10 SONGS: 5/22/2026

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 # 1337

THE LEMON TWIGS: 2 Or 3

We are big fans of rockin' pop music, and we are delighted when the music we love is able to connect with a larger audience. The Lemon Twigs have garnered some buzz within our power pop world, and while they may not secure a TODAY'S HITS! radio berth alongside Taylor Swift and Sabrina Carpenter, we hope they do. Hell, we hope they record a track with Taylor and/or Sabrina. It's pop music. It's supposed to be popular.

Our own little mutant radio program has not given the Lemon Twigs a ton of airplay; believe it or not, I think we may have played Taylor Swift more often than we've played the Lemon Twigs, though that would be just a function of our short attention span (and my determination to demonstrate that some of Swift's stuff can fit in just swell alongside the Ramones, the Four Tops, and the Muffs in our chosen format--it's ALL pop music). We're going to try to program the Lemon Twigs more often; it's a bandwagon well worth hoppin' on for the ride.

No better place to start than the Lemon Twigs' latest album Look For Your Mind! Our friends at The Spoon podcast recently hooked me on the exquisite Look For Your Mind! gem "2 Or 3," compelling us to open our own show with that track. We'll hear the new album's title tune on Sunday night. Let's get this bandwagon movin'!

MARSHALL CRENSHAW: What Time Is It

The Jive Five's 1962 doo-wop classic "What Time Is It?" is one of my all-time favorite individual tracks, and it earned a chapter in my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). I was introduced to the song via Marshall Crenshaw's sublime 'n' dreamy cover version, heard on MC's 1983 album Field Day. Crenshaw's rendition held me in instant thrall from the second I heard it, and if my heart's desire migrated to the Jive Five, I never stopped loving the version I heard first.

This week, Dana's spin of the Distractions' "Time Goes By So Slow" prompted me to follow with "What Time Is It?" I had the Jive Five in mind, but then reconsidered and programmed Marshall Crenshaw's (punctuation-free) cover instead. Couldn't go wrong either way.

(Later, when annotating track credits for the posted playlist, I realized this was the first-ever TIRnRR spin for Marshall Crenshaw's "What Time Is It." As The Spoon's Robbie Rist recently reminded me, time takes time. Tick, tock.)

GRAHAM PARKER AND THE GOLDTOPS: Black Lincoln Continental

Another advance peek at Quality Footware: Live At The Brook, the forthcoming new live album from the elemental forces of Graham Parker and the Goldtops. "Black Lincoln Continental" is already available as a single, as is "Soul Shoes," which we played a couple of weeks back. On our next show, we'll treat you to the Quality Footware live cut of the first Graham Parker song I heard (back when I was an impressionable teen surgically affixed to my radio). Grab your soul shoes and hop in your black Lincoln Continental; on Sunday night, we've got a date with a hotel chambermaid.

THE JIVE FIVE: My True Story

Having given the Jive Five's first-set spot to Marshall Crenshaw's "What Time Is It," it was only fair to give the doo-woppers their due with an airing of their only big hit, 1961's # 3 smash "My True Story." This solution spared us from having to cry CRY cry whoa-oh-oh our blues away. This story's ended. It was no lie!

BLONDIE: Little Girl Lies

My next book is a short story collection called Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies. It's my first full-length foray into fiction, following two nonfiction books about music, and it does incorporate a lot of musical influences into its gathering of deliberate lies. The book takes its title from a series of short stories I wrote about a group of rock 'n' roll musicians from Earth playing gigs on other planets, and it name-checks (mostly in passing) a whole bunch of artists, from Enrico Caruso to LL Cool J. I'll post a list of the book's musical name-checks in the very near future.

I don't think I got around to name-checking Blondie, but I do mention one of the group's individual members. Not the gorgeous one you'd automatically expect me to mention! Blondie's powerhouse drummer Clem Burke is cited in this sequence from a story that appears late in the book, as uttered by planet-hopping Guitar Vs. Rayguns drummer Leiko:

Leiko leaned in for emphasis. "I'm Keith fucking Moon. I'm Marky fucking Ramone. I'm Clem fucking Burke. I'm Dennis fucking Diken from the Smithereens, Tommy fucking Allen from the Flashcubes, Ringo fucking Starr if I wanna be Ringo fucking Starr.

"I'm fucking LEIKO, bitches!"

I'm...convinced. Also frightened.

Leiko's a big girl, and she's neither cryin' nor lyin'. As I prepare the publication of my new book of little boy lies, TIRnRR offers this celebratory spin of Blondie's "Little Girl Lies." We hope Leiko would approve. If it pisses her off, I'm pretty sure she won't allow her status as, y'know, fictional to prevent her from kicking our asses.

THE WELL WISHERS: Pox On Everything

Nowadays, "pox on everything" may serve as go-to mantra. It also serves as the title of a new treat from TIRnRR Fave Raves the Well Wishers. Along with "Back Of The Line," "Pox On Everything" is one of two advance tracks from the next Well Wishers album Expected Outcomes. The album is due in June, we played both of the advance tracks this week, and we're playing "Pox On Everything" again on our next show. Think of us as pox protection! Apply the pox only where it's warranted. No shortage of options there...

TOM KENNY & THE HI-SEAS: Welcome To The Working Class

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

MOTÖRHEAD: Motörhead

On our May 10th show, the weekly Greatest Record Ever Made! spot was occupied by "Please Don't Touch," an invigmoratin' 1981 cover of a Johnny Kidd and the Pirates classic, executed by Headgirl. Headgirl were the combined metal might of the boys in Motörhead and the girls in Girlschool, and that week's extravaganza also featured a spin of Girlschool's oomph-driven cover of T. Rex's "20th Century Boy." We figured we owed Motörhead their own reciprocal playlist representation this week. Hey, howzabout the first Motörhead track I ever heard? The eponymous li'l number "Motörhead" was on an absolutely ace 1977 various-artists borgasmord called Geef Voor New Wave, a record I snagged as a teen punk and proceeded to play over und over with the manic obsession (and commensurate volume) one should expect a proper teen punk would bring to such a thing. MOTÖRHEAD!

SPECTRAFLAME: Yesterday (Jane)

A couple of weeks ago, we offered our first spin of Spectraflame's nifty single "Yesterday (Jane)," but we played the wrong mix, an earlier version not considered the definitive version. This is because we're inept. Luckily, we have tenure, and we played the correct mix this week, righting (our own) wrongs and making the world safe for pop music. POP MUSIC IS SAVED! Just doin' our job.

THE BEATLES: Do You Want To Know A Secret

No secret: My book Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies includes a short story about a fictional 1976 Beatles reunion. While nearly all of the musical performers referenced in the book are just mentioned in passing, the Beatles appear as characters in their own story. Elsewhere in the book, one other real-life performer does actively participate in a very brief cameo role.

Which real-life performer? That's still a secret, told in a story that I have not yet shared with anyone. Leiko knows who the performer is, even though [redacted] isn't known as a drummer. But Leiko knows. 

And she approves. The book should be out in early June.

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: 11/10/2023

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 # 1206. This show is available as a podcast.

BIG STAR: September Gurls

Over the course of nearly 25 years of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, I'm pretty sure Big Star's "September Gurls" remains our all-time most-played track. I doubt it even has any serious competition at that particular pinnacle. 

I think at least part of the reason for the song's ongoing TIRnRR sovereignty (aside from the fact that it's, y'know, terrific) is rooted in a tacit understanding that Big Star was a cherished underground act that the faithful believed shoulda been the big stars their dba claimed. From the "September Gurls" entry in my proposed book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1):

"Big Star was a big secret. As I became familiar with Big Star's records, I became a fan. And I soon learned that being a Big Star fan was like being a member of an underground pop society, a discerning, scattered network of music enthusiasts who knew--knew--there was more out there, old and new, than we were hearing on any radio station anywhere. Big Star was the golden ticket. You like Big Star? You're one of us, then. 

"This goes well beyond the limited parameters of hipster snobbery, of us versus them, of self-conscious cool that is, in fact, not cool in any way. This is faith. This is belief in the power of song. This is the inner certainty that there is greatness everywhere, awaiting someone to appreciate it and spread its Gospel. And there is no greater manifestation of that belief than the pure, tear-stained splendor of Big Star's 'September Gurls.'

"How can I deny what's inside?"

TAYLOR SWIFT: Welcome To New York

Big Star was correct: Never deny what's inside.

I admit I was a little bit surprised when my lovely wife Brenda floated the idea of the two of us checking out Taylor Swift's concert movie. I was even more surprised by how much I flat-out enjoyed Taylor Swift: The ERAS Tour, a film that offers a marvelous, fascinating immersion into the phenomenon of a Taylor Swift live show. Good choice, Brenda!

Previously, my take on Taylor Swift was that she's a remarkable talent whose music was intended for a demographic that doesn't include me. Fair enough. It didn't stop me from respecting her, even admiring her, and recognizing that she's a star whose celebrity status was built by talent, as well as a star who uses her celebrity responsibly. These are good things. I needn't wish to sing along with "Bad Blood" to appreciate any of that.

Now? Man, I think I need to take a deeper dive into some of her records. This week's show was programmed and recorded prior to my viewing of The ERAS Tour, but I felt motivated to check out her recently-released 1989 (Taylor's Version). Its track "Welcome To New York" struck me as something of a piece with whatever it is we do on TIRnRR. It is, as we say, ALL pop music.

Welcome.

ANY TROUBLE: Playing Bogart

In high school, I knew a girl who often wanted to hear my inept impression of Humphrey Bogart. Mind you, my Bogart was nothing short of terrible, but she seemed to dig it, and this teen boy was generally A-OK with the idea of being able to accomplish something--anything!--that a pretty teen girl might dig. Herszh lookin' at you, Szhweetheart....

I don't think I caught on to the music of Any Trouble until many years after the fact. And it's only just now that I've made a mental connection between the group's lyrical ode to playing Bogart and my own clumsy attempts at Bogie on demand all those decades ago. Play it again, Szham.

JOHNNY JOHNSON AND THE BANDWAGON: Let's Hang On

With no offense intended to the Jersey boys, I say Johnny Johnson and the Bandwagon's 1969 cover of the Four Seasons' "Let's Hang On" is the definitive version. The Bandwagon were a criminally undervalued soul group--their "Breakin' Down The Walls Of Heartache" keeps company with Big Star in my Greatest Record Ever Made! book--and they had a particular knack for pulling off covers that were better than the originals. The Bandwagon  took one of the Monkees' worst tracks, "The Day We Fall In Love," and somehow made it better'n decent, and they went toe-to-toe with the likes of the Rascals ("People Got To Be Free"), the Hollies ("Gasoline Alley Bred"), and Bob Dylan via the Byrds ("Mr. Tambourine Man"); in each case, the Bandwagon emerged the victor.

Same goes for the Bandwagon's reading of "Let's Hang On." Sorry, Mr. Valli. But there's no need to hang your head; the Bandwagon were just that good.

THE RAMONES: Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

Following the May 9th publication of my book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones, I put together a blog post about my 25 favorite Ramones tracks. That list includes "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow." This is what I wrote about that track:

"We don't generally think of the Ramones as balladeers. But the Ramones were raised on AM Top 40 radio when AM Top 40 was fantastic, bred by the sounds of girl groups, British Invasion, Motown, garage, bubblegum, rock, and pop. Ballads were part of that environment.

"And the Ramones were--perhaps incongruously--great at ballads. That should not be true...but it is. I'm not much for power ballads myself. But Ramones power ballads? The Ramones made power ballads cool.

"We got a new album out. It's called Rocket To Russia. This one's called 'Here Today, Gone Tomorrow.'

"With Dee Dee's count-in following Joey's introduction, the first time I heard 'Here Today. Gone Tomorrow' was when the Ramones played it at my first Ramones live show. Stunning, and a remarkably effective slow burn amidst the fast-loud-rules of the Blitzkrieg Boppin' and Cretin Hoppin' that surrounded it in concert. 

"By then, I think I'd already read Greg Shaw's rave about the song in the pages of Bomp! magazine. Hearing it live delivered on Shaw's promise, and the studio track lived up to it. The Ramones as balladeers. Someone had to pay the price.

"It was worth it."

On two separate occasions in October, I got to witness the great 1.4.5. as they performed "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow" in their live sets, the song dedicated both times to the late Ducky Carlisle. Tough disguises tender, but only if we don't bother to look for the hearts that beat beneath leather jackets, the emotion that lurks behind practiced scowls.

Here. Then gone.

THE GRIP WEEDS: Organ Grinder's Monkey

One of my two 1.4.5. live shows in October was the Grip Weeds' recent gig at The Lost Horizon in Syracuse. Whatta show! And one of its unexpected highlights was when the Grip Weeds dazzled us with their cover of "Organ Grinder's Monkey," a way obscure 1970 single by the equally obscure group Frosty. The song opens the Grip Weeds' magnificent 2022 covers album DiG, and hearing it performed live at the Lost compelled us to play it on the radio. About time! Dance, monkey. Dance!

SOLOMON BURKE: Everybody Needs Somebody To Love

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE FLASHCUBES: Forget About You

Some things in life are certain. Death. Taxes. Construction on I-81. And also TIRnRR playlists that include a spin from my favorite album of 2023, the Flashcubes' Pop Masters. Their cover of the Motors' "Forget About You" is on a (wait for it!) certain collision course with our year-end countdown. As it should be.

"Forget About You" had last week off, and it's taking next week off as well. But we still had another Pop Masters track last week, and I can risk the sin of spoilers as I say we'll have yet another Pop Masters gem spinning next week.

Much more pleasant than death or taxes, and a damned sight more interesting than roadwork. Pop Masters. You can be certain of that.

DAVE KUCHLER: In It With You

Acknowledging that the Flashcubes' Pop Masters is unassailably secure in its position as my album of 2023, Dave Kuchler's "In It With You" could stake a credible claim as my favorite individual track of the year. You can find it on Dave's album Love + Glory, and you can hear it again on the radio this coming Sunday night in Syracuse.

THE JIVE FIVE: What Time Is It

The show's over already...?! I blame that whole FALL BACK nonsense. What time is it? The Jive Five have the answer: It's time for love. 

The right answer, I say. Love is always the right answer.

If you like what you see here on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), please consider a visit to CC's Tip Jar. 

Carl's new book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones is now available, courtesy of the good folks at Rare Bird Books. Gabba Gabba YAY!! https://rarebirdlit.com/gabba-gabba-hey-a-conversation-with-the-ramones-by-carl-cafarelli/

If it's true that one book leads to another, my next book will be The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). Stay tuned. Your turn is coming.

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, streaming at SPARK stream and on the Radio Garden app as WESTCOTT RADIO. Recent shows are archived at Westcott Radio. You can read about our history here.

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl

10 SONGS: 5/26/2022

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 # 1130.

POP CO-OP: Out My Window

Yes, TIRnRR's Pop Co-Op hype machine chugs on! "Out My Window" is our third of four exclusive radio premiers on behalf of Pop Co-Op's forthcoming new album Suspension, due soon (but not soon enough) from the visionary folks at Futureman Records. We've heard the whole thing, and we endorse it with all the power and authority vested in our position as...well, as a couple of guys who play records on the radio. Man, that does not look anywhere near as impressive in print as it sounded in my head. Nonetheless: Pop Co-Op GREAT! Pop Co-Op's Suspension great! And we'll have one more exclusive radio debut from another Suspension song at the top of next week's show. [SPOILER ALERT: it's the title track.]

Impressive? Yeah, actually. We're DJs. We know what we're doing. 

THE FLASHCUBES WITH THE SPONGETONES: Have You Ever Been Torn Apart?

And, as duly appointed DJs, we know a friggin' hit record when we hear a friggin' hit record. It's our super power.  And we've known about this particular hit, a dynamic summit meeting between power pop legends the Flashcubes and, y'know, power pop legends the Spongetones, for quite some time. We hadn't heard it, mind you, and we weren't told which Spongetones classic these combined forces would be remaking. But we guessed correctly--see above comments re: DJs, know what we're doing--and have been dying to hear it.

And PLAY IT!

A lot of radio shows jumped on "Have You Ever Been Torn Apart?" as soon as it was available, from The Rodney Bingenheimer Show on SiriusXM to Mike Murray's Whole Lotta Shakin' in Rochester, Michael McCartney's The Time Machine  in Maui (the latter with Rich Firestone, host of Radio Deer Camp right here on TIRnRR's home SPARK!), and an apparent zillion others. Awright! A lot of DJs seem to know what they're doing right now. We are legion! We are LOUD! And we for damned sure know a hit when we hear it.

(Oh, and bonus kudos to the Flashcubes and Spongetones themselves for the neat little opening Beatles homage that kicks the track directly into its frenzied Fabmania flight path. See, one gets to pop music by turning left at Greenland, after all.)

DEADLIGHTS: Pretend To Pretend

Over the decades we've been doing whatever the hell this weekly radio thing is supposed to be, we've been big, big fans of Jeff Shelton in all of his many rockin' pop DBAs. Spinning Jennies! The Well Wishers! Hot Nun! Trip Wire! Even the enigmatic Ultratone! And certainly including Jeff's current project Deadlights, who've already scored a few TIRnRR playlist berths this year.

The new Deadlights single "Pretend To Pretend" is one of Jeff's very best ever, on a par with the Well Wishers' should-be-called-a-classic "See For The First Time." Over and above its inherent radio-ready sheen, sales of the digital single directly benefit humanitarian aid to the embattled people of Ukraine. As Jeff hisself says:

"100% of sales of this digital single will go to support Razom for Ukraine. Since its inception in 2014, Razom for Ukraine has provided personal protective equipment to more than 40 hospitals across Ukraine. They mobilized over 400 volunteers to carry out their programs and humanitarian services, including sending over 70 pallets of aid to Ukraine, and approximately 218 tons of essentials and supplies."

Great music in service of a great cause. All we can add is this: BUY IT!!!

PIPER: Bad Boy

I was not among Billy Squier's many fans during his early-'80s MTV heyday. But nor was I aware of the fantastic stuff Squier did before that, for two albums fronting his '70s rockin' pop combo Piper. My first conscious exposure to Piper's music came waaaaay after the fact, when Rhino Records included Piper's irresistible confection "Can't Wait" on a power pop compilation CD in the early '90s. Somewhere after that, I heard the boppin' magnificence of Piper's "Who's Your Boyfriend?," and I was told that the Flashcubes used to cover it live. Yeah, I'd say that's a good fit.

I tracked down a used copy of Piper's eponymous 1977 LP (which included "Who's Your Boyfriend?"), but never did find their other long-player Can't Wait. I didn't hear the latter until American Beat reissued both albums as a two-fer CD in 2005. Can't Wait turned out to be my favorite of the two records, with the title tune, the stellar "Drop By And Stay," and "Bad Boy." Maybe I should give the MTV stuff another chance? 

THE BABLERS: You Are The One For Me

We get the impression that "You Are The One For Me" is a teaser for whatever's coming next from Finland's phenomenal pop combo the Bablers. In the here and now, Dana has already said it's one of his favorite new tracks so far this year, and--because he's a DJ--I suspect he knows what he's doing. (And this week's spin of "You Are The One For Me" inspired me to follow with the Monkees' "You Just May Be The One," and we all benefit from that sequence.)

THE BANGLES: Hazy Shade Of Winter

Many of my TIRnRR playlist selections are the result of a simple process I call Because my iPod said so! However, this week's spin of the Bangles' 1987 hit cover of Simon and Garfunkel's "Hazy Shade Of Winter" wasn't prompted by my iPod's edicts, but by airplay on a radio station in Pensacola, Florida. Good enough for me! 

THE WHO: I Can't Explain

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE JIVE FIVE: He's Just A Lucky Man

In the early '80s, the Ambient Sound label issued several records--some singles and some albums--featuring new recordings by classic doo-wop groups. At the time, my sole acquisition from the Ambient Sound catalog was a 1982 compilation LP called Everything New Is Old...Everything Old Is New. I snapped that one up specifically to own the Mystics' rendition of "Doreen Is Never Boring," a song written by Joey Ramone (originally as "Touring," which the Ramones recorded but consigned to the vaults at the time). 

I didn't really pay much mind to the other stuff on that album--I was there for Doreen, man!--so my silly 22-year-old self ignored offerings by Randy and the Rainbows, the Capris, the Harptones, and the Capris. And nor did I pay any attention at all to the music of the Jive Five.

Oh, stupid, silly 22-year-old! 

I got to the Jive Five via Marshall Crenshaw, whose sublime cover of "What Time Is It" inspired me to seek out the even more sublime, luscious, heavenly Jive Five original. I eventually cobbled together a modest Jive Five collection in the form of two non-overlapping Jive Five anthology CDs. The Jive Five's "What Time Is It" is currently slated for a spotlight in my long-threatened book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1).

But neither of my Jive Five CDs included any of the group's '80s stuff. The Jive Five did two albums for Ambient Sound, 1982's Here We Are! and 1984's Way Back, and that's twice as many albums as they did before the '80s. A recent comment from Blitz magazine's Mike McDowell sent me scurrying back to the Jive Five's Ambient Sound era, and this winner from Here We Are! Just because I know what I'm doing doesn't mean I'm not willing to learn more.

KEVIN ROBERTSON: If You're Free

Listeners of this little mutant radio program already adore Kevin Robertson from his work with Vapour Trails (wherein our Kev was billed as Kevin Trail), and from previous spins of his Big Stir digital single "Love's Blue Yonder." Kevin's new album Teaspoon Of Time assigns all its jangle and buzz in the appropriate spots, but ditches mere decorum to rock the house as the cosmos intended. More from Teaspoon Of Time on next week's show.

THE TRAVELING WILBURYS: Not Alone Anymore

A few entries north of here, I mentioned a recent visit to the sunny Southern climes of Florida. I've been to Florida a total of...eight times? I think that's right, starting with a visit to family in the panhandle--the part of Florida that is Alabama--in 1970. 

Half of my Florida trips have been to that greater Pensacola area, where my Uncle Carl, Aunt Jo, and my cousins Langley, Alan, and Colin lived. Langley still lives there. Her brothers have sought their fortunes elsewhere. Aunt Jo passed several years ago. We lost Uncle Carl in December, about two weeks after my Mom--Uncle Carl's sister--left us. Earlier this month, my sister, my brother-in-law, and one of my brothers accompanied me back to the panhandle to represent our ever-glowing nuclear family at Uncle Carl's memorial service.

There's an odd, maybe paradoxical mixture of sadness and joy at a memorial. We grieve our loss, but we revel in the memory. We had just seen Langley at my mother's memorial service in April--when I was just over my (relatively mild) bout with COVID--but I hadn't seen Colin in eighteen years, and I hadn't had much time to really chat with Langley in April. So seeing them and spending time with them in Florida two weeks ago was...well, it was nice. Really nice. 

After I returned to Syracuse, something that should have been obvious my entire life belatedly but suddenly dawned on me: more than just cousins, Langley, Alan, and Colin (as well as our California cousin Mark) were really like my additional siblings. I mean, we fought like siblings, and they were closer to me in age than my actual brothers and sister. We had and still have that bond like siblings. I don't understand why it took me so long to understand. I get it now. And I'm not alone anymore.

The segue into the Traveling Wilburys' "Not Alone Anymore" isn't quite as forced as you think. I first heard the track in Florida, just after New Year's Day of 1989. I was in Key West, a tourist in Margaritaville, visiting old college friends and having a righteous good time. I was, let's face it, high as a freakin' Florida kite. And I heard that voice. That voice.

You're not alone

You're not alone

You're not alone anymore

Although lyrically a sad song rather than an uplifting one, it felt like a message of comfort from beyond the veil. Roy Orbison had left this world behind less than a month before my pilgrimage to Margaritaville. I respected and appreciated Orbison, and I felt the pop world's sorrow at the loss of one of its giants. I knew, of course, that Orbison was one of the Traveling Wilburys, alongside George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and Jeff Lynne. Supergroup? Even that description is inadequate. The only Traveling Wilburys song I really knew before that was the hit, "Handle With Care." Hearing the late Roy Orbison sing "Not Alone Anymore" as only Roy Orbison could, that otherworldly voice both booming and floating above the tchotchkes strewn in the Margaritaville gift shop, I knew I'd been touched by something greater. I needed that CD. I bought it shortly after returning home to Syracuse.

You're not alone anymore. On that 1988-into-1989 trip, I'd flown into Key West from Pensacola after attending Langley's wedding. That was the last time I was in Pensacola, or the last time I was in Pensacola until two weeks ago. During the pandemic, and until Uncle Carl passed in December, I visited Pensacola again via weekly Zoom with Uncle Carl and Langley, my sister hosting the meeting from her home in England. Our final Zoom was a little after Mom died in December. Uncle Carl's rapid decline was perhaps not unexpected. I don't know why it caught me so unprepared.

But I'm not alone. We're going to go back to Pensacola next year, just to go, to spend time, to be together. Life is too short to spend separately. We're not alone anymore. I betcha Roy Orbison would agree. 

I know that Uncle Carl would.

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: 4/14/2022

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 # 1124.

TAMAR BERK: Real Bad Day

Hey, remember last week, when I said Tamar Berk's new single "Tragic Endings" was my favorite among the tracks I've heard from her so far? Ah, those were the days. Since then, I've heard more of Tamar's forthcoming new album Start At The End, and the surly swagger of its track "Real Bad Day" propels it to the tippytop of my Tamar Berk's Greatest Hits chart. I'm not fickle; I'm open-minded. Great li'l number, and I expect we'll be playing it again on TIRnRR. And again. And again. I betcha we'll also give a repeat spin to "Tragic Endings." Dear, dear "Tragic Endings." I hope we can still be friends, 

GARY FRENAY: Just Like Me

Gary Frenay's "Just Like Me" was among my many favorite Screen Test songs. It only existed as a demo in the '80s, and I always wished they would revisit it. And now, they have! The new recording is by Screen Test--Gary with Arty Lenin and Tommy Allen, their efforts supplemented by Gary's talented son Nick Frenay--but it will be billed as a Gary Frenay solo track when it appears on his next album (presumably in 2023). Wonderful, wistful song under any name.

THE IDES OF MARCH: Girls Don't Grow On Trees

The Ides of March are considered one hit wonders for their 1970 smash "Vehicle." I hate that song. BUT! Before warbling about the friendly, creepy stranger in the black sedan, the Ides of March were a better'n decent '60s garage pop combo. I absolutely adore the group's undeservedly obscure 1966 single "Roller Coaster," and I intended to play that on this week's show. Instead, I figured we ought to spin an Ides of March track we ain't ever played before, and plucked this ace number "Girls Don't Grow On Trees" from my handy-dandy copy of Sundazed Records' pre-"Vehicle" Ides compilation Ideology. Listening again to their '60s beat output reinforces my regret that the world at large only remembers them for "Vehicle."

THE CHELSEA CURVE: Jamie C'mon

The Chelsea Curve's freshly-released debut album All The Things performs the public service of collecting the group's assorted singles (including past TIRnRR Fave Raves like "Top It Up" and "Better Way"). But WAIT! There's MORE! I mean, it wouldn't be ALL the things if there weren't more, right? The album kicks off with the blood-pumpin' rush of the Chelsea Curve's brand-new single "Jamie C'mon," then drags (in-joke) you along for an album's worth of rock 'n' roll kicks run on guitars, drums, amplifiers, lipstick, hormones, and two-for-one well drinks. C'mon! All the things can't just dance with themselves, ya know.

THE JIVE FIVE: My True Story

Although "My True Story" was the Jive Five's only big pop hit (Billboard Hot 100 # 3 in 1961), we've been far more likely to play "What Time Is It?," their # 67 single from '62. This is further illustration of my conviction that the phrase "one hit wonder" doesn't have to be a pejorative. Like the Easybeats, the Bobby Fuller Four, the Knickerbockers, Fontella Bass, and so many other fine acts, the Jive Five created a number of interesting tracks, and it's the pop world's loss that these records didn't receive more recognition and acclaim in their day.

But sometimes (and unlike the case of the above-mentioned Ides of March), there is something to be said for the big hit. "What Time Is It?" is probably on my own all-time Hot 100, but "My True Story" is my # 1 in the broad category of doo-wop records. Now we must cry CRY cryyyyyyyyy oh whoa our blues away. And its Dragnet-inspired conceit--The names have been changed, dear, to protect you and I--make this Joe Friday's greatest hit by default.

THE FLASHCUBES: Gone Too Far

I make no apologies for my ongoing devotion to the music of the Flashcubes. Paul Armstrong, Tommy Allen, Gary Frenay, and Arty Lenin. My hometown heroes, Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse, one third of my all-time rockin' pop Trinity (with the Beatles and the Ramones). Mere hyperbole? Nope. I wouldn't be who I am without the Flashcubes.

As a club-goin' teen at Flashcubes shows in the late '70s, I believed there were a ton of hit-worthy original 'Cubes songs. Arty Lenin's "Gone Too Far" was for damned sure one of those, a pure pop confection that Gary once said reminded him of the Monkees. The group demoed the song at the time (as heard in remixed form on the Bright Lights anthology), but neither that version nor the live 1978 version I had on a bootleg cassette quite captured its effervescent vitality.

Finally, "Gone Too Far" achieves its full potential on Flashcubes On Fire, the recently-released archival live CD of the Flashcubes in their 1979 rock 'n' roll prime. This is the song I fell in love with when I was 18 and 19, reeling under the brightly dim lights at Central New York nightclubs. 

Gary said this reminded him of the Monkees? That's high praise in my book. Micky Dolenz coulda sung it, and he still could. I don't think even the mighty Mick could outdo Arty and his fellow 'Cubes on "Gone Too Far."

THE RUNAWAYS: Heartbeat

"Heartbeat" is a power ballad, which makes it something of an anomaly among the Runaways' recordings. The Runaways weren't a punk group, but they were on punk's periphery, and most of their material favored the I-love-rock'n' roll approach that would subsequently propel founding member Joan Jett to solo stardom (and The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame). 

"Heartbeat" isn't the only slower number in the Runaways' catalog, but it was the one I noticed. It was among my favorite tracks on the 1977 Queens Of Noise album, the second (and last) LP to include original lead singer Cherie Currie. Currie was underage at the time, and "Heartbeat" is about a tryst with an unidentified singer. Backstage, lied about my age/Didn't care that you were older. The story may be fiction, but it has an aura of truth, and probably is true. Stop. Look. Listen.

SUZI QUATRO: Paralysed

Suzi Quatro was my # 1 teen crush; that story was told here, and has since been revamped for my long-threatened book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). But even then, I didn't like Suzi Q's 1975 album Your Mama Won't Like Me. Renowned Radio Deer Camp DJ Rich Firestone joked that she should reissue the album under the new title Carl Won't Like This. I ought to go back and listen to the album again, just to see if my opinion revises itself.

"Paralyzed" (or "Paralysed" in the UK, and as it's listed on my CD of The Essential Suzi Quatro) was the one Your Mama Won't Like Me track I did like. I'm gonna spin my web all over this town/If I catch you with your trousers down. I played it often, and now we play it again. The stories you've heard are gonna be confirmed/You won't believe your eyes....

THE JAYHAWKS: I'm Gonna Make You Love Me

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

IRENE PEÑA: In This Room

It's not easy to pick one single favorite Irene Peña track. I'm doing it anyway. Eternal thanks to the mighty Big Stir Records label for making the eleven tracks from Irene's 2011 debut album Nothing To Do With You available as individual digital singles, and thereby introducing grateful me to the sublime "In This Room." The track has never been on a CD release. One hopes that will change very soon.

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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.

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl