10 (no--13!!) SONGS: 7/25/2026

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 # 1346

THE AMPLIFIER HEADS: A Girl Named Chop Suey

A rock 'n' roll riot! That's the promise offered and honored by the Amplifier Heads' new album Super 8. Amplified head Head Sal Baglio has made it clear in whose memory Super 8 is proclaimed:

"The Amplifier Heads' new album Super 8 is dedicated to Paul Armstrong and Ducky Carlisle — two much beloved and missed friends gone way too soon.

"Ducky introduced me to Paul the way he introduced everyone. He said: 'Do you know Paul Armstrong? Yeah, he’s a genius. You two guys should be friends.'

"And that’s exactly what happened. Both Ducky and Paul were crazed rock n’ roll FANATICS and we loved all the same music.

"We played on many stages together, including The Cavern in Liverpool. They both appear on the Amplifier Heads' Loudah album, which was also recorded and mixed by Ducky Carlisle at his Ice Station Zebra Studio.

"Both are missed very much. Super 8 is dedicated to their shining light and crazed rock n’ roll spirit. They live on in all the music we created back then, that we create right now, and that we are destined to create in the future."

TIRnRR offers a great big HELL YEAH!! to all of the above. To the Amplifier Heads, I say Ducky and PA would be proud of you.

THE MONKEES: A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You

From a previous blog post about my 25 favorite Monkees tracks:

Don Kirshner's last stand, but it's a really, really good last stand. Most regard this Neil Diamond ditty as an inferior follow-up to his SuperMegaSmash Monkees hit "I'm A Believer," but I actually like it better. Part of the reason is circumstantial: the original Colgems 45 of "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You" pounds and pops in a way no CD (or LP) reissue has ever managed to recapture. "I'm A Believer" is a better song, and arguably a better record, but I feel a vibrant and pervasive connection to "A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You," a connection its "Believer" big brother can't equal. (For a coincidental commentary on Kirshner's exit from the Monkees project, read the lyrics to this song as an approximation of what I think Kirshner shoulda said to the Monkees at the time. Except maybe not addressing the group as "Girl.")

CIRCE LINK: I'm On Your Side

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

MONOGROOVE: Back To School

THE MnM'S: I'm Tired

P. J. SOLES: Rock 'n' Roll High School

THE MUFFS: That's For Me

THE RUNAWAYS: School Days

THE RAMONES: 7 And 7 Is

THE COASTERS: Charlie Brown

JUNIPER: Boys! Boys! Boys! Boys! Boys!

High school reunion time! I'm pretty sure I haven't learned anything. Here's my chance to prove it.

For my share of programming this week's penultimate set, I picked four tracks to sorta kinda represent the high school experience. The set begins with Monogroove's "Back To School," a certifiable TIRnRR Pick Hit found on the group's current 30th anniversary collection Anthology. Let Alice Cooper crow that school's out for the summer; Monogroove has your essential teen guide to navigating the halls and kicking the cliques. Back? It's like I never left.

The MnM's

Following Dana's spin of "I'm Tired" by the MnM's, we inserted a bit of dialogue from the classic--that's motherlovin' CLASSIC, man!-1979 feature film Rock 'n' Roll High School, as the Ramones walk around campus and the evil principal Miss Togar asks them in a shrieking tone, Do your parents KNOW you're Ramones...?! This snippet segues into a performance of the movie's title theme as executed by its star, perfectly-cast actress P. J. Soles in her hypmotizin' role as Riff Randell, rock 'n' roller.

Riff's winning warbling flows into Dana's selection of the Muffs' "That's For Me" (from their farewell album No Holiday), which in turn sets up "School Days" by the Runaways. That song was the subject of a previous Greatest Record Ever Made! post, and it remains my favorite Runaways track. Then--just like when I saw the Runaways open for the Ramones in 1978!--the Queens of Noise lead us into glue-sniffin' temptation, as the Ramones cover Love's supercharged '60s proto-punk nugget "7 And 7 Is."

And then, the Coasters! I've described "Yakety Yak" as the all-time best song about the generation gap, and it would have seemed the likeliest Coasters track to place here. Instead, we return to my introduction to the Coasters; I heard "Charlie Brown" when I discovered a copy of the 45 in the family collection circa 1972-73--eighth grade for me--and delighted in the fee-fee-fi-fi-fo-fo-fum tale of this cat Charlie who was either the high school's biggest troublemaker or just terribly, terribly misunderstood. Dana closes the set with Juniper's "Boys! Boys! Boys! Boys! Boys!," which properly places the blame for mischief on those unruly lads. I bet they're ALL named Charlie Brown! WHY'S everybody always picking on me? I'm innocent, I tell ya! INNOCENT!

Right. I'm ditching study hall. Wanna meet up in the smoking area? But in the immortal words of Peter Tork: I don't smoke...those.

THE GREENBERRY WOODS: Waiting 'Round For Something To Go Wrong

Speaking of high school, the Greenberry Woods' new album It's All Good, Sugar includes a track called "Waiting 'Round For Something To Go Wrong," and that song title describes high school about as accurately as anything ever. The album as a whole is a welcome return for these power pop greats, and "Waiting 'Round For Something To Go Wrong" has become my go-to. We'll play it again on our next show.

THE BEATLES: I'm A Loser

And still speaking of high school....

If you like what you see here on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), please consider a visit to CC's Tip Jar. You can also become a Boppin' booster on my Patreon page.

My new book of short stories Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies is out now, and you can get autographed copies of the new book and my previous book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) directly from me. You can still get my previous previous book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones from publisher Rare Bird Books, OR an autographed copy here. If you like the books, please consider leaving a rating and/or review at the usual online resources.

I compiled a various-artists tribute album called Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes, and it's pretty damned good; you can read about it here and order it here. 

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

10 SONGS: 1/4/2025--THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO's Most-Played Tracks In 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.

Kidd Video did not make our countdown. But their bass player did.

This week's edition of 10 Songs draws exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1266: The Countdown Show. These are TIRnRR's ten most-played tracks in 2024, and the individual entries are reprised from previous 10 Songs features.

10. THE GRIP WEEDS: Lady Friend

The Grip Weeds' 2022 covers album DiG offers the enduring reward of New Jersey's Phenomenal Pop Combo taking on a splendid array of classics and obscurities alike. The standard single-disc version of DiG finds the Grip Weeds mining nuggets previously, um...dug by Paul Revere and the Raiders, the Zombies, the Velvet Underground, the Knickerbockers, the Rolling Stones, and more; the double-disc edition adds (among others) the Monkees, the Beatles, the Turtles, and Frosty's "Organ Grinder's Monkey." There's even a three-disc version, so, y'know, buy that. Whatever it takes: Get a GRIP!

TIRnRR's top DiG has been this sublime cover of the Byrds' "Lady Friend." It was # 6 on our 2022 Countdown, # 9 in 2023, and it hangs in at # 10 for 2024. Here it comes again. 

9. THE GRIP WEEDS: Strange Bird

Hey, a chance to hear a TIRnRR classic again for the first time! The Grip Weeds' original version of "Strange Bird" was the B-side of a single released in Germany, later re-recorded for the group's album The Sound Is In You. The Grip Weeds also gave us an exclusive remix/retweak of the original single for our 2017 compilation This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 4 (a tale told here, and you can still get that CD here and its download edition here). 

And now, the Grip Weeds have recorded brand-new versions of both "Strange Bird" and its original A-side "She Brings The Rain," offered in a teaser EP in advance of their forthcoming album. We're told the tracks will not be on the album, so grab 'em now. Strange birds of the world, UNITE!

8. LEATHER CATSUIT: Can't Get You Off My Mind

Leather Catsuit's "Can't Get You Off My Mind" comes equipped with a title that mirrors my opinion of the track: I can't get it off my mind. I don't wanna get it off my mind. It's pop music! I wanna hear it again and again. 

7. SLYBOOTS: Blindsided

Ace NYC combo Slyboots made their TIRnRR debut in May, with a spin of their recent cover of Meat Puppets' "Oh, Me." All well 'n' groovy. Now, we dig a little bit deeper for a way swell Slyboots original called "Blindsided." "Blindsided" was released last summer, but you know the drill: 

Any record you ain't heard is a new record.

And, new or old, we're delighted to hear this record. We'll hear it again.

(Worth noting: Slyboots' subsequent single "If We Could Let Go" made it to # 15 on our countdown, and it is my favorite new track of 2024.)

6. JUNIPER: Baby Doll

Our worlds collide. In a good way! From her absolutely wonderful 2023 album She Steals Candy, teen sensation and TIRnRR Fave Rave Juniper covers another TIRnRR Fave Rave, Amy Rigby. And Juniper does a mighty fine job of it, too, fortifying the world-weary shrug of Amy's original with a post-adolescent patina of quiet, simmering pissed-offedness. Both versions are equally mature, and in either case the listener really, really wants to track down the clueless would-be Lothario and swat him with extreme prejudice.

Would serve him right. Bastard!

5. CARLA OLSON AND TALL POPPY SYNDROME: Is It True

As pop fans, when we listen to multiple versions of the same song, we often develop an allegiance to the version that hooked us first. So even the combined forces of Carla Olson and Tall Poppy Syndrome may face long odds in trying to pry my devotion away from Brenda Lee with their new cover of our Brenda's 1964 single "Is It True."

"Is It True" is far and away my favorite Brenda Lee track. It wasn't a hit in America, and I didn't hear it until Rhino Records included "Is It True" in the fabulous 2005 various-artists boxed set One Kiss Can Lead To Another: Girl Group Sounds Lost And Found. This amazing 4-CD compilation is like the Nuggets of the '60s girl-group sound, and Brenda Lee's "Is It True" is one of its absolute highlights. I adored the song immediately, and have never stopped loving it.

So my gosh, Carla and her Tall Poppy comrades deserve mega accolades for holding their own here. It's not just that their "Is It True" is accomplished and well-performed--I would have expected nothing less from that level of talent--it's that the elusive mojo is there. You believe them. I believe them. I'm not prepared to relinquish my torch for Brenda Lee's original, but I'm very happy to say that I now have two go-to versions of "Is It True." Is it true? Yep. I'll testify to that under oath. 

4. ELENA ROGERS: I Feel Alive

This is so good. Elena Rogers first entered TIRnRR's sovereign air space on a recommendation from pop giant Jamie Hoover. Jamie's been working with the young singer for a few years, he's clearly (and understandably) knocked out by her talent and musical prowess, and he would kindly like the world at large to wake the hell up and get hip to Elena Rogers awready. 

Elena's 2024 single "I Feel Alive" is her best track yet, ambitious and audacious in its approach while remaining absolutely, unerringly pop. During Jamie's 2023 appearance on the way-swell Only Three Lads podcast, our esteemed Mr. Hoover promised a new Elena Rogers album in '24. That album was Prelude To Whatever, and its first advance single "I Feel Alive" ratcheted up the anticipation.

Can you feel it? 

In a recent email to some musicians, I made a passing reference to Elena Rogers as "insanely talented." That is, if anything, selling her short.

3. THE CYNZ: Woman Child

This little mutant radio show has demonstrated its pervasive and prevailing interest in the music of the Cynz. We love 'em. We play 'em. We're fans.

Given the above truths, I think it means even more when I say the current Cynz single "Woman Child" just might be the best thing they've done yet. "Woman Child" offers further empirical evidence of their essential asskickin' capability. Bless us, Lord. We have CYNZ!

2. PAUL COLLINS: I'm The Only One For You

One of the new albums I was most looking forward to hearing this year was Stand Back And Take A Good Look, courtesy of power pop king Paul Collins and the intrepid Jem Records label. I've been a Paul Collins fan since I was in college in the late '70s, listening to his work with the Nerves, the Breakaways, and his own subsequent combo the Beat, aka the Paul Collins Beat. The Beat's 1979 debut LP is an acknowledged classic of power pop, and Paul's "Walking Out On Love" was among the tracks celebrated in my 2024 book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). Power pop fan? That's MY beat!

Based on a spin of the album's first single "I'm The Only One For You" (recorded alongside another power pop great, the late Dwight Twilley), it was immediately clear that this record was gonna kick what needed kickin'. Can't stop the beat, man. Can't stop the beat.

1. WONDERBOY: Girl Songs

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

I can't even tell you how much I love "Girl Songs" by Wonderboy. Recorded in the '90s, finally released just a few years back, this exuberant embrace of the transcendent act of swooning over chicks is like the TIRnRR mindset in microcosm. It was unchallenged as our # 1 most-played track in 2024. To paraphrase country singer Beyoncé: Who run the world? GIRL SONGS!

BONUS TRACK!!

11. THE FLASHCUBES: Make Something Happen

Before we go, we wanna say a few words about our # 11 most-played track in 2024: "Make Something Happen" by Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse the Flashcubes.  Let's start with these few words about an already-announced project, then circle back for a few more words about an as-yet-unannounced project

"Make something happen?" Okeydokey! I'm in the very early stages of writing a new book about Power Pop Hall of Famers the Flashcubes. The book's working (and probable official) title is Make Something Happen! The DIY Story Of A Power Pop Band Called THE FLASHCUBES, and the project was initiated by the Flashcubes themselves. Well, I'M in! 

And when I say "early stages," I mean it, man. I've had a couple of planning meetings with members of the 'Cubes, and I've begun trying to find and learn appropriate tech to record and transcribe interviews. My next task is to write a one-sheet on the book's behalf, and then to start talking to the Flashcubes and their entourage. It's all very exciting, and we hope to bring the book to retail by the Summer of 2025. From the book's first public announcement:

"This will be an oral history of the band, with personal stories related by the 'Cubes themselves--Tommy Allen, Paul Armstrong, Gary Frenay, and Arty Lenin--discussing their roots as rockin' pop fans in the '60s and '70s, their formation in the punk rock crucible of 1977, their frenzied live shows with the Ramones, the Runaways, the Police, the Jam, David Johansen, Joe Jackson, the Scruffs, the Romantics, Artful Dodger, 999, and more, their irresistible original songs, their indie 45s, their demo tapes, their breakup at the end of the '70s, and the subsequent recognition that the Flashcubes were a legit power pop legend. This growing awareness and celebration reunited the Flashcubes in the '90s, culminating in their award-winning 2023 album Pop Masters.

"In Make Something Happen!, the Flashcubes story will also be told by eyewitnesses: Fans, fellow musicians, industry insiders, and maybe the occasional drunken pogo dancer yelling out GOT NO MIND!, or swooning to 'Christi Girl,' vowing to wait till next week, it'll be all right. This is the first-hand story of Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse, a band that thrived under bright lights of their own invention."

More details to come. Oh, rest assured there will be more details to come. As I've written elsewhere: I think everyone knows that I'm possibly the world's most insistent Flashcubes fan. The Flashcubes are my favorite power pop band, they rank with the Beatles and the Ramones in the troika of my top rock 'n' roll groups, and I've long wished they enjoyed the sort of mass notoriety and adulation I think they deserve. "Make Something Happen" was first recorded by Gary Frenay's post-Flashcubes band Screen Test in the '80s, then recorded again by the reunited 'Cubes for their 2003 album Brilliant. It's a hit record, no matter how few the number of people who've heard it.

And it makes a dandy title for a book about the Flashcubes. 

"Make something happen."

Good advice.

BUT WAIT...! There's more....

I'm targeting the book's tentative publication date for September of this year. It will be accompanied by a companion project, something we've hinted at but not yet acknowledged on record. That project remains [REDACTED], but it's coming in September from Big Stir Records. [REDACTED] just so happens to involve a number of acts who made this year's TIRnRR countdown, including Slyboots, Librarians With Hickeys, sparkle*jets u.k., Pop Co-Op, Wonderboy's Robbie Rist, the Flashcubes themselves, and (we're hoping) Carla Olson, plus more TIRnRR Fave Raves like the Kennedys, Sorrows, Chris von Sneidern, Jim Basnight and Beth Peabody, Tom Kenny, and others we can't name quite yet. 

But we will. Hell, let's name one more right now: The SpongeTones. We'll hear their [REDACTED] contribution on the radio in Syracuse this Sunday night. It's all part of this rewarding business of making something happen.

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

My new book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) is now available, and you can order an autographed copy here. You can still get my previous book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones from publisher Rare Bird Books, OR an autographed copy here. If you like the books, please consider leaving a rating and/or review at the usual online resources.

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

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: 1/13/2024 (Our Most-Played Tracks In 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 second of two editions of 10 Songs celebrates TIRnRR's 10 most-played tracks in 2023. The Countdown show is available as a podcast

10. THE RAMONES: Blitzkrieg Bop

From my book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones:

JOHNNY RAMONE: We started off, and I think we wanted to be a bubblegum band. At one point, the Bay City Rollers were becoming popular. They had written "Saturday Night," and we then sat down and said, "We have to write a song with a chant in it, like they have." So we wrote “Blitzkrieg Bop.” Somehow, in our warped minds, I think we thought we were a bubblegum group.

And from "Chewin' Out A Rhythm On My Bubblegum: My 25 Favorite Ramones Songs:"

If we had to pick just one track to represent the legacy of the Ramones, it would have to be "Blitzkrieg Bop." You can argue on behalf of "I Wanna Be Sedated," and "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker" was the most important one for me, but really: "Blitzkrieg Bop." The song is ubiquitous, deservedly so, and hearing it always gives me a sense of fist-pumpin' euphoria. Always. Hey-ho, ya know? Here's what I wrote about the song elsewhere:

"1-2-3-4.

"The Ramones set out to be the American Beatles. They succeeded, as long as we don't factor in extraneous things like fame, popularity, record sales, and money. But impact? Immortality? The buzz of irresistible pop perfection? Yeah, yeah, yeah. They're forming in a straight line. 

"It started here, with a fab four of misfits from Queens aimin' for the toppermost of the poppermost, plausibility be damned. What, the Bay City Rollers were already trying to be the next Beatles? Fine. The Ramones would be a faster and louder version, innately more fascinating, emphatically more American. Imagining a chant like S! A! T-U-R! D-A-Y! NIGHT!! to be a prerequisite for radio success, the Ramones revamped the Rollers' approach into their own HEY-HO, LET'S GO!  Number one with a bullet? Not even close. Shoot 'em in the back now.

"Nonetheless....

"Failing to ship and sell the massive volume of hit platters they envisioned, the Ramones kept going anyway. The kids are losing their minds. All revved up and ready to go. 

"The Ramones. The American Beatles. Yeah, that sounds about right to me.

"Let's GO!"

9. THE GRIP WEEDS: Lady Friend

The Grip Weeds' 2022 covers album DiG offers the enduring reward of New Jersey's Phenomenal Pop Combo taking on a splendid array of classics and obscurities alike. The standard single-disc version of DiG finds the Grip Weeds mining nuggets previously, um...dug by Paul Revere and the Raiders, the Zombies, the Velvet Underground, the Knickerbockers, the Rolling Stones, and more; the double-disc edition adds (among others) the Monkees, the Beatles, the Turtles, and Frosty's "Organ Grinder's Monkey." There's even a three-disc version, so, y'know, buy that. Whatever it takes: Get a GRIP!

TIRnRR's top DiG has been this sublime cover of the Byrds' "Lady Friend." It was # 6 on our 2022 Countdown, and it hangs in at # 9 for 2023. Here it comes again. 

8. KID GULLIVER: Forget About Him

The late and deeply-missed Justine Covault introduced us to the music of Simone Berk, first as the lead singer of WhistleStop Rock's 2020 single "Queen Of The Drive-In," then as the voice of Sugar Snow and Kid Gulliver. Justine specifically touted the sheer magnificence of Kid Gulliver's "Forget About Him." Justine was right. Justine was right about a lot of stuff.

"Forget About Him" has become one of this radio show's defining tracks. It appeared on our own 2022 compilation album This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5, and I'm confident we'll still be playing it here for many years to come. 

As we oughta.

Justine Covault said we oughta.

7. THE CYNZ: Tell That Girl To Shut Up

Holly and the Italians' one and only album The Right To Be Italian was a love-at-first-spin record for me, an absolute YEAH!! that remains a legit contender for a list of my all-time 30 favorite albums. The group's signature tune "Tell That Girl To Shut Up" was my initial go-to from that album, and while I came to adore "Youth Coup" and "Do You Say Love" even more, lemme assure you that I'm never gonna tire of hearing Holly and the Italians' "Tell That Girl To Shut Up."

So consider it a big compliment to the Cynz that I also enjoy their cover of "Tell That Girl To Shut Up," and I enjoy it enough that it became our # 7 most-played track in 2023. HuzZAH! Advance word from the emphatically unshut mouths of our resources suggest we can expect a new Cynz album in 2024. Awright, Cyndi Dawson! Tell that girl to STEP UP!

6. JUSTINE AND THE UNCLEAN: The Signal Light

We see the signal light.

Rest in peace, Justine. 

5. MIKE BROWNING: Blood Of Oblivion

"Blood Of Oblivion" was a 1967 single by a group called the Rainy Daze. I had never heard of it (or them) until about a year ago, when we started playing our pal Mike Browning's then-new cover version. Here's what I wrote at that time:

" 'Blood Of Oblivion' is the latest single from Mike Browning, an able 'n' engaging cover of a 1967 track by an obscure Denver, Colorado group called the Rainy Daze. I was not at all familiar with the original, so Mike's version prompted me to bop over to YouTube and check that one out, too. And it's pretty good--if it's possible for something to be both psychedelic and sunshine pop at the same time, that description would apply to the Rainy Daze's 'Blood Of Oblivion'--and I can dig why Mike Browning was drawn to it in the first place. Hell, I wish I'd heard it a bit earlier in my own timeline.

"That said, I do prefer Mike's version. The Rainy Daze bring a period-appropriate...I dunno, preciousness to their recording; it's cool, and very much of its time. Mike approaches the song in a more straightforward fashion, creating a track that's radio-ready in the here and now. Radio-ready? Hey, WE have a radio show! And we're ready to play this again next week."

And we did, and we kept on playing it on many subsequent shows throughout 2023. We can deal with oblivion when it sounds this inviting.

4. THE FLASHCUBES FEATURING RANDY KLAWON: Get The Message

Pop Masters, the most recent album from Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse the Flashcubes, was my favorite among favorite new albums in 2023. Yeah, not exactly a news flash. Here's what I wrote about the Pop Masters track "Get The Message" for our 11/6/2022 show, when it made its TIRnRR debut as a (then-) non-album single:

"New music from the Flashcubes is always cause for celebration. Their new single "Get The Message," credited to the Flashcubes featuring Randy Klawon, is an oomph-enhanced cover of a song written by Eric Carmen, and originally released by Carmen's pre-Raspberries group Cyrus Erie in 1968. In the '60s, Klawon played at various times in both Cyrus Erie and the Choir (the group that included Wally Bryson, David Smalley, and Jim Bonfanti, the three future original members of the Raspberries not named Eric Carmen), and Klawon's presence adds even more gravitas to the Flashcubes' rendition of "Get The Message." The good folks at Big Stir Records call this track 'a veritable love letter to the Cleveland roots of the music,' and we can only agree with every syllable of that sentiment.

"This is said to be the Flashcubes' final single of 2022, their ninth Big Stir single. Will there be an album to follow? We'll get the message on that when the time comes. In the meantime, Big Stir tells us, 'The Flashcubes are alive and kicking in 2022 and embodying the spirit of power pop...just like they always have. And there's more to come!' "

More to come. That was certainly true!

3. JUNIPER: Baby Doll

Our worlds collide. In a good way! From her absolutely wonderful 2023 album She Steals Candy, teen sensation and TIRnRR Fave Rave Juniper covers another TIRnRR Fave Rave, Amy Rigby. And Juniper does a mighty fine job of it, too, fortifying the world-weary shrug of Amy's original with a post-adolescent patina of quiet, simmering pissed-offedness. Both versions are equally mature, and in either case the listener really, really wants to track down the clueless would-be Lothario and swat him with extreme prejudice.

Would serve him right. Bastard!

And it serves Juniper right that she was our # 6 most-played artist last year, and her terrific version of "Baby Doll" is very, very close to the top spot among our most-played tracks.

2. LIBRARIANS WITH HICKEYS: Can't Wait 'Till Summer

God, this is such a great track, dripping with longing, an ache made pretty with the power of its pop. "Can't Wait 'Till Summer" comes to us from Librarians With Hickeys' 2022 album Handclaps & Tambourines, an ace effort that also includes the way fab "I Better Get Home," which was itself our # 36 track in 2023, and our # 25 track in 2022.

New Librarians With Hickeys album in 2024? Yeah! Can't wait.

The Juniper and Librarians With Hickeys gems were in a virtual dead heat for our # 2 spot, rightly so, and both were within a heartbeat of the tippy-top of our countdown. But in 2023, there was simply no denying what would be our # 1....

1. THE FLASHCUBES: Forget About You

I have been a Flashcubes fan for a very, very, very long time. My first Flashcubes show was on January 28th of 1978, completing my oft-cited rockin' pop Trinity: The Beatles, the Ramones, and the Flashcubes. I cited that Trinity when I inducted the Flashcubes into The SAMMYS (Syracuse Area Music Awards) Hall Of Fame in 2014.

Furthermore: I wrote the liner notes to four of the Flashcubes' CDs, Bright Lights, A Cellarfull Of Boys, the live Flashcubes On Fire, and the current Pop Masters (the latter as a supplement to liners by my fellow 'Cubes fanatic Pat Pierson). I wrote a five-part story imagining a world where the Flashcubes had become the mega-stars they deserved to be. I proposed the idea of a Flashcubes tribute album, something that really should come to pass in the real world.

A fan. And proud to be one.

The Flashcubes have a fantastic new album out? Of course we played it, and we played it with the sober sense of restraint one associates with carpet bombing. Album of the year. And the Flashcubes' Pop Masters cover of the Motors' "Forget About You" is TIRnRR's # 1 most-played track in 2023.

I hope the Flashcubes do another album, and I hope it's an album of their originals. These fans stand ready. We have a radio show, and we have the will to use it.

None can deny the primacy of pop masters.

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