10 SONGS: 10/17/2026

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 # 1357

BANDA AL9: That Thing You Do!

In 1964, I saw the Beatles' then-new movie A Hard Day's Night at The North Drive-In in Cicero, NY. I was four years old--a veteran pop music afficionado!--and it was an unforgettable experience. It stayed with me, and when I became an even bigger Beatles fan in the '70s, I began to realize that A Hard Day's Night was my all-time favorite film.

Thirty years ago this month, A Hard Day's Night was suddenly dethroned by That Thing You Do! From my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1):

"...Well I have heard your record, Guy, and I like it. I like it a lot. 'That Thing You Do!' You know, it's...snappy!

"Actor Tom Hanks made his directorial debut with this light-hearted little romantic comedy about the Wonders (formerly the One-ders), an unknown Erie, PA rock 'n' roll group that manages to score a big hit single in 1964. These fictional one-hit Wonders are a quartet of archetypes--the talent, the fool, the smart one, and the bass player--but the film executes the difficult task of making them seem plausible, real. There's a scene when the members of the Wonders all hear their song 'That Thing You Do!' on the radio for the first time, and that scene precisely nails the giddy rush of rockin' pop music better than any other slip of celluloid I've ever seen. Yeah yeah yeah, even better than the entirety of A Hard Day's Night, which had been my all-time favorite film right up until that night at a movie theater in Cicero, NY in 1996, when my eyes and ears opened wide with glee at Hollywood's best-ever love letter to rock 'n' roll music.

"And none of it would have or could have worked without the perfect song.

"Adam Schlesinger provided that perfect song. Mike Viola of the Candy Butchers co-produced and sang lead; some say Viola also co-wrote the song, but declined to take a songwriting credit, while other say that is not so. It is indisputable that the combined talents of Schlesinger and Viola crafted a stunning confection that steers clear of the quagmire of pastiche or parody, and captures the essence of fab and gear radio-ready 1964...."

In celebration of the film's 30th anniversary, Brazil's phenomenal pop combo Banda AL9 have released a loving and (of course!) snappy rendition of its irresistible title tune. Teen sensations Banda AL9 to the stage! You look good in the black, boys. And you ARE the smart ones.

TONY MARSICO AND THE UGLY THINGZ: Bittersweet

Yes. Just...YES! If the question happens to be Does this track sound like a friggin' hit record?, "Bittersweet," the new single from Tony Marsico and the UglyThingz earns a big, big yes in my programing log. We PLAY the hits! This one comes to us courtesy of Jonathan Lea (of the Jigsaw Scene and TIRnRR Fave Raves Tall Poppy Syndrome), who serves here as a deputy Ugly Thing on guitar. Our Jonathan compared "Bittersweet" to the power pop greatness of the Plimsouls, and if that seems like a bold claim, I say you can see it's true even from a million miles away. "Bittersweet" returns to the Syracuse airwaves on our next show. Bitter? No. Sweet? YES!!!

THE FAR WEST: Bitter, Drunk And Cold

Sure, but enough about me.

THE SPONGETONES: Starting To Feel

A new single from the Spongetones gets an automatic nod for airplay on this show. "Starting To Feel" offers the lead vocal debut of 'Tones drummer Eric Wilhelm on a lovely, McCartneyesque beat ballad. In the near-dystopian world sprawled all around us, we could all do with an opportunity to sway while starting to feel.

(Speaking of that McCartney guy, we'll hear from him in just a few paragraphs.)

THE RAMONES: I Don't Care

As the B-side of "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker," "I Don't Care" was one of the first two Ramones songs I owned, a blind purchase in 1977. I'd read about the Ramones in Phonograph Record Magazine, heard "Blitzkrieg Bop" on college radio, and took the plunge in purchasing the "Sheena" 45 even though I hadn't heard it yet. The 45 had considerable impact on me, and many more Ramones purchases would follow.

"I don't care?" Plainly, I do care. The Ramones were the subject of my first book, featured directly in two chapters (and indirectly in a third) in my second book, and a significant presence in my third book Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies and its novelette-length digest A Band Called GUITARS VS. RAYGUNS! I saw the Ramones eight times, and I co-host a weekly radio show named after a line in a Ramones song. I'm proud to be partisan; indifference is for frauds and hipsters. 

And I don't care about them.

RIHANNA: Shut Up And Drive

From a previous post:

Rihanna's "Shut Up And Drive" is a stupid song about sex. But it's a great stupid song about sex, probably the best-ever stupid song about sex, and a legit contender for my all-time Hot 200. Yeah, even among songs that may or may not be stupid and may or may not be about sex...

...Wikipedia describes "Shut Up And Drive" as a new wave song--no, really!--based on "Blue Monday" by New Order. No offense to the mopey British guys, but I prefer it the way Rihanna did it.

"Shut Up And Drive" strikes me as a sort-of equivalent to "Heavy Music" by Bob Seger and the Last Heard, a track I initially dismissed as a stupid song about sex before realizing it was--you guessed it!--a great stupid song about sex. 

Rihanna's song is greater. Drive, baby. Drive.

PAUL McCARTNEY: Not Such A Bad Boy

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

LED ZEPPELIN: Good Times, Bad Times

Ya never know with us. WE never know with us.

THE FLASHCUBES FEATURING TOM KENNY: Got No Mind

You can't have a hit record if you only play it once. And you can't get word out if you only share information once. Repeated from last week's 10 Songs:

In memory of Flashcubes guitarist Paul Armstrong, the surviving 'Cubes are releasing a new single and planning an epic memorial live show. Let's review my recent hype on behalf of each event:

Our friends at Big Stir Records are now accepting preorders for "Got No Mind," the new 45 by the Flashcubes featuring Tom Kenny. Offered as a memorial tribute to Flashcubes guitarist Paul Armstrong (the song's author), the track has already been a TIRnRR fixture, and it will remain so for the foreseeable. And to sanctify the release of this 7" slab o' cantankerous wonder, the mighty Big Stir is also offering original copies of two previous Flashcubes 45s--1979's "Wait Til Next Week"/"Radio" and 2016's two-fer of Chris Spedding covers, "Boogie City"/"Hey Miss Betty"--both individually and in bundles with the new one. Visit The Flashcubes page at Big Stir for details.

On Saturday, November 7th, fans and participants representing the Syracuse power pop and new wave rock 'n' roll scene that the Flashcubes ignited in the late '70s will gather at Syracuse's original home of rock 'n' roll The Lost Horizon to pay loud and heartfelt tribute to the late, great Paul Armstrong. 

In his brash capacity as a guitarist and general spark plug for the audacious energy of the Flashcubes, Paul Armstrong was a key figure in the history of Syracuse rock 'n' roll, and the impact he and his brother Flashcubes Gary Frenay, Arty Lenin, and Tommy Allen have had upon my life and work is damned near beyond measure. As we bid farewell to Paul Armstrong, you can be damned sure we're gonna put on a tribute show that would make PA proud.

And to do that, a bunch of performers who loved Paul and shared his passion for three chords and a cloud of dust will gather at the Lost for a full-volume celebration of his legacy. We'll have live sets by Amerikan Primitive, Perilous, 1.4.5. Survivors, the Johnny Thunders Orchestra, The Wax Museum host Ronnie Dark, PA's Boston buds Sal Baglio and Mike Gent, Syracuse's favorite son Tom Kenny, and the Flashcubes featuring Mark Doyle. Your emcees will be Dana and Carl, and we promise the sort of bright-lights bonanza that Paul Armstrong would have dug the most.

TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW! It's possible there will still be tickets available at the door...but given the response so far, I would not recommend waiting. This one's for Paul Armstrong. And it's gonna be as loud as he was. YOU should join us. Got no mind? WE don't mind!

COCKTAIL SLIPPERS: Back Where You Belong

And this is where we belong. Sing it, Cocktail Slippers! We'll meet you again back here on Sunday night.

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, its six-chapter novelette digest A Band Called GUITARS VS. RAYGUNS!, 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! Paul McCartney, "Not Such A Bad Boy"

Drawn from previous posts, this is not part of 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!

PAUL McCARTNEY: Not Such A Bad Boy

Written by Paul McCartney

Produced by George Martin

From the album Give My Regards To Broad Street, Parlophone Records [UK]/Columbia Records [USA], 1984

Rock 'n' roll as we know it might not even exist if not for the movies. That may be an overstatement, but it's certainly true that rock's first crossover success came via Hollywood. When the film The Blackboard Jungle appeared in 1955, its opening credits sequence propelled a novelty fox trot called "Rock Around The Clock" to the top of the pops, making the seemingly unlikely figures of Bill Haley and his Comets the world's first rock 'n' roll stars. The ongoing sheet-shakin' between rock and film has been consummated again and again over the ensuing decades, from Jailhouse Rock through A Hard Day's Night, the Monkees in Head, the Ramones in Rock 'n' Roll High School, Earth, Wind & Fire in That's The Way Of The World, and the fictional Wonders in That Thing You Do!, plus whatever more recent iterations have occurred since I grew too old to keep up with what you crazy kids are up to. Just stay off of my lawn already.

Paul McCartney's 1985 film vehicle Give My Regards To Broad Street is not very good. It's probably not that bad; I should watch it again to see if it holds up better than my memory claims. If nothing else, hey: It's Paul McCartney! I mean, what the hell, right? It's not like he owes us anything. And the soundtrack is frequently terrific, with remakes of "Eleanor Rigby" and "Ballroom Dancing," and a great hit single in "No More Lonely Nights." The album's highest points are two tracks Paul recorded with an ace combo consisting of Linda McCartney, Ringo Starr, Dave Edmunds, and Chris Spedding, and I woulda killed to see that combo live! McCartney claimed that a new song called "No Values" came to him in a dream, a song he imagined seeing the Rolling Stones perform in concert. When he realized no such Stones song existed, he wrote and recorded it himself. It's the second best song on the Give My Regards To Broad Street soundtrack. 

The best song? Glad you asked! "Not Such A Bad Boy" is not just the best song on Give My Regards To Broad Street, it's one of McCartney's very best tracks, period. Its relative obscurity is maddening. And it's second only to "Maybe I'm Amazed" among my favorite post-Beatles McCartney songs.

Give My Regards To Broad Street may get a worse rap than it really deserves. It's not bad, but nor is it in any way special. Well, let's amend that a bit--even by itself, the presence of McCartney does make it sorta special. The soundtrack justifies it, approaching the transcendent with "No Values" and "Not Such A Bad Boy," neither of which is on any other album, and they're just as solid as anything Sir Paul ever did after leaving the act you've known for all these years. 

In particular, "Not Such A Bad Boy" is such a confident rockin' pop number, oozing with swagger and amiable panache. It's aching for rediscovery as one of McCartney's best. Not such a bad song after all. Give it my highest regards.

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, its six-chapter novelette digest A Band Called GUITARS VS. RAYGUNS!, 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: 12/16/2023

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 # 1211. This show is available as a podcast.

SCOTT KEMPNER: Livin' With Her, Livin' With Me

When news broke that Scott Kempner had passed, I felt compelled to add his former group the Dictators' "(I Live For) Cars And Girls" into last week's SUMMER IN DECEMBER!  special, and I knew we should spotlight Kempner as our Featured Performer this week. Between his solo work and his work with the Dictators and the Del-Lords, there was no shortage of compelling material to pull together in compiling a proper tribute to Scott Kempner.

We opened with a track from Tenement Angels, a Kempner solo album released in 1992. Kempner showed exquisite taste in selecting America's Coolest Band the Skeletons to join him for the making of Tenement Angels and to support him on the record's tour. 

The tandem Tenement Angels tour did make it to Syracuse, and I was right primed for that show. Alas, some circumstance prevented Kempner from getting here, so the Skeletons performed without him. The Skeletons were amazing, as they always were, and I was beyond  delighted to see them again, but disappointed that I couldn't see Kempner, too. 

That experience had to be deferred.

WINGS: Again And Again And Again

For pop fans my age--old enough to remember the Beatles' impact firsthand, too young to experience new Beatles music on the radio as adolescents and teens--the late Denny Laine was an integral part of our AM Top 40 experience. 

That is not a small thing. My allegiance to AM Top 40 in the '70s is the largest part of why I wanted to do radio in the first place, why I wound up writing about rock 'n' roll music, why I committed to the clinically dunderheaded idea of maintaining a daily blog. Syracuse's WOLF-AM and WNDR-AM filled my young ears with possibilities. Denny Laine was an active participant in those possibilities.

I didn't know his name at the time, at least not initially. But I knew some of his work, playing alongside a former Beatle. With Paul and Linda McCartney themselves, Laine was the only other consistent member in all incarnations of Wings. Yeah, sure, everyone thought of Wings as Paul's group, and for good reason. The presence of a Beatle does kinda draw one's focus. 

But Wings wouldn't have been a band at all without Denny Laine.

So I heard Laine on the radio, playing his part in Wings hits from "My Love" to "Hi Hi Hi" to "Helen Wheels" to "Live And Let Die" and more. I saw him on TV, strum-syncing "Mary Had A Little Lamb" on The Flip Wilson Show, appearing with the band on the special James Paul McCartney. And if I didn't know Laine's name before, I certainly knew it by the time of the Wings Over America tour in 1976.

No, I didn't see Wings live; the tour didn't come anywhere near enough to Syracuse for this sixteen-year-old to even consider that possibility. But I read as much as I could about it, and that research informed me that Wings' concerts included Laine performing "Go Now!," which had been a huge hit for our Denny in 1965, when he was with the Moody Blues.

Instant respect. And it inspired me to track down and purchase my own copy of "Go Now!," the only bit of Moody Blues vinyl I've ever owned.

"Again And Again And Again" is a Denny Laine song from 1979's Back To The Egg, the final Wings album. It did not get AM radio play, and by '79 I wasn't listening to AM anymore anyway. I came to the song much later--in our current millennium--and I think Denny Laine may have performed it when I saw him play in 2016.

And I love it. It reminds me of the splendor of the AM Top 40 that so captivated me in the '70s, particularly of Badfinger, or like the Badfinger tangent "Don't Know What You're Doing" by the Dodgers, which didn't get much AM or FM play, but should have. As we bid farewell to Denny Laine, it seemed appropriate to spin "Again And Again And Again" on the radio.

Paul McCartney was in a group after the Beatles. Denny Laine was in that group. Wings take flight. Hear 'em soar. Thank you, Denny.

THE ARMOIRES: Music & Animals

The Armoires' new single "Music & Animals" provides a lovely tease of their forthcoming new album, a record this little mutant radio show is very eager to hear (and play). For the moment, though, "Music & Animals" is part of a sublime new compilation album called Embers Of Aloha: A Maui Wildfire Benefit Project. The damage the wildfires inflicted upon Maui and its people is heartbreaking, and we urge you to buy the benefit album (an act of giving that gives back), and/or to consider a direct donation via Operation USA (or whatever charitable infrastructure you favor). 

Meanwhile, both This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio and our SPARK! comrade Rich Firestone on Radio Deer Camp played "Music & Animals" this week. And on this coming Sunday, December 17th, Radio Deer Camp will be playing more tracks from Embers Of Aloha, an idea so great that we're stealing it. We're thieves, but we're thieves with a vision...and a purpose! Expect lots 'n' lots 'n' lots 'n' lots of Embers Of Aloha--eight different tracks in all--on SPARK! this Sunday, starting on Radio Deer Camp from 5 to 7 pm Eastern, and beginning again at 9 pm when we kick off our next TIRnRR with another spin of "Music & Animals." For Maui. For our friends on The Time Machine. For all of us, from all of us, and back again. 

Mahalo.

THE GRIP WEEDS: 2000 Miles

I'm very rarely ready for Christmas music before Christmas week. Your sleigh mileage may vary. But even though my eight-year-old self absolutely embodied the title role in our third grade production of How The Grinch Stole Christmas in 1968, my heart grows three sizes with thoughts of the Grip Weeds' newly-reissued holiday album Under The Influence Of Christmas. Deck the halls with Buddy Holly! This week's show included the Grip Weeds' cover of the Pretenders' "2000 Miles," and we'll return to Under The Influence Of Christmas come December 24th, with The 25th Annual THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO Christmas Show. 

Humbugs need not apply.

PERILOUS: Band-Aid

Yes! Or rather: YEAH!!! That's the title of the freshly-released first album from Perilous, and we approve of this message. YEAH!!! includes all of your past Perilous Fave Raves (like the utterly fantastic "Rock & Roll Kiss," which also appeared on This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5) and other new irresistibles you may have seen them play live (like at my book release party in May, or on the bill with the Grip Weeds, 1.4.5., and Kenne Highland's Airforce in October). IF you've been fortunate enough to witness a Perilous live show. Whatta band!

Perilous is a rock 'em sock 'em New York State supergroup, with drummer Paul (from Syracuse!), lead singer Pauline (from Buffalo!), bassist Renee (from none of your damned business!), and guitarist Bob Cat (from the entire Empire State!). One of the highlights of Perilous shows has been their rendition of "Band-Aid," a song originally done by Paul's previous group, the Trend. The Trend's "Band-Aid" is an unassailable classic of Syracuse punk and new wave; with the inimitable Pauline taking over lead vocals, Perlious' rendition carries the song's legacy with pride and distinction.

THE RAMONES: Judy Is A Punk

As I said about "Judy Is A Punk" in a piece celebrating my 25 favorite Ramones tracks: "Pure Ramones. I mean, one of the purest--if not the purest--of all Ramones tracks. No waste. No clutter. Just a minute and thirty-one seconds of everything great about the Ramones: the tempo, the hooks, the defiant melody, the inherent sense of pop history (including a Herman's Hermits quote), the backing ooooos, the absolute Ramonesness of it all. 1:31. Not a second to spare. Perfect."

About a minute and a half of pure punk (and pop) perfection. With the May publication of my book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones, I've been referring to 2023 as my year of the Ramones. But, of course, I wrote a book about the Ramones because every year is, for me, another exuberant year of the Ramones. Ever since my first spin of "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker" in 1977. I wouldn't have it any other way.

THE DICTATORS: Who Will Save Rock & Roll?

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE DEL-LORDS: Cheyenne

After the Dicators, Scott Kempner formed his own group, the Del-Lords. I don't recall hearing the Del-Lords' 1984 debut album Frontier Days contemporaneously to its release (though I presume it must have gotten some airplay on Buffalo's WBNY-FM). I heard the group's next two albums--1986's Johnny Comes Marching Home and 1988's Based On A True Story--courtesy of the Liverpool Public Library after I moved back to Syracuse in '87. I was taken with the former's "Saint Jake" and the latter's "Judas Kiss," but the Based On A True Story track "Cheyenne" was easily my first favorite Del-Lords song. 

Sweeping. Elegiac, but down to Earth even in its Panavision Americana. I guess dreams were invented by God in His infinite mercy. A Dictator rides the high plains.

THE DEL-LORDS: About You

Scott Kempner eventually made up his missed Syracuse date, albeit without accompaniment from the Skeletons. My memory says it was a solo acoustic gig at the same Armory Square venue (known at various times in the '90s as Club Zodiac and Styleen's Rhythm Palace) where he'd been scheduled to play with the Skeletons. I believe it was part of the Zodiac/Styleen's Syracuse Songwriters' Showcase series, which presented songwriters playing their own tunes in an unplugged format. 

Please remember that my memory is not currently under oath.

Over the course of many different evenings, Syracuse Songwriters' Showcase included acoustic performances by 3/4 of the Flashcubes (Paul Armstrong, Gary Frenay, and Arty Lenin, sans drummer Tommy Allen, in a set I believe was a defining moment in the 'Cubes' eventual return [and the road to Pop Masters, my favorite album of 2023]), Chris von Sneidern, Ani DiFranco, Kate Jacobs, and others, both local and not local. It's possible that DiFranco and Jacobs played on the same night Kempner played. But like I said: Not under oath here.

I very much enjoyed Kempner's set, but the only specific I can recall is his performance of a Del-Lords song called "About You." I was not at all familiar with "About You" (from the Del-Lords' 1990 album Lovers Who Wander) before witnessing Kempner at Armory Square, but man alive, it was friggin' riveting. You can call it a song about love, maybe a song about obsession or devotion. Whatever else it is, "About You" is a tribute to the pervasive and prevailing allure of one classic 45:

"Louie Louie" by the Kingsmen.

Not the original by Richard Berry. Not Rockin' Robin Roberts, not the mighty Paul Revere and the Raiders, not the Sonics, not Rice University Marching Owls, and for damned sure not the Kinks (whose "Louie Louie" is the most egregious example of one of THE all-time great rock 'n' roll bands making a shitty record). No. The Kingsmen, back in nineteen-sixty-X. Let's give it to 'em, right now.

Watching Kempner play "About You" in Syracuse, I was caught up in the music fan's reverence for one song, the importance of that reverence, how that connection can feel like a platform for more, a springboard for even more still. The connection may be an illusion, the platform precarious, the springboard a leap into nothingness. But we feel it. We play the song. We hear the music. The connection's there, regardless of whether or not it exists in any real sense. Believing in the connection is of greater importance than verifying its veracity.

Scott Kempner believed. That belief informed his work, and it connected with others who also wanted to believe. Oh yeah oh yeah. In "About You," the familiar riff is only implied--y'know, that riff, the one invented by the Kingsmen in (let's face it) inept approximation of Rockin' Robin Roberts, yet an immortal template thereafter--but not delivered until the song's end. 

BADADA-BADA-BADADAA!

The connection endures. Let's go!

THE MOODY BLUES: Go Now!

We've already said goodbye. Godspeed, Denny Laine.

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

10 SONGS: 7/8/2021

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.

For this week's epic July 4th blowout, we presented a countdown of TIRnRR's 55 all-time most played artists, with each artist's all-time # 1 most-played track. Thanks again to the mighty Fritz Van Leaven for programming the countdown. And in the spirit of the countdown, we'll have three editions of 10 Songs this week, celebrating our 30 most-played acts with their most-played songs. As befits a greatest-hits revue, most of the individual song entries have been seen before on this blog, with maybe a couple of previously-unreleased selections as needed.

You can read part one of this trilogy here. This second of this week's three celebratory 10 Songs begins with the second of two acts tied at # 20 among our most-played artists.

20 [tie]. THE JAM: In The City

In the summer of 1978, as I tried to reassemble my own scattered pieces after a tumultuous freshman year in college, I got a job at Penn-Can Mall. I was a part-time morning maintenance man--i.e., a janitor--at Sears, part of a mostly-young crew that cleaned the store each AM prior to the start of the business day. My friend Tom was on the crew, and he helped me get the job to begin with. Money in my pocket. I could go out, see bands, try to be better. 

Great. Fine. Worthy goals! But let's not forget the reason God created cash in the first place: I could buy records.

I still tried to stay within a reasonable budget. But c'mon, I now worked under the same big ol' roof as a Gerber Music store! I wouldn't and couldn't resist the allure of import 45s at Gerber. My preferred rock magazines--Bomp!, Trouser Press, and CREEM--gave me an information pipeline to some of what was out there. I read about the U.K. punk/power pop group Generation X, and snapped up their "Ready Steady Go" and "Your Generation" singles at Gerber. I may have gotten my red-vinyl 45 of the Rich Kids' "Rich Kids" and/or the single of Rich Kids bassist Glen Matlock's former group the Sex Pistols' "Pretty Vacant" on one of my frequent Penn-Can Sears-to-Gerber beelines. Beyond punk, the sight of George Thorogood and the Destroyers on TV's Midnight Special prompted a cash transaction at Gerber to secure my copy of the "Move It On Over"/"It Wasn't Me" single. I also bought teen pop star Shaun Cassidy's hit single "Hey Deanie" and local group the Alligators' "I Try And I Try." My main interests were rock 'n' roll, punk, new wave, and (especially) power pop. But I wasn't strict. If I liked something, I liked it.

My specific interest in power pop was stoked by Bomp! magazine, which had published a special power pop issue earlier in '78. Gospel to me. And it turned out Syracuse combo the Flashcubes' idea of punk kinda dovetailed with a power-pop approach, evidenced by their original songs and their chosen covers, of acts like the Kinks, the Raspberries, Big Star, Badfinger, the Hollies, and the early Who alongside your prerequisite punks the Sex Pistols. Their originals were fantastic, and they had excellent taste in covers.

And they covered the Jam, a great new British group that came out of punk but were clearly and proudly beholden to the model of '60s Mod, particularly the Who. The Flashcubes covered at least three of the Jam's many fine tunes: "The Modern World," "In The City," and "I Need You (For Someone)." Following my own weird introduction to the Jam's music, my fascination with them had grown by leaps and bounds. I bought the Jam's U.S. single of "I Need You (For Someone)"/"In The City" while away at school, and dutifully trekked to Gerber after Sears shifts that summer to snag import 45s of "The Modern World" and "All Around The World." 

Years later, my wife Brenda and I were watching a collection of Jam videos. As the image showed the lads slamming their way through "In The City" in 1977, Brenda remarked, "They remind me of the Flashcubes." As well they should. Pop with power. In the city there's a thousand things I wanna say to you.

19. THE SMALL FACES: Tin Soldier

The Jam were also influenced by '60s Brits the Small Faces, whom the Who's Pete Townshend cited along with the Beach Boys and his own group of guitar-smashers when he coined the phrase "power pop" in 1967. "Tin Soldier" isn't in the same power-pop landscape as earlier Small Faces tracks like "All Or Nothing" or "Sha-La-La-La-Lee" or "Whatcha Gonna Do 'Bout It," which were 1965-66 Decca Records singles. With the group moved to the Immediate label, 1967's "Tin Soldier" is headier, less overtly pop, a follow-up to their we'll-get-HIGH! anthem "Itchykoo Park," the sound of a group on its way to Ogden's Nut Gone Flake.

18. DAVID BOWIE: Queen Bitch

When Dana and I were guests on The Spoon in May, I mentioned how the death of David Bowie in 2016 somehow compelled me to start a daily blog, a foolish commitment that has nonetheless never missed a day yet. Hosts Robbie Rist, Chris Jackson, and Thom Bowers joked that they'd be worried if each daily blog post was still about Bowie, but while there'd certainly plenty to worry about where I'm concerned, I actually did just the one, and then one updated version of it. The vast majority of Bowie's TIRnRR airplay has been courtesy of Dana, including our # 1 Bowie track "Queen Bitch," from Bowie At The Beeb.

17. ASTROPUPPEES: Over Her Head

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio has been happily aboard the Kelley Ryan bandwagon since 2001, when Kelley (then recording under the boppin' dba astroPuppees) placed a track on Shoe Fetish, a fabulous tribute to the pop group Shoes. We began to correspond with Kelley, and astroPuppees' first TIRnRR spin was from Shoe Fetish, a cover of Shoes' "The Tube." Soon thereafter, we started playing a song called "Don't Be" (from astroPuppees' 1996 album You Win The Bride), which I recalled hearing in the 1997 TV movie Friends 'Til The End. Friends 'Til The End was a movie I originally wanted to see because our pals Cockeyed Ghost made a don't-BLINK! cameo appearance. And in the film, actress Shannen Doherty lip-syncs to a made-for-TV cover of astroPuppees' "Don't Be." 

We've gone on to play many, many more astroPuppees and Kelley Ryan tracks many, many times over the course of these last two decades. Her current single "The Church Of Laundry" is a shoo-in for 2021's year-end countdown. And "Over Her Head," the lead-off track from astroPuppees' 2001 album Little Chick Tsunami, remains Kelley's biggest TIRnRR hit among her many TIRnRR hits.

16. THE PRETENDERS: Talk Of The Town

In the '70s and '80s (and still sporadically since then), it wasn't at all unusual for me to read about an artist well before I heard any bit of their music. I read about the Pretenders (probably in Trouser Press), and I was intrigued about news of this four-piece, with female lead, whose first single was produced by Nick Lowe. Oh, and that first single was a Kinks cover, "Stop Your Sobbing," so the rock rags had done their due diligence in attracting my interest in these Pretenders. I missed seeing "Stop Your Sobbing" on retail racks, but snapped up the Pretenders' second single "Kid" at first opportunity. 

And...I didn't like it.

I mean, not at first. Can't explain the why or why not. I got fully on board by the time debut LP Pretenders hit the shops, and I was a full-on Pretenders fan in short order. Saw 'em live at Syracuse nightclub Uncle Sam's in 1980, with opening act the Necessaries (featuring guitar god Chris Spedding!). Great show, though one of my principle memories of it is watching Chrissie Hynde on-stage as she told a concert-goer to hit the road. "You! OUT!!" Talk of the town.

"Talk Of The Town" wasn't on that debut album, though most of us owned it subsequently as part of the Extended Play EP the Pretenders released in '81, a stopgap between Pretenders and Pretenders II. Pretenders II reprised "Talk Of The Town" and its EP comrade "Message Of Love," but the rock magazines declared the album a step down from the debut. And who were we to disagree? The original quartet disintegrated after that, and drug use killed bassist Pete Farndon and guitarist James Honeyman-Scott. Drummer Martin Chambers returned with Hynde for 1984's Learning To Crawl. 

15. SEX CLARK FIVE: Fool I Was

Huntsville, Alabama's phenomenal pop combo Sex Clark Five began their reign of quirky brilliance in the ‘80s, commencing with 1987’s Strum & Drum! album. Masters of short songs with unconventional titles (e.g., “Too Much Mongol Business,” “The Men Who Didn’t Know Ice,” “The Wreck Of The Ella Fitzgerald”) and hook piled upon hook piled upon hook, they have remained consistent purveyors of intelligent, catchy pop tunes that are utterly, uniquely Sex Clark Five. They continue unabated today. "Fool I Was" is my top SC5 pick, and one of TIRnRR's defining tracks.

14. PAUL McCARTNEY: Maybe I'm Amazed

My favorite Paul McCartney solo track. "Maybe I'm Amazed" is the equal of anything the Beatles did from 1967 on, fully worthy of standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the best of Abbey Road, and better than anything on Let It Be (and I do like Let It Be, honest!).

13. THE SPONGETONES: (My Girl) Maryanne

Where and from whom did I first hear about the Spongetones? My gut and aging memory both claim I learned about the fabulous 'Tones online from my friend Greg Ogarrio in the early '90s. Greg was among a handful of power pop pals I met via Prodigy, an online service that flourished briefly and then disappeared entirely. Prodigy was my introduction to the wonder of the internet, and it was through Prodigy's auspices that I found myself within a small pop community, talking about things like Big Star and the Raspberries, trading mix tapes, and trying to turn new friends on to personal fave raves. I introduced Greg to the music of the Flashcubes. Greg introduced me to the music of the Spongetones. We both did pretty well in that exchange.

"(My Girl) Maryanne" is a Steve Stoeckel composition from the group's 1984 EP Torn Apart. Its matrix was crafted in Liverpool, a root design shared by the Knickerbockers, Utopia, and all things Fab, assembled with justifiable pride in the U.S.A. The influence is evident and eager, yet more than mere imitation, in the same sense that the Beatles' "Thank You, Girl" was more than a mere imitation of the Isley Brothers. It's something new. 

And it's irresistible. The guitars combust, the harmonies sail, the beat and the music surge, and the singer expresses his own giddy delight in the rat-a-tat sound of his chatty lover's extended soliloquy. Pop songs that complain about a woman who talks too much are a dime a dozen; in "(My Girl) Maryanne," Maryanne has a lot to say, and not enough minutes in the day. Our hero hangs on each syllable, reveling in the reward of how every word makes him love her more. YES! The word is love. And that love is as pure as the pop music we adore. Keep talking, Maryanne.

12. THE HOLLIES: I Can't Let Go

Oh I try and I try but I can't say GOODBYE!

A perfect pop record. There has never been a more exquisitely constructed pop single than "I Can't Let Go" by the Hollies. It aches with longing, apprehension, and anticipation, soars with possibility, teases a promise of redemption, and hints at a hope that maybe--just maybe--we might actually get the girl when all is said and sung. Harmonies. Guitars! Love. A perfect pop record? That's selling it short.

There was a three-year span on TIRnRR where I decided I wanted to pursue some long-form programming gimmick throughout the course of a year. In 2009, we did The 50 KISS Strategy, which was a promise to play 50 different KISS tracks between New Year's Day and New Year's Eve. We dedicated 2011 to 301 Songs About 301 Girls, a very well-received effort to play a whole bunch of songs with girls' names in the title.

In between KISS and the girls, 2010 brought us The Hundred Hollies Initiative. We announced the gimmick with the playlist for our 1/10/2010 show:

Beginning with our spotlight on the Hollies last week, we have made a solemn vow to play 100 different Hollies tracks on TIRnRR before the end of 2010. A daunting task? You betcha! But the Hollies have a lot of terrific tracks to choose from, so we should be equal to the task.  Besides, the price of failure is too terrible to consider: if we fail in our effort to play 100 different Hollies tracks this year, our penance will be to play something so horrible, so SICKENING that it offends the mind, the heart and the soul. I can barely bring myself to type it, but it must be entered into the public record:

If we play less than 100 different Hollies tracks this year, then we've gotta play "Old Time Rock And Roll" by Bob Seger as our punishment. (Y'know, it's difficult to type while holding one's nose.) But don't worry! We won't let you down! We've played 16 Hollies tracks already, so it's only 84 to go. You can count on us! We hope....

Yeah. We made dead certain to play 101 different Hollies tracks. Just to be sure. And that's part of the reason the Hollies are among our all-time most-played artists.

And here's to the power of radio. Our friend and listener Rich Firestone credits the Hundred Hollies Initiative with rekindling his own interest in the Hollies. Radio's job is to sell records. We were happy to do our part.

11. KISS: Calling Dr. Love

Trying to satisfy the voracious hunger of a daily blog means I'm constantly kicking around ideas that may or may not lead me to write something. One idea I've noted but not yet pursued is called "The Idea Of KISS." That would be about how I have greater affection for KISS as an abstract (if you will) than I have for their actual records or performances. This is not to say that I don't like KISS. KISS was my first rock concert, The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) will include a chapter on "Shout It Out Loud," I still wear my KISS t-shirt pretty regularly, and I'm always eager to get right back in the face of any punter who dares to question my right to like KISS if I want to like KISS. 

But my love of KISS is not on the level of my love of the Beatles, the Ramones, the Monkees, the Kinks, the Flashcubes, or any of dozens of other acts. I have a sporadic blog series called All-Time Top 25, wherein I talk about my 25 favorite tracks by a designated artist. I've published All-Time Top 25s about the Beatles, the Monkees, and Paul McCartney, and I've begun drafts of still more: the Hollies, the Kinks, the Rolling Stones...and KISS. The Stones piece is a placeholder, but I'll have no trouble coming up with a long list of great tracks that I'll need to narrow to a mere 25. The Hollies' short list is currently 28. The Kinks' short list is 48! 

With KISS, I only have 20 songs listed, and even a few of those are a stretch. I could do a rock-solid Top 10, and it would include some obscurities as well as some of the more familiar KISS tunes. But my passion for the music of KISS simply doesn't match my interest in the idea of KISS. It's complicated. But I love it loud. And I love "Calling Dr. Love," which would absolutely be in that above-mentioned rock-solid KISS Top 10. It was my first KISS favorite, from my first KISS album (Rock And Roll Over), which my sister Denise gave me as a high school graduation gift in 1977.

I'm used to people rolling their eyes whenever I say something positive about KISS. When that happens, I have a wide variety of two-word replies at the ready, and I usually settle on "Okay, then," because I'm, y'know...polite. 

I like KISS. I don't like 'em without reservation, and I don't bother trying to make excuses for bassist Gene Simmons and his frequently boorish behavior. I don't like everything they've done (nor even most of it), but what I like, I like a lot. Call the doctor. The doctor is in.

This 10 Songs trilogy concludes here tomorrow, with TIRnRR's all-time Top 10 most-played artists. Anxious about who edged out KISS to take the # 10 spot? Don't worry, baby.

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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:

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