10 SONGS: 12/1/2022

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 # 1157. This show is available as a podcast.

THE T-BONES: No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach's In)

I guess it's a measure of our own contented level of snark that I knew--knew!--this year's post-Thanksgiving TIRnRR needed to begin with "No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach's In)." The T-Bones hit in late 1965/early '66 with this cover of the background music from a then-recent Alka Seltzer TV commercial. I LOVE the '60s! 

Here's the commercial:

And here's a video of the T-Bones miming a performance as action ensues before them:

Say! Some of the shapes in that video look pretty good!

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

In the early to mid '80s, there was a great Buffalo area radio station called WUWU-FM.WOO WOO! Wethersfield, East Aurora! The Rock Of Western New York! In my head, I still hear all of that in the unique radio voice of DJ Justin Case. I started listening to WUWU when I was still living in Brockport in 1982, and continued when I moved to the Queen City later that year. It was a wonderfully eclectic station, and I cherish memories of hearing everything from Heaven 17 to Haysi Fantayzee to Dire Straits to the Glenn Miller Orchestra on this weird signal outta Wethersfield. As the station (inevitably) collapsed, I shifted my allegiance to Buff State's WBNY-FM, which was even better. But WUWU was huge for me. (And it was all part of my challenged life in Buffalo in the '80s, chronicled in my memoir The Road To GOLDMINE.)

It was on WUWU that I first heard Men Without Hats' eventual smash "The Safety Dance." It wasn't the (now-) familiar hit version, but a very different and longer take. I was puzzled when the version we all know achieved its uber ubiquity, because it sounded so different from "The Safety Dance" I'd heard on WUWU. 

I do love the hit. I still prefer it the way I heard it first. 

ROTARY CONNECTION: Love Me Now

Did Rotary Connection have any big hits? Why the hell not...?!

PAT BUCHANAN: Tighter, Tighter

From the fabulous various-artists set We All Shine On: Celebrating The Music Of 1970, Pat Buchanan's confident take on Alive And Kicking's "Tighter, Tighter" prompted me to recall when I heard the song's coauthor and coproducer Tommy James perform it at a club show decades ago. That, in turn, got me thinking about my memories of seeing Tommy James, and compelled me to write about the experience in Tuesday's post Virtual Ticket Stub Gallery: Tommy James. Given the ongoing demand of creating content for a daily blog, I'm very grateful for the inspiration. Thanks, Pat Buchanan! And thank you, We All Shine On!

SPARKLE*JETS U.K.: You And Your Sister

"You And Your Sister" was written and originally recorded by Chris Bell. It was the B-side of Bell's post-Big Star single "I Am The Cosmos," released in 1978. Bell was killed in a car accident later that year.

I knew all of that, of course, but that knowledge didn't stop me from referring to "You And Your Sister" as a Big Star song when we played sparkle*jets u.k.'s tasty cover version on this week's show. Oops? I did realize the error before the show aired, but too late to fix it. Our listeners are a sharp bunch, so it was no surprise when intrepid TIRnRR fan Mike Browning dashed my faint hope that no one would notice the mistake. 

(Bell's former Big Star partner Alex Chilton sang backup on Bell's single, so it does at least sound like it coulda been Big Star. And sparkle*jets u.k.'s cover was itself a B-side, the flip of their version of an actual Big Star song ["The Ballad Of El Goodo"]. AND it was released by Big Stir Records, which is, y'know, close to being "Big Star Records." I was still wrong, mind you, but it was all in service of pop music. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.)

ANCHOR AND BEAR: Cool Water

Hey, a new release from our pals at Futureman Records! Anchor and Bear features the combined forces of Katy Pearson and Brian Bringelson, and their new album No More Nights On The Roof is dreamy and inviting. Someone oughtta put their ace track "Cool Water" on the radio. Hey! WE can do that! And we'll do that again on next week's show.

THE FLYING LIZARDS: Money

I hate admitting when Dana's right and I'm wrong. Actually, I hate admitting I'm wrong in any circumstance. You'd think I'd get better at that with all this practice.

Dana selected the Flying Lizards' quirky cover of Barrett Strong's "Money" for this week's shindig. I love Strong's original, and I regard the Beatles' version as one of their very best covers (which is saying something, given the Fabs' impeccable prowess as rockin' pop interpreters). 

I never liked the Flying Lizards' deconstruction of the tune. Same reason I didn't like Devo's take on the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction," and why I so quickly tired of Sid Vicious' pointless warbling of "My Way." I'm a rockin' pop guy. I dig rockin' pop songs that sound like rockin' pop songs. Take your razzafrazzin' quirk elsewhere.

BUT: Dana was right, and I was wrong. Hearing the the Flying Lizards track again while assembling the show, it kinda clicked with me, for the first time ever. I may even put it on my iPod. What the hell. I guess quirk can find an occasional home here. 

Yeah, Dana was right. I was wron...not as right as I prefer to be.

HOOVER AND MARTINEZ: What The Heart Wants

Our recent compilation This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5 is still scoring a little bit of airplay from your more discerning internet radio outlets. We remain delighted with the album, and very, very proud of it. The first four volumes (released from 2005 through 2017) were all spectacular; I believe Volume 5 is the best of this stellar lot.

We're gonna keep on playing it. Hoover and Martinez's sublime "What The Heart Wants" was the first of three TIRnRR Vol. 5 tracks this week, later joined by Amy Rigby's "Tom Petty Karaoke" and Justine and the Unclean's "Vengeance." Great tracks. Great album. We are honored to have been able to put this all together. You can read all about it here.

THE MUFFS: Saying Goodbye

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE RAMONES: I Wanna Be Sedated

I am absolutely dying to talk more about the Ramones. The American Beatles! The greatest American rock 'n' roll group of all time! Following last week's observance of the 45th anniversary of when "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker" became the record that changed my life, it occurs to me that we're coming up on the 44th anniversary of when I first heard the Road To Ruin album, played in its entirety on Rochester radio station WCMF-FM (a story mentioned, oddly enough, in this reminiscence of the Ramones' preceding album Rocket To Russia). That's a good enough excuse to program Road To Ruin's best-known track, "I Wanna Be Sedated."

Yeah, like I need an excuse to play the Ramones. The American Beatles. Got a lot to say. Stay tuned.

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.

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: 3/3/2022

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 # 1118.

EYTAN MIRSKY: Conversation

As we were preparing this week's show, we heard the sad news that drummer Chris Garges had passed. We didn't know Chris personally, but our hearts and condolences go out to his family and friends, especially to some of our friends who did know Chris, and for whom this is a personal loss. We hear Chris' voice in nearly every weekly edition of TIRnRR, speaking with his fellow members of the Spongetones in the superswell show ID bumper they recorded for us. You'll likely continue to hear that for as long as we have a radio show.

Dana and I had already set this week's playlist before we learned of Chris' passing. But we felt it was important to open the show with at least some brief tribute to him, and it was fairly simple to swap out and rearrange a few tracks and sets to accomplish that. We figured we'd reach back to what must have been the first of Chris' work we ever heard: Songs About Girls (And Other Painful Subjects), the 1996 debut album by Eytan Mirsky. Our best wishes and commiseration to all who knew Chris. He sounds like he was a hell of a guy.

ROTARY CONNECTION: Love Me Now

The music of Rotary Connection is still mostly undiscovered to my ears; I know of Rotary Connection more than I know Rotary Connection, and I don't know all that much of them, either, other than the fact that one of the many members over the group's timeline was the late Minnie Riperton. Much of what I have heard is intriguing, reminding me (perhaps incongruously) of a more soulful Renaissance or a more progressive 5th Dimension, though neither impression is accurate. I aim to learn more, much more, and the best way to learn more about Rotary Connection is to hear more Rotary Connection. Stay tuned. 

ANTON BARBEAU: Rain, Rain

The new album from Anton Barbeau is called Power Pop!!!, and I very much dig how the good folks at Big Stir Records hyped its representation on our little mutant radio show this week:

"Anton Barbeau hits the This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio playlist with music that may or may not be power pop (it isn't!) along with the Flashcubes featuring Shoes (both of which are) and Addison Love and Irene Peña (who may vary from track to track)... but like it says, it IS Rock 'N' Roll as only Dana and Carl can bring it to you!" TESTIFY, brothers and sisters!

"Rain, Rain" is the first single off Power Pop!!!, and I would concur that it's not power pop as I envision power pop. But it is a glorious example of catchybuzz--I just made that up--a luxurious blend of psych-tinged, '80s-influenced left-of-the-dial pretty noise. Dana felt compelled to follow it with a track from Let's Active's Big Plans For Everyone, and I felt compelled to turn it all up for maximum boppin' accomplishment. Catchybuzz. We'll have another track from Power Pop next week. It's also not power pop. But we like it anyway.

SCOTT ROBERTSON: Hours Feel Like Minutes

We've played music from the Vapor Trails a time or several on TIRnRR. The fabulous Vapor Trails are piloted by Kevin Robertson, and Kevin's son Scott Robertson has a likewise-fabulous new EP called Physical Education. The EP comes courtesy of Futureman Records, the same visionary label that introduced us to the Vapor Trails. Of course we played it! It's what we do! We'll play it again next week. Nice, nice stuff.

THEE OH SEES: No Spell

Nope; I've never heard of Thee Oh Sees before. I really need to get out more. The almighty Wikipedia says the group has been around since the late '90s, and is currently known by the truncated moniker Osees. All I know is that Dana played Thee Oh Sees' "No Spell" (from the 2013 album Floating Coffin), prompting listener Rich Firestone to comment, "Mind blower of a song playing right now!" We agree, Rich. We agree.

CAROLYNE MAS: In The Rain

Hey, congratulations to the incomparable Carolyne Mas, who's just entered into a deal with the German label MIG Music. The Mas/MIG alliance will bring some of Carolyne's music back within the reach of an eager buying public, and we're in favor of that. "In The Rain" is my favorite Carolyne Mas track, a song I love even more than I love her MTV classic "Quote Goodbye Quote." I have a feeling we're gonna be giving some significant spinnage to "In The Rain" this year. It's all part of our ongoing service to you, the loyal TIRnRR listener. As always: playing pop music is its own reward.

TEGAN AND SARA: Walking With A Ghost

"So I heard a song on the radio...."

That's the first line of a chapter in my long-threatened book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1), the beginning of an entry celebrating "Walking With A Ghost" by the Canadian duo Tegan and Sara. "Walking With A Ghost" was indeed a song I heard on the radio, and its wraith-like ambiance hypnotized me on first spin.

"...If I never learned anything else about Tegan and Sara, if I never heard another note of their music, 'Walking With A Ghost' would be enough to haunt me, a spirit to possess me, a reminder of secrets thought to be dead and buried, yet rising from their graves to float beside me. Torments? No...well, sometimes. But always: reminders. Traces of what was and what could have (or should have) been, and the depressing gap between the two.

"The ghosts of our past walk beside us. I know I'm not unique in this. The spirits of past missteps and misdeeds are with us every day, sometimes with greater presence than others. No medium or ghostbreaker can dispel these particular poltergeists. It's not every minute of every day; we can apply context and balance, and we can concede that being human--mortal--comes with the certainty of fallibility, the inevitability of imperfection. But we also have to acknowledge the sins and the regrets, the times we were victim or villain, the aggressor or the aggrieved. I hope lessons were learned along the way. The ghosts remind us how much we still have to learn."

THE FLAMIN' GROOVIES: So Much In Love

"So Much In Love" was the B-side of the Flamin' Groovies' cover of Ike and Tina Turner's "River Deep Mountain High," both tracks coupled as a non-LP 45 issued in France in 1981. It was, to all intents and purposes, the final release by the Groovies during their initial lifespan, a continuity that stretched back to the '60s and through varying lineups. Original lead singer Roy Loney had split in the very early '70s, and he was replaced by Chris Wilson. Chris himself left somewhere 'roundabout this single's release. Original Groovies Cyril Jordan and George Alexander attempted to soldier on for a bit, but the flame died, and the Groovies were gone, at least for a little while. They would return.

This B-side was something of an orphan track; not exactly lost, but kind of, I dunno...sidelined? Both the A- and B-sides were collected on The Gold Star Tapes, an LP of dubious legitimacy. Or a bootleg. Or a rare import. You bought it, you name it. "River Deep Mountain High" was later included on the wonderful Groovies CD compilation Groovies' Greatest Grooves, while "So Much In Love" remained in the wild. It was given proper reissue as part of Between The Lines, a 2019 CD subtitled The Complete Jordan-Wilson Songbook '71-'81. Between The Lines is my go-to Flamin' Groovies collection.

WILSON PICKETT: In The Midnight Hour

As I mentioned yesterday, I'm mulling a plan to renovate my GREM! book, a work that has been in development for years and still hasn't found a path to publication. Even if I do split the book into two parts, my chapter about Wilson Pickett's "In The Midnight Hour" will almost certainly remain a part of Volume 1. That chapter begins as follows:

"Sometimes even a great record--the greatest record--is taken for granted. For all the classic 45s or album tracks that tackled you and gloriously pinned you to the pavement on first exposure, there are many other shots o' sonic bliss that you just didn't quite get immediately, songs you didn't fully appreciate on first spin, or third spin, or even for a long while after that. Maybe some of these are records you initially deemed merely 'Okay, I guess,' if you gave them any thought at all; perhaps some are little ditties you ignored, or even actively disliked. And then one day or night--preferably night--you hear the song again, and it suddenly clicks, as if you're hearing it for the very first time. And it's like the trite old story of the presumably-mousy secretary whose beauty suddenly reveals itself when she removes her glasses...except that she was always beautiful, with or without the glasses, ya freakin' dimwit. You just didn't notice. 

"But you're paying attention now. And whether it's a girl or a song or some other sublime gem, you've fallen in love. What took you so long?"

THE MIGHTY LEMON DROPS: Inside Out

Gilmore Girls was one of my favorite TV series. The opening scene in its first episode played out to a soundtrack of "There She Goes" by the La's. The final scene of the last episode of its original run used "Inside Out" by the Mighty Lemon Drops. So this one goes out to Lorelai and Luke in Stars Hollow, Connecticut. Here's to your little corner of the world.

You can support this blog by becoming a patron on Patreon, or by visiting CC's Tip Jar. Additional products and projects are listed 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, and on the web at http://sparksyracuse.org/ You can read about our history here.

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl