10 SONGS: 1/17/2026

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 # 1319

THE BARRACUDAS: I Wish It Could Be 1965 Again

I love 1965. I regard '65 as pop music's best year ever: The best stuff was popular and the popular stuff was best. I don't actually wish it could be 1965 again--if nothing else, I'd rather consume hemlock or even Diet Pepsi than have to relive the random tsuris experienced over the course of six subsequent decades--but certainly the miserable state of current events feeds a longing for a return to better times.

Nostalgia is tricky. Still, as long as we're able to recognize that rose-colored glasses (and, I guess, rose-filtered headphones) can taint the accuracy of what we think we remember, recollections of cherished moments lend strength and conviction to steps we take on the path before us. Catch us if you can.

Moving ahead on the ol' timeline, Drop Out With The Barracudas was and remains my favorite album of the 1980s. The album's own sense of nostalgia is tempered by snark and self-awareness, a fun-in-the-sun jaunt that understands mortality and impermanence yet chooses to barrel through anyway, whether by stubborn determination or death wish. The album closes with "I Wish It Could Be 1965 Again," a full-throttle evocation of the legend (or myth) of my favorite year.

From the dystopian POV of our far-future world of 2026, Drop Out With The Barracudas is considerably farther away in time than 1965 was from the album's release in 1981. The legend perseveres. Drop out? Fall in. Those who forget the past are condemned to the Orwellian all-of-this of all of...this. We can do better. Doing better starts with a wish.

RIHANNA: Shut Up And Drive

From a previous 10 Songs, celebrating this eventual addition to the annals of The Greatest Record Ever Made!:

"I remember hearing Rihanna's hit 'Umbrella' in 2007, and not being especially taken with it. In 2008, the updated version of her Good Girl Gone Bad (Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded) landed into my consciousness via my then-teen daughter, whose interest in 'Take A Bow' and 'Disturbia' brought those songs to my attention as well. I was a little surprised to discover I liked them (especially 'Disturbia'), but I did indeed like them.

"I missed out on the track 'Shut Up And Drive.' I've heard it, but I never noticed it until a random search for playlist ideas brought me to it again. It was like a brand new song to me, and I loved it.

"(How did I know I loved it? The fact that I played it on obsessive repeat would be a pretty clear clue to that.)

"Wikipedia describes 'Shut Up And Drive' as a new wave song--no, really!--based on 'Blue Monday' by New Order. No offense to the mopey British guys, but I prefer it the way Rihanna did it."

GLENN ERB: Fine Day

"Fine Day" is a very fine new single from North Carolina popmeister Glenn Erb, and it's a righteously radio-ready shot of sure-footed swagger. Ooh, and it's produced by long-time TIRnRR Fave Rave Jamie Hoover, adding even more READY! to its established radio-ready status. This radio show is ready to play it again this Sunday. Nothing could be finer.

THE HUMAN LEAGUE: Mirror Man

DIANA ROSS AND THE SUPREMES: Reflections

In the radio biz, sometimes the segues just write themselves.

SPECTRAFLAME: Love Don't Live Here No More

Second week in a row for a spin of Spectraflame's ace current single "Love Don't Live Here No More," and the first time it's listed correctly on the posted playlist; last week's playlist claimed the song's title was "Love Don't Lived Here Any More." And I ain't even no grammarian. Of course, I screwed up the title again in my on-air announcements, but I finally--FINALLY--get it right in time for the track's third TIRnRR spin this coming Sunday night. See? I actually CAN learn from my mistakes!

Sometimes.

THE LITTLE GIRLS: I Really Want To Be With You

What do 1980s SoCal rockin' poppers the Little Girls have in common with the Beatles, the Ramones, the Cynz, the Grip Weeds, Mike Browning, Monogroove, and the above-cited Spectraflame? Counting our next program, all of these fine acts have graced each of TIRnRR's first three shows this year. I see no reason to stop now, and I've really been digging the Little Girls' Thank Heaven For ValleyPop compilation. More to come. If the Little Girls really wanna be with you, we are only too happy to provide the means.

ELVIS PRESLEY: Kentucky Rain

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

MONOGROOVE: Back To School

We mentioned Monogroove a couple of spots north of here. I've been a fan of Monogroove's Rin Lennon since hearing her former group On The Air's contribution to the 1984 Rhino Records (then-) contemporary girl group compilation The Girls Can't Help It. My pal Andrea Ogarrio included an On The Air track in a mixtape she sent me in the early '90s, and I snagged my very own copy of On The Air's 1987 eponymous six-song EP during a Florida vacation in 1994. More recently, we've been delighted to add Monogroove to our little Play-Tone galaxy o' stars, and "That Girl" (from Monogroove's recent album Popsicle Drivethru) was TIRnRR's # 35 most-played track in 2025. Yep: ON THE AIR! It's what we do.

In 2026, our on-the-air Monogroove presence has been established by the group's recent single "Back To School," and that's been a perfectly peppy rah rah siss boom bop in its own right. Pencils? Books? Teacher's dirty looks? It's all writ in # 2 graphite. "Back To School" pushes against the scornful demands of high school's cliques and ninnies, on behalf of all of us who lurked in the nooks and crannies instead. School is in.

THE RAMONES: I Don't Want To Grow Up

I'm looking at today's date. And once again I say:

Don't wanna. Won't need to. Ain't gonna.

I DON'T WANT TO GROW UP

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.

THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! Elvis Presley, "Kentucky Rain"

Drawn from a previous post, this is not part of my book The Greatest Record v\Ever Made! (Volume 1). In the book, King Elvis I is represented by "Heartbreak Hotel."

An infinite number of tracks can each be THE greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Today, this is THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE!

ELVIS PRESLEY: Kentucky Rain

Written by Eddie Rabbitt and Dick Heard

Produced by Chips Moman

Single, RCA Victor, 1970

From the time he burst into the national scene in the mid '50s until he left the building in 1977, Elvis Presley was as big a star as the world had ever seen. His impact was unparalleled. His levels of fame and fortune were beyond reproach, unquestioned. King Elvis I. It was a crown he had earned, a crown he would never need to surrender.

But he had strayed from the incendiary ways that had warranted his ascension. He was a star of stage and screen, sure, and an inspiration to rock 'n' roll groups that followed him. Even those long-haired British Invaders knew who was King. 

And yet...he had strayed nonetheless. 

In the '60s, as sounds grew heavier, Elvis kept on keepin' on, making lightweight movies of no consequence, and providing an inoffensive soundtrack to match. This is an oversimplification, but it's also pretty much true. Just over a decade after "Heartbreak Hotel" notched Elvis's first # 1 pop hit in 1956, the King wasn't dead; he had merely become old-fashioned. Establishment. Kids weren't listening to Elvis. Beatles fans, Rolling Stones fans, Jimi Hendrix fans, Motown fans, Otis Redding fans, Doors fans, rock and soul fans...few of them were listening to Elvis. Elvis was for people nearing thirty, or even older. And one couldn't trust anyone over thirty...could one?

In this cultural DMZ between mainstream success and artistic relevance, the King shrugged and reasserted his reign. The 1968 comeback TV special was amazing, a potent reminder of the pure and undeniable power of Elvis Presley. In 1969, the stunning single "Suspicious Minds" became Elvis's first # 1 hit since "Good Luck Charm" in 1962. 

Never count the King out. The King is out when the King says he's out.

"Kentucky Rain" followed in 1970, peaking at # 16, but arguably an even better record than "Suspicious Minds." Alas, the King chose to turn away from this path. Vegas beckoned. Show biz beckoned. The King moved his kingdom to those lucrative lands instead. The King had nothing to prove. 

But man...can you imagine what Elvis could have done if he had thought he did have something to prove? "Kentucky Rain" is lasting evidence that a King walked this earth. 

Long live the King.

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: 1/10/2026

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 # 1318

EYTAN MIRSKY: This Year's Gonna Be Our Year

THE FOUR TOPS: Reach Out I'll Be There

The news of the world this week does not inspire optimism. Nonetheless: We open the new year with testimonials of hope and resilience courtesy of Eytan Mirsky and the Four Tops. Both songs are given chapters in my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). The book was not intended as fiction, the brutal nature of the real world notwithstanding.

You can read an earlier version of my GREM! celebration of Brother Eytan's fantastic "This Year's Gonna Be Our Year" in its blog appearance right here. For now, let me add this bit from the book's chapter about the mighty Four Tops:

"...'Reach Out' is no less melodramatic than 'Standing In The Shadows Of Love' or 'It's The Same Old Song' or 'Seven Rooms Of Gloom.' But its sense of heightened emotion is put to a higher purpose: Not just lamenting lost love, but planting feet firmly, chin set, and reaching out to help a loved one make a stand when the chips are down. It's pure, it's inspirational, and it's spine-chillingly convincing and uplifting...."

We need that, especially in these times of trouble, when we feel like we can't go on. All hope isn't quite gone, not just yet. It's time to rewrite our stories. This year. Reach out. 

TAYLOR SWIFT [FEATURING SABRINA CARPENTER]: The Life Of A Showgirl [dressing room rehearsal version]

Look: I realize that I'm not in Taylor Swift's demo. But I respect her talent, I respect her accomplishment, and I very much respect her super ability to piss off a lot of people who piss me off. I've already waxed rhapsodic about Swift's sublime 2020 track "The Last Great American Dynasty," while simultaneously noting that most of her work is likely to fall outside my chosen pop parameters.

With that said, the fact that I don't listen to any contemporary hits radio format means I didn't hear the title tune from Swift's 2025 album The Life Of A Showgirl until a few weeks ago. I think the studio version of this collaboration between Swift and Sabrina Carpenter was played incidentally during the six-part Disney + docuseries Taylor Swift: The End Of An Era, but what got my attention was Swift and Carpenter's dressing room rehearsal performance of the song. That was stunning, allowing the words and melody to breathe free, unencumbered by extraneous (to me) gloss and thump. This rendition became an immediate personal pop obsession, prompting me to buy the track and put it on a radio show that's generally more known for playing the Ramones and the Flashcubes rather than Taylor Swift. See, great songs can fit in anywhere.

THE CYNZ: Love's So Lovely

The Cynz were TIRnRR's 13th most-played artist in 2025, and they placed two songs among our 50 most-played tracks. One of those tracks, "Heartbreak Time," was a single that has now been remixed as part of the brand-new Cynz album Confess, which is due out this month from the Jem Records label. As we commence a new year of countdown stats, we debut "Love's So Lovely," the latest single from Confess, and we'll be playing it again on Sunday. We confess a love of Cynz.

TREVOR BLENDOUR: She's Still My Baby

About a month ago, I got a text from beloved actor/musician/producer/debonaire man-about-town Robbie Rist:

"Sir.

Trevor Blendour (pronounced blender)

Look him up.

I think he's a great addition to TIRnRR.

Has a new album called Breaking Up With Trevor Blendour.

Find it."

We hear and we obey. Thanks for the tip, Robbie! (And, um...how did you get this number? Just askin'...)

MIKE BROWNING: It's Festival Time

Festival time? Man, it's ALWAYS a festival when Mike Browning releases a new single, and "It's Festival Time" puts that sentiment in writing. And if the snowy season in Syracuse doesn't immediately conjure images of FESTIVAL!, we can close our eyes, listen, and wave the ol' cigarette lighter high. We'll wave it again this Sunday. Don't argue with festivals.

THE TROGGS: Wild Thing

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

ELVIS PRESLEY: Hard  Headed Woman

The ONLY King we acknowledge.

SPECTRAFLAME: Love Don't Live Here No More

Another tip courtesy of the charmingly ubiquitous Robbie Rist, and this time it's a project he's involved in. "Love Don't Live Here No More" is the latest single from St. Petersburg, Florida's phenomenal pop combo Spectraflame, a fab force commanded by singer, songwriter, and guitarist Steve Burgess. Our Robbie adds drums, bass, backing vocals, and MORE GUITAR!, Lee Pons plays the keys, and the result is ready-made for rockin' pop radio. HEY! That's where WE come in! I knew we'd get to play some kinda part in this. Our part is to play it this week, and again next week. The love of pop music still lives here, and it lives here with gusto to spare.

(Er...our apologies to Spectraflame for announcing the song on-air last week as "Love Don't Live Here ANY More." I'd say we learned our lesson, but we did it again on our next show. Jeez, it's a good thing we're so adorable.)

THE VOGUES: Five O'Clock World

Good enough for Drew Carey. Good enough for us.

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: 12/23/2025

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 # 1316: The 27th Annual THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO Christmas show

THE WEEKLINGS: Gonna Be Christmas

Why, yes! It IS gonna be Christmas! Very soon! Following our standard Christmas show introduction--John and Yoko's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)"--The 27th Annual THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL Christmas show opens with this delightful track from the Weeklings' Christmas album. It's a perfect song to kick off our seasonal celebration, its eyes bright with wonder and its heart open to the promise of possibility. It's gonna be Christmas. Here's a toast and a wish for the best of what that might be.

BLAINE CAMPBELL AND THE CALIFORNIA SOUND: Christmas Day

The annual TIRnRR Christmas shows are built in large part with familiar favorites. We don't want to do the same ol' show every December, but Dana and I do have a few specific tracks we're hell's-jingle-bells bent on programming. We never even come close to accommodating all of the music we wanna play, and this year's holiday playlist (like its 26 predecessors) did not have time to include a number of our perennial picks. Santa understands our dilemma, and he does not assign us naughty points for our omissions.

As berths on the playlist fill up faster'n a little kid's Christmas wish list, we still try to squeeze in a little bit of new Yuletunes alongside our beloved classics. We debuted 2025 offerings by Perilous, Jamie Hoover, and the Krayolas on last week's show, and saved this gem from Blaine Campbell and the California Sound's recent Holidays EP for this week. 

QUINT: Almost Christmas Eve

I'm not much of a Hallmark-style Christmas TV movie fan, but I recognize the sweet sugar-cookie comfort appeal of those flicks, and more power to those who celebrate. Love at Christmas? Can't fault that.

Before my mom passed in 2021, I used to catch extended glimpses of some works within this ho-ho-Hallmark genre playing in the common room at her nursing home. I think the only one I've ever deliberately watched in its entirety is 2021's Blending Christmas, which I made a point of seeing because TIRnRR's long-time friend Robbie Rist is in it (as are some of his former castmates from The Brady Bunch). I didn't get around to seeing Blending Christmas until well after he fact--I don't think I was aware of its existence until last year--but it was inoffensive and agreeable, and there's nothing wrong with that.

For the TIRnRR Christmas shows, the Hallmark and Company movie music content comes from Beaus Of Holly, a 2020 production with soundtrack contributions by Quint, which is our Robbie with film director Anthony C. Ferrante. Some years we play "Bows Of Holly," the de facto title theme as performed by Quint with guest vocalist Karen Bassett. Sometimes we go with "Almost Christmas Eve." Can't go wrong either way, and you can stuff your own virtual stocking with digital copies of both songs on the Quint collection Yes, It's Christmas. 

Warmth and comfort. Love for Christmas. Meet cute. I refuse to summon snark against anything that brings joy to the world. 

ELVIS PRESLEY: Santa Claus Is Back In Town

King Elvis I. Repeating what I've said in previous years: It's not Christmas without the King.

DARLENE LOVE: Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)

One long-ago holiday season, back when our pal (and Radio Deer Camp host) Rich Firestone was slavin' away in commercial radio, a clueless suit once told him that nobody wants to hear anything from Phil Spector's Christmas album A Christmas Gift For You. See, that guy's getting coal for Christmas. The late Spector himself is also getting coal; in fact he's probably helping to produce the (literally) damned coal nowadays--warm and toasty!--but I digress. 

We endeavor to include a track from Spector's Christmas album in each year's TIRnRR Xmas Xtravaganza. The picks vary from year to year; last year and the year before, it was the Ronettes' "Frosty The Snowman," and in 2022 it was the Ronettes' "Sleigh Ride." We've skipped some years, but A Christmas Gift For You is always in the mix as we consider what to play on our Christmas show.

The above-mentioned "Sleigh Ride" is the track I most remember hearing on December AM radio airwaves when I was younger, and it's a fabulous number indeed. But the truest classic on the Spector Christmas album is Darlene Love's "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)," and it was way overdue for a return to our playlist. This year, it finally comes back home.

SLADE: Merry Xmas Everybody

Slade's 1973 we're-gonna-have-a-GLITTERY-Christmas treat "Merry Xmas Everybody" was a huge, huge hit in the band's native England, but it's merely something of a cult fave rave on these shores. Pity, because I've absolutely adored it since first hearing it on a various-artists Christmas collection more than a decade later.

Does your Granny always tell you that the old songs are the best? Then she's up and rock 'n' rolling with the rest

Old and new. As the philosopher Linus once told his friend Charlie: That's what Christmas is all about.

LIBRARIANS WITH HICKEYS: Listen The Snow Is Falling

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE MONKEES: House Of Broken Gingerbread

Last week, for the first time in a long time, I listened to the Monkees' 2018 album Christmas Party. At the time of the album's release, I was disappointed--very disappointed--that the Monkees were following up the sheer triumph of their 2016 album Good Times! with a Christmas record rather than, y'know, a real record. This disappointment grew three sizes when the subsequent deaths of Peter Tork and Michael Nesmith meant that Christmas Party would be the final Monkees studio album.

The playlist for this year's Christmas show was already set, and the show itself already recorded, before I listened to The Spoon podcast's 2025 Christmas show. The Spoon, hosted by that Robbie Rist guy with his buds Chris Jackson and Thom Bowers, is always a must-listen event, and their holiday presentation this year includes a track from Christmas Party, as Michael Nesmith croons "The Christmas Song." Papa Nez wasn't exactly Nat King Cole, nor did he wish to be, but his rendition is warm and inviting. I didn't hate it.

That was sufficient impetus for me to spin the whole album again, half of it during my Saturday morning commute, the rest of it when I arrived at work. It's a better record than my knee-jerk resistance to it would have conceded at the time of release. Micky Dolenz has always been one of my favorite pop singers, and he acquits himself well here, even on a palatable version of Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Dishwatertime," or whatever we wanna call that awful Macca song I've despised for decades. Mostly produced by the late Adam Schlesinger, Christmas Party is almost a Dolenz solo album, with two independent contributions from Nesmith, two archival tracks by Davy Jones (whom we lost in 2012), and a heavily-autotuned solo vocal and banjo performance by a very fragile-sounding Tork on "Angels We Have Heard On High;" cancer claimed Tork in February of 2019, mere months after Christmas Party came out.

As noted above, our Christmas show was wrapped 'n' ready before I heard Michael Nesmith on The Spoon extolling the virtues of chestnuts roasting on an open fire, before my re-listen to Christmas Party. The Christmas Party track "House Of Broken Gingerbread" made its way to our playlist on its own virtue and vice and everything nice. Co-written by Adam Schlesinger and novelist Michael Chabon, "House Of Broken Gingerbread" is sung from the POV of a child of divorce, spending part-time holidays at the separate households of his estranged parents. Perhaps not the stuff from which traditional Christmas cards were crafted. Dolenz sings it so well, so commandingly, applying a candy-cane coating that does not conceal its underlying ache and discontent.

(The Monkees have appeared in some form on most of our 27 annual Christmas shows. Our usual go-to Christmas Monkees track is the simply gorgeous a cappella "Riu Chiu" from 1967 [discussed here], but we occasionally play "House Of Gingerbread" instead. This year, I was thinking of subbing "Christmas Is My Time Of Year," a 1976 single by Dolenz, Jones, and Tork, but as I was mulling song choices, Micky's insistent Fa la LA la la la-la-laaaaa from "House Of Broken Gingerbread" stage-dived into the visions of sugarplums that had been dancing in my head, causing 'em to flee for their lives. So: "House Of Broken Gingerbread" got the slot. Fa la LA...!)

THE RAMONES: Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight)

Seems like a worthy goal.

THE IDEA: It's About That Time

John and Yoko at the top. George Harrison's "Ding Dong, Ding Dong" at or near the end. In between, our Christmas show perennials generally include "The Man In The Santa Suit" by Fountains Of Wayne, "Purple Snowflakes" by Marvin Gaye, "Gonna Ask Santa Claus" by Bibi Farber with the Michael Lynch Orchestra, "Jesus Christ" by Big Star, "Christmas" by the Rooks, "I Don't Intend To Spend Christmas Without You" by Margo Guryan, "2000 Miles" by the Pretenders, usually "Father Christmas" by the Kinks, usually something by James Brown, the Waitresses' "Christmas Wrapping" when we can carve out enough space for it. Other than the Beatles' Christmas messages 1963-1969, no individual track has been played on all 27 of our annual Christmas shows.

The Idea's "It's About That Time" has been on most of them. It's my # 1 all-time favorite Christmas track, and it's not Christmas for me if I can't play it.

It's about that time. Gather 'round the Christmas tree, or just around the artifact of your choice. "Happy Holidays!" remains one of many valid and welcome expressions of well wishes, and these trying times are in dire need of as many well wishes as we can generate. Peace on Earth. Good will toward all. It should always be about that time. We wish you the merriest.

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: 11/15/2025

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 # 1310

P. HUX: Hard To Get Over A Heartbreak

The great Parthenon Huxley covering Raspberries? I'm IN! P. Hux's irresistible rendition of "Hard To Get Over A Heartbreak" comes to us via Think Like A Key Music's Play On: A Raspberries Tribute, a simply sublime berry-flavored confection collection masterminded by our old friend Ken Sharp. It's hard to get over how good this is. We'll debut two more Play On cuts on our next show.

THE RAMONES: Surf City

When the Ramones' incredible Rocket To Russia album was released in 1977, someone in the rock press (I don't remember who) proclaimed with great glee, IT'S A JAN AND DEAN ALBUM! True assessment! But it took da Brudders more than 15 years to get around to actually covering your Jan and your Dean on record. That feat was finally accomplished with this righteous 'n' respectful punk rock romp through "Surf City," as heard on the Ramones' 1993 all-covers album Acid Eaters. Two girls for every boy. Well! Jackie and Judy, and Sheena and Ramona, meet Jan and Dean. 

STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK: Monsters

Who cares what trick-or-treat games we choose? As the eerie glow of jack-o'-lanterns fades in the rearview mirror, and colorful lights of a different season beckon on the horizon, we still wanted to play one more track from Big Stir Records' epic Halloween compilation Chilling, Thrilling Hooks And Haunted Harmonies. With little to gain but nothing to lose, and mindful of a rare opportunity to play something new from Strawberry Alarm Clock, we opted for a post-All Hallow's Eve spin of their TCH&HH track "Monsters." A yardstick for lunatics? Man, that's just one point of view.

And on the subject of Strawberry Alarm Clock, from a previous 10 Songs:

I don't remember if I knew Strawberry Alarm Clock's "Incense And Peppermints" at the time of its 1967 chart reign--I was seven years old, but it's possible--or if I came to embrace the song after the fact. If the latter, I may have heard of the 1970 sexploitation film Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls before I knew "Incense And Peppermint;" I certainly didn't see the movie itself until many, many years later, and I didn't know that Strawberry Alarm Clock appeared in it, but I saw a Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls pictorial in Playboy, and that got my adolescent attention. (What business did a ten-year-old have reading Playboy? The business of staring at unclothed women. Plus articles, I guess.)

But yeah, in addition to the pulchritudinous charms of its actresses, Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls presented Strawberry Alarm Clock in a party scene, lip-syncing their hit from a few years back, and then doing the same with two new songs for the soundtrack LP (as well as pretending to back up the film's fictional combo the Carrie Nations).

Unlike the Carrie Nations, Strawberry Alarm Clock kept their clothes on.

THE CRAWDADDYS: There She Goes Again

MARVIN GAYE: Hitch Hike

The Crawdaddys covering the Velvet Underground, and Marvin Gaye inspiring the Velvet Underground. I believe Lou Reed acknowledged that his VU song "There She Goes Again" borrowed directly from Gaye's 1962 Motown stalwart "Hitch Hike," as both songs are built on an identical boppin' rhythm that starts 'em and carries 'em. Thumbs out, and thumbs up. 

VEGAS WITH RANDOLPH: I Could Be The One

"I Could Be The One" is another past TIRnRR favorite included on Drops Of Gold: The Best Of Vegas With Randolph. We play the hits, and this particular hit has a brand-new animated video that is likewise hit-worthy. GOLD, I tell ya! Gold.

THE GO-GO'S: Surfing And Spying

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE KINKS: Juke Box Music

From a previous post:

There are songs for all occasions. The right tune can comfort, console, lift, motivate. It can offer catharsis or escape, band aid or blunt instrument, challenge or confirmation. A time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones together. 

Also dancing. Evidence suggests the right song can inspire dancing.

The Kinks' 1977 Sleepwalker album was released just as I was becoming increasingly fascinated by the Kinks. It was the right album at the right time, unencumbered by the larger themes of the group's then-recent series of concept albums, fittingly sprightly and energetic at a time when punk rock was also about to draw my interest. I saw the Kinks perform the album's title track on TV, on both The Mike Douglas Show and NBC's Saturday Night. Each of these home tube appearances was supplemented by older Kinks material--"Celluloid Heroes" on the Douglas show, an exciting medley of "You Really Got Me," "All Day And All Of The Night," "Well Respected Man," and "Lola" on the show soon to be renamed Saturday Night Live--reinforcing the connection between past and present. The Kinks weren't back; they'd never gone away.

I wound up absolutely obsessing over a Sleepwalker album track and single called "Juke Box Music." That song's bouncy saga of a girl who maintains a far-too-literal belief in the lyrics of the songs she loves resonated within my own ongoing conflict of thinking too much versus not thinking nearly enough, taking things too seriously (and being waaaay too thin-skinned) versus developing an elusive emotional and (quasi-) intellectual balance. As a college freshman in the fall of '77, I wrote a short story inspired by my interpretation of "Juke Box Music." It...wasn't very good. But my skills improved over time. It's only juke box scribblin', man.

But it's only meant to dance to, so you shouldn't take it to heart.

Only juke box music. Can anything that captivates us really be reduced to an only? I say no, but I also embrace the need for balance. We can't let passions interfere too much with the task of living our lives in this mundane world. As a slightly later Kinks song tells us, you've gotta live life.

But without our passions, is it really living? 

In the spring of '78, I saw the Kinks in concert. "Juke Box Music" was their encore. Right place at the right time. God save serendipity, and God save "Juke Box Music."

ELVIS PRESLEY: Heartbreak Hotel

King Elvis I. From my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1):

This was rock 'n' roll's equivalent of the shot heard 'round the world. A segregated America was about to be forced to integrate its pop charts in a manner without precedent, to look on in horror as its young embraced this race music, this primal beat, this blatantly sexual sound that their daughters would find orgasmic, that their sons would find irresistible. A white kid who could sing like a black man. Before long, more and more white kids would also listen to black performers, and pop music would change forever after. The roots of that change predate Elvis and "Heartbreak Hotel," but it is still impossible to overstate the cultural significance of this record. And it would be stupid to deny its lasting effect and appeal. One could only claim a handful of records as changing everything that followed. "Heartbreak Hotel" would top that list.

THE FLASHCUBES: The Sweet Spot

Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse the Flashcubes, contributing a fab original tune to their own tribute album. As one oughta! In a year of Dow-Jonesian highs and lows, assembling the various-artists blockbuster Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes stands as my proudest work. We have found the sweet spot, and it is ours.

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.