10 SONGS: 9/6/2024: The 13th Annual DANA'S FUNKY SOUL PIT

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 # 1249: The 13th Annual DANA'S FUNKY SOUL PIT.

PARLIAMENT: Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker)

The annual Dana's Funky Soul Pit is always one of TIRnRR's most-anticipated and best-loved shows each and every year. For the 2024 edition, Dana chose to honor the memory of our friend Scott Cornish, who was one of THE biggest music fans we ever knew. Dana recently helped Scott's family clean out the vast accumulation of stuff that Scott left behind, and Dana used soul/funk/R & B gems from Scott's collection to program this year's Soul Pit. I am certain that Scott would have been tickled by that tribute.

The 13th Annual DANA'S FUNKY SOUL PIT kicked off with Carl Carlton's "She's A Bad Mama Jama (She's Built, She's Stacked,)" and then flowed with direct funky intent into Parliament's authoritative mission statement "Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker)." 10 Songs ain't got the will to resist that, so my tribute to Dana's funky tribute to Mr. Scott Cornish begins in earnest with Parliament. Tear the roof off the sucker!

CHAKA KHAN: I Feel For You

In my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1), I write about "Tell Me Something Good," the 1974 Rufus hit that introduced the pop world to singer Chaka Khan: 

"I was 14 when Rufus's 'Tell Me Something Good' hit the airwaves in 1974. And lead singer Yvette Marie Stevens--aka Chaka Khan--just may have been the sexiest thing I had ever heard on the radio.

"At 14, I didn't realize that this group backing up the sultry moves of its vocalist had a direct connection to an earlier favorite song: 1968's 'Bend Me, Shape Me' by the American Breed. I loved that song, and would never have suspected a link between Rufus and the American Breed. Rufus, in fact, evolved from the American Breed, though only guitarist Al Ciner remained from the days of 'Bend Me, Shape Me' through 'Tell Me Something Good.' The connection's legit, though Ciner didn't really stick with Rufus much beyond that point.

"And really, the immediate, primal appeal of 'Tell Me Something Good' can be attributed to one thing above all else: Chaka Khan's miraculous ability to transmit pheromones over the airwaves...."

Chaka Khan's signature tune is her 1984 hit cover of Prince's "I Feel For You," which featured Stevie Wonder on chromatic harmonica and Melle Mel on the rapping hook (Chakakhan. Chakakhan.) and which duplicated "Tell Me Something Good" 's # 3 peak on the Billboard Hot 100. 

With pheromones intact.

OHIO PLAYERS: Love Rollercoaster

Maybe you can't hear or feel the pheromones in/at play in Ohio Players' 1975 chart-topper "Love Rollercoaster," but the same can't be said of the cover graphics for the group's albums. 

Writing in Bomp! magazine in 1978, Gary Sperrazza! called for the Ohio Players LP cover collection to be made available as holograms. 

I approve of this message.

THE UNDISPUTED TRUTH: Smiling Faces Sometimes

"Smiling Faces Sometimes" was the only big pop hit for the Undisputed Truth. Dana has played two other Undisputed Truth on previous Funky Soul Pits ("Mama, I Got A Brand New Thing" and their cover of the Beatles' "With A Little Help From My Friends"), and we played their Forgotten Original version of the Temptations' subsequent hit "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone" on a non-Soul Pit TIRnRR. Oddly enough, this is the first time we've gotten around to playing "Smiling Faces Sometimes."

Stranger than fiction? Well, that's the undisputed truth.

THE DONAYS: Devil In His Heart

Speaking of the Beatles, we know that the soon-to-be-Fab Four started out wishing they could be a soul band. Because the Beatles became THE BEATLES!!!, their cover of "Devil In His Heart" (retitled "Devil In Her Heart") is far-better known than the Donays' original take (which was, to be fair, just a B-side anyway). I'm not sure which version I prefer. A free society allows us to love both.

JR. AND HIS SOULETTES: Momma Love Tequila

Momma love tequila. Perry Como told us that Papa loves Mambo. But I betcha Papa also loves it when Momma loves tequila. Commence Mambo!

RICK JAMES: Super Freak, Pt. 1

From The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1):

"The riff.

"Early singles by the Kinks and the Rolling Stones provide prime examples of pop music's all-time classic riffs. The hypnotic appeal of the riff is defined and embodied by the simple, repetitive piledriving of 'You Really Got Me' and 'All Day And All Of The Night,' 'The Last Time' and '(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction,' and other monster, monolithic guitar hooks (like the Beatles' 'Day Tripper,' Them’s 'I Can Only Give You Everything,' and we may be here all night if we keep this up). 

Rick James' riff for 'Super Freak' belongs in that conversation. Its subsequent use by the Romantics (who adapted it for their sole Top Ten hit 'Talking In Your Sleep') and MC Hammer (who sampled it for 'U Can't Touch This') illustrate its durability. All credit to Rick James...."

THE GROOVE MASTERS: When Nature Calls

After Dana played the Groove Masters' 'When Nature Calls," I quipped that the track was the inspiration for the Rutles' "Number One." When nature calls? NUMBER ONE, NUMBER ONE...! 

Yes, I am indeed still twelve years old. And proud of it. A little benign immaturity never hurt anyone.

OTIS REDDING: (Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay

Also from The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1):

"...Soul singer Otis Redding's only crossover pop hit was '(Sittin' On) the Dock Of the Bay,' an incredible mix of pride and resignation, a swagger reduced to a shrug. It was a posthumous # 1, ascending the charts after Redding perished in a plane crash in 1967.

"Redding was a huge, huge star on the R & B charts. Rock promoter Bill Graham referred to Redding as 'the black Elvis,' an electrifying showman with a nigh-unique potential to unite black and white audiences under one big soulful pop rock 'n' roll tent. He wasn't a crossover artist, not in the same sense as the Motown acts selling 45s by the truckload to young America. Redding was the single greatest voice of Stax/Volt Records, a Memphis label that was pure soul. Crossover? Let the white kids cross over to us, man. If anyone could achieve that specific level of destiny in the sixties, it was gonna be Otis Redding...

"...Redding did not need pop success. I betcha he wanted it anyway. He certainly deserved it, and I think he would have achieved it. His transcendent performance at the Monterey Pop Festival in '67 likely opened eyes and ears going forward, and '(Sittin' On) the Dock Of the Bay' seems like it should have been a surefire pop smash, regardless of Redding's mortal fate. I don't see how its across-the-board real-world triumph can be attributed solely to sudden interest in a deceased singer...."

SHIRLEY AND LEE: Let The Good Times Roll

Good times. Let 'em roll. All night long. Godspeed, Scott.

If you like what you see here on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), please consider a visit to CC's Tip Jar. 

My new book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) is now available; you can see details here. My 2023 book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones is also still available, courtesy of the good folks at Rare Bird Books. 

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.

10 SONGS: 9/8/2023

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 High School # 1197: The 12th Annual DANA'S FUNKY SOUL PIT. This show is available as a podcast.

ERMA FRANKLIN: It's Over

"Over...?!" WE JUST STARTED!!

Erma Franklin is no stranger to the Soul Pit, nor a stranger to non-Soul Pit TIRnRR playlists, with her song "I Don't Want No Mama's Boy" and her Forgotten Original of "Piece Of My Heart" scoring the most attention. "It's Over" is my new favorite Erma Franklin work.

Yes, we know about Erma Franklin's little sister Carolyn Franklin; she's also scored some TIRnRR airplay. And everyone knows about their middle sister. But today: a little respect for Big Sister Erma. Respect is never over.

THE SUPREMES: Love, I Never Knew You Could Feel So Good

We've been playing the Supremes a lot this year, specifically music the Supremes did in the '70s after former lead singer whatsername moved on to her solo career. It's an amazing and largely unrecognized body of work, well worthy of obsession and repeat play. A love Supreme. I never knew it could feel so good.

MEL AND TIM: Backfield In Motion

I don't recall Mel and Tim's hit "Backfield In Motion" from its radio heyday in 1969, though I probably heard it. The song entered my collection in 1977 via a used record purchase at Mike's Sound Center in North Syracuse. 

The used record in question was Do It Now: 20 Giant Hits, a various-artists collection issued by cheap-o label Ronco Records in 1970. I had read about the album in one of Harlan Ellison's books of TV criticism, The Glass Teat or The Other Glass Teat. "Backfield In Motion" did not make any immediate impression on me; it was one of the tracks I often skipped en route to the Association and Jefferson Airplane. I like it a lot more now.

Nor was I much of (or any of) a football fan in '77--I like that a lot more now, too--but I did recognize "backfield in motion" as a gridiron term. I even knew gridiron. I tell ya, I was a Renaissance punk. But my primary image for the phrase in the '70s was from an otherwise-forgotten TV comedy sketch about football, with Bob Hope or Dean Martin or whomever referring to some shapely 'n' sporty starlets' curvy backfields being in motion.

Penalty declined.

DONNA SUMMER: I Feel Love

Donna Summers' first hit "Love To Love You Bab," was basically an extended orgasm set to a disco beat (which is not necessarily a bad thing). But "I Feel Love" is more interesting; still shimmering and sexy--Donna Summer at that time could have covered the Singing Nun, and still been shimmering and sexy--but its European syncopation makes it even sexier, if not quite as sweaty. Or perhaps not as obviously sweaty.

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.

RICK JAMES: Super Freak

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE AD LIBS: The Boy From New York City

Various-artists compilations have played an enormous role in introducing me to a wider range of rockin' pop music. We mentioned Ronco's Do It Now a few metric parsecs north of here; from Heavy Metal and History Of British Rock through Nuggets and Yellow Pills, compilations have opened my ears to an endless array of singers, songs, and sounds. Variety. Context. Any record you ain't heard is a new record.

In the summer of '78, I snagged a copy of a 1976 oldies collection called 15 Original Rock N' Roll Biggies Vol. 2, a cheap set I acquired for the specific purpose of replacing my crappy-sounding 45 of the Bobby Fuller Four's "I Fought The Law." For bonus value, this album introduced me to a couple of great Standells cuts ("Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White" and "Why Pick On Me") I didn't know--any record you ain't heard, yadda yadda--and it introduced me to "The Boy From New York City" by the Ad Libs.

Unlike my previous experience of ignoring Mel and Tim on Do It Now, I did take a shine to "The Boy From New York City" and I played it nearly as often as I played its LP brethren Bobby Fuller and the Standells. Come ON, Kitty!

LARRY WILLIAMS: Slow Down

Last year's edition of Dana's Funky Soul Pit was a soul tribute to the Beatles, a fab 'n' funky soulabration of all things Fab. Most of that show consisted of soul and R & B covers of Beatles songs, but with a closing set of some of the classic soul originals--Arthur Alexander's "A Shot Of Rhythm And Blues," Chuck Berry's "Rock And Roll Music," the Cookies' "Chains," Richie Barrett's "Some Other Guy," et al.--that the savage young moptops themselves adored. The Beatles wanted to be a soul group. Lemme hear you say YEAH. THREE times!

The Beatles certainly adored Larry Williams, and most of us know Williams more from the Beatles' covers of "Slow Down," "Bad Boy," and "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" than we know Williams' versions. These songs became well-known classics because the Beatles did them.

But, even before Liverpool's Finest grabbed these songs and took 'em along on that left turn at Greenland, they were already GREAT songs. The Beatles had impeccable taste. 

Among all songs covered by the Beatles, their take on "Slow Down" edges out their well-known workout of the Isley Brothers' "Twist And Shout" as my favorite. The original's cool, too. The original's fantastic. I want that love to last.

MAJOR LANCE: It's The Beat

It's the BEAT, man, the BEAT! Like '70s Supremes, the mighty Major Lance has also established a presence on TIRnRR playlists. One of my older siblings had the 45 of Lance's 1963 smash "Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um," and I'm delighted to say I typed the correct number of titular Ums without checking first. I'm a SUCCESS! 

I liked that record when I was a kid, and i still do. But man, it is so cool to hear deeper tracks from the Major Lance catalogue o' wonder; whenever Dana programs a Major Lance song I don't know, my inner self executes an enthusiastic li'l fist bump. Can't beat that. Keep 'em comin', Dana!

THE CHAMBERS BROTHERS: All Strung Out Over You

From a previous edition of 10 Songs:

"The Chambers Brothers are one-hit wonders, but man, what a hit that was. Their 1968 smash 'Time Has Come Today' is a freakin' wall of rock and soul, and I'm probably going to add it to my ever-forthcoming book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). I haven't listened to the full eleven-minute version in far too long, but I owe myself that pleasure in the near future. Even the single version is a bit lengthy at nearly five minutes, but it's five minutes well spent. TIME!! The Ramones did an incredible cover of the song in the early '80s; even they couldn't improve on the original.

"As is often the case with one-hit wonders, the Chambers Brothers cut more good stuff beyond the solitary Chosen One everyone knows. I've begun a casual dive into some of that recently, picking up both a CD best-of set and an expanded CD reissue of the group's The Time Has Come album. "All Strung Out Over You" was on that LP, a great track that only charted regionally. It deserved better."

To the above, I will add a supplemental Oh YEAH! on behalf of "All Strung Out Over You," and assure all 'n' sundry that, since writing that entry in 2021, I am now fully in the thrall of the longer cut of "Time Has Come Today." My soul has been psychedelicized.

RAY CHARLES: Let's Go Get Stoned

As always, it's important to have goals. Our goal is to hang tight, hang tough, and meet you back here next year for The 13th Annual Dana's Funky Soul Pit. Let's GO!

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, and on the web at http://sparksyracuse.org/ You can read about our history here.

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl

10 SONGS: 5/20/2023

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 # 1181. This show is available as a podcast.

THE RAMONES: Blitzkrieg Bop/Teenage Lobotomy/California Sun/Pinhead/She's The One [live]

We begin Part 2 of our three-week salute to THE RAMONES AT THE MOVIES with the eleven-minute five-song live medley from their 1979 film Rock 'n' Roll High School. Well, it's referred to as a medley, and it's all a single track on LP, CD, digital download, or streaming, but each individual song is complete. Because the Ramones could do five songs in eleven minutes. Obviously. The laws of physics do not apply to the Ramones.

Also obvious: eleven minutes of live Ramones music is a great way to open a rock 'n' roll radio show. Hey-ho!

Following a 45 B-side in 1977 and the fantastic It's Alive album (released earlier in '79 but recorded in '77 with original drummer Tommy Ramone), this was the third live Ramones performance to see legit issue. And it was the first with Tommy's replacement Marky Ramone, who had joined your Joey Ramone, Johnny Ramone, and Dee Dee Ramone in time for the 1978 studio album Road To Ruin. 

Drumming for the Ramones is a challenge. Marky Ramone rose to that challenge.

THE MIDNIGHT CALLERS: Baby Let Me Be

Man, we love the Midnight Callers. Hell, we've been fans of the group since their earlier incarnation as Chris Paine and the Lettertrain, and even before that we followed Paine and fellow MCer Julien Budrino in their previous combo London Egg. The Midnight Callers' 2020 debut album Red Letter Glow gave us the TIRnRR Fave Rave "41 Miles To Roscoe," and we've playlist-programmed the group's ace contributions to Jem Recordings' John Lennon, Brian Wilson, and Pete Townshend tributes. "Baby Let Me Be"--the first single off their forthcoming album Rattled Humming Heart--is very likely to follow suit. We played it this week. We're playing it again next week. We call it a hit, at any time of day.

POPSICKO: No Better Time

Popsicko's "No Better Time" (from their excellent archival set Off To A Bad Start) has been in my brain a lot lately, for no other reason than because it's insanely catchy and irresistible. There can be no better reason. And no better time.

GAME THEORY: Linus And Lucy

And that's what This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio is all about, Charlie Brown.

THE RAMONES: Do You Wanna Dance

As much as we associate Rock 'n' Roll High School with the Ramones, actress P. J. Soles was the film's actual star, playing Riff Randell, teen rock 'n' roller. But the Ramones are at the heart of it all, and I can't imagine how the movie would have played with its previous intended band Cheap Trick (or director Allan Arkush's teen fantasy of a making a movie with the Yardbirds), nor how producer Roger Corman's original concept of Disco High could have succeeded on any aesthetic level. The essential nature of the Ramones' involvement here reminds me of what Roger Ebert said about the Beatles' first movie: if A Hard Day's Night had been shot in color, but was otherwise identical, frame by frame, it would not have been the same classic (and classic feeling) film as it is in black and white. The iconic black and white images of the Beatles are an essential part of A Hard Day's Night, just as the Ramones are central to Rock 'n' Roll High School.

Ramones music plays throughout the film, mixed with treats by Chuck Berry, Eddie and the Hot Rods, Devo, MC5, Alice Cooper, Brownsville Station, the Velvet Underground, and more. Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee, and Marky have brief "acting" bits, and five on-screen musical appearances. When we first see them, they lip-sync "I Just Want To Have Something To Do," and they show up in a dream sequence in Riff's bedroom--nice work if you can get it--serenading her with "I Want You Around." We played both of those tracks on last week's show. Then comes the in-concert sequence mentioned up top. 

The Ramones return for two more songs at the film's climax. The first of the two is "Do You Wanna Dance," a cover of the familiar rock 'n' roll classic. For a very, very long time I regarded this as my all-time favorite cover of anything by anybody. And while I've kinda shifted my allegiance to the Ramones' cover of Tom Waits' "I Don't Want To Grow Up," I still wanna dance.

Don't you?

THE MYNAH BIRDS: I Got You (In My Soul)

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE RAMONES: Rock 'n' Roll High School

Like Riff Randell says in the movie, Hit it, MARKY! The Ramones play the title tune that Riff wrote for them, the school blows up, and authority is soundly defeated. A happy ending all around.

THE FLASHCUBES: Got No Mind/Dizzy Miss Lizzy

Presenting Big Stir Records recording artists the Flashcubes in their natural habitat, recorded live at The Firebarn in Syracuse, May 1979. I was (and remain) a huge, huge fan of the 'Cubes, who occupy a point in my rock 'n' roll trinity alongside the Beatles and the Ramones. Anecdotal evidence suggests that I was not in attendance at this particular Firebarn show, but I had seen the 'Cubes many times before that and many more times going forward. And I saw them a little over a month after that Firebarn gig, July 6th of 1979, playing on a bill with the Ramones at the first Central New York screening of Rock 'n' Roll High School.

The Flashcubes have a new album, Pop Masters, due in August. It's beyond great, and I can't wait for you to hear it. Meanwhile, knowing that 'Cubes guitarist Paul Armstrong was bringing his other group 1.4.5. to Syracuse to play at last Saturday's release party for my new book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones--the party raging on before this week's show aired but after it was recorded--I wanted to include the single most Ramones-influenced song the Flashcubes ever created. 

That would be Paul's "Got No Mind," carrying the DNA of "Teenage Lobotomy" and "Rockaway Beach" and applying shock treatment as needed. The live version is best, that Firebarn performance preserved on the album Flashcubes On Fire, segued perfectly into the 'Cubes covering Larry Williams via the Beatles. The Beatles, the Ramones, and the Flashcubes. 

My trinity.

I did not expect 1.4.5. to perform "Got No Mind" at my book release party. Happy surprise! We'll hear a track from Pop Masters on our next show.

THE RAMONES: I Believe In Miracles

Part 2 of our salute to THE RAMONES AT THE MOVIES concludes with the defiant and chillingly determined (if unexpected) optimism of "I Believe In Miracles." The Ramones lip-synced the song in the otherwise-horrible 1994 feature film remake of Car 54, Where Are You? Outside of Rock 'n' Roll High School, I'm pretty sure this was the Ramones' only on-screen appearance in a non-documentary motion picture.

With the Ramones' appearances in Rock 'n' Roll High School and Car 54, Where Are You? now addressed, THE RAMONES AT THE MOVIES will conclude next week with four Ramones tracks heard in non-Ramones films. That starts with a little something from a 1979 flick called That Summer! Chewin' out a rhythm on our bubblegum, this Sunday night on TIRnRR.

No, not that rendition of the chewin'-on-my-bubblegum thing. C.C. Ramone has retired from the stage.

PERILOUS: Rock & Roll Kiss

Drummer Paul Doherty was an early cheerleader for my Ramones book. This status goes back a couple of years, when the book was still a secret known only to a few people. Given that, there was no freakin' way I was gonna attempt a book release party without enlisting the services of Paul's group Perilous.

Both Perilous and 1.4.5. rocked the 443 last Saturday, as I knew they would. It was my first opportunity to witness Perilous in concert, and man, did they ever deliver! We played their 2022 TIRnRR Pick Hit "Rock & Roll Kiss" on this week's show. We'll play their brand new single next week, as well as music from 1.4.5. and a track apiece from two of Perilous' seed groups, the Trend and Pauline and the Perils. 

Ya wanna get loud? Okay, we can get loud. It's as simple as 1-2-3-4!

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

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

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

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl

THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE: Super Freak

This is the second section of a two-part chapter written for my long-threatened book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). You can read Part One here. 

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!

RICK JAMES: Super Freak (Part I)

Written by Rick James and Alonzo Miller

Produced by Rick James

Single from the album Street Songs, Gordy, 1981

The original post has been unpublished for bookkeeping purposes. It can be seen as a chapter in my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1)

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 for preorder, courtesy of the good folks at Rare Bird Books. Gabba Gabba YAY!!

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

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl