10 SONGS: 11/8/2025

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 # 1309

THE GOLD NEEDLES: Ghost In The Airwaves

Awright! Even as we barrel past October 31st with manic intent, we're still playing goodies from Big Stir Records' fabulous Halloween compilation Chilling, Thrilling Hooks And Haunted Harmonies. Yeah, we pride ourselves on being jack o'lanterns for ALL seasons. This week, that deliberate pursuit of tricky treats brings us to the Gold Needles' Chilling-Thrilling-HAUNTED! hit "Ghost In The Airwaves," which seems a natural choice to put the ol' poltergeist into our little mutant radio signal. We'll hear Strawberry Alarm Clock's contribution to this album on our next show. And for further gilded 'n' pointed deviltry, stay tuned for more from the Gold Needles in two weeks, as we dive into their brand-new album Mood Elevator. Stick with us, you silver threads! We all shine on.

THE PRETENDERS: What You Gonna Do About It?

Both Dana and I love the music of the Small Faces, and I'm gonna guess that Chrissie Hynde and her great Pretenders are Small Faces fans as well. Their take on the Small Faces' "What You Gonna Do About It?" is outstanding, and might even surpass the original. 

THE HALF/CUBES: When I Look In Your Eyes

"When I Look In Your Eyes" was the first track by the Romantics that I ever heard on the radio. It wasn't my first exposure to the Romantics; it was Romantics # 6 for me, as I already owned copies of their two indie singles ("Little White Lies"/"I Can't Tell You Anything" and "Tell It To Carrie"/"First In Line"), plus the compilation LP cut "Let's Swing." But in 1979, the only DJ I'd heard spinning any of those Romantics classics was future DJ me, either at home in the Syracuse suburbs or in my Brockport college dorm room.

In (I think) late '79, Syracuse's 95X started playing "When I Look In Your Eyes" as an advance track from the Romantics' forthcoming eponymous debut album. That album wasn't released until January 1980, but I clearly remember hearing the track on 95X prior to the LP's street date. My memory insists I heard it in the summer, but I suspect my memory mighta been drinking. Whenever it was, I was thrilled to hear power pop on commercial radio.

My hometown heroes the Flashcubes were contemporaries of the Romantics, and the two bands shared bills at shows in Syracuse and Detroit. Alas, the Romantics' appearances in the 315 always occurred when I was out of town, matriculatin' elsewhere. The Flashcubes also had a track ("Christi Girl") on the same compilation (Waves Vol. 1) that sported the Romantics' "Let's Swing."  

Now, the Half/Cubes (featuring Flashcubes bassist Gary Frenay and drummer/producer Tommy Allen, plus Randy Klawon and Fernando Perdomo) have recorded an absolutely exquisite cover of "When I Look In Your Eyes" as a track on the uber-fab new Half/Cubes album Found Pearls. It still sounds great in its natural habitat: On the radio, playing loud.

THE SPONGETONES: It Seemed So Easy

Power Pop Hall of Famers the Spongetones are a regular and welcome presence on TIRnRR, and 2025 has provided us with a treasure trove of new Spongetones tracks to program with our usual delirious dedication. They released three swell new singles this year, and then packaged those studio winners as the "and beyond" portion of  their new live album The 40th Anniversary Concert...And Beyond. They have a track on the above-hyped Chilling, Thrilling Hooks And Haunted Harmonies. Of course they have a track on my labor-o'-love compilation Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes. Duh.

And the Spongetones pay proper tribute to power pop's ur-band Raspberries with a kickin' cover of "It Seemed So Easy," as heard on our pal Ken Sharp's flat-out fantastic compilation Play On: A Raspberries Tribute. We're gonna play this again on our next show, too. All hail this Year of the Spongetones.

THE CHELSEA CURVE: Rally Round

Wait, how has this not already appeared in a previous 10 Songs...?! I swear to Joey Ramone. I'd fire me if I could find someone cheaper. The Chelsea Curve's "Rally Round" is wall-to-wall invigmoration, it's one of this year's best singles, and we're gonna keep on playing it for the specific purpose of invigmoratin' in earnest. Invigmoration is its own reward. Rally round!

SLADE: Gudbuy T' Jane

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE RAMONES: Do You Wanna Dance?

From a previous 10 Songs:

As much as we associate the film Rock 'n' Roll High School with the Ramones, actress P. J. Soles was the film's actual star, playing Riff Randell, teen rock 'n' roller. But the Ramones are at the heart of it all, and I can't imagine how the movie would have played with its previous intended band Cheap Trick (or director Allan Arkush's teen fantasy of a making a movie with the Yardbirds), nor how producer Roger Corman's original concept of Disco High could have succeeded on any aesthetic level. The essential nature of the Ramones' involvement here reminds me of what Roger Ebert said about the Beatles' first movie: If A Hard Day's Night had been shot in color, but was otherwise identical, frame by frame, it would not have been the same classic (and classic feeling) film as it is in black and white. The iconic black and white images of the Beatles are an essential part of A Hard Day's Night, just as the Ramones are central to Rock 'n' Roll High School.

Ramones music plays throughout the film, mixed with treats by Chuck Berry, Eddie and the Hot Rods, Devo, MC5, Alice Cooper, Brownsville Station, the Velvet Underground, and more. Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee, and Marky have brief "acting" bits, and five on-screen musical appearances. When we first see them, they lip-sync "I Just Want To Have Something To Do," and they show up in a dream sequence in Riff's bedroom--nice work if you can get it--serenading her with "I Want You Around." 

The Ramones return for two more songs at the film's climax. The film ends with title tune "Rock 'n' Roll High School," but the first of the two is "Do You Wanna Dance?," a cover of the familiar rock 'n' roll classic. For a very, very long time I regarded this as my all-time favorite cover of anything by anybody. And while I've kinda shifted my allegiance to the Ramones' cover of Tom Waits's "I Don't Want To Grow Up," I still wanna dance.

Don't you?

KATRINA LESKANICH: Honey Lamb

Katrina and the Waves' sublime signature hit "Walking On Sunshine" was my own Song of the Summer in 1985, and it's not even the group's very best track (an honor I'd bestow upon "Red Wine And Whiskey"). I get a warm 'n' sunshiny feeling just knowing that Katrina Leskanich is still walking that walk, and her glorious new single "Honey Lamb" remakes a lesser-known Katrina and the Waves to spectacular result. 

ACAPULCO LIPS: Fuzzy Sunshine

Gotta admit that I wasn't familiar with Acapulco Lips prior to hearing them as guests on a recent episode of the always-vital Only Three Lads podcast. The group's bassist/vocalist Maria-Elena Herrell immediately earned my respect by naming the Barracudas's Drop Out With The Barracudas (one of my all-time Love At First Spin perfect albums) among her Top 5 beach albums. PREACH!! And if mere great taste on the part of Herrell and her bandmates weren't enough to automatically make you a fan, a listen to their music will win you over to the righteous cause of all things Acapulco Lips. And while I'm cursing the fact that I didn't know about the group during [ahem] THE TWELVE YEARS THAT HAVE PASSED SINCE THEIR FIRST RELEASE, I thank O3L in there here and now, and we play this gorgeous track "Fuzzy Sunshine" from 2025's Now. Better late than not at all, and any record you ain't heard is a new record. If the sunshine's fuzzy, man, it feels fresh to me.

THE MONKEES: Daily Nightly

Psychedelic!

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: 3/9/2021

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 # 1067.

THE BEAT: There She Goes

The Beat, the 1979 debut album by the fabulous group now called Paul Collins' Beat, is one of those records that one absolutely has to own if one happens to be some kind of power pop fan. It's a basically perfect album to begin with, and its eventual CD reissue added this non-LP track "There She Goes," a song originally heard in the movie Caddyshack. Paul Collins is one of the kings of power pop.

This Sunday, March 14th, at 6 pm Eastern, Collins will be performing a solo show on Facebook Live. Take it away, Paul:

"Dear friends, family and fans, here is what i would like to do: its time for me to do what I do best; play my little pop songs for you. During the pandemic I really felt like I was done, there would be nothing for me to return to. I was too old and it just didn't make sense. Tonight I watched PBS and I saw Judy cry and I cried with her, so many senseless losses of people who were just trying to live. So here is my proposal, I would like to play for about an hour, hopefully all my best songs, for you. You in turn agree to and prove that you will send some money, whatever you can afford, to someone or some group that really needs it. I need money but I don't need it as bad as so many people that are struggling to get by. It would really make me feel like I am doing something worth doing. .. DEAL? PS, if you agree please repost this so we can get as many people as possible. Someone please post this to Instagram! Thanks"

The event is called C'mon Let's Go! I'm in. Join. Give. LET'S GO!

The event is called C'mon Let's Go, and I'm in for $50. Join us, all you rock 'n' roll girls and boys: LET'S GO!The event is called C'mon Let's Go!, and I'm in. Join. Give. LET'S GO!

SAM COOKE: Good Times

We've been playing Leslie Odom, Jr's able cover of this Sam Cooke song, a number Odom sings in his incredible portrayal of Cooke in the movie One Night In Miami.... It seemed high time to play the original version. 

THE FLASHCUBES: Wouldn't You Like It

Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse The Flashcubes contributed this rockin' cover of The Bay City Rollers' "Wouldn't You Like It" to Men In Plaid, a Rollers tribute album put out by Bullseye Records in 2000. Your future blogger's review of the album appeared in Goldmine, and this blurb was exhumed for the album's expanded edition in 2004:

If you're a fan of pop, power pop or any other catch-phrase related to melodic rock 'n' roll, you should check your hipper-than-thou attitude at the door and check out this surprisingly solid and entertaining disc, wherein contemporary pop acts try their hands at bits 'n' pieces of the Rollers' canon--perhaps incongruously--[for] one of the most satisfying tribute albums ever assembled. All those in favor, say it with us now: S! A! T-U-R! D-A-Y! NIGHT!!

I agree with me wholeheartedly.

And credit TIRnRR with the assist on this one. When we heard of plans for a Bay City Rollers tribute album, we contacted Bullseye's Jaimie Vernon and said, "Oh, you simply must use The Flashcubes' version of 'Wouldn't You Like It.'" Never mind that the 'Cubes had never recorded "Wouldn't You Like It," had never performed "Wouldn't You Like It," and as far as we knew may not have even liked the damned thing. No matter. Trust us! We're DJs!

Somehow, that argument...worked? No, I don't understand it either. But Bullseye gave the slot to The Flashcubes, The Flashcubes agreed to record it, and all was right with the world. See? This is how things work out when people do as we say!

THE GOLD NEEDLES: Have You Ever Loved Somebody

We just adore The Gold Needles' current album What's Tomorrow Ever Done For You?, and our prevailing affection has manifested in repeated play on TIRnRR. This cover of The Hollies' durable pop stalwart "Have You Ever Loved Somebody" is the fifth track from that album to find its way to one of our playlists. Covering The Hollies can be a thankless task, simply because a majority of acts who make that attempt are, by definition, not The Hollies. The Searchers recorded a very nice version of "Have You Ever Loved Somebody" (the first version I knew), The Everly Brothers collaborated with The Hollies themselves for an ace take on it, and The Flashcubes assumed ownership of the song for their live set one memorable night in the '90s. Yeah, it ain't easy to cover The Hollies. Add The Gold Needles to the short list of acts that can pull it off.

GEORGE JONES: The Race Is On

Although programming by remote can compromise the practiced (but still impromptu) synergy of TIRnRR playlists, I think Dana and I still manage to approximate that off-the-cuff dynamic in our current circumstances. This week, Dana selected "Getting High For Jesus" by Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs, told me it was a countryish track, and suggested I follow it with an actual country tune. Okeydokey! The George Jones classic "The Race Is On" popped into my head immediately.

JUDAS PRIEST: Diamonds And Rust

I believe this agreeably heavy-handed cover of the familiar Joan Baez song was the first Judas Priest track I ever heard, probably courtesy of Utica's WOUR-FM in the mid '70s, or possibly 95X in Syracuse in the late '70s. I liked it, but I never really got around to being much of a Priest fan. A bit later on, I very much liked JP's "Living After Midnight," and I really liked "Heading Out To The Highway." I don't rank "Diamonds And Rust" as high as those two. But I still appreciate its effective bludgeoning of Baez's song, and I dig that it manages said bludgeoning while somehow retaining a clear line of sight to the original. That is, it's not just a bludgeoning. It's a bludgeoning with a vision.

GLADYS KNIGHT AND THE PIPS: Here Are The Pieces Of My Broken Heart

Most would consider it an insult to describe any creative artifact as the product of an assembly line. But at Motown Records in the '60s, the pop music assembly line was transcendent, and it was well capable of achieving artistic heights. That particular hit factory churned out nonpareil works by The Temptations, The Supremes, The Miracles, The Four Tops, and more, stellar creations that no one in their right mind could disregard as crass or Philistine, as lesser. Art wasn't the specific goal; Motown's head Berry Gordy Jr. wanted records that sold, sold in big, big numbers. The Sound Of Young America. Gordy and his immensely talented line workers just figured the best way to manufacture records that sold was to craft great records. Art for art's sake? Absolutely not. It was art for commerce's sake. It was art nonetheless.

Motown's quality control was such that even its castoffs were often essential. When the 2-CD vault raid A Cellarful Of Motown! was released in 2002, I noted something to the effect that it was nearly the equivalent of discovering a previously-unreleased Beatles album. Yeah yeah yeah. My top pick on the set was (and remains) "Here Are The Pieces Of My Broken Heart," an originally-unreleased Gladys Knight and the Pips cut that woulda sounded great on AM Top 40 in 1966, the year it was recorded. It still sounds great on the radio now. The art of the assembly line. An artist can create greatness with whatever tools are at hand.

THE MONKEES: Terrifying

Zach Rogue's song "Terrifying" was recorded by The Monkees as part of their 2016 album project Good Times! The track was left off the physical release of the album, and it appeared only as a bonus track on the digital version of Good Times! It has never been given a legitimate CD release, and its only physical media release was on Good Times Plus!, a limited edition 10" vinyl EP issued for Black Friday Record Store Day in 2016. 

Sputter. Must remind myself: too busy singing to put anybody down, too busy singing to put anybody down, too busy singing to....

Why in the name of Wizard Glick has there has not yet been a deluxe CD of Good Times!, finally gathering all of the album's original 13 tracks and its four scattered bonus tracks for the first time in one place? Sure, I have a CD-R of all of these tracks. I want an official release. Like, by the end of business today. I may not be the young generation, but I've still got something to say. "Terrifying" was one of THE best tracks of 2016, yet it remains an obscurity, then and now. Get me Rhino on the phone...!

OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN: If Not For You

My introduction to Olivia Newton-John. Hi, Olivia. I'm Carl. You're cute. Olivia's version of Bashful Bob Dylan's "If Not For You" was also my introduction to the song itself; I'd not heard Dylan's rendition, nor George Harrison's cover, when Olivia's own sweet sound first appeared on American AM radio in 1971. 

This was, of course, merely the start of Olivia's hit-makin' reign. I liked some of her subsequent radio smashes, and I was indifferent (or dismissive) of some others. The only ON-J product I ever owned was the Grease soundtrack and its attendant "Summer Nights" 45. "If Not For You" remains my favorite, and it remains my preferred version of the song. Apologies to Bob and George; ya never forget your first.

STYX: Kiss Your Ass Goodbye

Writer S. W. Lauden (alias musician Steve Coulter of The Brothers Steve) recently posted an excellent piece called "Let's Argue About Power Pop!," wherein our Steve ably takes on the endless battles among power pop fans to agree on...anything. ANYthing. Roses are red. Water is wet. The sky is above, not below. Bounty is the quicker picker-upper. Anything! Steve's piece gets it. And I can say that even though I (predictably) disagree with some aspects of its power pop description. Those are just details. Steve gets the essence exactly right.

One of the things that drives power pop traditionalists batty is suggesting that some popular mainstream rock band is a power pop act. Styx comes up as an occasional example, and trust me, Styx is not and has never been power pop.

I mean, except for the time that Styx was power pop.

Listen, man: I hated Styx. Hated 'em. In the late '70s, when I was a power pop punk in college, with a chip on my shoulder and The Ramones in my heart, Styx was the freakin' enemy, THE enemy, more than disco, more than prog, more than Eagles, even. Styx. Their music represented everything I despised. One night out drinking, I used my jackknife to carve STYX STYNX into the tabletop at a local nightspot. It is safe to say that I was not a fan of Styx.

For all that, I usually declared a ceasefire in my war on Styx when their song "Lorelei" came on. Unabashedly pop, loaded with harmonies, the group's prerequisite bombast largely held in check, a bit too slick but still energetic, "Lorelei" is almost power pop. Its path to true 'n' everlasting janglebuzz is blocked only by lead singer Dennis DeYoung sounding annoyingly and whiningly like Dennis DeYoung. And it's still a great track anyway.

There's no such qualifier for "Kiss Your Ass Goodbye." This track from the 2003 Styx album Cyclorama is certified 100% DeYoung-free. Glen Burtnik wrote it and sings lead, and the result is as power pop as The Raspberries or The Rubinoos. Hell, Burtnik even sounds a bit like noted pop fan Robbie Rist, and that is a compliment for damned sure. Perfect pop. Perfect power pop. By Styx. As hell freezes over and the power pop curmudgeons rail in protest, this track invites naysayers to pucker up already.

We should also note that the above-lauded S.W. Lauden is co-editor (with Paul Myers) of a two books of power pop commentary published by Rare Bird Books: 2019's Go All The Way: A Literary Appreciation Of Power Pop and the forthcoming Go Further: More Literary Appreciations Of Power Pop. In my hard-won capacity as a power pop...well, a power pop nobody, I declare these both essential and highly recommended. 

Don't argue with me.

TIP THE BLOGGER: CC's Tip Jar!

You can support this blog by becoming a patron on Patreon: Fund me, baby! 

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.

The many fine This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio compilation albums are still available, each full of that rockin' pop sound you crave. A portion of all sales benefit our perpetually cash-strapped community radio project:

Volume 1: download
Volume 2: CD or download
Volume 3: download
Volume 4: CD or download
Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio:  CD or download

Carl's writin' a book! The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1)will contain 165 essays about 165 tracks, each one of 'em THE greatest record ever made. An infinite number of records can each be the greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Updated initial information can be seen here: THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! (Volume 1). My weekly Greatest Record Ever Made! video rants can be seen in my GREM! YouTube playlist. And I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl

10 SONGS: 2/16/2021

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 # 1064.

COCKTAIL SLIPPERS: St. Valentine's Day Massacre

Yes, opening a February 14th broadcast with Cocktail Slippers' incredible 2009 track "St. Valentine's Day Massacre" is an obvious choice. Sometimes the obvious choice is the right choice. From my maybe-eventual-maybe-not book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1):

"...'St. Valentine's Massacre' is a welcome earworm, maddeningly catchy, sounding incongruously bouncy while reflecting on love's uncertainty and rushing fearlessly and fatalistically toward an affair's assured and imminent end. 

Am I still penciled in on your calendar?
Am I still the late night call when you've got nothing to say?
I know it's Thanksgiving night, and you say you love me
But who'll be the last lover standing come Saint Valentine's Day?

I'm thinking a box of chocolates isn't gonna cut it this time.

Little Steven Van Zandt's lyrics here imply a lovers' drama playing out in rapidly elapsing time. Was it adventure, was it fear, or sanctuary? Modesty Blaze's voice is tinged with both regret and resignation as she sings; behind her and with her, her band of sisters seems hellbent on holding an Irish wake for broken hearts. Across the calendar pages that fly by with cruel indifference--Thanksgiving night, Christmas morning, New Year's Eve--a love that can't even evolve from pencil to ink careens toward its inevitable erasure come the 14th of February. Now even your carrier pigeons have been picked off by the vultures/There's only one thing left for you to confess.... The song flies to its foregone conclusion on a conjugal bed of the most bittersweet la la la la lala las in rock 'n' roll history...."

DOLPH CHANEY: My Good Twin

Dolph Chaney's ultraswell new album This Is Dolph Chaney is out this week, courtesy of the good folks at Big Stir Records, and of course you need to own it if you have any hope of ever being one of the cool kids. As an added bonus: you'll like it! The album's first single is "Now I Am A Man," and it's a worthy candidate for saturation airplay. But my favorite is "My Good Twin," so we're gonna carpetbomb the ol' playlist with that one instead. We're all winners in that situation.

SAM COOKE: Win Your Love For Me

There have been several occasion where a song's cover used in other media has hooked me on the original. The Blues Brothers got me into Sam and Dave. I knew Buddy Holly's "Peggy Sue" and "Everyday" well before I saw 1978's The Buddy Holly Story, but actor Gary Busey's warbling in that film inspired me to immediately purchase the Holly collection 20 Golden Greats. 

On a similar note, I've known some of Sam Cooke's music (particularly "Chain Gang") for my entire life. Leslie Odom, Jr's star turn as Cooke in the recent film One Night In Miami...  nudged me toward supplementing my "Chain Gang" 45 with the Sam Cooke best-of CD Portrait Of A Legend, which in turn introduced me to Cooke's original rendition of "Good Times," a song Odom sings in the movie. The CD also includes "Win Your Love For Me," a wonderful tune I'd neither heard nor heard of prior to picking up Portrait Of A Legend, and it's now one of my favorite Sam Cooke songs. 

THE GOLD NEEDLES: I Get The Pressure

Here's another track from The Gold Needles' new album What's Tomorrow Ever Done For You?, which comes out this very week on the visionary Jem Recordings label. We've been playing its advance singles "Billy Liar" and "What's Tomorrow Ever Done For You?," and we're delighted to now add this boppin' li'l album track to our own Play-Tone Galaxy Of Stars. The album also includes capable covers of The Beatles and The Hollies, and seems likely to be an early candidate for more than a few year-end best-of lists come December.

IAN HUNTER: All Of The Good Ones Are Taken

An anti-Valentine! Ian Hunter's brilliantly wistful "All Of The Good Ones Are Taken" was an MTV fave rave in 1983, and it's an underrated gem in Hunter's vast collection of precious preciouses. As a public service, Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) would like to remind you that Hunter's former group Mott the Hoople is not in The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. This proves that, in fact, all of the good ones have not yet been taken.

JUSTINE AND THE UNCLEAN: Scorpion Bowl To Go

Make it two Scorpion Bowls. And arrange an Uber for Justine and the Unclean. They should not be driving.

KID GULLIVER: Forget About Him

We've been playing Kid Gulliver's current single "Beauty School Dropout" these past couple of weeks, but Valentine's Day made us feel like reaching back into Kid Gulliver's treasure trove o' hits. So we played an oldie. Some of you older people might remember it. It's from last year, and it's called "Forget About Him." Like "All Of The Good Ones Are Taken," "Forget About Him" is another anti-Valentine, this one told from the perspective of a concerned and compassionate friend and observer. Honey. You can do better than that loser, believe me.

THE MONKEES: Valleri

"Valleri" was The Monkees' final Top Ten hit, a # 3 smash in 1968. Written by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, legend has it that the intrepid tunesellers concocted the ditty on the fly when Golden-Eared Monkees impresario Don Kirshner told them over the phone he wanted a song with a girl's name as its title. Oh, fantastic timing, Donnie!, Boyce may have said. We just wrote a great one called...um, "Valleri!" Yeah, that's it, "Valleri!" Sure, we'll head right over and play it for you! See ya, Donnie! And then Boyce would have contacted Hart and said, Bobby! Get in the car, man! We on our way to see Kirshner, and we need to do some work on the way!

Not a true story? Oh, I don't care. It oughtta be true. And here's what I wrote about the song in a post about my 25 favorite Monkees tracks:

"Michael Nesmith famously dismissed this as 'the worst song I've ever heard in my life.' He also described 'What Am I Doing Hangin' 'Round?' as 'the bottom of the music,' so I'm thinking we shouldn't rely on Michael for an assessment of The Monkees' best. Granted, 'Valleri' really ain't much of a song; the lyrics are almost laughably simple (even by the loose requirements of pop music), and the music is just a guitar riff gussied up with horns. It all works together like wizardry, alchemy even, distinguished in no small part by some mesmerizing flamenco guitar by Louie Shelton. The original made-for-TV track sounds thin; the official single and LP cut benefits from fatter sound and a more confident and assured Davy Jones vocal."

THE YACHTS: Box 202

As much as I've learned about pop music over a span of decades, I must acknowledge the fact that I still have so much more to learn. The late '70s/early '80s British group The Yachts present a case in point. The Yachts were a group that I never really got to know at the time, even as I was absorbing so much great then-contemporary rockin' pop from the likes of The Jam, The Beat, The Romantics, Generation X, The Jags, The Undertones, Squeeze, and The Records. I remember the LP cover from The Yachts' lone American album; I don't recall hearing the music at all. Years later in 1993, their track "Yachting Type" was included on one of the CDs in Rhino Records' essential compilation series DIY, and that was my de facto introduction to Yachttunes.

When Paul Collins of The Beat and John Wicks of The Records visited TIRnRR in 2009, we chatted with Wicks about The Records' enduring classic "Starry Eyes." Wicks talked about writing this song as a kiss-off to The Records' soon-to-be-ex-manager, a bloke who at the time had seemed more invested in The Yachts' potential fortunes than in The Records' own career. I was aghast that anyone could ever think The Yachts were a bigger deal than The Records.

Dana's been playing The Yachts a lot on the show of late, and I'm starting to get it. The Yachts weren't better than The Records--let's not get crazy--but this is a fantastic and relatively uncelebrated stash of pop music. I'm happy to find out more about it, even all these years after the fact. See? Ya learn stuff listening to TIRnRR. Ya learn stuff co-hosting it, too.

THE 13th FLOOR ELEVATORS: You're Gonna Miss Me

This. As we talk here and on the radio about the concept of The Greatest Record Ever Made--an infinite number of songs can each be THE greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns--there are still some that deserve more frequent turns than others. Songs like "You're Gonna Miss Me" by The 13th Floor Elevators.

Heh. As if there was ever another song like "You're Gonna Miss Me' by The 13th Floor Elevators. Let's have my book take it from there:

"...With his '60s combo The 13th Floor Elevators, Roky Erickson sang of fire in the bones, of taking us to the empty place in his fire engine, of Easter everywhere. He was damaged. And with The 13th Floor Elevators, he gave us an incredible, unforgettable rock 'n' roll classic called 'You're Gonna Miss Me.'

'You're Gonna Miss Me' is acid made punk, as hallucinatory as Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd, as badass as...anything, ever. It's the embodiment of the rock-critic concept of 1960s garage-built psychedelia, while sounding not quite like any of its peers. 

It could only have come from Texas. It profoundly influenced at least one son of the Lone Star State: Billy Gibbons, later to find fame slingin' his sharp-dressed six-string with ZZ Top. Contemporary to the Elevators, Gibbons played with a group called The Moving Sidewalks, whose own awesome single '99th Floor' couldn't have popped into being without 'You're Gonna Miss Me' providing a blueprint. 'You're Gonna Miss Me' has continued to glow in the dark for all subsequent generations seeking the sound of electric guitars crossed with electric sugar cubes...

...Immediate. Hypnotic. As tough as Detroit's MC5 or Stooges, as potent a warning as a sidewinder's rattle, as intoxicating as drinkin' wine, spo-dee-o-dee, drinkin' wine, goddamn. Welcome to Texas, muthas and bruthas...."

And welcome to The Greatest Record Ever Made.

TIP THE BLOGGER: CC's Tip Jar!

You can support this blog by becoming a patron on Patreon: Fund me, baby! 

Hey! If you buy from Amazon, consider making your purchases through links at Pop-A-Looza. A portion of your purchase there will go to support Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do). Thinking Amazon? Think Pop-A-Looza.

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.

The many fine This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio compilation albums are still available, each full of that rockin' pop sound you crave. A portion of all sales benefit our perpetually cash-strapped community radio project:

Volume 1: download
Volume 2: CD or download
Volume 3: download
Volume 4: CD or download
Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio:  CD or download

Carl's writin' a book! The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1)will contain 165 essays about 165 tracks, each one of 'em THE greatest record ever made. An infinite number of records can each be the greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Updated initial information can be seen here: THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! (Volume 1). My weekly Greatest Record Ever Made! video rants can be seen in my GREM! YouTube playlist. And I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl