10 SONGS: 5/20/2023

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 # 1181. This show is available as a podcast.

THE RAMONES: Blitzkrieg Bop/Teenage Lobotomy/California Sun/Pinhead/She's The One [live]

We begin Part 2 of our three-week salute to THE RAMONES AT THE MOVIES with the eleven-minute five-song live medley from their 1979 film Rock 'n' Roll High School. Well, it's referred to as a medley, and it's all a single track on LP, CD, digital download, or streaming, but each individual song is complete. Because the Ramones could do five songs in eleven minutes. Obviously. The laws of physics do not apply to the Ramones.

Also obvious: eleven minutes of live Ramones music is a great way to open a rock 'n' roll radio show. Hey-ho!

Following a 45 B-side in 1977 and the fantastic It's Alive album (released earlier in '79 but recorded in '77 with original drummer Tommy Ramone), this was the third live Ramones performance to see legit issue. And it was the first with Tommy's replacement Marky Ramone, who had joined your Joey Ramone, Johnny Ramone, and Dee Dee Ramone in time for the 1978 studio album Road To Ruin. 

Drumming for the Ramones is a challenge. Marky Ramone rose to that challenge.

THE MIDNIGHT CALLERS: Baby Let Me Be

Man, we love the Midnight Callers. Hell, we've been fans of the group since their earlier incarnation as Chris Paine and the Lettertrain, and even before that we followed Paine and fellow MCer Julien Budrino in their previous combo London Egg. The Midnight Callers' 2020 debut album Red Letter Glow gave us the TIRnRR Fave Rave "41 Miles To Roscoe," and we've playlist-programmed the group's ace contributions to Jem Recordings' John Lennon, Brian Wilson, and Pete Townshend tributes. "Baby Let Me Be"--the first single off their forthcoming album Rattled Humming Heart--is very likely to follow suit. We played it this week. We're playing it again next week. We call it a hit, at any time of day.

POPSICKO: No Better Time

Popsicko's "No Better Time" (from their excellent archival set Off To A Bad Start) has been in my brain a lot lately, for no other reason than because it's insanely catchy and irresistible. There can be no better reason. And no better time.

GAME THEORY: Linus And Lucy

And that's what This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio is all about, Charlie Brown.

THE RAMONES: Do You Wanna Dance

As much as we associate Rock 'n' Roll High School with the Ramones, actress P. J. Soles was the film's actual star, playing Riff Randell, teen rock 'n' roller. But the Ramones are at the heart of it all, and I can't imagine how the movie would have played with its previous intended band Cheap Trick (or director Allan Arkush's teen fantasy of a making a movie with the Yardbirds), nor how producer Roger Corman's original concept of Disco High could have succeeded on any aesthetic level. The essential nature of the Ramones' involvement here reminds me of what Roger Ebert said about the Beatles' first movie: if A Hard Day's Night had been shot in color, but was otherwise identical, frame by frame, it would not have been the same classic (and classic feeling) film as it is in black and white. The iconic black and white images of the Beatles are an essential part of A Hard Day's Night, just as the Ramones are central to Rock 'n' Roll High School.

Ramones music plays throughout the film, mixed with treats by Chuck Berry, Eddie and the Hot Rods, Devo, MC5, Alice Cooper, Brownsville Station, the Velvet Underground, and more. Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee, and Marky have brief "acting" bits, and five on-screen musical appearances. When we first see them, they lip-sync "I Just Want To Have Something To Do," and they show up in a dream sequence in Riff's bedroom--nice work if you can get it--serenading her with "I Want You Around." We played both of those tracks on last week's show. Then comes the in-concert sequence mentioned up top. 

The Ramones return for two more songs at the film's climax. The first of the two is "Do You Wanna Dance," a cover of the familiar rock 'n' roll classic. For a very, very long time I regarded this as my all-time favorite cover of anything by anybody. And while I've kinda shifted my allegiance to the Ramones' cover of Tom Waits' "I Don't Want To Grow Up," I still wanna dance.

Don't you?

THE MYNAH BIRDS: I Got You (In My Soul)

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE RAMONES: Rock 'n' Roll High School

Like Riff Randell says in the movie, Hit it, MARKY! The Ramones play the title tune that Riff wrote for them, the school blows up, and authority is soundly defeated. A happy ending all around.

THE FLASHCUBES: Got No Mind/Dizzy Miss Lizzy

Presenting Big Stir Records recording artists the Flashcubes in their natural habitat, recorded live at The Firebarn in Syracuse, May 1979. I was (and remain) a huge, huge fan of the 'Cubes, who occupy a point in my rock 'n' roll trinity alongside the Beatles and the Ramones. Anecdotal evidence suggests that I was not in attendance at this particular Firebarn show, but I had seen the 'Cubes many times before that and many more times going forward. And I saw them a little over a month after that Firebarn gig, July 6th of 1979, playing on a bill with the Ramones at the first Central New York screening of Rock 'n' Roll High School.

The Flashcubes have a new album, Pop Masters, due in August. It's beyond great, and I can't wait for you to hear it. Meanwhile, knowing that 'Cubes guitarist Paul Armstrong was bringing his other group 1.4.5. to Syracuse to play at last Saturday's release party for my new book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones--the party raging on before this week's show aired but after it was recorded--I wanted to include the single most Ramones-influenced song the Flashcubes ever created. 

That would be Paul's "Got No Mind," carrying the DNA of "Teenage Lobotomy" and "Rockaway Beach" and applying shock treatment as needed. The live version is best, that Firebarn performance preserved on the album Flashcubes On Fire, segued perfectly into the 'Cubes covering Larry Williams via the Beatles. The Beatles, the Ramones, and the Flashcubes. 

My trinity.

I did not expect 1.4.5. to perform "Got No Mind" at my book release party. Happy surprise! We'll hear a track from Pop Masters on our next show.

THE RAMONES: I Believe In Miracles

Part 2 of our salute to THE RAMONES AT THE MOVIES concludes with the defiant and chillingly determined (if unexpected) optimism of "I Believe In Miracles." The Ramones lip-synced the song in the otherwise-horrible 1994 feature film remake of Car 54, Where Are You? Outside of Rock 'n' Roll High School, I'm pretty sure this was the Ramones' only on-screen appearance in a non-documentary motion picture.

With the Ramones' appearances in Rock 'n' Roll High School and Car 54, Where Are You? now addressed, THE RAMONES AT THE MOVIES will conclude next week with four Ramones tracks heard in non-Ramones films. That starts with a little something from a 1979 flick called That Summer! Chewin' out a rhythm on our bubblegum, this Sunday night on TIRnRR.

No, not that rendition of the chewin'-on-my-bubblegum thing. C.C. Ramone has retired from the stage.

PERILOUS: Rock & Roll Kiss

Drummer Paul Doherty was an early cheerleader for my Ramones book. This status goes back a couple of years, when the book was still a secret known only to a few people. Given that, there was no freakin' way I was gonna attempt a book release party without enlisting the services of Paul's group Perilous.

Both Perilous and 1.4.5. rocked the 443 last Saturday, as I knew they would. It was my first opportunity to witness Perilous in concert, and man, did they ever deliver! We played their 2022 TIRnRR Pick Hit "Rock & Roll Kiss" on this week's show. We'll play their brand new single next week, as well as music from 1.4.5. and a track apiece from two of Perilous' seed groups, the Trend and Pauline and the Perils. 

Ya wanna get loud? Okay, we can get loud. It's as simple as 1-2-3-4!

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/

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.

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl

THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE: I Got You (In My Soul)

This was prepared as Part One of a two-part entry for my long-threatened book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). Neither part is in the book's current shorter blueprint. If Volume 1 happens, I would aim to include this chapter and its Part Two brother in a Volume 2. Part Two will post here next week.

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

THE MYNAH BIRDS: I Got You (In My Soul)
Written by Ricky Matthews [Rick James], John Taylor, Mike Valvano, and R. Dean Taylor
Produced by R. Dean Taylor and Mike Valvano
Recorded in 1966, originally unreleased; included on the various-artists collection Motown Unreleased: 1966, Motown Records, 2016

The Mynah Birds' story is one of pop music's most intriguing almost/what-ifs. The group included both Rick James and Neil Young, and they were set to release a single of "It's My Time"/"Go On And Cry" on Motown in 1966. We can debate genre labels, but I think the Mynah Birds would have been Motown's first rock group. Instead, the single's release was cancelled when James was arrested for being AWOL from the Navy. The Mynah Birds ended, Young and fellow group member Bruce Palmer wound up joining Buffalo Springfield, and Rick James went on to craft '70s and '80s punk funk of his own after leaving the hoosegow.

What might have been? "It's My Time" is a strong pop single, and while there's no guarantee it would have been a hit even if it had been released, one wonders how things could have played out differently. The handful of Mynah Birds tracks that surfaced decades after the fact are intriguing, and I wish we could have been enjoying those tracks, along with more that were never made, over all these years that have passed. I wouldn't want to sacrifice Buffalo Springfield. But the Mynah Birds coulda been something.

That "something" is particularly evident in the track "I Got You (In My Soul)." A bluesy number that would not have sounded at all out of place on an early Yardbirds or Stones album, "I Got You (In My Soul)" could have brought the vintage sound of Chess Records to Motown, infused with the energy of the R 'n' B faction of the British Invasion. Instead, circumstances consigned it to the vault for decades. All four of the Mynah Birds tracks that Motown eventually exhumed for compilations in the 21st century have been fascinating; if there's more stuff still to be unearthed, I would be delighted to give Motown some of my hard-earned cash in exchange for a Mynah Birds album.

NEXT WEEK: Part Two, about a very kinky girl.

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 for preorder, courtesy of the good folks at Rare Bird Books. Gabba Gabba YAY!!

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.

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl

POP-A-LOOZA! A Neil Young Story

Each week, the pop culture website Pop-A-Looza shares some posts from my vast 'n' captivating Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) archives. The latest shared post is a little bit of fluff called "A Neil Young Story."

I like it. Your mileage may vary. Just like ol' Neil's mileage varies in the story.

And that's all we have to say for today. "A Neil Young Story" is the latest Boppin' Pop-A-Looza.

TIP THE BLOGGER: CC's Tip Jar!

You can support this blog by becoming a patron on Patreon: Fund me, baby! 

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, and on the web at http://sparksyracuse.org/ You can read about our history here.

The many fine This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio compilation albums are still available, each full of that rockin' pop sound you crave. A portion of all sales benefit our perpetually cash-strapped community radio project:

Volume 1: download
Volume 2: CD or download
Volume 3: download
Volume 4: CD or download
Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio:  CD or download

Carl's writin' a book! The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1)will contain 165 essays about 165 tracks, each one of 'em THE greatest record ever made. An infinite number of records can each be the greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Updated initial information can be seen here: THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! (Volume 1).

A Neil Young Story

One day, Neil Young was home, working on writing some new songs. After a productive morning, a rumbling in his stomach told him it was time to break for lunch. Young decided to reward his own efforts by making and then devouring the perfect sandwich.

In his kitchen, Young began to assemble the ingredients for his perfect sandwich: bread, a variety of cold cuts, spinach leaves, pickles, olives, and slices of provolone and Swiss cheese. As he searched for a condiment, he realized with dismay that his last remaining jar of Hellmann's Mayonnaise was empty.

That would not do at all.

Rather than compromise his vision of the perfect sandwich, Young grabbed his jacket, wallet, and car keys, and headed out to the grocery store to pick up a fresh jar of Hellmann's.

Now, on any given day, it was a quick trip to the grocery store, maybe 15 minutes round trip, if even that. But on this day, Young ran into a construction detour, with no easy alternate route. The detour took him miles out of his way, adding at least twenty minutes to his journey. 

After finally following the detour almost all the way back to his familiar grocery store route, Young made a wrong turn, and didn't realize it until he'd driven an extra ten minutes in the wrong direction. Cursing colorfully, Young corrected his error, backtracked, and finally arrived at the grocery store. What was usually a 15-minute round trip had already taken almost 40 minutes. Circling to find a parking space in the store's crowded lot added another five minutes.

A crowded parking lot meant a crowded store. A small group of fans recognized Young on his way inside, and--seeking to combat his persistent image as a curmudgeon--Young paused long enough to sign autographs and pose for selfies. He then excused himself, navigated the throngs of other shoppers, and made his way to the part of the store where, on previous visits, he had always grabbed his jars of Hellmann's right off the shelf. Alas, the store had revamped its merchandising plan, so Young had to ask for help in finding his target. His 15-minute round trip had begun just over an hour ago.

When Young arrived at the shelf where jars of Hellmann's were supposed to be awaiting eager customers, the shelf was empty. Restocking was in process, and within another ten minutes, Young had his chosen condiment--two jars of it--in hand. He checked out with no further incident.

Traffic was slow on the return trip. Flashing lights warned of a fender-bender up ahead--no one was hurt, thank God--and the bumper-to-bumper parade of vehicles crawled on slowly. By the time Young made it back home, it had been more than two hours since the discovery of an empty Hellmann's jar had sent him on what was supposed to be a 15-minute trek.

Young shrugged it all off. He went to the kitchen, made the perfect sandwich he'd envisioned, and enjoyed every bite of it.

His hunger satisfied, Young returned to his songwriting. He reflected on his day and its unexpected complications. He picked up his guitar, and began a new song:



Long mayo run
Long mayo run
Long mayo run....

Thank you. We're here every day.

What the...?!

TIP THE BLOGGER: CC's Tip Jar!

You can support this blog by becoming a patron on Patreon: Fund me, baby! 

Fans of pop music will want to check out Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, a new pop compilation benefiting SPARK! Syracuse, the home of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl. TIR'N'RR Allstars--Steve Stoeckel, Bruce Gordon, Joel Tinnel, Stacy Carson, Eytan Mirsky, Teresa Cowles, Dan Pavelich, Irene Peña, Keith Klingensmith, and Rich Firestone--offer a fantastic new version of The Kinks' classic "Waterloo Sunset." That's supplemented by eleven more tracks (plus a hidden bonus track), including previously-unreleased gems from The Click Beetles, Eytan Mirsky, Pop Co-Op, Irene Peña, Michael Slawter (covering The Posies), and The Anderson Council (covering XTC), a new remix of "Infinite Soul" by The Grip Weeds, and familiar TIRnRR Fave Raves by Vegas With Randolph, Gretchen's Wheel, The Armoires, and Pacific Soul Ltd. Oh, and that mystery bonus track? It's exquisite. You need this. You're buying it from Futureman.

(And you can still get our 2017 compilation This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 4, on CD from Kool Kat Musik and as a download from Futureman Records.)

Hey, Carl's writin' a book! The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) will contain 100 essays (and then some) about 100 tracks, plus two bonus instrumentals, each one of 'em THE greatest record ever made. An infinite number of records can each be the greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Updated initial information can be seen here: THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! (Volume 1).