10 SONGS (plus a three-song bonus): 6/27/2026--GUITARS VS. RAYGUNS!!

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 # 1341: GUITARS VS. RAYGUNS!!

CHUCK BERRY: Promised Land

This week's show ties into the publication of my new book Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies. The book is a work of fiction, but we're celebrating its intrinsic mojo by stringing together an irresistible array of rockin' pop music by a few of the many real-life musicmakers mentioned alongside imaginary characters I created for the book's stories. And we'll get to the music in just a sec, right after these important words from our sponsor:

Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies gathers tales of a foul-mouthed rock 'n' roll guitarist hijacked into space, an Old West gunslinger, a film noir gun moll who longs to be in a musical, a humorous fill-in superhero suddenly called to greatness, a former boy band star turned record company fix-it man, a would-be painter, an obsessed collector, a fated swordswoman, a fallen giant, a frustrated time traveler, a condemned sinner guiding tourists in Hell, a departed soul interviewing for a spot in Heaven, a 1976 Beatles reunion concert, and other untruths detailing love, loss, disappointment, miscellaneous hijinks, a fascination with shiny objects, and—occasionally--a juvenile sense of humor. 

CARL'S BOOKS:

Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies (2026): $15
The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) (2024): $30
Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones (2023): $25

All books are autographed, and can be personalized upon request

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The first story in the book is the first short story I ever sold, 2019's "Guitars Vs. Rayguns," a foul-mouthed farce about a rock band from Earth playing gigs on other planets. Chuck Berry was the first among many actual musicians name-checked in this and subsequent stories. After all, NASA's inclusion of "Johnny B. Goode" on the gold record sent into space with Voyager 1 and 2 is what built the extraterrestrial market for rock 'n' roll in the first place. As Rocky, the leader of the book's titular planet-hopping combo Guitars Vs. Rayguns relates:

"Tonight's gig's been going well. Just one fight so far, and the drummer was only wounded; he's out for the night, but we'll get by with just two guitars and a bass if we gotta. Some Big Star, some Everly Brothers, Prince, Grip Weeds, Supremes, Pop Co-Op, Small Faces, and always, always some Chuck Berry. We're about midway through 'Promised Land' when an asshole in the audience tries to interrupt us...."

And that leads into more of the miscellaneous hijinks the book's back cover blurb promises. Take us to the Promised Land. Chuck.

THE CYNZ: Love's So Lovely

The Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! book presents a total of 27 short stories, including five stories starring the irrepressible space-traveling bar band from whom the book takes its title. There is also a sixth story centered around one of the band's members. The other 21 tales are unrelated to the adventures of this band called Guitars Vs. Rayguns. 

A few of the book's non-GvsR! stories are centered around music. "Home Of The Hits" sticks strictly to characters of my creation, with no references to real-life musicians. "Open Letter To An Imaginary Rock Band" finds its narrator listing a bunch of acts (KISS, the Stylistics, the Sex Pistols, Motörhead, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Talking Heads, the Isley Brothers) he prefers to his younger brother's favorite band (the fictional Pants-On Flyers). "I'm At Bat!" name-checks OIivia Newton-John, the Kinks, Nelson Riddle, the Jam, the Marketts, and Neil Hefti. Both "Time, And The Junk Food Of Your Life" and "Pop Friction" mention the Beatles, and the Fab Four also star in their own story about a 1976 reunion concert. The volume of real-life music-makin' names cited within that Beatles short story may rival the cumulative number of bands referenced in all five (or six) of the GvsR! chapters.

But yeah, the dedicated GvsR! band stories provide a pervasive supply of pop music name-dropping threaded throughout the book. The vast majority of them are passing references, and that status includes this line invoking the name of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio fave raves the Cynz:

"...The setlist was still peppered with covers, everything from the Buzzcocks and the Selecter to the Cynz and Etta James. But we were doing more and more originals, and our drunken and violently irascible audiences were responding. Favorably. Fuck, we had a gig last week out near Sirius, and only one raygun fight broke out. One! Unheard of in our experience. Suddenly, the ETs far and wide were dancing and listening. We were heading to the toppermost of the motherfucking poppermost...."

As a writer and a music fan (and, y'know, a DJ), my mind is always occupied with dozens of random notions and dozens of irresistible song choices. Always. I wanted Guitars Vs. Rayguns' repertoire to reflect that. And I specifically wanted to mention the Cynz because lead singer Cyndi Dawson has been so supportive of all of my books. Cyndi: THANK YOU!

(And in the real world, "Love's So Lovely" [from the current Cynz album Confess] has already secured a berth on TIRnRR's year-end countdown show. And I wouldn't be surprised if it makes our Top Ten. Hey, Cynz! The guitars and the rayguns salute you.)

THE MONKEES: (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone

One of the (theoretical) growing-up experiences that impacted my development as a pop pundit, music journalist, and writer of stuff was the act of standing my ground whenever anyone told me I shouldn't like something. Over time, I learned to shrug off naysayers, and to keep right on digging what I dig. Comic book superheroes. Punk rock. Pulp fiction.

The Monkees.

The more some folks tried to convinced me that the Monkees were worthless, the more they deepened my conviction that they didn't know what they were talking about. I'd seen the TV show, I'd heard the records. I know what I like. I loved the Monkees, and I still do.

The Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! book includes three separate references to the Monkees. In my Beatles reunion story, when John, Paul, George, and Ringo have an informal get-together to reacclimate to playing as a band, they perform a presumably-jokey (but not disrespectful) jam of the familiar "(Theme From) The Monkees." Later in the book, when Guitars Vs. Rayguns are auditioning a new member, the Monkees' "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone" is one of a slew of covers the potential group is unable to nail.

My favorite Monkees moment in Guitars Vs. Rayguns! occurs still later in the book, when the members of my raygun-target rock group find themselves in danger, and they steal a plot element directly from The Monkees TV series to escape their predicament. The idea's inspiration is given full and proper in-story credit. Saved by the Monkees! I believe the fans will be pleased.

But I would have that faith, wouldn't I? After all, I'm a believer.

THE FLASHCUBES: No Promise

Big Stir Records recording artists the Flashcubes loom large in my legend. You can be assured that in the GvsR! chronicles, the Flashcubes are represented and appreciated by rock 'n' roll fans across the planets and across the galaxies.

Guitars Vs. Rayguns drummer Leiko is certainly a Flashcubes fan, especially of 'Cubes drummer Tommy Allen (alongside Keith Moon, Marky Ramone, Clem Burke, Dennis Diiken, and Ringo Starr. Here's evidence of that:

"...Leiko leaned in for emphasis. 'I'm Keith fucking Moon. I'm Marky fucking Ramone. I'm Clem fucking Burke. I'm Dennis fucking Diken from the Smithereens, Tommy fucking Allen from the Flashcubes, Ringo fucking Starr if I wanna be Ringo fucking Starr.

" 'I'm fucking LEIKO, bitches!...' "

So noted. In the universe of GvsR!, the Flashcubes are stars, as big as any other stars in any galaxy. 

I like that universe.

WONDERBOY: Girl Songs

Robbie Rist is a long-time friend of this show, and Dana and I have twice been guests on The Spoon, the essential podcast our Robbie co-hosts with Chris Jackson and Thom Bowers. As a tip of the hat, I wanted to add Robbie's old SoCal pop band Wonderboy to the long list of acts that Guitars Vs. Rayguns covers in their phaser-blasted live sets. And given clear evidence within the narrative that Guitars Vs. Rayguns guitarist Rocky really likes the ladies--really, really likes the ladies--Wonderboy's pop gem "Girl Songs" is a perfect match. 

P. P. ARNOLD: The First Cut Is The Deepest

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE RAMONES: Blitzkrieg Bop

C'mon--it wouldn't be one of my books if it didn't reference the Ramones. In one of the book's non-GvsR! stories, a character mentions driving through a blizzard as his iPod treats him to neck-snappin' segues from the Ramones to Dizzy Gillespie to the Girls From Petticoat Junction. In "Jack Mystery (some truths and some white lies)," the actor auditioning for the lead role in a comic book movie wears a Ramones t-shirt. Within the five (or six) GvsR! stories, a character uses the expression "I swear to Joey Ramone," the bassist expresses a desire to channel Brian Wilson, James Jamerson, and Dee Dee Ramone, and we've already seen that drummer Leiko intends to be Marky fucking Ramone (among others). The Ramones. The American Beatles. The greatest American rock 'n' roll band of all time. Hey-ho. Let's go!

JOAN JETT: Bad Reputation

From my short story "Lone Star Falling," which I think is among the best things I've ever written:

"...But Marie looked up at Faye. The eyes could not see. Nonetheless, Marie said out loud, 'LaFayette?'

"Faye had not heard anyone call her by her full first name in...well, she couldn't remember how long it had been. 'Yes, Mom! It's LaFayette.' Usually unflappable, Faye's nerves were on Def Con 1. 'How are you, Mom?'

" 'George!,' Marie called out. 'LaFayette's here for a visit. Come see your daughter.'

" 'No, Mom. Let's not bother Daddy right now.' Faye's father George had died in a car accident decades ago, when Faye was in seventh grade. Faye saw no reason to correct her mother's illusion. 'Let's just have a chat for a second, just you and me, Mom.'

" 'Fifi...?'

Faye froze. Her mother hadn't called her by that name since she was a little girl. 'Fifi? Is that you?' Before Faye could muster a reply, Marie's mind switched again. 'LaFayette! Turn off that noise and set the table for dinner!'

" 'It's not noise, Mom,' said Faye, recalling the exact conversation she had with Marie all those years ago. 'It's Joan Jett. Come on, Mom. Dance with me!'

"Marie smiled as Faye began to dance by the creeping phlox. Marie also started to dance, or rather to mimic the act of dancing while still confined to her wheelchair. 'Such language,' Marie said. 'Couldn't this Joan Jett say she doesn't give a darn about her reputation?'

" 'Works better this way, Mom. It's kickass!'

" 'LaFayette!'

" 'It's okay, Mom. Doesn't this music make you feel alive?'

"Marie was silent, but the glow of her smile continued...."

YOKO ONO: Move On Fast

I have a lot of respect for Yoko Ono, but most of her music falls outside of my chosen pop parameters. Dana's a fan. That said, there are three Yoko tracks I like very much: Her 1980 B-side "Kiss Kiss Kiss" earned a chapter in my previous book The Greatest Record Ever Made! [Volume 1]), her 1971 seasonal treat "Listen, The Snow Is Falling" is luscious and sublime, and "Move On Fast," a pumpin' track from her 1973 album Approximately Infinite Universe, rocks. Yoko haters need not apply.

My first awareness and appreciation of "Move On Fast" was provided courtesy of the weekly classic alternative podcast Only Three Lads. Like Dana, O3L co-host Brett Vargo is big on Yoko, and while he hasn't yet managed to convert his partner Uncle Gregg to the cause, Brett insists Gregg will come around eventually. Me? I'm grateful to Brett for hooking me on this track.

Yoko Ono appears as a supporting character in my 1976 Beatles reunion fantasy piece. I think she comes off quite well, and I hope Brett will approve of her depiction. Dear Yoko: The world of Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! holds nothing but love for you.

THE BEATLES: Paperback Writer

Why, yes--I am a paperback writer. Dear sir or madam, will you read my book?

ENCORE! THREE MORE SONGS!!

MOTÖRHEAD: Ace Of Spades

SLADE: Gudbuy T' Jane

LL COOL J: Mama Said Knock You Out 

These songs are mentioned together in sequence late in the book, when Guitars Vs. Rayguns are jamming with a famous real-life rock 'n' roll superstar, and he sings these three song choices with them. And the band is beyond thrilled when HE expresses gratitude to THEM...!

Thenkyew. Thenkyewverymuch.

Unlikely song choices in this context? Man, I can hear them, in my crowded head. And besides: The King can do what the King can do. That's why he's the King.

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

My new book of short stories Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies is out now, and you can get autographed copies of the new book and my previous book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) directly from me. You can still get my previous previous book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones from publisher Rare Bird Books, OR an autographed copy here. If you like the books, please consider leaving a rating and/or review at the usual online resources.

I compiled a various-artists tribute album called Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes, and it's pretty damned good; you can read about it here and order it here. 

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

THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE: The First Cut Is The Deepest

From my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1).

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

P. P. ARNOLD: The First Cut Is The Deepest

Written by Cat Stevens

Produced by Mike Hurst

Single, Immediate Records [U.K.], 1967

We will fail. That much is inevitable at some point. No matter how hard we try, how good our intentions or how ruthless our execution, even if we have successes here, there, and nearly everywhere, we will eventually fall short of our goal. This fate is assured, and no feel-good sentiment can mitigate that fact. We will fall. We will fail.

And even when we fail, still we'll try to love again. 

"The First Cut Is The Deepest" is well-known via hit covers by Rod Stewart in 1977 and Sheryl Crow in 2003. Each of these is, really, a good record on its own, though neither is within hailing distance of the version recorded by the song's author, Cat Stevens. And no version--no version--is within light years of the beguiling, seductive, flawless original release by P. P. Arnold.

Like most American pop fans, my introduction to this Cat Stevens composition was delivered by Rod Stewart in 1977. I liked Stewart's record, but then my girlfriend played Stevens' version for me. Whoa! Instant fave rave, and I eventually scored my own copy on a double-album compilation called Hard-Up Heroes. I don't know how long it was before I realized that Stewart had omitted a line from the chorus, and everyone else has likewise skipped the same line after that. All versions include When it comes to being lucky, she's cursed/When it comes to loving me, she's worse, but then Rod and Sheryl Crow and all other punters leave out But when it comes to being loved, she's first, which strikes me as a pretty important line. That's how I know! 

For many years, I thought Cat Stevens released the first version of his own song, but P. P. Arnold's exquisite rendition actually predates Stevens' record. I say P. P. Arnold is also considerably prettier than either Stevens or Stewart, but that's me. Even if we close our eyes and just listen to her absolute mastery of every syllable, every nuance of longing and regret, hope and fear, it's clear that P. P. Arnold's standout performance of "The First Cut Is The Deepest" is The Greatest Record Ever Made.

P.P. Arnold had been an Ikette, singin' and shakin' behind Ike and Tina Turner. She left the Ikettes while in England in 1967, and began a solo career. She was encouraged by Mick Jagger, and she had a relationship with Steve Marriott, then the lead singer of the superb British Mod combo the Small Faces. She would work with the Small Faces, singing backup on their classics "Tin Soldier" and "Itchykoo Park," while Marriott sang on her 1968 single "(If You Think You're) Groovy."

Arnold's first single was "The First Cut Is The Deepest." Yeah, her first single was The Greatest Record Ever Made. Maybe that's an intimidating way to start one's solo career, but her subsequent catalog is also loaded with distinctive and timeless track, The first cut is the greatest. That's how I know.

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

My new book of short stories Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies is out now, and you can get autographed copies of the new book and my previous book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) directly from me. You can still get my previous previous book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones from publisher Rare Bird Books, OR an autographed copy here. If you like the books, please consider leaving a rating and/or review at the usual online resources.

I compiled a various-artists tribute album called Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes, and it's pretty damned good; you can read about it here and order it here. 

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

10 SONGS: 4/4/2026

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

This week's edition of 10 Songs draws exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1330

THE KINKS: Lola

The Kinks' 1970 hit "Lola" reentered the public discussion in March. Gee...thanks, Moby.

As easy as it would be to rag on Moby for completely misunderstanding "Lola" and misinterpreting the song as some kind of jokey anti-LGBTQ+ embarrassment, I'll give Moby an eensy bit of benefit of doubt. I can see how someone could read the lyrics, reflect on the song's tale of a man besotted by an encounter with Lola, a presumed woman who (it's implied)  turns out to be a male transvestite, but the besotted bloke remains in love with Lola nonetheless. He's glad he's a man, and so is Lola. I suppose one could conceivably hear snark or scorn in the narrative. 

I don't hear it. And I don't think it's there.

Excerpted from a previous post:

"I'm gonna go out on a limb here and speculate that AM radio Top 40 playlists in the early '70s didn't generally include an awful lot of songs about transvestites, at least not in regular rotation. There was Lou Reed's 'Walk On The Wild Side' in 1972, of course, but beyond that? I can only think of one other example, from a couple of years before Reed's Holly came up from F-L-A. In 1970, she spelled her name L-O-L-A, Lola.

"Girls will be boys, and boys will be girls
It's a mixed up, muddled up, shook up world 
Except for Lola
Lo lo lo lo Lola
Well I left home just the week before
And I'd never ever kissed  a woman before
Lola smiled and took me by the hand
And said, "Little boy, I'm gonna make you a man"
Now I'm not the world's most masculine man
But I know what I am
And I'm glad I'm a man
And so is Lola

"The ambiguity is deliberate; in its context, the phrase 'so is Lola' allows the possibility that Lola isn't necessarily a male in female guise, but perhaps is a woman, and she's glad that the singer's a man. No one interprets the song's meaning in that way. The clear consensus is that Lola's a dude.

"Not that there's anything wrong with that.

"I was oblivious to all of this. I was just a clueless li'l adolescent during Nixon's first term, and 'Lola' was a great song I heard on the radio. Its distinctive guitar opening, its lyrical imagery of a Soho nightclub where the champagne tastes just like cherry cola, and its irresistible singalong chorus made my radio yearn for greater volume to accommodate the song's pop power...

"...Within a few days after the Kinks' [1977] Saturday Night Live spot, I was speaking on the phone with my friend Lissa DeAngelo. As grizzled, mature high school students, we now understood the meaning of 'Lola' 's lyrics, and Lissa wondered if that meant Kinks leader Ray Davies was gay. I shrugged--yes, one can shrug over the phone--and said basically, I dunno, don't think so, but whatever. The previous year, a guy in the Class of '76 had brought a male companion to the Senior Ball; attitudes were changing--slowly, incrementally, at a glacier's breakneck pace, but changing nonetheless, and changing for the better. There was still a long way to go, and there's still a long way yet to go. The Kinks don't deserve much credit for that. But 'Lola' was undeniably a factor in my own evolving realization that gay rights were human rights. Years before Seinfeld made it a punch line, 'Lola' demonstrated that yeah, there wasn't anything wrong with that...."

We live in a time when LGBTQ+ rights are in constant peril, under constant attack. That's always been true, but right now feels worse than it's been in decades, and the situation shows no promise of immediate improvement. It's a serious, serious problem, and it must not be taken lightly.

It's ludicrous to think that the Kinks' "Lola" is in any way a part of that problem.

SLYBOOTS: If We Could Let Go

For yesterday's imaginary playlist of songs this messed up-world needs right now, I said:

"I will say that my # 1 choice in this subject is most definitely the 2024 clarion call 'If We Could Let Go' by the fab NYC group Slyboots. I wrote about that sublime track here, and you can buy yourself a digital copy of the song here. Given the troubles of our times, there's a decent shot "If We Could Let Go" is gonna rack up additional spins on almost every TIRnRR for the rest of the year. As I've written elsewhere, 'As the country and the world seem increasingly eager to leap into the abyss and take us all with it, I've been trying to draw strength from my current favorite phrase: The audacity of joy. It takes a lot--a lot--to even attempt any kind of positive outlook. But we can't give up on hope. That would mean giving in, and that's what the bad guys want us to do. I refuse. We need to do much more than just hold hands and sing "Kumbaya"...but we DO also need to hold hands and sing "Kumbaya." If we lose joy, we lose everything.' "

I am not letting go of that.

THE SHIRTS: I Wanna Be A Rocker

Wanna be a rocker? Worthy goal! As part of the 1970s NYC rock 'n' roll scene centered at CBGB and Max's Kansas City, the Shirts pursued that goal with determined flair. The Shirts recorded three albums for Capitol Records, but the group doesn't get mentioned often enough alongside storied scenemates like the Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, Television, and the Heartbreakers. They should be. The Shirts were the real deal.

The two Capitol records are long out of print (though available digitally), but the visionary Think Like A Key Music label has returned the classic Shirts sound to retail with a pair of exquisite archival live releases: 2025's Live Featuring Annie Golden (recorded live in the studio in 1981) and 2026's Live At Paradise 1979. Collectively, these two records are the next best thing to being near Bowery and Bleecker at precisely the right time to experience the rush of the Shirts in live performance.

From Live At Paradise 1979, last week's TIRnRR spin of "Starts With A Handshake" and this week's spin of "I Wanna Be A Rocker" serve up ace in-concert renditions of Shirts songs we've never played before. On our next show, we're turning to a Live At Paradise 1979 performance of a Shirts song already well-known to our listeners.

I'm telling you: Those are our plans.

THE HIVES: Tick Tick Boom

I first heard the Hives around 2002, when I saw them gloriously lip-sync "I Hate To Say I Told You So" on Top Of The Pops. At the time, this long-running British TV music program was carried Stateside on BBC America, and I watched its weekly cablecast whenever I could. Watching that day with my seven-year-old daughter, the sight and sound of the Hives had us dancing gleefully in the living room--cool memory, that. Visually, the Hives reminded me of Paul Revere and the Raiders (albeit without the Revolutionary  War costumes), and the music suggested a herky-jerky blend of punk, pop, and Nuggets-approved '60s garage. I loved it.

A few weeks ago, our pal Fritz Van Leaven emailed me: "You've played the Hives, but never this cut. Curious to hear what you think of it." Well, "Tick Tick Boom" (from the group's 2007 work The Black And White Album) immediately reminded me of why I fell in love with the Hives' music in the first place. I bought the track and put it on the radio at my first opportunity. Thanks for the tip, Fritz!

THE BARRACUDAS: (I Wish It Could Be) 1965 Again

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

P. P. ARNOLD: Angel Of The Morning

EVIE SANDS: Any Way That You Want Me

THE BOBBY FULLER FOUR: Julie

THE TROGGS: Wild Thing

THE HOLLIES: I Can't Let Go

This week's show had already been programmed when we heard of the passing of songwriter Chip Taylor. At least some modest tribute to Taylor's work and legacy felt imperative, so we made the playlist changes necessary to accommodate five songs from the Chip Taylor songbook.

We went with two of Taylor's hits in their familiar renditions: "Wild Thing" by the Troggs and "I Can't Let Go" (co-written with Al Gorgoni) by the Hollies. We wanted to include singer/songwriter/guitarist Evie Sands, who was a friend of Taylor; she recorded several of his songs in the '60s, and we chose her 1969 single of "Any Way That You Want Me" as representation. We went with P. P. Arnold's cover of "Angel Of The Morning," and the Bobby Fuller Four's album track "Julie." Amazing songwriting talent; the world is poorer for the loss, but richer for having been able to hear Taylor's work in the first place.

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

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

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

10 SONGS: 8/9/2025

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.

Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes

Various Artists

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BIG STIR RECORDS and producer/curator Carl Cafarelli bring you a very special collection saluting – and featuring – Power Pop Hall Of Famers THE FLASHCUBES: the all-new new album MAKE SOMETHING HAPPEN! A TRIBUTE TO THE Read more

This week's edition of 10 Songs draws exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1297.

PAUL COLLINS: Hang On To Yourself

Another ace new track from the forthcoming tribute album Jem Records Celebrates David Bowie, as Power Pop Hall of Famer Paul Collins takes on "Hang On To Yourself." The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars was my favorite David Bowie album during my misspent (but perfectly soundtracked) youth, and it's an absolute kick to hear Paul Collins bring his own American Beat to bear on one of my top Ziggy picks. As Paul's Bowie cover makes its TIRnRR debut this week, it's joined by another gem from Jem Records Celebrates David Bowie ("Can't Help Thinking About Me" by the Cynz) in its third straight week on our playlist. Both of these will return on our next show, and we'll also offer our first spin of the High Frequencies' Bowie tribute cover of "Modern Love." Hang on!

CAST FEATURING P.P. ARNOLD: Poison Vine

Apologies to fans of Oasis and Blue, but my favorite '90s Britpop combo was Cast. It didn't hurt that Cast included John Power, formerly of the La's, but I'm not sure I even knew that when I fell into the thrall of Cast's "Alright" and "Promised Land." When Rhino Records contracted me to write the liner notes for a compilation album called Poptopia! Power Pop Classics Of The '90s, I know the good folks at Rhino really wanted to include a track by Cast, but they were unable to clear the rights for it.

P. P. Arnold is one of my favorite singers, and possibly my very favorite among female soul singers. Her incredible rendition of "The First Cut Is The Deepest" is the song's definitive version, and it rightly earns its own chapter in my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). I'm delighted that she is still making music, and still unerringly excellent.

So: The combined forces of Cast and P. P. Arnold on a new single in 2025? I'm IN! "Poison Vine" is vintage Cast, grand, sweeping, and powerful, and P.P. Arnold is, y'know, P. P. ARNOLD!! Everyone sounds as great as ever. Its five-minute running time will make it difficult to squeeze into our short-attention-span format very often, but it is five minutes well spent. No power in the known or unknown universe could prevent us from playing it at least once. Cast AND the mighty P. P. Arnold. Most inviting poison vine ever.

RICHARD TURGEON: Signs

Ever-reliable rockin' pop performer Richard Turgeon has a supercool new album on the likewise-supercool Kool Kat Musik label. His new record Shungite is named after the radioactive element that's deadly to natives of the planet Shung, and...okay, that's not even remotely true. But I'm sticking with it! You'll BELIEVE a record can fly! Ain't nothing mild-mannered about Richard Turgeon. 

THE FLASHCUBES: The Sweet Spot

Awright. Go time! 

"The Sweet Spot" is the second of three new singles from Syracuse's own power pop powerhouses the Flashcubes. "The Sweet Spot" is available here, its rockin' predecessor "Reminisce" can still be scarfed up here, and the go'geous forthcoming single "If These Hands" can be preordered here. Everything's coming up Cubic!

All of the above serve as integral components of the September 12th release Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes, as the three new Flashcubes tracks rub Rickenbackers with 21 great acts serving up 21 inspired covers of original tunes from the Flashcubes' songbook. Our Cubesmania participants include sparkle*jets u.k., Librarians With Hickeys, Chris von Sneidern, Graham Parker and Mike Gent, Joe Giddings, Ballzy Tomorrow, the Kennedys, the Verbs, Dolph Chaney, Pop Co-Op, the Peppermint Kicks, Tom Kenny & the Hi-Seas, the Choosers, Hamell On Trial, the Armoires Rob Moss and Skin-Tight Skin, the Mayflowers, Super 8 featuring Lisa Mychols, Callan Foster, Sorrows, and the Spongetones. It is indeed a tribute fit for the brilliance of the Flashcubes.

At long last, Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes is beginning to appear as available for preorder. It's already listed on Amazon, but c'mon, there are better options than that. You can get it directly from its visionary record label Big Stir Records. It's up on Bandcamp, complete with a first look at my liner notes for the album, plus its individual track credits. I imagine Kool Kat Musik will start accepting preorders soon, and we love Kool Kat. 

Bottom line: You have purchase options to enrich your music library with the addition of your own soon-to-be-cherished personal copy of Make Something Happen! We've done our part. Now it's YOUR turn to make something happen.

THE PEPPERMINT KICKS: Too Sweet (Oh Yeah!)

Oh Yeah! for SURE! Make Something Happen! superstars the Peppermint Kicks' new album Pop Rocks In My Chewing Gum is bad for you in all the best ways, risking potential damage to dentures while redeeming its dietary dangers with sweet, sweet confections that stick to your ribs and to the underside of your desk. My current Pick T'Click is "Too Sweet (Oh Yeah!)," but nine out of ten dentists will agree there's much to taste and savor on Pop Rocks In My Chewing Gum. (Nine out of ten dentists will also gang up to beat the livin' chicklets outta that stubborn tenth dentist. Irascible lot, those dentists.)

THE VIBEKE SAUGESTAD BAND: Hey Now Sunshine

"Hey Now Sunshine" is a thoroughly effervescent and endearing new track from the Vibeke Saugestad Band, an advance treat from a forthcoming EP called The Sun Sessions. Norwegian pop singer Vibeke, originally billed under just her first name, has been bringing the sunshine for quite some time now, and I'm mortified that I butchered the pronunciation of her name on-air during this week's broadcast. VEE-buh-kuh SAUWguh-stah. VEE-buh-kuh SAUWguh-stah. Although screwing up the names of musicians may continue in the tradition of Ed Sullivan introducing "Diane Warwick" on his really big show, I know that my own last name has been routinely mispronounced by many, so I'm further bummed when I screw up someone's name. The song's great, the singer and her band are great, and I'll get a little closer to announcing the band's name correctly when "Hey Now Sunshine" plays again on our next show this Sunday night.

THE JACKSON 5: I'll Be There

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

ELENA ROGERS: A Little Bit Of Lovely

The newest Elena Rogers EP Song About Me arrived a few days too late to be considered for this week's show. Unabashed, we played our familiar programming choice from Elena's previous EP Always Trying, with a vow to get something from Song About Me into the mix on the next available playlist. You'll hear that vow fulfilled on Sunday.

BALLZY TOMORROW: Five Personalities

We couldn't let 10 Songs play to its inner groove without one more track from Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes. Operating under his rockin' pop dba Ballzy Tomorrow, everyone's pal Robbie Rist gives us an interpretation of the Flashcubes' "Five Personalities" that our friends at Big Stir describe as "majestically Queen-like whimsy." We concur!

On our next show, we'll hear further evidence of Robbie Rist's interpretive ability, delivered in the form of another, different cover tune he also recorded as Ballzy Tomorrow. And it's one we ain't ever played here before. Well! We're gonna play it Sunday. We have that specific plan written on the back of my hand.

THE BEATLES: She Came In Through The Bathroom Window

And we're heading out the way she came in. Lend me your comb. It's time to go home.

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

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