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.
Awww, look at me trying to make something happen!
This week's edition of 10 Songs draws exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1283
THE FLASHCUBES: If These Hands
Around the office here, it's full-speed-ahead toward the September release of Big Stir Records' various-artists compilation Make Something Happen! A Tribute To A DIY Power Pop Band Called THE FLASHCUBES. The Flashcubes have always been my favorite power pop group, and I've long wished for wider appreciation of the group's own original songbook. A tribute album gathering fab pop performers to cover some Flashcubes tunes felt like it could be the best Cubic celebration ever. Make something happen, already!
We've been rolling out teases and previews of Make Something Happen!, and we'll debut Flashcubes tribute stunners by Chris von Sneidern and Callan Foster on our next show. We were also determined to include at least one new original Flashcubes track on the tribute; we lucked out and secured THREE new 'Cubes treats, one apiece from each of the band's songwriters, Gary Frenay, Paul Armstrong, and Arty Lenin. (We figure all of Gary, PA, and Arty's songs inherently honor the propulsive poundin' prowess of 'Cubes drummer Tommy Allen.)
Paul's righteous, rockin' statement of intent "Reminisce" has been invigmoratin' our TIRnRR playlists for months. Gary's irresistible seizing of the day "The Sweet Spot" (co-written by the late B.D. Love) debuted on last week's playlist, played again this week, and returns to our sovereign airwaves this coming Sunday night. And now, Arty completes the hat trick with "If These Hands," a yearning bit of folk rock that would have sounded right at home on one of the Searchers' late '70s/early '80s albums.
That is not faint praise. And it's still more evidence that Make Something Happen! seems certain to be one of 2025's very best new releases.
CHUBBY CHECKER: Birdland
On Sunday's show, we back-announced "Birdland" as a track by Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer Chubby Checker. Our shows are prerecorded, and although we knew the Hall's 2025 inductees would be announced that night, we didn't know whether or not the often-myopic RnRHOF would deign to give Checker his long-overdue propers. I hedged my on-air statement by adding that, regardless of what happened with this year's (nor any future year's) voting, Checker is and will always a Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer.
Turns out the Hall did get it right this year. In fact as well as act: Welcome to The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, Mr. Checker.
LIBRARIANS WITH HICKEYS: Gone Too Far
Another track from Make Something Happen! "Gone Too Far" was among my many top picks in the Flashcubes' live sets in the '70s. I'm in awe of how Librarians With Hickeys took this already-great Arty Lenin tune and transformed it from its original hybrid vibe of '70s power pop meets the Monkees into something that sounds instead like a mythical '60s side that only existed in dreams that were too much to dream last night.
The transcendent result conjures an imaginary lost garage pop 45 that could have made its way to a Pebbles compilation. In my mind, it creates an image of a forgotten sidebar in pop history, where an unknown Midwest combo played local sock hops and teen scenes, and stayed together just long enough to cut this one killer single. The B-side was either an inept frat-rock cover or an undistinguished beatless beat ballad.
The A-side was "Gone Too Far."
Then this hapless group's lead singer was drafted, and most of the rest of the group left music behind. Maybe the guitarist went on to be a cult figure in subsequent pop, rock, and indie work, maybe he remained as obscure as his erstwhile bandmates. Either way, this band that never was left us this one enduring example of tattered, battered brilliance.
I made that all up, and I don't have any specific real-world counterpart to any of the above fancifying. But this reaction was immediate for me when I first heard Librarians With Hickeys' cover of "Gone Too Far." They did a fantastic job of making this their own.
THE TREMBLERS: Maybe I'll Stay
In the early '80s, (then-) former Herman's Hermits lead singer Peter Noone had a brief goal of separating himself from his hit fling with Mrs. Brown's lovely daughter and establish himself as a straight-up rock 'n' roll singer. Twice Nightly, the sole album credited to Noone's short-lived combo the Tremblers, remains a stirring, no-nonsense realization of this goal. I've referred to the Tremblers as "New Wave Herman," but that may imply an element of gimmicky fad-following that is not at all in evidence on this fine record. I wish the Tremblers had decided to stay.
SAM PHILLIPS: Faster Pussycat To The Library!
If someone ever pulls off a B-movie called Faster Pussycat To The Library!, I would totally go see it, especially if it were to play at the drive-in on a double bill with another make-believe grindhouse flick:
THE PLIMSOULS: Dangerous Book
Faster Pussycat To The Library! and Dangerous Book. Man, someone get a call into Tarantino. We'll bring the popcorn. Maybe Librarians With Hickeys can make an on-screen cameo, like the Strawberry Alarm Clock in Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls?
THE SEX PISTOLS: God Save The Queen
The Greatest Record Ever Made!
THE BONGOS: Come Back To Me
Later this month, Jem Records will be releasing The Shroud Of Touring, a fabulous archival document of a 1985 live set by the Bongos. I've been a Bongos fan for decades, my own earnest Bongomania commencing with live versions of "Telephoto Lens" and "In The Congo," as heard on Start Swimming, a 1981 compilation that presented two in-concert tracks apiece from the Bongos, the Raybeats, the dB's, the Bush Tetras, and the Fleshtones. This introduction compelled me to pick up the Bongos' full-length debut album Drums Along The Hudson at my earliest opportunity. Hooked by the live cuts on Start Swimming, the studio versions of "Telephoto Lens" and "In The Congo" became my Fave Raves in the Bongos' hit parade, and they have retained that status nearly 45 years later. I also adored their Numbers With Wings EP and Beat Hotel album, and the latter was a go-to for in-store play when I worked at a record store in 1985. (Until this moment, I was not even aware of a 2013 Bongos release called Phantom Train. I will be acquiring that target shortly.)
As we await the release of The Shroud Of Touring, which will itself be celebrated on May 30th with a Bongos live reunion show in Asbury Park (on a bill with TIRnRR superstars the Cynz and the Grip Weeds), we're gonna spin a few tracks from the Bongos' studio catalog. That campaign begins with "Come Back To Me," a superb Beat Hotel number that I'm surprised to say we ain't played before. We'll hear an earlier Bongos cut on our next show, and material from The Shroud Of Touring will start swimming in our stream on May 11th.
THE RAMONES: I Wanna Be Sedated [Ramones-On-45 Mega-Mix!]
From a previous post:
One doesn't normally associate the Ramones with extended dance mixes. That seeming dichotomy works to perfection in "I Wanna Be Sedated [Ramones-On-45 Mega-Mix!]."
It's loud. It's danceable. It's the bubblepunk of the Ramones caught makin' out with club chicks. It's "I Wanna Be Sedated" set to a heavier beat, with bits of "Blitzkrieg Bop," "Teenage Lobotomy," and "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker" edited in, peppered with prerequisite dance-mix Sensurround moves, but retaining a far-from-sedate line-of-sight with the purity of the Ramones.
I should hate this. I freakin' love it. Awright, all you punks 'n' bumpin' bunnies alike: we can't control our fingers, we can't control our brains. Can't control our feets, either. BAMbambumpbam, ba-BAMbambumpbam. We know what we want.
THE BEATLES: I'm Only Sleeping
And we'll leave the light on for you.
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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. Recent shows are archived at Westcott Radio. You can read about our history here.
