10 SONGS: 6/8/2024

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 # 1236. 

sparkle*jets u.k.: Box Of Letters

One of the rules for puttin' on a show is to open BIG. A new single by the mighty sparkle*jets u.k. fits that bill from our POV, especially with this fab track "Box Of Letters." BIG pop music! We'll hear it again on our next show. Big pop music is its own reward.

JOHNATHAN PUSHKAR: Don't Stop

No, it's not the Fleetwood Mac song (not that there would be anything wrong with that). Johnathan Pushkar's righteous rendition of the Rolling Stones' "Don't Stop" comes to us via the new tribute album Jem Records Celebrates Jagger & Richards. Dana's pick! 

And a good pick it is, too. It's a 21 century Stones track, and I wasn't at all familiar with the original version. Hey, wait here while I check that one out.

Awright, I'm back. The Rolling Stones' version is fine, but I do prefer the pop of Pushkar's take. We'll hear another track from Jem Records Celebrates Jagger & Richards on our next show.

ALAN MERRILL: Everyday All Night Stand

The late Alan Merrill was an American musician who sounded like a British musician. I mean that as a compliment. Merrill was a member of the Arrows, a '70s UK group that also included fellow Yank Jake Hooker. The Arrows are best remembered for a then-obscure B-side written by Merrill and Hooker: "I Love Rock And Roll." 

Joan Jett was a fan. We know the song now because Joan Jett loved it, covered it, and spread its Gospel. Put another dime in the jukebox, baby. I wrote about the song back in 2020, right after Merrill died due to COVID:

"Joan Jett is about my age, and of course I had a crush on her. Duh. When the Runaways split at the end of the '70s, Jett seemed the one former member most likely to make some interesting new music; Lita Ford was more suited to hard rock, Sandy West, Jackie Fox, and Fox's replacement Vickie Blue didn't appear to be headed to solo careers, and although Cherie Currie (with her sister Marie Currie) did an appealingly basic cover of Rainbow's 'Since You've Been Gone,' none of them quite had Jett's potential. But Joan herself? Joan loved rock 'n' roll.

"So she made rock 'n' roll. She kicked the bad habits that could have ended her career and her life, she kept playing, she kept recording, and she kept playing some more. Her eponymous 1980 debut album (later reissued as Bad Reputation) was one of my favorite records in that period. She had done some recording with former Sex Pistols Steve Jones and Paul Cook, some of which appeared on that first album. But the B-side of her UK single cover of Lesley Gore's "You Don't Own Me" remained non-LP. I confess I was a little disappointed with the Gore cover, but I played that B-side a lot. That was 'I Love Rock 'n' Roll'...

"While (forgive the redundancy) I love 'I Love Rock 'n' Roll,' I've never felt it was Joan Jett's very best track. I'd put 'Love Is Pain,' 'Bad Reputation' (and nearly all of that debut album), her take on Bruce Springsteen's 'Light Of Day,' 'This Means War,' 'Eye To Eye,' and several others above it. Similarly, when the Coronavirus claimed the song's co-author Alan Merrill last month, I recalled that it wasn't quite my favorite among his own catalog either."

My favorite Merrill track remains "Everyday All Night Stand,": which I first heard on his 2012 album Snakes And Ladders. I didn't realize until, like, a week ago that the Snakes And Ladders track was a remake of a song Merrill had originally recorded and released in the early '70s, pre-Arrows. The earlier version is now among my all-time Fave Raves, and a near-miss for my recently-posted All-Time Hot 150.

Allan Merrill was one of the first musicians I heard of succumbing to COVID. It feels like a million years ago, and it feels like yesterday. As I write this, I'm still in shock over the real-life yesterday's news that long-time TIRnRR friend Scott Cornish  has also passed from this damned virus. 

Brenda and I with Scott "King" Cornish at a Joan Jett show

I don't have words. I don't. I don't even have a song to play, because Scott was so passionate about so, so much music. Many of our other friends have already spoken eloquently in Scott's memory, and I cede the dais to all of them. We mourn together. Godspeed, King Cornish. Here's to an everyday all night stand.

Somewhere.

HUNGRYTOWN: Green Grow The Laurels

Lush Americana. Don't argue with the blogger, man. Hungrytown's new album Circus For Sale is available right now. Go! GROW!

PARTHENON HUXLEY: Double Our Numbers

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

SLYBOOTS: Blindsided

Ace NYC combo Slyboots made their TIRnRR debut two weeks ago, with a spin of their recent cover of Meat Puppets' "Oh, Me." All well 'n' groovy. Now, we dig a little bit deeper for a way swell Slyboots original called "Blindsided." "Blindsided" was released last summer, but you know the drill: 

Any record you ain't heard is a new record.

And, new or old, we're delighted to hear this record. We'll hear it again Sunday night.

THE GRIP WEEDS: We Love You

THE AVENGERS: Paint It Black
THELMA HOUSTON: Jumpin' Jack Flash

THE BEATLES: I Wanna Be Your Man

This week, programming picks t' click from Jem Records Celebrates Jagger & Richards inspired us to supplement that Nanker Phelge mania by closing out the show with a few extracurricular Stones covers. 

That closing half-set commenced with one of the Grip Weeds' two contributions to this superb Stones tribute album. I'm sure we'll get to their take on "Dandelion" before long, but we for damned sure wanted to slot in the Grip Weeds' characteristically confident performance of "We Love You" ASAFP. "We Love You" has long been one of my very favorite Rolling Stones tracks, and our Grip Weeds do it justice. Grip Weeds go WILDE!

We then switch to a pair of older Stones covers. From circa 1978, the great San Francisco punk group the Avengers pull off a fiery version of "Paint It Black," and then Thelma Houston serves up a 1969 recording of "Jumpin' Jack Flash" that is A) her single best-ever track, and B) a peer to the Stones' seemingly nonpareil original. It IS, in fact, a gas, gas, gas!

Finally, we close with a Stones cover that isn't exactly a cover. John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote "I Wanna Be Your Man" for those Rolling Stones; it was the Stones' second single, and their first UK hit. The Beatles then recorded it themselves, with Ringo singing lead. No offense to our little Richard and his moptopped fellow Fabs, but the Rolling Stones' "I Wanna Be Your Man" is a rare case of a Beatles song done better by a group other than the Beatles.

Oh, and the Beatles' version is also great. Beatles or Stones? In the larger scheme o' things, there's simply no need to pick a side. Together, lads!

BONUS TRACK!

THE ROLLING STONES: Sing This All Together

Well? Why don't we sing this song all together? Inquiring minds wanna know. C'mon. Let's roll.

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 book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones is 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 The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) will be published in July. 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

10 SONGS: 5/18/2024

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 # 1233.

DUANE EDDY: (Dance With The) Guitar Man

The late, great Duane Eddy was a giant of rock 'n' roll guitar. His signature number "Rebel Rouser" closes out this week's show, but I also wanted to spin a less-recognized Eddy treat within our opening set. 

Duane Eddy built most of his legacy with twangy instrumentals. 1962's "(Dance With The) Guitar Man" sported sassy girl-group vocals by the Rebelettes, who were in reality sassy girl group the Blossoms. I knew the song from its use in a TV commercial for Rochester, NY's great, great House Of Guitars, but fantastic records don't care how you get to them. All that matters is the getting. Come on and dance.

THE MIDNIGHT CALLERS: Jumpin' Jack Flash

Last week's show offered our first taste of the forthcoming tribute album Jem Records Celebrates Jagger & Richards, debuting with king of power pop Paul Collins taking on the Rolling Stones' "Tell Me." This week, we have the Midnight Callers rising to the challenge of covering "Jumpin' Jack Flash." Remaking such an established classic rock tune can be a daunting task indeed, but our Midnight Callers cede not an inch while lookin' Mick and Keith straight in the eyes in pursuit of a gas-gas-gas-gas. It IS all right now! In fact...

...you know.

VEGAS WITH RANDOLPH: Triple Play: Saturday/Best Day/Rock Beside Me/Heartsick/Days & Days/Wheels Of Love/Every Time

Our radio program's built-in short attention span means this week is probably the only time we'll ever play this particular gem, but its single spin was totally, totally worth it.

"Triple Play" is a just-under-ten-minute song suite from The Future Store, the tres nifty new album by TIRnRR superstars Vegas With Randolph. Our playlists thrive on shorter song selections...but my gosh, "Triple Play" is just so, so cool. It's my immediate initial favorite on The Future Store; the very first time I heard it, I knew we had to--had to--make room for it on the next available playlist.

And we did! Such a swell-sounding track, our short attention span be damned. We'll hear another example of The Future Store's splendor on our next show.

HUNGRYTOWN: Tuesday Sun

The third teaser single from Hungrytown's forthcoming new album Circus For Sale builds upon the already-compelling stream of lush Americana heard in preceding sneak-peek tracks "Feel Like Falling" and especially "Another Year." If "lush Americana" seems like an oxymoron, imagine, say, Nanci Griffith produced by Brian Wilson, or Emmylou Harris fronting the Wondermints in a reflective mood. Or a more grounded Renaissance. 

None of these fantasy scenarios is truly descriptive of the Hungrytown sound, but I hope they kinda conjure a mental image of pretty pop music with blue-highway roots: Indie folk that's not afraid of a little bit of sheen. The sheen enhances its truth.

Circus For Sale is out June 21st. We'll hear more as its release date draws near. Satisfaction awaits you in Hungrytown.

SHADOWY MEN ON A SHADOWY PLANET: Exit From Vince Lombardi High

P. J. SOLES: Rock 'n' Roll High School

This two-fer serves as a de facto salute to the late B-movie king Roger Corman, whose many film credits include 1979's Rock 'n' Roll High School. The fact that the show was recorded before we heard of Corman's passing makes the tribute a coincidence, but no less sincere.

And we never need an excuse to celebrate Rock 'n' Roll High School. Given the fact that I routinely refer to the Ramones as the American Beatles, the greatest American rock 'n' roll band of all time, it falls waaaaaay short of revelatory for me to say, yeah, the Ramones' movie Rock 'n' Roll High School is one of my fave rave jukebox flicks. Duh. Most of the film was set at the fictional Vince Lombardi High School, so Dana's spin of "Exit From Vince Lombardi High" by Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet led inevitably into Riff Randall, Rock 'n' Roller, as played by actress P. J. Soles. 

SHONEN KNIFE: The KKK Took My Baby Away

THE RAMONES: I Don't Care

Demonstrating the mutant synergy of TIRnRR, Dana followed Riff Randall's "Rock 'n' Roll High School" with Osaka, Japan's phenomenal pop combo Shonen Knife covering the Ramones. Hey-HO! Shonen Knife's 2011 album Osaka Ramones is one of the best Ramones covers album, maybe THE best (though I do also have a great deal of affection for the easy-listening audacity of the Nutley Brass' Ramones Songbook). Osaka Ramones has been a reliable resource for many recent TIRnRR playlists. As it should be.

And I hadda segue that into the Ramones themselves. "I Don't Care." It's FUNNY! The KKK took my baby away? I don't care, man. I don't care. But we shouldn't take the title literally, at least not in this context. TIRnRR couldn't do whatever the hell it is TIRnRR does if we didn't care.

(And Dana concluded the above set with the Donnas covering Alice Cooper's "School's Out." I love this show.)

THE KINKS: Juke Box Music

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE FLASHCUBES: Make Something Happen

Two initial interviews done, a third initial interview scheduled next week. The book's publication is still a year away, but work on Make Something Happen! The DIY Story Of A Power Pop Band Called THE FLASHCUBES has officially begun.

No promise, no guara..no, scratch that. You got my promise. That's what making something happen! is all about.

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 book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones is 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

10 SONGS: 2/9/2024

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 # 1219. This show is available as a podcast.

THE WEEKLINGS: All The Cash In The World

I'm prone to hyperbole anyway, so maybe you should ingest a li'l bit o' sodium when you hear me wonder out loud if the Weeklings' new album Raspberry Park just might be the group's best effort yet. But I tell ya: I'm starting to believe it is.

Exhibit A in that case is the Raspberry Park track "All The Cash In The World." As much as I've loved (and programmed!) the Weeklings' previous Pick Hits, "All The Cash In The World" carries some super-special intangible that elevates its pure sensory delight. "In The Moment,' from the Weeklings' 2020 album 3, has long been my go-to moment of Weeklingness. 

That moment now belongs to "All The Cash In The World."

MELANIE: Peace Will Come (According To Plan)

Our pal and colleague (and Radio Deer Camp host) Rich Firestone recently bemoaned the fact that we're forced to bid farewell to so many of our rockin' pop idols with such numbing, non-stop frequency. On this week's show, we say goodbye to Melanie Safka.

I wrote at length about my introduction to Melanie's music in a Greatest Record Ever Made! piece spotlighting "Lay Down (Candles In The Rain)," Melanie's magnificent collaboration with the Edwin Hawkins Singers. As we remember Melanie, it was tempting to play that song yet again this week. But it felt more appropriate to play a Melanie song that we'd never played before.

"Peace Will Come (According To Plan)" opens with a quiet dignity that blossoms into full-body exuberance, an embrace of peace that will accept no substitute. It is the delicate grace and willful power of Melanie in microcosm. Peace will come. 

Melanie said so. 

Godspeed, Ms. Safka.

HUNGRYTOWN: Another Year

Have we ever played Hungrytown before? A check of the ol' stats says...nope, this was the first time. Man, it's a lucky thing for us that we have tenure. Now that Hungrytown's Rebecca Hall and Ken Anderson have brought their unique folk vision to the ever-intrepid Big Stir Records label, maybe Dana and Carl can do a better job of getting Hungrytown into The Best Three Hours Of Radio On The Whole Friggin' Planet. It starts with "Another Year," Hungrytown's new single and Big Stir debut. Another year? We say it's another chance. We'll get it right this time.

THE SATISFACTORS: Arrested

Serendipity! When I fell in deep thrall to this track by the Satisfactors, I had no idea the ace lead vocals were supplied by none other than Kurt Reil of TIRnRR Fave Raves the Grip Weeds. HuzZAH!! Kurt was also the studio wizzard (spelling intentional, as it Wood be) who made our own 2022 compilation This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5 sound so flippin' fantastic.

"Arrested" is also flippin' fantastic. The album is Dramatis Personae. This arrest merits further investigation. Just the facts: I'm on the case.

PAUL COLLINS: I'm The Only One For You

THE welcome earworm of 2024 so far. From power pop icon Paul Collins' forthcoming new album Stand Back And Take A Good Look, "I'm The Only One For You" finds Collins boppin' with righteous aplomb alongside the late Dwight Twilley, and the irresistible result fits right in among the best stuff Collins has ever done, including the Nerves, the Breakaways, and Paul Collins' Beat. I mean, the Beat's eponymous 1979 debut LP is one of the classics of power pop; "I'm The Only One For You" would have felt right at home on the record, mingling as a peer with your "Rock And Roll Girl" and your "Don't Wait Up For Me"" and your "Walking Out On Love." 

We debuted "I'm The Only One For You" on last week's TIRnRR. We played it again this week. And it returns to the air in Syracuse this coming Sunday night. DO wait up for this. And I can't wait to hear the album.

LEATHER CATSUIT: Can't Get You Off My Mind

Speaking of welcome earworms! Leather Catsuit's "Can Get You Off My Mind" comes equipped with a title that mirrors my opinion of the track: I can't get it off my mind. I don't wanna get it off my mind. It's pop music! I wanna hear it again and again. 

SUZI QUATRO: Paralysed

During back-announcements on this week's show, I joked that the set that opened with Leather Catsuit kicked off instead with Leather Tuscadero, mock-corrected myself, and then noted a couple of tracks later that we played Ms. Tuscadero herself, Suzi Quatro. And folks think we never plan stuff out in advance!

(They're usually right about that. But I digress.)

My original intent was to play Suzi Q's "I May Be Too Young," the first Suzi Quatro track I ever heard, and the subject of a chapter in my long-threatened book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). But, as often happens when we're trying to shoehorn the show into its three-hour slot, we had to look at where we could sub in shorter selections. In that process, I switched my Quatro choice to "Paralysed," from her album Your Mama Won't Like Me.

Although I bought Your Mama Won't Like Me (at Record Revolution in Cleveland Heights, Ohio) when I was still a 1970s rock 'n' roll teen with a crush on Suzi Quatro, it's been established that I didn't really like this album all that much. The above-mentioned Rich Firestone has suggested Suzi should have called it Carl Won't Like This. I need to give it a fresh listen one of these days, just to see if I like it better now.

Even back then, though, "Paralysed" was the one track I did like. Still do. The stories you've heard are gonna be confirmed. Sing it, Suzi.

ROB MOSS AND SKIN-TIGHT SKIN: Hey You (We're Sick Of You)

"Hey You (We're Sick Of You)," the latest single from Rob Moss and Skin-Tight Skin, has the good sense, good taste, good breeding, and good rockin' tonight to enlist the aid of the Flashcubes' irresistible force of nature Paul Armstrong on Special Guest Bat-Villain guitar. Holy Search and Destroy! It's a match made in Boston. Probably at The Rat. It's loud. It's proud. It's skin-tight. And it's on the radio in Syracuse.

TEGAN AND SARA: Walking With A Ghost

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

TAYLOR SWIFT: The Last Great American Dynasty

I'm told our next show has some heavy duty competition from a big football game on TV this Sunday. If the Buffalo Bills were playing, I'd even watch the game. But I would watch with the radio on.

But anyway, our congratulations to Taylor Swift. I've forgiven her boyfriend's team for ending the Bills' postseason this year--we'll get 'em next year!--and she is most definitely THE pop person of the moment. I don't listen to all of her work, but I admire her talent and her character. Plus she pisses off many of the same people who piss ME off. "The Last Great American Dynasty" (from her 2020 album folklore) is a truly wonderful track, and I think its Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac vibe is of a piece with whatever the hell it is we do here on This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio.

And regardless of whether or not the team Taylor's rooting for at the Super Bowl prevails or comes up short, one thing's for sure: She's still gonna be Taylor Swift.

Winner!

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