10 SONGS: 6/29/2023

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 show draws exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1187. This show is available as a podcast.

THE RAMONES: Sheena Is A Punk Rocker

Because New York City really has it all, I'm gonna be there TODAY for a 6:30 pm in-store appearance at Generation Records, 210 Thompson Street in the Village. See, NOW New York City really has it all! Sort of. I'll be at Generation to talk about my new book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones, and I hope some of my NYC-area pals can show up to keep me company. It might even be a real cool time. 

Anyway, this is a good excuse to open both the show and this week's 10 Songs with another spin of "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker," the record that changed my life, and the greatest record ever made, and a big underlying part of the case I presented when the Ramones were inducted into The Power Pop Hall Of Fame. Maybe I'll talk a little bit about that at Generation tonight.

MARVIN GAYE: Ain't That Peculiar

When I started this cockamamie daily blog in January of 2016, one of the earliest posts was a reprise of an article I wrote for Goldmine about a decade before that. "Rock The Coin Right Into The Slot: The Definitive Rock 'n' Roll Jukebox" was an attempt to to list the 100 U.S. 45s that could stock a hypothetical definitive rockin' pop jukebox, and one of those chosen singles was "Ain't That Peculiar" by Marvin Gaye. In a subsequent post, I offered this explanation/disclaimer for selecting this particular record:

And there probably isn't another fan in the world who wouldn't have selected "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" or "What's Goin' On" or one of Gaye's duets with Tammi Terrell over "Ain't That Peculiar." Ain't that...y'know?

I do believe "Ain't That Peculiar" is prime jukebox material, but in retrospect I should have gone with the searing heartbreak of "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" instead, at least for the jukebox. Nonetheless, "Ain't That Peculiar" sounds great in this week's playlist. 

And peculiar or not, my paid supporters will get to see an otherwise-unpublished celebration of "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" (from my long-threatened book The Greatest Record Ever Made! [Volume 1]) this Saturday. If you would also like to see it, you can become a patron of this blog for a mere $2 a month. 

Jukeboxes, radio playlists, and greatest records ever made. An infinite number, as long as they take turns. I heard that through...the usual word-of-mouth means. Peculiar? Your grapevine my vary.

DANNY THE K: Roller Derby Girl

Our regular listeners know Dan Kopko from his stellar work with the Shang Hi Los and the Peppermint Kicks. Now, assuming the nom de bop of Danny the K, our esteemed Mr. Kopko has a solo album, Cigarettes & Silhouettes, And Other Songs, due soon from the irresistible force known as Rum Bar Records. That album's advance single "Roller Derby Girl" hip-checks its way into the playlist this week, with more to come. Let's roll.

ROCKAWAY BITCH: I Wanna Be Sedated

CHICKS SINGIN' RAMONES SONGS! Singin' 'em well, too. This is the fifth time out of the last six weeks that the Carbona-huffin' splendor of Rockaway Bitch has bludgeoned its way onto the TIRnRR airwaves. And it's high time something from RB lead singer Patti Rothberg's own superb catalog also made a reappearance here. We'll play Patti solo and with Rockaway Bitch next week.

THE 5th DIMENSION: Don't Cha Hear Me Callin' To Ya

This track from the soundtrack of the dazzling documentary Summer Of Soul captures a live performance by the 5th Dimension, and it sizzles--sizzles--in a way the studio version never quite matched.

STEVE STOECKEL: Mod Girl

"Mod Girl" is a very cool track from Steve Stoeckel's current Big Stir Records release The Power Of And. We dig this the most ut, but we're never sure if we wanna program the fab album version or its equally groovy unreleased a cappella mix, which highlights the amazing backing vocals of Jamie Hoover and Elena Rogers. Oooooo--sublime! That alternate version really needs a general issue. Steve! Rex! Christina! Mod girls AND Mod boys! THE WORLD IS WAITING!

Meanwhile, we are going with the album track on this show this time. The a cappella mix will return in a near-future playlist. Can't go wrong either way. 

SUZI QUATRO: I May Be Too Young

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

MICKEY LEIGH'S MUTATED MUSIC: It Felt Like Love

We have not played Mickey Leigh's work to the extent we oughtta. I mean, we have programmed a few different tracks by his old combo the Rattlers here and there: "On The Beach," "Livin' Alone," "For Johnny's Entertainment," "What Keeps Your Heart Beatin'?," and their cover of the Nightcrawlers' "Little Black Egg." Sibling Rivalry (which was Mickey and his brother Joey Ramone, covering Blodwyn Pig's "See My Way") has received the plurality of our Mickey Leigh spins over the years. But we should be doing more.

And we're gonna. I just purchased Variants Of Vibe, a 2022 album by Mickey Leigh's Mutated Music, and it joins my copy of Sibling Rivalry's In A Family Way and the CD reissue of the Rattlers' Rattled! I snagged in Berkeley in 1999. Variants Of Vibe is quite good, and it makes its TIRnRR debut with a wonderfully punchy tune called "It Felt Like Love." Feels like we should be playing it. 

THE FLASHCUBES FEATURING THE PALEY BROTHERS: Come Out And Play

The Paley Brothers should have been huge, but I don't remember hearing any of their great stuff contemporaneously to their release in the '70s. The only Paleys track I knew at the time was their outtasight collaboration with the Ramones on a sugar-frosted amphetamine cover of Ritchie Valens' "Come On Let's Go," introduced to me via its appearance on the soundtrack to the Ramones' 1979 cinematic masterpiece Rock 'n' Roll High School.

I first heard the original of the Paleys' 1978 gem "Come Out And Play" when it appeared as the title tune for a Rhino Records various-artists power pop compilation in 1993. That collection also just happened to offer the CD debut of Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse the Flashcubes, a group that remains up there with the Beatles and the Ramones as my personal Top O' The Pops.

So yeah, obviously TIRnRR likes to play this triumphant team-up of the Paleys and the 'Cubes, remaking "Come Out And Play," takin' a rad song and makin' it (even) better. It's on the new Flashcubes album Pop Masters, due this summer from Big Stir Records. We're playin' it. Come out and play, friends. Come out and play.

THE RAMONES: Touring

Touring is never boring. Oh! That reminds me!

IN-PERSON EVENT TODAY!!! June 29

On June 29 at 6:30 pm--hey, that's TODAY!--I will be making an in-store appearance at GENERATION RECORDS, 210 Thompson Street in NYC on behalf of my  new book GABBA GABBA HEY! A CONVERSATION WITH THE RAMONES. The book contains my 1994 interviews with Joey, Johnny, Marky, and C.J., which were cited by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as essential reading. I'll be at Generation to chat with fellow Ramones fans, talk about the book, the interviews, and how the music of the Ramones impacted my life. If you are in the New York area today, I would love to see you at Generation Records. Hey-ho, 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/

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: 5/26/2023

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 # 1182. This show is available as a podcast.

THE RAMONES: Rockaway Beach

The third and final part of our salute to THE RAMONES AT THE MOVIES presents four tracks heard in films that were otherwise unrelated to the Ramones. And we start with this irresistible number, which appeared on the soundtrack to a 1979 British film called That Summer! I've never seen the movie, but its soundtrack LP is killer, with da Brudders' ace "Rockaway Beach" sharin' banks 'n' borders with music by Eddie and the Hot Rods, Elvis Costello, the Undertones, the Only Ones, Mink DeVille, Wreckless Eric, the Boomtown Rats, Patti Smith Group, Ian Dury and the Blockheads, Richard Hell and the Voidoids, Nick Lowe, and the Zones.

This album was an essential purchase for me, and probably the first time an Undertones track ("TEENAGE KICKS!!!!!!") entered my record collection. I would have gotten to the Undertones anyway, so the true revelation was the Zones' "New Life," which I'd neither heard nor heard of prior to That Summer!, and which immediately became a top Fave Rave for this lad. New life!

I already owned two copies of "Rockaway Beach" before I acquired That Summer! The 1977 single was my second Ramones purchase (after "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker"), and I bought the Rocket To Russia album in 1978. If we also count the live cut that opens the wonderful It's Alive--HEY!WE'RETHERAMONESANDTHISONE'SCALLED"ROCKAWAYBEACH!"1-2-3-4!--then That Summer! gave me my fourth "Rockaway Beach." Chewin' out a rhythm on my bubblegum! You can never have too many examples of "Rockaway Beach."

And we'll have another example of "Rockaway Beach" in the second set of next week's special show GABBA GABBA HEY! A Celebration Of The Ramones. No, it's not that rendition of "Rockaway Beach""--we do have standards here--but a less-played version nonetheless familiar to our regular listeners. AND! It will be introduced on-air by none other than Joey Ramone himself, from a 1994 interview I believe I've mentioned recently. It's not hard, not far to reach. So BE THERE!

PERILOUS: Last Of The Dying Breed

The May 13th release party for my new book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones was an epic night at The 443 Social Club and Lounge, and it gave me my first opportunity to witness the rockin' majesty of Perilous live. Whatta band! Their set raised the motherlovin' roof like a motherlovin' roof should be raised. Perilous performed TIRnRR Pick Hits "Rock & Roll Kiss" and "Band Aid" (the latter originally done by Perilous drummer Paul Doherty's former group the Trend), and closed with an authoritative cover of the Ramones' "Cretin Hop." The 443's owner Julie Leone said that she is now a Perilous fan. Julie, as always, knows what she's talkin' about.

And Perilous played their brand-new single "Last Of The Dying Breed," a vibrant ode to the '70s punk scenes that inspired...well, me! From the Ramones to Lemmy to the Dead Boys to Iggy to Richard Hell, it's all for the love of rock 'n' roll. Turn up the sound all over the town, before the ship sinks into the sea.

So yeah, of course I bought the single. Duh!

And you oughtta get it, too. Sales of "Last Of The Dying Breed" benefit David Lee Mau, bass player for Upstate New York hardcore veterans S.F.B., as he battles cancer. Fuck cancer. See, there is something we can all agree on: Fuck cancer. Make cancer the last of a dead breed.

sparkle*jets u.k.: He's Coming Out

Oh yeah! sparkle*jets u.k. return with a new album, Best Of Friends, thanks to the rockin' pop visionaries at Big Stir Records. HuzZAH! I haven't heard the album yet, but Dana has, and he's already certified it Way Cool. The first single, a cover of the Masticators' "He's Coming Out" (the original of which was a BIG favorite of this little mutant radio show twenty-sumpin years ago), indicates our Dana is right. Again. I can't wait to hear the rest of this.

THE RAMONES: I Wanna Be Sedated

"I Wanna Be Sedated" was included on the soundtrack for the 1980 film Times Square, a flick intended to do for the commercial viability of punk and new wave music what producer Robert Stigwood's previous flick Saturday Night Fever had done for dat ole debbil disco.

It did not accomplish that goal.

Nonetheless, it was a fascinating 2-LP set. Some of its tracks weren't my cuppa, but I loved hearing the Ramones, Suzi Quatro, Roxy Music, the Pretenders, Talking Heads, Joe Jackson, Garland Jeffries, and XTC playing within what was at least ostensibly a mainstream project. I was particularly taken with "Flowers In The City," a duet by David Johansen with the film's star Robin Johnson, a track I'm not sure ever surfaced anywhere else but here. The album was better than the film, but I'm glad I did finally see the movie, its shortcomings notwithstanding.

And I wonder: even though the soundtrack album didn't do Saturday Night Fever numbers--we punks can't count past 1-2-3-4 anyway--it musta sold a little bit. Is it possible that Times Square's inclusion of "I Wanna Be Sedated" put the Ramones into more American record collections than any Ramones release that preceded it? 

Maybe so. 

We will hear "I Wanna Be Sedated" again in Sunday's GABBA GABBA HEY! A Celebration Of The Ramones. Might not be exactly what you expect. But it is by the Ramones, and it's the only song we'll hear in two different versions on Sunday night's show.

THE PANDORAS: It's About Time

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE RAMONES: Blitzkrieg Bop

The definitive Ramones song. The statement is not up for debate. You can hear the Hey-ho, let's GO! at sporting events, in TV commercials, and in movies, from National Lampoon's Vacation to Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius. It is an entrenched part of our greater pop culture. It wasn't a hit at the time of its release; man, it didn't even come close to being a hit. But it's now a classic, timeless, as much an acknowledged rock 'n' roll perennial as anything else you can name from the late '70s, and more so than most of its contemporaries. The kids are losing their minds. The Blitzkrieg Bop!

Obviously, some version of "Blitzkrieg Bop" has to open next week's GABBA GABBA HEY! A Celebration Of The Ramones. Has to. We're going with a live version, and following it with a few words from Johnny Ramone about the song's genesis. See, the Ramones had a specific goal when they started out. Johnny will tell you 'bout it.

THE FLASHCUBES FEATURING THE SPONGETONES: Have You Ever Been Torn Apart?

Hey, two of my favorite groups, singing together! Both the Flashcubes and the Spongetones are doing new full-length albums for Big Stir, and this dynamic collaborative remake of the Spongetones' "Have You Ever Been Torn Apart?" will be on the new 'Cubes album Pop Masters, due out this summer. The album is really, really good.

Hype will follow at the appropriate time, in this very corner of the cyberverse. For now, here's a very small peek at the liner notes for Pop Masters: pop tease

1.4.5.: Let's Groove

Speaking of the Flashcubes, 'Cubes guitarist Paul Armstrong brought his rough 'n' ready combo 1.4.5. to the 443 for my Gabba Gabba Hey! book release party. They delivered. PA always delivers.

My first experience booking a live rock 'n' roll show was March of 1980, when I was a senior in college. I arranged for the Most, a group fronted by singer Dian Zain with guitarist Paul Armstrong, bassist Dave DeVoe, and drummer Dick Hummer, to play at a club in my college town of Brockport. I was paid $40 cash for setting up the gig, the first time I ever made any money for anything connected to rock 'n' roll. It wasn't the last, even if it sometimes seems like it was.

By the end of that summer, both Zain and Hummer had left the group. Ducky Carlisle replaced Hummer, and that remaining trio became 1.4.5.

Hey! We're 1.4.5.

I'm Paul!

I'm Dave!

I'm Duck!

LET'S GROOVE!

"Let's Groove" was the first 1.4.5. recording to be released, included on a Syracuse bands compilation called Soundcheck, issued in conjunction with the mighty Dave Frisina and local radio station 95X in 1981. The track appeared that same year on the group's own Pink Invasion EP. Outside of the Ramones' Pleasant Dreams, I don't think there was any other new record in '81 I enjoyed more than Pink Invasion.

PA is the only one of the original 1.4.5. trio still in the group. Bassist Tommy O'Riley and drummer Judd Williams (both of whom had been in the Most before DeVoe and Hummer) join Mr. Armstrong and Perilous guitarist Bob Cat in the current 1.4.5., and they can still solicit punk-fueled groove with the best of 'em. Let's groove. Let's groove right now.

THE RAMONES: Chop Suey

"Chop Suey" is a very minor entry entry in the Ramones' discography. It originally appeared only on the soundtrack for the 1983 film Get Crazy. Get Crazy was directed by Allan Arkush, who had previously helmed the great Rock 'n' Roll High School. I was very disappointed in Get Crazy, but I haven't seen it since its brief theatrical run. If I ever get another chance to view it, I should see if the passage of time might prompt reevaluation of the flick's merits, or lack of same.

I still have my copy of the long-outta-print soundtrack LP. This version of "Chop Suey" has never been reissued; an alternate version, with members of the B-52's on backing vocals, appeared on a deluxe edition of the Pleasant Dreams album, but the movie version (with Flo and Eddie chirping in place of the B-52's) has been orphaned. That's the one we played this week.

When I interviewed the Ramones in '94, Johnny Ramone dismissed any rendition of "Chop Suey," asking me rhetorically, "The song sucked, right?" It's not one of my Top 10 Ramones tracks, nor even in my Top 40. But it's actually not bad. It's not bad at all. I'm glad we were able to exhume it to cap off our salute to THE RAMONES AT THE MOVIES. 

ROCKAWAY BITCH: Judy Is A Punk

When I started batting around ideas for next week's Ramones special, I stumbled upon the all-female Ramones tribute band Rockaway Bitch. Now, who could resist a group with that name? Not me! And I just now realized that lead singer Patti Ramone also has an established dba as Patti Rothberg, who is herself no stranger to TIRnRR playlists.

Rockaway Bitch made their TIRnRR debut this week. We'll hear 'em again with a different Ramones cover next week.

You should maybe oughtta join us.

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