GABBA GABBA HEY! Happily recovering from my first in-store appearance at PARTHENON BOOKS

 

Yeah, I'm exhausted. 

I'm writing this on Thursday night, a few hours after my in-store appearance at Parthenon Books in Syracuse. I was at Parthenon plugging my new book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones, and I had an absolutely fabulous time. My thanks to everyone at Parthenon for making this such a special evening for me.

The nice folks who turned out for the in-store were mostly familiar faces, and I'm grateful to each 'n' every one of 'em. I also met a few new faces, including one musician who just happened to be at Parthenon en route to a gig, saw there was a Ramones book event starting and just wanted to buy a copy of the book and get it autographed before making his way to his own show. Well, cool!

This was my first-ever in-store. I didn't have much planned, just some notes to refer to from the book. I spoke for about an hour, alternating between off-the-cuff reminiscences and commentary, readings from the book, and conversations with members of the audience. After that, I sat at my table and signed autographs while chatting with my fellow Ramones fans. When that was finished, I signed a few more copies for Parthenon's inventory, and made my exit.

The evening tired me out more than the book release party at The 443 Social Club and Lounge, and way more than my TV appearance on Bridge Street, probably because I needed to be in full-on Hey-Ho, Let's GO!! mode the entire time. It's a good kind of tired, though, a happy fatigue that's fulfilling and satisfying. And Parthenon is such a wondrous, wonderful place. I'm so lucky to have been able to do this there, and so thankful to everyone at Parthenon for making it happen.

And now: I'm goin' to bed. Gabba Gabba good night!

If you like what you see here on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), please consider supporting this blog by becoming a patron on Patreon, or by visiting CC's Tip Jar. Additional products and projects are listed here.

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

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

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl

GABBA GABBA HEY! My in-store appearance at PARTHENON BOOKS this Thursday

This Thursday, May 18th, I'll be making an in-store appearance at Parthenon Books, 333 South Salina Street in Syracuse, touting the irresistible appeal of my new book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones. We'll be sayin' Hey-ho, let's GO! at 6 pm. Leather jackets are optional, and I hope to see you there.

This is my first in-store. We had an epic book release party at The 443 Social Club and Lounge this past Saturday (recapped here), but a retail in-store is a different creature entirely. When I was on the other side of it, working at a record store in the '80s, I remember we had an in-store for R & B duo Womack and Womack, and hardly anyone showed up (beyond the two people named Womack). It was as if it had been arranged by Artie Fufkin. (Unlike the poor lads in Spinal Tap, at least Womack and Womack didn't wind up with second billing to a puppet show.)

So I don't know what to expect Thursday. But once again: what would the Ramones do? As always, they'd shout 1-2-3-4! and get on with it. I do believe it's gonna be fun. I have always wanted to do this, and now I'm getting my chance.

Parthenon Books is a great place, located directly across the street from the Landmark Theatre (where I saw my first Kinks concert!), and just south of the former location of Economy Bookstore, where I used to spend many an hour burrowing for books in my misspen...well-spent youth. The folks at Parthenon have been so nice to me, and they even came up with the specific wording of this event's hype:

"The Ramones may be gone, but they will never be forgotten, seemingly rediscovered by new generations of coming of age rockers. For the first time, you can read The Ramones' comments about their own history in this intimate series of interviews with the legendary band. Carl will be telling the story behind the interviews and signing his book."

Gabba Gabba HEY! Parthenon will have copies of my book available for sale, and I'll be delighted to sign anything that needs signing. Hell, I'll just be delighted to be there. Join me! Screw Artie Fufkin anyway. This is gonna be cool!

If you like what you see here on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), please consider supporting this blog by becoming a patron on Patreon, or by visiting CC's Tip Jar. Additional products and projects are listed here.

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

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

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl