10 SONGS: 10/29/2025

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 # 1308

KISS: Talk To Me

Of the four founding members of KISS, late guitarist Ace Frehley would seem the least pop of the bunch. Guitarist Paul Stanley and bassist Gene Simmons were big fans of the Beatles, and also fans of power pop stalwarts the Raspberries, and those interests are evident within the flash and thunder of some of KISS's work. Drummer Peter Criss crooned the hit KISS ballad "Beth" and the Rod Stewart homage "Hard Luck Woman." Ace's style was emphatically that of a Big Rock guitarist, and maybe hooks and 45 rpm aspirations might not be the first things one would look for within the Space Ace's ouvre.

But the pop element is there, at least sometimes, and not just in his pop guitar power embellishing Simmons and Stanley on "Strutter," "Shout It Out Loud," "Rock And Roll All Nite," et al. It's certainly in evidence on the effervescent "Talk To Me," a Frehley-written and Frehley-sung track from KISS's 1980 album Unmasked. 

ACE FREHLEY: Hide Your Heart

When we decided to play several tracks in memory of Ace Frehley, this track from his 1989 album Trouble Walkin' was one of the first possibilities that came to mind. Frehley was looooong outta KISS by '89, but the song was written by his former bandmate Paul Stanley (with Desmond Child and Holly Knight), and the Ace-free KISS included it on their album Hot In The Shade, also in '89. It's said that Stanley and Simmons adamantly did not want Frehley to record and release a competing version of "Hide Your Heart"--hey, dueling KISSes!--and if that's true, Frehley was equally adamant that he was going to do whatever the hell he wanted to do. I like the KISS version just fine, and I saw Gene and Paul perform it in concert (in the Hot In The Shade KISS line-up with drummer Eric Carr and guitarist Bruce Kulick), but I do like Ace's version even more.

KISS: Rock And Roll All Nite [live]

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

BALLZY TOMORROW: Five Personalities

My big project this year was Big Stir Records' various-artists blockbuster Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes. As I began the process of recruiting acts and matching them with appropriate songs written by Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse the Flashcubes, I was immediately certain that I wanted rockin' pop wunderkind (und wonderboy) Robbie Rist specifically to sing one of my many favorite 'Cubes songs, "Five Personalities." Under his nom de bop Ballzy Tomorrow, our Robbie rose to that task. The members of the Flashcubes now prefer his version over their own!

Robbie's also a KISS fan, so it was a deliberate choice to include his "Five Personalities" in the same set as our Greatest Record Ever Made! spin of the live "Rock And Roll All Nite." You wanted the best. You GOT the best! And as Robbie's podcast The Spoon approaches its 600th episode, the GREM! spot in our next show will be a li'l something by another '70s rock act Robbie's mentioned on The Spoon a time or several. All right, all right, all right, all right....

KEN SHARP: Rock Show

Our long-time pal Ken Sharp is a writer and musician, the driving force behind Think Like A Key Music's superb new compilation Play On: A Raspberries Tribute, and quite possibly the biggest KISS fan I know. For his 2018 album Beauty In The Backseat, Ken enlisted none other than Ace Frehley hisself as guest guitarist on opening track "Rock Show." Impressive! And I tell ya, it was a match made in Cobo Hall. We know some people who know some people, man. Well done, Ken!

ACE FREHLEY: New York Groove

In 1978, the business of KISS was sufficiently huge to hatch an audacious plan for a simultaneous release of a quartet of solo albums. It probably wasn't a good idea at all, but it sure seemed impressive, right? I can't remember anything at all about the Peter Criss album (beyond thinking that I would never remember anything about it, and thinking that even when I was listening to it). Paul Stanley included the absolutely dynamic, Raspberries-influenced "Wouldn't You Like To Know Me," and Gene Simmons gave us a simply wonderful gem called "See You Tonite," which would have been worthy of Big Star. Gene also had a minor hit (# 47) with a song called "Radioactive."

But of the four, only Ace Frehley produced a genuine hit single, a cover of the British group Hello's 1975 UK hit "New York Groove." Ace's version said hello to the # 13 spot on Billboard's Hot 100, making it the fifth highest-charting single in the KISS canon (behind "Beth" [# 7], "Forever" [# 8 in 1989], "I Was Made For Loving You" [# 11], and the live "Rock And Roll All Nite" [# 12]). Guess whoever called him "Ace" was onto something.

sparkle*jets u.k.: Eyeball Eater (From Outer Space)

DOLPH CHANEY FEATURING THE SPEED OF SOUND: Zombie Century

We've been serving up tricky treats from Big Stir Records' epic Halloween compilation Chilling, Thrilling Hooks And Haunted Harmonies for as long as Rutles guitarist Stig O'Hara has been dead--for ages, honestly--and there's for damned sure no need to stop as All Hallows Eve approaches. This week's show included two more debut spins from this horrific-in-a-GOOD-way set, with sparkle*jets u.k.'s righteously boppin' novelty tune "Eyeball Eater (From Outer Space)" and Dolph Chaney Featuring The Speed Of Sound's atmospheric "Zombie Century." And even as we chill, thrill, and haunt our way past October 31st, we'll have another track from Chilling, Thrilling Hooks And Haunted Harmonies on our next show.

BARON DAEMON AND THE VAMPIRES: The Transylvania Twist

Syracuse's gift to Halloween, and to all seasons, courtesy of the best vampire ever. And like "Rock And Roll All Nite," it's also The Greatest Record Ever Made! Happy Halloween from This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl.

KISS: Shout It Out Loud [live]

And it wouldn't be Halloween without KISS. Godspeed, Ace

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.

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1308

Never try to deny your roots.

I became a KISS fan in December of 1976, about a month before my 17th birthday. I liked them before that, courtesy of Top 40 airplay on Syracuse's WOLF-AM, but seeing them live in concert--sorry, make that LIVE! IN CONCERT!!--was rock fan metamorphosis in action. Rock and roll all night? Party every day? Sign this lad up for that!

Over a span of ensuing decades, my interest in KISS kind of ebbed and flowed, though I never stopped (at least) liking them, nor did I ever forget their importance in my own rock 'n' roll story. My first concert. Years later, my first cover story as a freelance rock journalist. I often still flat-out adored a number of individual KISS tracks, and I refused to let naysayers diminish my enthusiasm. Shout it out loud. You're damned straight I will.

We have not played much KISS lately. The reason for their recent absence from our playlists is absolutely political. I won't deny that either, and I won't shrink from it any more than I would shrink from stating my love for KISS when I feel the love for KISS. We are infinite. Our contradictions are but one characteristic of the infinite.

Mortality is also part of the infinite.

The passing of KISS guitarist Ace Frehley demands recognition of what his work has meant to me, and what KISS has meant to me. That debt transcends our finite sensibility, our petty (or not so petty) grievances. In the words of a song KISS recorded after Ace Frehley left the fold (though he's in the video for it): I love it loud.

Godspeed to Gene, Paul, and Peter, still here with us in our world. Godspeed to the Space Ace, ridin' his rocket to the next world. Godspeed, KISS Army. Don't let them tell you that there's too much noise. We need not ever grow too old to understand. This is what rock 'n' roll radio sounded like on another Sunday night in Syracuse this week.

You drive us wild. We'll drive you crazy.

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 all about this show's long and weird history here: Boppin' The Whole Friggin' Planet (The History Of THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO). You can follow Carl's daily blog at Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do).

TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS are always welcome.

Carl's latest book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) is now available, and you can order an autographed copy here. You can still get Carl's 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.

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

Volume 5: CD or download

TIRnRR # 1308: 10/26/2025

TIRnRR FRESH SPINS! Tracks we think we ain't played before are listed in bold

THE LUCKY SHOTS: Jump Start (Kool Kat Musik, Clearly Opaque)

T. REX: Jeepster (Reprise, Electric Warrior)

sparkle*jets u.k.: Eyeball Eater (From Outer Space) (Big Stir, VA: Chilling, Thrilling Hooks And Haunted Harmonies)

EARTH QUAKE: Friday On My Mind (Cherry Red, VA: Looking For The Magic: American Power Pop In The Seventies)

KISS: Talk To Me (Mercury, Unmasked)

BREAD: Dismal Day (Elektra, Anthology Of Bread)

--

ACE FREHLEY: Hide Your Heart (Megaforce/Atlantic, Trouble Walkin')

FUMBLE: Not Fade Away (Cherry Red, VA: Oh! You Pretty Things: Glam Queens And Street Urchins 1970-76)

THE HALF/CUBES: Go Back (Jem, Found Pearls)

BETTYE LAVETTE AND HANK BALLARD: Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go (Varese Sarabande, BETTYE LAVETTE: Take Another Little Piece Of My Heart)

MARY McCARTHY: You Know He Did (Particles, VA: Portobello Explosion Part Two)

BOB SEGER AND THE LAST HEARD: Heavy Music (Part 1) (Abkco, Heavy Music: The Complete Cameo Recordings 1966-1967)

--

THE GOLD NEEDLES: Turns To Gold (Big Stir, single)

FREDA PAYNE: Band Of Gold (Rhino, VA: Can You Dig It? The '70s Soul Experience)

THE REVILLOS: Mindbending Cutie Doll (Captain Oi!, Attack!)

THE ATTACK: Magic In The Air (Edsel, VA: British Mod Sounds Of The 1960s)

FREHLEY'S COMET: Words Are Not Enough (Megaforce/Atlantic, Live + 1)

THE MOVE: You're The One I Need (Edsel, VA: British Mod Sounds Of The 1960s)

--

ROB MOSS AND SKIN-TIGHT SKIN: Caveman (single)

KELLEY RYAN: The Church Of Laundry (Kool Kat Musik, VA: This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5)

ACE FREHLEY: What's On Your Mind? (Mercury, KISS: Ace Frehley)

THE SPECTRES: (We Ain't Got) Nothing Yet (Edsel, VA: Eddie Piller Presents British Mod Sounds Of The 1960s)

THE FALSE POSITIVES: Rocket Ship To You (single)

THE SMALL FACES: Don't Burst My Bubble (Edsel, VA: British Mod Sounds Of The 1960s)

--

THE CHELSEA CURVE: Rally Round (The Sound Cove, single)

AMY RIGBY: Heart Is A Muscle (Tapete, Hang In There With Me)

THE SPONGETONES: Nothing Really Matters When You're Young (Big Stir, VA: Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes)

FIRE: Will I Find Love? (Cherry Red, VA: I Love To See You Strut--More 60s Mod, R & B, Brit Soul & Freakbeat Nuggets)

KISS: Two Sides Of The Coin (Mercury, Unmasked)

THE DONNAS: Strutter (Real Gone Music, Early Singles1995-1999)

--

JESSE BRYSON FEATURING THE KENNEDYS: Might As Well (Think Like A Key Music, VA: Play On: A Tribute To Raspberries)

THE DUKES OF STRATOSPHEAR: My Love Explodes (Geffen, Chips From The Chocolate Fireball [An Anthology])

THE FLASHCUBES: Reminisce (Big Stir, VA: Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes)

THE DWIGHT TWILLEY BAND: Looking For The Magic (Cherry Red, VA: Looking For The Magic: American Power Pop In The Seventies)

ACE FREHLEY: Do Ya (Megaforce/Atlantic, Trouble Walkin')

THE PRIMITIVES: All The Way Down [Beat Version] (RCA, Bombshell)

--

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

KISS: Rock And Roll All Nite [single version] (Mercury, Alive! 1975-2000)

SWEET: Action (Capitol, The Best Of Sweet)

BALLZY TOMORROW: Five Personalities (Big Stir, VA: Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes)

MOON MARTIN: Bootleg Woman (Capitol, Escape From Domination)

PERILOUS: Dear Heart (single)

BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD: Mr. Soul (Rhino, Buffalo Springfield)

--

KEN SHARP: Rock Show (Jet Fighter, Beauty In The Backseat)

THE MUFFS: That's For Me (Omnivore, No Holiday)

THE MONKEES: You Just May Be The One (Rhino, Headquarters)

GAME THEORY: Laurel Canyon Reprise [solo demo] (Omnivore, Across The Barrier Of Sound: PostScript)

THE ZOMBIES: What More Can I Do (Big Beat, Zombie Heaven)

THE RAMONES: She's The One (Rhino, Road To Ruin)

--

ACE FREHLEY: New York Groove (Mercury, KISS: Ace Frehley)

THE ELECTRIC CHAIRS: Max's Kansas City (MVD, VA: Nightclubbing: The Birth Of Punk Rock In NYC OST)

THE COWSILLS: The Next In Line (Omnivore, The "Cocaine Drain" Album)

PHIL SEYMOUR: Baby, It's You (The Right Stuff, Precious To Me)

DOLPH CHANEY FEATURING THE SPEED OF SOUND: Zombie Century (Big Stir, VA: Chilling, Thrilling Hooks And Haunted Harmonies)

DR. FEELGOOD: Another Man (Beloved Recordings, VA: Pub Rock: Paving The Way For Punk)

BARON DAEMON AND THE VAMPIRES: The Transylvania Twist (WSEN, VA: The Syracuse History Of Rock-N-Roll)

THE BEATLES: I Feel Fine (Apple, Past Masters)

--

KISS: Shout It Out Loud (Mercury, Alive! 1975-2000)

This Week's Wednesday

Wednesday is my day off from retail work, which makes it my designated day to record my parts for each week's edition of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio and to try to get around to doing whatever else needs doing. I always run out out of Wednesday before I run out of Wednesday things to do.

Another busy Wednesday. We had an 11:00 am appointment south of the city, and before that we had a commitment to check in on a friend's pet bunny while the friend is outta town. Knowing the sprawling and disheartening Hellscape that characterizes commutes on always-under-construction Syracuse streets and highways nowadays, we left early (9:15 am), provided the li'l...er, BIG rabbit with his necessary morning produce, and we were appointment-bound by 10:00.

The meeting itself was actually two meetings back-to-back at the same office, one with our financial advisors and one with our health care insurance advisor. We were there for two and a half hours, but it was a productive process. We got back to the northern suburbs at two o'clock, stopped for gas, and stocked up on fresh comic books at Comix Zone. Realizing that our only nourishment had been coffee and pumpkin muffins five hours ago (almost six hours by the time we got around to actually eating), we grabbed pizza and chicken wings at Paladino's Cicero Pizza and returned home for a late lunch around 3:00. It would be our only meal of the day, but it was sufficient and satisfying, with plenty of pizza left over for a future meal.

The morning meetings had left us with a few follow-up tasks to address. I didn't get around to starting the radio show until 5:00. I was not able to do much prep work Tuesday night; the individual track annotation was unfinished, nor did I have time to repeat last week's experiment with dragging the files into their destination folder the night before recording. That lack of prep made an already-busy Wednesday an eensy bit busier still.

Nonetheless! Armed with the killer playlist Dana and I had built on Tuesday, I was able to record the show in just over an hour. I had decided I wanted to execute a Featured Performer spotlight on the late Ace Frehley, something of a last-minute decision on Tuesday, even though I'd been thinking about it for several days. I confess I've been mad at KISS lately; we won't go into the why of that, but you would be correct in guessing my disappointment in them is political in nature. Even so, I couldn't pretend the group didn't mean a lot to me, because they did, all of the real-world tsuris notwithstanding. The tribute felt necessary, I'm glad we did it, and I think it came out pret' damned swell.

A little after 6:00, with the radio show presumably done and just in need of a review before forwarding to Dana, it seemed a good idea to postpone its completion so we could make our evening bunny-feeding pilgrimage. When we got back home an hour or so later, I discovered some mistakes in the show: A track on the printed playlist that I'd somehow forgotten to include in the actual playlist, a back-announcement that came out too distorted, some playlist changes that needed to be made to accommodate the addition of the forgotten track, and another back-announcement that would need to be redone to reflect those changes. 

I made the fixes, started to load the file, and discovered the damned thing was incomplete, and I would have to go through it file by file to discover what one individual file had gone MIA. I needed a break, so Brenda and I enjoyed some popcorn while watching TV. I got back to the computer a little after 10:00, compared a printed list of the playlist to the contents of the show's folder, and discovered the AWOL item was one of our show IDs. It's an ID that appears twice in the show, and the folder adamantly refused to admit the second identical file. I came up with a hack, FINALLY got it done, and clouded it over to Dana. It's a great show. It was an awful lot of work, but it's a great show.

And that exhausted Wednesday's options. No writing done on this week's Wednesday, other than, y'know, "This Week's Wednesday." All of my Wednesdays from now until Thanksgiving have appointments and commitments etched in ink on my calendar. That said, I'm still hoping for a bit more breathing space on some of those weeks' Wednesdays, and maybe a chance to fulfill a little bit of that goal I claim as my aim: To make something happen. Come at me, Wednesday. Wanna make something of it?

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.

THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! KISS, "Rock And Roll All Nite [live]"

Drawn from previous posts, this is not part of my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1).

An infinite number of tracks can each be THE greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Today, this is THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE!

KISS: Rock And Roll All Nite [live]

Written by Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons

Produced by Eddie Kramer

Single from the album Alive!, Casablanca Records, 1975

As young rock 'n' roll fans, our needs are pretty basic, and our desires are easily expressed: "I wanna rock and roll all night, and party every day."

In the mid-'70s, I was a pop-obsessed teenager in love with my AM radio. I was old enough to remember the British Invasion, and my affection for '60s rockin' pop remained undimmed: The Beatles. The Dave Clark Five. The Animals. The Monkees. The Hollies. Paul Revere and the Raiders. Over time, those stalwarts had been joined (but never replaced) by irresistible '70s radio fare by Badfinger, Alice Cooper, Slade, Raspberries, Sweet. Somewhere in there, I developed an insatiable taste for the Kinks. 

That period of late 1976 through the end of '77 saw a huge transition in my musical tastes. Or did it? As I bought more records, as I burrowed through used records stores and flea markets, as I learned about exciting new stuff in Phonograph Record Magazine, as free-form FM radio drew my attention away from the increasingly disco-dominated AM airwaves...as all this was going on, I still loved the Beatles.  And everything else I loved was an extension of that.

And that included KISS. KISS was a pop band, and a very good pop band at that. The best KISS records were infectious in a way Led Zeppelin wasn't, accessible in a way Pink Floyd and ELP could never be, thrilling in a way that the Bee Gees would never even understand. KISS, though certainly not a punk band, was also my gateway to punk, a whole new world that nonetheless still drew inspiration from the prevailing and pervasive appeal of 45 rpm records played loud and distorted over a tiny transistor radio speaker.  

I saw KISS in December of '76; a year later, I wrote my first-ever piece of rock criticism, an emeritus contribution to my high school newspaper, drawing a line forward from the greatness of the Beatles to the virtues of the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, Blondie, the Rubinoos...and KISS. Punk. Pop. Rock 'n' roll. For me, it was all part of the same continuum, and I loved it all.  I still do.

Not only was "Rock And Roll Alll Nite" the first KISS record I ever heard, it is beyond doubt the sine qua non of KISSdom, the one thing without which there is no other thing. I got into the original studio version in the early '80s, when I snapped up a beat-up free copy of the 1975 Dressed To Kill album (the same album that gave us a superb, underrated LP track called "Anything For My Baby"). But the in-concert version from Alive!, also in '75, is definitive. It really is what put KISS on the map, what got them on AM radio, and what brought them to my ears in the first place. Hijinks ensued, even if the result was belated for teen me. Rock 'n' roll all night. Party every day. Message received. Initiative approved. You drive us wild. We'll drive you crazy.

I avoid getting sucked into arguments about whether or not KISS is power pop; they're not, but honestly, I think some of their songs (particularly "Rock And Roll All Nite" and "Shout It Out Loud") come closer to my idea of power pop than, say, 20/20's (still wonderful) "Yellow Pills" does. KISS isn't my all-time favorite rock 'n' roll group, but I'm always going to have a spot in my heart for them, and I'm always going to dig in my heels and reject the blabbering of anyone who tries to tell me not to like KISS. I'm in charge of what I like and what I don't like.

Love of music is its own reward. Enthusiasm is its own reward. All of us who do anything at all within this broad category of indie pop music--performers, players, singers, producers, songwriters, promoters, record label go-getters, DJs, pop journalists, bloggers, even naive mooks who write books about The Greatest Record Ever Made!--do whatever the hell it is we do because we feel a compelling desire to do it. We'd like some financial reward--I would, anyway--but chasing the dollar isn't our primary motivation. We love the music. We love the experience of music. We love the sheer sense of life within the grooves of the music we love so much.

Maybe KISS isn't the most appropriate band to attach to a stated embrace of music without mercenary goals. But "Rock And Roll All Nite" is a perfect song. It's cool. It's hot! It's sincere, it matters, and it's about something of great importance to me:

It's about making something happen. 

We absolutely mean it. We couldn't keep on shouting--and we do keep on shouting--if it weren't the motherlovin' truth.

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...no, 11 SONGS!: 5/31/2025

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 expands to 11 songs, and draws exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1287

THE SPONGETONES: Lulu's In Love

From Sir, with love. New music from North Carolina's phenomenal pop combo the Spongetones is always a welcome (if rare) cause for a round of Oh YEAH!s, so we're dead chuffed to begin this week's proceedings with the group's brand-new single "Lulu's In Love." 

Not counting their collaboration with the Flashcubes on the latter's WAY fab 2016 remake of the Spongetones' "Have You Ever Been Torn Apart," this new single is the Spongetones' first group appearance on the Big Stir Records label. "Lulu's In Love" also serves as the recorded debut of the group's new drummer Eric Willhelm, joining bassist Steve Stoeckel and guitarists Jamie Hoover and Pat Walters as they devise the next step in the Spongetones' master pop plan. "Lulu's In Love" is the first of three new 'Tones studio singles, and Big Stir will be collecting all three singles later this year in a special package with some live music recorded at the Spongetones' 40th Anniversary gig. The Spongetones' legacy of beat music survives and thrives. No wonder Lulu loves them so.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: Hurry Up Sundown

TAYLOR SWIFT: The Last Great American Dynasty [Long Pond Studio Session]

Here's to a pair of American folk heroes, Bruce Springsteen and Taylor Swift. Their celebrity gives them a forum if they choose to use it, and I'm delighted that they've both opted to speak out against homegrown tyranny. Even at their dizzying level of fame and acclaim, they are not necessarily insulated from the threat of pushback, and I respect them all the more for doing the right thing anyway. Born in the USA? It's a love story, so baby just say YES.

From the 2014 EP American Beauty, "Hurry Up Sundown" is one of my favorite Boss tunes. I've never been a Springsteen fan on the level of so many of my peers, but nor would I or could I ever deny the man's passion and accomplishment. He's recorded a number of things I like, a handful of works I love, and one song--"Girls In Their Summer Clothes"--that I just adore. My book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) includes a chapter on "Girls In Their Summer Clothes," and that articulates my feelings about Springsteen better than anything else I could ever attempt in that regard.

I'm not in Taylor Swift's demo, but I've come to appreciate her more and more, and I've even discovered a few of her tracks capable of annexing some pop-starved corner of my little wheelhouse. This is particularly true of "The Last Great American Dynasty," a stunning track from Swift's 2020 album Folklore; it's even more true of the alternate version of "The Last Great American Dynasty" found on Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, which feels more intimate and artful. As I said to a friend recently: I can't see anyone who likes Rumours-era Stevie Nicks disliking "The Last Great American Dynasty."

And I'm glad we have both Bruce and Taylor on our side.

THE BONGOS: The Beat Hotel

THE CYNZ: Heartbreak Time

THE GRIP WEEDS: Gene Clark (Broken Wing)

Tonight in Asbury Park, the Bongos--one of my many favorite bands of the 1980s--will be marking the release of their fabulous archival in-concert album The Shroud Of Touring: Live In 1985 with a reunion gig. TIRnRR Fave Raves the Cynz and the Grip Weeds are also on the bill with their Jem Records labelmates the Bongos, and I really, really wanted to be in attendance. Alas, I wasn't able to execute the logistics of making the trip, so I have to sit this one out. It's going to be an incredible show, and I'm bummed that I have to miss it. But we spin a track apiece from each of the three groups as a virtual long-distance cigarette lighter held high above our heads.

We've been programming the recent singles by the Cynz ("Heartbreak Time") and the Grip Weeds ("Gene Clark [Broken Wing]") anyway, and we've been on a weekly Bongos kick as well, starting with studio tracks then moving to live cuts from The Shroud Of Touring as soon as they were cleared for airplay. Other than a spin of the live "In The Congo"--probably my single favorite Bongos song--we've been sticking with Bongos numbers (with wings!) that have never made it to any previous TIRnRR playlist in either a live or a studio incarnation.

That continues with this week's airing of "The Beat Hotel" from The Shroud Of Touring. The studio version was the title track from an album the Bongos released when I was working at a record store in the '80s. I gave it a lot of in-store play, and I can't believe I never got around to playing it on the radio before including its live performance in this week's show.

We'll have another track from The Shroud Of Touring on our next show, a song we have played in its original studio version, but which wasn't originally credited as an official Bongos track. And we toast all of our friends in Asbury Park tonight. Wish we were there.

KISS: Calling Dr. Love

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE FLASHCUBES: Reminisce

Ahead of the September release of Make Something Happen! A Tribute To A DIY Power Pop Band Called THE FLASHCUBES, our friends at Big Stir Records have announced a June 27 date for the various-artists tribute album's first digital single: "Reminisce" by the Flashcubes with Mike Gent.

Our regular listeners already know the song quite well. We've been playing "Reminisce" for months, each spin somehow even more enthusiastic than the last. After a few years celebrating the Flashcubes' prowess in covering other artists, it was imperative to remind all 'n' sundry of the magnificence to be found in the band's own songwriting catalog. Hence a tribute album, gathering a bunch of accomplished rockin' pop performers to offer their own interpretations of some Cubic classics. 

I felt it was important--very important--that this tribute album should also include at least one newly-recorded original track by the Flashcubes themselves. Independent of what passes for my thought process, the 'Cubes were already working on three new tracks--"Reminisce" by Paul Armstrong, "If These Hands" by Arty Lenin, and "The Sweet Spot" by Gary Frenay (with the late B. D. Love)--so this was a match made in Bomp! magazine.

In addition to being the first single, "Reminisce" will open the album, kicking off this magic immersion in the Flashcubes' songbook, culminating in the Spongetones' album-closing cover of Arty Lenin's "Nothing Really Matters When You're Young." Make Something Happen! is a fantastic record, and I'm looking forward to the day you can hear it in its entirety. For now, we start with the single. June 27th will be your first opportunity to make something happen.

(An advance look at my liner notes for Make Something Happen! will be distributed privately to my $3-a-month paid Patreon supporters tomorrow, along with a mostly-unredacted look at the album's line-up. Wanna see it? Fund me, baby!)

THE RAMONES: Rockaway Beach

HEY!WE'RETHERAMONESANDTHISONE'SCALLED"ROCKAWAYBEACH!"

Outside of the Beatles, no band has ever meant more to me than the American Beatles, the greatest American rock 'n' roll band of all time, the Ramones. The Flashcubes are the only other band in my all-time pop Trinity. The Ramones were the subject of my first book, and the creators of the record that changed my life. It's Alive is my favorite live album.

This week's spin of "Rockaway Beach" comes from NYC 1978, a 2003 King Biscuit Flower Hour CD that preserves a January 7th, 1978 Ramones performance at the Palladium. That date was eight days after the London New Year's Eve performance captured on It's Alive, ten days before my 18th birthday (which was the day I bought the "Rockaway Beach" 45), and about a week shy of three months before the March 31st, 1978 Ramones/Flashcubes/Runaways Syracuse gig that was my first Ramones show.

There is no substitute for live Ramones. There's also no substitute for studio Ramones, but let's talk in-concert brudders for a sec. Both It's Alive and NYC 1978 offer essential shots of Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee, and Tommy in their natural element.

It's not hard, not far to reach. Everything is as it was then...except you are there. Take it, Dee Dee!

BEATLES: No Reply

Speaking of the Beatles: 

If I were you I'd realize that I

Love you more than any other guy

And I'd forgive the lies that I

Heard before when you gave me no reply

Pop music's best bridge ever. Narrowly edging out the Beatles' "I Don't Want To Spoil The Party," which narrowly edges out Badfinger's Beatles-inspired "Baby Blue." Toppermost of the poppermost, lads.

DAVIE ALLAN AND THE ARROWS: Blues' Theme

Our old theme song! Before the late-evening dawn (What...?!) of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio at the very end of 1998, the first Dana and Carl radio shows were the short-lived 1992 series We're Your Friends For Now. The trek from We're Your Friends For Now through the first two decades of TIRnRR is chronicled in my mini-memoir Boppin' The Whole Friggin' Planet (The History Of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio).

On We're Your Friends For Now, our opening and closing theme song was usually Davie Allan and the Arrows' chopperrific classic "Blues' Theme." It's a track from the soundtrack of The Wild Angels, a 1966 biker flick starring Peter Fonda (as Blues) and Nancy Sinatra (as Blues' go'geous girlfriend Mike).

I saw The Wild Angels on a mid-'70s matinee double bill with The Born Losers, the 1967 film that introduced Tom Laughlin as Billy Jack. At the time, I didn't pay much attention to "Blues' Theme," and I don't recall what sequence of circumstance led me back to the song in the '80s. It became one of my top tunes, so I was more than all-in when Dana started playing it at the Hola! and Sayonara! spots in each week's exciting episode of We're Your Friends For Now.

And it still sounds great--and chopperrific!--ridin' into the sunset of this week's eleven-song 10 Songs. Hey, Blues! Tell Mike we said hi.

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 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.