10 SONGS: 6/21/2024

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 # 1238.

THE FLASHCUBES: Do Anything You Wanna Do

This week's extravaganza opens with the Flashcubes' ace annexation of Eddie and the Hot Rods' power pop classic "Do Anything You Wanna Do." I didn't mention this on-air, but I knew when we programmed the show that I would be recording my parts for this episode on my daughter's 29th birthday. 

Given that, of course we open with "Do Anything You Wanna Do." 

Do anything you wanna do. It's the ambition I've always wished for her, the advice I've always offered her, and the words-to-live-by I've always hoped could guide her through a world of fulfillment and delight. I'm a proud father every second of every day.

BLOODSTONE: My Little Lady

Among the advantages of free-form playlist-building is that inspiration can come from anywhere, and neither a programming director nor (even worse) a programming consultant can block the mission-from-God implementation of your divine revelation.

Bloodstone is a soul group best-known for their sublime 1973 hit "Natural High." Last week, everybody's pal Robbie Rist (no doubt himself inspired by immersion in recent viewings of The Midnight Special on YouTube) posted:

"Bloodstone was a BAND! Not four guys in pastel suits with a backing band. And the high voiced dude played BASS! Dang. Skills."

Fair enough. And both a gent named Mark Fletcher and I immediately asked Robbie if he had ever seen Bloodstone's movie. One can imagine the pricking of his thumbs as Robbie replied:

"THEY DID A MOVIE???????"

Yep! I recall seeing Bloodstone's 1975 flick Train Ride To Hollywood on HBO when I was still a '70s teen. It's goofy and very much of its time, steeped in '70s nostalgia for Hollywood's golden age, featuring the Bloodstone gang cavorting alongside actors playing Humphrey Bogart, Bela Lugosi, W. C. Fields, Clark Gable, et al. (Typical scene? The Hollywood crew getting stoned, and Dracula telling Sam Spade, Don't Bogart that joint!) The entire movie is up on YouTube, and I should maybe oughta give it another view one of these days.

Anyway, Robbie's mention of Bloodstone was sufficient to determine that it was high [HAR!] time this little mutant radio shindig played Bloodstone again. We have played them before--we played "Rock 'n' Roll Choo Choo" from, you guessed it, Train Ride To Hollywood--but that was years ago. I didn't want to play the obvious choice of "Natural High," at least not this early in the show, so we opted for the lesser-known "My Little Lady."

(I wanted to circle back and play "Natural High" at the show's end, but we ran out of time. So "Natural High" will finally make its long-overdue TIRnRR debut this coming Sunday night. Two weeks in a row with a band called Bloodstone! Thanks for the inspiration, Robbie.)

WONDERBOY: Girl Songs

For dramatic purposes, the part of Robbie Rist will be played by DC Comics character Sunny Sparkle

Form follows function. Or function follows form--I forget which. Either way: Bloodstone singin' about a little lady in one set, then Robbie Rist with Wonderboy extolling the merit of girl songs in the next. That's how you build a better playlist, people.

THE GRIP WEEDS: Dandelion

THE ROLLING STONES: Get Off Of My Cloud

The recent tribute album Jem Records Celebrates Jagger & Richards has been feeding our playlists with satisfaction-level frequency. We played one of the Grip Weeds' contributions to that tribute (the great "We Love You") a couple of weeks back, and this week it seemed time to turn our attention to their cover of "Dandelion." We'll hear two more Jem Records Celebrates Jagger & Richards tracks on our next show, one of which we've played before, and one we, y'know, ain't played yet. But. We. WILL!

"Get Off Of My Cloud" was the first Rolling Stones song I knew, a well-remembered AM radio smash in 1965. I was but five years old, but even then I noticed how the Stones tweaked the familiar phrase Two's company, three's a crowd into their own uniquely cantankerous One is company, two's a crowd. On my cloud, baby.

BILLY JOEL: You May Be Right

The form function form thing again. Dana played Los Straitjackets performing Nick Lowe's "I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass." Billy Joel's "You May Be Right" literally opens with the sound of breaking glass. 

You gotta love that.

NICK LOWE: So It Goes

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

sparkle*jets u.k.: Box Of Letters

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio has been all-in for sparkle*jets u.k. since the dawn of ever, or at least since the dawn of TIRnRR. We signed on the air in December of 1998, and it wasn't long before "10 Inches" (from the group's 1998 album In, Through, And Beyond) secured a playlist berth or two on the big show. We're fans!

And this fan is really taken with the new sparkle*jets u.k. album Box Of Letters. We've been playing the album's title tune as an advance single for a few weeks already, and we'll be playing it again Sunday night. We'll also be playing another Box Of Letters track, too.

Because that's what "all in" means. 

THE TEARJERKERS: Syracuse Summer

I hate hot weather. I hate cold weather, too; it's not an either/or situation, and it certainly makes sense to me to despise both extremes anyway. But when it's chilly, I can add extra layers of clothing. I can't peel off my skin when the temps pop to some unholy number that starts with a friggin' 9.

Hey, you remember Robbie Rist, star of stage, screen, and some 10 Songs mentions a few paragraphs north of here? When he was visiting Syracuse earlier this year, we got together for a lovely evening of banter and dining. As we were leaving the restaurant, Robbie saw me donning my old-man toque, and exclaimed with great dismay:

LOOK! LOOK! Carl's wearing a HAT! It's COLD!!!! How do you people live here...?!

I'd mock him, but I'm too busy sweating now.

Even so, the residual little kid lurking within me retains an affection for summer. There's a sense of greater possibilities, a broader array of things to do, the elusive allure of vacation and fun. 

It doesn't last as long so it means a little bit more.

Flashcubes bassist Gary Frenay wrote "Syracuse Summer," the ultimate tribute to Central New York's mercurial climate. It was first recorded by the Tearjerkers in 1980, with Gary singing the bridge. I find I can hate hot weather and still absolutely, unequivocally adore this song. I am large. I contain multitudes.

THE RAMONES: Rockaway Beach

The summer's here. The time is right. And it's not hard, not far to reach. Surf's up, brudders and sisters. Surf's up.

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

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

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

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

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl

10 SONGS: 12/1/2023

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 # 1209. This show is available as a podcast.

POPDUDES: She's An Obsession

I was chatting recently with my friend and fellow pop journalist John M. Borack. John's power pop bona fides meet the dictionary definition of "unassailable," and he and I agree on much, disagree on a little, and we're fans of each other's informed punditry even when our POVs diverge.

John's also a drummer, and he has a new album with the Armoires due out in the not-quite-near-enough future. One of John's other DBAs is Popdudes, a revolving-member aggregation that usually finds our John working with Michael Simmons of sparkle*jets u.k. Popdudes have just released a new covers collection, gathering sundry swell Popdudifications of material previously done by NRBQ, Paul McCartney, the Five Stairsteps, Elvis Costello, the Guess Who, Roy Orbison, Ringo Starr, and more.

The album's called Number Two, but it's # 1 on our playlist this week, as we open this week's show with Popdudes' rendition of 20/20's "She's An Obsession." You know the old saying: Starve a cold, feed an obsession. Happy to do our part here on TIRnRR.

HEY! Speaking of the Armoires, the group has a lovely and brand-new track called "Music & Animals," available on the new benefit compilation Embers Of Aloha: A Maui Wildfire Benefit Project. Let's cut-n-paste a little something about this album, courtesy of Eddie Van Finley:

"All proceeds of this special digital BENEFIT project will go to directly help the victims of the Maui Wildfires, which resulted in loss of property, homes, pets and loved ones. Your generous donation will help to provide immediate relief for the people of Lahaina and West Maui communities in the wake of this horrible disaster.

"Mahalo for the kind contributions of every artist on this compilation that have given of their time and talents to make this project possible. Please consider supporting these artists who have selflessly supported this cause. Artist information is contained in each track's info section.

"I'd like to thank Big Stir Records, JAM Records, JEM Records, Kool Kat Musik, David Beard (Endless Summer Quarterly) for their immeasurable guidance, kind encouragement and advice.

"Special thanks to Lisa Mychols (my tireless co-chair) and Nadja Dee (Artwork) for the constant forward momentum and positivity. And thank you to Michael McCartney, for being our catalyst, positive reinforcement and for Inspiring this project to come together with purpose, meaning and aloha.

"On behalf of everyone involved, "Mahalo nui loa" for supporting such a worthy cause and for making this an amazing compilation of songs!

"May EMBERS of ALOHA live in your heart. Always."

Embers Of Aloha is out TODAY. I bought it. You shoulda oughta buy it, too. Mahalo to the great Michael McCartney, radio's best friend. Mahalo to the island and its spirit. Mahalo to the Armoires. Mahalo to you for doing your part to help the wonderful people of Maui.

LOU RAWLS: Bring It On Home

From a previous edition of 10 Songs (2/23/2021):

"When I was an oldies-obsessed college student in the late '70s, there was one time when I sang an impromptu duet with a woman working at the campus snack bar, me doing most of the warbling on a snippet of Sam Cooke's 'Bring It On Home To Me.' She was surprised someone so young was familiar with the song to begin with, but, y'know, see above reference to oldies-obsessed. Truth to tell, I mostly knew the song from the Animals' cover version, but I knew Cooke's original, too. It wasn't until a couple of weeks ago that I learned the secondary vocal on Cooke's recording was performed by a then-unknown Lou Rawls. You'll never find (dum dum dumdee dum) another secondary vocal like his (dum dum dumdee dum). Bring it on home, Lou."

I didn't realize that Rawls also released his own version of the song in 1970. Cool! I discovered it on a Lou Rawls best-of CD that I just picked up, and figured it would make a more'n appropriate TIRnRR spin. Lou Rawls covers Sam Cooke!

And yeah, I forgot Rawls sang on the original. Intrepid TIRnRR listener Mike Browning pointed out that Rawls' "Bring It On Home" was as much a remake as it was a cover (much like my own oft-cited instance of Merry Clayton's remake of "Gimme Shelter," seeing as how she's the one wailin' WAR, children! on the original Rolling Stones release). Good catch, Mike! Nice to have someone who can bring it when we need it.

THE RONSON HANGUP: Waxes & Wanes

This is stunning. From their new album Centaurus, the Ronson Hangup effectively channel the Hollies in an original song called "Waxes & Wanes." It's not an imitation or an homage; the vocals echo the Hollies without sounding like them, and for all I know I'm just imagining the comparison. But to my ears, this sounds like someone covering an undiscovered, previously unheard Hollies gem, and covering it well enough that I expect one or another Ronson Hangupper to break up the band so he can go hang with David Crosby and Stephen Stills instead. Irresistible.

MICKY DOLENZ: Radio Free Europe

Of the four tracks on Micky Dolenz's new EP Dolenz Sings R.E.M., "Radio Free Europe" is the only one where I don't flat-out prefer Micky's cover to the Athens-bred original. I didn't know R.E.M.'s "Leaving New York," but everyone with a radio and/or MTV knew "Shiny Happy People" and "Man On The Moon." It's a true credit to Dolenz and his musical director Christian Nesmith that they were able to stake ballsy dibs on such familiar work, and emerge with what I think are now the definitive versions.

"Radio Free Europe" presents a tougher challenge, if only because it's probably my favorite R.E.M. track. That specific, emotional tether to a beloved record is difficult to challenge...

...which makes it all the more amazing that Micky does challenge R.E.M.'s primacy on "Radio Free Europe." Dolenz and company manage a convincing, compelling, damned near magical remake of a song I've adored for decades, reimagining it, reinventing it, and giving me pause to consider the sheer audacity and accomplishment of what they've done. I can't quite let go of my entrenched and established affection for R.E.M.'s own "Radio Free Europe," and this shouldn't even be a close choice.

But it is. Damn, this Dolenz guy is good.

JACKIE BRENTSON AND HIS DELTA CATS: Rocket "88"

Jackie Brentson's seminal rock 'n' roll single "Rocket '88' " doesn't have an entry in my long-threatened book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1), but the track is mentioned within the chapters for two other songs. Let's mash 'em up here, from GREM! pieces about Big Mama Thornton and Ike and Tina Turner:

Where and when did rock 'n' roll start? There are a few key records that one could name as possibilities for the first rock 'n' roll record. "Rocket '88' " by Jackie Brentson and his Delta Cats (1951, and really Ike Turner and his Kings of Rhythm) is the closest we have to a consensus choice, though some would point to "The Fat Man" by Fats Domino (1950). I would at least add Amos Milburn's "Down The Road Apiece" (1947) to the discussion, and no less an authority than Lenny and Squiggy (on TV's Laverne And Shirley) spoke on behalf of "Call The Police," a 1941 single Nat King Cole made with the King Cole Trio. There are other progenitors and trailblazers from across the heady mingling of jump blues, R & B, country, and swing that birthed this bastard child we call rock 'n' roll. What was the daddy of them all? Not even a blood test is going to make that determination.

"Rocket '88' " can lay plausible claim to being the first rock 'n' roll record (though I still say it was Amos Milburn's "Down The Road Apiece"). On merit, Ike Turner should be celebrated as one of popular music's most important most artists. 

History does not remember him that way. He had only himself to blame for that. Revelation of his ongoing abuse of Tina Turner when they were married effectively reduced Ike Turner from headliner to deplorable footnote. 

Charles Manson was a frustrated musician and songwriter. O.J. Simpson was a celebrated athlete. Joe Meek. Gary Glitter. Bill Cosby. It's a long list of the famous and infamous. We celebrate the art. The artist may disappoint us.

Or worse.

KID GULLIVER: Forget About Him

We play favorites. With pop music, there's no sensible justification for objectivity. Pop music exists for the express purpose of getting into our ears, into our pores, into our vibratin' corpuscles, and into whatever else is ripe for gettin' into. Failure to play favorites would be as dumb as dumb can be.

Kid Gulliver's "Forget About Him" is a favorite, and more: It's a TIRnRR classic, reprised from the group's Kismet album for our own 2022 compilation This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5. It's one of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio's greatest hits. Yeah it's a favorite. Gotta play the favorites.

THE CREATION: Making Time

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE RAMONES: Why Is It Always This Way?

More than 1200 shows in, I cannot believe we've never played this Rocket To Russia track on TIRnRR before this week. In last week's 10 Songs, I talked about how I'm starting to wonder if the Ramones' fourth album--1978's Road To Ruin--might really be the group's masterpiece. Whether that's true or not, its immediate predecessor Rocket To Russia also remains a contender, a Love At First Spin album for me, and the long-playing home of "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker," the record that changed my life. With last week's spin of "Bad Brain" and this week's ritual uppin' of the volume for "Why Is It Always This Way?," TIRnRR has now played each and every one of the tracks on Road To Ruin and Rocket To Russia at least once over the course of our long and bewildering tenure.. Let's see where the road takes that rocket next.

NICK LOWE: I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass

Er...okay? Breaking glass strikes me as an odd sound upon which one might fixate, but what the hell. Dig what you dig.

Smashing!

THE BEATLES: Here Comes The Sun

Syracuse got some snow this week. It wasn't as much as I expected us to get, and not nearly as much as was dumped upon areas to our north. My Tuesday evening commute invited repeated descriptions of Yuck!, but the TIRnRRmobile made its way back home to the suburbs. Accumulation on the ground and in the driveway at stately Carl Manor was minimal. The ol' Cub Cadet stood at the ready, but was not called into service this time. 

'Tis the season. And the season's just starting.

I don't love winter...but I accept it. I'm 63 years old, and I've lived in the Northeast my whole life. As a general rule, snow doesn't get me down. I bundle up. I fire up the ol' Cub Cadet when necessary. I've got the right tires for traction, the right music playing in the car, and (I hope) the right attitude to get through what needs getting through.

I don't know if Dana's pick to close this week's show with the Beatles' "Here Comes The Sun" was a deliberate Juju against the then-forthcoming lake effect snow warning, or just the welcome result of, y'know, that's a good one, we should play that one. Works for me!

Or maybe it was Dana's way of heralding our next show.

NEXT WEEK: We ignore the actual season, and celebrate an entirely different season. Yes, it's SUMMER IN DECEMBER! Counterprogramming the Holidays. We're either in willful denial or we think we're Australian. We'll have three hours of songs that make us think of summer. Winter can hold its icy water for one more week. This Sunday, December 3rd, we're hangin' ten with SUMMER IN DECEMBER!

SURF'S UP!!!

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

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

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

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

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl

THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE: So It Goes

This piece originally appeared here as part of a longer post. I subsequently gave it a fresh shine for potential inclusion in my long-threatened book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1), but it is not part of that book's current plan. For now.

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

NICK LOWE: So It Goes

Written by Nick Lowe
Produced by Nick Lowe and Jake Rivera
Single, Stiff Records [U. K.], 1976

A recurring point in my writing about pop music is my gratitude for people and things that went before, friends and periodicals and radio stations that turned me on to some specific sound or some particular purveyor of that sound. I consider myself lucky to have been at the right age and in the right place at the right time to experience so much transcendent music. This pervasive thankfulness goes from the serendipity of having older siblings during the British Invasion to the happy coincidence of discovering a tabloid rock rag called Phonograph Record Magazine at the precise moment for those pages of newsprint to introduce me to punk rock. And it includes a lot of radio stations.

One such station was WOUR-FM in Utica, NY, whose signal was readily accessible in the Syracuse market. After years of devoted AM radio worship, I grew disenchanted with Top 40 around 1976, when I was 16. I certainly couldn’t give up on listening to the radio—let’s not get crazy—so I migrated to freer-form airwaves. WOUR looms largest in my legend for providing me with my first spin of the Sex Pistols in the summer of '77. But before that, amidst the wealth of introductions to songs and/or artists both new and old--Graham Parker's "Hotel Chambermaid," Greg Kihn's "For You," the J. Geils Band's "Musta Got Lost," Michael Nesmith's "Rio," Joan Baez's "Time Rag," the Kinks' "No More Looking Back," the Yardbirds' "Heart Full Of Soul," the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band's "The Intro And The Outro," and so much more--WOUR played "So It Goes" by Nick Lowe.

"So It Goes" was the first single released by the upstart British label Stiff Records, a feisty U. K.-only issue in August of 1976. WOUR jumped on that import single, and I heard it frequently, loving it more and more each time. It wasn't released in America until Lowe's debut LP Pure Pop For Now People (or Jesus Of Cool, as it was named in its native England) came out in 1978, in the spring semester of my freshman year in college. By then, it was a golden oldie to me, but still as current as the rest of my beloved new wave. 

I don't think I'd yet read Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five, but I'm sure ol' Kurt would approve of Lowe nicking the fictional Billy Pilgrim's own recurring phrase. And so it goes.

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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.

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
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I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl.

10 SONGS: 2/23/2021

10 Songs is a weekly list of ten songs that happen to be on my mind at the moment. Given my intention to usually write these on Mondays, the lists are often dominated by songs played on the previous 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 # 1065.

JOAN ARMATRADING: Eating The Bear

"Eating The Bear" was (I think) the first Joan Armatrading track I knew, a cut from her 1981 album Walk Under Ladders. It's not the best-known track on that record; both "I'm Lucky" and "When I Get It Right" wound up on her subsequent Greatest Hits collection, while "Eating The Bear" remained native to the original album only. I was exposed to all three of those tracks in the same time frame, so I can't say for sure which one I heard first. But, whichever one was first to cross into my sovereign airspace, "Eating The Bear" was the one that had impact. Its impact came via the radio. Of course.

In 1981, I was a recent college graduate (State University College at Brockport Class of 1980), living in an apartment with my girlfriend (who was still completing her undergrad studies at Brockport), working at McDonald's, drinking beer, listening to my music. Brockport is a small village on the Erie Canal. It's located in Western New York, about 19 miles west of Rochester, and the city of Buffalo sprawls another 64 miles or so farther away. We could usually get radio stations from Buffalo and even from Toronto. Buffalo had a generic album-rock station called 97 Rock, which usually wasn't of much interest to me. Sunday nights were the exception. That's when this cookie-cutter rock station transformed itself temporarily into something greater: a weekly showcase called 97 Power Rock.

97 Power Rock claimed a more adventurous format, programming new wave rock and other fare that was presumably edgier than the station's prerequisite diet of Loverboy and Ozzy Osborne. 97 Power Rock played the likes of The Teardrop Explodes, U2, Psychedelic Furs, Viva Beat, Joy Division, Spandau Ballet, The Vibrators, Mission of Burma, old school rock by Andy Fairweather Low, even reggae by Dillinger. It was sufficiently eclectic and vibrant to secure my loyalty.

Joan Armatrading's music was part of that. Walk Under Ladders had a little bit of a post-punk vibe, partially attributable to Thomas Dolby's synthesizer work on the album. That perceived level of cool opened 97 Power Rock's playlist for entry, and Armatrading's own songs, singing, playing, and pure presence did the rest. Man, this sounded fantastic on the radio. It didn't quite move me to buy the album--I was still a few years away from grasping Armatrading's brilliance--but it got my attention. I heard the songs, and a radio ad for the album, all of which prompted me to scrawl Walk Under Ladders in my spiral notebook, on the long, long list of LPs I wanted to buy once I'd accumulated enough burger-flippin' cash to buy all of the albums I wanted.

"Eating The Bear" was the Armatrading track for me. In 1981, I'd never heard the phrase Some days you eat the bear, some days the bear eats you, so I had no idea whatsoever of the song's subject matter. I just thought it sounded great, and it still sounds great. 

For years, Armatrading's Greatest Hits was her sole representation in my music collection, and "Me Myself I" is slated to be discussed in my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). "Eating The Bear" popped into my head again recently, and I snagged a CD of Walk Under Ladders, a wonderful album that I wish had made the transition from my notebook list to my record shelf forty years ago. Better late than never. We played "I Wanna Hold You" on last week's show, "Eating The Bear" this week, and another Walk Under Ladders track will appear on next week's playlist. TIRnRR Power Rock. Sometimes it takes a while, but radio gets the job done eventually.

SAM COOKE: Bring It On Home To Me

When I was an oldies-obsessed college student in the late '70s, there was one time when I sang an impromptu duet with a woman working at the campus snack bar, me doing most of the warbling on a snippet of Sam Cooke's "Bring It On Home To Me." She was surprised someone so young was familiar with the song to begin with, but, y'know, see above reference to oldies-obsessed. Truth to tell, I mostly knew the song from The Animals' cover version, but I knew Cooke's original, too. It wasn't until a couple of weeks ago that I learned the secondary vocal on Cooke's recording was performed by a then-unknown Lou Rawls. You'll never find (dum dum dumdee dum) another secondary vocal like his (dum dum dumdee dum). Bring it on home, Lou.

CROSBY, STILLS AND NASH: Marrakesh Express

I've spent many years publicly grousing that Crosby, Stills and Nash broke up three superb groups--The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, and The Hollies--to make one okay group. That joke's run its course (which, of course, won't stop me from still resorting to it at whim). I loved CSN when I was young, and I frequently listened to my sister's copy of their debut album. Actually, because I've always been more of a single-song guy rather than an album guy, I listened to "Marrakesh Express" and "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes." The latter is/was my pick, but my short-attention span for radio playlists favors the former.  

THE GO-GO'S: La La Land

The Go-Go's have been eligible for induction into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame for many years, but they are at long last first-time nominees in 2021. It's about damned time, and I hope they get in on the first ballot. "La La Land" comes from the group's 2001 album God Bless The Go-Go's, and it remains one of my fave raves among their cavalcade o' wonder.

THE LEGAL MATTERS: Light Up The Sky

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio's long 'n' harmonious history with The Legal Matters was detailed here, as part of the expanded supplemental liner notes to our 2017 compilation This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 4. So! Word of a brand-new Legal Matters album perked up our ears and mandated a playlist spot for its advance single, "Light Up The Sky." The album, Chapter Three, is due from Futureman Records on April 30th, and it is a compulsory purchase for any breathing fan of rockin' pop music. Don't argue. Do what radio tells you to do. 

JUICE NEWTON: Queen Of Hearts

During that same early '80s period when I was listening to 97 Power Rock, I was also occasionally tuned to AM Top 40. That format had provided the soundtrack of my formative years, and even into the early '80s I held tightly to a naive conviction that cool 'n' compelling pop sounds could one day reclaim the AM radio dial. That stubborn faith had no foundation in the plausible, but I clung to the belief with great determination.. 

Juice Newton's "Queen Of Hearts" was the best thing on AM Top 40 in 1981, and its # 2 Billboard chart ascendancy gave temporary credence to my misguided dream of what AM pop could become again. I didn't really know anything about the song--that it had been written by Hank DeVito (pedal steel guitarist for Emmylou Harris), nor that it had first been recorded by Dave Edmunds. I just knew a transcendent AM pop record when I heard it. And as big an Edmunds fan as I am, I still regard Juice Newton's take as the definitive version of "Queen Of Hearts."

KEN SHARP: Hold Me, Touch Me

True pop believer Ken Sharp is a huge fan of KISS, and it's a little surprising that (as far as I can recall) he hasn't released any KISS covers before this new single. As befits a true pop believer, Ken's choice of KISS inspirations draws not from a "Shout It Out Loud" or a "Calling Dr. Love," nor from any of KISS's group releases. Instead, Ken goes to the solo albums, the four LPs released simultaneously in 1978 by each member of the group. Specifically, Ken goes to two of those solo albums--sorry, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss!--and revamps a track apiece from Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, with Paul's "Hold Me, Thrill Me" on the virtual A-side and Gene's "Mr. Make Believe" as its digital flip. You wanted the best? You got the best.

GENE SIMMONS: See You Tonight

Speaking of those KISS solo albums, my pick of the lot is this uncharacteristically tender pop ballad from Simmons. Although I was a KISS fan myself, I didn't buy any of the solo albums at the time, opting only to pick up Ace Frehley's hit 45 of "New York Groove" contemporary to the releases. When I decided to write a history of KISS for Goldmine magazine in the late '80s, I tried to fill in some of the gaps in my KISS collection. The Gene Simmons record was not among my acquisitions in that search-and-secure action. I did grab a Best Of The Solo Albums collection, and that had to suffice for the time being.

Best Of The Solo Albums did not include "See You Tonight." I didn't even hear that song until KISS performed an acoustic version in their 1995 TV appearance on MTV Unplugged. I say thee WOW! It immediately reminded me of Big Star, and I picked up both the MTV Unplugged and Gene Simmons CDs at my first opportunity thereafter.

THE TARTAN HORDE: Rollers Show

KISS, Juice Newton. By now, it should be clear that I'm unashamedly into the sounds I'm into, and that would certainly include the music of The Bay City Rollers. In 1977 and '78, the idea that my burgeoning love of punk and power pop could also encompass the Rollers led me to take Nick Lowe's "Rollers Show" at face value. It's a tribute! Nick's a Rollers fan like I'm a Rollers fan!

Years later, I would discover that Lowe wrote a song called "Bay City Rollers, We Love You Show" as a contract-breaker, a tune so deliberately bad that its submission would allow Lowe to free himself from a songwriting commitment with United Artists, a bond he wanted to escape as quickly as possible. Lowe was appalled when UA loved the damned thing, and issued it as a single, credited to the non-existent combo The Tartan Horde. The original single had an instrumental as its B-side; some subsequent release paired it with "Rollers Show," which was an absolutely beguiling pastiche of the Rollers. "Rollers Show" also turned up on Pure Pop For Now People, the American version of Lowe's debut album Jesus Of Cool.

And I still take it at face value. Pure pop, pure magic, its author's intent notwithstanding. Bay City Rollers, we love you.

TRACEY ULLMAN: Breakaway

I moved from Brockport to Buffalo in August of 1982. The two years spent in Brockport after graduation had been...well, they certainly had been. Maybe I'll write about all of that some day. I kept on listening to the radio, AM and FM. At the beginning of '83, a new job required my own set of wheels, so my Dad arranged for me to get the 1969 Chevy Impala that had previously belonged to my grandfather. My first car. My first opportunity to drive with the radio on.

In the Impala, I was sometimes able to pick up a great AM hit station out of Toronto. More often, the Impala's AM dial was locked on 14 Rock, a former Christian station that had recently converted to a pop format. It was my last gasp of trying to listen to AM Top 40, and it had its moments. 

Tracey Ullman's "They Don't Know" was one of the finer moments. I was not familiar with Kirsty MacColl's original British single, nor could I even figure out initially who was responsible for this splendid, irresistible confection emanating from my car's speakers; note to DJs then and now: if you play it, SAY IT! Jeez, how can radio do its job of selling records if we don't know the names of the records playing?

I eventually ID'd the singer and the song. Tracey Ullman became far better known as an actress and comic performer, but she made her mark in music, too. She's considered a one-hit wonder in America, but her British hit cover of Irma Thomas's "Breakaway" shoulda been a smash on these shores as well. Wish I coulda heard that on the radio, too.

(And if Tracey Ullman's "They Don't Know" really was my final big AM Top 40 song, then I went out in style. Radio up. Windows down. Let's hit the road and drive.)

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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.

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