing to wait till next week, it'll be all right. This is the first-hand story of Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse, a band that thrived under bright lights of their own invention."

More details to come. Oh, rest assured there will be more details to come. As I've written elsewhere: I think everyone knows that I'm possibly the world's most insistent Flashcubes fan. The Flashcubes are my favorite power pop band, they rank with the Beatles and the Ramones in the troika of my top rock 'n' roll groups, and I've long wished they enjoyed the sort of mass notoriety and adulation I think they deserve. "Make Something Happen" was first recorded by Gary Frenay's post-Flashcubes band Screen Test in the '80s, then recorded again by the reunited 'Cubes for their 2003 album Brilliant. It's a hit record, no matter how few the number of people who've heard it.

And it makes a dandy title for a book about the Flashcubes. 

"Make something happen."

Good advice.

BUT WAIT...! There's more....

I'm targeting the book's tentative publication date for September of this year. It will be accompanied by a companion project, something we've hinted at but not yet acknowledged on record. That project remains [REDACTED], but it's coming in September from Big Stir Records. [REDACTED] just so happens to involve a number of acts who made this year's TIRnRR countdown, including Slyboots, Librarians With Hickeys, sparkle*jets u.k., Pop Co-Op, Wonderboy's Robbie Rist, the Flashcubes themselves, and (we're hoping) Carla Olson, plus more TIRnRR Fave Raves like the Kennedys, Sorrows, Chris von Sneidern, Jim Basnight and Beth Peabody, Tom Kenny, and others we can't name quite yet. 

But we will. Hell, let's name one more right now: The SpongeTones. We'll hear their [REDACTED] contribution on the radio in Syracuse this Sunday night. It's all part of this rewarding business of making 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.