10 SONGS: 10/5/2023

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 # 1201. This show is available as a podcast.

THE FLASHCUBES: Forget About You

I realize I'm getting perilously close to emulating a robocall in this situation, but nonetheless: The Flashcubes. Pop Masters. My album of the year in 2023. The current single, with the 'Cubes covering (and improving!) the Motors' "Forget About You," is my favorite among fave raves here, and it's racked up some significant TIRnRR airplay to prove it.

We're giving this fab track a break next week. It's earned it! It'll be back. There's no danger of us ever forgetting about the Flashcubes.

(And the Flashcubes themselves--well, three of them--will be represented on our next show, but with a slightly older track, as we try to pay some modest tribute to the great Ducky Carlisle.)

THE EVENING SONS: I Gotta Gurl

THE WHIFFS: Wanted

We were pointed toward current UK rockin' poppers the Evening Sons' utterly stellar track "I Gotta Gurl" by pop journalist and author S. W. Lauden, and by Brothers Steve drummer Steve Coulter. That's kinda like getting advice from Superman and Clark Kent, and it's advice best followed. Look! Up in the sky, Clark! Um...Clark? Hey, where did Clark get to...?

Anyway. Supersteve's Remember The Lightning is a pret' damned good resource for discovering pop with power. We're listening to what he says! Remember The Lightning also led us to the Whiffs, who finally make their TIRnRR debut this week with an ace li'l number called "Wanted," from their 2023 release Scratch 'N' Sniff.

Clark Kent and Superman. S. W. Lauden and Steve Coulter. Hell, Paul McCartney and Bernard Webb. Listen to what the man said.

THE FOUR TOPS: If I Were A Carpenter

If I were the Carpenters

And you were Pink Lady

Would Chuck Berry play anyway?

Or would we have the Babys?

If I think of Rain Parade

Would Cowsills find me?

"Carrie Annie." the Hollies brayed

How ELO reminds me

Shave Mike Love for orneriness

Replace Mike Love with Sorrows

Mike gave Beach Boys severance checks

Wondermints, tomorrow!

If I were Steve Miller

With Detroit Wheels grinding

Would you miss the Orgone Box

And Yusef's shrewd whining?

If I were a band, Roy Wood

Would Move still shun me?

If I could join Yes, I would

What would U2 think of me?

If I were the Carpenters

And you were Pink Lady

Would Chuck Berry play anyway?

Or would we have the Babys?

Would Chuck Berry play anyway?

Or would we have the Babys?

I...may have gotten some of the lyrics wrong. But no matter! The Four Tops sing it best anyway.

THE LOVIN' SPOONFUL: Summer In The City

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE RAMONES: Gimme Gimme Shock treatment

Heh. I don't actually require shock treatment at the moment. There is a lot going on, but enough of it is happy, and that makes the odd bits o' stress easier to shrug off. October is...something. Something good, something bad, not in equal parts. As always, we ask ourselves: What would the Ramones do? And again: 1-2-3-4. On with it. Up with it. Gimme what gimmes we can grab. 

THE CYNZ: I Need You

We've been programming a number of tracks from the recent tribute album Jem Records Celebrates Ray Davies. It's a wonderful collection of Jem Records' artists saluting our esteemed Sir Raymond Douglas Davies, and I'd be hard-pressed to pick out one single preferred track.

But I think the Cynz and their cover of the Kinks' "I Need You" have accrued the most TIRnRR airplay off this album. In a previous 10 Songs, I wrote, "The Kinks' 'I Need You' isn't as well known as its proto-punk brethren 'You Really Got Me' and 'All Day And All Of The Night,' but it is indeed in that same proud-to-be-loud sense of willful abandon. The Cynz nail it, and we're playing it again on our next show.

"We need to."

THE KINKS: Days

October 1st would have been my dad's 104th birthday, We lost Dad in 2012, and we lost Mom in 2021. At Dad's memorial service in 2012, my eulogy for him included lyrics from "Days" by the Kinks. It was one of my favorite records. It still is, but it's not something I play much anymore. Its connection to loss is too strong, too specific.

But this month, Dad's youngest grandchild--my daughter--is getting married. I know that Mom and Dad will only be there in spirit...but their spirits will be there, loving and proud.

And once again: I thank you for the days.

GUADALCANAL DIARY: Litany (Life Goes On)

As it must.

THE POWERPUFF GIRLS: Love Makes The World Go 'Round

And love does make the world go 'round.

Nothing else can.

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/

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

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

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl

THE EVERLASTING FIRST: The Powerpuff Girls

Continuing a look back at my first exposure to a number of rock 'n' roll acts and superheroes (or other denizens of print or periodical publication), some of which were passing fancies, and some of which I went on to kinda like. They say you never forget your first time; that may be true, but it's the subsequent visits--the second time, the fourth time, the twentieth time, the hundredth time--that define our relationships with the things we cherish. Ultimately, the first meeting is less important than what comes after that. But every story still needs to begin with that first kiss.

THE POWERPUFF GIRLS

Sugar! Spice! And everything nice! These were the ingredients chosen to create the perfect little girls!

A lot of kids get into superheroes at some point in their youth. Some--like me!--never outgrow an interest in such daring figures and their larger-than-life adventures. My first superheroes were Superman and Flash Gordon, and Popeye the Sailor Man, all of whom I experienced first on TV. But really, it was another TV superhero, Batman, who sparked my fascination with mighty crusaders, and with the BIFF and the POW and the ZAP. For my daughter Meghan, it was The Powerpuff Girls.

But Professor Utonium accidentally added an extra ingredient to the concoction: Chemical X! Thus THE POWERPUFF GIRLS were born!

The Powerpuff Girls was a bond that Meghan and I shared, as her young eyes widened with the possibilities of the impossible, and my older soul delighted in the energy and wit of The Powerpuff Girls' cartoon exploits. We watched the TV show and DVDs together, listened to CDs of Powerpuff Girls-related pop music, read the subsequent comic books, and went to see The Powerpuff Girls Movie when it was released in theaters. I will always associate The Powerpuff Girls with a cherished memory of watching my daughter grow up.

I discovered The Powerpuff Girls before Meghan did. I may have seen a commercial or print ad for the series around its debut on Cartoon Network in late 1998. My first conscious memory of the show was when someone in a power pop chat group mentioned he'd heard a boppin' song that sounded like it was about The Power Pop Girls. That turned out to be "The Powerpuff Girls (End Theme)" by Bis:

Blossom
Commander and the leader
Bubbles
She is the joy and the laughter
Buttercup
She is the toughest fighter
Powerpuff saves the day!
And they'll be fighting crime
Trying to save the world
Here they come just in time
THE POWERPUFF GIRLS!

My first direct Powerpuff Girls experience wasn't until 2001. I may have read about the episode in TV Guide, or online, or who knows where. But I knew that The Powerpuff Girls was airing an episode inspired by The Beatles. Well. This power pop/superhero geek hadda see that!




Like many of the Saturday morning cartoon shows of my childhood, each episode of The Powerpuff Girls contained more than one individual cartoon. (For example, in '66 each weekly shot of Space Ghost served up two Space Ghost cartoons, bookending another cartoon starring Dino Boy.) So the 2/9/01 Powerpuff Girls began with a PPG cartoon called "Moral Decay" before getting to the main event: "Meet The Beat Alls."

"Meet The Beat Alls" was a hoot, dizzying in its rapid-fire barrage of Beatles references and comic pizzazz. I can't say its splendid-time-guaranteed-for-all made me a Powerpuff Girls fan immediately, but it was a fab way to start.



Meghan was five years old by then. Her TV was limited; she loved books, music, and imaginative play, and those filled her time more fully and freely than television could. My wife Brenda and I weren't snobs about TV--we both love TV, fercryinoutloud--but as first-time parents we were concerned with making sure Meghan had opportunities beyond what our 27" Hitachi could offer. Television is seductive and addictive, so Meghan did become hooked on PBS' children's programming (Sesame Street, Barney, and later Arthur), and eventually on some of Nickelodeon's kids shows, too.

It took a while to get to The Powerpuff Girls. Brenda didn't have the background in superheroes that I did, and she was (and remains) openly distrustful of violent programming, even good-versus-evil cartoon violence. She had a valid point. We took Meghan away from a babysitter who had Batman Forever flickering on the TV for the kids in her charge. Listen: I'm a Batman fan, and I still agree that movie's not appropriate for young children. (The fact that Batman Forever sucks is merely incidental.)



I don't remember how Meghan finally got to superheroes and/or action programming, though I'm pretty sure I'm to blame. I do recall that an urgent need for Meghan to get new winter boots led us to Hill's Department Store one day. It was late in the shopping season for snow apparel, so the pickings were slimmer'n slim. There was but one pair of boots left in Meghan's size, a nondescript silvery gray pair. Brenda looked at them, and started to tell Meghan that she wouldn't want them. I answered, Are you kidding? These are superhero boots! It's like what an astronaut would wear! It's what Flash Gordon wears! Meghan said with great determination, I want these! 

(Years later, when I retold that story yet again, Meghan remarked about me trying to manipulate her young mind. I reminded her that she was pretty happy with the situation at the time, and she agreed that was true. I think.)

And we somehow wound up watching The Powerpuff Girls. Both Meghan and I enjoyed these shows, though Brenda remained skeptical. Brenda would join us sometimes, and excuse herself others. Inevitably, this newfound interest in cartoon action affected Meghan's imaginative play, but not in the sense of hitting or punching or any overt violence on Meghan's part; she began to devise more fantastic scenarios, incorporating her own superheroes, and even writing and drawing new comic book stories starring her creations Super Meghan and friends. She was already creative before she ever watched The Powerpuff Girls; superhero fantasy merely served to further enhance and feed that creativity.



As Meghan grew older, she developed a greater appreciation of the inventive, manic humor of The Powerpuff Girls. It's not like she ever thought it was Proust to begin with--PPG always made her laugh--but she simply got more of the jokes as she matured. That's the ongoing reward of juvenile fiction and entertainment that doesn't talk down to kids; kids will respond in the moment to what seems real and valid to them, and their enjoyment can mature as they mature. Meghan tells me that another show she used to watch, Totally Spies, is nowhere near as great as she used to think it was; she retains her affection for The Powerpuff Girls. (This affection does not extend to any more recent incarnation of the girls; Meghan disdains latter-day PPG almost as much as she loathes Riverdale, The CW's current edgy TV distortion of her beloved Archie characters.)



Meghan began collecting comics: The Powerpuff Girls, of course, and her favorites, the various Archie titles. She continued to read real books, and she tried her hand at writing more stories of her own, comics and prose alike. She continued to draw, an interest I wish she still pursued. She danced. She swam. She studied. Math was her Kryptonite, but she gutted it out, and maintained stellar grades. She rarely, rarely missed a day of school, and only then when it absolutely couldn't be helped. Honor Roll. High Honor Roll. Honor Society. Teachers along the way who looked forward to reading the books that Meghan would write someday.

She graduated from high school in 2013. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor delivered the commencement address, and Meghan told Sotomayor she was thrilled just to be in the same room as her. Meghan had already fallen in love with Ithaca College on her first visit there. A private school education was dauntingly expensive for us workin' class folks, but a combination of scholarship and grant incentives brought the prize within reach. Go Bombers! Meghan became a writing major (with a history minor) at IC in the fall of 2013. She graduated summa cum laude in May of 2017.



Her comics collection is long gone. As she prepared to matriculate her way outta Syracuse in 2013, she decided she'd no longer have time or space to devote to four-color fancies, so her stash of assorted tattered and well-loved issues of The Powerpuff Girls, Archie, Betty, Veronica, et al. were shipped to the thrift store. She kept her Powerpuff Girls DVDs, and watched them with friends at college. Brenda and I surprised her with a gift of the complete series boxed set, giving Meghan a chance to re-watch all the shows she'd loved, and catch up with ones she'd missed. The boxed set included "See Me, Feel Me, Gnomey," the notoriously weird rock opera episode that was too freakin' strange for Cartoon Network, which refused to air it in the U.S. Freedom beef!



In 2016, Meghan got to meet Tom Kenny, the talented expatriate Syracusan who provided the voices of the narrator and the Mayor on The Powerpuff Girls. Tom is most famous for his work as SpongeBob Squarepants, and he was delighted to chat with someone like Meghan, who was much more interested in the events of Bubbles, Blossom, and Buttercup in Townsville than in the goings-on of SpongeBob and his pals. Tom was back in the 'Cuse to participate in a live celebration of our local late '70s/early '80s new wave scene, and you can see those details in Tom Kenny, My Daughter And Me and BRIGHT LIGHTS! The Complete Five-Part Trilogy. For now, suffice it to say that I consider Tom Kenny a superhero in his own right

 Tom Kenny with Meghan and Meghan's friend Nicole

Meghan's interest in superheroes never translated into an interest in DC or Marvel comics. But my sister Denise coerced Meghan into watching Marvel's first Guardians Of The Galaxy movie, and Meghan was eventually hooked on the MCU. Her favorite characters are Agent Carter, Jessica Jones, and Deadpool. She resolutely refuses to watch any of the DC movies, though Brenda did convince her to give Wonder Woman a chance, and she did enjoy that. (You may be more surprised to learn that Brenda enjoyed Wonder Woman, but she did!)

Today is Meghan's 23rd birthday. No, I can't explain how all of that time went by so fast, though I betcha the evil Mojo Jojo had something to do with it. Man, ya just can't trust a criminal monkey mastermind. In college, Meghan decided she was more interested in publishing than in writing as a career path, and internships at Cornell University Press and London's Gibson Square Press led to her current employment at Syracuse University Press. She's back home, contemplating her next move. Brenda and I are so, so proud, and so happy to have her in Syracuse for as long as her fate allows her to be here.



You can compare being a parent to being a superhero. It might be a leap over tall buildings, but we'll allow it. As parents, you'll fail more often than Captain Marvel ever seemed to, but the stakes are still high, and you battle on to the best of your ability. You don't really deserve the lion's share of the credit for your child's success; all you can do is point in a presumably correct direction, and hope for the best. The rest is all up to him or her.

Nonetheless, we are all shaped by our experiences, good and bad. If we're smart, and if we survive, we'll learn from the bad experiences and cling tightly and lovingly to the good. Family. Friends. Love. Fun. Music. Knowledge. Adventure.

I write a blog so I can express my passions: my music, my heroes, my dreams. Nothing in life has ever matched the fulfillment of being Meghan's Dad. The Powerpuff Girls was a part of that. I remember summer afternoons with Meghan, in the swimming pool at Kennedy Park, following the directions for her imagined superhero play, with me bantering about adding The Justice League and The Challengers Of The Unknown and The Seven Soldiers Of Victory to her assembled coterie of Blossom, Buttercup, Bubbles, and Super Meghan. I remember sitting in a theater at the climax of The Powerpuff Girls Movie, watching and feeling the cathartic release as The Powerpuff Girls transcended the pettiness and troubles that had dogged them, and finally defeated Mojo Jojo. I remember quoting lines from the TV series, back and forth, father and daughter, more times than full memory can hold. I remember. The joy and the laughter. Powerpuff saves the day. Happy Birthday, Super Meghan.

And I STILL wish someone had the sense to release The Powerpuff Girls' great bubblegum song "Love Makes The World Go Round," from the TV episode "Mime For A Change." Ya wanna talk power POP girls? There ya go!

WHEN THE EVERLASTING FIRST RETURNS:



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Our new compilation CD This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 4 is now available from Kool Kat Musik! 29 tracks of irresistible rockin' pop, starring Pop Co-Op, Ray Paul, Circe Link & Christian Nesmith, Vegas With Randolph Featuring Lannie Flowers, The Slapbacks, P. Hux, Irene Peña, Michael Oliver & the Sacred Band Featuring Dave Merritt, The Rubinoos, Stepford Knives, The Grip Weeds, Popdudes, Ronnie Dark, The Flashcubes,Chris von Sneidern, The Bottle Kids, 1.4.5., The Smithereens, Paul Collins' Beat, The Hit Squad, The Rulers, The Legal Matters, Maura & the Bright Lights, Lisa Mychols, and Mr. Encrypto & the Cyphers. You gotta have it, so order it here.

BRIGHT LIGHTS! The Waiting Is The Hardest Part

Photo by Karen Munze

By the end of the night, I was hoarse, exhausted, aching.  And it had all been worth it, every bit of it.  BRIGHT LIGHTS! had been a great success.

BRIGHT LIGHTS! The Syracuse New Wave Rock 'n' Roll Reunion took place on Sunday, July 3rd, at Funk 'N Waffles on South Clinton Street in downtown Syracuse. The location allowed me to quote Petula Clark over 'n' over again in pre-show hype: DOWNTOWN--Where All The Lights Are BRIGHT!  Dana and I were the on-stage hosts, presiding over live sets by Tom Kenny, The Flashcubes, Screen Test, The Trend, The Dead Ducks, Maura & the Bright Lights, and a tribute to the late Norm Mattice, performed by his former bandmates in The Richards (with special guest Ronnie Dark filling in for Norm on lead vocals).  It was emotional, it was exhilarating, and it was so much razzafrazzin' fun.

The BRIGHT LIGHTS! day began that afternoon, with a touching, heartfelt private memorial for Norm.  The memorial at Funk 'N Waffles adjourned at 2:00 pm, with many attendees moving on to Onondaga Lake Park for the dedication of a park bench inscribed in Norm's honor and memory.  I returned home to re-charge.  With doors set to open at 6 pm, and music set to commence blarin' at 7, Dana and I returned to Funk 'N Waffles around quarter past 5, ready to get ready.

People who spoke with me over the course of the days preceding BRIGHT LIGHTS! have told me I seemed worried about the show.  I did have two conflicting concerns prior to showtime: that we wouldn't sell enough tickets to adequately pay the bands, or that we'd be too successful for the venue, and have to turn fans away.  I'm happy to say now that neither concern was warranted.

But I never worried much about the show itself.  I mean that. Sure, most of the acts wouldn't have much, if any, time to practice, but I knew that was no issue at all.  These guys 'n' dolls are pros; they could do another show tonight, tomorrow, next week, next month, whatever, all on just enough advance notice to get 'em to the stage on time. Dana and I never rehearse banter anyway; our one scripted moment was gonna be short, and we'd have the script in front of us.  No worries there.

Still, folks saw me pacing around the venue, and presumed (understandably) that I was a nervous wreck.  But that wasn't it at all.  It was, in fact, exactly the same thing I'd done at the first BRIGHT LIGHTS! show in 2014:  after all the planning, all the nudzhing, all the coordinating, and all the hype, I was dyin' to just get on with it already.  Waiting is not what a Ramones fan does best.  With over an hour and a half to go until showtime, I wanted to just start now.

But there were still things to do before the show.  Maura and the Bright Lights had time for a quick run-through of "Syracuse Summer," the only rehearsal that band would get this year.  They nailed it, of course.  Maura joined Dana and I in a corner of the venue, where Dana was setting up a video camera, and had us recite our spoken part of the opening song, Dress Code's "Something's Really Wrong," while she strummed along, unplugged.  Perfunctory, but satisfactory.

I tried to say a quick hello to each of the performers on the bill.  The only ones I'd never met before were Steve and Ed Steele, local musicians whose resume includes work with the legendary Alice Cooper, and who would be re-joining The Richards for our little shindig.  I was too shy to introduce myself.  Yeah, yeah--I know....

I'd met Tom Kenny briefly on a couple of previous occasions.  But I had a much greater opportunity to speak with him this time, and he's just a blast to be around.  I told him that my daughter Meghan and her friend Nicole were looking forward to meeting him, and were hoping to get an autograph.  That was fine with Tom; he gets so much attention (rightly so) for his work as the voice of SpongeBob SquarePants, and he seemed delighted to hear that Meghan's interest was specifically tied to his work on The PowerPuff Girls.  When the time came later for the girls to get their autographs, he sat in a booth with them, telling stories, even doing his PowerPuff Girls voices as The Narrator and The Mayor while signing Meghan's DVD.  Tom Kenny is one awesome guy.

Larry Roux of The Trend arrived with commemorative T-shirts.  I tried mine on over the Kinks T-shirt I was already wearing; I said it was snug covering the Kinks, but should be fine (and then I told Larry that it probably wasn't the first time he'd covered The Kinks).  I went backstage and upstairs to watch Tom Kenny's only rehearsal with The Trend.  It's a largely-forgotten fact in local rock 'n' roll history, but Tom Kenny was very briefly a part of The Trend originally, and he sang with that group at their very first gig.  Now, he would be singing one song with The Trend at our show, a surprise which I'd been sworn not to divulge beforehand.  Upstairs, Tom joined Larry and Ekendra Dasa, their respective guitar and bass guitar unplugged, for a run-through of The Trend's first single "Band Aid."  The Trend's drummer Paul Doherty looked on approvingly, and Flashcubes drummer Tommy Allen played along, just for the hell of it.  Back downstairs, Tom also went over cues for "Let's Have A Party," the Wanda Jackson classic that would be part of his headlining set with The Flashcubes.  This night was gonna be magic.

Inspired by a friend's Jam T-shirt, Tom Kenny called me over to note that he'd just realized that The Jam basically sounded like actor Michael Caine fronting a punk band.  "Think about it," Tom said, imitating Caine while singing, "This is the modern world!"  I said that would be full circle, since Caine starred in Batman Begins, and the first song I'd ever heard by The Jam was their cover of "The Batman Theme."  Tom talked about meeting Neal Nefti, the jazz great who'd written "The Batman Theme," and actually getting him together on a regular basis with legendary (and now departed) voice actor Gary Owens, which is kinda like Batman getting together with Space Ghost, only different.  I said, "Yeah, well, I once got a phone call from Joey Ramone!"  I think Tom could have easily outdone me, but he let me have my little victory.  (Good thing, too; the only rejoinder I woulda had left was "I own a hundred pairs of stretch socks!"  And no one's impressed by that.)

At 6:00, the doors opened, and fans started coming in.  The house music started--coincidentally, I swear--with "The Modern World" by The Jam.  I tried to get around to greet as many people as I could, welcoming them to BRIGHT LIGHTS!, thanking them, and pretty much guaranteeing 'em all a good time.  I was pretty confident in that vow.  And I had good reason to be.

The clock ticked 7.  The house music played Petula Clark.  Maura & the Bright Lights were on stage, and Dana and I joined them there.  It was time.  At long last, it was finally time.

TOMORROW:  BRIGHT LIGHTS! 

Tom Kenny, My Daughter, And Me

My daughter Meghan is very much looking forward to meeting Tom Kenny.

For Millennials like Meghan, Tom Kenny was a huge, huge part of growing up, whether they were aware of his name or not.  As the voice of SpongeBob SquarePants, Kenny has been a constant and welcome presence in the lives of millions of kids born in the '90s and '00s, as familiar as Adam West and Davy Jones were to me as a child of the '60s. Meghan wasn't really a SpongeBob fan, but she was (and remains) a devoted fan of The Powerpuff Girls, which featured Tom Kenny in the voice roles of The Narrator and The Mayor of Townsville.  Meghan and I often watched The Powerpuff Girls together when she was younger--I enjoyed the show as much as she did--and I made certain that she knew Tom Kenny's name. That was important to me.

Why important?  Because, long before he was your SpongeBob Squarepants, your Mayor or your Narrator, before he became The Penguin or Plastic Man or any one of the many, many other voice roles he made his own, he was our Tomcat, the lead singer of The Tearjerkers.  Back in the '70s and early '80s, Tom was a kid from Central New York, a budding star that everyone liked, that everyone rooted for, and whose success today is a boundless source of pride and content for anyone who ever encountered him.  Syracuse's favorite son?  Yeah.  Oh yeah.  Without question.

I can't say that I ever actually knew Tom, but I certainly knew of him.  I missed his first stint, as one-half (with Bobcat Goldthwait) of The Generic Comics, a comedy combo that played bars like, y'know, rock 'n' roll bands played bars.  Tomcat and Bobcat's career paths diverged; by the early '80s, Tom Kenny was the new lead singer with The Tearjerkers, a great local band that had already gone through a zillion line-ups (and released one classic single, "Syracuse Summer") by the time Tom joined up.  I always liked The Tearjerkers anyway, but this incarnation of the group just zoomed, with Tom Kenny zipping around the stage like an amiable, manic pixie possessed:  bouncing, singing, jumping up 'n' down, attempting to mate with the legendary on-stage pole at The Lost Horizon, and singing unforgettable (and still-unreleased) Tearjerkers essentials like "Ronnie Can't Wait," "I'm Gonna Hate Myself In The Morning," and "Don't Quit Your Day Job."  If you didn't have a good time at a Tearjerkers show, I would be forced to question your possession of a pulse.

And, from what I could tell, Tom was both an entirely different guy off-stage, and yet exactly the same guy off-stage.  Impossible, but true.  He wasn't always as (excuse the expression) animated in normal, daily discourse--perhaps not exactly shy, but also not as immediately brash and cocky as his Tearjerker persona.  I remember hearing Tom tell a story about when he first met The Flashcubes; Tom, like many of us in that scene, idolized The Flashcubes as if they were The Beatles or The Ramones, so he was too intimidated by their fame and reputation to actually...well, speak to them.  "They were punk rockers!," Tom said, recalling that meeting many years later.  Of course, over the span of ensuing decades. Tom became good friends with The Flashcubes, and has even joined them on stage many, many times.  He may still be shy, but he hides it well.

So how was this shy kid also just like that whirling dervish that fronted The Tearjerkers? Oh man...! To answer that question, all you had to do was watch Tom when he was enjoying another band's performance. Tom would be at the front of the crowd, dancing, exulting, singin' along, flat-out rocking, just as if he and his own band of merrymakers were still on stage themselves.  There was no separation.  There couldn't be separation.  That was just Tom.

As the '80s became the '90s and so on, I followed Tom's career from afar.  He was in an ensemble sketch comedy TV series called The Edge, he was in some movies (including some where he worked with ol' pal Bobcat), and he and Goldthwait returned to Syracuse to host the SAMMYs (The Syracuse Music Awards).  Tom also returned here to the 315 for occasional music gigs, fronting his R & B group Tom Kenny and the Pushballs (which, if I have the chronology right, also spawned L'il Georgie and the Shufflin' Hungarians, George Rossi's extremely successful Syracuse-based New Orleans-style funky blues combo).

(And, as I followed Tom's career arc, I was also hawking the virtues of the late '70s/early '80s Syracuse new wave scene to anyone and everyone I encountered.  My early '90s mixtapes didn't include any of Tom Kenny's Tearjerkers performances--I didn't own copies of anything like that--but they did include material from The Flashcubes, Screen Test, Tom's former Tearjerkers cohort Charlie Robbins, and The Tearjerkers' "Syracuse Summer," all accompanied by my own breathless reminiscences of the scene and its performers, including Mr. Kenny.  One of my mixtape buddies, a California cool cat named Greg Ogarrio, actually met Tom at a party around this time. and started talking to Tom about Syracuse music, even serenading Tom with a snippet of "Syracuse Summer."  A stunned Tom could only respond, "How do you know this stuff...?!")

I've spoken to Tom in passing a handful of times--I don't think he actually knows who I am, but he never lets that slip, bless 'im.  The only (short) conversation we ever had--and he did know who I was this time--was after The Flashcubes' anthology CD Bright Lights was released in the late '90s.  My liner notes for that package, Bright Lights, Small City, gave me an opportunity to recall, in explicit, emotional detail, just how much that whole scene and era meant to me.  At a subsequent Flashcubes show at Styleen's in Syracuse, someone pointed me out to Tom.  Tom came over to me, and he told me about when he read my Flashcubes liners for the first time.  He was sitting in his home in California, reading, reminiscing, letting my memories cast him back in time to the scene he remembered as well, and he felt a tear in his eye.  He got up, went to his wife Jill in the next room, pointed to the CD booklet, and told her, "This is my life."  It is the nicest, most important compliment I've ever received about something I've written. And I'm grateful I had a chance to give something back to Tom Kenny, considering how much he's given me over the years.

My daughter Meghan is 21 now, and has just completed her junior year in college.  She spent her spring semester in London, and, as I write this, she's off on a trip with her boyfriend, Austin. Somewhere, somehow, the passing of time prompted my little girl to grow into an exceptional young woman.  I am so, so proud of her.  Last night, Meghan, her Mom, and I were looking at old photographs.  Nostalgia is both a warm glow and a dull ache.  As we look back, we delight in the cherished moments spent together, and speak in giddy tones of our recollections of those times; we feel the bittersweet tang of loved ones long gone, and we wonder aloud where the time has gone. Why is it, Sir, as Lulu once sang, Children grow up to be people one day?  And no one has yet come up with a better answer than Walter Cronkite's famous sign-off:  That's the way it is.

I think that Meghan and I have a pretty good father-daughter relationship.  God knows we don't agree on everything (especially music!), but we have shared reference points, mutual respect, and even the occasional common interest.  She has often said, "I'm nothing like my Dad! I'm into my music, my art, writing--nothing at all like my Dad!" I think she's being sarcastic.  She does not think I'm funny--the eye-roll was specifically invented for her use when I try to tell a joke--but she seems to approve of me as a Dad in general.  When she gets married--an event I fervently hope is still off several years into the future--we have an informal agreement that our father-daughter dance will be "Bad Reputation" by Joan Jett. That's my girl.

I remember all those times watching The Powerpuff Girls with Meghan.  We watched the show in real time on Cartoon Network, we watched time-shifted recordings, we watched DVDs, and we went to see The Powerpuff Girls Movie in the theater.  She loved the show.  I loved the show.  And, while we watched Bubbles, Blossom, and Buttercup vanquish the evil schemes of Mojo Jojo, I told her about this talented kid from Syracuse, who used to sing in bands, and who grew up to be a voice actor, and whose voice we hear at the end of every Powerpuff Girls adventure, telling us that, "Once again, the day is saved, thanks to THE POWERPUFF GIRLS!"  From an early age, Tom Kenny provided Meghan with empirical evidence that someone from Syracuse could make it.  It's a lesson that never gets old.

This Sunday night at our BRIGHT LIGHTS! show, Meghan will have a chance to thank him for a huge part of her childhood, and for the ongoing inspiration those fond memories inspire.  Once again, the day is saved, thanks to Tom Kenny.

BRIGHT LIGHTS! The Syracuse New Wave Rock 'n' Roll Reunion is Sunday, July 3rd at Funk 'N Waffles, 307-313 South Clinton Street in Syracuse.  The show starts promptly at 7 pm, with live performances by Tom Kenny, The Flashcubes, Screen Test, The Trend, The Dead Ducks, Maura and the Bright Lights, and a tribute to Norm Mattice performed by The Richards.  Your hosts are Dana & Carl, and tickets are available here.  Hope to see you there!