THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! The Ohms, "License To Kill"

Drawn from previous posts, this is not part of my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1).

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!

THE OHMS: License To Kill

Written by Zenny Caucasian [Josh Jeffe]

Produced by Ducky Carlisle

Unreleased, recorded circa 1979-980

There are two separate caches of pop music circa late '70s and early '80s that top my list of lost classics of the era. One is the cavalcade of shoulda-been-hits by Fools Face, a Springfield, Missouri combo whose second album Tell America was one of my favorite LPs of the '80s, but whose fabulous treasure trove of ace material remains obscure and difficult to get; none of it has ever been reissued, and my copies of their second and third albums are the only copies I've ever even seen. It's a fabulous catalog worthy of wider acclaim, but few will ever have the opportunity to hear it.

The Ohms are perhaps even more obscure than Fools Face. The group played the same late '70s Syracuse club scene that produced my favorite power pop group the Flashcubes. Both the 'Cubes and the Ohms broke up well before receiving their proper due, leaving only a handful of singles behind (two Flashcubes 45s, and just one lone Ohms platter, "Chain Letter"/"Teenage Alcoholic"). But the Flashcubes' legacy lingered, their demos were eventually released, and they regrouped to record more stellar material. The Ohms were forgotten outside of the 315 area code.

They deserved better. A rockin' pop power trio--guitarist and singin' songwriter Zenny Caucasian, bassist Rick Suburban, and drummer Ducky Carlisle--I think the Ohms first split right around the time that "Chain Letter" was released in 1979. As the single drew positive notice in Trouser Press magazine, Zenny and Ducky re-Ohmed, with new bassist Keith Korvair. They cut some terrific, terrific home recordings before powering down for good. None of these has ever seen legitimate release. Lost classics, for sure.

The Ohms were a great, GREAT group. I curse the cruel timing that only allowed me to witness 'em in person once, during the brief 1979-80 period when they were also playing with singer Dian Zain and once and future Flashcubes guitarist Paul Armstrong as an interim lineup of Dian and Paul's group the Most; the Ohms opened the show, and then closed the show with Dian and PA as the Most. But I know that relatively few folks even had a chance to see them at all, nor even hear them at all. I wish we'd all seen the Ohms multiple times over a span of years, of decades...but that ain't what happened. Like Del Paxton told us: You can't keep a band together. The Ohms were no exception. 

That 1979 single "Teenage Alcoholic"/"Chain Letter" remains the only Ohms music to ever see release, and those two tracks have been out of print since the Carter Administration. They recorded more fantastic stuff--"Hollywood Baby," "Boppin' At The USO," "High-Top Sneakers," "You're So Surreal," and my favorite, "License To Kill"--but none of it has ever seen legit release. This looks like a job for Kool Kat Musik, Big Stir, Propeller, Futureman, Jem Records, Think Like A Key Music...somebody!

Don't know the Ohms? Suffice it to say that this trio was one of the best rock 'n' roll acts the talent-rich Central New York area ever produced, a group with terrific live energy--OHM is WHO spelled upside down, don'tcha know--and great original songs. As utterly fantastic as the two officially-released tracks are--and there's good reason why Trouser Press raved about "Teenage Alcoholic" and "Chain Letter"--my favorite will always be the unreleased classic "License To Kill." Or maybe "Boppin' At The USO." Or "You're So Surreal," or...you get the picture.

But no: "License To Kill." A version of James Bond that doesn't insist one must wear earmuffs to listen to the Beatles, a secret agent livin' and letting die in the nightclubs and dives where rock 'n' roll thrives, a 007 who steals a foreign car and turns the radio UP, so all in Her Majesty's service can hear it. Gotta keep movin', you can't sit still. License to kill? License to thrill. For your ears only. Care to dance, Miss Moneypenny? We have a license that says we can.

(Flashcubes bassist Gary Frenay reminds us that we can hear the song on YouTube: The Ohms, "License To Kill)

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: 8/24/2024

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

This week's edition of 10 Songs draws exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1247.

THE HALF/CUBES: Spinning The Wheel

As we prep for the imminent Big Stir Records release of Pop Treasures, the debut album from the Half/Cubes, I was tempted to mention that 2024 is shaping up to be a banner year for the mighty Big Stir label. Then common sense reminded me that every year is a banner year for Big Stir. See, common sense is just plain smart. And Big Stir releases a ton of great stuff throughout the course of any 365-day span you care to examine. 

My top album last year was Pop Masters by Big Stir recording artists (and Half/Cubes parent group) the Flashcubes. Currently, sparkle*jets u.k.'s Box Of Letters is clearly one of the best albums of the year. I've heard the forthcoming new album from Big Stir's house band the Armoires, and that record is gonna knock your motherlovin' socks off. This Sunday's TIRnRR will spin a fabulous new Big Stir single by Librarians With Hickeys, as well as another great teaser single from the Armoires. That ol' Big Stir banner's been waivin' pretty damned well.

And the banner flies high for the Half/Cubes. Pop Treasures finds the group--comprised of the Flashcubes' Gary Frenay and Tommy Allen alongside Randy Klawon and an all-star squadron of guest collaborators--taking a deep, deep dive into the best rockin' pop record collection on the whole friggin' planet, digging out the coolest songs by Del Amitri, the Rubinoos, the Pernice Brothers, the Searchers, Dwight Twilley, Phil Seymour, the Pursuit of Happiness, and more, and remaking them all to stunning effect.

This week, TIRnRR spins "Spinning The Wheel," a shiny Pop Treasures gem originally done by the Hudson Brothers. The Half/Cubes even enlist the one 'n' only Mark Hudson to assist them with their version of "Spinning The Wheel," with all attendant razzle-dazzle defiantly intact. More from Pop Treasures this Sunday night.

THE RAMONES: Don't Come Close

Dana and I will be making an appearance very soon on Only Three Lads, the essential weekly classic alternative podcast hosted by Brett Vargo and Uncle Gregg. The Ramones--the American Beatles, the greatest American rock 'n' roll band of all time--will be an important part of our O3L conversation. 

We play the Ramones almost every week on TIRnRR, and this week's 1-2-3-4! selection was chosen by Dana. But I'm for damned sure all in. Last year, in the run-up to the publication of my book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones, I finally began to realize that the group's 1978 album Road To Ruin may be da brudders' masterpiece, more varied than its three otherwise-nonpareil predecessors without sacrificing even one stray ooze of the sniffin' glue oomph that made them the few, the proud, the Ramones.

When I interviewed Johnny Ramone in 1994, he expressed his dislike of "Don't Come Close" and "Questioningly," two tracks he considered the "country" songs on Road To Ruin. It takes a considerable stretch of the tumbling tumbleweeds to think of either of these pop ditties as country or western (let alone both), but they are enduring proof of what the Ramones were capable of accomplishing within a broader pop realm.

THE BAY CITY ROLLERS: Too Young To Rock And Roll

Speaking of podcasts, I recorded a guest DJ hour on Dedication--Fans Remember The Bay City Rollers, the weekly Tartan-clad Rollerfest hosted by Laura Brady and Suz Rostron, and available for shang-a-langin' at will via Spotify and Apple. My guest spot should run some time in the next not-too-long-from-now, and it involves me discussing my top ten Rollers tracks.

No, I'm not going to tell you which songs they are, though it wouldn't take the deductive brilliance of Batman, Sherlock Holmes, nor even Schlomo Raven to figure out my list probably includes this one and this one, plus another one featured in my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). The rest? Listen and learn, when my own dedicated time is due.

Meanwhile, I will reveal that the Rollers' "Too Young To Rock And Roll" was at least in the running for my Rollers Top Ten. It's a rockin' track, for sure, though I confess I'd like it even more if we could back to 1975, flip the genders, and have my '70s teen crush Suzi Quatro sing the song to fifteen-year-old me. I first saw Suzi Q perform on an S! A! T-U-R! D-A-Y! DAY! rather than on a Saturday night, lip-syncing (fittingly) "I May Be Too Young" on the British TV show Supersonic. 

"Too Young To Rock And Roll?" "I May Be Too Young?" Same difference. Swoon in the manner you choose.

FOOLS FACE: Maiden USA

In the ongoing hype and promo for the above-mentioned Greatest Record Ever Made! book, I've been embracing the fact that I've always been more a single-song guy rather than an album guy. But there have, of course, been a number of albums that have meant the world to me. One of those albums is Tell America, an obscure 1981 album by an obscure (but fantastic) group caslled Fools Face. I wrote this about Tell America last year:

"Outside of a splendid eponymous reunion album in 2002 and a subsequent live set preserved as Live At Last in 2005, Springfield, Missouri's phenomenal pop combo Fools Face have been completely unrepresented in the CD format. I think one of the 2002 tracks made its way to an IPO compilation. And even the Fools Face and Live At Last discs are difficult-to-impossible to snag nowadays. Fools Face's album output during their original 1979-1984 album career--Here To Observe, Tell America, Public Places, and the cassette-only self-titled sayonara usually referred to as "The Red Tape"--are rarer'n rare. I remember once seeing a copy of Here To Observe at a record store in Arlington, Virginia. I own the only other copy of that album I've ever seen, and I've never seen any copies of Tell America or Public Places except for the ones I bought and have held on to for years. (I've never seen the Red Tape either, but I have a CD-R a friend made for me.)

"The Fools Face library is one of American indie pop's greatest gaps. I have heard that there are labels who would love a chance to bring this magnificent stuff back to retail. I have also heard that members of the band just ain't interested in that prospect.

"My first exposure to Fools Face was via Trouser Press magazine, my first listen to their sound courtesy of a Trouser Press flexi-disc single of 'L5' from Tell America coupled with the title tune from Public Places. Tell America absolutely blew my mind on first spin, and it's been one of my all-time favorite albums for four friggin' decades. I wrote about it here. And I wish you could all experience its wonder, on vinyl, CD, mp3, 8-track, streaming, a series of cereal box 45s, whatever. 'Nothing To Say' is the greatest end-of-the-affair teen kiss-off you've never heard. And it's only one of the incredible treats to be found on Tell America.

"In the unlikely event you could find it all."

From Tell America, "Maiden USA" makes its TIRnRR debut this week.

RUSH: Seven And Seven Is

No, I wouldn't have thought Love's furiously sublime/sublimely furious '60s nugget "7 And 7 Is" would be appropriate cover fodder for a band like Rush. Damned if they didn't pull it off anyway. Of course, they felt the need to spell out the numbers in the song's title. Just to be, y'know, Rush about it, I guess.

sparkle*jets u.k.: Goodbye X 3

Up top, we mentioned that Box Of Letters by sparkle*jets u.k. is--and I'm quoting myself directly-- "clearly one of the best albums of the year." And I've learned to limit the amount of time I spend arguing with me. In last week's 10 Songs, we noted that seven of Box Of Letters' twelve tracks had already found their way to TIRnRR playlists, with an eighth--"Goodbye X 3"--to follow this week.

This Sunday night, we'll add a ninth Box Of Letters cut to our tally. Clearly one of the best albums of the year. Yeah, I agree with me on this one.

THE SHIRTS: Tell Me Your Plans

THE SHIRTS: Move On Groove On

A classic from the Shirts: The Greatest Record Ever Made!

And we follow that with the Shirts' current single "Move On Groove On," which (as noted previously in this space) retains the spunk and sass of the old days, sidestepping nostalgia and just, y'know, doing. NEW SHIRTS! And they fit just fine.

THE FLASHCUBES: Five Personalities

WONDERBOY: Girl Songs

A deliberate back-to-back pairing of two acts that have nothing specific to do with one another, singing a pair of songs that also have nothing specific to do with one another. 

Ah! But what if there were a connection? What if the singer from one act recorded a cover of something by the other act, perhaps even that song. The Flashcubes covering Wonderboy's "Girl Songs?" That's...probably not likely.

Could there be other possibilities? And how, one wonders, would one make something happen, if one were wont to make something happen?

Girl songs? I've got a girl with five personalities! Sometimes it feels okay to be outnumbered. 

Roll tape!

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; you can see details here. My 2023 book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones is also still available, courtesy of the good folks at Rare Bird Books. 

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.

5 ABOVE: Albums you need to own on vinyl* [asterisk applied]

 5 Above picks five great things within a specific category. Look out below--these are five that rise above.

Only Three Lads is a weekly podcast devoted to discussion of classic alternative music from the early/mid 1970s through 1999. Hosts Uncle Gregg and Brett Vargo bring their considerable knowledge, passion, experience, and maybe a wee bit o' snark to the proceedings, and the two lads often welcome guests like the Flashcubes, Graham Parker, Dolph Chaney, and the Darling Buds to serve as a designated collective Third Lad. When there's no guest, the audience is the de facto Third Lad. It's great fun, and Only Three Lads is available wherever you find your free-rangin' podcasts, or via this link.

Each episode of O3L poses a Top Five challenge, to be answered by the hosts and the week's guest (if there is one). The assembled Lads 'n' Lasses answer the call with their own ranked lists of, say, top five Saturday night records, top five songs with musical destinations (to which I say it oughta be "Rockaway Beach" five times), top five songs with "Heart" in the title, et al., all drawn from across the O3L era. 

A recent episode promised a forthcoming topic of top five albums you need to own on vinyl. It should lead to an interesting discussion, and I look forward to hearing it. 

Even though I'm not at all a part of the specific target audience.

I'm not a vinyl guy. I'm just not. I respect those of you who are, and I figure you may not share my devotion to say, Batman, or Syracuse University mens' basketball, or Jeopardy!. Dig what you dig. But the vinyl discussion has no relevance to me. I rarely listen to vinyl, and I almost never buy it.

Still, the topic nagged at me. How would I answer, if I had to answer? I figure I'd approach it duly armed with an asterisk: Top five albums you need to own on vinyl* (*because they're not available on CD).

Kobayashi maru, people.

So! Let's employ our asterisk with deliberate intent, and get into the groove already.

But first, an honorable mention, for an album I've never actually heard:

VARIOUS ARTISTS: Rodney Bingenheimer Presents "All Year Party!" Volume One (Martian, 1984)

This one kills me, because this compilation LP is the only way to get the Ventures' version of "Surfin' And Spyin' " (a song written for them [and subsequently recorded by] the Go-Go's) and "Surfin' Safari" by Rodney and the Brunettes. My lack of the latter track is particularly galling, because the Brunettes that are backin' up DJ Rodney Bingenheimer here are the combined forces of Beach Boys-associated girl group the Honeys and none other than THE RAMONES! Yeah, my all-time favorite group not named the Beatles. Outside of a lo-fi rip off of YouTube, I don't own a copy of that razzafrazzin' track.

The compilation also includes Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon backed by the Ventures, a great (but easy to come by) track by Nikki and the Corvettes, and other stuff that might be cool, forgettable, or anywhere in between. I want it for "Surfing' And Spyin' " and "Surfin' Safari." 

But I'd prefer a CD reissue.

CC'S TOP 5 ALBUMS YOU NEED TO OWN ON VINYL

5. ON THE AIR: On The Air (Pulse, 1987)

I might rank this one a little higher if it were a full-length album rather than a six-song EP. On The Air were Karin Coon, Jennifer Dorfman, and Jamie--I have no idea what Jamie's last name was--with some other personnel in place of Jamie on some of their previous recordings. I first heard the group via their track "Even Try," which appeared on Rhino's (then-) contemporary girl group compilation The Girls Can't Help It in 1984. My pal Andrea Ogarrio put another On The Air gem on a divine mix tape she slapped together for me decades ago, and I snapped up the EP itself when I discovered it in a used record shop in Melbourne, Florida in 1994. SCORE!!

I think the On The Air EP track Andrea mixed into her cassette creation was a wonderful li'l number called "You've Got What I Want." My favorite on the record is "This Can't Be Real," written by 20/20's Mike Gallo, a pop gem that remains a fixture on my iPod. Can't play vinyl in the car, man. "Even Try" isn't on the EP, and a quick scan of Discogs suggests there were a handful of other On The Air tracks released on a previous single. Enough for an On The Air CD compilation? I say so!

4. THE BAY CITY ROLLERS: Live In Japan (Teichiku [Japan], 1983)

I'm an unapologetic Bay City Rollers fan. Our Tartan-clad pop idols were the subject of my first-ever feature for Goldmine magazine (written and published in '87, revamped and republished here). They were the proposed stars of a wholly imaginary jukebox flick I wanted to write when I was a teenager, they've made more than a few appearances in my weekly 10 Songs column, they inspired the Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop," and their absolute power pop classic "Rock And Roll Love Letter" gets a chapter in my long-threatened book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). I also dig the late '70s/early '80s edition of the group, with Duncan Faure replacing Les McKeown at the lead mic. I was delighted to learn recently that O3L's Brett Vargo is also a Rollermaniac. We are legion! Sometimes we dress funny, but we are legion.

Live In Japan is a 2-LP document of a reunion show performed by the group's "Saturday Night"-era line-up--McKeown, Alan Longmuir, Derek Longmuir, Eric Faulkner, and Woody Wood--plus late '70s sub-ins Ian Mitchell and Pat McGlynn, but not Duncan Faure. It was only released in Japan, and I originally intended to tuck it into the Honorable Mention section alongside the Rodney Bingenheimer thing, because I'd never had any sort of chance to hear Live In Japan.

However, while working on today's post, I stumbled across a Soundcloud stream, and now I have heard it, or at least part of it. I give demerits to the Rollers for not including their dynamic song "Wouldn't You Like It" in the set list, but I reward 'em a positive for doing "Turn On The Radio" from the first Faure-led album Elevator. 

I own almost all of the Rollers' official studio albums on commercially-released CDs. I have Rollin', Wouldn't You Like It, Once Upon A Star, Dedication, It's A Game, and Strangers In The Wind, the Faure era Elevator, Voxx, and Ricochet, a single-disc best-of, and a vintage 1977 Tokyo concert preserved on a legit CD release called Rollerworld: Live At The Budokan 1977. I'm missing the 1985 album Breakout (which I've heard, and it's awful, but I still want it anyway), the damned elusive Burning Rubber cassette, and Live In Japan. Reissue 'em all, preferably on shiny shiny CD. Gimme an S! Gimme an A...!

3. 1.4.5.: Rhythm n' Booze (Beautiful Sounds, 1988)

Syracuse's own power pop powerhouses the Flashcubes are the third lad in my rockin' pop trinity: The Beatles, the Ramones, and the Flashcubes. After the 'Cubes split at the end of the '70s (the end of the century), 'Cubes guitarist Paul Armstrong piloted an evolving membership of unrepentant rock 'n' rollers as 1.4.5. The legacy of 1.4.5.'s original trio--PA hisself, bassist Dave Anderson, and the late, great Ducky Carlisle on drums--is well represented on the compilation 3 Chords & A Cloud Of Dust, and that collection also provides proper representation of the latter-day 1.4.5. following the original formula. Hey! It's 1.4.5.! Let's GROOVE!

Missing in action is the late '80s version of 1.4.5., a combo who morphed into the Richards. The late Norm Mattice sang lead during this period; the Richards' 1995 album Over The Top is out there, and their non-album masterpiece "Five Personalties" (later redone by the reunited Flashcubes) was one of many highlights on This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 3.

But the Richards started out billed as 1.4.5., and their 1988 album Rhythm n' Booze is an undiscovered gem. The confident strut of the album-opening "Right Now," the pretty pop of "Girl In The Window," vibe-establishing covers of Slade and the Swinging Blue Jeans, the tongue-in-cheek "Famous Local Hero," and the just incredible "Your Own World" (which original-formula 1.4.5. subsequently remade) combine for a record that freakin' cries out for wider acclaim. We were able to use the Rhythm n' Booze "Your Own World" on This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 4. The rest of the album still awaits overdue discovery by the pop world at large. Right here. 

2. FOOLS FACE: Tell America (Talk, 1981)

Outside of a splendid eponymous reunion album in 2002 and a subsequent live set preserved as Live At Last in 2005, Springfield, Missouri's phenomenal pop combo Fools Face have been completely unrepresented in the CD format. I think one of the 2002 tracks made its way to an IPO compilation. And even the Fools Face and Live At Last discs are difficult-to-impossible to snag nowadays. Fools Face's album output during their original 1979-1984 album career--Here To Observe, Tell America, Public Places, and the cassette-only self-titled sayonara usually referred to as "The Red Tape"--are rarer'n rare. I remember once seeing a copy of Here To Observe at a record store in Arlington, Virginia. I own the only other copy of that album I've ever seen, and I've never seen any copies of Tell America or Public Places except for the ones I bought and have held on to for years. (I've never seen the Red Tape either, but I have a CD-R a friend made for me.)

The Fools Face library is one of American indie pop's greatest gaps. I have heard that there are labels who would love a chance to bring this magnificent stuff back to retail. I have also heard that members of the band just ain't interested in that prospect.

My first exposure to Fools Face was via Trouser Press magazine, my first listen to their sound courtesy of a Trouser Press flexi-disc single of "L5" from Tell America coupled with the title tune from Public Places. Tell America absolutely blew my mind on first spin, and it's been one of my all-time favorite albums for four friggin' decades. I wrote about it here. And I wish you could all experience its wonder, on vinyl, CD, mp3, 8-track, streaming, a series of cereal box 45s, whatever. "Nothing To Say" is the greatest end-of-the-affair teen kiss-off you've never heard. And it's only one of the incredible treats to be found on Tell America.

In the unlikely event you could find it all.

1. THE RAMONES: Road To Ruin (Sire, 1979)

Awright, I'll buy into the intended spirit of today's question with my # 1 pick. Of course all of the Ramones' albums are readily available on CD. They're the American Beatles! The greatest American rock 'n' roll band of all time! I started buyin' 'em on CD with Brain Drain in 1989, and later picked up all of the preceding albums in that format as they were reissued, all of the succeeding albums in that format only. But when I trimmed my LP collection of titles duplicated on CD, I kept my Beatles, and I kept my Ramones. Ramones through Halfway To Sanity. I have no intention of relinquishing them.

Maybe that is in itself a small part of the reason vinyl enthusiasts have such passion for LPs and 45s rather than for compact discs or digital air. Albums have a presence. They feel real, substantive, in a way digital editions can't equal. The artwork is something to admire, not something to squint at. Nostalgia plays a role. Nostalgia is not the only element in play.

I've said in the past that the Ramones never made a bad album, but that some are better than others. I've always regarded the first three Ramones albums--1976's Ramones and 1977's Leave Home and Rocket To Russia--as their finest long-players; I've identified 1983's Subterranean Jungle as their most underrated work. And, although I've always cherished 1978's Road To Ruin, I've also felt it was a slight step down after Rocket To Russia.

And that's nonsense.

The process of prepping for the May 2023 publication of my book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones gave me a chance to immerse myself once again in the magic of the Ramones' individual albums. It's not like I was ever far from them in the first place; a day without the Ramones would be like...I can't imagine what a day without the Ramones would be like. I've reviewed and compiled a list of my 25 favorite Ramones tracks. I've significantly upgraded my opinion of 1981's Pleasant Dreams, to the point where I might even prefer it to Subterranean Jungle.

And Road To Ruin? That may be the Ramones' masterpiece.

I'll stop just short of proclaiming that. But it is, without question, at least one of their very greatest works. Its cover graphics are even more eye-popping and irresistible than the iconic image of their debut. It looks best in 12" format. The sounds are more varied than the fast-n-loud charge of the first three albums, but it retains its own certified sedated identity. I just want to have something to do.

And it's something I want to--I've gotta--have on vinyl.

Don't argue with this lad.

If you like what you see here on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), please consider a visit to CC's Tip Jar. 

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, 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.

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl

POP-A-LOOZA: THE EVERLASTING FIRST! The Fantastic Four, The Flash, Fools Face, The Four Seasons, The Four Tops, and Funnyman

Each week, the pop culture website Pop-A-Looza shares some posts from my vast 'n' captivating Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) archives. The latest shared post is another installment of The Everlasting First, with Quick Takes on my introductions to the Fantastic Four, the Flash, Fools Face, the Four Seasons, the Four Tops, and Funnyman.

It's odd how little I've written about some of these. The Four Tops will have a chapter in my long-threatened book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1), while a Four Seasons chapter was written but is not included in that book's current plan. On the other hand, my fond recollection of the Fools Face album Tell America prompted me to write this piece for inclusion in the 2005 book Lost In The Grooves, a book which also presented my celebration of Subterranean Jungle by the Ramones, but the editors declined my offer to write about Elevator by the Rollers (the artists formerly known as the Bay City Rollers).

Moving from music-makers to comic-book crusaders, the Fantastic Four were a (small) part of my Everlasting First memory of discovering Marvel Comics, and the only other thing I've written about the Flash is a brief bit about his role in The CW's Crisis On Infinite Earths TV event.

Ah, but then there's Funnyman. I haven't written much about the Daffy Daredevil either, but there is this:

"Funnyman was Superman co-creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster's attempt to create another super-sensation after their ugly, ugly split from DC Comics in the late '40s. (I was going to say "after DC unceremoniously kicked 'em both to the curb, penniless, as the company went on to make millions off their creation," but no one likes negativity). By 1976, although it would be a stretch to say that all was forgiven, DC had made some amends with Siegel and Shuster, at least enough that Jerry 'n' Joe agreed to appear as guests of honor at the Super-DC Con in New York that February. I met Siegel and Shuster at the convention, and I also picked up my copy of 1948's Funnyman # 5 in the dealers' room. Funnyman, which comes across as a superhero Danny Kaye, was not a successful title, and it's not remembered with much fondness by fandom. But I liked it, and I wish I'd had the presence of mind to have Jerry and Joe autograph my copy."

I posted the public-domain Funnyman # 1 here. But Funnyman's largest role in my work was his alter ego Larry Davis' appearance in my make-believe 1958 beat musical film Jukebox Express. The fake movie's fictional players were annotated here. Jukebox Express was a joy to write, and I think it remains a fun read, imagining characters from Funnyman, That Thing You Do!, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Gilligan's Island, Happy Days, Room Service, King Kong, Marvel's Agent Carter, The Monkees, Singin' In The Rain, I Love Lucy, My Favorite Year, Ellery Queen, The Rocketeer, and more, all working together to make a movie I would love to see (if it actually, y'know, existed). I'm insanely proud of this gathering of the talents of Ginger Grant, Leather Tuscadero, Troy Chesterfield, Sophie Lennon, and a cast of many...none of whom ever really lived. Just imagine!

And imagine that my knowledge of Funnyman, the Four Tops, the Fantastic Four, Fools Face, the Flash, and the Four Seasons hadda start somewhere. Those stories serve as the latest Boppin' Pop-A-Looza.

Jukebox Express star Leather Tuscadero and a friend in Milwaukee

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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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