10 Songs is a weekly list of ten songs that happen to be on my mind at the moment. Given my intention to usually write these on Mondays, the lists are often dominated by songs played on the previous 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 # 1067.
THE BEAT: There She Goes
The Beat, the 1979 debut album by the fabulous group now called Paul Collins' Beat, is one of those records that one absolutely has to own if one happens to be some kind of power pop fan. It's a basically perfect album to begin with, and its eventual CD reissue added this non-LP track "There She Goes," a song originally heard in the movie Caddyshack. Paul Collins is one of the kings of power pop.
This Sunday, March 14th, at 6 pm Eastern, Collins will be performing a solo show on Facebook Live. Take it away, Paul:
"Dear friends, family and fans, here is what i would like to do: its time for me to do what I do best; play my little pop songs for you. During the pandemic I really felt like I was done, there would be nothing for me to return to. I was too old and it just didn't make sense. Tonight I watched PBS and I saw Judy cry and I cried with her, so many senseless losses of people who were just trying to live. So here is my proposal, I would like to play for about an hour, hopefully all my best songs, for you. You in turn agree to and prove that you will send some money, whatever you can afford, to someone or some group that really needs it. I need money but I don't need it as bad as so many people that are struggling to get by. It would really make me feel like I am doing something worth doing. .. DEAL? PS, if you agree please repost this so we can get as many people as possible. Someone please post this to Instagram! Thanks"
The event is called C'mon Let's Go! I'm in. Join. Give. LET'S GO! The event is called C'mon Let's Go, and I'm in for $50. Join us, all you rock 'n' roll girls and boys: LET'S GO!The event is called C'mon Let's Go!, and I'm in. Join. Give. LET'S GO! SAM COOKE: Good Times
We've been playing Leslie Odom, Jr's able cover of this Sam Cooke song, a number Odom sings in his incredible portrayal of Cooke in the movie One Night In Miami.... It seemed high time to play the original version.
THE FLASHCUBES: Wouldn't You Like It
Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse The Flashcubes contributed this rockin' cover of The Bay City Rollers' "Wouldn't You Like It" to Men In Plaid, a Rollers tribute album put out by Bullseye Records in 2000. Your future blogger's review of the album appeared in Goldmine, and this blurb was exhumed for the album's expanded edition in 2004:
If you're a fan of pop, power pop or any other catch-phrase related to melodic rock 'n' roll, you should check your hipper-than-thou attitude at the door and check out this surprisingly solid and entertaining disc, wherein contemporary pop acts try their hands at bits 'n' pieces of the Rollers' canon--perhaps incongruously--[for] one of the most satisfying tribute albums ever assembled. All those in favor, say it with us now: S! A! T-U-R! D-A-Y! NIGHT!!
I agree with me wholeheartedly.
And credit TIRnRR with the assist on this one. When we heard of plans for a Bay City Rollers tribute album, we contacted Bullseye's Jaimie Vernon and said, "Oh, you simply must use The Flashcubes' version of 'Wouldn't You Like It.'" Never mind that the 'Cubes had never recorded "Wouldn't You Like It," had never performed "Wouldn't You Like It," and as far as we knew may not have even liked the damned thing. No matter. Trust us! We're DJs!
Somehow, that argument...worked? No, I don't understand it either. But Bullseye gave the slot to The Flashcubes, The Flashcubes agreed to record it, and all was right with the world. See? This is how things work out when people do as we say!
THE GOLD NEEDLES: Have You Ever Loved Somebody
We just adore The Gold Needles' current album What's Tomorrow Ever Done For You?, and our prevailing affection has manifested in repeated play on TIRnRR. This cover of The Hollies' durable pop stalwart "Have You Ever Loved Somebody" is the fifth track from that album to find its way to one of our playlists. Covering The Hollies can be a thankless task, simply because a majority of acts who make that attempt are, by definition, not The Hollies. The Searchers recorded a very nice version of "Have You Ever Loved Somebody" (the first version I knew), The Everly Brothers collaborated with The Hollies themselves for an ace take on it, and The Flashcubes assumed ownership of the song for their live set one memorable night in the '90s. Yeah, it ain't easy to cover The Hollies. Add The Gold Needles to the short list of acts that can pull it off.
GEORGE JONES: The Race Is On
Although programming by remote can compromise the practiced (but still impromptu) synergy of TIRnRR playlists, I think Dana and I still manage to approximate that off-the-cuff dynamic in our current circumstances. This week, Dana selected "Getting High For Jesus" by Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs, told me it was a countryish track, and suggested I follow it with an actual country tune. Okeydokey! The George Jones classic "The Race Is On" popped into my head immediately.
JUDAS PRIEST: Diamonds And Rust
I believe this agreeably heavy-handed cover of the familiar Joan Baez song was the first Judas Priest track I ever heard, probably courtesy of Utica's WOUR-FM in the mid '70s, or possibly 95X in Syracuse in the late '70s. I liked it, but I never really got around to being much of a Priest fan. A bit later on, I very much liked JP's "Living After Midnight," and I really liked "Heading Out To The Highway." I don't rank "Diamonds And Rust" as high as those two. But I still appreciate its effective bludgeoning of Baez's song, and I dig that it manages said bludgeoning while somehow retaining a clear line of sight to the original. That is, it's not just a bludgeoning. It's a bludgeoning with a vision.
GLADYS KNIGHT AND THE PIPS: Here Are The Pieces Of My Broken Heart
Most would consider it an insult to describe any creative artifact as the product of an assembly line. But at Motown Records in the '60s, the pop music assembly line was transcendent, and it was well capable of achieving artistic heights. That particular hit factory churned out nonpareil works by The Temptations, The Supremes, The Miracles, The Four Tops, and more, stellar creations that no one in their right mind could disregard as crass or Philistine, as lesser. Art wasn't the specific goal; Motown's head Berry Gordy Jr. wanted records that sold, sold in big, big numbers. The Sound Of Young America. Gordy and his immensely talented line workers just figured the best way to manufacture records that sold was to craft great records. Art for art's sake? Absolutely not. It was art for commerce's sake. It was art nonetheless.
Motown's quality control was such that even its castoffs were often essential. When the 2-CD vault raid A Cellarful Of Motown! was released in 2002, I noted something to the effect that it was nearly the equivalent of discovering a previously-unreleased Beatles album. Yeah yeah yeah. My top pick on the set was (and remains) "Here Are The Pieces Of My Broken Heart," an originally-unreleased Gladys Knight and the Pips cut that woulda sounded great on AM Top 40 in 1966, the year it was recorded. It still sounds great on the radio now. The art of the assembly line. An artist can create greatness with whatever tools are at hand.
THE MONKEES: Terrifying
Zach Rogue's song "Terrifying" was recorded by The Monkees as part of their 2016 album project Good Times! The track was left off the physical release of the album, and it appeared only as a bonus track on the digital version of Good Times! It has never been given a legitimate CD release, and its only physical media release was on Good Times Plus!, a limited edition 10" vinyl EP issued for Black Friday Record Store Day in 2016.
Sputter. Must remind myself: too busy singing to put anybody down, too busy singing to put anybody down, too busy singing to....
Why in the name of Wizard Glick has there has not yet been a deluxe CD of Good Times!, finally gathering all of the album's original 13 tracks and its four scattered bonus tracks for the first time in one place? Sure, I have a CD-R of all of these tracks. I want an official release. Like, by the end of business today. I may not be the young generation, but I've still got something to say. "Terrifying" was one of THE best tracks of 2016, yet it remains an obscurity, then and now. Get me Rhino on the phone...!
OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN: If Not For You
My introduction to Olivia Newton-John. Hi, Olivia. I'm Carl. You're cute. Olivia's version of Bashful Bob Dylan's "If Not For You" was also my introduction to the song itself; I'd not heard Dylan's rendition, nor George Harrison's cover, when Olivia's own sweet sound first appeared on American AM radio in 1971.
This was, of course, merely the start of Olivia's hit-makin' reign. I liked some of her subsequent radio smashes, and I was indifferent (or dismissive) of some others. The only ON-J product I ever owned was the Grease soundtrack and its attendant "Summer Nights" 45. "If Not For You" remains my favorite, and it remains my preferred version of the song. Apologies to Bob and George; ya never forget your first.
STYX: Kiss Your Ass Goodbye
Writer S. W. Lauden (alias musician Steve Coulter of The Brothers Steve) recently posted an excellent piece called "Let's Argue About Power Pop!," wherein our Steve ably takes on the endless battles among power pop fans to agree on...anything. ANYthing. Roses are red. Water is wet. The sky is above, not below. Bounty is the quicker picker-upper. Anything! Steve's piece gets it. And I can say that even though I (predictably) disagree with some aspects of its power pop description. Those are just details. Steve gets the essence exactly right.
One of the things that drives power pop traditionalists batty is suggesting that some popular mainstream rock band is a power pop act. Styx comes up as an occasional example, and trust me, Styx is not and has never been power pop.
I mean, except for the time that Styx was power pop.
Listen, man: I hated Styx. Hated 'em. In the late '70s, when I was a power pop punk in college, with a chip on my shoulder and The Ramones in my heart, Styx was the freakin' enemy, THE enemy, more than disco, more than prog, more than Eagles, even. Styx. Their music represented everything I despised. One night out drinking, I used my jackknife to carve STYX STYNX into the tabletop at a local nightspot. It is safe to say that I was not a fan of Styx.
For all that, I usually declared a ceasefire in my war on Styx when their song "Lorelei" came on. Unabashedly pop, loaded with harmonies, the group's prerequisite bombast largely held in check, a bit too slick but still energetic, "Lorelei" is almost power pop. Its path to true 'n' everlasting janglebuzz is blocked only by lead singer Dennis DeYoung sounding annoyingly and whiningly like Dennis DeYoung. And it's still a great track anyway.
There's no such qualifier for "Kiss Your Ass Goodbye." This track from the 2003 Styx album Cyclorama is certified 100% DeYoung-free. Glen Burtnik wrote it and sings lead, and the result is as power pop as The Raspberries or The Rubinoos. Hell, Burtnik even sounds a bit like noted pop fan Robbie Rist, and that is a compliment for damned sure. Perfect pop. Perfect power pop. By Styx. As hell freezes over and the power pop curmudgeons rail in protest, this track invites naysayers to pucker up already.
We should also note that the above-lauded S.W. Lauden is co-editor (with Paul Myers) of a two books of power pop commentary published by Rare Bird Books: 2019's Go All The Way: A Literary Appreciation Of Power Pop and the forthcoming Go Further: More Literary Appreciations Of Power Pop. In my hard-won capacity as a power pop...well, a power pop nobody, I declare these both essential and highly recommended.
Don't argue with me.
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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.
The many fine This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio compilation albums are still available, each full of that rockin' pop sound you crave. A portion of all sales benefit our perpetually cash-strapped community radio project:
Volume 1: download
Volume 2: CD or download
Volume 3: download
Volume 4: CD or download
Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio: CD or download
Carl's writin' a book! The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1)will contain 165 essays about 165 tracks, each one of 'em THE greatest record ever made. An infinite number of records can each be the greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Updated initial information can be seen here: THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! (Volume 1). My weekly Greatest Record Ever Made! video rants can be seen in my GREM! YouTube playlist. And I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl
