10 SONGS: 6/13/2026

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 # 1340

THE HALF/CUBES: The Ghost At Number One

We gave you an advance listen to this latest single by the Half/Cubes a couple of weeks back. Now: It's OUT! So, y'know, we're playing it again. We play the hits! And ya can't get a bigger hit than # 1, as the Half/Cubes cover Jellyfish and the spirits 'n' specters all come out a-boppin'. NUMBER ONE!

THE BANGS: Getting Out Of Hand

Before they switched to their more familiar moniker, the Bangles originally called themselves the Bangs, We're guessing the earlier name was switched at Ellis Island. Lousy bureaucrats. As noted in the commentary accompanying this week's playlist, we recently had the very great pleasure of witnessing a fantastic live performance by Vicki Peterson and John Cowsill, she of the Bangles and he of the Cowsills. We play the Bangles and the Cowsills quite a bit in our sovereign airspace, and we're going to be playing even more on our June 21st show, when Vicki Peterson and John Cowsill will be our Featured Performers. Along with your Bangles, your Cowsills, and your tracks from Vicki and John's exquisite 2025 album Long After The Fire, you can expect to hear the Continental Drifters, the Psycho Sisters, Susan Cowsill, Tommy Tune, and more, all perched within the framework of whatever else we decide to play.

Will we be getting out of hand? Remains to be determined, I guess. But be assured: Bangles by any name would sound as sweet.

THE SPONGETONES: (I Really) Need To Kiss You

It's the second week in a row for TIRnRR airplay of the Spongetones' new single "(I Really) Need To Kiss You." Please see above Half/Cubes-related statement that we play the hits. We do! A theme show this coming Sunday night means we're giving 3/4 of the Spongetones the weekend off, but we'll be retaining the services of 'Tones bassist Steve Stoeckel, whose other combo Pop Co-Op just so happen to fit the theme perfectly. Fear not! The Spongetones will return soon.

HOLLY AND THE ITALIANS: Just For Tonight

This luscious pure pop confection comes to us from the 1981 classic The Right To Be Italian, which was the only full-length album released by the great NYC combo Holly and the Italians. A 1982 follow-up called Holly And The Italians was a Holly Beth Vincent solo album (and billed as such). The Right To Be Italian is one of my all-time favorite albums.

Some years back, the above-mentioned Spongetone Steve Stoeckel recommended I consider writing a series of blog pieces on behalf of individual albums I considered perfect. I took that advice, dubbed it Love At First Spin!, and wrote lengthy appreciations of the Barracudas' Drop Out With The Barracudas, the Byrds' Mr. Tambourine Man, and the Ramones' Rocket To Russia, but never completed any further entries in the series.

If I'd continued Love At First Spin, I probably would have gotten around to extolling the virtues of The Right To Be Italian. I have notes from what would have been that piece's opening paragraphs:

"Even our pop obsessions can be reined in by the limits of our budget. In 1981 I was a recent college graduate, flipping burgers under the Golden Arches to fund little things like rent and food. And beer. Oh, and a college loan, minuscule as it was. I certainly didn't bother with frivolous things like savings, or health insurance. 

"So what little remained of my weekly McDollars went to entertainment. Pop obsessions. Movies, books, magazines, comic books, the occasional bar-band rock 'n' roll show. But my biggest pop obsession was buying and listening to records.

"Duh.

"Still, whether new or used, there were only so many records I could afford to buy at any given time. Some pop obsessions had to be deferred.

"Where did I first hear of Holly and the Italians? I think the initial HEADS UP!! came to me via another pop obsession: CREEM magazine. I don't recall which of CREEM's supercool scribes reviewed the lone Holly and the Italians LP The Right To Be Italian, but I remember how he described the sound:

"Like Lesley Gore or the Angels backed by Leave Home-era Ramones...."

DAVID MYRH: Summer Summer Summer

As we dive into the summer season, David Myrh's new single "Summer Summer Summer" offers an absolutely ace celebration for the beach-bound convertible cruise of your bikini-clad dreams. School's out. Sun's up. SURF'S UP, too!

MIKE BROWNING: It's Festival Time

The summer's here, and the time is right. Mike Browning knows.

IRENE PEÑA: It Must Be Summer 

America's Sweetheart Irene Peña's 2011 album Nothing To Do With You is one of 21st century rockin' pop music's most underrecognized works. The album has never been given a physical release, and I first heard about it waaaaay after the fact, when the good folks at Big Stir Records offered a tenth-anniversary digital-download reissue. Nothing To Do With You retroactively became one of my favorite albums of the 2010s. It's a record that warrants wider appreciation, and it is long overdue for a CD release, perhaps in an expanded edition that includes even more from Irene Peña's catalogue o' wonder. HEY! RECORD LABELS! Yeah, YOU guys. GET ON THIS AWREADY!! And I'm first in line to write some liner notes.

I've been thinking about all of the above for a little while. This week, Dana's spin of Irene's impeccable non-album cover of the Fountains Of Wayne gem "It Must Be Summer" brought the thoughts up front. America's Sweetheart. Let's hear it all.

SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE: Hot Fun In The Summertime

From a previous edition of 10 Songs:

I have previously written that Sly and the Family Stone's "Hot Fun In The Summertime" is "as inviting and idyllic as any June-July-August embrace ever committed to wax, a comforting groove that shines in the daytime and sways with the shadows of twilight." I later added, "If memory serves, a poll of Trouser Press magazine readers in the early '80s named 'Hot Fun In The Summertime' as the # 1 choice for the title of all-time top summer song. Surpassing the Beach Boys in that category would seem a daunting task. But if anyone could do it, it would have to be Sly."

It would probably be a stretch to suggest that Sly Stone wrote "Hot Fun In The Summertime" under the influence of Brian Wilson. I don't quite believe any of Sly and the Family Stone's brilliant work was shaped by Wilson's pet sounds of the soul, at least not willfully. But it would also be a stretch to insist that Wilson wasn't a possible influence; Sly Stone was aware of everything going on in pop music in the '60s, and--to paraphrase something famously uttered by someone else in the Wilson family--Sly Stone was a genius, too. "Hot Fun In The Summertime" doesn't sound like the Beach Boys. Doesn't matter. Sly and Brian sound great in the same radio show. Hot fun, fun, fun in the summertime.

THE MONKEES: Birth Of An Accidental Hipster

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE RAMONES: I Don't Care

Effective this week, I have now written and published three books, two of them non-fiction, one of them a collection of professional lies (aka fiction). Each of the three books has included at least some element celebrating the Ramones; my first book was 2023's Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones, my 2024 book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) contains chapters about two Ramones tracks (plus one about Amy Rigby's "Dancing With Joey Ramone"), and the Ramones are a recurring reference point within my brand-new fiction project Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies. The spiffy Joey Ramone portrait seen above also appears in Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! The Ramones. It's safe to say I'm a big, big fan. The title of this week's Ramones track notwithstanding, it's plain to see that I do care.

Tomorrow night, June 14th, we're devoting the entirety of the next TIRnRR to music by some of the real-life musical acts mentioned in Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Chuck Berry! The Cynz! Slade! Wonderboy! The Grip Weeds! Aretha Franklin! Dusty Springfield! The Flashcubes! The Kinks! King Elvis the First! And lots, lots more, including the Ramones. Wouldn't be one of my books if it didn't reference the Ramones. This IS rock 'n' roll radio. Stay tuned for more rock 'n' roll. 

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.

My new book of short stories Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies is out now, and you can get autographed copies of the new book and my previous book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) directly from me. You can still get my previous 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.

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. 

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: 10/18/2025

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 # 1306

THE HALF/CUBES FEATURING ROBERT CRENSHAW AND TOM TEELEY: Whenever You're On My Mind

One of the many things on my mind right now is Found Pearls, the straight-up kickass new album from the Half/Cubes. We've been poundin' the well-beaten console on behalf of the album's advance single "I'll Be Taking Her Out Tonight," an irresistible collaboration with Peter Noone to remake a shoulda-been-a-smash first done by his early '80s new wave pop group the Tremblers. 

With the October 17th release of the album, the storied Jem Records label has lifted its radio embargo on the rest of this great, great record, finally freeing us to open this week's little mutant radio show with the lead-off track from Found Pearls: An epic oomphasizing of Marshall Crenshaw's "Whenever You're On My Mind," which the Half/Cubes accomplish with the ample added oomph of assistance from Robert Crenshaw and Tom Teeley.

You can read my gushing hype on behalf of Found Pearls here. And tune in to TIRnRR this coming Sunday night, October 19th, as the Half/Cubes will be our Featured Performers, and two lucky listeners will each win their own copy of Found Pearls. 

That, my assembled comrades, is worth keeping on your mind as well.

THE DRIFTERS: Save The Last Dance For Me

Decades ago, it occurred to me that if there is a Heaven above, its celestial soundscape has gotta be the music of the Drifters. You could make a case that it's Brian Wilson instead, and I'd also argue that it ain't Heaven without the Ramones, Ronnie Spector, and many others.

But the Drifters? For sure. Heaven's vocal group. Save the eternal dance for me.

THE COWSILLS: Is Your Love Alive?

At last! The visionaries at Omnivore Records have given the Cowsills' 1978 Cocaine Drain tapes a proper release, and the result is glorious. We are big, big fans of the Cowsills, but as much as we cherish their hits like "Hair" and "The Rain, The Park And Other Things," it's the stuff they did later on that really nails it for me. The Cowsills' Global is my favorite album of the 1990s, and its track "She Said To Me" earns a chapter in my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). 

Recorded about two decades before the release of Global, the material on Omnivore's The "Cocaine Drain" Album is similarly worthy of acclaim. And comparing it to the lo-fi copy I've had for a bit, this version of The Cocaine Drain is of (very!) noticeably superior sound quality. Reissue of the year? Could be. "Is Your Love Alive?" makes its TIRnRR debut this week. We'll hear another track from The "Cocaine Drain" Album on our next show.

THE ARMOIRES: Full-On Witch Mode

We've been playing tracks from Big Stir Records' magnificent new Halloween extravaganza Chilling, Thrilling Hooks And Haunted Harmonies, treating our listeners to at least one of the album's tricked-out goodies every week. This week's full-size candy offering comes courtesy of the label's de facto house band the Armoires, who conjure their appropriately spellbinding original "Full-On Witch Mode." You can hear a new interview with Big Stir CAOs (Chief Armoires Officers) Christina Bulbenko and Rex Broome (plus Big Stir's resident wizard Michael Simmons) on a new episode of Only Three Lads podcast, AND on a new episode of The Spoon podcast. It's better than bobbing for hand grenades! And our ritual programming of Chilling, Thrilling Hooks And Haunted Harmonies will continue on Sunday night. 

SORROWS: Radio

THE FLASHCUBES: If These Hands

In 1979, "Radio" was the B-side of the Flashcubes' second single "Wait Til Next Week." The A-side has long been a Cubic prerequisite, but "Radio" was kinda shrugged off and ultimately consigned to the group's odds-n-sods dustbin.

For Big Stir's various-artists blockbuster Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes, I recruited classic NYC power pop combo Sorrows to contribute a track, and they selected "Radio" as their designated flash of reflected brilliance. Good choice! The Flashcubes themselves now regard this Sorrows rendition of "Radio" as the definitive version of the song.

I recently heard from Sorrows member Arthur Alexander, expressing his opinion that the three best tracks on Make Something Happen! are the three new cuts by the Flashcubes themselves: "Reminisce" by Paul Armstrong, "The Sweet Spot" by Gary Frenay and B.D. Love, and "If These Hands" by Arty Lenin. Arthur wrote, "There is something quite endearing in the fact that the best tracks on a tribute album belong to the band being paid tribute to!"

Arthur singled out "If These Hands" as his fave among faves. And I'll just add that all of it was made to be played on the radio. Got our transmitter ready to go.

THE YARDBIRDS: Heart Full Of Soul

The Yardbirds' "Heart Full Of Soul" holds a permanent berth on my all-time Hot 100; hell, it's a legit contender for my all-time Top 10. Coincidentally, it's also the song that served as the (perhaps unlikely) tipping point for my initiation as a Flashcubes fan, when the 'Cubes covered "Heart Full Of Soul" at my first Flashcubes show in January of 1978.

THE RAMONES: Babysitter

When Dana and I were guests on Only Three Lads last year, I named "Babysitter" as one of my five favorite Ramones songs. I don't recall ever hearing the song anywhere except when I've played it, whether at home, in my car, or on the radio. I was so pleasantly surprised to hear Palmyra Delran play it last week on her essential Underground Garage radio show.  I always love hearing the Ramones; I really loved hearing this particular Ramones song in the Palmyra Delran-directed wild. PALMYRA DELRAN FOR PRESIDENT!

I wrote about "Babysitter" in a piece about my 25 favorite Ramones tracks: " 'Babysitter' was the B-side of the Ramones' 1978 single "Do You Wanna Dance?" Previously, it had been included on later UK pressings of the 1977 Leave Home album (replacing 'Carbona Not Glue'), but the song was non-LP in America. When I bought the 45 in the spring of '78, hearing 'Babysitter' for the first time prompted me to say, "My GAWD, the Searchers live on!" I for damned sure meant that as a compliment."

(I went into greater detail about "Babysitter" in this piece.

IRENE PEÑA: Must've Been Good

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

DAVID JOHANSEN: Funky But Chic

I think "Funky But Chic" was the first David Johansen solo track I ever heard, a college radio spin on the Brockport campus radio station WBSU in...well, probably 1979. I'm not sure if I heard my first-ever New York Dolls tunes--"Personality Crisis" and "Who Are The Mystery Girls"--shortly before or shortly after being introduced to "Funky But Chic." It was all within the same time frame, though I was definitely already familiar with "Personality Crisis" via its inclusion in the Flashcubes' live sets. In full circle fashion, the Flashcubes were subsequently the opening act at my first David Johansen show a few months after I heard "Funky But Chic" on WBSU.

Given "Funky But Chic" 's status as my rock 'n' roll nurse's gateway pills to solo David Jo, it's weird that this week marks the first time "Funky But Chic" has made it into a TIRnRR playlist. It was on the short list of tracks considered for our combined David Johansen/Joey Molland tribute in March, but it was crowded out by other selections. Hearing Palmyra Delran play it on Underground Garage (in the same show as her above-referenced Ramones spin) finally nudged the song into its rightful place here on The Best Three Hours Of Radio On The Whole Friggin' Planet.

"Personality Crisis" is my favorite Dolls track. "Frenchette" is my go-to solo Johansen pick. But as we go on and on looking for a kiss, one should never forget their first. Funky. But chic. Trés chic, man. Thanks to the ever-chic Palmyra Delran for the reminder.

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: 3/28/2025

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 # 1278

SUPER 8 FEATURING LISA MYCHOLS: When We Close Our Eyes

I'm digging the process of putting together this tribute album celebrating Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse the Flashcubes. Make Something Happen! A Tribute To A DIY Power Pop Band Called THE FLASHCUBES is due in September from the irresistible Big Stir Records label, and we've already previewed a few of its Cubic covers courtesy of sparkle*jets u.k., the Kennedys, the Spongetones, and Pop Co-Op, as well as its opening track "Reminisce" by the Flashcubes themselves. This week's TIRnRR kicks off with the everywhere-wide radio debut of another treat from Make Something Happen!, as the combined rockin' pop forces of Super 8 Featuring Lisa Mychols turn in their own super-yummy take on the Flashcubes' "When We Close Our Eyes." Brilliant!

A brief bit of behind-the-scenes kudos to Super 8's Trip Ryan and his collaborator Lisa: "When We Close Our Eyes" was written by Flashcubes guitarist Arty Lenin, and it may be my favorite from Arty's songbook, rivaled only by "Nothing Really Matters When You're Young" (which the Spongetones have done a superb job of covering for this tribute album). Given my affection for the song, it was important for me to see it included on Make Something Happen! It had been assigned to another artist, but alas, that didn't work out. Trip 'n' Lisa stepped in to save us, and they did so pretty late in the game. YAY, Trip and Lisa! The Cubic legion salutes you!

Next week's show will offer another spin of the great current Super 8 Featuring Lisa Mychols single "Pop Radio," part of a stealth programming move to play a bunch of unrelated tracks by artists who will be represented on Make Something Happen!, mixing them in alongside a number of other acts, both classic and current (from the Beatles, the Ramones and the Rubinoos to Airport 77's, Amy Rigby, and Chris Church), who won't be on the tribute. We like to keep you guessing. We like to keep us guessing. With open eyes, and radio turned UP. 

THE FLASHCUBES: Reminisce

Speaking of that opening track from Make Something Happen!, 'Cubes guitarist Paul Armstrong's "Reminisce" is so far my favorite individual track of 2025, and it's gonna be a tough one to challenge. The song was first written in the '90s and (I think) only performed once before being filed away and mostly forgotten. (I remember it, of course, but I'm, y'know...me.)

If I understand the subsequent story correctly, several months back PA reconstructed the song from memory, moving what had been a somewhat perfunctory number into the magic realm of rock 'n' roll transcendence, toasting the past but raising the roof in the here and now, even adding a Ramones quote that nails a demonstration of the essential truth that what's cool once is cool forever. The present is built upon the past. We can still jump up, down, and all around to its sound. 

And we will!

sparkle*jets u.k.: Make Something Happen

On Make Something Happen!, "Reminisce" will segue into sparkle*jets u.k.'s luscious cover of the album's title tune, which was written by 'Cubes bassist Gary Frenay. It's a song I wanted the Monkees to record for their 2016 triumph Good Times! (and I'd still like to hear a version with a Micky Dolenz lead vocal), and I'm delighted with how wonderful the song sounds now in the always-capable hands of sparkle*jets u.k.

(On our next show, a track from sparkle*jets u.k.'s most recent album Box Of Letters will play its part in our unspoken salute to the performers on Make Something Happen! Box Of Letters was absolutely one of the best albums of 2024, maybe the single best album in a year of a lot of really, really good albums. I'm so grateful they also agreed to take part in the Flashcubes tribute album.)

THE RUBINOOS: Rock 'n' Roll Is Dead

"Rock 'n' roll is dead?" No. It's. NOT! Come on, Rubinoos! You know better than that! Hell, this very song proves its title was, like, ironic or something. 

My Rubinoos fandom is detailed here. What a great, great band, then and now. Just don't believe them when they kid you about the death of rock 'n' roll. Pranksters. Pranksters, the lot of them.

DONNA SUMMER: I Feel Love

The year of 1977--the same year when I first became a fan of the Rubinoos-- also provided me with the first Donna Summer song I ever loved. "I Feel Love" was the second Donna Summer song I heard, but 1975's "Love To Love You Baby" never meant anything to me (its implied 'n' earthy sense of bouncy-bouncy notwithstanding). By contrast, the new wave cool of "I Feel Love" was so monolithic and precise that even my practiced teen anti-disco stance couldn't hope to resist its sway. I feel it. As I wrote in my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1):

"1977 had the potential to be a year of musical revolution. When we say that, most of us are talking about punk, about the Sex Pistols, the Ramones, the Clash. Maybe we're not thinking as much about disco, and maybe that's fair. But if we want to consider the potential of pop music's revolution in '77, our discussions of 'God Save The Queen,' 'Sheena Is A Punk Rocker,' and 'White Riot' had better allow some room on the dancefloor for 'I Feel Love' by Donna Summer.

"In the late '70s, disco and punk were supposed to be at war with each other. As a self-professed punk rocker in that era, I can attest that, yeah, punks didn't like disco, and the bumpin'-n-hustlin' set was appalled by the loud and fast noise my people favored. Hatfields and Capulets, meet McCoys and Montagues. Never mind the fact that the mainstream rock crowd held both punk and disco in nearly equal disdain; this was war!

"Except that it wasn't. I'm skeptical of the notion that many of the Saturday Night Fevered ever took much interest in the Damned or the Dead Boys, but some among the new wave brigade did eventually allow their ears and minds to be a bit more open to non-pogo dance music, to the beat of dat ole debbil disco. Maybe it was just me, but I was a pop fan anyway; my intense dislike of disco music evolved into occasional tolerance, and tolerance evolved into a sporadic realization that some of the records weren't bad. 

"Plus: Donna Summer. Donna Summer was gorgeous. I feel love...."

THE MONKEES: For Pete's Sake

THE MONKEES: You Just May Be The One

Collectively, The Greatest Record Ever Made!

CHUBBY CHECKER: The Twist

I have not been shy in proclaiming that the ongoing failure of The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame to induct the Monkees is that institution's single most egregious omission among a big ol' stack of egregious omissions. #inductthemonkees awready!

Chubby Checker is likely my pick for the Hall's second-biggest snub to date. His 1960 hit "The Twist" is one of the most impactful singles of the rock 'n' roll roll era, and while it's good and proper that Hank Ballard and the Midnighters (who recorded the original version of "The Twist") are in the Hall, it was Chubby Checker's mass hit version that made history, broke barriers, changed the course of mighty rivers, bent steel in its bare hands, et cetera. The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame's wish to punish Chubby Checker for the mortal sin of not being Hank Ballard is--how shall I phrase this delicately?--fucking brain-dead stupid. At long last, Chubby Checker has been nominated FOR THE FIRST TIME [?!], and I pray he finally gets in this year.

(How seismic was Chubby Checker's "The Twist?" It is easily one of the all-time Top Five most impactful 45s, and you could make a case for it in the Top Three. "Heartbreak Hotel" by King Elvis I is # 1, and I don't consider that point subject to debate. Bill Haley and his Comets' "Rock Around The Clock" has to at least be in the discussion, just by virtue of being rock 'n' roll's first # 1 hit. And Beatlemania, of course, with either "She Loves You" in the UK or "I Want To Hold Your Hand" in America. I think those are the four, and I don't even have a ready candidate for a fifth 45. Impact. That's all I'm talking about here. There are records I like even more than I like these, but I can't think of any other picks that could rival their importance and effect upon the rock and pop world.)

JOE GIDDINGS: Tonite Tonite

Stories With Guitars is the excellent current album from Joe Giddings, and we've been playing its magnificent radio-ready track "Tonite Tonite" with all of the dizzyingly manic fervor people expect from obsessive pop fans like Dana and Carl. It's what we do!

We're playing our man Joe again on our next show, but we're giving "Tonite Tonite" the week off. What gift from Giddings are we programming in its stead? Joe Giddings IS one of the fine acts on this Flashcubes tribute album. So! Let's open this coming Sunday night's radio record party with Joe Giddings covering the Flashcubes. Set bright lights to stun. You won't want to miss this.

IRENE PEÑA: Come And Get It

Pop music. If you want it, here it is. You know what to do.

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: 11/15/2024

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 # 1259.

THE BINGS: Hold On

"Hold on?" Good advice, and I'm happy to take it out of context right now.

This week's show was programmed before the election results came in, when our sense of nauseous optimism deluded us into believing there was no way American voters could...well, do exactly what American voters wound up doing. The show was recorded in the aftermath of that awful mourning in America, but nearly all of the original song selections remained in place.

So we hold on, hope for the best, prepare for the worst. We'll play some music to comfort our battered, broken hearts. The Bings were an obscure but fantastic early '80s SoCal pop band, and their great stuff is gathered on a cool collection bearing the appropriate title Power Pop Planet (The Lost Tapes).

The Bings' "Hold On" has nothing to do with our current goal of trying to figure out ways to hold on. We will accept its advice nonetheless.

THE KENNEDYS: Waging Peace

A few days after the election, many from our local community of Syracuse music fans got together at The 443 Social Club & Lounge for an evening of companionship and commiseration. The Kennedys are an internationally-renowned coffeehouse pop duo, and while they're not headquartered in Syracuse, we regard them as a native daughter and native son. Maura Kennedy actually is from the 315 originally, a North Syracuse girl who came of age in the Syracuse music scene, but we likewise embrace Northern Virginia boy Pete Kennedy fully and wholeheartedly as one of us. No matter where the Kennedys go, they belong. When they're in Syracuse, though, we like to think that the Kennedys are home.

My God, we all needed this night of music. The Kennedys played and sang their songs of hope and harmony, of love and justice, of better days to keep us safe until tomorrow. Music can help us heal. And maybe it can help us wage some peace in these embattled times.

SLYBOOTS: If We Could Let Go

I'm trying. Honest, I'm trying.

Like the Bings' "Hold On," the title of Slyboots' luscious current single "If We Could Let Go" is only coincidentally related to my emotional miasma. Such a good track in any context, and "If We Could Let Go" returns to the TIRnRR airwaves on our next show.

LIBRARIANS WITH HICKEYS: Brand New Boyfriend

The new Librarians With Hickeys album How To Make Friends By Telephone is one of several 2024 releases from the esteemed Big Stir Records label that I would consider among this year's very best. This has been a great, great year for new rockin' pop music. The dichotomy between this lousy year and its invigorating soundtrack is off-putting. I wish 2024 could have been as good as the music it produced.

THE SMITHEREENS: Face The World With Pride

Face the world with PRIDE! We...tried that. Didn't seem to help. But the effort will continue.

THE DICKIES: Banana Splits

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE BANDWAGON: People Got To Be Free

This cover of the Rascals' "People Got To Be Free," recorded by underrated '60s/'70s soul group the Bandwagon (aka Johnny Johnson and the Bandwagon), is even better than the original, and that (to quote the Velvelettes) is really sayin' somethin'. The Bandwagon should have been huge.

ELVIS COSTELLO AND THE ATTRACTIONS: (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding?

Other than the show-concluding Irene Peña track listed below, Elvis Costello and the Attractions' "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding" is the only selection we added to the playlist after learning that the country had chosen pain and hatred and misery over peace, love, and understanding. 

I fail to see anything funny in that.

WONDERBOY: Girl Songs

A championing of giddy delight can be among our most effective coping mechanisms. Comfort foods. A hand held. A popcorn flick. An escapist paperback novel. Trash TV.

Girl songs.

Robbie Rist understands that appeal and delivers on it. Robbie wrote "Girl Songs" back in the '90s, recorded it with his ace then-combo Wonderboy, and it's buoyed many a TIRnRR  playlist since we belatedly discovered the damned thing earlier this year. Giddy delight means a lot to me.

IRENE PEÑA: I Won't Back Down

We won't back down. Not now. Not ever. It's our country, too.

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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.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.