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 second of two editions of 10 Songs celebrates TIRnRR's 10 most-played tracks in 2023. The Countdown show is available as a podcast
10. THE RAMONES: Blitzkrieg Bop
From my book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones:
And from "Chewin' Out A Rhythm On My Bubblegum: My 25 Favorite Ramones Songs:"
If we had to pick just one track to represent the legacy of the Ramones, it would have to be "Blitzkrieg Bop." You can argue on behalf of "I Wanna Be Sedated," and "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker" was the most important one for me, but really: "Blitzkrieg Bop." The song is ubiquitous, deservedly so, and hearing it always gives me a sense of fist-pumpin' euphoria. Always. Hey-ho, ya know? Here's what I wrote about the song elsewhere:
"1-2-3-4.
"The Ramones set out to be the American Beatles. They succeeded, as long as we don't factor in extraneous things like fame, popularity, record sales, and money. But impact? Immortality? The buzz of irresistible pop perfection? Yeah, yeah, yeah. They're forming in a straight line.
"It started here, with a fab four of misfits from Queens aimin' for the toppermost of the poppermost, plausibility be damned. What, the Bay City Rollers were already trying to be the next Beatles? Fine. The Ramones would be a faster and louder version, innately more fascinating, emphatically more American. Imagining a chant like S! A! T-U-R! D-A-Y! NIGHT!! to be a prerequisite for radio success, the Ramones revamped the Rollers' approach into their own HEY-HO, LET'S GO! Number one with a bullet? Not even close. Shoot 'em in the back now.
"Nonetheless....
"Failing to ship and sell the massive volume of hit platters they envisioned, the Ramones kept going anyway. The kids are losing their minds. All revved up and ready to go.
"The Ramones. The American Beatles. Yeah, that sounds about right to me.
9. THE GRIP WEEDS: Lady Friend
The Grip Weeds' 2022 covers album DiG offers the enduring reward of New Jersey's Phenomenal Pop Combo taking on a splendid array of classics and obscurities alike. The standard single-disc version of DiG finds the Grip Weeds mining nuggets previously, um...dug by Paul Revere and the Raiders, the Zombies, the Velvet Underground, the Knickerbockers, the Rolling Stones, and more; the double-disc edition adds (among others) the Monkees, the Beatles, the Turtles, and Frosty's "Organ Grinder's Monkey." There's even a three-disc version, so, y'know, buy that. Whatever it takes: Get a GRIP!
TIRnRR's top DiG has been this sublime cover of the Byrds' "Lady Friend." It was # 6 on our 2022 Countdown, and it hangs in at # 9 for 2023. Here it comes again.
8. KID GULLIVER: Forget About Him
The late and deeply-missed Justine Covault introduced us to the music of Simone Berk, first as the lead singer of WhistleStop Rock's 2020 single "Queen Of The Drive-In," then as the voice of Sugar Snow and Kid Gulliver. Justine specifically touted the sheer magnificence of Kid Gulliver's "Forget About Him." Justine was right. Justine was right about a lot of stuff.
"Forget About Him" has become one of this radio show's defining tracks. It appeared on our own 2022 compilation album This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5, and I'm confident we'll still be playing it here for many years to come.
As we oughta.
Justine Covault said we oughta.
7. THE CYNZ: Tell That Girl To Shut Up
Holly and the Italians' one and only album The Right To Be Italian was a love-at-first-spin record for me, an absolute YEAH!! that remains a legit contender for a list of my all-time 30 favorite albums. The group's signature tune "Tell That Girl To Shut Up" was my initial go-to from that album, and while I came to adore "Youth Coup" and "Do You Say Love" even more, lemme assure you that I'm never gonna tire of hearing Holly and the Italians' "Tell That Girl To Shut Up."
So consider it a big compliment to the Cynz that I also enjoy their cover of "Tell That Girl To Shut Up," and I enjoy it enough that it became our # 7 most-played track in 2023. HuzZAH! Advance word from the emphatically unshut mouths of our resources suggest we can expect a new Cynz album in 2024. Awright, Cyndi Dawson! Tell that girl to STEP UP!
6. JUSTINE AND THE UNCLEAN: The Signal Light
We see the signal light.
Rest in peace, Justine.
5. MIKE BROWNING: Blood Of Oblivion
"Blood Of Oblivion" was a 1967 single by a group called the Rainy Daze. I had never heard of it (or them) until about a year ago, when we started playing our pal Mike Browning's then-new cover version. Here's what I wrote at that time:
" 'Blood Of Oblivion' is the latest single from Mike Browning, an able 'n' engaging cover of a 1967 track by an obscure Denver, Colorado group called the Rainy Daze. I was not at all familiar with the original, so Mike's version prompted me to bop over to YouTube and check that one out, too. And it's pretty good--if it's possible for something to be both psychedelic and sunshine pop at the same time, that description would apply to the Rainy Daze's 'Blood Of Oblivion'--and I can dig why Mike Browning was drawn to it in the first place. Hell, I wish I'd heard it a bit earlier in my own timeline.
"That said, I do prefer Mike's version. The Rainy Daze bring a period-appropriate...I dunno, preciousness to their recording; it's cool, and very much of its time. Mike approaches the song in a more straightforward fashion, creating a track that's radio-ready in the here and now. Radio-ready? Hey, WE have a radio show! And we're ready to play this again next week."
And we did, and we kept on playing it on many subsequent shows throughout 2023. We can deal with oblivion when it sounds this inviting.
4. THE FLASHCUBES FEATURING RANDY KLAWON: Get The Message
Pop Masters, the most recent album from Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse the Flashcubes, was my favorite among favorite new albums in 2023. Yeah, not exactly a news flash. Here's what I wrote about the Pop Masters track "Get The Message" for our 11/6/2022 show, when it made its TIRnRR debut as a (then-) non-album single:
"New music from the Flashcubes is always cause for celebration. Their new single "Get The Message," credited to the Flashcubes featuring Randy Klawon, is an oomph-enhanced cover of a song written by Eric Carmen, and originally released by Carmen's pre-Raspberries group Cyrus Erie in 1968. In the '60s, Klawon played at various times in both Cyrus Erie and the Choir (the group that included Wally Bryson, David Smalley, and Jim Bonfanti, the three future original members of the Raspberries not named Eric Carmen), and Klawon's presence adds even more gravitas to the Flashcubes' rendition of "Get The Message." The good folks at Big Stir Records call this track 'a veritable love letter to the Cleveland roots of the music,' and we can only agree with every syllable of that sentiment.
"This is said to be the Flashcubes' final single of 2022, their ninth Big Stir single. Will there be an album to follow? We'll get the message on that when the time comes. In the meantime, Big Stir tells us, 'The Flashcubes are alive and kicking in 2022 and embodying the spirit of power pop...just like they always have. And there's more to come!' "
More to come. That was certainly true!
3. JUNIPER: Baby Doll
Our worlds collide. In a good way! From her absolutely wonderful 2023 album She Steals Candy, teen sensation and TIRnRR Fave Rave Juniper covers another TIRnRR Fave Rave, Amy Rigby. And Juniper does a mighty fine job of it, too, fortifying the world-weary shrug of Amy's original with a post-adolescent patina of quiet, simmering pissed-offedness. Both versions are equally mature, and in either case the listener really, really wants to track down the clueless would-be Lothario and swat him with extreme prejudice.
Would serve him right. Bastard!
And it serves Juniper right that she was our # 6 most-played artist last year, and her terrific version of "Baby Doll" is very, very close to the top spot among our most-played tracks.
2. LIBRARIANS WITH HICKEYS: Can't Wait 'Till Summer
God, this is such a great track, dripping with longing, an ache made pretty with the power of its pop. "Can't Wait 'Till Summer" comes to us from Librarians With Hickeys' 2022 album Handclaps & Tambourines, an ace effort that also includes the way fab "I Better Get Home," which was itself our # 36 track in 2023, and our # 25 track in 2022.
New Librarians With Hickeys album in 2024? Yeah! Can't wait.
The Juniper and Librarians With Hickeys gems were in a virtual dead heat for our # 2 spot, rightly so, and both were within a heartbeat of the tippy-top of our countdown. But in 2023, there was simply no denying what would be our # 1....
1. THE FLASHCUBES: Forget About You
I have been a Flashcubes fan for a very, very, very long time. My first Flashcubes show was on January 28th of 1978, completing my oft-cited rockin' pop Trinity: The Beatles, the Ramones, and the Flashcubes. I cited that Trinity when I inducted the Flashcubes into The SAMMYS (Syracuse Area Music Awards) Hall Of Fame in 2014.
Furthermore: I wrote the liner notes to four of the Flashcubes' CDs, Bright Lights, A Cellarfull Of Boys, the live Flashcubes On Fire, and the current Pop Masters (the latter as a supplement to liners by my fellow 'Cubes fanatic Pat Pierson). I wrote a five-part story imagining a world where the Flashcubes had become the mega-stars they deserved to be. I proposed the idea of a Flashcubes tribute album, something that really should come to pass in the real world.
A fan. And proud to be one.
The Flashcubes have a fantastic new album out? Of course we played it, and we played it with the sober sense of restraint one associates with carpet bombing. Album of the year. And the Flashcubes' Pop Masters cover of the Motors' "Forget About You" is TIRnRR's # 1 most-played track in 2023.
I hope the Flashcubes do another album, and I hope it's an album of their originals. These fans stand ready. We have a radio show, and we have the will to use it.
None can deny the primacy of pop masters.
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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.
