THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! The Monkees, "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone [live]"

Drawn in part from previous posts, this is not included in 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!

THE MONKEES: (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone [live]

Written by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart

Produced by Bert Schneider, Bob Rafelson, and Bill Inglot

Originally unreleased live performance recorded on August 25, 1967; first released on the album Live 1967, Rhino Records, 1987

Come and watch them sing and play.

The best-known version of the '60s garage punk stomper "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone" was recorded by the (originally) made-for-TV combo the Monkees. Written by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, the Monkees' version appeared on the group's second album More Of The Monkees in 1967, and it was the B-side of their # 1 smash single "I'm A Believer," creating a two-sided 45 rpm winner that could rival the Beatles and the Beach Boys. Even as a mere B-side, the Monkees' "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone" made it to # 20 on Billboard's Hot 100.

As "I'm Not Your Stepping Stone," the song was first recorded by the Liverpool Five, released on their 1966 album Arrive. I knew nothing about that version until, y'know, Wikipedia just told me about it. Beating the Liverpool Five to retail if not to the studio, Paul Revere and the Raiders cut the first released version of "Steppin' Stone," and there's ample rockin' reason why many consider the Raiders' take to be definitive. The Sex Pistols covered it in the '70s, certifying the song's enduring, surly cred.

Paul Revere and the Raiders were a terrific rock 'n' roll group masquerading as costume-party Revolutionaries, so of course their "Steppin' Stone" simmers with authority and swagger. They planned to release it as a single. When the Raiders were offered the Barry Mann-Cynthia Weil anti-drug anthem "Kicks," the Raiders thought (correctly) that was a sure-fire hit record, so they delayed "Stepping Stone" and released "Kicks" instead. Boyce and Hart, pissed off and convinced they were being yanked around, took the song to the Monkees. 

As great as the Raiders' "Steppin' Stone" is, I like the Monkees' version best. Although they were still just a prefab entity at the time, the Monkees' machine somehow created a rendition with even more punch than the invincible Raiders, more power, more precision; it can't match the seeming abandon of the Raiders, but it matches and even slightly surpasses their intensity, and Micky Dolenz delivers a vocal that cannot be topped. Puppets with a chip on their shoulders? The Monkees would not remain puppets for much longer.

After More Of The Monkees, our assembled MonkeeMen--Dolenz, Davy Jones, Peter Tork, and Michael Nesmith--staged an unprecedented show biz coup that allowed them to become the functioning rock 'n' roll band they played on television. They began to play on their studio sessions. They played live--Micky, Davy, Peter, and Mike--closing their 1967 concerts with a savage pummeling of "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone."

For decades, the public had very little access to evidence of the live Monkees. There was nothing--nothing--on record. There were the live clips featured in "The Monkees On Tour," the final episode of the first season of their TV series. There was the in-concert performance of "Circle Sky" witnessed in their dark and brilliant 1968 film Head. The Head soundtrack LP used a comparatively tepid studio version of "Circle Sky" instead. 

With lack of even an Exhibit A to support the claim that the Monkees could play, much of the general public concluded that the Monkees could not play. I remember being at a 1979 gig by my favorite power pop group the Flashcubes, chatting with 'Cubes drummer Tommy Allen before their set. In the course of that discussion, Tommy and I expressed our mutual interest in the Monkees' records. Guitarist Paul Armstrong overheard and quipped, "Yeah, especially the Monkees' live album." Tommy and I immediately gushed in perfect harmony, "Is there a Monkees live album...?!" Paul rolled his eyes in dismissal of our inability to get his joke. The Monkees playing live? Sure. As if!

Paul Armstrong knows as much about rock 'n' roll music as anybody. But even he bought into the myth that the Monkees couldn't play, because there wasn't much of anything to prove, nor even just suggest, that they could.

I think the live "Circle Sky" made its waaaay-belated retail debut on a 1979 3-LP compilation called Monkeemania, issued only in Australia and using a master presumably dubbed from a bootleg video of the film itself. I loved it. I wanted to hear more evidence of the Monkees in live performance.

Resurgent Monkeemania granted that wish in 1987, with the release of Live 1967, which I adored in all its rough 'n' ragged glory. It's not that the Monkees were ever at the level of technical proficiency of the seasoned studio cats who played on The Monkees and More Of The Monkees, nor that they were even as tight in concert as producer Chip Douglas managed to nudge them into being in the studio for the making of their 1967 hey-hey-we're-a-real band triumph Headquarters (the album the Monkees were hyping at the time of these live recordings). On stage, before thousands of screaming fans, the Monkees were THE biggest garage band the world has ever seen. Bigger than the Ramones. Bigger than the Clash. As punk as anything ever, and as legitimately DIY as a mainstream show-biz project could ever dare to be. Yeah, come and watch 'em sing and play, ya bastards!

The tracks on Live 1967 were patched together from three different shows, trying to choose the best representation of each song on the Monkees' set list. Like the concerts themselves, Live 1967 concludes with"(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone," because let's face it, nothing they did could hope to follow that. The live "Steppin' Stone" is a grungy, full-throttle leap into the air: Loud, messy, barely (if at all) tethered to the mortal plane, a noise that revels in its ability to just freakin' rock. Micky's vocal remains in his control, Davy and Michael nearly scream, Peter does scream, and the former puppets wail away on guitar, bass, drums, and tambourine, culminating in an absolute musical freak-out, all of it accomplished with the sure-eyed determination of a local rock group down the street trying hard to learn their song.

And succeeding. The Monkees were on stage, in their Heaven, and if all wasn't quite right with the world, they made enough noise to drown out the world's tsuris with a ferocity that would have made the Sex Pistols jealous.

I've been a Monkees fan since 1966. As steel is forged in the crucible, so my belief in the Monkees was hardened the more people tried to convince me they were no good, plastic, lesser. Bullshit. I know what I hear, I know what I see, and I know what I like. The Monkees TV series helped to form my sense of comedy, right alongside the droll British humor--er, humour--of the Beatles' movies, the broad schtick of Jerry Lewis and The Three Stooges, and the brilliance of The Marx Brothers. The Monkees' records were outstanding. If they'd all been assembled in a laboratory by Dr. Frankenstein and Don Kirshner, they'd still be great records. The fact that Michael, Peter, Micky, and Davy also took some measure of control, and became a band rather than just playing one on TV, just enhances the richness of the Monkees story. The Monkees are one of my favorite groups, and they always will be.

And they could put on a show. Trying to make their mark in society. Using all the tricks they learned from everywhere, from rock to blues to country to pop to the three chords and a chip on their shoulder celebrated by vintage garage-punk Nuggets afficionados all over the world. Walkin' 'round like the front-page news they were. Steppin' stones no longer. Punk, meet the mainstream. Mainstream, meet the goddamn Monkees.

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: 5/3/2025

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.

If you like what you see here on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), please consider a visit to CC's Tip Jar. 

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.

10 SONGS: 5/31/2024

 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 # 1235.

BADFINGER: Baby Blue

This week's playlist was a salute to our stats man Fritz Van Leaven, and it collects a few of our pal Fritz's favorite tracks. Every year, Fritz updates a list of his all-time Hot 100, and we used his 2022 update as our master list of resources for compiling our Fritz! Fritz! FRITZ!! celebration.

And it seemed appropriate to kick off these rock 'em sock 'em proceedings with a track that would also be on MY Hot 100. In fact, not only is Badfinger's "Baby Blue" among my top of the pops, it's at the VERY top of my pops. "Baby Blue" is my uncontested # 1. From my long-threatened book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1):

"For 3:36 or thereabouts, 'Baby Blue' takes everything that's ever been great about rockin' pop music and amplifies it and compresses it all into a sheer, harmony-laden, irresistible force. There has never been a better single. There are others that can compete, in their own turn, but nothing--nothing--has ever topped it. It sounds like the Beatles. No, it's better than the Beatles. Even as a twelve-year-old kid in 1972, certain to my innermost core that the Beatles were the sine qua non of pop music, I think I still knew in my heart: 'Baby Blue' was even greater. Each time I hear it, I still believe that's true."

THE SEX PISTOLS: God Save The Queen
THE STATLER BROTHERS: Flowers On The Wall

Our listeners seemed to dig the apparent audacity of a segue from the Sex Pistols into the Statler Brothers. We say it's all pop music. Flowers in the dust bin followed by flowers on the wall. What could be more natural?

And these are both great, great tracks. "God Save The Queen" is no stranger to TIRnRR (nor to my own Hot 100), and we HAVE played the Statler Brothers before. And in the programming process this time out, "Flowers On The Wall" was the one song that got into my head the most, and we mean it (man) in a good way. Punk. Country. Pop. It is indeed ALL pop music. Audacity need not apply.

THE FLAMIN' GROOVIES: Shake Some Action

Yep, another crossover with my Hot 100. From The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1):

"Boom.

"The Flamin' Groovies' classic track 'Shake Some Action' sounds like an announcement of pop-rock Armageddon, and like the Beatles, Byrds, and Rolling Stones heading into the studio for a session with Phil Spector. And I don't think even that bit of willful hyperbole does the song justice...

"...I'm the sort of wide-eyed pop fan that can fall in love with a song or a band instantly. It's like a communion with an ethereal, ultimate radio station beamin' directly to me. It's magic, and there's no other word that applies. It was magic when I heard "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker" by the Ramones. It was magic when I saw the Flashcubes live. And it was magic when I heard 'Shake Some Action.'

"The song was just...hypnotic. There were so many little elements combining and clashing within that track, with bits of the Byrds and Phil Spector, a brooding, booming bass, guitars that seemed to snarl and jangle at the same time, punk swagger, pop yearning, and an insistent instrumental hook that grabbed me and whispered silkily in my ear, You're with us now, son. It was a recipe for cacophony, a surefire roadmap to a sonic mess...except that it wasn't. It was precise. It was perfect. And I swear, in that moment, I knew it was The Greatest Record Ever Made.

"I wanted this record...."

THE KINKS: (Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE YARDBIRDS: Evil Hearted You

This one goes out to Laurie Heffron, wherever she is.

I hasten to point out that Laurie most assuredly did not possess an evil heart, and this shout-out is offered with a prevailing sense of gratitude. I've told the story here before, but let's review:

After my '70s teen acquisition of the Yardbirds' Greatest Hits, Having A Rave-Up was my second Yardbirds LP. In the late '70s or (probably) early '80s, I heard the Yardbirds steamin' rendition of "Train Kept A-Rollin'" on an oldies radio show. Prior to that, I only knew the song from the guy across the hall in my freshman dorm blasting Aerosmith's version; I wouldn't hear earlier recordings by Tiny Bradshaw or Johnny Burnette's Rock and Roll Trio until a later time. "Train Kept A-Rollin'" wasn't on my Yardbirds Greatest Hits. I think I heard the Yardbirds' "Train Kept A-Rollin'" ripoff "Stroll On" before I heard their version of the legit original (thanks to the Yardbirds' on-screen performance of "Stroll On" in the film Blow Up).

Gratuitous photo of actress Jane Birkin in Blow Up

In the early '80s, a McDonald's coworker and I somehow got into a conversation about the mid '60s British Invasion. Laurie was a bit younger than me, and had no real interest in your Kinks or your Dave Clark Five. Nonetheless, she mentioned that someone in her family had a couple of LPs from that era, one by the Animals and one by the Yardbirds. She didn't think anyone at home still wanted them, and she offered to give them to me. Within a day or two, her family's copies of Animal Tracks and Having A Rave-Up moved to their new home in my apartment.

In addition to "Train Kept A-Rollin'," Having A Rave-Up also introduced me to "You're A Better Man Than I" and "Evil Hearted You," two absolutely essential Yardbirds classics I didn't know at all. That made this beat-up copy of Having A Rave-Up one of the best gifts of music I've ever received. Thanks again, Laurie.

B. B. KING: The Thrill Is Gone

Whaddaya mean "the thrill is gone?" It's RIGHT HERE! Every week! Man, get a grip awready.

THE TREES: Be Good Johnny

restlessREVIEW: I Wanna Know

MINISTERS OF LOVE: Times Like This

After we concluded our main show's snapshot of some of Fritz Van Leaven's Fave Raves, our encore needed to spotlight the man hisself. Fritz is also a musician, and he's played bass with more Buffalo-area rockin' pop combos than you can shake a Kimmelweck at. (Fritz was, in fact, playing a gig at the time of this week's broadcast. The music never sleeps, friends.)

We commenced our bonus-set Fritz hat trick with a track by the Trees, recorded live in 1983, with Fritz singing lead on a cover of my favorite Men At Work song, "Be Good Johnny." We followed with some 21st century live music, as Fritz joined members of the flat-out fantastic '80s Buffalo supergroup the Restless as restlessREVIEW, performing a live remake of the Restless' irresistible as-seen-on-MTV gem "I Wanna Know." Listen: I wanna know when the Restless' eponymous Mercury Records LP will finally be reissued already. And we closed up shop with a past TIRnRR pick hit: Fritz in the studio with Ministers of Love for a fab group original called "Times Like This." 

Officially unreleased, I believe? Fritz would know. Fritz knows everything. He minds the stats. Our year-end countdown shows are brought to you by Fritz. It was a rare pleasure this week to show our gratitude by playing a show in Fritz's honor. This, my people, was a blast anna half.

If you like what you see here on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), please consider a visit to CC's Tip Jar. 

Carl's book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones is 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/

If it's true that one book leads to another, my next book will be The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). Stay tuned. Your turn is coming.

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.

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl

10 SONGS: 4/7/2023

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 # 1175. This week's show is available as a podcast.

THE RAMONES: Blitzkrieg Bop

The imminent release of my first book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones inspired me to want to pay further tribute to the Ramones throughout April and May on TIRnRR. In our April shows, we'll be playing my single favorite track from each of the Ramones' fourteen studio albums, in chronological order, four tracks per week. We'll top off our April 23 show with my favorite non-LP Ramones single track and my favorite Ramones soundtrack cut. (And, yeah, as much as I love "I Want You Around," it's no spoiler to admit my top Ramones soundtrack song choice is exactly what you expect it to be.) We'll do the live albums on 4/30, and more Ramones mania will follow in May.

That celebration of my # 1 tracks from each of the Ramones' albums begins this week, with the classic first four: Ramones, Leave Home, Rocket To Russia, and Road To Ruin. And we start with the first track from the first album. "Blitzkrieg Bop" was also the first Ramones song I ever heard, courtesy of my Brockport campus radio station WBSU in the fall of my freshman year 1977. 

As mentioned in yesterday's post, I was 17 in '77, primed for punk by reading Phonograph Record Magazine, aching to claim new and more exciting vistas in my rock 'n' roll. 

That revelation was at hand. "Blitzkrieg Bop" opened the door, setting the stage for another track that would soon knock that door down. Hey-ho. Let's GO!!

NICK PIUNTI: Heart Stops Beating

New music from Nick Piunti is pretty much guaranteed a spin on TIRnRR. Death, taxes, construction on I-81, and spins of new Nick Piunti songs on TIRnRR--see, there are some things in life you can count on.

And for good reason. Nick's stuff is always radio-ready, and his new Jem Records single "Heart Stops Beating" continues that streak of irresistible rockin' pop reliability. Elsewhere in this vast world of radio, "Heart Stops Beating" is also The Coolest Song In The World this week on Little Steven's Underground Garage. 

Rightfully so.

THE RAMONES: Carbona Not Glue

My favorite number on the Ramones' second album Leave Home wasn't even on some folks' copies of Leave Home. Hell, it wasn't on my first copy of Leave Home, though I remedied that sitchyation PDQ. 

Although I think I acquired my Ramones LPs in their proper chronological order--I'm not 100% certain if I picked up Leave Home before or after third album Rocket To Russia, but I do believe I snagged 'em in sequence--the fact that I arrived late to the party meant I got to each individual album after the fact. 1980's End Of The Century was the first Ramones album I bought when it was still a new release. 

By the time I got to 1977's Leave Home some time in (presumably) 1978, the ace track "Carbona Not Glue" had been excised due to threats of legal action from the manufacturers of Carbona Spot Remover. WEASELS! I replaced my incomplete latter-day Leave Home with a used and (fittingly) warped copy of the original issue, and "Carbona Not Glue" instantly became my favorite on the album. 

"Carbona Not Glue" is easily one of my Top Ten Ramones tracks, possibly Top 5. Wondering what I'm doing tonight. It's the goddamned catchiest song about substance I ever did hear. It was finally restored to its proper place on Leave Home when the album was reissued on CD in 2001. Have a heapin' huff of justice served. Take that, weasels!

THE SHIRELLES: Will You Love Me Tomorrow

In retrospect, the Shirelles' "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" seems remarkably mature for a pop hit circa 1960. Sex was a taboo subject on Top 40 radio, with any record approaching an even remotely risqué topic essentially dismissed from airplay consideration. This particular record is about doing it; there is no other plausible interpretation. Its sense of uncertainty, its vulnerability, its contemplation of tonight's ramifications on tomorrow add a weight beyond easy dismissal or censorship. It's about love and passion, passion and love, both in equal parts.

"Will You Love Me Tomorrow" was also the first # 1 hit for its songwriting team, Gerry Goffin and Carole King. King wrote the music, Goffin crafted the lyrics. There is no shortage of irony in the fact that these tender lyrics about intimacy were written by Goffin, who so casually cheated on King throughout their relationship. Tonight the light of loving's in your eyes. Tomorrow's perspective may remain a work in progress.

THE RAMONES: Sheena Is A Punk Rocker

The record that changed my life. I know I've said that a lot, especially lately, because there is just no way for me to talk about "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker" without making that specific reference: The Record That Changed My Life. I heard "Blitzkrieg Bop" first, but listening to the "Sheena" 45 in November of 1977 is where and when it all clicked into place. For me, everything--everything--started in earnest when I heard "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker."

Phonograph Record Magazine. WBSU. A Ramones 45, followed by another Ramones 45 ("Rockaway Beach"), and still another 45 ("Do You Wanna Dance"), all from the Rocket To Russia album. In between scarfin' up "Rockaway Beach" and "Do You Wanna Dance," I saw my first Ramones show, with the Runaways and the Flashcubes. I began to buy the albums, starting with the debut. I picked up Rocket To Russia over Christmas break in 1978. My enthusiasm would continue to grow and grow and grow. 1-2-3-4. PRM and "Blitzkrieg Bop" got my notice. "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker" made me a fan. The American Beatles. The greatest American rock 'n' roll band of all time. I can't imagine my life without the thrill of the Ramones. 

Thank you, Sheena.

BLUE ASH: Jazel Jane

A few of my friends are divided on the merits (or lack thereof) of the recent Amazon Prime TV series Daisy Jones & The Six. The series chronicles the rise and fall of a fictional '70s rock band, and our Fleetwood Mac-inspired Daisy Jones and crew are perhaps the very sort of act that the Ramones were supposed to chase away. But I loved the series, and I also like some of its music. We played this made-for-TV band's engaging "Regret Me" a few week's back, and it returns to the playlist this week.

The soundtrack of the first episode of Daisy Jones & The Six included Blue Ash's "Jazel Jane," from their 1977 album Front Page News. Blue Ash never achieved the massive popularity they deserved, but they were simply wonderful, and their 1973 single "Abracadabra (Have You Seen Her?)" is a legit power pop essential. Any additional exposure for Blue Ash music is a welcome thing indeed, so kudos to the Daisy Jones producers for making it so.

(More coolness points for Daisy Jones & The Six: the series finale included "This Perfect Day" by the Saints--a track that serves as one of the tags for this week's TIRnRR--and Patti Smith's "Dancing Barefoot" was the TV show's theme song. Good taste there, Daisy. Good taste.)  

THE BREAKAWAYS: Walking Out On Love

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE SEX PISTOLS: God Save The Queen

Even before I heard "Blitzkrieg Bop," my first direct exposure to punk rock was when Utica's WOUR-FM played "God Save The Queen" by the Sex Pistols. Summer of '77, just a little before tour "Blitzkrieg Bop" entry's photo of 17-year-old me was taken.  That story was told here, and later adapted for use as a chapter in my long-threatened book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). It remains my hope that Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones will help make the GREM! book a reality. 

No future? I am not yet willing to concede that.

THE RAMONES: I Wanna Be Sedated

"She was asleep, sitting up, her head resting on my shoulder. I was in love with her. And I was already in love with the music of the band whose new album was about to be played on the radio. Love and music. Reasonable goals. I just want to have something to do.

"It was October of 1978. Brenda and I had just met, already exchanged I love yous, and were determined to see where that road would lead us next...."

Those were the opening paragraphs of a Love At First Spin piece I had planned to write about the Ramones' fourth album Road To Ruin. I felt the story would have too much overlap with my Love At First Spin tribute to Rocket To Russia, so the Road To Ruin entry will likely remain unfinished. But the facts remain: I first heard Road To Ruin when Rochester's WCMF-FM played it in its entirety, listening as I sat in my dorm suite with my arm around this girl I'd just met and fallen for. Road to ruin? Road to something better.

"I Wanna Be Sedated" stood out immediately, helped in no small part by its superficial resemblance to Alice Cooper's "Elected," transcending that influence with its paradoxical hybrid of a wish to be numbed combined with a full-throttle approach that couldn't be taken down by a flurry of tranquilizer darts. I can't control my fingers, I can't control my brain. Sounds a lot like the act of being smitten. I want it.

LIBRARIANS WITH HICKEYS: Can't Wait 'Till Summer

Man, I love this track. I love it enough to give it the last word in today's Ramones-centric post, and that's (in the immortal words of the Velvelettes) really sayin' somethin'. From Librarians With Hickeys' 2022 album Handclaps & Tambourines, "Can't Wait 'Till Summer" is likely to get significant burn on the ol' TIRnRR playlist in the weeks to come.

In fact, it's even gonna get played again next week. The vast majority of my selections for the April 9 show will come from the Sire Records catalog, in memory of the late Seymour Stein. For my half of the playlist programming, I'll only have four tracks that weren't ever released on Sire. Two of those are brand new (by the Tearaways and Moonlight Parade), and one is by an act (the Flashcubes) who shoulda been on Sire. Dana provides appropriate balance to make it a proper and nonpareil playlist (though he'll also play more than a few Sire gems, too). I have to postpone playing a lot of superb new tracks to accommodate my ideas for the Sire tribute. 

I still made room for Librarians With Hickeys. "Can't Wait 'Till Summer." Man, I love this track. It returns to the airwaves Sunday night, alongside a bunch of noteworthy sides from Sire Records.

Do you remember rock 'n' roll radio? Your refresher course awaits.

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Carl's new book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones is now available for preorder, courtesy of the good folks at Rare Bird Books. Gabba Gabba YAY!!

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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