THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! Works In Progress

 

Although I've long since completed (and submitted) a draft of my proposed book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1), the subject itself remains open for me. I continue to work on more GREM! entries, for use here on the blog and for potential engagement in an even-more-theoretical The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 2). An infinite number of tracks can each be THE greatest record ever made as long as they take turns. Maybe I take the infinite part of the book's tagline too literally.

Nonetheless! Here's a look at bits of some of my many GREM! works in progress. 

THE PRETENDERS: Back On The Chain Gang

It was just like starting over.

The Pretenders emerged in England in 1978, led by Chrissie Hynde, an American playing guitar and singing lead. Hynde, guitarist James Honeywell-Scott, bassist Pete Farndon, and drummer Martin Chambers turned out to be great Pretenders, debuting on record with a 1979 single covering the Kinks' "Stop Your Sobbing." More records followed: singles, two albums (1980's Pretenders and 1981's Pretenders II), with the 1981 EP Extended Play in between albums. 

And then half the band died. 

WAR: Low Rider

Has anyone ever used the word "imperious" to describe the rhythm of War's 1975 hit "Low Rider?" I'd presume it hasn't been done, and it may be a stretch to use it now. But GodDAYum, that regal riddum rules by divine and absolute right. Imperious War!

When discussing the records that make us wanna dance, prance, and make romance, we often talk about the beat. But more than the beat, "Low Rider" has a visceral, almost physical rhythm that dictates a mandatory moving of your body. Typical of me being me, I didn't come to appreciate that rhythm until way, way after the fact.

BONEY M: My Friend Jack

My relationship with disco is complicated. I hated it during its heyday, but began to re-think my position as it became clear that some (not all) of the Disco Sucks movement was built upon a foundation of tacit racism and homophobia. I further realized that a lot of the disco LP-burnin' Fascists hated my preferred punk and power pop almost as much as they hated dat ole debbil disco, so...enemy of my enemy is my friend.

But never mind the shifting parameters of my mixed-signal interactions with disco. Eurodisco group Boney M was a breed apart anyway, willfully weird but extremely pop.

PEGGY LEE: Fever

There is cool, and then there is cool. Cool-as-a-fever cool. No other approximation of cool has ever been anywhere near the sizzling cool of Peggy Lee's 1958 absolute annexation of Little Willie John's R & B (and crossover pop) hit "Fever." 

THE MAYTALS: Pressure Drop

Listening to Johnny Nash didn't prepare me for this.

I first saw Toots and the Maytals name-checked in some magazine (either Rolling Stone or Playboy, possibly both) in the late '70s, though I wasn't conscious of the music until many years thereafter. I recall that Linda Ronstadt was among those praising the essential nature of Maytals LPs Funky Kingston and Reggae Got Soul, and if I couldn't quite fit reggae into my new wave rock 'n' roll world view at the time (the Clash notwithstanding), I did get there eventually. 

THE POLICE: Roxanne

When I worked at a record store in the '80s, one of my co-workers was horrified when I mentioned that I didn't really care about the music of the Police. "Horrified" may not be much of an exaggeration; he gasped, put his hands to the sides of his face in a manner that would have made Macaulay Culkin proud, and backed away from me slowly. I think I saw him mouth the world Unclean! 

I had liked the band initially, around the time of their first two albums in the late '70s, but found myself losing interest in them as they became (to my taste) increasingly...mainstream? I guess. I wasn't trying to be hipper than the crowd, honest; it was just that I preferred their earlier records. I appreciate some of their bigger hits a bit more now than I did then, though I'm pretty sure I'll always detest that damned stalker song, "Every Breath You Take."

And "Roxanne?" My God, "Roxanne" was far and away the best thing on AM Top 40 in 1979. Nothing else even came close to it. 

ABBA: Dancing Queen

There is a false conviction among some rock 'n' roll fans that ABBA's music is inherently schlocky. This conviction is a big ol' pile of piggy poop.

AM radio surrendered to ABBA's "Waterloo" in 1973. I may have struggled with some indecision over whether or not I liked the song at the time, and I can't explain why. It was a pop song. I like pop songs. And I sorta liked ABBA. Ultimately, I decided that I liked "Waterloo," too. 

"SOS" was my favorite among ABBA's initial run of hits, though the only ABBA singles I bought were "Knowing Me, Knowing You" and "Take A Chance On Me." I also loved "Dancing Queen." I had no use for "Fernando." I was indifferent to "Mamma Mia" and "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do." Reading in Bomp! magazine's 1978 power pop issue about "So Long," a purportedly great ABBA power pop song I'd not yet heard, was reason enough for me to buy my friend Jay's copy of ABBA's Greatest Hits. I was perfectly okay with ABBA's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Hell, a lot of ABBA's hits are closer to original-formula '50s/early '60s rockin' pop than anything that a band like, say, Genesis ever did.

"Dancing Queen" is ABBA's signature tune. It's often lumped in with disco, but its gloss is more girl-group than Studio 54. It shimmers in its own deliciously pure pop way, not beholden to trends, timeless yet still so '70s it could have been sporting a WIN button.

THE AVENGERS: We Are The One

The Clash sang that anger could be power. Even before that line appeared in The Clash's London Calling album track "Clampdown" in 1979, a San Francisco group called the Avengers was on stage at Winterland, opening for the Sex Pistols in that group's final appearance meltdown, and embodying the concept of cathartic fury. Anger. Power. Rock 'n' roll.

BLONDIE: (I'm Always Touched By Your) Presence, Dear

A love letter from Lois Lane, sung by Marilyn Monroe, backed by the Dave Clark Five.

Blondie's lead singer Debbie Harry was sexy without any appearance of trying to be sexy. She didn't even seem to be conscious of her everyday allure, her natural beauty and glamour, her God-given possession of It. She just was. 

My first awareness of Blondie came via Phonograph Record Magazine in 1977. I've never forgotten writer Mark Shipper's description of the band's look as "like Marilyn Monroe backed by the Dave Clark Five," a blurb which (even more than Debbie Harry's attractive image) sold me on Blondie well before I ever heard a note of their music. When I got to college that fall, I immediately started carpet-bombing the school radio station with requests for all of the acts I'd read about in PRM, from Television to the Dictators, and certainly including constant (and urgent) petitions to hear Blondie's "X Offender." I loved the track on first spin, and I have never stopped loving it since. And they called it puppy love!

THE JAM: In The City

Punk could be pop. In America, the Ramones already knew that, even if the charts didn't reflect the verity of that aesthetic.

THE YOUNG RASCALS: Good Lovin'

Little Steven says garage rock is "white kids trying to play black rhythm and blues and failing--gloriously." Fair enough. So what do we call it when a white group tries to play soul music, and succeeds? We could call that the Young Rascals.

THE RECORDS: Starry Eyes

Dreams of fame and fortune are not held solely by the performers.

THE VOGUES: Five O'Clock World

It should only be a footnote in the story of "Five O'Clock World," but the result is so engaging, so perfect, that I can't help elevating it to a prime moment in the history of rockin' pop on TV. 

THE DICKIES: Banana Splits

TRA-LA-LAAAA! TRA-LA-LA-LAAAAAA! TRA-LA-LAAAA! TRA-LA-LA-LAAAAAAAAAA!

No. You get a hold of yourself. Don't be messin' with the manifest majesty of the Banana Splits.

And don't be messin' with the manifest DESTINY of The Greatest Record Ever Made!, whether it's Volume 1, Volume 2, or an undrafted free agent. The infinite does what the infinite does.

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: 3/30/2020

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.



A tech delay postpones the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio's record release party with Pop Co-Op. Once that's been resolved, I should be able to share the playlist as soon as tomorrow. In the mean time, let's do this week's 10 Songs a day early.

THE BEATLES: I Want To Hold Your Hand


It seemed such an innocent request in '63 and '64. Now? If a person's closer than six friggin' feet away, it's cause for alarm, even panic. There will be no hand-holding in the Coronaverse, no love in the time of pandemic. There will be music, and there actually will be love, as always. Just no physical contact. Now go wash your hands.

BIG HELLO: Action Now



I was going to tie this great track from Big Hello's 2000 effort The Orange Album with a demand for ACTION NOW!! in place of the usual clueless douchebaggery of our nation's Buffoon-In-Chief, but I guess I'll stick with the music. Trump's an asshole, by the way.

"Action Now" popped up a couple of times on my iPod recently, and it sounds great each and every time. Is it a call to action--Now's the time for supersonic action--or is it only rock 'n' roll? I know it's both, and I like it.

Since saying goodbye to Big Hello, the wife 'n' husband team of  Chloe Orwell and Brad Elvis have fronted The Handcuffs, another fab group worthy of large-sized salutation and celebration. The Handcuffs' Electroluv album has been in my CD carrying case for weeks, awaiting its overdue return to the This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio playlist. All the more reason for action now, to end this crisis and return The Handcuffs to their rightful place on the radio.



THE DOORS: Touch Me


Ew. Not because of the song--I've become more receptive to The Doors' music over the past few years--but because, y'know...touching. Ew.

THE FOUR TOPS: Reach Out I'll Be There


No. You. Won't. Jeez, keep your razzafrazzin' distance already!

THE GEORGIA SATELLITES: Keep Your Hands To Yourself


Yeah, that's more like it. 

The Georgia Satellites may have put on the loudest show I've ever survived, which is saying something when you consider that my first concert was KISS, that I saw The Ramones nine times, and that I just about put my head into the PA at one of The Flashcubes' gigs. My most vivid memories of the Satellites' circa '87 set at The Lost Horizon are the sheer volume and resultant lingering buzz in the ol' ears, and Dan Baird asking the audience, Y'all all right? You're awfully quiet. Are you gettin' enough to drink? It's a proven fact: the more you drink, the more we sound like the goddamned Beatles. It's true!

THE PANDORAS: It's About Time



The Pandoras' irresistible '80s garage-pop classic "It's About Time" was one of the tracks I included in last week's fake playlist This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio: Isolation Edition. I chose the song for its recurring line Ain't it about time we got together now, and placed it near the end of the playlist (segued into Ben E. King's "Stand By Me") as a totem of hope that this period of willful separation will pass. It won't pass anywhere near as quickly as we'd wish, but it will pass.

THE POLICE: Don't Stand So Close To Me



Okay, everyone else sick of this joke, of this hit by The Police serving as the unofficial Love Theme From Social Distancing? Me too, though that won't prevent me from using it just this once. These are not proud times.

I absolutely adored "Roxanne," and regarded it as the coolest song on the radio in 1979. I quite liked "Message In A Bottle" and probably a few other scattered tracks from the first two Police albums, but I found myself losing interest in the group after that. Mind you, I never relinquished my affection for "Roxanne" and "Message In A Bottle," but that affection did not extend to subsequent efforts. When I managed a record store in the '80s, one of my clerks was horrified--horrified--to learn of my indifference to The Police. I waived my right to his counsel on that matter (and I waived it kinda rudely).

POP CO-OP: Underworld




But in a similar matter to how my icy disregard for The Doors gradually thawed over time, so too did I slowly become less dismissive of The Police's music (though I doubt I'll ever be able to tolerate any of Sting's solo material, or that horrid stalker song "Every Breath You Take"). So this wonderful Police pastiche by Pop Co-Op came along at just the right time. "Underworld" is on the brand-new Pop Co-Op album Factory Settings, but it was originally released on a 2018 collection called Back In Time--Lost Hits Of The 80's Vol. 2, the second of two various-artists collections that gather contemporary artists to salute the '80s with original songs that sound like they could have been on MTV during the heyday of Reaganomics and Miami Vice. The Back In Time sets are the brainchild of Dan Pavelich, and they succeed in re-writing and expanding pop history to accommodate the paradox of brand-new records from the 1980s.

The acts on Back In Time take on phony noms du bop for their concoctions, so "Underworld" was originally credited to "PCPD," as in "Pop Co-Op Police Department." It's an effective theft and rehabilitation of The Police's sound, and it first reached me right around the same time that I decided to add a Police best-of CD to my home library. I kinda like The Police now, but if you surreptitiously slipped "Underworld" onto any Police record (see what I did there?), it would be among the best tracks on that record. I hope my former record store clerk would approve.

(And more about the new Pop Co-Op album Factory Settings--Your Favorite Record Of 2020--on tomorrow's exciting edition of Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do).



STEVE STOECKEL & HIS THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO ALL-STARS: I Could Be Good For You



The Pop Co-Op story has its roots in a virtual combo I called Steve Stoeckel & his This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio All-Stars. I had no right to name this group, but somehow I got away with it. "I Could Be Good For You" began as a songwriting exercise, as the ever-intrepid and ever-inventive Stoeckel decided he wanted to experiment with an attempt to craft lyrics by committee. He solicited ideas from various on-line acquaintances, and this new song was written line-by-line by a collection of pop fans, some of whom had previous experience, and some of whom didn't have much experience at all. 

So "I Could Be Good For You" was written by Stoeckel with Dan Pavelich, Kathy Jackson Firestone, Loyd Dillon, Brenda Trent Dillon, Elizabeth Racz, and Joel Tinnel, each of whom shared songwriting credit. Steve recorded the track, with a guitar break by Joel Tinnel and a backing vocal by long-time TIRnRR pal Rich Firestone, and let me affix the TIRnRR brand name to its spurious billing. It appeared on our 2013 CD This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 3, and it was our show's single most-played track that year.

But its most important and lasting legacy is laying the first brick on the pathway to what came later, as Steve and Joel eventually recruited Bruce Gordon and Stacy Carson to form Pop Co-Op. The story of Pop Co-Op started here. 

UTOPIA: I Just Want To Touch You



Right. I'm calling' a cop.

C'mon, you're gonna have to stay farther apart from each other than that!

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You can support this blog by becoming a patron on Patreon: Fund me, baby! 

Barring pandemics, 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

Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio:  CD or download

Hey, Carl's writin' a book! The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) will contain 124 essays about 124 tracks, each one of 'em THE greatest record ever made. An infinite number of records can each be the greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Updated initial information can be seen here: THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! (Volume 1).

10 SONGS: 2/25/2020

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 # 1014.

1.4.5.: She Couldn't Say No



I think we all know I'm a big fan of Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse The Flashcubes. But in 1980, when the 'Cubes ended their initial run, I didn't go into mourning. Guitarist Paul Armstrong had already exited the group the year before that, and while the remaining original trio of Gary Frenay, Arty Lenin, and Tommy Allen added guitarist Mick Walker to form a solid latter-day Flashcubes combo from '79 to '80, it wasn't quite the same to me. August of 1980 provided redemption, as amends were made and hatchets buried, and PA joined his former bandmates for a one-off reunion gig. More reunions would follow in later years.

Meanwhile, the end of The Flashcubes in 1980 gave me two new bands to love. Gary, Arty, and Tommy stuck together as a perfect pop group called Screen Test. And The Most, the group Paul and his then-girlfriend Dian Zain piloted through various line-ups in '79 and '80, became 1.4.5. when Zain departed in 1980. The Flashcubes had been Syracuse's greatest group; with Screen Test and 1.4.5. in 1980, Syracuse suddenly had two greatest groups.

I detailed much of this in my liner notes for The Flashcubes' Bright Lights and A Cellarful Of Boys, Screen Test's Inspired Humans Making Noise, and 1.4.5.'s 3 Chords & A Cloud Of Dust. My favorite 1.4.5. track remains "She Couldn't Say No," a confidently boppin' little number from their 1981 EP Pink Invasion. 

HERB ALPERT & THE TIJUANA BRASS: Mexican Road Race



Each weekly episode of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio ends with a closing instrumental, as we back-announce the show's final set before declaring That's it! Adios! We're DONE! This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl! Our spin of "Mexican Road Race" in the sixth set (out of eight) during this week's show accidentally fooled some listeners into thinking the show was ending waaaaay early. That just means we oughtta play more instrumentals during the show instead of just at the end. We've played this track several times over the years, and it's my favorite Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass cut. Including it in this week's 10 Songs gives me a chance to prove that there are other Herb Alpert LP jackets in addition to that one that keeps finding its way onto my blog.

Yeah. That one.

P. P. ARNOLD: Angel Of The Morning



Merrilee Rush's 1968 hit "Angel Of The Morning" was one of my many favorite songs on the radio when I was a kid, and I secured my own copy of it in the '70s on an oldies compilation called You Must Remember These Volume II (a set that introduced me to the snarling appeal of "Little Girl" by The Syndicate Of Sound). I never cared for Juice Newton's 1981 cover, and didn't hear the 1967 original by Evie Sands until decades later. I now regard P. P. Arnold's matchless, soulful 1968 take as the definitive version.

JIM BASNIGHT: Best Lover In The World



In the '80s, Jim Basnight was in a fabulous punk-influenced pop group called The Moberlys. I came to The Moberlys well after the fact, but they've been a TIRnRR Fave Rave for years, and we dig much of Basnight's solo work, too. "Best Lover In The World" is from his 2019 album Not Changing, and the song received sufficient burn on our show to make it TIRnRR's second most-played track last year. Our most-played track was a cover of The Kinks' "Waterloo Sunset," recorded by some talented friends and supporters of the show (billed as TIR'N'RR Allstars), specifically to benefit whatever the hell it is we do. We loved "Waterloo Sunset"--obviously!--and pounded the console with great enthusiasm on its behalf and ours; there were a couple of shows where we played that track twice, and I think there may have been one show where we played it thee times. It was inevitable that would be our # 1 song for 2019.

And for all of that well-deserved pounding of "Waterloo Sunset," it's worth noting that it edged out "Best Lover In The World" for the top spot by a single play. I guess we like that Jim Basnight track a lot, too.

DEF LEPPARD: American Girl



In the early '80s, when I was a recent college graduate working at McDonald's and trying to figure out my own path forward, I devoured rock magazines, from CREEM to Trouser Press to the occasional U.K. tabloid like Melody Maker and New Musical Express. Between CREEM and those tabloids (and probably not including Trouser Press), I heard the phrase "New Wave of British Heavy Metal," and that's how I first heard of a band called Def Leppard. I was intrigued--I was investigating a lot of different sounds at the time--and I sorta-kinda embraced a Def Leppard song called "Let It Go," which was getting a little bit of play on the Rochester, NY area AOR stations in 1981. The winding, twirling guitar sound of "Let It Go" reminded me of Johnny Thunders for some incongruous reason that doesn't stand up to rational analysis. But Thunders was my guitar hero at the time, and if that's what I thought I heard, by God, I'm not gonna argue with the sometimes-surly 21-year-old version of myself.

I had closed my mind to Def Leppard by the time of Pyromania and "Photograph" and saturation MTV play in the mid '80s. Looking back, I realize that I should have given that stuff more of a fair shake; a lot of it's actually pretty good, and has aged better than anything else you could name from that genre at that time.

Flash forward to 2006, to Def Leppard's all-covers album Yeah! Yeah! includes the group's respectful and capable versions of ace classics by the likes of Badfinger, T. Rex, The Nerves, David Bowie, Sweet, Roxy Music, Electric Light Orchestra, and, of course, "Waterloo Sunset," albeit several years before TIR'N'RR Allstars. The album was recommended to me with great enthusiasm by no less a rock authority than Paul Armstrong. 

But my favorite track from the Yeah! sessions was this wonderful non-album cover of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers' "American Girl," issued only on an exclusive Yeah! bonus CD sold at Wal-Mart or something. Here, Def Leppard pulls off a magnificent cover of a song that was already perfect to begin with. Hell, I preferred it to Petty for a brief, misguided period, but no matter. It's great, and you need to hear it.

MICKY DOLENZ: Livin' On Lies



Micky Dolenz is one of the most underrated pop singers of the rock 'n' roll era. Everyone's heard the evidence of his commanding and endearing vocals on so many hits and album tracks with The Monkees, though relatively few have experienced many (or any) of his performances outside The Monkees' aegis. Dolenz hasn't really done as many solo recordings as you'd think he woulda, and I wish he'd do more. His 2012 album Remember includes a simply terrific track called "Many Years," which I first heard playing over the PA at a venue while I was waiting for The Monkees to perform, inspiring my inner and outer pop obsessive to proclaim, Must. HAVE!!  In 2016, 7a Records released an expanded CD version of The MGM Singles, supplementing the previous vinyl edition's collection of Dolenz sides from the '70s with added treats. The delectables include a heavenly live two-for rendition of The Monkees' "Porpoise Song" and The Beatles' "Good Morning, Good Morning," plus "Chance Of A Lifetime" and "Livin' On Lies," two tracks Dolenz recorded some time in the '90s. Repeat after me: Must. HAVE!! 

CAROLYNE MAS: Quote Goodbye Quote



Carolyne Mas was described at one point as "the female Bruce Springsteen," a comparison that isn't far off the mark but might not have done her any real favors at retail. Her first three albums--Carolyne Mas (1979), Hold On (1980), and Modern Dreams (1981), all originally on Mercury Records--have just been reissued by Renaissance Records, and I've already bought this one with intent to add the others. It's a very good record, and Mas is worthy of much wider acclaim. "Quote Goodbye Quote" is my Pick Hit, then and now.

MARYKATE O'NEIL: I'm Ready For My Luck To Turn Around



We play the hits. I exhumed this delightful 2006 track for TIRnRR # 1012 on 2/9/2020, and included it in 10 Songs: 2/11/2020, making this the first of many forthcoming repeat tracks in the sprawling and unfolding saga of 10 Songs. You're a witness to history, my friend. An enthused listener heard the song for the first time on a playback of # 1012, prompting me to play it again last week. The fact that its hooks have by now resumed their entrenched grip on my consciousness prompted me to play it yet again this week. It's destined for more airplay throughout 2020. I'm ready for my luck to turn around. Words to live by.

THE POLICE: Roxanne



When I was managing a record store circa 1986, one of my clerks was horrified by my indifference to The Police. I had liked the band initially, around the time of their first two albums in the late '70s, but found myself losing interest in them as they became (to my taste) increasingly...mainstream? I guess. I wasn't trying to be hipper than the crowd, honest; it was just that I preferred their earlier records. I appreciate some of their bigger hits a bit more now than I did then, though I'm pretty sure I'll always detest that damned stalker song, "Every Breath You Take."

In contrast, I very much liked "Message In A Bottle," and I freakin' adored "Roxanne," which I considered the coolest song on pop radio in 1979.  Don't think I'll ever get tired of that one.

DONNA SUMMER: I Feel Love



In 1977, Brian Eno told Bowie that Donna Summer's "I Feel Love" was the sound of the future. In that year of potential musical revolution, a year of important and transcendent releases by The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, The Clash, Talking Heads, Elvis Costello, and Television, Eno was still probably right. An amazing single.



TIP THE BLOGGER: CC's Tip Jar!

You can support this blog by becoming a patron on Patreon: Fund me, baby! 

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

Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio:  CD or download

Hey, Carl's writin' a book! The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) will contain 133 essays about 133 tracks, each one of 'em THE greatest record ever made. An infinite number of records can each be the greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Updated initial information can be seen here: THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! (Volume 1).