10 SONGS (plus one): 5/9/2026

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 # 1335

THE GREENBERRY WOODS: The One That Makes You Happy

If you thought the release of another new single by long-standing power pop idols the Greenberry Woods would automatically occupy the lead-off slot in this week's show, you were correct in your thinking. You're pretty good at this thinking stuff. "The One That Makes You Happy" lives up to its titular hype, and we're happy to play it. "The One That Makes You Happy" serves as a sneak peek at the new Greenberry Woods album It's All Good, Sugar..., which is due out May 29th.

And that should make everyone happy. That's what we think.

T. REX: Cosmic Dancer

When T. Rex singer Marc Bolan was killed in a car accident in September of 1977, I was a college freshman and I was pissed that no one else in my dorm knew who Marc Bolan was. It's not like I was an expert on all things related to T. Rexstasy--at the time, I only knew "Bang A Gong (Get It On)"--but I did have at least an inkling of Bolan's importance, and I was disappointed to discover how alone I was in that setting. (Later, "20th Century Boy" assumed the permanent role of my favorite T. Rex track, as detailed here). I remain a Marc Bolan dilletante, and I owe myself a deeper Jeepster dive in the near future.

Although I've owned a copy of T. Rex's Electric Warrior album track "Cosmic Dancer" for decades, I didn't notice it until it popped up in an episode of the (now-cancelled) 2025 Amazon Prime TV series Étoile. Created by Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino (creators of Gilmore Girls and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), Étoile details the dynamics of a pair of interconnected ballet companies, one in New York and one in Paris. Hijinks ensue, as they often do. The series is most definitely not for everyone, but one doesn't need any proper knowledge of ballet to follow what's going on here (nor in the Palladinos' previous ballet-set series Bunheads). For us rockin' pop enthusiasts, David Byrne makes a cameo appearance in one episode, and Sparks perform "I Married Myself" in the series finale.

In one episode, "Cosmic Dancer" plays in the background, the song's ethereal evocation of dance serving as accompaniment to the visuals while bellying up to the barre in its own right. That was sufficient inspiration to place "Cosmic Dancer" on this week's playlist.

SPECTRAFLAME: Yesterday (Jane)

Sometimes it take us time to get around to things. TIRnRR plays the music of Spectraflame with some frequency, as we oughta. We'd planned to program Spectraflame's "Yesterday (Jane)" a while back, but the track got lost in our self-inflicted shuffle. We're inept, but we're adorable. We got to it now! TODAY, Jane! Today!

GENERAL JOHNSON AND JOEY RAMONE: Rockaway Beach (On The Beach)

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

FIRST CLASS: Beach Baby

KIRSTY MacCOLL: He's On The Beach

THE GO-GO'S: Beatnik Beach

THE FLASHCUBES: Muscle Beach

THE 'B' GIRLS: Fun At The Beach

Segues are often capable of writing themselves, without much (if any) reliance on prior blueprinting. I had determined ahead of time that I wanted General Johnson and Joey Ramone's sublime beach-soul remake of the Ramones' "Rockaway Beach" to occupy this week's Greatest Record Ever Made! slot. This was the sum total of preplanning that went into the forging of what wound up being an entire beach-related set.

Dana followed Johnson 'n' Ramone with First Class and their first-class Beach Boys homage "Beach Boys," a lovely track that earns its own chapter in my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). This prompted me to answer with Kirsty MacColl's "He's On The Beach," a fantastic track that I hadn't had any intention of playing this week. But...it fit! And so it played.

Game on.

Our Kirsty inspired Dana to play "Beatnik Beach," a vibrant li'l number that was the B-side of the Go-Go's' irresistible "Vacation" 45. HuzZAH! I was compelled to follow the Go-Go's with Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse the Flashcubes, represented by an incendiary 1979 live performance of Paul Armstrong's "Muscle Beach" from the album Flashcubes On Fire. Dana wrote finis in the sand of this beach trip with the 'B' Girls and "Fun At The Beach."

Does big-time TIRnRR DJing seem easy to you? It IS! We always follow the can't-miss two-step formula to programming the best rockin' pop radio. STEP ONE: Know which rockin' pop songs are the best rockin' pop songs. STEP TWO: Play those. Hodads! Honeys! Fall in! The sound of the beach awaits.

THE CHELSEA CURVE: Ride

The same self-inflicted shuffle that delayed us in playing Spectraflame's "Yesterday (Jane)" nearly did similar disservice to the Chelsea Curve's recent single "Ride." But we love the Chelsea Curve, and we made damned sure to navigate that imposing shuffle and guarantee that "Ride" secured its rightful place on this week's playlist. The Chelsea Curve's new album The Rideout is available now. The single rides again on our next show.

THE RONETTES: Be My Baby

Also The Greatest Record Ever Made! Godspeed, Nedra Talley.

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.

10 SONGS: 4/19/2025

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 # 1281, offered in memory of the late, great Clem Burke.

BLONDIE: Dreaming

I never met drummer Clem Burke. I don't think I ever had any real communication with him, though I'm told he was aware of our radio show and approved of whatever the hell it is we do. The news of his passing was an unexpected punch in the gut. As we mourn the loss of one of our heroes, our hearts go out to his friends and family.

And we had to pay tribute, or at least we had to try to pay some sort of tribute to this man who provided the beat for Blondie, and for so many other fantastic artists. To kick off our salute to the flash and power of Clem Burke, in my head I knew there could be no other song choice besides "Dreaming." That intro! That over-the-top percussive intro that never seems excessive, even as it threatens (convincingly!) to spiral outta control into shambles and abyss. We all know--know--that Clem Burke's got it covered, and he will not cede command of the beat nor let it wander anywhere other than exactly where he wants it to be.

"Dreaming" is the opening track on Blondie's 1979 album Eat To The Beat. After we recorded our show but before it aired, I heard last week's episode of The Spoon, wherein overhost Robbie Rist chose Eat To The Beat's closing track "Living In The Real World" to represent Burke's legacy, and that's a damned fine pick as well. Clem Burke left us with a very, very long list of damned fine picks. We played just a few of them this week. 

JOHN EASDALE: Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress

Although we've obviously been Clem Burke fans for decades, our direct if tenuous connection to the man hisself came via Jigsaw Seen guitarist Jonathan Lea. We'll circle back to that subject a bit later in today's post. When our Clem Burke tribute included this fab Hollies cover by John Easdale playing with Clem and Jonathan (among others), Jonathan wrote:

"This track is from the first session I ever played with Clem (along with Mark Englert and Craig Ballam) and it was unlike any session I’d played before (very loose and carefree.) 

"Prior to the session, the executive producer (Greg Dwinnell) told me that this project was costing a fortune and there wasn’t room in the budget to feed everyone so he asked me not to mention anything about food. About fifteen minutes into the session (before we’d even played a note,) Clem says 'Let’s order some food, where’s the menus?' I then look at Greg and he just deflates. Within another couple of minutes, Clem is on the phone with a Chinese restaurant and it sounds like he’s literally ordering everything on the menu. Clem and I had immediately hit it off (birds of a feather?) so he says to me 'Jonathan, do you like orange chicken?' I reply 'Sure,' so he then tells the person taking the order 'Give us two more orders of orange chicken.' I’d only ever worked on indie sessions with shoestring budgets so for me, this was like recording Tusk.

"Thirty years later, I still remember it all vividly. At Clem’s request, we also recorded a version of the Who’s 'The Ox' for a Sub Pop Records project but I’m not sure whatever happened with it."

THE PLIMSOULS: Playing With Jack

The very first episode of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio aired on December 27th, 1998, and we did indeed include a Clem Burke performance in our inaugural playlist. But it wasn’t a Blondie track; we didn’t get around to playing Blondie for, I think, a couple of months. Let’s face it: We’re slackers.

No, Clem’s appearance on TIRnRR # 1 found him pounding out the beat for power pop luminaries the Plimsouls. Clem was a member of that group at the time of their 1998 album Kool Trash, and its heart-pumpin’ track “Playing With Jack” was a big early favorite on this little mutant radio show. We also wound up playing the Kool Trash track “Dangerous Book” a lot, but “Playing With Jack” was the first of many TIRnRR spins for the Plimsouls and Clem Burke alike.

KATHY VALENTINE: Retouch Me

Kathy Valentine is (deservedly!) in The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame as bassist for the Go-Go's. She's also a writer, author of the book All I Ever Wanted: A Rock 'n' Roll Memoir and a Substack soapbox called The Direction Of Motion. We're fans. Knowing that Clem Burke played on Kathy's 2005 album Light Years, it was imperative for us to return that album's old TIRnRR Fave Rave "Retouch Me" to this week's playlist. 

She also had a long and close relationship with Clem. She writes so movingly about him in this piece that my heart breaks again for those who mourn Clem not merely like we do, as fans from afar, but as people who've lost someone special in their own lives. 

Read. Cry. Then live like Clem did.

BLONDIE: (I'm Always Touched By Your) Presence, Dear

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE ROMANTICS: Midnight To Six Man

I never got to see Blondie perform live. I saw Debbie Harry and Chris Stein on the Escape From New York tour in 1990 (with the Ramones, Tom Tom Club, and Jerry Harrison), but I don’t believe Clem Burke was playing with them at the time.

Given that, I’m grateful that I did get to witness one Clem Burke performance, and that was when he was with the Romantics in the ‘90s.

I’ve been a Romantics fan nearly as long as I’ve been a Blondie fan, starting with a purchase of the “Little White Lies” 45 in 1978. They used to play occasionally in Syracuse, on a bill with Syracuse’s own power pop powerhouse the Flashcubes, but their ‘Cuse shows always occurred after I was back in school and away from home. That’s what I didn’t like about them.

I guess it was kind of full circle that when I finally did get to see the Romantics, Flashcubes bassist Gary Frenay was also in attendance, and we thrilled as the Detroit rockers (propelled by the Burke beat) opened their show with a confident cover of the Pretty Things’ “Midnight To Six Man.” Oh, MAN! I knew this was gonna be good...!

BLONDIE: Accidents Never Happen

I am not a musician. I can neither play nor sing, but I consider myself fortunate that I'm able to play great records on the radio, and to write with conviction and (I hope) authority about the sounds that move me. A few years back, I posted a piece called "I've Got The Music In Me (And That's Where It's Gonna Stay)," discussing and coming to terms with my inability to create music. That piece included a reminiscence of playing bongos in college alongside a couple of, y'know, actual musicians in a two-thirds competent jazz trio called Bud Mackintaw & the Skeeters. At the point where the Skeeters went the way all bands from the Beatles to the Shaggs must one day go, I wrote:

"Nonetheless, Bud Mackintaw & the Skeeters parted as friends. How many bands can say that? Tom left Brockport after that semester, but I caught up with him again when he visited campus the following year. I saw Truck and his roommate Ray a few times in '79-'80, too. By then, I'd moved from bongos to dorm-room suite chairs; with my handy-dandy drumsticks, I pounded out a rhythm to accompany Blondie's recording of 'Accidents Never Happen,' just to prove I could keep time as a drummer."

Mind you, I couldn't really keep time as a drummer. But I did my best. I betcha Clem would have approved of the effort, if not the result.

TALL POPPY SYNDROME: Come Some Christmas Eve (Or Halloween)

Thanks to Jonathan Lea, I am able to say that Dana and I produced a compilation album that included work by the great Clem Burke. Both Jonathan and Clem were members of Tall Poppy Syndrome, a rockin' pop supergroup also featuring guitarist Vince Melouney of the Bee Gees, singer Paul Kopf from the latter-day edition of the Seeds, and bassist Alec Palao from Cream Puff War magazine and too many bands to list. Their 2021 cover of Robin Gibbs' "Come Some Christmas Eve (Or Halloween)" was intended as "Mod-era Who performing the Zombies' Odessey And Oracle-style." Mission accomplished! It caught our ears, and the lads allowed us to use the track on our 2022 compilation This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5.

THE TEARAWAYS: Charlie, Keith And Ringo

And Clem. Heroes, meet hero.

BLONDIE: X Offender

All stories start somewhere. "X Offender" was the first Blondie song I ever heard, my aural introduction to Debbie Harry, Chris Stein, Jimmy Destri, Gary Valentine, and an incredible drummer named Clem Burke. The song was part of my first teen attempt at rock journalism, and its impact still resonates. The stories and the music continue even when we are no longer able to keep up with them. The rhythm of the stories will not and will never surrender their enduring flash. Godspeed, Clem Burke. 

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: 4/12/2025

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 # 1280

THE GO-GO'S: Vacation

On March 22nd of 2020--yeah, THAT year--I posted this announcement:

"The building that houses the palatial SPARK! studios will be closed until further notice, placing This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio on hiatus for the time being...Stay safe, with clean hands and the clean or dirty mind you prefer...."

The next day, I posted an imaginary TIRnRR playlist, an Isolation Edition assembling a sequence of songs to reflect my mood at that troubled time. That Isolation Edition opened with the Go-Go's insisting a vacation was all they wanted, the song's bittersweet ache leading perfectly into the mix of anxiety, hope, loss, and catharsis I was seeking at that precise flashpoint of doubt and dread.

Our vacation from the studio turned out to be permanent. We never returned, and that space is no longer ours.

A couple of weeks later, when we made a last-minute decision to try recording the show from our remote locations at home, Dana took the imaginary playlist and made it so. I added back announcements recorded on my iPhone. This became our method going forward, minus the "last-minute" part. What had been a fake playlist became a real radio show, broadcast on April 5th, 2020. Five years ago this past weekend.

Five years and one day after returning to the airwaves via remote control, we haven't missed a week yet. And we began home-schooled TIRnRR Year Six with another spin of the magnificent Go-Go's pining for the unattainable.

It still suits my mood. But its catharsis remains welcome. All I ever wanted? Not quite. It's gonna have to suffice anyway.

(One member of the Go-Go's--bassist Kathy Valentine--will be back on our next show with a solo track, a track featuring the pounding prowess of one of our favorite drummers, the late Clem Burke. We've threaded an extended tribute to Clem Burke throughout the show this coming Sunday night, with four Blondie tracks plus more Burke-propelled treats by the Plimsouls, the Romantics, the Empty Hearts, Steve Conte, Ray Paul, Chequered Past, Dan Markell, the Tearaways, Joan Jett, John Easdale, and Tall Poppy Syndrome. That's gonna crowd out a lot of our recent Fave Raves, but they'll be back, and I think we managed to pull off an absolutely kickass tribute to Clem Burke. We're opening the show with one of the specific Blondie tracks you would expect to open a tribute to Clem Burke. Man, I bet you can hear his drum intro to that in your head right now.)

TAMAR BERK: Permanent Vacation

Well, yeah, why take just A vacation when you can take a PERMANENT vacation? Tamar Berk has the right idea. "Permanent Vacation" comes to us from Tamar's 2023 album tiny injuries. We've since likewise hit the beach with Tamar Berk's 2024 release Good Times For A Change, and we're eagerly anticipating the chance to catch more rays with her forthcoming new album. We have a permanent fixation on pop music, so we're set to crank up some Tamar Berk and hit the road with righteous aplomb. 

CHUCK BERRY: Promised Land

I confess there was originally a different track ("Route 66" by the Rolling Stones) programmed in this spot, but it turned out I didn't have the track on the immediate hand I needed, so Mr. Chuck Berry fit in just fine instead. Permanent vacation route on Route 66 versus vacation destination in the promised land? Can't go wrong either way, and "Promised Land" is my favorite Chuck Berry song. From my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1):

"...Chuck Berry knew well the travails of the downtrodden. Dark skin, humble origin, and destined to transcend everything to become one of the most significant performers in the history of rock 'n' roll. His mind was quick, his fingers precise, wedding intricate, unforgettable wordplay to a guitar he played like a-ringin' a bell. He struggled. He pushed. He got noticed. He got pushed back. He kept pushing back in turn, smiling and duck-walking, while seething behind his flamboyant mask. A nice man? Possibly not, but beside the point. An important man? If you've ever loved rock 'n' roll, you should be ashamed to even ask that question...

"...Into this tinderbox, Chuck Berry brought an electric match: Black music that made white kids dance. He wrote in code—most famously, the irresistibly potent brown-skinned handsome man who became (wink) a brown-eyed handsome man—but he crafted and chronicled the American teen-age dream with greater eloquence than anyone else, black or white...."

THE FLASHCUBES: Reminisce

I'm dying to tell you more about who's gonna be on Big Stir Records' forthcoming various-artists celebration Make Something Happen! A Tribute To A DIY Power Pop Band Called THE FLASHCUBES. We've established that the album will open with the Flashcubes' own ace new track "Reminisce" (one of three new 'Cubes songs on Make Something Happen!), this week's show also served up 'Cubes tribute album treats by Pop Co-Op and the Kennedys, we've previously pummeled your grateful senses with Cubic covers by the Spongetones, sparkle*jets u.k., Joe Giddings, and Super 8 Featuring Lisa Mychols, and we've already revealed that the tribute album will also include contributions from Chris von Sneidern, Hamell On Trial, and Callan Foster.

And there's more. I'm dying to tell you about it, especially about the veteran British rock whose music I loved hearing on the radio when I was in high school, and who just completed his vocal tracks for a cover of the Flashcubes’ "Pathetic." And I just heard a flat-out astonishing ‘Cubes cover by some New York power poppers I’ve been following for nearly as long. Time ain't right for further announcements, at least not quite yet. 

Soon. Very soon. We can look forward and still reminisce at the same time.

THE GRIP WEEDS: Conquer And Divide

THE BYRDS: Lady Friend

THE GREEK THEATRE: Byrd Of Prey

Sometimes the segues just decide for themselves. We've been playing a different track ("Flowers For Cynthia") from the Grip Weeds' current teaser EP Early Clues. Recognizing that a number of other worthy radio outlets (including our SPARK! Radio colleague Rich Firestone on Radio Deer Camp and Bill Kelly and the other boss jocks at Underground Garage) have been playing the EP's opener "Conquer And Divide," we figured we oughta also get in on that action. Willful square-peg status will only get you so far, man.

Given how much TIRnRR airplay has been annexed by the Grip Weeds' divine cover of "Lady Friend" (from the Grip Weeds' divine cover album DiG), Dana automatically followed my spin of new Grip Weeds with the Byrds' original version. Had to be done. 

And given the Byrds taking flyte at that point, I moved the song "Byrd Of Prey" (a jangly number found on the Greek Theatre's new album A Deeper Scar) from its presumed place later in the playlist into, y'know, this spot right here. It's Byrderrific! The science of playlist-building. Don't question science.

STIV BATORS: It's Cold Outside

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

LIBRARIANS WITH HICKEYS: You Don't Know Me

As noted a few column inches north of here, accommodating  a proper salute to Clem Burke is going to occupy a lot of the slots on our next playlist. That means the fab Librarians With Hickeys will get a rare week off from TIRnRR, so let's state again that we just plain adore their latest album How To Make Friends By Telephone. And we just plain adore Librarians With Hickeys, so much so, in fact that...that...

...LIBRARIANS WITH HICKEYS ARE GOING TO BE ON THE FLASHCUBES TRIBUTE ALBUM! I've heard a rough of their track! I can't wait to get hold of the finished version and play it on the radio! And....

You know me. I'm dying to say more. Apologies if I've already gone too far.

SUPER 8 FEATURING LISA MYCHOLS: Pop Radio

Pop radio, turn it up! We've been programming the current Super 8 Featuring Lisa Mychols single "Pop Radio" with all of the manic obsession one should expect from a self-respectin' rockin' pop radio show. We're playing it again on our next show, and we're also debuting some new SPARK Radio promos that Trip 'n' Lisa concocted for us, based on the irresistible chorus of "Pop Radio." Thank you, friends! 

And yeah: TURN IT UP! Pop radio is its own reward.

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.