10 SONGS: 12/20/2025

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 # 1315

SAM AND DAVE: Soul Man

The passing of Stax Records legend Steve Cropper compelled us to attempt a modest tribute to Cropper's legacy, and the show itself opened with Cropper's immortal guitar work on Sam and Dave's classic "Soul Man." Play it, Steve.

From the "Soul Man" chapter in my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1):

"It ain't braggin' if you can do it.

"Like many others among my generation of pop fans, my introduction to the music of Sam and Dave was ass-backwards. I have no recollection whatsoever of Sam and Dave's music from when I was a kid in the '60s, nor did I develop any awareness of them as an oldies-obsessed adolescent and teen in the '70s. I'm embarrassed to admit that I first heard the song 'Soul Man' via Saturday Night Live, when John Belushi and Dan Akroyd performed it on the show in their incarnation as Jake and Elwood, the Blues Brothers.

"I didn't care much about the Blues Brothers on SNL, but the Blues Brothers' subsequent recorded version sizzled, thanks largely to the irresistible guitar work of Stax Records legend Steve Cropper. Cropper and bassist Duck Dunn had also played on the original Sam and Dave recording of 'Soul Man,' and Jake and Elwood's faux soul revival eventually led me to the real deal. Gotta give Belushi and Akroyd some respect for knowing who to hang with. But once I did hear Sam and Dave's 'Soul Man' and 'Hold On, I'm Coming,' I would have neither time nor inclination to ever listen to the Blues Brothers again.

"The song itself is an extended boast. But it's a boast backed up by its collective prowess. Responding to Sam and Dave's command Play it, Steve!, Cropper's guitar work cuts and advances like an agile offensive line, its easygoing sway belying the force and efficiency of its piledriving advance. The Memphis Horns add bounce to spare. Resistance is futile...."

THE LITTLE GIRLS: How To Pick Up Girls

It has been a very, very long time since we've played anything by the Little Girls, a fab 1980s SoCal pop combo fronted by sisters Caron Maso and Michele Maso. Their track "Earthquake Song" scored at least one TIRnRR spin some time back in the way back; a recent message from Caron prompted me to snap up a digital copy of their Thank Heaven For Valley Pop compilation, with an eye and ear toward renewed Little Girls airplay. I was immediately struck by the snarky pop perfection of "How To Pick Up Girls," and PRESTO! The Little Girls have at long last returned to This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio. Betcha we'll be hearing 'em again as we pick up 2026. Thank heaven!

JIM BASNIGHT: Get It Out

This week's TIRnRR was our last regular show of 2025, as the rest of December is taken up by The 27th Annual THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO Christmas Show this coming Sunday and then the year-end Countdown show on December 28th. The Christmas show has already been recorded, and we submitted an advance copy of that playlist to our stats man Fritz Van Leaven. He, in turn, has provided us with the rankings of our 50 most-played tracks this year.

This week's show included 13 of the tracks that will be in our Top 50 Countdown. Jim Basnight's "Get It Out" happens to be one of 'em. I have seen the Countdown and it is good!

OTIS REDDING: (Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay

Also in tribute to the song's producer and co-author Steve Cropper, and also from The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1):

 "Far from home, with nothing to do. Nothing worth doing, anyway.

"But who can say what might have been?

"Soul singer Otis Redding's only crossover pop hit was '(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay,' an incredible mix of pride and resignation, a swagger reduced to a shrug. It was a posthumous # 1, ascending the charts after Redding perished in a plane crash in 1967. 

"But there was more to the story. There was much, much more to that story.

"Redding was a huge, huge star on the R & B charts. Rock promoter Bill Graham referred to Redding as "the black Elvis," an electrifying showman with a nigh-unique potential to unite black and white audiences under one big soulful pop rock 'n' roll tent. He wasn't a crossover artist, not in the same sense as the Motown acts selling 45s by the truckload to young America. Redding was the single greatest voice of Stax/Volt Records, a Memphis label that was pure soul. Crossover? Let the white kids cross over to us, man. If anyone could achieve that specific level of destiny in the '60s, it was gonna be Otis Redding.

"Except that it wasn't...."

WILSON PICKETT: In The Midnight Hour

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

PERILOUS: Can't Stand The Holidaze

JAMIE HOOVER: Surfin' With Santa

THE KRAYOLAS: Maria Believes In Christmas Again

OTIS REDDING: Merry Christmas Baby

As each December comes rollin' around, we're reluctant to start programming much (if any) Christmas music, generally preferring to save the Yuletunes for the Christmas show itself. We did include "Carol Of The Guitars" by the Spongetones in the post-tag spot at the very end of last week's show. Otherwise? Deck your own halls if you wish. We weren't ready yet.

Knowing how difficult it is to squeeze all the seasonal sides we wanna play into the always-crowded playlist for the actual Christmas show, I wanted to mix some of our new 2025 holiday-centric acquisitions into this week's pre-Christmas show extravaganza. Our pals Perilous bring us the gift of cantankerousness with their new single "Can't Stand The Holidaze," Spongetones guitarist Jamie Hoover (working with TIRnRR stalwart Rich Rossi) bails entirely on the silly concept of winter wonderland with his new single "Surfin' With Santa," and the Krayolas fire up replenished faith in something brighter with "Maria Believes In Chjristmas Again." All great, all well worthy of airplay, and the Krayolas' track has the potential to be an evergreen on future This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio Christmas shows. (We weren't able to find room this week for a track from Blaine Campbell and the California Sound's Holidays EP, but one will appear in the Christmas show.)

Dovetailing our Steve Cropper feature with our late-December concession that Christmas is indeed coming, we also played Otis Redding's version of "Merry Christmas Baby." The song was first recorded in 1947 by Johnny Moore's Three Blazers--someone send a thank-you eggnog to Wikipedia!--and my first recollection of the tune was when the 1987 various-artists Special Olympics benefit album A Very Special Christmas included a live rendition performed by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. The Boss provided me with a fine introduction to the song; it's also been recorded by Ike and Tina Turner, King Elvis I, Chuck Berry, the Monkees, and a sleigh-full of other artists.

Otis Redding's version is definitive.

BOOKER T AND THE MG'S: Jingle Bells

As we get ready for The 27th Annual THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO Christmas Show, our celebrative dash through the snow is once again accompanied by the guitar sound of Steve Cropper. Godspeed to the axe of Stax.  

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: 8/17/2024

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 # 1246.

JAMIE HOOVER: War Of The Roses

Jamie Hoover's new single "War Of The Roses" presents a tale of uncivil war, the aftermath of a D-I-V-O-R-C-E that can not be called amicable. Hearts will be broken tonight, as will some joint bank accounts, and maybe some dishes while they're at it. C'mon, Roses! Can't we all just get along?

The story is told with the accomplished pop panache we expect from Jamie Hoover. Oooo, and the song was co-written by long-time TIRnRR pal Rich Rossi, with backing vocals from TIRnRR Fave Rave Elena Rogers. That's a This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio trifecta, and we'll say that on the air this coming Sunday night when "War Of The Roses" returns to the playlist. (And an open memo to the estranged Mr. and [ex-] Ms. Rose: Curb your lawyers. Lay down your arms. War is over. If you want it.)

CIRCE LINK AND CHRISTIAN NESMITH: The Magician

The dynamic duo of Circe Link and Christian Nesmith are so, so adept at the art of popcraft. Everything they do sounds sublime, and their powers and abilities cross genres with authority. Pop music? Classic rock? Folk? Circe and Christian can do it all, and all of it will sound amazing.

That statement applies equally to their ventures into the realm of progressive rock. I'm not a prog guy by any stretch, but man, I love what Circe Link and Christian Nesmith are able to execute while cavortin' in that vast and inventive playground. In the past, they've demonstrated their prog love and chops with well-chosen covers, and with their original prog album Cosmologica in 2021. Their new album Arcana continues and expands that vision.

Prog as pop. The music of Yes was certainly a part of my Top 40 AM radio world in the early '70s, and a chapter discussing my love-hate relationship with Pink Floyd appears in my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). Even with my short attention span and my enthusiastic embrace of punk, I still recall and recognize prog's appeal, especially when a progressive rock track employs hooks and palpable melody, the irresistible qualities that make the very best rockin' pop music. 

Arcana has those qualities in quantity. The songs sound like they could have comprised a hypothetical second LP of Fragile, but with Circe Link replacing Jon Anderson at the microphone. The result is endlessly captivating, almost as if Yes had formed a supersupergroup with Annie Haslam and Renaissance. And this week, we break format just a little bit to program the exquisite eleven-plus-minute Arcana track "The Magician."

Magic. 

Even this unrepentant punk can't resist that. 

sparkle*jets u.k.: Little Circles

This week's episode of the Material Issues podcast found hosts Mark Hershberger and David Bash welcoming Michael Simmons, Susan West, and Jamie Knight from the mighty sparkle*jets u.k. As always with Material Issues, a splendid time was forcefully mandated for all. (That guarantee may not apply next week, when I'll be the guest on Material Issues, hawking the above-mentioned Greatest Record Ever Made! book. I'm hoping there will be at least a few fleeting moments of interest to you, the discerning rockin' pop fan.)

sparkle*jets u.k.'s recent release Box Of Letters is most definitely one of this year's very best albums, and you hear all about it on this week's Material Issues. We've certainly been programming Box Of Letters with manic glee on our little mutant radio record party. The album's title tune is likely to score a berth on the year-end countdown show of our most-played tracks in 2024. With this week's spin of "Little Circles," we have now played seven of the twelve selections included on Box Of Letters. We'll add an eighth from Box Of Letters on Sunday. 

After that: Four more to go! Plus, y'know, additional play for the title ditty. It's a hit!

We play the hits.

THE MONKEES: Love Is Only Sleeping

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE LINDA LINDAS: Too Many Things

JOSIE COTTON: Sheena Is A Punk Rocker

A couple of weeks ago, Dana and I recorded an upcoming appearance on Only Three Lads, the fab weekly podcast devoted to classic alternative rock of the '70s, '80s, and '90s. During the course of our conversation with O3L hosts Brett Vargo and Uncle Gregg, we mentioned Josie Cotton's cover of the Ramones' "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker," from Cotton's recorded-in-the-'80s/released-in-friggin'-2019..?! gem Everything Is Oh Yeah. And Dana commented that he'd love to see our Josie team up with young punks the Linda Lindas for more Ramones-inspired Rock 'n' Roll High School razzmatazz.

GREAT idea!

And we used that idea to program a two-fer spin of an advance track from the Linda Lindas' forthcoming album No Obligation into Ms. Cotton's rendition of the Ramones' nonpareil statement of New York City really having it all. Oh yeah, oh yeah...EVERYTHING'S oh yeah! 

THE GLADIOLAS: Little Darlin'

While on O3L, we also talked briefly about the Gladiolas' forgotten original of "Little Darlin'," a song subsequently whitewashed to chart success by the neither R nor B likes of the Diamonds.

At the time we recorded the podcast, I didn't realize that "Little Darlin'" had been written by Maurice Williams, who was a member of the Gladiolas and who later achieved chart-topping success with Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs and the # 1 smash "Stay."

As we were working on this week's radio show, the news broke that Maurice Williams had passed. The playlist had already been set, but it was an easy feat to slip the classic "Stay" in at show's end, and not too late to alter our eighth set so it could open with the Gladiolas' "Little Darlin'." These are some of the giants upon whose shoulders we stand. 

Tribute must be paid.

THE RAMONES: She's The One

Writing in Bomp! magazine in '78 or '79, Greg Shaw referred to "She's The One"--a track from the Ramones' then-new album Road To Ruin--as the group's "best fast song ever."

And lemme tell ya: The Ramones did more than just a few fast songs.

In the Gladiolas section above, we invoke the importance of paying tribute. Well, every single TIRnRR playlist is part of an ongoing tribute to the Ramones--the American Beatles, the greatest American rock 'n' roll band of all time--and that tribute is true even on those rare weeks when we don't play any Ramones songs. It's true even on the annual celebrations of Dana's Funky Soul Pit. And that's not just because our show is named after a line in a Ramones song; it's because we wouldn't be doing any of this if not for the Ramones. More than any act outside of the Beatles themselves, the Ramones are our template for what rock 'n' roll radio can be. 

So we offer tribute. Easy as 1-2-3-4! Yeah yeah it's the one, it's the one, it's the one.

ELENA ROGERS: Alone (Again)

We opened the show with a track featuring Elena Rogers on backing vocals. And we opened the week's final set with Elena herself on lead, from her wonderful current album Prelude To Whatever. 

Gotta pay tribute to the new stuff, too.

MAURICE WILLIAMS AND THE ZODIACS: Stay

Just a little bit longer. Tribute is proper. Godspeed, Maurice Williams.

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; you can see details here. My 2023 book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones is also still available, courtesy of the good folks at Rare Bird Books. 

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: 7/8/2023

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 # 1188. This show is available as a podcast.

THE MIDNIGHT CALLERS: What Goes Around

We've been poundin' pretty good with "Baby Let Me Be," the advance single from the Midnight Callers' fantabulous new album Rattled Humming Heart. The album itself is finally out now, and it seemed high time to play one of its other fantabulous tracks. We opted for "What Goes Around," but we had a lot of superstellar choices at our disposal. We're switching back to the single on our next show, but expect more from Rattled Humming Heart as these weekly radio bopathons continue. Saturation airplay suits the Midnight Callers just fine.

GLADYS KNIGHT AND THE PIPS: Midnight Train To Georgia

"Midnight Train To Georgia" dominated my beloved AM radio stations in 1973, but I wasn't initially much of a fan of the song. Don't know why this was so, but the track didn't clickety-clack in place for me until I saw Gladys Knight and the Pips perform it on some TV show. I have no idea what show it was, and I can't even swear whether Gladys and her Pips were actually singing or just lip-syncing, but whatever: the performance fascinated me. And it wasn't the visual of the Pips' dance moves that got to me; it was the singing. Gladys Knight. And the Pips. I didn't notice how great they sounded until I listened to 'em on TV. I've adored this song ever since that night.

I recently got the chance to witness Gladys Knight sing live. My God, she's magnificent. My slight disappointment that the concert ended with an abbreviated version of my favorite Gladys Knight song--omitting the entire verse about He kept dreaming that some day he'd be a star--didn't matter. I'd still heard her sing that song, and so many others, in live performance, and I'd heard her deliver them with absolute mastery. If you have a chance to see Gladys Knight, man, you need to get on board.

I know you will.

THE FLASHCUBES: Nothing To Do

Of course we've heard Pop Masters, the forthcoming new rockin' pop covers album from Syracuse's own power pop powerhouses the Flashcubes. We've had the digital files for months, I wrote part of the liner notes, and we've been carpet bombing the playlist with Pop Masters, because why even have a playlist if you can't carpet bomb it with the Flashcubes?  

That's all well and good. But I can't wait for the razzafrazzin' thing to be released. I wanna hold the CD package in my indifferently-manicured hands, and I wanna revel in the physical manifestation of a new record by one of my all-time favorite groups. The Beatles, the Ramones, and the Flashcubes. That's my Trinity.

There's another new digital single from Pop Masters due out soon (and up for preorder now), with the album itself slated for August release. We've been playing that track, an ace cover of the Motors' "Forget About You," and we're set to pound it into your cranium again in the coming weeks. For this week's show, since Dana closed our first set with  "The Mona Lisa's Packing, She's Leaving Tonight" from the new Sparks album The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte, we opened our second set with the 'Cubes' Pop Masters take on Sparks' "Nothing To Do." Nothing to do? Everything to do! And we do it all for you, our loyal listeners. Radio's job is to sell records. We've done our part. Now you do yours.

(Beginning with the 2021 release of the Flashcubes' first Big Stir Records single [and eventual Pop Masters track] "Baby It's Cold Outside," TIRnRR has played eleven out of the twelve tracks on Pop Masters. We've been holding the remaining one in reserve, and we'll get to it very soon.)

JOHNNY JOHNSON AND THE BANDWAGON: You

Whether they're billed as the Bandwagon, Johnny Johnson and the Bandwagon, or their come-on-now! over-specification as Johnny Johnson and HIS Bandwagon, we love playing stuff from this magnificent, underrated soul combo. "Breakin' Down The Walls Of Heartbreak" (by the Bandwagon) is a stone classic, "(Blame It) On The Pony Express" (by Johnny Johnson and his Bandwagon) is the epitome of 1970 bubblesoul, and the group (by whatever name) absolutely nailed a bunch of distinct and delightful covers of everyone from Bob Dylan to the Monkees to the Four Seasons to the Rascals to the Hollies and more. More pop fans need to jump on this particular Bandwagon.

Our latest recruit is none other than intrepid listener and Radio Deer Camp host Rich Firestone, who responded to this week's spin of the Bandwagon's "You" by saying, Okay, you finally broke me with that last song...I finally bought that Johnny Johnson CD!

Radio at work, my friends. Radio at work.

sparkle*jets u.k.: Mahnsanto

The new sparkle*jets u.k. album Best Of Friends has been a big hit here on The Best Three Hours Of Radio On The Whole Friggin' Planet. It's a stunning tribute to the indie pop scene that thrived as the 20th century ceded space to the 21st, the scene that brought us sparkle*jets u.k. in the first place. Best Of Friends is loaded with superfine covers of everyone from Big Hello to the Shazam, Linus of Hollywood to the Masticators, Cockeyed Ghost to Walter Clevenger and the Dairy Kings.

I'm not familiar with the Negro Problem's original version of "Mahnsanto;" I know a little bit of TNP's work, but my lack of awareness of the bulk of their well-regarded catalog is a gap in my pop consciousness, and I need to remedy that. The TIRnRR archives say we've played the Negro Problem's "Submarine Down," "Monica Oyster," "She's Flying Naked Through The Air," "The Magic Touch," and "Sabrina Drill" at some points in our storied past, as well as TNP leader Stew's "North Bronx French Marie." But it's been a while, and we should probably oughtta do something about that. Hell, Cockeyed Ghost's early TIRnRR Fave Rave "About Jill" was about TNP accordionist Jill Meschke Blair, so Stew and company are certainly part of this radio show's DNA. Even if we don't know them all that well.

"Mahnsanto" is tabula rasa for me, but sparkle*jets u.k.'s rendition is instantly catchy, and a loop of the band's Susan West rapping To Disneyland in winter, to Disneyland in winter has been blasting non-stop in my pop-obsessed noggin all week. We'll hear a different Best Of Friends track on our next show, as sparkle*jets u.k. cover a song familiar to long-time listeners from its appearance on This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 1.

PARALLAX PROJECT: Put It Out

The next time someone tries to tell you that there's no good music being made anymore, you are within your God-given rights to call that ninny a freakin' ninny. Each and every week, Dana and I sort through stacks of new stuff, some of it negligible, but some of it fantastic. We are determined to mix new, old, and in-between in every show. It's an ongoing challenge to play some reasonable representation of all the fine tracks we want to play.

That situation also results in a lot of things we like getting played once on the show, and then never played again. I keep a list of TIRnRR airplay possibilities, and I refer to that list each week when Dana and I are assembling the new playlist. A quick scan of that reference list shows tracks by the Crushing Violets, Earth Quake, Rose Guerin, Dave Cope and the Sass, Barry Holdship, Popular Creeps, Carol Martini, Råttanson, Brad Marino, Janne Borg, the Gypsy Moths, the Weeklings, the Summertimes, Rooftop Screamers, and more, each one awaiting its return to the TIRnRR playlist, each one in the potential mix for this week's show, and each unable to secure a slot in this week's program, nor in our July 9th show. They remain on the list, and the list carries on. There's always another show to build, next week.

That big ol' roundabout above finally brings us to "Put It Out" from the new Parallax Project album Autologous. It's a nice, radio-ready offering that merits repeat play. But it elbowed aside another Kool Kat Musik release by the Parlophonics to get into this week's show, and the Parlophonics in turn squeeze past Parallax Project to score a berth on our next show.

Parallax Project will return. They're on the list. The list abides.

THE RUBINOOS: I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

JAMIE HOOVER: Bourbon Understands

"Bourbon Understands" is the brand new single from the mighty Jamie Hoover, a countryesque number that Jamie co-wrote with TIRnRR's longtime pal Richard Rossi. We'll drink to that.

THE SUPREMES: Where Did Our Love Go?

Timing is everything. We've seen that demonstrated again and again since we began prerecording our shows more than three years ago. There was the time we closed a show with a spin of Ray Charles' "Hit The Road, Jack," which wound up airing the week that malevolent putz Putin invaded Ukraine. There have been several occasions when a beloved performer passed in between a show's recording and airing, and a work by that performer just happened to be on the playlist that week. There's no relevant intent, because we didn't know what context the world would provide after we'd already prepped our little mutant radio show; we just wanted to play the damned song.

This week, I felt like playing something by the Supremes. No real reason, just whim. A check of the database revealed that we'd never played "Where Did Our Love Go?," so that became my pick. Move on to the next song.

Cruel context arrived on June 30th, the Friday before the show. It happened to be the day after my wife and I stopped for a drink at Stonewall in Greenwich Village. I wrote about our NYC trip here, but this short passage bears a repeat in this spot:

"Stonewall is a bar in Greenwich Village, recognized as the place where Pride began. It's not the same bar that stood in 1969, when a riot became the flashpoint for recognition of gay rights. The Stonewall of today remains in that spot as a monument to the importance of what happened there. By coincidence, our visit to Stonewall was one day after the 54th anniversary of the riots, and one day before six reactionary justices on the U.S. Supreme Court effectively ruled that religious-based discrimination against the LGBTQ community is, in the Court's view, just fine and dandy. That is, in MY view, a big ol' pile of piggy poop. Love is love is love. The fight goes on."

Where did our love go? Love is love is love. Timing is everything...and nothing. We'll apply deliberate intent to open our next show.

MAURICE WILLIAMS AND THE ZODIACS: Stay

Just a little bit longer?

But no, this week's show has run its rockin' pop course. Hope you can join us again next time.

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.

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, and on the web at http://sparksyracuse.org/ You can read about our history here.

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl

10 SONGS: 7/28/2022

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 # 1139.

JAMIE HOOVER [with MICHAEL RUIZ and ELENA ROGERS]: Kim Kardashian

I am not putting a picture of K** K********* on my blog. No way. No how.

But we will play this new song about she-who-will-not-be-named (or at least she who's not named beyond noting this track's title). I mean, ya can't go wrong playing Jamie Hoover, Jamie can't go wrong enlisting assistance from Michael Ruiz and Elena Rogers, and we all do right by supporting Pop Aid, the 3-CD Ukraine benefit compilation where you'll find this track. I betcha even K** K********* herself would approve. Hell, I don't know her; maybe she's swell at heart, and has been judged unfairly by pop culture at large. It's possible that K** really isn't as bad as her empty, famous-for-being-famous image implies.

Still not putting a picture of her on my blog, though.

HONEY CONE: One Monkey Don't Stop No Show (Part 1)

From a previous 10 Songs entry about Honey Cone's biggest hit "Want Ads:" 

"Bubblesoul. Honey Cone's 1971 # 1 smash 'Want Ads' is one of the definitive examples of that late '60s/early '70s hybrid of pure, bouncy AM radio sugar performed by black artists. Think early Jackson Five and Freda Payne's 'Band Of Gold,' or the shoulda-been-hit-singles by Josie and the Pussycats (with the incredible Patrice Holloway on lead vocals) as reference points. 'Bubblesoul.' Nothing else describes it better, except maybe YEAH!"

The visceral appeal of "Want Ads"--WANTED! YOUNG MAN, SINGLE AND FREE!--is undeniable; if Plato had returned in the 1970s to apply his concept of forms to my concept of bubblesoul, he'da proclaimed "Want Ads" as form-ready bubblesoul. That Plato--he was something. 

For all that, though, I may still prefer Honey Cone's # 15 hit "One Monkey Don't Stop No Show," also from 1971. When Honey Cone's lead singer Edna Wright died in 2020, I wrote this about the latter song:

"I don't know if pundits consider bubblesoul to be a proper sub-genre. Unlike power pop, I do think bubblesoul is tied to a specific timeframe: late '60s/early '70s, AM radio music, performed (mostly) by black artists but with an unabashed ambition for crossover success...

"...Honey Cone's lead singer Edna Wright passed away recently. We played the group's biggest hit 'Want Ads' not long ago, and we chose to pay tribute to Wright this week with a spin of the lesser hit 'One Monkey Don't Stop No Show,' an effervescent number with both bubble and soul to spare."

The show must go on! And I still owe myself a deeper dive into the Honey Cone catalog.

HAYLEY MARY: Like A Woman Should

As I've mentioned here a time or several (hundred), many of my playlist selections are inspired by whatever random tracks my iPod shuffles through during my daily commutes. Music in the car, man; you can't beat music in the car. Hayley Mary's absolutely awesome 2020 single "Like A Woman Should" was first suggested to us by intrepid TIRnRR listener Dave Murray late last year, and I believe it made its way to our show just once, on 11/14/2021. Even though I adored the track on first spin, the combined distractions of time, choice, and short attention span prevented its return to the ol' playlist until now.

I know I drone on at length about my long-threatened book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). I'd apologize for that...but I'm not gonna. One should not regret enthusiasm, and GREM! is built almost entirely from my own giddy enthusiasm for rockin' pop music. My enthusiasm for Hayley Mary's "Like A Woman Should" was sufficient to make me consider adding a chapter about the song in my book. That would have made it the most recent track discussed there; Eytan Mirsky's 2012 "This Year's Gonna Be Our Year" and First Aid Kit's 2014 "America" are otherwise the newest things included. 

Even though I elected not to include Hayley Mary in the GREM! book, by God, it certainly qualifies. An infinite number of tracks can each be THE greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Give Hayley Mary one of those infinite turns. Credit Dave Murray for bringing this wonderful record to our attention. And thank my iPod for getting it back on the TIRnRR playlist, where it also belongs. Thanks, iPod. Another job well done.

NICK FRATER: Stuck In My Ways

PREVIOUSLY ON THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO WITH DANA & CARL: On last week's pulse-poundin' episode, we debuted "The Love Songs Of Simon Love," the non-album virtual B-side from the new Nick Frater single "Dancing With A Gertrude." Our promise to follow that with more new Nick Frater music on this week's show may have led you to believe we were finally going to play "Dancing With A Gertrude." Reasonable expectation, right? 

But NO! Plot twist! With Nick's new album Aerodrome Motel now available for preorder from our friends at Big Stir Records, we circled around dear Gertrude and went straight for an album track instead. We did this because...look, I have no idea why we do anything. We're just here to play records. "Stuck In My Ways" sounds like a single, too, so it was a natural fit for whatever the hell it is we do on TIRnRR. 

With that said, we're not necessarily all that stuck in our ways. Worry not, Gertrude; you're on our dance card for next week. And we hear you cut a really mean rug. Stay tuned.

DOLENZ, JONES, BOYCE & HART: It Always Hurts The Most In The Morning

To fans of the Monkees, the folks at London's 7a Records label are the good guys, heroes rescuing lost, forgotten, out-of-print, and otherwise unavailable solo projects by Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, Peter Tork, and Michael Nesmith. 7a was also the home to Dolenz's fabulous 2021 album Dolenz Sings Nesmith (and its 2022 EP sequel). MonkeeMen, AWAY!

And now, 7a has given us this new 2-CD set Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart, preserving the entire officially-released works of the mid-'70s partnership of Micky and Davy with Monkees songwriters and producers Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, combining the guys who sang 'em and the guys who wrote 'em. The 7a package includes the group's eponymous 1976 album and the subsequent live document Concert In Japan. The latter serves up on-stage performances of various Monkees classics, Boyce and Hart's own hit "I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight," and a medley of Boyce and/or Hart songs that were hits for other artists.

The Concert In Japan disc also gives us live renditions of four songs from the DJB&H studio album. And honestly, the studio album is the main reason I bought this package. It's not that the album itself is the equal of the Monkees' best material--it is not--but it's an essential almost, the closest thing to a Monkees reunion album after the group's 1970 farewell Changes (which was just Micky and Davy by then) and until 1987's Micky-Davy-Peter effort Pool It! The 1996 all-four-Monkees album Justus included the Monkees' remake of the DJB&H track "You And I." Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart ain't exactly Headquarters or Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd., but it has its moments, and I'm delighted that it's available again.

I have my original copies of both DJB&H LPs, but I'm generally more likely to play the studio stuff. Having it all on CD makes it easier to program into TIRnRR playlists. We've played the album's single "I Remember The Feeling" a time or three in the past, and we've played the "Steppin' Stone"-inspired LP cut "You Didn't Feel That Way Last Night (Don't You Remember)" more than a few times. This week, armed with my copy of 7a's new double-disc edition of Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart, we played "It Always Hurts The Most In The Morning." And what the hell, we'll get to one of the live tracks next week. We appreciate the efforts of our heroes. To the good guys at 7a: we Monkees fans thank you for your service.

THE VILLAS: Someone To Hold On To

Aw, this is such a nice little pop song. We've been playing Allentown, PA's phenomenal pop combo the Villas since their debut album Secrets in 2000, with a particular emphasis on its irresistible track "Pull You Back." Along the way, I became especially taken with "Someone To Hold On To," this as-yet-unreleased gem produced by the legendary Ed Stasium and featuring alternating lead vocals from Bill and Angie Villa. Goosebumps! When it was time to start slappin' together our own forthcoming Kool Kat Musik compilation CD This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5, the Villas' "Someone To Hold On To" was an automatic selection. Bringing this fine song to retail is our public service. Hold on to it.

THE FLASHCUBES: Christi Girl [live at the Firebarn, May 26 1979]

This week's playlist commentary detailed my history with the Flashcubes' first single "Christi Girl" in 1978, and pounded the console on behalf of this great new Big Stir single of "Christi Girl," recorded live at my favorite Syracuse nightclub in 1979. Today's "Christi Girl" entry in 10 Songs serves as another urgent reminder to buy the damned single awready. If you never had the honor of witnessing the Flashcubes perform, this single (and the Flashcubes On Fire album from which it's taken) offer you a next-best chance to compensate. And if you were there, this is a souvenir you should not resist.

OFF BROADWAY USA: Stay In Time

As the pop world mourns the loss of Off Broadway USA singer Cliff Johnson, I recall that I came to his group's wonderful body of work well after the fact. Off Broadway's debut album On was released in 1979, but I don't think I had even heard of them prior to the early '90s. If memory serves (as it occasionally does), I first heard of the group via a Goldmine reader named Anthony Gliozzo, who enjoyed my 1993 GM piece about the Flamin' Groovies and attendant interview with the Groovies' Cyril Jordan. Anthony got in touch with me, and we talked about pop music. His enthusiastic recommendation of Off Broadway provided my first conscious awareness of the group.

That same year, Off Broadway's "Stay In Time" was included on Shake It Up!, the second of two American power pop compilations in Rhino Records' superswell DIY series; its companion volume Come Out And Play provided the Flashcubes' first-ever appearance on CD. A spin of "Stay In Time" confirmed that Mr. Gliozzo was justified in his praise of Off Broadway USA, and I dutifully tracked down On and its 1980 follow-up Quick Turns.

Before forming Off Broadway, Cliff Johnson had been a member of the mighty Pezband, though he left that group before their 1977 debut album; Pezband bassist Mike Gorman joined Off Broadway in time for Quick Turns, and Pezband's frontman Mimi Betinis pitched in for 1997's Fallin' In, Off Broadway's third and final studio album.

Fallin' In is a very good album, and we'll hear one of its tracks on next week's show. But this week, as we remember the life and work of Cliff Johnson, we play Off Broadway's signature tune from '79, the hit that almost was, peaking at # 51 on the Hot 100. Shoulda been Top Ten. Stay in time, boy, don't get out of line, boy. Rest in peace, Cliff. Now and forever: it's On.

LITTLE RICHARD: The Girl Can't Help It

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE MONKEES: Birth Of An Accidental Hipster

This week's show was already programmed and prerecorded well before the news broke that director and producer Bob Rafelson had passed. Beyond Rafelson's accomplishment in the world of film, he really looms largest in TIRnRR's legend as the co-creator (with Bert Schneider) of The Monkees.

Some may consider The Monkees a footnote in Rafelson's long and celebrated career, a novelty worthy of passing note in charting his path to direct, write, and/or produce Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, and The Last Picture Show, among others. But the Monkees--the TV show, the band, the brand, all of it--impacted me to a degree that far exceeds my ability to measure it. Like my friend Rich Firestone says, the Monkees have been good to me. And the Monkees wouldn't have happened if the Raybert duo of Rafelson and Schneider didn't create them.

We play the Monkees pretty often on TIRnRR. They're one of our all-time most-played acts, and the stack of TIRnRR playlists that include at least one Monkees track is way, way taller than the stack of Monkees-free TIRnRR playlists. 

I dig the unintended Oh, but of course...! that the Monkees track we played the night after Bob Rafelson died was "Birth Of An Accidental Hipster." Not that there was anything accidental (nor remotely--ugh--hipster) about Rafelson himself; he seemed to always know what he was doing, or if he didn't know, he could figure out what to do next. But I do believe the Monkees' prevailing relevance, decades after the fact, surpassed Bert and Bob's expectations. From the Monkees' triumphant 2016 album Good Times!, "Birth Of An Accidental Hipster" had nothing whatsoever to do with Raybert. But it was nonetheless part of the end result of the maverick creative fire they sparked so many years ago. High on a roof top, singing a song, choirs of angels all sing along. Accidents will happen. Brilliance is deliberate. And here it comes, walkin' down the street. Godspeed, Raybert.

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