10 SONGS: 3/15/2025

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 # 1276

DAVID JOHANSEN: Cool Metro

BADFINGER: Got To Get Out Of Here

About two weeks ago, I received an email from my long-time pal Beth informing me of the death of David Johansen. As a solo artist and as the lead singer of the New York Dolls, Johansen's work was of enormous importance to me. Beth had a reasonable (and correct) expectation that TIRnRR would be paying tribute to Johansen at our earliest opportunity, and I immediately set to work sketching out a blueprint for that very thing.

The next day, we learned that Badfinger guitarist Joey Molland had also passed. Badfinger's "Baby Blue" is THE # 1 song on my all-time Hot 100; it was the subject of my very first Greatest Record Ever Made! essay, which was subsequently an important early chapter in my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). Given this radio show's affectionate debt to the Dolls and Badfinger, it seemed imperative for us to attempt proper tributes to both Johansen and Molland.

We opened this week's program with "Cool Metro," a track from Johansen's first solo album. The song was co-written by David Jo and former Dolls guitarist Sylvain Sylvain, it sounds like it could have been a Dolls song, and it was also the designated opening salvo in the David Johansen Group's live shows in the late '70s. There could be no other selection to kick things off for us here.

We made an early decision to place less emphasis on Badfinger's best-known material. Molland had not yet joined Badfinger when they recorded their first hit (the Paul McCartney-penned "Come And Get It"), and the other hits--"Baby Blue," "No Matter What," and "Day After Day," plus the oft-covered LP track "Without You"--were all written by the group's other guitarist, Pete Ham. We threw in one of the hits at show's end, but our other three Badfinger picks--"Got To Get Out Of Here," "Love Is Easy," and "Love Is Gonna Come At Last"--were written by Molland. "Got To Get Out Of Here" (from the group's 1974 album Wish You Were Here) was the first such track to pop into my mind, and it's a good one. I didn't score a copy of Wish You Were Here until many years after the fact, so my introduction to "Got To Get Out Of Here" came via Rhino Records' 1990 compilation The Best Of Badfinger Volume II. Very cool track, regardless of how one gets to it.

NATURAL GAS: I've Been Waitin'

Prior to assembling potential tracks for our salute to Joey Molland, I was not at all familiar with Natural Gas, the group Molland joined after leaving Badfinger. The band's name practically plods with period AOR anonymity, but their lone album from 1976 is pretty good, and Molland's "I've Been Waitin'" offers a very nice slice of '70s heavy rockin' pop.

JOEY MOLLAND: Rainy Day Man

Joey Molland's final solo album Be True To Yourself was released in 2020, and it was and remains such an agreeably pop record, Beatley and Badfingery without pandering or nostalgia-mongering. We were immediately drawn to its track "Rainy Day Man," and if that wasn't the single it should have been. Gorgeous.

DAVID JOHANSEN: Frenchette

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

JOEY MOLLAND: You Make Me Sick

"You Make Me Sick" was a track on Joey Molland's 1992 album The Pilgrim, which I reviewed an approximate million years ago when I was a freelance writer for Goldmine magazine:

"While the world waits for the remainder of the Badfinger catalog to finally see reissue, former 'Finger Joey Molland returns with his first solo album in ages. Casual Badfinger fans may not be blown away by The Pilgrim, but more serious fans will take cautious delight in this long-awaited work.

"The album opens with its most aggressive track, the anti-Gulf War 'You Make Me Sick.' Subsequent tracks vary stylistically from the ballad 'No One Likes The Rain' to 'Your Eyes,' a rocker reminiscent of Nick Lowe. 'Vampire Wedding' dips into Anne Rice territory, while 'All The Way' (the album's original title track) simply drones on for too long.

"It's somewhat surprising to note that each track retains an indefinable but unmistakable Apple flavor--the songs sound of a piece, not only with Badfinger's now-classic recordings for the Apple label, but also with work by former label mate Jackie Lomax. This may be attributed to a critic's overactive imagination, but the Apple sound (if there is such a thing) is definitely still in the grooves for Molland.

"We'd like to say that the material here rivals Badfinger hits like 'Baby Blue' and 'No Matter What,' but that would be stretching the truth to the point of, well, outright lying. Molland is not the late Pete Ham, and we wouldn't even bother with the comparison if the Rock Critics' Code didn't specifically require that the current work of former Apple artists be constantly contrasted with their work of over 20 years ago. Sorry, but them's union rules.

"Really, Molland shouldn't need to rely on past glories. The fact that he didn't go for the easy name recognition and release this as an album by Joey Molland's Badfinger (the name under which he tours) is admirable, and makes the point that it's time to treat Molland as the solo artist he is. For Badfinger fans, The Pilgrim builds successfully upon Molland's previous work. For novices, this is as good a place as any to start. Come and get it."

Shortly before the release of Be True To Yourself in 2020, Dana pulled out "You Make Me Sick" for a spin, prompting me to write:

"We're looking forward to former Badfinger guitarist Joey Molland's new album Be True To Yourself, which is due out in October, and which features support from the likes of Micky Dolenz, Julian Lennon, Mark Hudson, and more. While we're waiting, Dana programmed this antiwar track from Molland's 1992 album The Pilgrim for our listening pleasure. I reviewed The Pilgrim for Goldmine when it was released, but I hadn't heard the song in years. It holds up, and I'm eager to hear Joey's new stuff."

THE DAVID JOHANSEN GROUP: Babylon

As noted somewhere up above, David Johansen and Sylvain Sylvain continued to work together for a bit after the demise of the Dolls. Sylvain was an early member of the David Johansen Group; he had moved on from that band before I got to see them in the summer of '79, but he's on this 1978 live recording, which was finally released in 1993 as The David Johansen Group Live.

And you know who else is on it? The Dolls' other guitarist, Johnny Thunders, called up from the audience by Johansen (Hey, JT! Why don'tcha come up an' do a number wid us?) in what was presumably a planned reunion but feels as gloriously chaotic as it woulda felt as mere happenstance. So we have 3/5 of the Dolls--a quorum!--assembled like grungy Avengers for a run-through of the Dolls' "Babylon." Come ON, boys!

MEDLEY:

THE NEW YORK DOLLS: Personality Crisis/

BUSTER POINDEXTER AND HIS BANSHEES OF BLUE: Hot Hot Hot

Like Johansen's "Frenchette," the Dolls' "Personality Crisis" is also The Greatest Record Ever Made! An infinite number, man, and TIRnRR has been qualifying the absolute since 1998. If I ever do another Greatest Record Ever Made! book, it will probably include my "Personality Crisis" and "Frenchette" chapters placed together in sequence.

The natural pause in "Personality Crisis" invites the addition of some other song smack dab in its middle, inserted right before Johansen cries, And yo' a prima ballerina on a spring afternoon! The first time I saw the David Johansen Group in '79, they performed "Personality Crisis" as a medley with Donna Summer's rock number "Hot Stuff." For TIRnRR's tribute to DJ, I wanted to edit in "Hot Hot Hot," the signature tune by Johansen's swingin' alter ego Buster Poindexter. A personality crisis! 

BADFINGER: No Matter What

Our salute to David Johansen gathered four tracks apiece by the Dolls and DJ solo, two by the David Johansen Group, Johansen's duet with Robin Johnson for the soundtrack of Times Square, and Buster Poindexter's "Hot Hot Hot." For our Joey, we offered four apiece by Badfinger and Joey Molland solo, one by Natural Gas, examples of his guest appearances with John and Mary, George Harrison, and John Lennon, and we threw in Paranoid Lovesick's cover of Joey's Badfinger composition "Icicles."

And at last, we closed the main portion of show with one of Badfinger's hits. We went with the popular choice "No Matter What" (from No Dice, the only Badfinger LP I owned in the '70s). Could have been "Baby Blue." Coulda been "Day After Day." We couldn't go wrong any way, no matter what. For our encore, we circled back to a live performance of "Baby Blue" by Joey Molland's Badfinger.

Godspeed, Joey Molland, and Godspeed David Johansen. We'll see you again when our time comes. But we'll hear you again right now. 

And always.

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.

THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! David Johansen, "Frenchette"

This is not part of my current book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). If I do a Volume 2, this will probably be included in that.

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

DAVID JOHANSEN: Frenchette

Written by David Johansen and Sylvain Sylvain

Produced by Richard Robinson and David Johansen

From the album David Johansen, Blue Sky Records, 1978

There was this guy from Staten Island. A singer. He was in a band, a loud, sloppy, garish mess of a rock 'n' roll band. Some said they couldn't play. Their fans said they didn't care. The band got signed, made records, looked fine on television. Readers of CREEM magazine voted them the best new band of 1973, and at the same time voted them the worst new band of 1973. All and nothing. They didn't sell a lot of records. They were as influential as nearly any band that didn't sell a lot of records could even dream of being...but again, they didn't sell a lot of records. This best new band of '73/worst new band of '73 broke up. Too much, too soon.

So if you're this guy, this singer from Staten Island: What the hell do you for your second act?

Improvise. Reinvent, from gutter glam to funky but chic. Retain the grit, smooth its edges. Survive.

David Johansen was an incredible performer. He was a magnetic, preening frontman for the glorious chaos of the New York Dolls. When he stopped playing with Dolls, he...grew up, still magnetic, still incredible, possessed of a sudden maturity that suited him as well as drag-trash had fit him before. 

Former Dolls guitarist Johnny Thunders accused Johansen of selling out--or worse, selling out even though no one was buying--but Johansen himself didn't really change. He ditched the glam, and maybe he cut back a bit on the prancing part of his on-stage presentation; he still screeched (melodically), he still wailed, he still infused his rockin' pop with a deep love of R & B. He still ruled the room, and he still looked like he was having fun.

This was evident on much of Johansen's first solo record. The initial line-up of the post-Dolls David Johansen Group included Sylvain Sylvain, who had been the other guitarist in the New York Dolls, less noisy (and less heroin-smacked) than Thunders, but no less powerful. Johansen and Sylvain co-wrote a number of the songs on 1978's David Johansen album, and their collaborations "Cool Metro" and "Girls" could have fit seamlessly on the Dolls' second album Too Much, Too Soon. Sylvain moved on to his own career, but he did play on "Cool Metro."

The other two Johansen-Sylvain co-writes on the album are less evocative of the pair's mascara-streaked alma mater. "Funky But Chic" was the single, a not-quite-funky, not-quite-campy but tres chic bit of breezy, bouncy pop. 

The other one was "Frenchette."

You call that love in French, but it's just Frenchette. I've been to France, so let's just dance.

The track opens with a piano sound so mournful we are tempted to send condolences and take up an emergency collection to finance distractions from its sorrow. Johansen, the ex-lover too weary to even try to shrug off his fate, slowly sings his litany of disappointments and regrets (or, I guess, regrettes). As guitars come in and the pace quickens, the singer has already abandoned all hope. He makes one last stand anyway.  

The lyrics can seem a bit pat, as permutations of -ette--luncheonette, naturalette (whatever that is), leatherette, launderette, kitchenette, dinette, yeah yeah--delineate the modest, truncated booby prizes Johansen is forced to settle for in place of the grand romance that eluded him. The vignette is accompanied by castanets and references to the Ronettes and to the Four Tops' "Bernadette." It makes you wonder if the song's original scribblings contained discarded lines about flannelette, baguettes, Raisinets, and, I dunno, maybe a Penthouse Pet named LaFayette. Do you call that love in French?

Let's just dance and I'll forget.

And that's the heart of it. Even as we try to be glib and clever, to feign some suave patchwork shield of indifference, transcendence, philosophical understanding, and muttered assurances that yes, of course we can still be friends...damn it, we know we've lost something that meant more to us than either blush or bourbon can obscure. There's no such thing as painette.

I had never heard "Frenchette" before the first time I saw the David Johansen Group play. That live show was in the summer of 1979, with the Flashcubes opening. I'd barely heard the Dolls by then, and "Funky But Chic" was likely the only Johansen track that had crossed my path, but I knew of the Dolls and was eager to hear more. Johansen and his boys--Come ON, boys!!--nailed their set, from its cool-beyond-cool "Cool Metro" opener through the rest of the DJ songbook, including tips to the Dolls with "Babylon," Bo Diddley's "Pills," and--obviously--the signature New York Dolls number "Personality Crisis," performed as a medley with Donna Summer's "Hot Stuff." Obviously. The whole damned thing was nothing short of fascinating.

"Frenchette" was mesmerizing.

Granted, I'd had a few drinks, a few transcendental tickets to paradise to enhance my enjoyment of the night. But my God, being in a crowded nightclub as that piano lick began its melodic shiva, witnessing this guy who used to be a dressed-up Doll croon so eloquently and effectively of just dancing to forget...man, the lump in my throat is still there. This was amazing. 

And this was where I became a fan. I bought the Johansen albums, tracked down a hideously battered copy of the first Dolls LP and a cassette of their second, snapped up Johnny Thunders' live album with his band o' junkies the Heartbreakers as well as JT's own solo debut So Alone. 

I saw the David Johansen Group on a few subsequent occasions--another club show, an outdoor show, and a show in the spartan ballroom at my former college's student union building--and if nothing ever quite matched the magic buzz of my first David Jo concert, I loved each opportunity to shout along with "Girls" and "She," to raise a fist with "Personality Crisis," to flip off the persistence of memory with "Frenchette."

But that outdoor show and that ballroom show also offered a glimpse of Johansen's next avenue. By then he had played larger venues as an opening act for the Who, and he told a journalist of his growing disinterest in performing in hockey arenas for an audience of Hitler Youth. My last two Johansen shows, outside in the Buffalo suburbs and in the ballroom at Brockport, there was an increasing element of show-biz camp working its way into Johansen's schtick. That element would take full form as Johansen's swingin' alter ego Buster Poindexter, a sort of self-aware Dean Martin pastiche that was even more removed from whatever the Dolls had been. Improvise. Reinvent. Survive.

As I write this, it's been a little over a week since Johansen's death. Yesterday, as I was getting ready to leave for work, some lines popped into my head, compelling me to jot them down in my notebook before fickle memory consigned them to the dustbin of flowers and trash:

He set himself to write a song

About the girl who'd done him wrong

Picked up a guitar he couldn't play

Struggled with words he couldn't say

I'm not a songwriter, and these random lines will never find the company of melody nor even additional words. But without even meaning to, I stumbled into what might pass for the story of the New York Dolls. Couldn't play, couldn't sing? Fuck it. Doin' it anyway. David Johansen went a step beyond that, assembling a kickass post-Dolls band, building upon the legacy of the Dolls, entertaining in whatever guise he chose.

And with "Frenchette," David Johansen did what Alex Chilton did with "September Gurls," what Michael Brown did with "Walk Away Renee," what Smokey Robinson did whenever he damned well felt like doing it: He took the ache of loss and made it pretty.

What more can we ask? Our hearts are going to break. We are going to lose, at least sometimes. And we are going to have to say goodbye, whether we want to or not. Our art can comfort, confront, elevate, console. It can improvise. It can reinvent.

So let's just dance. But we're not going to forget.

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.

5 ABOVE: Bands Who Were ALMOST Famous

5 Above picks five great things within a specific category. Look out below--these are five that rise above.

As my nearly half-dozen regular readers are aware, I recently decided to cut back on blogging, reducing my posting schedule from its clinically stupid daily frequency to three or maybe four posts a week. So, of course, right after walkin' away from the ol' Bop a day grind, the latest episode of one of my favorite podcasts compels me to slap together a fifth post this week. Just when I think I'm out....

The podcast is Only Three Lads, the weekly celebration of classic alternative music from the '70s through the '90s. For this week's O3L, hosts Uncle Gregg and Brett Vargo, along with guest Third Lad Alex Boucher, discussed their choices for the top five bands who were almost famous. It's a fascinating subject, it made for a fascinating show, and it made me want to compile my own Top 5 list.

It's difficult for me to separate the idea of great bands who were almost famous from the idea of great bands who were unfairly obscure. They're similar categories, but not quite the same. The "almost famous" qualifier suggests we're specifically talking about acts who seemed poised to grab the brass ring in some big and spectacular way.

Before we get to my Top 5, let's mention a few acts who are just outside our chosen parameters:

TOO SOON!

The Remains and the Mynah Birds should be legit contenders to top anyone's list of rock's all-time Almosts, but both groups had their brief careers in the 1960s, predating the O3L era. The Remains were Boston's most popular rock combo in the mid '60s, and they seemed to have it all: Songs, talent, charisma, a major label deal, national TV exposure, and oh, by the way, THEY OPENED FOR THE BEATLES in 1966. They had everything but record sales. 

The Mynah Birds, with future superstars Rick James and Neil Young, were set to be Motown's first rock group, but they broke up when James was arrested for being AWOL from Uncle Sam.

THEY WERE FAMOUS! Then they weren't

The Cowsills and the Bay City Rollers had huge hits (in the '60s and '70s respectively), but the public at large was uninterested in their second acts. The Cowsills' 1998 album Global is my # 1 favorite album of the '90s, yet it's been an obscure rarity until its recent deluxe reissue.

When the Bay City Rollers' lead singer Les McKeown left the group at the end of the '70s, the remaining Rollers recruited new lead singer Duncan Faure, shortened their name to just "the Rollers," and released some very fine rockin' pop records that sold a metric bupkis.

FAMOUS...later

The Ramones. Icons now, so we can't claim they're a mere almost. At the time, though, they did not receive anywhere near the recognition or record sales they deserved.

And now...MY list of the Top 5 almost-famous bands of the O3L era.

5. ARTFUL DODGER

Artful Dodger released three albums on Columbia in the '70s, then a fourth (the long outta print Rave On) on Ariola. Live and on record alike, the group seemed like an irresistible cross between the best of Badfinger and the best of the Faces. I don't think I'd ever heard a note of their music before catching them at a club show in '79, but their performance nailed everything worth nailing. Goosebumps. Goosebumps, and a raised fist. Although they hailed from Virginia, I understand they were big, big stars in Cleveland, where they received notable FM radio exposure. The stardom did not translate elsewhere.

4. THE PANDORAS

There were at least two distinctly different phases of the Pandoras' career in the '80s. The original line-up was a proud product of the garage, armed with Nuggets-inspired attitude and a fantastic original song called "It's About Time." That version of the Pandoras exploded into rock and dust after just one album. Founding member Gwynne Kahn went on to form the magnificent Mad Monster Party, the single best '80s group that no one got to hear. Paula Pierce formed a new Pandoras group, which included Kim Shattuck, later of the Muffs.

Paula's version of the Pandoras recorded a brilliant pop album (Stop Pretending) for Rhino Records, and the group was subsequently signed to Mercury. They recorded an album called Come Inside, bigger things appeared imminent, but the record was never released. Mercury dropped the Pandoras without ever issuing even a single Pandoras track.

3. THE NEW YORK DOLLS

Everything I know and love about punk rock owes its rambunctious genesis to the New York Dolls. No Dolls? That would mean no Ramones, no Sex Pistols, no Clash, no punk scene, no new wave scene, no alternative scene; just something bland and boring in its place. The Dolls weren't built to last, but man, they were important, and man they were kickass fun. And they looked fine on television: Go watch 'em on YouTube clips from The Midnight Special, cavortin' and paradin' in America's face like they were--book it!!--The Next Big Thing. Stars. STARS!, I tell ya!

America turned its face to...well, probably to something bland and boring. The New York Dolls are not in The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Odds are they never will be. 

2. THE FLASHCUBES

Yeah, I know. Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse the Flashcubes never came close to breaking out, only released a couple of singles during their original 1977-1980 lifespan, never got a record deal. What's so almost famous! about that?

You. Weren't. There.

In the '70s, Flashcubes fans like me absolutely and completely believed the group was going to be huge. They were such a great live band, they wrote such irresistible songs, they had such sheer rock 'n' roll presence, that we all knew--knew--their stardom was inevitable. On paper, sure, I guess they never came all that close. But in our hearts, our imaginations? The first time I saw them, I was certain it was like seeing the Beatles at The Cavern. 

A few years back, I wrote a what-if story about what could have happened if the Flashcubes had achieved the success they deserved. But in that imaginary world, the Flashcubes stopped being Flashcubes. Our real world still has the Flashcubes--score a rare win for the real world! They're working on new recordings. I heard one of the new songs a couple of days ago, and it's guaranteed to be one of my favorite tracks in 2025.

Fame. Pfui. Who needs fame when you have the Flashcubes?

1. THE RUBINOOS

In this discussion of bands who almost hit it big, the Rubinoos are my unchallenged # 1. Unlike the Flashcubes, the Rubinoos did come tantalizingly close to the top, top, top of the pops. Their 1977 cover of Tommy James and the Shondells' "I Think We're Alone Now" missed the Top 40 by just five notches, and they seemed on the brink of mega success. I saw 'em on American Bandstand! They had the look, the image, the spirit, the chops, the charm...everything. 

And they had the songs. "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" is like THE surefire # 1 hit that, y'know, didn't even chart. Didn't. Even. CHART?! Oh, the humanity! Hey, hey, you, you, I wanna see a recount!

But like the Flashcubes, the Rubinoos are still with us, still making extraordinary music, still putting on incredible live shows. I wish more people knew about them. 

But I'm glad I know about them.

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

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

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

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

POP-A-LOOZA: THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! The New York Dolls, "Personality Crisis"

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 Greatest Record Ever Made! spotlight on "Personality Crisis" by the New York Dolls.

This piece was one of many prepared for (but ultimately omitted from) my long-threatened book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). The book was simply too long, and I needed to cut out a number of chapters. While an infinite number of tracks can each be THE greatest record ever made (as long as they take turns), page counts are finite. If GREM! (Volume 1) ever really happens, I remain hopeful that it will lead to a Volume 2.

My current draft of the GREM! book is now down to a little over 114,000 words, celebrating a total of 135 tracks. I don't think it's going to shrink much more; in its present state, it's a manageable length and it flows well. It's still roughly three times the length of my first book, but that book was always intended to be short. 38K+ is the right word count for that book, and 114K+ feels right for GREM!

While the New York Dolls aren't represented in GREM! (Volume 1), they do remain among the greatest ever. You can read an account of my first David Johansen show here, and here's a little something I wrote in 2021 about The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame's ongoing failure to induct the New York Dolls:

"A basic rule of this blog: when I complain about The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, don't bother telling me that the RnRHOF doesn't matter; I already know it doesn't matter. But rock 'n' roll should honor is own, and I will continue to rant on behalf of deserving acts that are snubbed by that overblown Hard Rock Cafe on the banks of Lake Erie.

"The Monkees remain the Hall's most egregious snub to date. With this year's inductees, long-standing snubs of Tina Turner, Carole King, the Go-Go's, and Todd Rundgren have finally been set right. The New York Dolls were also nominated this round, but they didn't get the damned votes. Oy. The Dolls were among the most influential rock 'n' roll acts of the '70s, and failing to recognize their sheer and ongoing impact is willful lunacy."

Induct the New York Dolls! And a recognition of their great track "Personality Crisis" serves as the latest Boppin' Pop-A-Looza.

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.

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

10 SONGS: 11/3/2022

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 This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1153.

JOHNNY JOHNSON AND THE BANDWAGON: Mr. Tambourine Man

If memory serves (and sometimes it does), "Mr. Tambourine Man" was the second Johnny Johnson and the Bandwagon track I ever heard (the first being their shoulda-been-huge 1970 bubblesoul classic "[Blame It On] The Pony Express"). I think it was a blog (don't remember which) that introduced me to the Bandwagon's fabulous, unique take on Bashful Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man," and I was sufficiently smitten. I later heard the Bandwagon's cover of the Four Seasons' "Let's Hang On," and this accumulation of sublime soulful pop compelled me to seek out more Bandwagon. Nowadays, the Bandwagon's music is a staple of TIRnRR, and their incredible single "Breakin' Down The Walls Of Heartache" merits a chapter in my long-threatened book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1).

It occurs to me that, as much as I've always adored the Byrds' absolutely spine-tingling rendition of "Mr. Tambourine Man," I've been turning to the Bandwagon's version more and more often. Both great, of course, and both inventive in adapting Dylan's strolling folk original to suit their own disparate pop needs. Cast your dancing spell my way. I promise to go wandering.

IRENE PEÑA: In This Room

America's Sweetheart Irene Peña was kind enough to grant us use of her wonderful gem "In This Room" on our new compilation album This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5. Here's a peak behind the curtain for a dramatic recreation of the intense negotiations involved in securing Irene's permission to use her track:

DANA & CARL: Hey, Irene! Can we use "In This Room" on our CD?

IRENE: 'K.

Brutal. BRUTAL! But well worth all of the trouble...I mean, even if there had been trouble. What a gorgeous song, and we are so grateful to have it on our compilation. Thanks again, Irene!

THE RAMONES: Surfin' Safari

In my continuing efforts to fool people into thinking I'm way cooler than I really I am, I'll casually mention that I first learned that the Ramones had recorded a cover of the Beach Boys' "Surfin' Safari" when Joey Ramone told me that the Ramones had recorded a cover of the Beach Boys' "Surfin' Safari." Gabba Gabba HEY! 

The revelation came during my 1994 telephone interviews with the Ramones. Our Carbona-huffin' heroes had tackled the song previously, their version used as a backing track for a 1978 single by Rodney and the Brunettes. That would be legendary DJ Rodney Bingenheimer, with the Honeys handling the vocal heavy lifting. The Ramones had hoped to exhume their original parts (minus Rodney and his Brunette Honeys) to use in their All The Stuff (And More) reissue series, but the tracks could not be located.

Instead, the Ramones wound up recording it again during the sessions for their 1993 all-covers album Acid Eaters. Their '90s "Surfin' Safari" was only used as a bonus track on the album's Japanese edition, though it did eventually appear on a British reissue of Acid Eaters. It has never been released in America.

THE BAY CITY ROLLERS: The Hero

I should probably put the "Bay City" in parentheses; this was originally credited to the Rollers, the post-mania late '70s/early '80s edition of the Bay City Rollers, with Duncan Faure replacing Les McKeown as lead singer. BUT! The CD reissues of the Rollers' three albums--Elevator, Voxx, and Ricochet--opt for the more marketable Bay City Rollers brand name, so that's usually how we credit 'em on TIRnRR. The Bay City Rollers, by any other name, would still be the Bay City Rollers.

(And I'm still hopin' for a CD and/or digital reissue of the Rollers' cassette-only soundtrack album Burning Rubber. The Burning Rubber tracks I've heard were appealing, and I'd love to have 'em in my collection o' tunes.)

Anyway. "The Hero" comes from Voxx, the Rollers' 1980 contract-fulfillment album. See ya, suckers! But the album is way, way better than the odds-and-sods barrel-scraping you'd expect. I like the Rollers, with or without the Bay City prefix; you can read evidence of my pro-Rollers position here, here, here, here, and most especially here. So it ain't faint praise when I say that some of the material on Voxx ranks among the best stuff either incarnation of the Rollers ever did.

This certainly isn't the first time we've played selections from Voxx, but it's the first time we got around to playing "The Hero." "God Save Rock & Roll" and "85" have been our previous Voxx go-tos, but it was high time we took a deeper dive. That dive brings us "The Hero" this week. TIRnRR rolls on.

LIBRARIANS WITH HICKEYS: Ghost Singer

A peek behind the ol' TIRnRR programming curtain: this week, we intended to play "I Better Get Home," which is my top track among top tracks on Handclaps & Tambourines, the current album from Ohio's gift to pop music, Librarians With Hickeys. Why "I Better Get Home?" It's the HEY!s. Can't go wrong with HEY!s.

But: we got a request! It happens. Occasionally. It was a Halloween-timed request for a different Handclaps & Tambourines track, "Ghost Singer." Well! Ya can't go wrong with HEY!s, sure, but you also can't go wrong with a request for a cool song by a cool band you were gonna play anyway. "I Better Get Home" returns to the playlist next week instead. 

EMMYLOU HARRIS: Pancho & Lefty

Emmylou Harris isn't exactly a stranger to TIRnRR playlists, but nor have we programmed her music with quite the carpet-bombing approach we employ when selecting tracks by, say, the Kinks. Nonetheless, I was a tiny bit surprised to discover that we had never played Emmylou's version of Townes Van Zandt's "Pancho & Lefty" before this week's show. We've played her "Luxury Liner" and "Born To Run," and we have played Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard's version, but it was high time we heard Emmylou Harris sing sweetly of those federales letting an aging and broken gunslinger slip away. Out of kindness, I suppose. 

THE NEW YORK DOLLS: Personality Crisis

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE MUFFS: Oh Nina

The late Kim Shattuck possessed one of the best screams in the history of the rock and the roll. That scream is on ample display in "Oh Nina," a track from the Muffs' second album Blonder And Blonder. Heaven is a much louder place than it used to be. Rest in righteous volume, Kim.

THE FLASHCUBES WITH THE SPONGETONES: Have You Ever Been Torn Apart

On the eve of release for another epic entry in the Flashcubes' series of superlative digital singles for the mighty Big Stir Records label, we pause to revisit a Fave Rave from earlier this year. See, Fave Raves are their own reward. This summit meeting between the 'Cubes and the Spongetones--two of the all-time greatest power pop acts--is a lock for the year-end countdown of our most-played tracks in 2022. We figured we'd give it another spin any way. A new Flashcubes single will open next week's show, as we relish these continued opportunities to rave about our faves.

JERRY LEE LEWIS: Great Balls Of Fire

The last of the elite class of 1950s rock 'n' rollers has left the building. The passing of Jerry Lee Lewis signals the final curtain for the first wave of rock 'n' roll legends. Buddy Holly. Eddie Cochran. Gene Vincent. Elvis Presley. Ray Charles. Chuck Berry. Carl Perkins. Fats Domino. Little Richard. The Everly Brothers. And now, the Killer, Jerry Lee. All gone. One could make a case on behalf of a few artists we're happy to say are still with us (including Brenda Lee and Wanda Jackson), but clearly the torch has been...well, perhaps the torch hasn't exactly been passed, but nor is it lit as brightly as it once was.

I am aware of Lewis' human failings, and worse. His incredible talent and broad impact do not exempt him from responsibility. But I'm not qualified to discuss what he did or didn't do, and I'm not at all interested in delving into those matters today. For the moment, we separate the art from the artist, and remember the sheer potency of one of rock 'n' roll's undisputed greats. 

(And for a killer tribute to the Killer, check out this past Saturday's edition of Whole Lotta Shakin' on Different Radio WRUR-FM in Rochester. Our pal [and yours] Mike Murray opened the show with a solid half hour of prime Jerry Lee, presenting an authoritative Case CLOSED! on behalf of Lewis' rock 'n' roll legacy. Goodness gracious. The music lives on.)

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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.

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl