10 SONGS: 8/29/2026

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 # 1350

THE HALF/CUBES: The Mighty Quinn

For our 1,350th show, we wanted to mix some of our old TIRnRR favorites with some new and recent TIRnRR favorites. Yes, just like any other episode of this show. We're remarkably consistent. Albums in the Jem Records Celebrates series of tribute albums have been consistent fixtures on our playlists, and we've looooooong been consistent supporters of anything related to Syracuse's own power pop powerhouses the Flashcubes. Combining the two? Well, that gives us the opening track for TIRnRR # 1350.

The Half/Cubes are Flashcubes Gary Frenay and Tommy Allen, working with Randy Klawon, Fernando Perdomo, and the occasional Special Guest Bat-Hero. The Half/Cubes make their way-overdue Jem Records Celebrates debut with this track from the newly-released Jem Records Celebrates Bob Dylan. Many years ago, I remember seeing Gary sing "The Mighty Quinn" with one of his other groups (Frenay and the Rays at Earthquake Ethel's); they sounded great, the Half/Cubes sound great, and Bashful Bobby Dylan hisself would be proud. We'll hear the Half/Cubes' "Quinn The Eskimo" again on our next show.

THE CHELSEA CURVE: Jamie, C'mon

THE CHELSEA CURVE: I Can't Help

I didn't know Linda Bean Pardee very well; we were Facebook friends, and Dana and I were big fans of her group the Chelsea Curve. But news of Linda's passing was a punch to the gut. "Jamie, C'mon" has been our top go-to Chelsea Curve track, and we made sure to include that in this week's opening set. We opened our second set with "I Can't Help," from the most recent Chelsea Curve album The Rideout. We've already been programming that one for a couple of weeks--we play the hits, man--and we aim to keep right on doing that. We play it not just in memory of Linda (though that would be enough), but in celebration of her life and ongoing relevance to the sounds we wanna hear. The music helps. Rest easy, Linda.

THE SPONGETONES: The Music At The Close

Earlier this week, someone asked me about depression. I replied that anyone who isn't depressed nowadays isn't paying attention. Still, we soldier on to the best of our mortal ability, and art is one of the many resources we use to fuel our resilience. Whether as comfort or catharsis (or both), music stands at the ready.

If, like Brian Wilson, we just weren't made for these times, the Spongetones' current single "The Music At The Close" provides a soundtrack that fits the tsuris and uncertainty tsunami-ing across all directions.  As stated in last week's 10 Songs:

"...A 'We'll Meet Again' to meet the overarching yechh of modern times, 'The Music At The Close' is the virtual 45 RPM equivalent of whistling through the graveyard, a joyride on the Titanic, stubbornly blessed with incongruous will to keep boppin' no matter how futile the boppin' may seem. 

"The song was co-written by Spongetones bassist Steve Stoeckel and his Pop Co-Op cohort Joel Tinnel--two longtime friends of TIRnRR-- and if its stiff upper lip might be equally likely to contort into a sneer or a smile, one senses it's open to the promise of singing past the close--particularly if the 'close' refers to what the damned walls feel like they're doing all around us...."

CHUCK BERRY: Promised Land

Take us there, Chuck. Please...?!

STYX: Kiss Your Ass Goodbye

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE COWSILLS: She Said To Me

One of the many cool little bonus opportunities brought to us by doing this little mutant radio show has been the chance to put together several fine various-artists compilation albums for national release. That experience has allowed us to work with so many compelling recording artists from the past and the present, including people whose work we've admired for decades and decades. A partial list of TIRnRR compilation album participants includes the Rubinoos, Paul Collins, the Smithereens, John Wicks and the Records, the Catholic Girls, Blotto, Carolyne Mas...

...and THE COWSILLS!

The Cowsills' 1998 album Global is my favorite album of the 1990s, and Bob Cowsill was so incredibly nice to allow us the use of the sublime Global track "She Said To Me" on 2006's This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 2. Twenty years later, we are still giddy, and we will always be grateful.

And speaking of the This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio compilation albums....

LAURIE BIAGINI: Hey Mr. DJ

The final set of TIRnRR # 1350 needed to open with a track from our own 2022 compilation album This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5. I won't pretend any kind of modesty here: I regard this as one of the very best power pop (or power pop adjacent) comps ever done, and actually think it's the all-time # 1. SPOILER ALERT: I'm biased. But I mean it. There have been a lot of fantastic compilations in this broad category of rockin' pop, most notably the wonderful Yellow Pills collections curated by the ever-fab Jordan Oakes. I won't concede that anything in this realm is superior to This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5.

That album opens with a spoken introduction by my daughter Meghan ("These guys are still at it? Some people never grow up"), leading directly into Vancouver's phenomenal pop songstress Laurie Biagini with a call to action:

"Hey Mr. DJ, play me a song!"

As written here previously: "As much as we've loved pret' near everything Laurie has crafted over the years, 'Hey Mr. DJ' stands at the pinnacle. We realize it's not about us--the song's titular DJ is Laurie's beacon on a Saturday night, the evening before our own declaration that the weekend stops here--but man, it resonates in a way that's just magic to anyone who ever loved the radio. The track was on her 2022 album Stranger In The Mirror; when we started putting together This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5, 'Hey Mr. DJ' was the only thing we considered for that compilation's opening track. It initiates TIRnRR Volume 5's girl-and-boy song cycle (an idea that was a sort-of reimagining of this song cycle). 'Hey Mr. DJ' is absolutely essential to the concept for TIRnRR Volume 5."

Laurie Biagini asked us to play her a song. And we did. It is, after all, what we do. Thank you for being a part of this, Laurie. And thank you for helping us build an extraordinary album. We remain in your debt.

[REDACTED] FEATURING [REDACTED]: [REDACTED]

A great and special new single due out in November from our friends at Big Stir Records. BUT! It's a secret. Can't tell you about it because, y'know...secret. Nonetheless, we can play it! And we're playing it again at the top of our next show. Grab your bright lights and bikini bottoms--bikini tops are optional--and let's groove.

THE FLASHCUBES: Reminisce

And for this moment: All I wanna do is reminisce with you. 

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: 12/8/2023

10 Songs is a weekly list of ten songs that happen to be on my mind at the moment. The lists are usually dominated by songs played on the previous Sunday night's edition of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl. The idea was inspired by Don Valentine of the essential blog I Don't Hear A Single.

This week's edition of 10 Songs draws exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1210: SUMMER IN DECEMBER! This show is available as a podcast.

IT'S MY PARTY: On The Beach Tonight

When school is done for everyone/We'll have some fun under the sun!

Statement of intent. If you're gonna pause the Central New York snowfall for an out-of-season celebration of summertime, you've gotta open with an enthusiastic statement of your sun-kissed intent. And if your sun-kissed intent just happens to involve girls in bikinis, well, all the better.

Rochester, NY's It's My Party! provide that statement. "On The Beach Tonight" first appeared on the 2000 compilation International Pop Overthrow Volume 2, and wound up on the group's album Can I Get To Know You Better? that same year. The "group" is really an ever-changing line-up of three young ladies playing the role of an early '60s girl group--kind of a distaff Menudo via the Brill Building (and 1650 Broadway)--executing both period covers and similarly sparkly originals. 

It's My Party! recorded the definitive version of "That Boy Belongs To Yesterday," the song Mick Jagger and Keith Richard wrote (as "That Girl Belongs To Yesterday") for Gene Pitney, and I tell ya, there aren't many renditions of Gene Pitney hits that can eclipse Pitney's take. "On The Beach Tonight" is still my favorite It's My Party! favor. And it was the undisputed choice to kick off our summer party this week.

SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE: Hot Fun In The Summertime

In (I think) the early '80s, readers responding to a poll in Trouser Press magazine named "Hot Fun In The Summertime" by Sly and the Family Stone as the all-time greatest summer single. It's a fantastic choice, and it was also carved in (wait for it!) stone as one of my picks for this SUMMER IN DECEMBER! playlist. 

As I write this, an email from my local library informs me that my reserve copy of Stone's new memoir Thank You (Fallettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) is ready for pickup. I'm very much looking forward to reading this, and even though I just started reading Quentin Tarantino's novelization of Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood, I'm thinkin' ol' Sly moves into place ahead of ol' Quentin. Hi, hi, hi, hi there.

THE RAMONES: Oh Oh I Love Her So

"Oh Oh I Love Her So" offers solid evidence of the Ramones' sheer 'n' irresistible prowess as a pure pop group. A pure pop group on amphetamines, sure, but a pure pop group nonetheless. Here, they exchange their familiar chainsaws and tubes of E-Z Sniffin' glue in favor of hangin' out by the soda machine at Burger King and ridin' the coaster at Coney Island. Yes, it's summertime with America's band!

(Oh! As SUMMER IN DECEMBER! surfs headlong into the ho-ho-holidays, I'd be remiss if I didn't recommend my Ramones book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones as the ideal stuffing for the stocking du jour. Naughty AND nice. Oh? OH!)

LAURIE BIAGINI WITH MARTY RUDNICK: As Long As I'm With You

The late Marty Rudnick's fab "Some Summer" would have been an absolute natural in this spot, as would a number of Laurie Biagini's Beach Boys-influenced treasures. And "As Long As I'm With You," the non-LP B-side to the Rubinoos' hit cover of Tommy James and the Shondells' "I Think We're Alone Now," was likewise an important track to consider. So much summer to pick from!

Realizing that I also really wanted to include both "As Long As I'm With You" and the Rubinoos' cover of the Raspberries' "Cruisin' Music," it was an easy solution to program the latter alongside Marty 'n' Laurie's ace rendition of the former. Solomon ain't got nothin' on us.

BLUE ÖYSTER CULT: This Ain't The Summer Of Love

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE SPONGETONES: This Kiss Is Mine Tonight

Songs played within a musical salute to summer don't need to be all summer-specific; the playlist should include selections that aren't necessarily about just sun, surf, the beach, bikinis, and the celebratory lack of pencils, books, and/or teacher's dirty looks. There are a plethora of songs that can make us think of summer, many that evoke the feel of summer without invoking its tropes. 

That's why we played the Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations" instead of "Surfer Girl," "Surfin' USA," "The Girls On The Beach," et al. It's why the playlist includes "Windy," "Mr. Tambourine Man," "I'm Tired," "Stay," ""I Saw The Light," "Some Jingle Jangle Morning," and others that aren't exactly summer songs, except that they are. Hell, it's why I almost played "Shout It Out Loud" by KISS. I'm still bummed we didn't have time for a KISS record.

And speaking of that word "kiss"...."This Kiss Is Mine Tonight."

Credit the Only Three Lads podcast for the inspiration that landed the Spongetones on this week's playlist. The Spongetones' Jamie Hoover was a guest on a recent O3L, and that episode's interior spin of the 'Tones classic "This Kiss Is Mine Tonight" provided sufficient and welcome oomph for me to cry out WE GOTTA PLAY THIS AGAIN ON TIRnRR THIS WEEK! 

Luckily, there wasn't anyone else with me in the car at the time. Some of my fellow commuters may have cast a worried glance my way, but what do THEY know about summer in December? No harm, no foul. I'm only proclaiming what's mine.

THE TEARJERKERS: Syracuse  Summer

There was no friggin' way TIRnRR was gonna do a SUMMER IN DECEMBER! special without a spin of the Tearjerkers' "Syracuse Summer." And I say that even though we initially, y'know, forgot to program it. Yeah, we surprise ourselves sometimes. As always, that initial programming blueprint included a few open spots to be filled in, and "Syracuse Summer" shot right into the curl of one of those open surfin' spots. 

Seasons change and you live extremes/You got snowfall covering your sunny dreams/You have to wait, but you want it more when it comes. Yeah. No friggin' way we do this week's theme without "Syracuse Summer." (The Tearjerkers' original 1980 45 is loooong OOP, but you can still get the track itself digitally as part of our own 2013 compilation This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 3.)

THE FLASHCUBES: Come Out And Play

"Syracuse Summer," of course, was written by Gary Frenay, bassist for Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse the Flashcubes. Gary also recorded his own version with the FabCats, the British Invasion-salutin' combo that includes Frenay as well as 'Cubes guitarist Arty Lenin. 

The Flashcubes themselves have never recorded (nor performed) "Syracuse Summer." Had I my druthers, the Flashcubes' current (and spectacular) all-covers album Pop Masters would have expanded an eensy bit beyond its twelve-track menu for some bonus tracks of our Cubic Heroes covering...themselves, i.e. songs written by Gary, Arty, or guitarist Paul Armstrong (and drummer Tommy Allen, if he has tunes any up his sleeve), but previously recorded by some of their other rockin' pop DBAs. That certainly could have included a Flashcubes reading of "Syracuse Summer."

That said, I've been flat-out thrilled with Pop Masters as-is, and it surprises no one when I say it's my # 1 album of 2023. For the summer music playlist at hand, the Flashcubes' Pop Masters cover of Chris Stamey's "The Summer Sun" would have been our most obvious selection, or we could have reached back to the late '70s for the group's own "Muscle Beach."

Instead, we went with "Come Out And Play," the Flashcubes' Pop Masters collaboration with the Paley Brothers to remake the latter's pure pop gem. Because c'mon: What's summer without a chance to go out and play?

THE MONKEES: You Bring The Summer

From their magnificent 2016 album Good Times!, the Monkees' "You Bring The Summer" offers a perfect summation of the implicit intent of SUMMER IN DECEMBER!: Summer from your clear blue skies will melt away the winter's gloom.

It's going to snow. We get it. And, if past is prologue, it's likely we're gonna get it. But I've got snow tires and determination, I've got warm clothes, and I have the most important magic totem of all: I've got my music.

That music brings the summer. Year-round.

LIBRARIANS WITH HICKEY: Listen, The Snow Is Falling

Can't stop the inevitable. Yoko Ono (via Librarians With Hickeys) invites you to listen. We'll serve up the soundtrack, and plow through together. Summer will come again. 

And really: Winter ain't that bad. Pass the eggnog! We'll spin our first holiday track of the season on our next show. 

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 (1200th Show Edition): 9/29/2023

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 # 1200. This show is available as a podcast.

THE STALLIONS: Why

We subtitled this week's blowout 1200th show as "Some Fave Raves From Our First 1199." Milestone shows present the challenge of trying to figure out which among many, many key tracks we wanna spin as representation of whatever the hell it is we do. But the result is always invigmoratin', and even though we had to omit a ton of epic greatness, I think this is one of the best milestone playlists we've done; and over the course of 1200 efforts, we've hit upon some pretty good ones along the way.

I determined weeks ago that I wanted to open this 1200th show with "Why," a cover of a '60s nugget originally done by an obscure group called the Dirty Wurds. The Pandoras covered "Why" in the '80s, but a version recorded in the '90s by NYC punk combo the Stallions just friggin' rules in all its chaotic splendor. For a very long time, the Stallions'"Why" was the all-time most-played track on TIRnRR, almost entirely on the strength of how often we played it in our first few years on the air. Big Star's "September Gurls" snatched the most-played title away from the Stallions quite some time ago, but "Why" is still an integral part of this show's DNA (even though we don't play it much anymore).

I used to introduce this song with a scream, a silly move that maybe two of our fans liked and half of our DJ team abhorred. But I tried to introduce it again in that rambunctious manner for this special show: It's not just any song! It's not just any band! It's...THE STALLIONS WITH "WHY"ON SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARK!!!!!!!

Tried it. Recorded it that way. It was...almost adequate, but not quite. I can't do the scream anymore, so I redid it without the scream. Time waits for no one, Stallion or otherwise. Ours is not to reason....

MANNIX: Highway Lines

When I opened with "Why," Dana immediately followed it with "Highway Lines" by Mannix. Good choice. After two years with the Stallions at the top of our season-ending countdowns, this track from Mannix's album Come To California was our # 1 track in 2001, and it has been a TIRnRR staple ever since. Even more than "Why" or "September Gurls," I regard "Highway Lines" as the single defining track of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio. It later appeared on our compilation This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 3, and it will have a chapter in my long-threatened book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1).

Another saga 'bout another love gone wrong

And the DJ knows what I'm goin' through

In "Highway Lines," the radio playing in the car serves as sympathetic companion to our lovelorn hero as he drives across the country to make one last stand to salvage a doomed relationship. For TIRnRR # 1200, "Highway Lines" seemed like an ideal lead-in to Laurie Biagini's "Hey Mr. DJ." 

LAURIE BIAGINI: Hey Mr. DJ

Hey Mr. DJ, play me a song

As much as we've loved pret' near everything Laurie has crafted over the years, "Hey Mr. DJ" stands at the pinnacle. We realize it's not about us--the song's titular DJ is Laurie's beacon on a Saturday night, the evening before our own declaration that the weekend stops here--but man, it resonates in a way that's just magic to anyone who ever loved the radio. The track was on her 2022 album Stranger In The Mirror; when we started putting together This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5 last year, "Hey Mr. DJ" was the only thing we considered for that compilation's opening track. It initiates TIRnRR Volume 5's girl-and-boy song cycle (an idea that was a sort-of reimagining of this song cycle). "Hey Mr. DJ" is absolutely essential to the concept for TIRnRR Volume 5. 

Hey Mr. DJ; play us some songs.

THE RAMONES: Sheena Is A Punk Rocker

For three years in a row--2009 through 2011--we undertook three year-long gimmicks on the show. And when I say we, I mean me. Dana's not really one for the gimmicks. Our first gimmick was The 50 KISS Strategy, a straightforward vow to play 50 different KISS tracks within a single calendar year. The following year offered the expanded ambition of The Hundred Hollies Initiative, with a vicious penalty for failure: if we didn't accomplish our goal of playing 100 different Hollies tracks before the year was up, we would have to play Bob Seger's awful "Old Time Rock & Roll" as penance.

Our audience shuddered. Cringed. We played 101 Hollies tracks, just to be sure. Crisis averted!

And 2011 brought us 301 Songs About 301 Girls, an effort to program 301 songs with a girl's name in each title. It started with a goal of 200 songs, grew to 300, and then I added one more because Dana played a 300th qualifying track before I could get to my intended 300th, "Christi Girl" by the Flashcubes. Dana may not be one for gimmicks, but he knows what records to play. 301 Songs About 301 Girls was a lot of fun, and it received the best sustained reaction of any crazy scheme we've ever executed. 

And the scheme started with Girl # 1: Sheena. AKA: The record that changed my life, performed by the American Beatles, the greatest American rock 'n' roll band of all time, the Ramones. I could write a book about 'em. New York City really has it all.

THE FLASHCUBES: Forget About You

Although we play a lot of new music nearly every week, a 1200th show should be about legacy. We determined that this week's playlist should only include tracks that accrued some previous TIRnRR airplay. We'll start to address the growing backlog of brand-new releases on our next show. On to # 1201!

But nor did we want to only play older tracks. So this week, in addition to some of the relatively recent individual gems that have already established themselves among our Fave Raves (treats by Kid Gulliver, the Linda Lindas, Dolph Chaney, Circe Link and Christian Nesmith, the Brothers Steve, Pop Co-Op, the Half Cubes, Harmonic Dirt, and the Gold Needles), some of our designated legacy acts are represented by pure gold from the 2020s rather than from previous decades. The Grip Weeds are here with "Lady Friend" instead of "Every Minute," Kelley Ryan with "The Church Of Laundry" instead of something by her old rockin' pop DBA astroPuppees, etc. If we'd gotten around to playing the Catholic Girls, it woulda been their current single "Hear My Prayer" in place of "Someone New" or "Should Have Been Mine."

A track from Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse the Flashcubes should be considered a given for any TIRnRR milestone. Hell, the 'Cubes are a given for us on most weeks. The Flashcubes have classic tracks from their original run in the '70s, reunion tracks from the '90s, and a treasure trove of fresh goodies since the dawn of this 21st century. They even wrote and recorded a song about us, a track which led off This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 1 in 2005.

The Flashcubes have a new album out, an all-covers set called Pop Masters. It will surprise absolutely no one to hear that it's my top album of 2023. Its current single is an ace cover of the Motors' "Forget About You." 

For our 1200th show, we played that one. Legacy grows. Don't forget to smile everybody! It's the Flashcubes.

TIRnRR ALLSTARS: Waterloo Sunset

TIRnRR first went on the air on December 27th, 1998. You can read up on our weird history here, from the first Dana & Carl radio series We're Your Friends For Now in 1992 through the various limited projects that occupied us during the bulk of the '90s, the debut of TIRnRR, and hijinks that ensued thereafter.

As TIRnRR approaches its 25th anniversary, our stubborn refusal to just go away already is enabled, at least in part, by our seamless mimicry of both Blanche DuBois and Billy Shears: we have always relied on the kindness of strangers, and we get by with a little help from our friends.

This strange kindness and friendly help saved the show (and the station itself) when we were all about to be kicked to the curb at the end of 2006. I'm not exaggerating; we were done, kaput, bereft of life, breathing our last gasps, about to transition from -ing to -ed. Our supporters dictated otherwise. Earlier this year, America's Sweetheart Irene Peña invited us to an interview on her Twitch channel, Irene Peña Music, and then surprised us by presenting a donation on behalf of Irene herself and a number of our other talented pals; you see that moment here. We are blessed with kind, strange, helpful friends.

Another example of this is the 2019 release Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio. Available as a Futureman Records digital download or a Kool Kat Musik CD, Waterloo Sunset collects tracks by the Click Beetles, Eytan Mirsky, Vegas With Randolph, Pop Co-Op, Michael Slawter, Gretchen's Wheel, the Grip Weeds, the Armoires, the Anderson Council, Pacific Soul Ltd., and Ms. Irene Peña. It was assembled in secret, and presented to us as a fait accompli. I added liner notes (already stressing the Blanche DuBois angle), but otherwise? We had nothing to do with it. It was all the work of our friends. All of it.

The compilation is toplined by a fresh cover of the Kinks' sublime "Waterloo Sunset," performed by TIRnRR Allstars. Our assembled avengers include all of Pop Co-Op--Steve Stoeckel, Bruce Gordon (the track's studio wunderkind), Joel Tinnel, and Stacy Carson--plus Keith Klingensmith (who masterminded the project), Eytan Mirsky, Teresa Cowles, Dan Pavelich, Rich Firestone, and, of course, Irene Peña. The Allstars deliver a stunning rendition of a much-loved classic, and we continue to play it with some frequency. It certainly had to be a part of our 1200th show.

1200 shows. See our friends? They got us here. And as long as we gaze on all of this, all of this...

...we are in paradise.

THE BOB SEGER SYSTEM: 2 + 2 = ?

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

We still ain't playin' "Old Time Rock & Roll."

THE POPTARTS: I Won't Let You Let Me Go

The very first song played on This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1, December 27, 1998. It wouldn't have been a proper 1200th show without a spin of the Poptarts.

EYTAN MIRSKY: This Year's Gonna Be Our Year

Maybe it will be, Brother Eytan. Maybe it will.

CHUCK BERRY: Promised Land

Is there a promised land? I don't know. But Chuck Berry wrote and recorded an irresistible song about that prospect, that possibility. We may as well keep headin' on down that road. Here's to the promise. Here's to the road that brought us this far. Here's to what we hope we'll find if we get to wherever it is we're going. Tell the folks back home: Dana & Carl are on the line.

If you like what you see here on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), please consider supporting this blog by becoming a patron on Patreon, or by visiting CC's Tip Jar. Additional products and projects are listed here.

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

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

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, 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: 12/22/2022

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 The 24th Annual This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio Christmas Show. This show is available as a festive podcast.

JOHN & YOKO: Happy Xmas (War Is Over)

From 2020:

John Lennon and Yoko Ono's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" was my favorite rock 'n' roll Christmas song for a long, long time, and it's still probably my all-time # 3 (and yes, the two that surpassed it will appear in the paragraphs below). I know that some folks don't like it or are sick of it, and that some even prefer that dishwater Paul McCartney thing (aka "The Cringe That Stole Christmas") when 'tis the season. 

I don't get that. Dig what you dig, of course, but man...I don't get that. To my ears, John and Yoko's Christmas single remains a stirring and engaging plea for peace on Earth, good will toward all. An obvious sentiment? I'm not looking for Proust here. "Happy Xmas" supplies the feels I want in my holiday music, its childlike hope (and children's chorus) never falling prey to the cynical or the overly earnest. It added an aching sense of melancholy forty-two years ago this month. But I never get tired of hearing it.

I'm not one of those who blithely bash Paul McCartney, either. Seeing Macca perform live in 2017 was the highlight of my concert-goin' career, I listen to solo Paul more often than I listen to solo John, and they were equal partners in the greatest rock 'n' roll band this world will ever experience. Nonetheless: I can't stand "Wonderful Christmastime." I absolutely adore "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)."

LAURIE BIAGINI: Christmas In The Air

Each year's annual TIRnRR Christmas show has to accommodate a number of classic Dana & Carl holiday perennials, whether it's Dana spinning Marvin Gaye's "Purple Snowflakes" or me making sure to include "The Man In The Santa Suit" by Fountains Of Wayne. A three-hour time slot doesn't allow anywhere near enough airspace to squeeze in all of the Christmas music we wanna play.

But we always try to make some time for a few new Christmas tunes alongside your Pretenders and your Ronettes. Laurie Biagini scored some significant TIRnRR spinnage throughout 2022--it's no spoiler to say that Ms. Biagini's music will appear in our big year-end COUNTDOWN!! show on January 1st--and we were delighted to open The 24th Annual This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio Christmas Show with Laurie's "Christmas In The Air." 

BIBI FARBER WITH THE MICHAEL LYNCH ORCHESTRA: Gonna Ask Santa Claus

From 2020:

My favorite pop-rock Christmas song of this young century so far, and my second favorite all-time. (We'll talk about my # 1 pick in just a sec.) This track is magic, and I mean it as a compliment when I say it sounds like something of a much older vintage, classic '50s or '60s rather than 2013. It's never been issued on CD. Somebody should remedy that.

DOLPH CHANEY: Jingle Bells

HA! It's a Van Halen Christmas, except without Van Halen! From the 2020 holiday sampler album Big Stir Singles: The Yuletide Wave, TIRnRR stalwart Dolph Chaney shrugs off his good twin--that's an in-joke for the TIRnRR faithful--and embraces the nice 'n' naughty notion of remaking "Jingle Bells" as it would be if the li'l ditty self-indentified as VH's "Panama." Preposterous? You'd be surprised by how many songs you think you know that believe themselves to be something else entirely. Especially Christmas songs! Must be something in the eggnog.

THE FLIRTATIONS: Christmas Time Is Here Again

I often whine about the legions of one-hit wonders who well and truly deserved greater acclaim than the mere fifteen minutes (if that) a fickle public allowed them. From the Knickerbockers to the Bobby Fuller Four to the Easybeats and more, it's clear that a lot of acts capable of coming with ONE!! killer record--seemingly outta nowhere--probably also made other records of note. If more people had heard them, more people would have loved them, and a one-hit wonder woulda been a two-hit wonder, a five-hit wonder, maybe even a friggin' superstar. There is so, so much great stuff out there. And we miss out on hearing so, so much of it.

The Flirtations were one-hit wonders for their fabulous 1969 smash "Nothing But A Heartache." It was not their only fab soul-pop triumph, but it was the only one that got played. Its B-side was a groovy seasonal shot called "Christmas Time Is Here Again," and it oughtta be on everyone's Yuletime playlist.

(And yeah, we deliberately played the Flirtations' "Christmas Time Is Here Again" immediately prior to spinning the Beatles' 1967 Christmas message, which is also called "Christmas Time Is Here Again." Different song, sure, but we hope Santa will make note of our ingenuity on behalf of the greater pop good.)

TALL POPPY SYNDROME: Come Some Christmas Eve (Or Halloween) [holiday mix]

Here's the holiday mix of Tall Poppy Syndrome's "Come Some Christmas Eve (Or Halloween)," a track also heard in its original mix on our irresistible 2022 compilation album This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5. And I tell ya, that compilation makes a superswell gift ANY time of year.

THE MONKEES: Riu Chiu

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE IDEA: It's About That Time

From 2020:

I can't fully explain why I love this song so much. Oh! I know! Because it's perfect. Perfect blend of giddy abandon and cool control, perfect embrace of December joy, perfect use of casual holiday elements--streets painted white, windows aglow with colored lights, on the TV It's A Wonderful Life--to craft a perfect Yuletune like no other. Yuletunes is the name of the 1991 Christmas compilation that gave us "It's About That Time" by the Idea (later Phil Angotti and the Idea), and it remains one of the all-time greatest Christmas albums. "It's About That Time" will likely always be my all-time favorite rockin' pop Christmas songs. Perfect.

NAT KING COLE: The Christmas Song

Phil Angotti's "It's About That Time" is my favorite rockin' pop Christmas track. Nat King Cole's rendition of "The Christmas Song" is my favorite holiday standard. Nothing else is in its class.

A few days ago, we talked about my favorite Christmas story, which is writer Mark Evanier's lovely account of an afternoon when "The Christmas Song" co-author Mel Tormé was...oh, just go read it. That story reinforces the connection I feel with the song, how it conjures my emotional concept of Christmas spirit, of an idealized Christmas from the POV of tiny tots with their eyes all aglow, and a simple phrase offered to kids from one to ninety-two (and beyond).

I wrote this a few years back, and it remains in my mind every Christmas:

The holiday season can invite reminiscence, a collective conjuring of the Ghost of Christmas Past. We remember things as we think they were. We rejoice in memories of good times, wince at the lingering ache of sad times. We picture family, friends, lovers, many of them now gone from our own lives. Death. Distance. Discord. Time.

I remember being a kid in the '60s, excited to open the colorful gifts that Santa left under our Christmas tree for me to discover far too early on the morning of December 25th. Games! Toys! Captain Action! Christmas Eves with family, gathered at my Uncle Mike and Aunt Mary's house. FOOD! A 1970 road trip to see my grandparents in Missouri, delayed by car trouble that turned into a struggle half-way across Indiana. Singing carols with other kids at the Italian-American Athletic Club Christmas party. Aging (in theory) out of a personal belief in Father Christmas, and playing Santa's helper (specifically, Santa's Chief Elf Myron) in a phone call to the child of one of Dad's co-workers. 

A little kid becomes a teen, with Doc Savage paperbacks and Beatles records on Christmas morning. A college student. There is another family trip to Missouri, spent recovering from a stomach bug and missing a girl I'd met at school. The college student becomes a college graduate. And suddenly, a young adult, alone one Christmas morning with a stack of old comic books and a bottle of Jack Daniels, knowing solitude won't last, but knowing it has to be that way in the moment, knowing a loved one is dealing with something much worse. Years fly by. Jobs change, addresses change, circles of friends change. Faces that were always there aren't there anymore. We deck the halls, but feel this loss we may be able to define, but can't deny.

So we close our eyes. And we wish.

In the mind's eye, all is as it was. Everyone we ever loved remains with us. I remember the bright and the dark: coming home from an overnight Christmas Eve shift to share a bottle of champagne and a Christmas kiss with my girlfriend, whom I would marry the following year; my chicken pox Christmas, when I was 36; Christmas Eves with my wife and daughter, eating Chinese food and cruising through Lights On The Lake; doing a Christmas radio show while trying to cope with tragedy, playing Gary Frenay's "Christmas Without You" and becoming too choked up to speak, unable to continue; watching the wide eyes of my daughter as she grew up under the bright glow of the season, and delighting again this week in the sight of her and her mother lighting the Chanukah candles together; seeing fewer and fewer places and faces at family gatherings, always aware of the price that time demands of us all.

And still I believe.

I may not believe what you believe. I may not believe what you think I believe. But I believe. I believe in our promise. I believe in our capacity to grow, to be better. I believe in a magic we make together.

I wish you magic. I wish you hope. I wish you love. I wish you the merriest. Somehow. Santa will find you. Light will find you. Believe in light. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

GEORGE HARRISON: Ding Dong, Ding Dong

Ring out the old, ring in the new. Happy Holidays from Dana & Carl.

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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.