10 SONGS: 12/23/2025

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 # 1316: The 27th Annual THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO Christmas show

THE WEEKLINGS: Gonna Be Christmas

Why, yes! It IS gonna be Christmas! Very soon! Following our standard Christmas show introduction--John and Yoko's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)"--The 27th Annual THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL Christmas show opens with this delightful track from the Weeklings' Christmas album. It's a perfect song to kick off our seasonal celebration, its eyes bright with wonder and its heart open to the promise of possibility. It's gonna be Christmas. Here's a toast and a wish for the best of what that might be.

BLAINE CAMPBELL AND THE CALIFORNIA SOUND: Christmas Day

The annual TIRnRR Christmas shows are built in large part with familiar favorites. We don't want to do the same ol' show every December, but Dana and I do have a few specific tracks we're hell's-jingle-bells bent on programming. We never even come close to accommodating all of the music we wanna play, and this year's holiday playlist (like its 26 predecessors) did not have time to include a number of our perennial picks. Santa understands our dilemma, and he does not assign us naughty points for our omissions.

As berths on the playlist fill up faster'n a little kid's Christmas wish list, we still try to squeeze in a little bit of new Yuletunes alongside our beloved classics. We debuted 2025 offerings by Perilous, Jamie Hoover, and the Krayolas on last week's show, and saved this gem from Blaine Campbell and the California Sound's recent Holidays EP for this week. 

QUINT: Almost Christmas Eve

I'm not much of a Hallmark-style Christmas TV movie fan, but I recognize the sweet sugar-cookie comfort appeal of those flicks, and more power to those who celebrate. Love at Christmas? Can't fault that.

Before my mom passed in 2021, I used to catch extended glimpses of some works within this ho-ho-Hallmark genre playing in the common room at her nursing home. I think the only one I've ever deliberately watched in its entirety is 2021's Blending Christmas, which I made a point of seeing because TIRnRR's long-time friend Robbie Rist is in it (as are some of his former castmates from The Brady Bunch). I didn't get around to seeing Blending Christmas until well after he fact--I don't think I was aware of its existence until last year--but it was inoffensive and agreeable, and there's nothing wrong with that.

For the TIRnRR Christmas shows, the Hallmark and Company movie music content comes from Beaus Of Holly, a 2020 production with soundtrack contributions by Quint, which is our Robbie with film director Anthony C. Ferrante. Some years we play "Bows Of Holly," the de facto title theme as performed by Quint with guest vocalist Karen Bassett. Sometimes we go with "Almost Christmas Eve." Can't go wrong either way, and you can stuff your own virtual stocking with digital copies of both songs on the Quint collection Yes, It's Christmas. 

Warmth and comfort. Love for Christmas. Meet cute. I refuse to summon snark against anything that brings joy to the world. 

ELVIS PRESLEY: Santa Claus Is Back In Town

King Elvis I. Repeating what I've said in previous years: It's not Christmas without the King.

DARLENE LOVE: Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)

One long-ago holiday season, back when our pal (and Radio Deer Camp host) Rich Firestone was slavin' away in commercial radio, a clueless suit once told him that nobody wants to hear anything from Phil Spector's Christmas album A Christmas Gift For You. See, that guy's getting coal for Christmas. The late Spector himself is also getting coal; in fact he's probably helping to produce the (literally) damned coal nowadays--warm and toasty!--but I digress. 

We endeavor to include a track from Spector's Christmas album in each year's TIRnRR Xmas Xtravaganza. The picks vary from year to year; last year and the year before, it was the Ronettes' "Frosty The Snowman," and in 2022 it was the Ronettes' "Sleigh Ride." We've skipped some years, but A Christmas Gift For You is always in the mix as we consider what to play on our Christmas show.

The above-mentioned "Sleigh Ride" is the track I most remember hearing on December AM radio airwaves when I was younger, and it's a fabulous number indeed. But the truest classic on the Spector Christmas album is Darlene Love's "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)," and it was way overdue for a return to our playlist. This year, it finally comes back home.

SLADE: Merry Xmas Everybody

Slade's 1973 we're-gonna-have-a-GLITTERY-Christmas treat "Merry Xmas Everybody" was a huge, huge hit in the band's native England, but it's merely something of a cult fave rave on these shores. Pity, because I've absolutely adored it since first hearing it on a various-artists Christmas collection more than a decade later.

Does your Granny always tell you that the old songs are the best? Then she's up and rock 'n' rolling with the rest

Old and new. As the philosopher Linus once told his friend Charlie: That's what Christmas is all about.

LIBRARIANS WITH HICKEYS: Listen The Snow Is Falling

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE MONKEES: House Of Broken Gingerbread

Last week, for the first time in a long time, I listened to the Monkees' 2018 album Christmas Party. At the time of the album's release, I was disappointed--very disappointed--that the Monkees were following up the sheer triumph of their 2016 album Good Times! with a Christmas record rather than, y'know, a real record. This disappointment grew three sizes when the subsequent deaths of Peter Tork and Michael Nesmith meant that Christmas Party would be the final Monkees studio album.

The playlist for this year's Christmas show was already set, and the show itself already recorded, before I listened to The Spoon podcast's 2025 Christmas show. The Spoon, hosted by that Robbie Rist guy with his buds Chris Jackson and Thom Bowers, is always a must-listen event, and their holiday presentation this year includes a track from Christmas Party, as Michael Nesmith croons "The Christmas Song." Papa Nez wasn't exactly Nat King Cole, nor did he wish to be, but his rendition is warm and inviting. I didn't hate it.

That was sufficient impetus for me to spin the whole album again, half of it during my Saturday morning commute, the rest of it when I arrived at work. It's a better record than my knee-jerk resistance to it would have conceded at the time of release. Micky Dolenz has always been one of my favorite pop singers, and he acquits himself well here, even on a palatable version of Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Dishwatertime," or whatever we wanna call that awful Macca song I've despised for decades. Mostly produced by the late Adam Schlesinger, Christmas Party is almost a Dolenz solo album, with two independent contributions from Nesmith, two archival tracks by Davy Jones (whom we lost in 2012), and a heavily-autotuned solo vocal and banjo performance by a very fragile-sounding Tork on "Angels We Have Heard On High;" cancer claimed Tork in February of 2019, mere months after Christmas Party came out.

As noted above, our Christmas show was wrapped 'n' ready before I heard Michael Nesmith on The Spoon extolling the virtues of chestnuts roasting on an open fire, before my re-listen to Christmas Party. The Christmas Party track "House Of Broken Gingerbread" made its way to our playlist on its own virtue and vice and everything nice. Co-written by Adam Schlesinger and novelist Michael Chabon, "House Of Broken Gingerbread" is sung from the POV of a child of divorce, spending part-time holidays at the separate households of his estranged parents. Perhaps not the stuff from which traditional Christmas cards were crafted. Dolenz sings it so well, so commandingly, applying a candy-cane coating that does not conceal its underlying ache and discontent.

(The Monkees have appeared in some form on most of our 27 annual Christmas shows. Our usual go-to Christmas Monkees track is the simply gorgeous a cappella "Riu Chiu" from 1967 [discussed here], but we occasionally play "House Of Gingerbread" instead. This year, I was thinking of subbing "Christmas Is My Time Of Year," a 1976 single by Dolenz, Jones, and Tork, but as I was mulling song choices, Micky's insistent Fa la LA la la la-la-laaaaa from "House Of Broken Gingerbread" stage-dived into the visions of sugarplums that had been dancing in my head, causing 'em to flee for their lives. So: "House Of Broken Gingerbread" got the slot. Fa la LA...!)

THE RAMONES: Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight)

Seems like a worthy goal.

THE IDEA: It's About That Time

John and Yoko at the top. George Harrison's "Ding Dong, Ding Dong" at or near the end. In between, our Christmas show perennials generally include "The Man In The Santa Suit" by Fountains Of Wayne, "Purple Snowflakes" by Marvin Gaye, "Gonna Ask Santa Claus" by Bibi Farber with the Michael Lynch Orchestra, "Jesus Christ" by Big Star, "Christmas" by the Rooks, "I Don't Intend To Spend Christmas Without You" by Margo Guryan, "2000 Miles" by the Pretenders, usually "Father Christmas" by the Kinks, usually something by James Brown, the Waitresses' "Christmas Wrapping" when we can carve out enough space for it. Other than the Beatles' Christmas messages 1963-1969, no individual track has been played on all 27 of our annual Christmas shows.

The Idea's "It's About That Time" has been on most of them. It's my # 1 all-time favorite Christmas track, and it's not Christmas for me if I can't play it.

It's about that time. Gather 'round the Christmas tree, or just around the artifact of your choice. "Happy Holidays!" remains one of many valid and welcome expressions of well wishes, and these trying times are in dire need of as many well wishes as we can generate. Peace on Earth. Good will toward all. It should always be about that time. We wish you the merriest.

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! Librarians With Hickeys, "Listen, The Snow Is Falling"

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. Today, this is THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE!

LIBRARIANS WITH HICKEYS: Listen, The Snow Is Falling

Written by Yoko Ono

Produced by Mike Crooker

Single [B-side of "Jingle Jangle Heart"], Big Stir Records, 2021

Listen.

Each year, as the calendar turns from November to December, I'm generally not yet ready to play or listen to Christmas music. When holiday music comes on the radio during that (to me) too-early-for-Christmas season, I change the channel. It's just not what I want to hear, not at that moment.

Librarians With Hickeys' wonderful cover of Yoko Ono's "Listen, The Snow Is Falling" first reached my ears at the dawn of December 2021, right around the time I began to face the certainty that my mom wouldn't be around for much longer. She passed just after that, on December 9th. "Listen, The Snow Is Falling" was one of the songs from which I tried to draw solace.

LWH's "Listen, The Snow Is Falling" is the virtual B-side to the group's digital single "Jingle Jangle Heart." From the press release accompanying the single's release: "The flip side is a cover of Yoko Ono’s excellent 'Listen, The Snow Is Falling' which was the B-side of John and Yoko’s 'Happy Xmas (War Is Over)' single (for those of you keeping score at home). This version is based on a demo that singing Librarian Ray Carmen made in the early 2000s, and comes complete with a keyboard part played on an old 1985 Casio SK-1 toy sampler. Ray recorded new vocals, and producer Mike Crooker gave it a new mix and EQ wax so it shines like new. He also added sleigh bells and a gong. Get it on!"

Prior to falling for the Librarians With Hickeys cover version, I'm not sure that I'd ever heard Yoko's original, even though it was the flip side of one of my very favorite Christmas records. Her original is also wonderful and sublime--Yoko haters need not comment here--but there is something about Librarians With Hickeys' take that reaches inside of my soul as if to say:

"It's okay, Carl."

I have always sought refuge in my music. This song's contemplative feel suited my fragile mood, a comfort and a catharsis, a beautiful ache that keeps inviting me into its comforting embrace. Beautiful ache? Yeah. The soundtrack to beautiful ache.

The calendar's pages sometimes tend to flutter by a bit too quickly for my taste. But that's me. Whether you're lighting your tree, finishing your eight days of candles, celebrating (or preparing to celebrate) whatever other magic you hold dear, or just hitting the pause button until you can catch up, the radio is on. As the snow falls, the music continues. Maybe it's mocking us, but...no. No, it's trying to remind us of all we've ever cherished, all that's ever provided meaning, all we've ever held dear, and all that has ever held us in turn. 

If we had never loved, maybe we would never have been hurt. But if we never love, we never live in the first place. 

Listen.

Another calendar page turns, and will turn again soon, to ash. Matches, candles, the spark's remnants all covered in short order by the snow that falls, the years that pass, the regrets that sting, the promises that slip away unfulfilled. That is the nature of things, no matter how we try to hold on. For now: Just listen. Let's sit together by the fire. Let's listen for as long as we are able.

Snow falls. I can hear it. I can feel it. And it will be all right.

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

I compiled a various-artists tribute album called Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes, and it's pretty damned good; you can read about it here and order it here. My new book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) is now available, and you can order an autographed copy here. You can still get my previous book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones from publisher Rare Bird Books, OR an autographed copy here. If you like the books, please consider leaving a rating and/or review at the usual online resources.

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

10 SONGS: 9/13/2025

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 # 1301.

sparkle*jets u.k.: Make Something Happen

There was an unconscious symmetry in play when we invited the mighty sparkle*jets u.k. to join in on the new Big Stir Records various-artists blockbuster Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes. I mean, we wanted them because they're freakin' fantastic, and their most recent album Box Of Letters was one of THE best releases of 2024. In pursuit of a better tribute album, of course we needed sparkle*jets u.k. with us on this.

Although Make Something Happen! was my idea, and I was its (I guess) project manager, I wanted the Flashcubes involved in the process. Over and above granting use of their original songs so all of these other fine artists could cover them, Gary, Paul, Arty, and Tommy offered input on song selections and wish lists for potential performers, and they personally recruited some of the acts who agreed to contribute. Furthermore, it was important that the album include at least one new recording by the Flashcubes; they gave me three new tracks, and they're all fabulous. 

Some have commented (positively, I think) about how unusual it is for a band to appear on its own tribute album. I say sparkle*jets u.k. established a precedent in 2000 by assembling I ♥ sparkle*jets u.k. Yep, they piloted the creation of their own tribute album, group members Michael Simmons and Susan West participated on some of the tracks, and it was glorious. They made something happen!

They're still doing that. For our newly-released Flashcubes tribute, sparkle*jets u.k. executed a stunning rendition of the title track, and Michael Simmons mastered the entire album to irresistible result. Symmetry. That happened, and it is something.

LEMOYNE ALEXANDER: Insecurity

I often mention that there is so much more great music out there that most of us don't get around to hearing. Credit our friends Brett Vargo and Uncle Gregg at the essential weekly podcast Only Three Lads for my recent belated discovery of LeMoyne Alexander. Mr. Alexander is a singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer with a long list of credits in hip-hop and R & B, and his recent guest appearance on O3L not only introduced me to LeMoyne Alexander, but specifically to his extraordinary 2024 single "Insecurity." Whoa! I'm retroactively declaring "Insecurity" to be one of my top tracks of '24. 

There's so much out there that we don't know, that we don't get an opportunity to know. With LeMoyne Alexander's superb rockin' pop track "Insecurity," we'll try to make up a little bit of lost time. It plays on this week's show. And it's secured a spot on our next show. 

THE FLASHCUBES: If These Hands

The third single off Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes. And perhaps not the final single off Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes. Stay tuned.

THE VERBS: I Need Glue

From Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes. Hey, there's a video to go with it!

THE ROLLING STONES: One Hit (To The Body)

A single from the Rolling Stones' 1986 album Dirty Work, "One Hit (To The Body)" is my favorite Stones track of the '80s, my favorite since at least 1978's "Shattered," and possibly my favorite since 1972's "Happy." I'm a little surprised that this is the first time the song has ever appeared on a TIRnRR playlist. Our goal is to PLAY the hits! And this is one hit well worth playing.

THE RAMONES: Judy Is A Punk

On this little mutant radio show, we like to refer to the Ramones as "the American Beatles." This week, let's call 'em the American Herman's Hermits, if only for the familiar Second verse, same as the verse! that Joey Ramone employs as a call to arms for his band o' brudders on "Judy Is A Punk." Hermits singer Peter Noone will be the Featured Performer on our next show, and we'll supplement that feature with another spin of the Ramones' "Judy Is A Punk."

RIHANNA: Shut Up And Drive

Good advice. From a previous 10 Songs:

I remember hearing Rihanna's hit "Umbrella" in 2007, and not being especially taken with it. In 2008, the updated version of her Good Girl Gone Bad (Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded) landed into my consciousness via my then-teen daughter, whose interest in "Take A Bow" and "Disturbia" brought those songs to my attention as well. I was a little surprised to discover I liked them (especially "Disturbia"), but I did indeed like them.

I missed out on the track "Shut Up And Drive." I've heard it, but I never noticed it until a random search for playlist ideas brought me to it earlier this month. It was like a brand new song to me, and I loved it.

(How did I know I loved it? The fact that I played it on obsessive repeat would be a pretty clear clue to that.)

Wikipedia describes "Shut Up And Drive" as a new wave song--no, really!--based on "Blue Monday" by New Order. No offense to the mopey British guys, but I prefer it the way Rihanna did it.

THE HIT SQUAD: Best Of Me

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE PEPPER'S GHOST PLAYERS: Chilling, Thrilling Tales: The Eldritch LP

LIBRARIANS WITH HICKEYS: Ghoul You Want

Make Something Happen! isn't Big Stir Records' only new various-artists blockbuster. For Halloween, the friendly spirits at Big Stir offer Chilling, Thrilling Hooks And Haunted Harmonies, a collection pre-equipped with a self-descriptive title that sums itself up so I don't have to.

I'm knocked by this album's sheer audacity, and the collective ability of its participants to make it so. The collection has an old soul, and I mean that in the best way: It effortlessly mixes spoken-word introductions with season-appropriate music that revels in ghosts and ghouls and things that go bump in the night, and it effectively channels the ambition of every 1970s artist who attempted to pull off a concept album of any kind. And, unlike many who made the attempt back then, Big Stir's people do pull it off. Chilling! Thrilling! The Haunted! part is a bonus.

For on-the-air Chilling, Thrilling Hooks And Haunted Harmonies this week, we chose the album's two opening tracks, the Pepper's Ghost Players' spoken introduction "Chilling, Thrilling Tales: The Eldritch LP" and Librarians With Hickeys' "Ghoul You Want," which is my first immediate favorite from the album's accumulated tricks and treats.

Chilling, Thrilling Hooks And Haunted Harmonies is a holiday blessing, even if it is for a holiday not traditionally associated with blessings. We'll have another track from the album on our next show. This bubbling cauldron can use a big stir. 

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

I compiled a various-artists tribute album called Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes, and it's pretty damned good; you can read about it here and order it here. My new book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) is now available, and you can order an autographed copy here. You can still get my previous book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones from publisher Rare Bird Books, OR an autographed copy here. If you like the books, please consider leaving a rating and/or review at the usual online resources.

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

10 SONGS: 5/3/2025

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.

Awww, look at me trying to make something happen!

This week's edition of 10 Songs draws exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1283

THE FLASHCUBES: If These Hands

Around the office here, it's full-speed-ahead toward the September release of Big Stir Records' various-artists compilation Make Something Happen! A Tribute To A DIY Power Pop Band Called THE FLASHCUBES. The Flashcubes have always been my favorite power pop group, and I've long wished for wider appreciation of the group's own original songbook. A tribute album gathering fab pop performers to cover some Flashcubes tunes felt like it could be the best Cubic celebration ever. Make something happen, already!

We've been rolling out teases and previews of Make Something Happen!, and we'll debut Flashcubes tribute stunners by Chris von Sneidern and Callan Foster on our next show. We were also determined to include at least one new original Flashcubes track on the tribute; we lucked out and secured THREE new 'Cubes treats, one apiece from each of the band's songwriters, Gary Frenay, Paul Armstrong, and Arty Lenin. (We figure all of Gary, PA, and Arty's songs inherently honor the propulsive poundin' prowess of 'Cubes drummer Tommy Allen.)

Paul's righteous, rockin' statement of intent "Reminisce" has been invigmoratin' our TIRnRR  playlists for months. Gary's irresistible seizing of the day "The Sweet Spot" (co-written by the late B.D. Love) debuted on last week's playlist, played again this week, and returns to our sovereign airwaves this coming Sunday night. And now, Arty completes the hat trick with "If These Hands," a yearning bit of folk rock that would have sounded right at home on one of the Searchers' late '70s/early '80s albums. 

That is not faint praise. And it's still more evidence that Make Something Happen! seems certain to be one of 2025's very best new releases.

CHUBBY CHECKER: Birdland

On Sunday's show, we back-announced "Birdland" as a track by Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer Chubby Checker. Our shows are prerecorded, and although we knew the Hall's 2025 inductees would be announced that night, we didn't know whether or not the often-myopic RnRHOF would deign to give Checker his long-overdue propers. I hedged my on-air statement by adding that, regardless of what happened with this year's (nor any future year's) voting, Checker is and will always a Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer.

Turns out the Hall did get it right this year. In fact as well as act: Welcome to The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, Mr. Checker.

LIBRARIANS WITH HICKEYS: Gone Too Far

Another track from Make Something Happen! "Gone Too Far" was among my many top picks in the Flashcubes' live sets in the '70s. I'm in awe of how Librarians With Hickeys took this already-great Arty Lenin tune and transformed it from its original hybrid vibe of '70s power pop meets the Monkees into something that sounds instead like a mythical '60s side that only existed in dreams that were too much to dream last night. 

The transcendent result conjures an imaginary lost garage pop 45 that could have made its way to a Pebbles compilation. In my mind, it creates an image of a forgotten sidebar in pop history, where an unknown Midwest combo played local sock hops and teen scenes, and stayed together just long enough to cut this one killer single. The B-side was either an inept frat-rock cover or an undistinguished beatless beat ballad. 

The A-side was "Gone Too Far." 

Then this hapless group's lead singer was drafted, and most of the rest of the group left music behind. Maybe the guitarist went on to be a cult figure in subsequent pop, rock, and indie work, maybe he remained as obscure as his erstwhile bandmates. Either way, this band that never was left us this one enduring example of tattered, battered brilliance.

I made that all up, and I don't have any specific real-world counterpart to any of the above fancifying. But this reaction was immediate for me when I first heard Librarians With Hickeys' cover of "Gone Too Far." They did a fantastic job of making this their own.

THE TREMBLERS: Maybe I'll Stay

In the early '80s, (then-) former Herman's Hermits lead singer Peter Noone had a brief goal of separating himself from his hit fling with Mrs. Brown's lovely daughter and establish himself as a straight-up rock 'n' roll singer. Twice Nightly, the sole album credited to Noone's short-lived combo the Tremblers, remains a stirring, no-nonsense realization of this goal. I've referred to the Tremblers as "New Wave Herman," but that may imply an element of gimmicky fad-following that is not at all in evidence on this fine record. I wish the Tremblers had decided to stay.

SAM PHILLIPS: Faster Pussycat To The Library!

If someone ever pulls off a B-movie called Faster Pussycat To The Library!, I would totally go see it, especially if it were to play at the drive-in on a double bill with another make-believe grindhouse flick:

THE PLIMSOULS: Dangerous Book

Faster Pussycat To The Library! and Dangerous Book. Man, someone get a call into Tarantino. We'll bring the popcorn. Maybe Librarians With Hickeys can make an on-screen cameo, like the Strawberry Alarm Clock in Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls?

THE SEX PISTOLS: God Save The Queen

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE BONGOS: Come Back To Me

Later this month, Jem Records will be releasing The Shroud Of Touring, a fabulous archival document of a 1985 live set by the Bongos. I've been a Bongos fan for decades, my own earnest Bongomania commencing with live versions of "Telephoto Lens" and "In The Congo," as heard on Start Swimming, a 1981 compilation that presented two in-concert tracks apiece from the Bongos, the Raybeats, the dB's, the Bush Tetras, and the Fleshtones. This introduction compelled me to pick up the Bongos' full-length debut album Drums Along The Hudson at my earliest opportunity. Hooked by the live cuts on Start Swimming, the studio versions of "Telephoto Lens" and "In The Congo" became my Fave Raves in the Bongos' hit parade, and they have retained that status nearly 45 years later. I also adored their Numbers With Wings EP and Beat Hotel album, and the latter was a go-to for in-store play when I worked at a record store in 1985. (Until this moment, I was not even aware of a 2013 Bongos release called Phantom Train. I will be acquiring that target shortly.)

As we await the release of The Shroud Of Touring, which will itself be celebrated on May 30th with a Bongos live reunion show in Asbury Park (on a bill with TIRnRR superstars the Cynz and the Grip Weeds), we're gonna spin a few tracks from the Bongos' studio catalog. That campaign begins with "Come Back To Me," a superb Beat Hotel number that I'm surprised to say we ain't played before. We'll hear an earlier Bongos cut on our next show, and material from The Shroud Of Touring will start swimming in our stream on May 11th.

THE RAMONES: I Wanna Be Sedated [Ramones-On-45 Mega-Mix!]

From a previous post:

One doesn't normally associate the Ramones with extended dance mixes. That seeming dichotomy works to perfection in "I Wanna Be Sedated [Ramones-On-45 Mega-Mix!]."

It's loud. It's danceable. It's the bubblepunk of the Ramones caught makin' out with club chicks. It's "I Wanna Be Sedated" set to a heavier beat, with bits of "Blitzkrieg Bop," "Teenage Lobotomy," and "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker" edited in, peppered with prerequisite dance-mix Sensurround moves, but retaining a far-from-sedate line-of-sight with the purity of the Ramones.

I should hate this. I freakin' love it. Awright, all you punks 'n' bumpin' bunnies alike: we can't control our fingers, we can't control our brains. Can't control our feets, either. BAMbambumpbam, ba-BAMbambumpbam. We know what we want.

THE BEATLES: I'm Only Sleeping

And we'll leave the light on for you.

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.

10 SONGS: 4/12/2025

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 # 1280

THE GO-GO'S: Vacation

On March 22nd of 2020--yeah, THAT year--I posted this announcement:

"The building that houses the palatial SPARK! studios will be closed until further notice, placing This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio on hiatus for the time being...Stay safe, with clean hands and the clean or dirty mind you prefer...."

The next day, I posted an imaginary TIRnRR playlist, an Isolation Edition assembling a sequence of songs to reflect my mood at that troubled time. That Isolation Edition opened with the Go-Go's insisting a vacation was all they wanted, the song's bittersweet ache leading perfectly into the mix of anxiety, hope, loss, and catharsis I was seeking at that precise flashpoint of doubt and dread.

Our vacation from the studio turned out to be permanent. We never returned, and that space is no longer ours.

A couple of weeks later, when we made a last-minute decision to try recording the show from our remote locations at home, Dana took the imaginary playlist and made it so. I added back announcements recorded on my iPhone. This became our method going forward, minus the "last-minute" part. What had been a fake playlist became a real radio show, broadcast on April 5th, 2020. Five years ago this past weekend.

Five years and one day after returning to the airwaves via remote control, we haven't missed a week yet. And we began home-schooled TIRnRR Year Six with another spin of the magnificent Go-Go's pining for the unattainable.

It still suits my mood. But its catharsis remains welcome. All I ever wanted? Not quite. It's gonna have to suffice anyway.

(One member of the Go-Go's--bassist Kathy Valentine--will be back on our next show with a solo track, a track featuring the pounding prowess of one of our favorite drummers, the late Clem Burke. We've threaded an extended tribute to Clem Burke throughout the show this coming Sunday night, with four Blondie tracks plus more Burke-propelled treats by the Plimsouls, the Romantics, the Empty Hearts, Steve Conte, Ray Paul, Chequered Past, Dan Markell, the Tearaways, Joan Jett, John Easdale, and Tall Poppy Syndrome. That's gonna crowd out a lot of our recent Fave Raves, but they'll be back, and I think we managed to pull off an absolutely kickass tribute to Clem Burke. We're opening the show with one of the specific Blondie tracks you would expect to open a tribute to Clem Burke. Man, I bet you can hear his drum intro to that in your head right now.)

TAMAR BERK: Permanent Vacation

Well, yeah, why take just A vacation when you can take a PERMANENT vacation? Tamar Berk has the right idea. "Permanent Vacation" comes to us from Tamar's 2023 album tiny injuries. We've since likewise hit the beach with Tamar Berk's 2024 release Good Times For A Change, and we're eagerly anticipating the chance to catch more rays with her forthcoming new album. We have a permanent fixation on pop music, so we're set to crank up some Tamar Berk and hit the road with righteous aplomb. 

CHUCK BERRY: Promised Land

I confess there was originally a different track ("Route 66" by the Rolling Stones) programmed in this spot, but it turned out I didn't have the track on the immediate hand I needed, so Mr. Chuck Berry fit in just fine instead. Permanent vacation route on Route 66 versus vacation destination in the promised land? Can't go wrong either way, and "Promised Land" is my favorite Chuck Berry song. From my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1):

"...Chuck Berry knew well the travails of the downtrodden. Dark skin, humble origin, and destined to transcend everything to become one of the most significant performers in the history of rock 'n' roll. His mind was quick, his fingers precise, wedding intricate, unforgettable wordplay to a guitar he played like a-ringin' a bell. He struggled. He pushed. He got noticed. He got pushed back. He kept pushing back in turn, smiling and duck-walking, while seething behind his flamboyant mask. A nice man? Possibly not, but beside the point. An important man? If you've ever loved rock 'n' roll, you should be ashamed to even ask that question...

"...Into this tinderbox, Chuck Berry brought an electric match: Black music that made white kids dance. He wrote in code—most famously, the irresistibly potent brown-skinned handsome man who became (wink) a brown-eyed handsome man—but he crafted and chronicled the American teen-age dream with greater eloquence than anyone else, black or white...."

THE FLASHCUBES: Reminisce

I'm dying to tell you more about who's gonna be on Big Stir Records' forthcoming various-artists celebration Make Something Happen! A Tribute To A DIY Power Pop Band Called THE FLASHCUBES. We've established that the album will open with the Flashcubes' own ace new track "Reminisce" (one of three new 'Cubes songs on Make Something Happen!), this week's show also served up 'Cubes tribute album treats by Pop Co-Op and the Kennedys, we've previously pummeled your grateful senses with Cubic covers by the Spongetones, sparkle*jets u.k., Joe Giddings, and Super 8 Featuring Lisa Mychols, and we've already revealed that the tribute album will also include contributions from Chris von Sneidern, Hamell On Trial, and Callan Foster.

And there's more. I'm dying to tell you about it, especially about the veteran British rock whose music I loved hearing on the radio when I was in high school, and who just completed his vocal tracks for a cover of the Flashcubes’ "Pathetic." And I just heard a flat-out astonishing ‘Cubes cover by some New York power poppers I’ve been following for nearly as long. Time ain't right for further announcements, at least not quite yet. 

Soon. Very soon. We can look forward and still reminisce at the same time.

THE GRIP WEEDS: Conquer And Divide

THE BYRDS: Lady Friend

THE GREEK THEATRE: Byrd Of Prey

Sometimes the segues just decide for themselves. We've been playing a different track ("Flowers For Cynthia") from the Grip Weeds' current teaser EP Early Clues. Recognizing that a number of other worthy radio outlets (including our SPARK! Radio colleague Rich Firestone on Radio Deer Camp and Bill Kelly and the other boss jocks at Underground Garage) have been playing the EP's opener "Conquer And Divide," we figured we oughta also get in on that action. Willful square-peg status will only get you so far, man.

Given how much TIRnRR airplay has been annexed by the Grip Weeds' divine cover of "Lady Friend" (from the Grip Weeds' divine cover album DiG), Dana automatically followed my spin of new Grip Weeds with the Byrds' original version. Had to be done. 

And given the Byrds taking flyte at that point, I moved the song "Byrd Of Prey" (a jangly number found on the Greek Theatre's new album A Deeper Scar) from its presumed place later in the playlist into, y'know, this spot right here. It's Byrderrific! The science of playlist-building. Don't question science.

STIV BATORS: It's Cold Outside

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

LIBRARIANS WITH HICKEYS: You Don't Know Me

As noted a few column inches north of here, accommodating  a proper salute to Clem Burke is going to occupy a lot of the slots on our next playlist. That means the fab Librarians With Hickeys will get a rare week off from TIRnRR, so let's state again that we just plain adore their latest album How To Make Friends By Telephone. And we just plain adore Librarians With Hickeys, so much so, in fact that...that...

...LIBRARIANS WITH HICKEYS ARE GOING TO BE ON THE FLASHCUBES TRIBUTE ALBUM! I've heard a rough of their track! I can't wait to get hold of the finished version and play it on the radio! And....

You know me. I'm dying to say more. Apologies if I've already gone too far.

SUPER 8 FEATURING LISA MYCHOLS: Pop Radio

Pop radio, turn it up! We've been programming the current Super 8 Featuring Lisa Mychols single "Pop Radio" with all of the manic obsession one should expect from a self-respectin' rockin' pop radio show. We're playing it again on our next show, and we're also debuting some new SPARK Radio promos that Trip 'n' Lisa concocted for us, based on the irresistible chorus of "Pop Radio." Thank you, friends! 

And yeah: TURN IT UP! Pop radio is its own reward.

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.