10 SONGS: 10/20/2022

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 # 1151.

THE SMITHEREENS: Face The World With Pride

The intrepid Rich Firestone--who is the host of Radio Deer Camp right here on SPARK! and also one righteous rockin' dude--has declared that this track from the Smithereens' recently-released archival discovery The Lost Album is a hit record. Book it! "Face The World With Pride" at a Smithereens-approved Top Of The Pops!

We're with Rich. However, the stupid real world of radio formats that are all myopic all the time may not be prepared to follow Rich's lead. So our Reechie has called upon us--all of us, the independent DJs, bloggers, pundits, and loud 'n' boisterous fans--to intercede on the Smithereens' behalf. We hear and we obey. If you have a platform of your own, we join Radio Deer Camp's recommendation that you play the livin' chiclets outta this one.

TIRnRR will do its part. This was "Face The World With Pride"'s fourth straight appearance on our weekly playlist. I betcha we'll play it again next week, too. Hit records have gotta start somewhere. Face the world. Play it with pride.

ARIELLE EDEN: Sagittarius

We've mentioned that we have a new compilation album out, right!? Of course we have! These things don't just hype themselves, people. This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5 is available at this very transcendent moment, as a CD or a download, it is THE best compilation we've ever done, and we see no need for silly humility as we urge you to buy it. In fact, we recommend you buy more copies than you actually need. Many more copies.

This is an album full of highlights, and one of those highlights is Arielle Eden's beguilin' li'l pop tune "Sagittarius." "Sagittarius" is sprightly and peppy, impossible to resist, and it could be just as appropriate for airing on a contemporary pop radio format as it is for our little mutant pop radio format. It's versatile. And it's cool! The stars decree it.

THE JANGLE BAND: So Long

The weekly This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio shows are international affairs, proudly playing rockin' pop records from all over this wide, wide world of wonder. That we-are-the-world vibe extends to our compilations, at least a little bit. For Volume 5, we have acts from Japan (the Mayflowers), Canada (Laurie Biagini), Sweden (In Deed), and Australia (the Jangle Band). We've been corresponding with the Jangle Band's Joe Algeri for years, and their ace number "So Long" was one of the first tracks we put on our wish list when we started constructing this new compilation.

When we were putting this week's playlist together, Dana mentioned how the mighty Kurt Reil's mastering makes all of the tracks on TIRnRR Vol. 5 snap in such a spectacular way, and how he's hearing the songs now in a way he never heard them before. I agree. And Dana mentioned "So Long" as a track we maybe oughtta play a little more often. I agree with that, too.

THE BEATLES: Helter Skelter

I GOT BLISTERS ON MY FINGERS...!

SMOKEY ROBINSON AND THE MIRACLES: The Tears Of A Clown

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

RICHARD ÖHRN: Time's Not Running Out

We mentioned Uppsala, Sweden's phenomenal pop combo In Deed in passing a few paragraphs back. This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5 also includes "Peace & Quiet," my favorite among favorite In Deed tracks. We'll hear In Deed's TIRnRR Vol. 5 track on next week's show. But THIS week, we're dead chuffed to serve up a track from In Deed guitarist Richard Öhrn's forthcoming solo album Sounds In English. The album is due out November 11th from our friends at Big Stir Records, and the advance digital single "Love And Friendship" is available right now. TIRnRR approves of these Sounds.

THE KINKS: Revenge

Our house band the Kinks, and a nifty 1964 instrumental called "Revenge." REVENGE! Now we're talkin', huh? Yeah, Lex Luthor was rumored to play rhythm guitar on that track. Well, Lex Luthor or Jimmy Page. Same diff.

JUSTINE AND THE UNCLEAN: Vengeance

Couldn't resist following "Revenge" with "Vengeance," Justine and the Unclean's contribution to This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5. "Revenge" was our introduction to Justine Covault's fine work a few years back, a prime portal that led us to her own subsequent label Red On Red Records and all sortsa greatness that ensued. She's done so much fantastic stuff, both as a performer and as an ambassador and facilitator for other artists. She is, in short, really, really groovy. "Vengeance" is my favorite. Word on the street suggests there may be a full-length Justine album in the not-too-distant (and not-near-soon-enough) future. Prepare for VENGEANCE! It's FUN!

OSCAR TONEY JR.: Ain't That True Love

One of the many truths in our lives as pop fans is that there is always so much more magnificent music awaiting our discovery: new music, of course, and also old music that escaped our attention.

I don't recallI hearing (or hearing of) '60s soul singer Oscar Toney Jr. before last week. Maybe? Even if so, Toney didn't register with me until, like, now. A chance dive into the CD bins at Sound Garden in Syracuse netted me The Soul Of The Memphis Boys, a compilation CD collecting some Memphis sides by Ben E. King, Elvis Presley, Arthur Conley, James and Bobby Purify, Arthur Alexander, Jerry Lee Lewis, Dusty Springfield, Solomon Burke, Ella Washington, and more. Impulse purchase, come to Poppa!

On this disc, Toney's "Ain't That True Love" freakin' knocked me out. On the radio it went, and on the radio it will return next week. This is a bona fide soul classic, even if hardly anyone knows it. Classic.

There's so much out there, waiting for us to open our ears, eyes, and minds and just notice. The hunt continues. Ain't that...something?

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

"Come Some Christmas Eve (Or Halloween)" was written by Robin Gibb, an obscure ditty eventually included on deluxe reissues of the Bee Gees' 1968 album Idea. In our newfangled 21st century, Tall Poppy Syndrome reimagined it as (in their words) "a Mod-era Who performing the Zombies' Odessey And Oracle." Ah, these musicians and their ideas!

Oh, and it was a sublime idea. Tall Poppy Syndrome includes former Bee Gees guitarist Vince Melouney, which gives their Robin Gibb cover a sort of legacy status. Tall Poppy Syndrome's version of "Come Some Christmas Eve (Or Halloween" radiates confidence and vulnerability in paradoxically equal measure, the fragile emotion at its center granting it emotional gravitas, the surefire swagger of its execution commanding our attention and demanding volume far, far north of a mere 11. We are so, so proud to present this superlative Tall Poppy Syndrome track as part of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5. Get it. Crank it. Love it. Stand tall, you poppies. Stand tall.

If you like what you see here on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), please consider supporting this blog by becoming a patron on Patreon, or by visiting CC's Tip Jar. Additional products and projects are listed here.

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, and on the web at http://sparksyracuse.org/ You can read about our history here.

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl

10 SONGS: 9/8/2022

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 # 1145.

THE HALFCUBES: Hand Me Down World

Guess who? It's the Halfcubes! And that would be Gary Frenay and Tommy Allen (precisely one-half of Syracuse's power pop powerhouse quartet the Flashcubes), aided und abetted by Randy Klawon (of the Choir), Mike Kallet, and Nick Frenay for this absolutely ace cover of the Guess Who's 1970 hit "Hand Me Down." Listen: I love the Guess Who's original; this is even better. And it's a de facto teaser track for a forthcoming various-artists project that I don't know all that much about yet, and about which I suspect I'm not even supposed to tell you what little I do know. Guess who? Guess WHAT...!

IN DEED:Peace & Quiet

AMY RIGBY: Tom Petty Karaoke

Two in a row from our new compilation album This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5. We are so blessed to know such talented people willing to share their work with us, all on behalf of whatever the hell it is we do here. (I've given up hoping that someone will eventually explain to us what we're doing. We're gonna just keep doing it. Whatever it is.)

The CD is still on track for--we think--a release this very month. Oh, and TOMORROW: check back here for your first look at the irresistible cover graphic for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5.

OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN: A Little More Love

"A Little More Love" was one of my favorites among Olivia Newton-John's hits, probably second only to "If Not For You." Its late 1978 release came about a year into my full-throttle embrace of punk rock, so ya might not expect me to also love such an unabashed middle-of-the-road radio pop tune.

But "A Little More Love" isn't as MOR as many/most of her preceding hits, your "I Honestly Love You"s or your "Please Mister Please"s. A pal at the time described "A Little More Love" as like ON-J backed by the Kinks; I don't quite buy into that, but it does have a more tangible rock feel than one finds in our Olivia's lighter fare.

(Its release also coincided with a burgeoning new relationship that began that same fall of '78, a meeting-of-hearts that would lead to a marriage that still survives decades later. Will a little more love make it right? Eh. Couldn't hurt. Thanks, Olivia!)

DAVID RUFFIN: It's Gonna Take A Whole Lot Of Doin'

I continue to be mystified about why Motown Records didn't release David Ruffin's proposed album David in the early '70s. It's such a fantastic record, and I wish we'd been able to experience it fifty years ago. From that album's sessions, we played Ruffin's "It's Gonna Take A Whole Lot Of Doin'" on this week's show. My iPod just treated me to Ruffin's cover of Brook Benton's "Rainy Night In Georgia," also from David. Sublime stuff. It borders on heresy, but I may even prefer the tracks on David to Ruffin's classic work with the Temptations.

IRENE PEÑA: Come And Get It

America's Sweetheart Irene Peña covers Badfinger's McCartney-scribed 1970 hit "Come And Get It," from the WAY fab various-artists musicfest We All Shine On: Celebrating The Music Of 1970. Yeah, 1970 was a pretty swell year for pop music, wasn't it? Lotta great songs to cover from that year, more than even a great single album like this can include.

For now. At least, that's what I would guess.

THE COWSILLS: She Said To Me

Before we talk about this great '90s track by the Cowsills, we have to pause and shout at you for a second. Ahem. THE COWSILLS HAVE A NEW ALBUM OUT THIS MONTH!! Rhythm Of The World is scheduled for release on September 30th, and I for damned sure preordered my copy. For this week's show, we reached back, not to the Cowsills' superfine '60s hits, but to their incredible Global album, which is my favorite album of the 1990s. The Global track "She Said To Me" has its own chapter in my long-threatened book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1), and the Cowsills were nice enough to also grant us its use a few years back on This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 2. 

In the present day: we've heard the new teaser single from Rhythm Of The World, and we're very much looking forward to programming it into future TIRnRR broadcasts. NEW COWSILLS! Oh, man....!!

SQUEEZE: Tempted

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE MONKEES: I Never Thought It Peculiar

A guilt-free pleasure!

And ya wanna know what this gawky, clunky, basically unloved little deep cut has in common with two of the Monkees' biggest hits, "I'm A Believer" and "Daydream Believer?" Like those two perennial smashes, "I Never Thought It Peculiar" did not make the list of my 25 favorite Monkees tracks. And you know what separates it from those? "I Never Thought It Peculiar" is one of the 53 Monkees tracks on my iPod; "Daydream Believer" and "I'm A Believer" are not.

I know. Peculiar, right?

THE DONNAS: Living After Midnight

Metal chicks! Sort of. It would be more than a little stretch to refer to the Donnas as a metal band, even when they pull off such a capable and credible (and invigmoratin'!) cover of the Judas Priest juggernaut "Living After Midnight." We've been playing the Donnas since our earliest days here, and I initially thought of them as successors to the Runaways (who also weren't metal) rather than, say, Girlschool (who were metal). One could also compare the Donnas to the Pandoras, if we can imagine a version of the Pandoras less beholden to '60s garage/punk and more influenced by the Ramones. And the Runaways.

(And, come to think of it, the Pandoras themselves took a turn toward hard rock toward the end of the career. Maybe that is the comparison we should be making, if we're gonna make a comparison.)

This all speaks only of image and approach; I don't believe the Donnas ever really sounded much like the Runaways, Girlschool, or the Pandoras, and we fall into a trap when the emergence of an all-female rock band prompts us to automatically look for similarities/differences in relation to other all-female rock bands. People still compare/contrast the Go-Go's and the Bangles ferchrissakes, two groups I absolutely love but who share very little in common beyond gender and a love of the '60s.

The Donnas have developed a side career in bludgeoning their way through covers of everything from Billy Idol to Bachman Turner Overdrive. They're quite good at it, though we're overdue to give some fresh spins to some Donnas originals one of these weeks. Meanwhile, my favorite among Donnas covers is this righteous steamroll through "Living After Midnight." Metal? Close enough.

If you like what you see here on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), please consider supporting this blog by becoming a patron on Patreon, or by visiting CC's Tip Jar. Additional products and projects are listed here.

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, and on the web at http://sparksyracuse.org/ You can read about our history here.

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl

10 SONGS: 8/4/2022

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 # 1140.

RICHARD TURGEON: Better With You

There is a possibility that pop fans could take Richard Turgeon for granted. Richard is so consistently good at what he does, and he's sufficiently prolific that less attentive ears might be at risk of missing some (or all) of his engaging pop gems.

TIRnRR does not take Richard Turgeon's work for granted, but nor do I think we play his stuff anywhere near as often as we should. We will remedy that, and there's no finer place to start than with Rough Around The Edges, Richard's latest shot o' peerlessness on the ever-reliable Kool Kat Musik label. We opened this week's show with "Better With You," and danced around with giddy abandon. And an earnest intent to play more Richard. Things go better with Richard Turgeon. And he's back on TIRnRR again next week.

THE FLASHCUBES: Christi Girl [Live At The Firebarn, May 26 1979]

THE FLASHCUBES! Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse! Their current Big Stir Records single, recorded LIVE at the Firebarn in 1979! It's a HIT! 

As it oughtta be. Consider this another reminder that I've been right about the Flashcubes for nearly 45 years. What took the rest of you so long?

MADONNA: Dear Jessie

This week's playlist commentary went into some detail about the seeming incongruity of TIRnRR programming a track by Madonna, and the twin importance of digging what we dig while remaining open to the potential relevance of fresh discoveries living beyond our chosen parameters.

For all that, I guess it's also worth reiterating that I never really disliked Madonna, either. If I'm a little surprised to realize that I love her 1989 track "Dear Jessie" as much as I do, I must remember that it's not the only Madonna track I've ever enjoyed. I mentioned my initial interest in "Borderline" as it was first climbing the charts in '84; I recall seeing the video in between sets at a Buffalo nightclub--an alt-rock hangout, mind you--and thinking it somehow reminiscent of Freda Payne. I can't articulate why the song brought Payne's "Band Of Gold" to my mind, but it was, then and now, a compliment.

I did not care for Like A Virgin, neither the album nor its singles, especially not its title track. HEY! Not my cuppa. I was okay with the subsequent (non-album) "Into The Groove," and I may even like it better now. When I was working in record retail in the '80s (a tale told within my lengthy reminiscence The Road To GOLDMINE), a customer once tried to return the 12" single of "Into The Groove" because, instead of being bouncy 'n' chirpy Madonna, it sounded like Tears For Fears or some other mopey-boy British act. The customer was, of course, playing the 45 at 33 1/3. The customer is always right? That has not always been my experience.

"Borderline." "Into The Groove." "True Blue." "Open Your Heart." "Like A Prayer." "Express Yourself." Each of these is a decent radio-ready pop record, if not specifically within the Beatles-Motown-Ramones axis that remain my raison d'être. I used to have a Madonna Express Yourself t-shirt, which I think I snagged as a free promo somewhere, and which I confess I wore primarily because the image of Madonna on the shirt was (ironically?) not wearing a shirt.

But we don't look at pop records; we listen to them. When this week's playlist was published, singer-songwriter Dean Landew emailed us to compliment the sheer variety of our Madonna-led set--Madonna, Elvis Costello, the Coasters, Nick Lowe, Shoes, Sweet--adding that "Ray Of Light" was his favorite Madonna song. Another good choice, Dean. I was in an auto parts store on Wednesday, and "Cherish" came on the sound system. I didn't properly appreciate the track's pure pop appeal in '89, but its '80s version of the girl group sound was fresh and pleasing to these ears in this newfangled 21st century. And Madonna deserves rock 'n' roll props for asking the Stooges to perform on her behalf when she was inducted into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. 

I tell ya: we may not play Madonna very often, and we're probably not going to play her all that much in the future, either. Still, when we do decide to play Madonna again, we already know she fits our format just fine.  And "Dear Jessie" fits it perfectly.

IN DEED: Peace & Quiet

IRENE PEÑA: In This Room

PERILOUS: Rock & Roll Kiss

Three tracks from our forthcoming compilation album This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5, which we hope to have available Septemberish from our friends at Kool Kat Musik. Liner notes are done, credits and acknowledgments are complete, and all in the hands of the label. Even better, the album itself has been mastered by the mighty Kurt Reil at his House Of Vibes studio; I have been listening to it with willful and delighted obsession for more than a week, and I'm very nearly humbled by the notion that Dana and I helped bring this brilliant set to let.

Nearly. Nearly humbled. Let's not get crazy.

This week's shindig served up the incredible TIRnRR # 5 contributions from In Deed, Irene Peña, and Perilous. We'll spin three more of the album's tracks next week. I know we're biased, and we have a right to be, but man alive, this is a really, really good album.

CRAZY ELEPHANT: Gimme Gimme Good Lovin'

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE TEST PRESSINGS: Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)

Edison Lighthouse's "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes) has been a frequent fixture on TIRnRR playlists for decades. This week, we're pleased to present a brand new salute to Rosemary's traveling heart cultivation, courtesy of the Test Pressings. The Test Pressings are our pals Robbie Rist, Karen Bassett, and John M. Borack, and they are indeed rightful heirs to the Edison Lighthouse legacy on this teaser track from We All Shine On: Celebrating The Music Of 1970, a joint release by the combined forces of Big Stir and SpyderPop Records. The album looks to be an absolutely killer embrace of the legacy of 1970, the year I really started listening to AM radio with deliberate intent. We will, of course, hear more from We All Shine On next week. If we're all gonna shine on, be assured that Dana and Carl are going to do their part.

THE GRIP WEEDS: I'm Free

We mentioned Kurt Reil's studio wizardry a few paragraphs North of here, raving about his work in mastering This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5. Kurt's also the idol o' millions as drummer and vocalist with his incomparable combo the Grip Weeds. The Grip Weeds' latest triumph is this explosive cover of the Who's "I'm Free," as heard on the forthcoming tribute album Jem Records Celebrates Pete Townshend. The rockin' Weeds (whose recent all-covers album DiG has been a TIRnRR Fave Rave) wouldn't be content to merely ape the original recording of "I'm Free," but instead add the oomph you'd expect from talents who truly get the idea and appeal of the 'Ooo. Ooo! The Grip Weeds even dive a bit deeper into Tommy territory, while retaining the incendiary explosiveness that made the Who power pop progenitors. We are gonna take it. Gladly!

THE BABLERS: You Are The One For Me

It's a HIT! And it's ALSO on Big Stir Records. Dana's favorite single of 2022 so far. Bablermania starts HERE!

If you like what you see here on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), please consider supporting this blog by becoming a patron on Patreon, or by visiting CC's Tip Jar. Additional products and projects are listed here.

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, and on the web at http://sparksyracuse.org/ You can read about our history here.

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl

10 SONGS: 6/16/2022

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.

Please don't bother trying to find this song; it's not here

This week's edition of 10 Songs draws exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1133.

ROBIN LANE: All I'll Ever Need

A new single from Robin Lane? Yes, please. My first awareness of Lane's work came in 1980, with the release of the eponymous debut album by her band Robin Lane and the Chartbusters.  The memory's imprecise, but I likely came to the Chartbusters via mentions in Trouser Press or maybe CREEM magazine, my interest heightened by the fact that two of the Chartbusters--Asa Brebner and Leroy Radcliffe--had previously been in Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers. But if the erstwhile Modern Lovers hooked me initially on the Chartbusters, Robin Lane was undeniably Chartbuster # 1 (Number ONE!ONE!ONE...!)

I played Robin Lane and the Chartbusters frequently, particularly its tracks "Don't Cry," "When Things Go Wrong," and "Many Years Ago." That first album was part of my soundtrack in the early '80s, when I was a recent college grad, a professional burger-flipper, and sharing an apartment with my girlfriend. Our little Sony stereo actually belonged to Brenda, but she usually let me use it (at least when she wasn't playing her Soft Cell "Tainted Love" 45 over and over). When things go wrong, don't walk away/That will only make it harder. A Robin Lane and the Chartbusters lyric provided a working model for the art of living together. Something musta stuck. Decades later, Brenda and I are still together.

And, decades later, Robin Lane is still crafting irresistible rockin' pop music. "All I'll Ever Need" is Lane's first single for the mighty Red On Red Records label, and we eagerly await further fresh Robin Lane releases in the imminent realm of right-NOW-dammit! More new music from Robin Lane? Yes, yes, yes. Please. It's all we'll ever need. Meanwhile, we'll hear "All I'll Ever Need" again on next week's show.

ROSE ROYCE: Wishing On A Star

Well before discovering Soft Cell, Brenda's own pop obsessions included the sweet and soulful sound of Rose Royce. When Brenda and I met in 1978, I don't think I really knew any of Rose Royce's music beyond "Car Wash," the hit disco tune from the 1976 film of the same name. Well, that's not 100 % accurate; I had seen the movie, so I'd heard Rose Royce's soundtrack contributions (including the fabulous "I Wanna Get Next To You," which was a hit in its own right). Nonetheless, the songs didn't register in my teenaged mind at the time.

Brenda owned the Car Wash soundtrack on cassette, but her primary Rose Royce allegiance wasn't to that album. Her fave rave "Wishing On A Star" was the lead-off track from the group's 1977 album In Full Bloom, and it was (along with "September" by Earth, Wind & Fire) Brenda's toppermost of the poppermost. Somewhere in my vast accumulation of stuff, I have a cartoon portrait of Brenda, rendered by one of her college suitemates the year Brenda and I met. The drawing spotlights the dichotomy of R & B-lovin' Brenda falling for the likes of little punk rocker me, depicting Brenda in a Flashcubes t-shirt, wondering aloud, "Who could like a band called the Sex Pistols?" and singing lines from CC-approved numbers by the Ramones and the Rolling Stones. In the midst of this overabundance of attention to the strange stuff I liked, Brenda's suitemate allowed one word balloon expressing Brenda's own musical taste:

I'm wishing on a staaaaaaaaaaar....

Oooo, what a lovely pop record. Although I only knew the song through Brenda, we were both recently amazed to discover that it had never been a pop hit. It bubbled under Billboard's Hot 100; even on the R & B chart, it only managed a peak position of # 52. It fared better in Europe. In America, it was still always a hit in Brenda's ears, its lack of chart success notwithstanding.

We play the hits. TIRnRR's concept of what is and what is not a hit is aware of real-world considerations that define the term in the popular sense...but we don't care about that. We say a hit record is anything that sounds like it oughtta be a hit. When we played "Wishing On A Star" this week, intrepid TIRnRR listener (and Radio Deer Camp host) Rich Firestone remarked that the song was new to him, but he liked it. Brenda was surprised but pleased that she knew the song before Rich did. 

Any record you ain't heard is a new record. And a hit's a hit. Wishing on a star? Thanks to Brenda for knowing a hit when she heard it.

IN DEED: Peace & Quiet

IN DEED: Don't Kill The Babe

We were pleased 'n' pumped to play the Swedish group In Deed's new Big Stir Records single "Don't Kill The Babe" on last week's show, and we were guaranteed to play it again this week (and--SPOILER ALERT!--next week, too). This week, though, we wanted to pair the latest from In Deed with a track from the group's fabulous debut album, 2001's At 4000 Meters. That CD's been out of print for an approximate forever, and has never been issued in physical form here in the States. 

Everything old is new again. The At 4000 Meters track "Peace & Quiet" will be on a readily-available domestic CD in the very near future, when it appears on our own forthcoming Kool Kat Musik compilation album This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5. You've got your new In Deed from Big Stir. You've got your old In Deed made new from Kool Kat and TIRnRR. And we hear tell that Big Stir's got even more In Deed in store. 

We're in.

TIGER BOMB: Rave On Again

Yeah, this is good. A HIT! Portland, Maine's phenomenal pop combo Tiger Bomb have flown under my myopic radar for far too long, but Lynda Mandolin herself alerted me to the group's new single on the Dionysus label, and sudden, blissful awareness dawned immediately. And it will rave on again next week. Obviously. My radar's got some myopia to correct.

POP CO-OP: I Just Love To Watch Her Dance

Once again: Your Favorite Album Of 2022. If memory serves--and there's a first time for everything--we've played five different tracks so far from Pop Co-Op's new album Suspension. We've played "I Just Love To Watch Her Dance" several times, making it our pick hit. We'll add a sixth Suspension track to our log with next week's playlist.

JESSE BRYSON: Abilene

JESSE BRYSON: Come Back

Hey, rockin' pop with a pedigree! Jesse Bryson is no stranger to the TIRnRR playlist--his track "Abilene" is considered an all-time classic in this particular playground, and we gave that one another spin this week--and his Dad Wally Bryson is power pop legend for his own iconic guitar work with the Raspberries and Fotomaker. Yes, pundits overuse the word "iconic." Fine. If you fancy yourself a power pop fan, just think of those opening guitar bits to the Raspberries hits "Go All The Way" and "I Wanna Be With You." If you don't agree those are iconic, I don't agree that you're a power pop fan.

My favorite Fotomaker track is 1978's "Come Back," which the elder Bryson wrote and recorded for the group's second album, Vis á Vis. Now, Jesse has recorded his own new version of "Come Back" as a Big Stir single, performed with panache alongside the Flashcubes' Gary Frenay and Tommy Allen and Fotomaker's Frankie Vinci and Lex Marchesi. As good as its pedigree? And then some. I'll see your icon, and raise ya one.

EYTAN MIRSKY: This Year's Gonna Be Our Year

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE ZOMBIES: What More Can I Do

Sometimes the specific time constraints of a three-hour slot prevent us from playing a record we wanted to play. We end most shows with a post-tag track, something short, that plays after we've said goodbye for the week. WAIT!WAIT!WAIT!WAIT!WAIT!WAIT! We got a little more This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio. The little post-tag track usually brings the show up to its three-hour mark.

This week, I wanted the post-tag track to be "She's Not There" by the Zombies. Alas, there was not sufficient space left for "She's Not There," forcing us to sub the Zombies' "What More Can I Do" in its place. 

Now, ya can't complain about any opportunity to play the Zombies, whatever track you wind up with. But "She's Not There" had a specific li'l spot in pop culture last week, when it was referenced (and not named) on the June 8th episode of Jeopardy!

The category: Put It On What? The clue: Decca F.11940, released 1963 The correct response (which no contestant offered): What is a turntable?

The record cited is the original British 45 of "She's Not There." While we wish we could have played that, "What More Can I Do" is at least a fine stand-in. What more can we do?

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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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