THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! Badfinger, "Day After Day"

This is drawn from an earlier post. It is not part of my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1).

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!

BADFINGER: Day After Day

Written by Pete Ham

Produced by George Harrison

Single, Apple Records, 1971

Badfinger was my favorite act on the radio in the early '70s. It's no coincidence that the first entry in my series The Greatest Record Ever Made! was Badfinger's "Baby Blue," nor was there ever any likelihood of me choosing any other song to open my eventual GREM! book (though "Baby Blue" was ultimately paired with the Ramones' "Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?" as the book's introduction).

Have to repeat the mantra for those who came in late: An infinite number of songs can each be THE greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. "Baby Blue" stands out as my favorite among Badfinger favorites, and if I had to pick just one--ONE!!--song and stick with it as GREM!, "Baby Blue" would be it. But I loved all of the Badfinger songs I heard on the radio when I was in middle school. "Come And Get It," the song Paul McCartney gave to the lads, was wonderful, but the singles written by the group's own Pete Ham were better. "Baby Blue," of course. "No Matter What," which many think of as Badfinger's signature tune. And this irresistible ballad "Day After Day."

I am not generally a ballad guy, except on those occasions when I am. I'm infinite, too. "Day After Day" just soars, its heartfelt tale of devotion and longing propelled by a sound taken straight from Abbey Road, a sliding guitar that seems to mourn and hope at the same time, piano that proclaims '70s pop music in all the best ways, harmonies, the experiences of love, wishes, dreams, regret, and AM radio all made as one. 

In 2004, Syracuse musician and promoter Paul Davie organized a live event to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Beatles' first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. Paul's own British Invasion tribute combo the Fab Five would play a set of period-appropriate covers and a set duplicating the Beatles' performances for ol' Stoneface Sullivan back in '64. The Fab Five would also back up Terry Sylvester of the Hollies and Badfinger's Joey Molland in separate sets. 

The Fab Five at that time included Gary Frenay and Arty Lenin from the Flashcubes and Screen Test, along with Davie, local music legend Dave Novak, and veteran drummer Dave Miller. As mentioned in my liner notes for the Screen Test anthology Inspired Humans Making Noise, Dave Miller wasn't as familiar with the Badfinger material as he was with the rest of the evening's rockin' pop syllabus, so NYC-based 'Cubes/Screen Test drummer Tommy Allen agreed to come back to the 'Cuse for a Screen Test gig on Friday night and the Badfinger portion of the British Invasion show Saturday night. Joey Molland also showed up at that Friday night Screen Test show, and he joined the lads for an unplanned, incredible rendition of "No Matter What," setting a high bar for Saturday night's show.

The next evening's show met that bar, maybe even surpassed it. It was neither the first time nor the last time I saw Molland perform, but it was without question the best time. Molland just cooked with the fab quintet of Screen Test plus Davie and Novak. Our Joey acquitted himself well on Badfinger's hits and album tracks, singing most of the leads, including those originally done by the late Pete Ham. But for "Day After Day," Molland ceded the lead mic to Arty Lenin.

And Arty friggin' owned it.

I was 44 years old, a drink in one hand, my lovely wife Brenda on my arm. But I was also 11-12 years old again, my ears stapled to WOLF-AM and WNDR-AM in '71 and '72, hearing music that promised something better than my adolescent doldrums, my preteen angst, looking out of my lonely gloom, day after day. It was...everything, the good and the bad, with good winning out in storybook fashion. I was nearly speechless. After the set, I found my voice and walked up to Arty to say, "Dude, you are Badfinger!"

Pop music is a time machine. It's not just memories, and it's not just the past, because all the things we saw and heard and felt and tasted and dreamed and cried over or bled for remain with us. Always. The records don't remind us--we would remember anyway--but the sound connects us, then and now, now to then. I don't want to be 12 again. I wouldn't mind having a little more hair, a few less pounds, and a better back, and it sure would be nice to skip one or a hundred of the heartbreaks along the way. But living is now, ending in -ing rather than -ed. Every day, my mind is all around you. Turn it up. Every day, I feel the tears that you weep. It's okay. Night after night. Day after day.

We have time.

(Or, at least, we have the time we have. Rest in peace, Mr. Molland.)

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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.

POP-A-LOOZA: Revealing My Age (One Concert Ticket At A Time)

Each week, the pop culture website Pop-A-Looza shares some posts from my vast 'n' captivating Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) archives. The latest shared post is called "Revealing My Age (One Concert Ticket At A Time)."

If memory serves (and it occasionally does), the last live music event I attended before everything went kersplatticky! in March of 2020 was to see the duo of Gary Frenay and Arty Lenin (founding members of Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse the Flashcubes) play at a hotel lounge up on the Syracuse University hill. A hotel lounge gig may seem a pretty dire setting for live music magic, but lemme tell ya, Gary and Arty owned that long-running gig at the Sheraton, mixing covers and originals to the delight of fans who went there specifically to soak up that experience. That weekly residency had ceased in 2019, but this late-winter 2020 appearance marked their triumphant return to the Sheraton, albeit for just one more show. If memory's correct--it might be!--and that really was my final pre-COVID live show, it was a pretty good note to end on.

Before that? I think it was either Gary and Arty again or the Kennedys, both of those shows taking place in late 2019 at The 443 Social Club And Lounge, one of my very favorite venues. The Gary and Arty show was an all-originals showcase, a sequel to a similar show they'd done at the 443 the preceding May. At the Kennedys show, I had the honor of joining CNY radio legend Dave Frisina on stage to introduce the band. 

Also at the Kennedys show,  I ran into my eighth grade art teacher John DiGesare; Mr. D was my favorite teacher (a story told as part of the chronicle of my superhero creation Jack Mystery), and it's always nice to see him. He was at the 443 to see his former pupil Maura Kennedy, and he chatted with my wife Brenda and me before the show. He told Brenda she should call him John, and then he smiled and said to me, "You can call me Mr. D."

(Whenever Mr. D sees me, he tells me to stop wasting time with whatever other triviality occupies me in the moment, and to get back to drawing. Okeydokey, Mr. D!)

Earlier, in the summer of 2019, Brenda and I had also seen C. J. Ramone with Dog Party at an outdoor venue in Liverpool, NY, and the Cowsills and others as part of the Happy Together Tour at The Landmark Theater. Meeting the Cowsills--the nicest people in pop music--after the show, Dana and I talked about the possibility of maybe getting the Cowsills back to Syracuse some day to headline their own show. A great idea! At the time, no one knew live music would be banished from the scene by a pandemic and quarantine.

As quarantine concerns eased, at least a little bit, for a little bit, I did manage to see a few live shows in 2021. The first was, of course, Gary and Arty, this time with their (mostly) '60s cover band the FabCats. Our daughter Meghan accompanied Brenda and me to see Joan Jett and the Blackhearts at the New York State Fair. Brenda and I saw Los Blancos at the 443. Each of these was an outdoor show. I was THISCLOSE to buying tickets to see Squeeze at a casino date a few months back, but I couldn't do it. Not ready for that yet.

But I will return to the live music experience. In the mean time, we look back at a snapshot of some shows I saw in a less viral era. "Revealing My Age (One Concert Ticket At A Time)" is the latest Boppin' Pop-A-Looza.

Joan Jett on the screen at the State Fair in 2021, photo by Meghan Cafarelli

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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

POP-A-LOOZA: Badfinger, "Day After Day"

Each week, the pop culture website Pop-A-Looza shares some posts from my vast 'n' captivating Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) archives. Today, for the first time, Pop-A-Looza is actually scooping my own blog with the first appearance of a new piece, a celebration of "Day After Day" by Badfinger.

The piece was originally intended to run as part of this week's edition of 10 Songs, which would have posted today. I thought it also worked well as a stand-alone, so I offered it to Pop-A-Looza for use separate from 10 Songs. The original 10 Songs post will appear on this blog tomorrow.

In the mean time, you can read this fresh Boppin' Pop-A-Looza today, a story about a song I heard on the radio when I was 11 or 12 years old, about hearing it performed live more than two decades later by Badfinger's Joey Molland playing with a quintet of musicians from Syracuse, and about how a pop record can conjure the past while remaining a vital part of the present. The latest Boppin' Pop-A-Looza is "Day After Day" by Badfinger.

Badfinger's Joey Molland with Gary Frenay of The Flashcubes and Screen Test

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You can support this blog by becoming a patron on Patreon: Fund me, baby! 

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.

The many fine This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio compilation albums are still available, each full of that rockin' pop sound you crave. A portion of all sales benefit our perpetually cash-strapped community radio project:

Volume 1: download

Volume 2: CD or download

Volume 3: download

Volume 4: CD or download

Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio:  CD or download

Carl's writin' a book! The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) will contain 155 essays about 155 tracks, each one of 'em THE greatest record ever made. An infinite number of records can each be the greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Updated initial information can be seen here: THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! (Volume 1).

10 SONGS: 4/14/2020

10 Songs is a weekly list of ten songs that happen to be on my mind at the moment. Given my intention to usually write these on Mondays, the lists are often dominated by songs played on the previous 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 # 1020.

THE BANDWAGON: Breakin' Down The Walls Of Heartache



Although an American act, soul group Johnny Johnson & the Bandwagon never scored a hit record in the U.S. But they had three Top Ten singles in England from 1968 to 1970, with "Breakin' Down The Walls Of Heartache," "Sweet Inspiration," and the bubblesoul classic "(Blame It) On The Pony Express." Their debut single "Breakin' Down The Walls Of Heartache" was credited to just The Bandwagon, and it rates its own chapter in my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1):

Any record you ain't heard yet is a new record. And if you like it, you don't care if it's old or new, a cover or an original, performed by a tyro or a veteran, and you don't give a damn if it's rock or soul or power pop or country or whatever label a pundit like me affixes to it. You like it. You dig what you wanna dig. And you have a new record to love...

..."Breakin' Down The Walls Of Heartache" was The Bandwagon's first single, a bouncy slice of soulful pop, roughly contemporary (and comparable) to the irresistible sway of The Foundations' classic hits hits "Baby, Now That I've Found You" and "Build Me Up, Buttercup." Johnson's lead vocals promise deliverance for the broken and forsaken, a vow from a self-described "carpenter of love and affection" strong enough to rescue and redeem the most battered of hearts. The song was a hit in England; I can't understand why it didn't break down the walls of radio playlists to become an international smash.

JOE DIFFIE: Bigger Than The Beatles



As much as I dislike modern country music (and modern country radio), there was a time in the first half of the '90s when I was more open to some of it. Well, not to country radio--let's not get crazy. But I was a regular viewer of Crossroads, a Saturday night video showcase on CMT. This series was not the same as the still-running CMT Crossroads, which pairs a country act with a non-country act for joint performances. Crossroads was dedicated to an intersection between rock and country, and I liked a lot of what I saw and heard on that show: Sky Kings, Rosie Flores, Nanci Griffith (backed by The Crickets for a cover of Buddy Holly's "Well...All Right"), The Mavericks, Mary-Chapin Carpenter, and definitely "Bigger Than The Beatles" by Joe Diffie.

"Bigger Than The Beatles" was kinda hokey, a gawky little ditty about a bar-band rocker and a nightclub waitress in love, their love bigger than The Beatles, wild and free like The Rolling Stones, takes 'em higher than The Eagles, yeah yeah yeah. I liked it anyway. Diffie recently succumbed to complications from COVID-19 at the age of 61. 

(Incidentally, a cursory search via the great 'n' powerful Google failed to net me any information on this Crossroads TV show that I'm positive I used to watch. Am I misremembering its title? Does anyone remember the show I'm talking about here?)

FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE: Stacy's Mom



The sudden passing of producer, performer, and songwriter Adam Schlesinger was a shock. I was never quite as much of a Fountains Of Wayne fan as most of my pop peers were, but I did like them and I certainly respected them. The group earned the devotion of their fanbase, and they deserved even wider fame and acclaim. "Stacy's Mom" was their only big hit, a Cars-influenced ode to horny teendom that wasn't necessarily their very best track, but it was indeed a great track nonetheless.



IVY: Edge Of The Ocean



The band Ivy--Dominique Durand, Andy Chase, and Adam Schlesinger--somehow flew completely under my radar. Wikipedia tells me that this dreamy track "Edge Of The Ocean" was used in the film Shallow Hal and the TV series Veronica Mars, but I have no real recollection of it before grabbing a couple of Ivy tracks last week in preparation for TIRnRR's Adam Schlesinger tribute. A fuller investigation of Ivy's work is now in order. This one's from Ivy's 2000 album Long Distance.



JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS: I Love Rock 'n' Roll



Joan Jett is about my age, and of course I had a crush on her. Duh. When The Runaways split at the end of the '70s, Jett seemed the one former member most likely to make some interesting new music; Lita Ford was more suited to hard rock, Sandy West, Jackie Fox, and Fox's replacement Vickie Blue didn't appear to be headed to solo careers, and although Cherie Currie (with her sister Marie Currie) did an appealingly basic cover of Rainbow's "Since You've Been Gone," none of them quite had Jett's potential. But Joan herself? Joan loved rock 'n' roll.

So she made rock 'n' roll. She kicked the bad habits that could have ended her career and her life, she kept playing, she kept recording, and she kept playing some more. Her eponymous 1980 debut album (later reissued as Bad Reputation) was one of my favorite records in that period. She had done some recording with former Sex Pistols Steve Jones and Paul Cook, some of which appeared on that first album. But the B-side of her U.K. single cover of Lesley Gore's "You Don't Own Me" remained non-LP. I confess I was a little disappointed with the Gore cover, but I played that B-side a lot. That was "I Love Rock 'n' Roll."

I had never heard the song before. It turned out that it was also a cover, a song written by Alan Merrill and Jake Hooker, and previously a B-side for their group The Arrows. Man, I loved Jett's version. When she redid the song again as a single in 1982, I was initially disappointed in its comparative slickness, feeling it lacked the oomph of her Pistols-backed B-side. I came to embrace it in short order, and was positively thrilled when it topped the chart. Yep. A runaway success. 

While (forgive the redundancy) I love "I Love Rock 'n' Roll," I've never felt it was Joan Jett's very best track. I'd put "Love Is Pain," "Bad Reputation" (and nearly all of that debut album), her take on Bruce Springsteen's "Light Of Day," "This Means War," "Eye To Eye," and several others above it. Similarly, when the Coronavirus claimed the song's co-author Alan Merrill last month, I recalled that it wasn't quite my favorite among his own catalog either.

ALAN MERRILL: Everyday All Night Stand



This is such a fantastic rockin' pop number. Merrill will always be remembered for "I Love Rock 'n' Roll," but "Everyday All Night Stand" is my top Merrill pick. Recorded in 1971 but originally unreleased, the track is contained on a 2012 collection called Snakes And Ladders.

THE MONKEES: The Door Into Summer



In the mid '70s, when I was starting to realize that there were more Monkees songs out there than the mere handful contained on my brother's copies of The Monkees and More Of The Monkees, one of the mystery tracks that specifically tantalized me was this beguiling wisp and its lyrics about echoes of a penny-whistle band and laughter from a distant caravan, seen and heard on reruns of the group's TV show. In 1977, I discovered it was called "The Door Into Summer," from a fabulous 1967 album called Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd. Pisces remains one of my all-time Top 10 albums.

Davy Jones passed away in 2012, and we lost Peter Tork in 2019. Surviving Monkees Michael Nesmith and Micky Dolenz have a new live album, The Mike & Micky Show, and their in-concert rendition of "The Door Into Summer" is timeless, evocative, and irresistible. I really hope this band decides to make a new studio album.



SCREEN TEST: Just Like Me



There aren't a lot of upsides to sheltering in place. I mean, I have caught up on that huge stack of comic books that were waiting to be read--Lois Lane and Batman Universe were particularly kickass, by the way--but the only other good result is some artists having more time to create. Syracuse's preeminent pop trio Screen Test--Gary Frenay, Arty Lenin, and Tommy Allen--have put self-quarantine to use, working on a number of fab new recordings. "Just Like Me" dates back to the '80s, and it's one of my many favorite Frenay songs, but it's never been given a proper recording. It has now, it's wonderful, and it's available as a digital single from whatever familiar resource you employ to purchase your digital singles. I'm informed that more new Screen Test recordings are forthcoming. (And I put in a request for "The Boy From Shaker Heights," another fave rave that's never been given its due. Yet.)

TINTED WINDOWS: We Got Something



Here's your supergroup: the 2009 gathering of Adam Schlesinger of Fountains Of Wayne, James Iha from Smashing Pumpkins, Bun E. Carlos from Cheap Trick, and Taylor Hanson from Hanson, their forces combined as Tinted Windows. Fountains Of Wayne, Smashing Pumpkins, Cheap Trick, and Hanson; it probably says something about my lack of indie cred that Smashing Pumpkins is the only act among these four that leave me cold. Tinted Windows' one self-titled album was loaded with shoulda-been hits that...er, didn't become hits. But they shoulda.

THE WONDERS: That Thing You Do!



The Greatest Record Ever Made! That's all I can say about that.


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You can support this blog by becoming a patron on Patreon: Fund me, baby! 

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.

The many fine This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio compilation albums are still available, each full of that rockin' pop sound you crave. A portion of all sales benefit our perpetually cash-strapped community radio project:

Volume 1: download

Volume 2: CD or download

Volume 3: download

Volume 4: CD or download

Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio:  CD or download

Hey, Carl's writin' a book! The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) will contain 124 essays about 124 tracks, each one of 'em THE greatest record ever made. An infinite number of records can each be the greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Updated initial information can be seen here: THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! (Volume 1).

10 SONGS: 2/18/2020

10 Songs is a weekly list of ten songs that happen to be on my mind at the moment. Given my intention to usually write these on Mondays, the lists are often dominated by songs played on the previous 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 # 1013.

THE CONTOURS: Do You Love Me



If memory serves, a cover of "Do You Love Me" was the first British hit for The Dave Clark Five in 1963, and it subsequently became (I think) their third hit in the U.S. in '64, following "Glad All Over" and "Bits And Pieces." No chart histories were consulted in the making of this reminiscence. The Contours' original was one of the early Motown hits, and it's the best-known version, thanks in part to its return to the charts in the '80s (courtesy of the Dirty Dancing soundtrack). I knew and adored the DC5 take long before I heard The Contours, and I also heard a cover by Johnny Thunders with his band The Heartbreakers prior to discovering the original. Hell, I'm pretty sure I heard local Syracuse rockers The Most perform the song live before my first conscious exposure to The Contours. In fact, when I complimented members of The Most for covering The Dave Clark Five, guitarist Derek Knott sneered at me for not knowing The Contours. Punks, man....



I came to know The Contours' "Do You Love Me" quite well in the '80s. Not from Dirty Dancing, but from oldies radio airplay that hooked me on the track a few years before anyone warned anyone else not to put Baby in the corner. I've vacillated between the Contours and DC5 takes as my favorite, but the overwhelming consensus is that The Contours' original is definitive.

EDDIE & THE HOT RODS: Get Out Of Denver



TIRnRR used Bob Seger as a cartoon bogeyman for years, scaring listeners with the idle threat of playing the hated "Old Time Rock & Roll" if they misbehaved. We still hate "Old Time Rock & Roll" and "We've Got Tonight," but the Seger joke ran its course, and we finally played Seger's great "Get Out Of Denver" as potent proof that some of Seger's older stuff is far more interesting than his better-known bucket o' yechh. Seger's fantastic "2 + 2 = ?" was among our most-played tracks in 2018, and it will merit a chapter in my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1).



For years before we lifted our embargo on Seger's records, we were occasionally playing Eddie & the Hot Rods' ferocious, fast 'n' faithful cover of "Get Out Of Denver." I first knew the song via live performances by The Flashcubes in '78, when 'Cubes guitarist Paul Armstrong introduced the song as something Seger did "10 years ago, when he was still cool." The Flashcubes, of course, were doing it as an Eddie & the Hot Rods cover, from that group's Live At The Marquee EP. All three versions--Seger, Hot Rods, 'Cubes--rock with righteous authority.

THE FAST: Kids Just Wanna Dance


In that late '70s Syracuse music setting, when I saw The Flashcubes as many times as I could, my favorite local nightspot was The Firebarn on Montgomery Street. I first knew The Firebarn through the Syracuse Cinephile Society, which screened its classic film presentations upstairs at The Firebarn. I saw Dead End, The Adventures Of Robin Hood, and the complete 12-chapter Adventures Of Captain Marvel movie serial in that upstairs room in the early to mid '70s. 

What do you mean you can't serve me a beer unless I show ID...?!

The Flashcubes were my first live band at The Firebarn, also upstairs, in 1978. I was not among the dozen or so who saw The Police play with the 'Cubes there, but I did see a ton of shows at The Firebarn, upstairs and downstairs alike. At one point, probably in 1979 or '80s, Fritz the bartender would see me walk in and have an ice-cold bottle of Miller waiting for me at the bar by the time I got there. One night, I was one of several onlookers pulled onstage by The Most's lead singer Dian Zain to sing screeching back-up on "Got No Mind;" the stage collapsed as we rocked upon it, but I had secure footing and caught Dian before she could fall. See? I was a hero! Tell that to your sneering guitarist Derek, Dian!

The Most

The Fast

NYC's power-pop punks The Fast were another of my upstairs concert treats at The Firebarn, playing on a bill with The Flashcubes in 1978. They were very Who-influenced, and their set included covers of "I Can See For Miles," Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made For Walking," and Tommy Roe's "Sheila." I loved them, and I bought their way swell 1977 single of "It's Like Love"/"Kids Just Wanna Dance" at my first opportunity. The Fast later re-recorded "Kids Just Wanna Dance" with Ric Ocasek producing, but the single is, oh, a gazillion times better.



A specific event prompted me to play The Fast this week. On Sunday, I set foot in the former Firebarn location for the first time since 1981. It's now called Wolff's Biergarten, and the upstairs doesn't seem to be open to the public anymore. It's been remodeled, the bar on the opposite side of where it was, and Fritz wasn't there (nor had he been there when I last visited in '81). But I sat with my wife and daughter, sipped a delicious mug of Coca-Cola (I was driving) and nibbled on peanuts, thrilled and grateful to be back inside this building that meant so much to me.



HOLLY & JOEY: I Got You Babe



Starting around 1980 or so, I began telling everyone within earshot that The Ramones should cover the Sonny & Cher staple "I Got You Babe," and rope in Blondie babe Debbie Harry to serve as Joey Ramone's duet partner. It seemed a natural prospect to me, especially given that guitarist Johnny Ramone had already played a similar folk-rock riff on The Ramones' cover of The Searchers' "Needles And Pins." I was a visionary! Sort of. This 1982 single credited to the one-off Holly & Joey was the closest manifestation of that vision, with Holly Beth Vincent playing the Cher to Joey's Sonny, backed by Holly's own group Holly & the Italians. A friend of mine was amazed and enthused that I'd predicted it as closely as I had, even though it really wasn't all that close at all. When I interviewed Joey for Goldmine in 1994, he told me he really wanted to work with Holly again. When I was briefly in touch with Holly Beth Vincent a few years back, I shared with her what Joey had said, and she immediately broke off all contact with me. Oops? Maybe I'm not quite the visionary I fancied myself to be.

Debbie & Joey. Holly could not be reached for comment.

HOLLY GOLIGHTLY: Time Will Tell



Different Holly! My favorite Kinks cover, bar none, and also the subject of a chapter in The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). I always presumed Holly Golightly was a stage name, but Holly was born Holly Golightly Smith. Dream-maker, you heartbreaker. Holly's recorded a ton of cool tracks over the years, and you should check 'em all out.

JONI MITCHELL: Free Man In Paris



I didn't have any particular affinity for Joni Mitchell when I was a teen in the '70s. But I liked her hit "Help Me" enough to buy the single, I loved "Big Yellow Taxi," and I just about worshiped Judy Collins' cover of Mitchell's "Both Sides Now;" a few years later, I wondered how it would have sounded if The Byrds had also covered "Both Sides Now," with jangly 12-string Rickenbackers and sweet, chiming Roger McGuinn lead vocals. I'm sure I must have heard more of Mitchell's work, but I didn't specifically engage until I picked up a used-LP copy of the Court And Spark album in the '90s. At the time, I was researching a (later abandoned) project about the definitive albums of the '70s, scarfing up miscellaneous Me Decade records with determined impunity. 

And Court And Spark got to me, in such a warm and inviting way. I listened to it often in my upstairs office at home, simply captivated. "Free Man In Paris" became my favorite, and it still is.



THE MONKEES: A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You


Try as many a mastering engineer might, no CD reissue of this non-LP Monkees single has ever come within a light year of matching the sheer punch and power of the original Colgems Records 45. Most Monkees fans consider this a relatively minor entry in the group's history, a Neil Diamond composition that represented former producer/puppeteer Don Kirshner's last grasp of The Monkees' strings; B-side "The Girl I Knew Somewhere," written by Michael Nesmith and performed by The Monkees themselves rather than by session musicians, is ultimately more important, even though the A-side was the the hit. But man, I just love the way the sound of my flea-market 45 jumps out of the speakers, loud and distorted in all the right ways.

RADIO BIRDMAN: You're Gonna Miss Me


Before my very first spin of the essential 2-LP various-artists set Nuggets in 1979 introduced me to the cantankerous brilliance of The 13th Floor Elevators, I already knew their signature tune "You're Gonna Miss Me" from this slammin' cover, courtesy of Australia's Radio Birdman. The track was on the American version of the group's debut album Radios Appear in 1977, and I bought a promo copy of that in '78. Radio Birdman's Hawaii Five-0 tribute "Aloha Steve & Danno" (which incorporated extended bits of the TV show's theme song) was my focus track on the album, but "You're Gonna Miss Me" woulda been my second choice, then acing out my eventual favorite "Murder City Nights."

SCREEN TEST: Make Something Happen


"Make Something Happen" was written by Flashcubes and Screen Test bassist Gary Frenay, and I don't understand why someone hasn't covered it to multi-platinum success. The Monkees should have done this for their Good Times! album in 2016. Mary Lou Lord should have covered it. The Slapbacks did cover it, and they did a wonderful job with it. It was first recorded by Screen Test in 1985, and again by The Flashcubes in 2003. It was used in last week's episode of the TV show Young Sheldon, but it played in the background in a bar scene as characters from the show kept yammerin' on, their inane dialogue drowning out the sound I really wanted to hear. Arghh. Where's my TV Brick?



(If you happen to be in Central New York on Wednesday, February 19th, I betcha you'll get to hear it at the Sheraton Syracuse University Hotel during its 5-8 pm Happy Hour. That's when Gary and his fellow rockin' pop troubadour Arty Lenin will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the start of their regular weekly Wednesday residency at the Sheraton. It's the longest-running weekly gig in the history of the Syracuse music scene, and I hope you'll join Gary & Arty as they play a set of Beatles songs, a set of their own Flashcubes, Screen est, and solo numbers, and a set of requests. A good time is strongly implied for all, and I look forward to seeing you there.)

THE SPINNERS: My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me)



There are so many paths we may take to discover our favorite records. My path to this one wound through the Liverpool Public Library. That's Liverpool, NY, one of Syracuse's Northern suburbs, rather than, y'know, Gerry & the Pacemakers and "Ferry Cross The Mersey" and your John, your Paul, your George, and your Ringo. No; the other Liverpool. The Liverpool Library was the resource for my first CDs, which I borrowed during that period around 1987 to '88, when I had a CD player but wasn't yet quite ready to start buying CDs. A bit later on, the burgeoning popularity of CDs prompted the library to get rid of its LP collection. One of the Liverpool Library's vinyl cast-offs was Motown's The Best Of The Spinners, which I snapped up for a buck or so. 

Unidentified Liverpool librarians

Nearly all of The Spinners' hits came after the group's tenure with Motown. That meant this presumed Best Of The Spinners included the Motown-era smash "It's A Shame," but was not graced with the likes of "I'll Be Around" or "Rubberband Man" or "Could It Be I'm Falling In Love." But what the hell, it was a buck. And its purchase invited me into the glorious comfort of The Spinners' sublime version of the David Ruffin hit "My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me)." Ruffin's version never meant much to me, but I was instantly taken with the sweet sway of The Spinners' interpretation, which I love to this day. When I played it again on the show this week, Dana was surprised that I've never owned it on CD. But no; it was a B-side, relatively unrecognized by the greater pop world at large, included as filler on a cash-grab "best"-of LP by a label that didn't own the rights to the group's most popular material. I did buy an mp3 of the track to hear on my iPod, and I still have my vinyl, courtesy of the Liverpool Library. The Best Of The Spinners? You know, maybe it is, after all.

Hey, look! A Liverpool library!

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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.

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Hey, Carl's writin' a book! The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) will contain 133 essays about 133 tracks, each one of 'em THE greatest record ever made. An infinite number of records can each be the greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Updated initial information can be seen here: THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! (Volume 1).