10 SONGS: 10/17/2026

10 Songs is a weekly list of ten songs that happen to be on my mind at the moment. The lists are usually dominated by songs played on the previous Sunday night's edition of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl. The idea was inspired by Don Valentine of the essential blog I Don't Hear A Single

This week's edition of 10 Songs draws exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1357

BANDA AL9: That Thing You Do!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

TONY MARSICO AND THE UGLY THINGZ: Bittersweet

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

THE FAR WEST: Bitter, Drunk And Cold

Sure, but enough about me.

THE SPONGETONES: Starting To Feel

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

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

THE RAMONES: I Don't Care

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

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

And I don't care about them.

RIHANNA: Shut Up And Drive

From a previous post:

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

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

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

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

PAUL McCARTNEY: Not Such A Bad Boy

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

LED ZEPPELIN: Good Times, Bad Times

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

THE FLASHCUBES FEATURING TOM KENNY: Got No Mind

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

COCKTAIL SLIPPERS: Back Where You Belong

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

If you like what you see here on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), please consider a visit to CC's Tip Jar. You can also become a Boppin' booster on my Patreon page.  

My new book of short stories Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies is out now, and you can get autographed copies of the new book, its six-chapter novelette digest A Band Called GUITARS VS. RAYGUNS!, and my previous book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) directly from me. You can still get my previous previous book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones from publisher Rare Bird Books, OR an autographed copy here. If you like the books, please consider leaving a rating and/or review at the usual online resources.

I compiled a various-artists tribute album called Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes, and it's pretty damned good; you can read about it here and order it here. 

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

10 SONGS: 5/30/2026

 10 Songs is a weekly list of ten songs that happen to be on my mind at the moment. The lists are usually dominated by songs played on the previous Sunday night's edition of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl. The idea was inspired by Don Valentine of the essential blog I Don't Hear A Single

This week's edition of 10 Songs draws exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1338

THE HALF/CUBES: Starless Summer Sky

It was a rare treat for us to preview no less than three new and as-yet-unreleased tracks from the Half/Cubes. Their next single (a cover of Jellyfish's "Ghost At Number One") is due out soon, and we gave that li'l gem its debut airing in this week's closing set. We placed the Half/Cubes' ace cover of Gilbert O'Sullivan's "Get Down" in the middle of the show, and we kicked our shindig off with their superb rendition of Marshall Crenshaw's luscious pop treasure "Starless Summer Sky." AND! We threw in another spin of the Half/Cubes' current single, joining forces with Glenn Burtnick for a bravura rendition of the American Breed's "Bend Me, Shape Me." The three new tracks will surely return in eventual future playlists. "Bend Me, Shape Me" plays again this Sunday night.

THE KNACK: Pop Is Dead

Get the Knack! Dana has been quite taken with the new Knack retrospective Knackology: The Zen Recordings, a set that mixes studio and live tracks from the 1990s and early 2000s, supplemented by demos and a live "Let Me Out" from 1979. The Knack's 1998 album Zoom was my favorite album that year, and it's possible that I like Zoom even more than I like Get The Knack. I'm delighted that Dana programmed Zoom's "Pop Is Dead," and you can bet on more Knackology to come on TIRnRR.

GRAHAM PARKER AND THE GOLDTOPS: Hotel Chambermaid

As pop fans worldwide clear space in their music libraries for Quality Footwear: Live At The Brook, the forthcoming new live album from the mighty Graham Parker and the Goldtops, we've been playing the album's advance singles. This week, I wanted to program a live version of a Graham Parker song that has specific meaning for me.

From a previous 10 Songs:

"Hotel Chambermaid" was the first Graham Parker and the Rumour I recall hearing, a favorite on Utica's WOUR-FM circa '76-'77, my senior year in high school. For some reason, I thought it was by Greg Kihn, whose take on Bruce Springsteen's "For You" was also getting some significant airplay on OUR, and I don't know why my mind put those two songs together. But both were part of my early FM radio listening, along with Nick Lowe's "So It Goes," the Kinks' "No More Looking Back," Joan Baez's "Time Rag," Michael Nesmith's "Rio," and, eventually, the Sex Pistols' "God Save The Queen." Radio's been good to me.

THE AMPLIFIER HEADS: A Song Called Sha La La

And the song chose its name well! The Amplifier Heads' new single "A Song Called Sha La La" is a perfect addition to our sovereign airwaves, channeling the Troggs and fortifying each Sha, La, and La with the essential oomph we require. Sha la LA! All three syllables (and, y;know, the rest of the record, too) return to the playlist on our next show.

THE SMALL FACES: Sha-La-La-La-Lee

Well, how else could you follow our first spin of "A Song Called Sha La La?" The Small Faces answer the call!

THE FLASHCUBES: Got No Mind

I've come to regard the Flashcubes' "Got No Mind" as 'Cubes guitarist Paul Armstrong's signature song. "Got No Mind" made its retail debut in a 4-track recording found (alongside a 4-track of 'Cubes bassist Gary Frenay's "Guernica") on the B-side of the Flashcubes' debut single "Christi Girl" in 1978. The definitive version was recorded live at The Firebarn in Syracuse in 1979, included on the group's 1997 anthology Bright Lights, and eventually reprised on the live at The Firebarn CD document Flashcubes On Fire. In the wake of PA's recent passing, we've been playing it a lot, and we will continue to do so. A friend recently told me that she used to think "Got No Mind" was a Sex Pistols cover rather than a Flashcubes original, and I say that's a testament to the great Paul Armstrong's ability to embody the raucous best of punk, and the Flashcubes' collective knack for making punk pop, and pop punk. Got no mind? I don't mind.

THE RUNAWAYS: Wait For Me

When I was a college student in the late '70s, I became a huge fan of the Runaways, and I consider myself fortunate to have seen them on a 1978 live bill with the Flashcubes and the Ramones (a concert memory recalled here). I played their third album Waitin' For The Night a lot--a lot--and I'm a little surprised we never got around to playlisting the album track "Wait For Me" until this week. Glad they were willing to wait!

THE CYNZ: Ghost Rider

My new book Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies is finished, with a fingers-crossed publication date of June 12th. HEY! That's an excuse to display the book's cover graphic again right here!

Well, that felt good. The book is a collection of some of my short fiction, and the rock 'n' roll in its DNA mandates passing references to a long list of real-life music performers (and you can read that list here). The Cynz are, of course, among TIRnRR's Fave Raves, so it makes sense that my imaginary planet-hoppin' combo Guitars Vs. Rayguns likes to include the occasional Cynz cover in their own outer space live sets:

"...Now, Leiko, Beckie, and FeeFEE! were all dressed the same as me (though each of 'em considerably better-looking than your boy Rocky), like co-ed Beatles at CBGB. The setlist was still peppered with covers, everything from the Buzzcocks and the Selecter to the Cynz and Etta James...."

Literary immortality! This week, we celebrate the notion of the Cynz as intergalactic superstars by returning their recent single "Ghost Rider" (from their current album Confess) to the real-world airwaves.

RIHANNA: Shut Up And Drive

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE RAMONES: Surfin' Safari

From a previous 10 Songs:

In my continuing efforts to fool people into thinking I'm way cooler than I really I am, I'll casually mention that I first learned that the Ramones had recorded a cover of the Beach Boys' "Surfin' Safari" when Joey Ramone told me that the Ramones had recorded a cover of the Beach Boys' "Surfin' Safari." Gabba Gabba HEY! 

The revelation came during my 1994 telephone interviews with the Ramones [as detailed in my first book, Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones]. Our Carbona-huffin' heroes had tackled the song previously, their version used as a backing track for a 1978 single by Rodney and the Brunettes. That would be legendary DJ Rodney Bingenheimer, with the Honeys handling the vocal heavy lifting. The Ramones had hoped to exhume their original parts (minus Rodney and his Brunette Honeys) to use in their All The Stuff (And More) reissue series, but the tracks could not be located.

Instead, the Ramones wound up recording it again during the sessions for their 1993 all-covers album Acid Eaters. Their '90s "Surfin' Safari" was only used as a bonus track on the album's Japanese edition, though it did eventually appear on a British reissue of Acid Eaters. It has never been released in America.

And lemme just add here in the present day: Surf's UP. A safari awaits.

If you like what you see here on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), please consider a visit to CC's Tip Jar. You can also become a Boppin' booster on my Patreon page.

I compiled a various-artists tribute album called Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes, and it's pretty damned good; you can read about it here and order it here. My new book of short stories Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies is due out soon; meanwhile, you can get an autographed copy of my previous book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) here, and you can still get my previous previous book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones from publisher Rare Bird Books, OR an autographed copy here. If you like the books, please consider leaving a rating and/or review at the usual online resources.

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

THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! Rihanna, "Shut Up And Drive"

Drawn from previous posts, this is not part of my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1).

An infinite number of track can each be THE greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Today, this is THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE!

RIHANNA: Shut Up And Drive

Written by Evan Rogers and Carl Sturken, based on "New Monday" by Stephen Morris, Peter Hook, Bernard Sumner, and Gillian Gilbert

Produced by Evan Rogers and Carl Sturken

Single from the album Good Girl Gone Bad, Def Jam Records, 2007

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

I remember hearing Rihanna's hit "Umbrella" in 2007, and not being especially taken with it. In 2008, the updated version of her Good Girl Gone Bad (Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded) landed into my consciousness via my then-teen daughter, whose interest in "Take A Bow" and "Disturbia" brought those songs to my attention as well. I was a little surprised to discover I liked them (especially "Disturbia"), but I did indeed like them.

I missed out on the track "Shut Up And Drive." I'd heard it, but I never noticed it until a random search for playlist ideas brought me to it again. It was like a brand new song to me, and I loved it.

(How did I know I loved it? The fact that I played it on obsessive repeat would be a pretty clear clue to that.)

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

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

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

If you like what you see here on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), please consider a visit to CC's Tip Jar. You can also become a Boppin' booster on my Patreon page.

I compiled a various-artists tribute album called Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes, and it's pretty damned good; you can read about it here and order it here. My new book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) is now available, and you can order an autographed copy here. You can still get my previous book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones from publisher Rare Bird Books, OR an autographed copy here. If you like the books, please consider leaving a rating and/or review at the usual online resources.

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

10 SONGS: 4/11/2026

10 Songs is a weekly list of ten songs that happen to be on my mind at the moment. The lists are usually dominated by songs played on the previous Sunday night's edition of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl. The idea was inspired by Don Valentine of the essential blog I Don't Hear A Single

This week's edition of 10 Songs draws exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1331

THE PEPPERMINT KICKS: Shaking Underground

At the top of this week's show, I said that any rockin' pop radio show that has an opportunity to open its latest presentation with a brand-new single from the Peppermint Kicks had damned well oughta open its presentation with that brand-new single from the Peppermint Kicks. The group's minty-fresh treat "Shaking Underground" shakes its shakables underground, overground, all around, and pounding around again. We're repeating it this Sunday. Shake with us!

SECTOR FRONTIER: Love Goes Out The Window

Although a contemporary track (released digitally in 2025, and on CD from our friends at Kool Kat Musik in 2026), Sector Frontier's "Love Goes Out The Window" could easily pass for a British new wave pop song from the early '80s. And if it had in fact been a work from 45 years ago, it would have been a fave rave for me, then and now.

In reality, Sector Frontier is the brainchild of Philadelphia popmeister Dave Cope, who is most familiar to TIRnRR under the dba Dave Cope and the Sass. Let's review the delightful fabricated biography of this delightfully fabricated "band:"

Sector Frontier: The Forgotten Vanguard of Post-Punk Britain

Origins in the Blitz of Boredom

Sector Frontier emerged from the smoke-choked pubs and council-estate squats of West London in 1978. The city was in pieces: strikes, bin bags piled like barricades, kids in safety pins fighting skinheads in Carnaby Street, and Margaret Thatcher’s looming iron fist promising “discipline.” Amid that chaos, Mick Murray—a sharp-jawed singer/guitarist with a sneer as wide as the Thames—decided to form a band “that sounded like the Jam after a fistfight with Devo.”

Mick recruited Ewan Swann, a lanky art-school dropout obsessed with German synths and cheap pedals. He played guitar like a buzzsaw but could just as easily hammer out a dystopian arpeggio that sounded like a factory collapsing. The rhythm section came from the Tupney brothers: Cliff on bass, perpetually sullen, and Wedge, a drummer who pounded with the subtlety of a demolition crew. They rehearsed in a condemned warehouse in Acton that smelled of damp carpets, spilled cider, and Marmite sandwiches gone rancid.

Songs from a Broken England

I approve of these lies, and I wish I'd fabricated 'em myself. Best I can do is play this sweet stuff on the radio. Open up your window! Pop love goes out to Sector Frontier.

SGT. SPLENDOR: Play On

MEN WITHOUT HATS: Eloise & I

Two disparate spins, each suggested by friends who have essential can't-miss podcasts. First up, Sgt. Splendor is fronted by Kate Vargas and Eric McFadden, and I confess I had not heard of them prior to their recent guest appearance on Only Three Lads, the weekly podcast hosted by Brett Vargo and Uncle Gregg. The Sgt. Splendor samples aired by O3L got my attention, and I made a point of snagging "Play On" (from their most recent album Isotopia) and wedging it into our playlist at the first available opportunity.

I never miss an episode of O3L, and I never miss an episode of The Spoon, the superswell podcast hosted by our friends  Robbie Rist, Chris Jackson, and Thom Bowers. Writer Will Harris (another friend, and host of his own fab podcast Letting Them Talk) appeared with The Men Of The Spoon for The Spoon # 611 ("All The Chicks Dig Writers [The Will Harris Story]"), and Will's pick for that episode's Greatest Song You've Never Heard feature was "Eloise & I," a track from the 1989 Men Without Hats album The Adventures Of Women & Men Without Hate In The 21st Century.

(Heh. "Women & Men Without Hate In The 21st Century." As if!)

Anyway, as I wrote in yesterday's blog post about "The Safety Dance," "Eloise & I" "...reminded me of a cross between circa-1966 Paul McCartney and a less-annoying version of Styx. Harris mentioned that Men Without Hats were still active, and in fact had released a new album called On The Moon in 2025." I love the Beatles and kinda detest Styx (except when I don't), but "Eloise & I" was sufficiently beguiling to compel my purchase and programming of the track as soon as I could. This same Spoon-fed sequence of events also prompted "The Safety Dance" to occupy this week's Greatest Record Ever Made! spot (see below).

With that, the TIRnRR playlist benefits from the addition of Sgt. Splendor and Men Without Hats tracks suggested by friends on their own podcasts. In the words of Alex Chilton: Thank you, friends.

THE SHIRTS: Tell Me Your Plans

Possibly my favorite archival release so far the year, the Shirts' Live At Paradise 1979 showcases the band's live prowess and undeniable rockin' pop panache. I can't explain how or why I missed out on discovering the Shirts' music when I was a punk- and pop-obsessed college student in the late '70s, but I've been trying to make up for lost time. I bought a CD reissue of the group's 1978 eponymous debut album a few decades ago. I recently purchased digital copies of the Shirts' otherwise-OOP second and third albums, and we've been programming live Shirts with manic devotion.

This week marks our first spin of the Live At Paradise rendition of debut album gem "Tell Me Your Plans." It's probably my top Shirts song (perhaps in a virtual tie with "Reduced To A Whisper," also from the debut), and we'll play this live cut again on our next show. We'll also throw in a studio track from their second album Street Light Shine, and a track by Rome 56, which is Shirts guitarist Artie LaMonica's current combo. 

MEN WITHOUT HATS: The Safety Dance [extended dance version]

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE RAMONES: Needles & Pins

When I was a college freshman in the spring of 1978, the Ramones were already on their way to becoming one of my all-time favorite groups. A few months before, "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker" assumed the title of the record that changed my life, the "Rockaway Beach" 45 was my 18th birthday gift to myself, and I saw the Ramones share a bill with the Runaways and the Flashcubes, my first of eight Ramones live experiences, 1978-1991. The American Beatles. The greatest American rock 'n' roll band of all time. I wrote a book about them.

Either before or after my first Ramones concert, I picked up the then-recent "Do You Wanna Dance"/"Babysitter" 45, immediately presumed it was gonna be a double-sided mega-platinum kazillion seller, and was stunned--STUNNED!--when it didn't attain AM Top 40 radio ubiquity. Stupid real world.

Nonetheless, in the giddy enthusiasm of the moment, I wrote a review of the single as a freelance submission to CREEM magazine, and CREEM could not have been less interested in  buying anything I wrote. Stupid, stupid real world! In the review, I wrote about the pure pop appeal of "Babysitter," and summed that up by declaring, "My GAWD, the Searchers live on!"

I meant it as a compliment, and the Ramones' decision to include their cover of the Searchers' 1964 hit "Needles & Pins" on the next Ramones LP (Road To Ruin, also in '78) validated my POV. 

THE CYNZ: Impossible Ending

The Cynz have already secured a berth on our year-end 2026 countdown show, as our carpet-bombing approach to programming "Love's So Lovely" (from the Cynz album Confess) has established the track as a bona fide TIRnRR hit. We play the hits! Now, we also wanna include a few other worthy Confessions, as "Impossible Ending" makes its debut here this week, and yet another treat from Confess will light up our sky this Sunday.

RIHANNA: Shut Up And Drive

Maybe it doesn't seem likely for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio--a show with a nominal power pop format, and taking its title from a line in a Ramones song--but Rihanna's "Shut Up And Drive" also has a good chance of making our 2026 countdown show. From a future GREM! chapter, drawn from two previous editions of 10 Songs:

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

I remember hearing Rihanna's hit "Umbrella" in 2007, and not being especially taken with it. In 2008, the updated version of her Good Girl Gone Bad (Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded) landed into my consciousness via my then-teen daughter, whose interest in "Take A Bow" and "Disturbia" brought those songs to my attention as well. I was a little surprised to discover I liked them (especially "Disturbia"), but I did indeed like them.

I missed out on the track "Shut Up And Drive." I'd heard it, but I never noticed it until a random search for playlist ideas brought me to it again. It was like a brand new song to me, and I loved it.

(How did I know I loved it? The fact that I played it on obsessive repeat would be a pretty clear clue to that.)

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

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

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

DAVE COPE AND THE SASS: Julee

As this week's show debuts Dave Cope's Sector Frontier, we close with an encore spin of the Dave Cope and the Sass record that sparked our obsession in the first place. From a previous 10 Songs:

Don't ever let anyone get away with trying to tell you there's no worthy new music. That's nonsense. Maybe the good new stuff doesn't reach your ears as effortlessly as it did when you were younger. But it's out there, and it's worth the effort to find it. Every week on TIRnRR, Dana and I try to do our part to mix the great new stuff with the great familiar stuff. Right now is always the best-ever time to be a fan of rockin' pop music.

"Julee," the title tune from a 2022 Kool Kat Musik release by Dave Cope and the Sass, is my favorite new track of this year so far. That's saying something, because as crappy as the year has been in general terms, there's been a rush of fabulous new music, courtesy of Kool Kat, Big Stir, Red On Red, Jem, Rum Bar, and so many others. In my head, "Julee" conjures a million different influences I can't quite isolate or identify; I hear some kind of mid/late '60s British vibe, which may be imaginary, but I don't care. Can't play this one enough.

Restraint is for suckers. Embrace the enthusiasm awready.

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I compiled a various-artists tribute album called Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes, and it's pretty damned good; you can read about it here and order it here. My new book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) is now available, and you can order an autographed copy here. You can still get my previous book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones from publisher Rare Bird Books, OR an autographed copy here. If you like the books, please consider leaving a rating and/or review at the usual online resources.

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