10 SONGS: 9/8/2023

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 High School # 1197: The 12th Annual DANA'S FUNKY SOUL PIT. This show is available as a podcast.

ERMA FRANKLIN: It's Over

"Over...?!" WE JUST STARTED!!

Erma Franklin is no stranger to the Soul Pit, nor a stranger to non-Soul Pit TIRnRR playlists, with her song "I Don't Want No Mama's Boy" and her Forgotten Original of "Piece Of My Heart" scoring the most attention. "It's Over" is my new favorite Erma Franklin work.

Yes, we know about Erma Franklin's little sister Carolyn Franklin; she's also scored some TIRnRR airplay. And everyone knows about their middle sister. But today: a little respect for Big Sister Erma. Respect is never over.

THE SUPREMES: Love, I Never Knew You Could Feel So Good

We've been playing the Supremes a lot this year, specifically music the Supremes did in the '70s after former lead singer whatsername moved on to her solo career. It's an amazing and largely unrecognized body of work, well worthy of obsession and repeat play. A love Supreme. I never knew it could feel so good.

MEL AND TIM: Backfield In Motion

I don't recall Mel and Tim's hit "Backfield In Motion" from its radio heyday in 1969, though I probably heard it. The song entered my collection in 1977 via a used record purchase at Mike's Sound Center in North Syracuse. 

The used record in question was Do It Now: 20 Giant Hits, a various-artists collection issued by cheap-o label Ronco Records in 1970. I had read about the album in one of Harlan Ellison's books of TV criticism, The Glass Teat or The Other Glass Teat. "Backfield In Motion" did not make any immediate impression on me; it was one of the tracks I often skipped en route to the Association and Jefferson Airplane. I like it a lot more now.

Nor was I much of (or any of) a football fan in '77--I like that a lot more now, too--but I did recognize "backfield in motion" as a gridiron term. I even knew gridiron. I tell ya, I was a Renaissance punk. But my primary image for the phrase in the '70s was from an otherwise-forgotten TV comedy sketch about football, with Bob Hope or Dean Martin or whomever referring to some shapely 'n' sporty starlets' curvy backfields being in motion.

Penalty declined.

DONNA SUMMER: I Feel Love

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

In 1977, Brian Eno told Bowie that Donna Summer's "I Feel Love" was the sound of the future. In that year of potential musical revolution, a year of important and transcendent releases by the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, the Clash, Talking Heads, Elvis Costello, and Television, Eno was still probably right. An amazing single.

RICK JAMES: Super Freak

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE AD LIBS: The Boy From New York City

Various-artists compilations have played an enormous role in introducing me to a wider range of rockin' pop music. We mentioned Ronco's Do It Now a few metric parsecs north of here; from Heavy Metal and History Of British Rock through Nuggets and Yellow Pills, compilations have opened my ears to an endless array of singers, songs, and sounds. Variety. Context. Any record you ain't heard is a new record.

In the summer of '78, I snagged a copy of a 1976 oldies collection called 15 Original Rock N' Roll Biggies Vol. 2, a cheap set I acquired for the specific purpose of replacing my crappy-sounding 45 of the Bobby Fuller Four's "I Fought The Law." For bonus value, this album introduced me to a couple of great Standells cuts ("Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White" and "Why Pick On Me") I didn't know--any record you ain't heard, yadda yadda--and it introduced me to "The Boy From New York City" by the Ad Libs.

Unlike my previous experience of ignoring Mel and Tim on Do It Now, I did take a shine to "The Boy From New York City" and I played it nearly as often as I played its LP brethren Bobby Fuller and the Standells. Come ON, Kitty!

LARRY WILLIAMS: Slow Down

Last year's edition of Dana's Funky Soul Pit was a soul tribute to the Beatles, a fab 'n' funky soulabration of all things Fab. Most of that show consisted of soul and R & B covers of Beatles songs, but with a closing set of some of the classic soul originals--Arthur Alexander's "A Shot Of Rhythm And Blues," Chuck Berry's "Rock And Roll Music," the Cookies' "Chains," Richie Barrett's "Some Other Guy," et al.--that the savage young moptops themselves adored. The Beatles wanted to be a soul group. Lemme hear you say YEAH. THREE times!

The Beatles certainly adored Larry Williams, and most of us know Williams more from the Beatles' covers of "Slow Down," "Bad Boy," and "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" than we know Williams' versions. These songs became well-known classics because the Beatles did them.

But, even before Liverpool's Finest grabbed these songs and took 'em along on that left turn at Greenland, they were already GREAT songs. The Beatles had impeccable taste. 

Among all songs covered by the Beatles, their take on "Slow Down" edges out their well-known workout of the Isley Brothers' "Twist And Shout" as my favorite. The original's cool, too. The original's fantastic. I want that love to last.

MAJOR LANCE: It's The Beat

It's the BEAT, man, the BEAT! Like '70s Supremes, the mighty Major Lance has also established a presence on TIRnRR playlists. One of my older siblings had the 45 of Lance's 1963 smash "Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um," and I'm delighted to say I typed the correct number of titular Ums without checking first. I'm a SUCCESS! 

I liked that record when I was a kid, and i still do. But man, it is so cool to hear deeper tracks from the Major Lance catalogue o' wonder; whenever Dana programs a Major Lance song I don't know, my inner self executes an enthusiastic li'l fist bump. Can't beat that. Keep 'em comin', Dana!

THE CHAMBERS BROTHERS: All Strung Out Over You

From a previous edition of 10 Songs:

"The Chambers Brothers are one-hit wonders, but man, what a hit that was. Their 1968 smash 'Time Has Come Today' is a freakin' wall of rock and soul, and I'm probably going to add it to my ever-forthcoming book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). I haven't listened to the full eleven-minute version in far too long, but I owe myself that pleasure in the near future. Even the single version is a bit lengthy at nearly five minutes, but it's five minutes well spent. TIME!! The Ramones did an incredible cover of the song in the early '80s; even they couldn't improve on the original.

"As is often the case with one-hit wonders, the Chambers Brothers cut more good stuff beyond the solitary Chosen One everyone knows. I've begun a casual dive into some of that recently, picking up both a CD best-of set and an expanded CD reissue of the group's The Time Has Come album. "All Strung Out Over You" was on that LP, a great track that only charted regionally. It deserved better."

To the above, I will add a supplemental Oh YEAH! on behalf of "All Strung Out Over You," and assure all 'n' sundry that, since writing that entry in 2021, I am now fully in the thrall of the longer cut of "Time Has Come Today." My soul has been psychedelicized.

RAY CHARLES: Let's Go Get Stoned

As always, it's important to have goals. Our goal is to hang tight, hang tough, and meet you back here next year for The 13th Annual Dana's Funky Soul Pit. Let's GO!

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: 5/18/2021

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 # 1077.

THE ANIMALS: Baby Let Me Take You Home

"Baby Let Me Take You Home" was The Animals' first single, released in their native England in 1964. It wasn't a hit here in the colonies, and my first real awareness of it came in December of 1976, when my residency on Santa's Nice List resulted in a copy of the 2-LP Best Of The Animals under the Christmas tree. In the hand...paws of The Animals, the song was a British Invasion raved-up version of the traditional folk tune "Baby Let Me Follow You Down," which Bashful Bob Dylan recorded for his debut album. 

The arrangements were very different. As an unabashed rockin' pop fan less than a month shy of his 17th birthday, I respected Dylan and thought I probably liked him--I was supposed to like Dylan, right?--but I'd never heard his nor anyone's folk reading of "Baby Let Me Follow You Down" prior to hearing The Animals go electric with it. Animals guitarist Hilton Valentine opens the track with a mesmerizing lick that captivated me in an instant. Through my first dozen (or two) spins of it, I was initially disappointed that the rest of the song didn't match the style of the intro (something I also felt about "Think For Yourself" by The Beatles). I got over that resistance soon enough, and embraced "Baby Let Me Take You Home" as yet another effervescent British Invasion treasure. Rock 'n' roll. Pop music. Baby, let me play it again!

TAMAR BERK: Skipping The Cracks

Singer-songwriter-musician Tamar Berk joins our little Play-Tone Galaxy Of Stars with "Skipping The Cracks," the leadoff track from her new release The Restless Dreams Of Youth. The song earworms its way into the ol' cranium, recalling Penelope Houston, TIRnRR Fave Rave Irene Pena, and a shinier (and FCC-friendly) version of early Liz Phair. There is an oh-so-sweet bitterness in play, and it makes for a radio-ready rush of catharsis. (And note that Tamar insists that she didn't step on the cracks; if you happen to be a faithless lover suddenly afflicted with a broken back, well, it's your own stupid fault, ya jerk.)

THE BROTHERS STEVE: We Got The Hits

We play the hits. The Brothers Steve GOT the hits--whatta deal! The group's 2019 album # 1 provides a solid pummeling of the sort of energetic pop music this little mutant radio show has in mind when we say the word hits, a wall-to-wall hookfest of engaging janglebuzz.  I often find myself singing "Beat Generation Poet Turned Assassin" at random moments, and we really need to play a few more tracks from this gem. But we can't resist the lure of "We Got The Hits," which is well on its way to becoming an all-time TIRnRR classic. As befits a hit.

CADDY: Cost Of Love

Norway's Phenomenal Pop Act Caddy is a singular rather than a collective; one-man band Tomas Dahl is Caddy's Smart One, Caddy's Cute One, Caddy's Quiet One, Caddy's Funny One, Caddy's Reluctant One, Caddy's Misunderstood Mad Scientist One, Caddy's...yeah, like that. I still call Caddy "they," because habit. The latest Caddy release Detours And Dead Ends Vol. 1 (brand new on Kool Kat Musik) presents ten new covers of '70s and '80s pop songs. None of the original versions (by SVT, Gary Charlson, The Freshies, Sgt. Arms, Junior Campbell, Screaming Sneakers, The Invaders, and Chrissy) was exactly a household name to begin with, though maybe a few more people remember Ronnie Lane and the Chartbusters. As well they should! 

The best-known song here is likely "Cost Of Love." Even if too few fans purchased the original by The Cretones (on their fab 1980 debut Thin Red Line), it was also one of three Cretones songs covered by Linda Ronstadt on her 1980 hit LP Mad Love. "Cost Of Love" has been a record made for radio play in both of its previous incarnations, and it remains so in Caddy's current take. Well done, lads! Um...lad.

ERMA FRANKLIN: I Don't Want No Mama's Boy

It couldn't have been easy to be a soul singer trying to make your mark on the charts when your sister happens to be the greatest soul singer of all time. Both older sister Erma Franklin and baby dynamite sis Carolyn Franklin spent their careers in the juggernaut-sized shadow of middle sister Aretha, but both did deliver an impressive supply of compelling tracks. I've played some of Carolyn's stuff on recent shows, and Dana's long favored Erma's sassy kiss-off "I Don't Want No Mama's Boy." We all know Aretha. We should get to know Erma and Carolyn, too.

THE GO-GO'S: We Got The Beat

At long last, welcome to The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Sure, there are still many, many other acts overdue for such recognition (including, of course, my choice for the Hall's most egregious snub to date), but I'm so happy that The Go-Go's are finally, finally set to be inducted. Their 2020 single "Club Zero" served notice that the group still retains possession of the beat, and we look forward to hearing more new music from this fab combo. But this week, we went back to the beginning, playing the group's debut release from 1981, the original Stiff Records single of "We Got The Beat." While I ultimately prefer the full, familiar sound of their 1982 hit remake, I really dig the backing vocals--They're walking in time!--that were shed in the subsequent recording. When I listen to the hit, I add those parts back in (just like I add the missing shooby-doo-wops to The Beatles' "Revolution" single). 

"We Got The Beat" was also the subject of last week's rant in my weekly video series The Greatest Record Ever Made!

JOAN JETT: Bad Reputation

My daughter Meghan is getting married. It's a happy moment, even as we acknowledge this continued avalanche of sand plummeting so damned fast in the hourglass. Where does the time go? And could it maybe slow down every once in a while, just for a short little bit?

The event itself is still off somewhere in the future. Meghan and I have a long-time agreement that when that party does kick into place, the song for our father-daughter dance will be "Bad Reputation" by Joan Jett. That agreement stands. And this paragraph (which appeared in a previous 10 Songs) expresses the importance of the song's message:

"In real life, there is perhaps no greater super power than the ability to shrug off the disapproval of others. Dig what you dig. Love who you love. Be who you want to be, not whatever some gray they want you to be. Don't give a damn about your reputation."

Let the sand fall. Let time do what time does. The fleeting moments are worth it. Love is worth it. Mazel tov. Let's dance.

THE MONKEES: The Door Into Summer

The Monkees understood that sobering sense of days cascading away from us:

And he thought he heard the echoes of a pennywhistle van

And the laughter from a distant caravan

And the brightly-painted line of circus wagons in the sand

Fading through the door into summer

And still: let's dance.

THE MYNAH BIRDS: I Got You (In My Soul)

I continue to be taken with this story of The Mynah Birds, a band that included then-unknowns Rick James and Neil Young, signed to Motown in 1966, but broke up before releasing any records. What might have been? Beyond the soon-to-be-realized star power in the group, I'm even more fascinated by the fact that the tiny handful of Mynah Birds material that has been rescued from the vault so far--four songs to my knowledge--has offered glimpses of a potentially killer soul-pop rock 'n' roll act. The almost-single "It's My Time" sounds like it coulda been a big hit in '66, and "I Got You (In My Soul)" would have been a natural for The Yardbirds, especially if The Yardbirds had recorded for Motown.

SEGARINI: Gotta Have Pop

Statement of intent. Gotta have it. Gotta.

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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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