10 SONGS: 5/18/2024

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 # 1233.

DUANE EDDY: (Dance With The) Guitar Man

The late, great Duane Eddy was a giant of rock 'n' roll guitar. His signature number "Rebel Rouser" closes out this week's show, but I also wanted to spin a less-recognized Eddy treat within our opening set. 

Duane Eddy built most of his legacy with twangy instrumentals. 1962's "(Dance With The) Guitar Man" sported sassy girl-group vocals by the Rebelettes, who were in reality sassy girl group the Blossoms. I knew the song from its use in a TV commercial for Rochester, NY's great, great House Of Guitars, but fantastic records don't care how you get to them. All that matters is the getting. Come on and dance.

THE MIDNIGHT CALLERS: Jumpin' Jack Flash

Last week's show offered our first taste of the forthcoming tribute album Jem Records Celebrates Jagger & Richards, debuting with king of power pop Paul Collins taking on the Rolling Stones' "Tell Me." This week, we have the Midnight Callers rising to the challenge of covering "Jumpin' Jack Flash." Remaking such an established classic rock tune can be a daunting task indeed, but our Midnight Callers cede not an inch while lookin' Mick and Keith straight in the eyes in pursuit of a gas-gas-gas-gas. It IS all right now! In fact...

...you know.

VEGAS WITH RANDOLPH: Triple Play: Saturday/Best Day/Rock Beside Me/Heartsick/Days & Days/Wheels Of Love/Every Time

Our radio program's built-in short attention span means this week is probably the only time we'll ever play this particular gem, but its single spin was totally, totally worth it.

"Triple Play" is a just-under-ten-minute song suite from The Future Store, the tres nifty new album by TIRnRR superstars Vegas With Randolph. Our playlists thrive on shorter song selections...but my gosh, "Triple Play" is just so, so cool. It's my immediate initial favorite on The Future Store; the very first time I heard it, I knew we had to--had to--make room for it on the next available playlist.

And we did! Such a swell-sounding track, our short attention span be damned. We'll hear another example of The Future Store's splendor on our next show.

HUNGRYTOWN: Tuesday Sun

The third teaser single from Hungrytown's forthcoming new album Circus For Sale builds upon the already-compelling stream of lush Americana heard in preceding sneak-peek tracks "Feel Like Falling" and especially "Another Year." If "lush Americana" seems like an oxymoron, imagine, say, Nanci Griffith produced by Brian Wilson, or Emmylou Harris fronting the Wondermints in a reflective mood. Or a more grounded Renaissance. 

None of these fantasy scenarios is truly descriptive of the Hungrytown sound, but I hope they kinda conjure a mental image of pretty pop music with blue-highway roots: Indie folk that's not afraid of a little bit of sheen. The sheen enhances its truth.

Circus For Sale is out June 21st. We'll hear more as its release date draws near. Satisfaction awaits you in Hungrytown.

SHADOWY MEN ON A SHADOWY PLANET: Exit From Vince Lombardi High

P. J. SOLES: Rock 'n' Roll High School

This two-fer serves as a de facto salute to the late B-movie king Roger Corman, whose many film credits include 1979's Rock 'n' Roll High School. The fact that the show was recorded before we heard of Corman's passing makes the tribute a coincidence, but no less sincere.

And we never need an excuse to celebrate Rock 'n' Roll High School. Given the fact that I routinely refer to the Ramones as the American Beatles, the greatest American rock 'n' roll band of all time, it falls waaaaaay short of revelatory for me to say, yeah, the Ramones' movie Rock 'n' Roll High School is one of my fave rave jukebox flicks. Duh. Most of the film was set at the fictional Vince Lombardi High School, so Dana's spin of "Exit From Vince Lombardi High" by Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet led inevitably into Riff Randall, Rock 'n' Roller, as played by actress P. J. Soles. 

SHONEN KNIFE: The KKK Took My Baby Away

THE RAMONES: I Don't Care

Demonstrating the mutant synergy of TIRnRR, Dana followed Riff Randall's "Rock 'n' Roll High School" with Osaka, Japan's phenomenal pop combo Shonen Knife covering the Ramones. Hey-HO! Shonen Knife's 2011 album Osaka Ramones is one of the best Ramones covers album, maybe THE best (though I do also have a great deal of affection for the easy-listening audacity of the Nutley Brass' Ramones Songbook). Osaka Ramones has been a reliable resource for many recent TIRnRR playlists. As it should be.

And I hadda segue that into the Ramones themselves. "I Don't Care." It's FUNNY! The KKK took my baby away? I don't care, man. I don't care. But we shouldn't take the title literally, at least not in this context. TIRnRR couldn't do whatever the hell it is TIRnRR does if we didn't care.

(And Dana concluded the above set with the Donnas covering Alice Cooper's "School's Out." I love this show.)

THE KINKS: Juke Box Music

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE FLASHCUBES: Make Something Happen

Two initial interviews done, a third initial interview scheduled next week. The book's publication is still a year away, but work on Make Something Happen! The DIY Story Of A Power Pop Band Called THE FLASHCUBES has officially begun.

No promise, no guara..no, scratch that. You got my promise. That's what making something happen! is all about.

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: 4/26/2024

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 # 1230. This show is available as a podcast.

THE FLASHCUBES: Make Something Happen

"Make something happen?" Okeydokey! I'm in the very early stages of writing a new book about Power Pop Hall of Famers the Flashcubes. The book's working (and probable official) title is Make Something Happen! The DIY Story Of A Power Pop Band Called THE FLASHCUBES, and the project was initiated by the Flashcubes themselves. Well, I'M in! 

And when I say "early stages," I mean it, man. I've had a couple of planning meetings with members of the 'Cubes, and I've begun trying to find and learn appropriate tech to record and transcribe interviews. My next task is to write a one-sheet on the book's behalf, and then to start talking to the Flashcubes and their entourage. It's all very exciting, and we hope to bring the book to retail by the Summer of 2025. From the book's first public announcement last week:

"This will be an oral history of the band, with personal stories related by the 'Cubes themselves--Tommy Allen, Paul Armstrong, Gary Frenay, and Arty Lenin--discussing their roots as rockin' pop fans in the '60s and '70s, their formation in the punk rock crucible of 1977, their frenzied live shows with the Ramones, the Runaways, the Police, the Jam, David Johansen, Joe Jackson, the Scruffs, the Romantics, Artful Dodger, 999, and more, their irresistible original songs, their indie 45s, their demo tapes, their breakup at the end of the '70s, and the subsequent recognition that the Flashcubes were a legit power pop legend. This growing awareness and celebration reunited the Flashcubes in the '90s, culminating in their award-winning 2023 album Pop Masters.

"In Make Something Happen!, the Flashcubes story will also be told by eyewitnesses: Fans, fellow musicians, industry insiders, and maybe the occasional drunken pogo dancer yelling out GOT NO MIND!, or swooning to 'Christi Girl,' vowing to wait till next week, it'll be all right. This is the first-hand story of Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse, a band that thrived under bright lights of their own invention."

More details to come. Oh, rest assured there will be more details to come. As I've written elsewhere: I think everyone knows that I'm possibly the world's most insistent Flashcubes fan. The Flashcubes are my favorite power pop band, they rank with the Beatles and the Ramones in the troika of my top rock 'n' roll groups, and I've long wished they enjoyed the sort of mass notoriety and adulation I think they deserve. "Make Something Happen" was first recorded by Gary Frenay's post-Flashcubes band Screen Test in the '80s, then recorded again by the reunited 'Cubes for their 2003 album Brilliant. It's a hit record, no matter how few the number of people who've heard it.

And it makes a dandy title for a book about the Flashcubes. We played it this week, and we're playing it again on our next show. 

Make something happen.

Good advice.

THE ARMOIRES: We Absolutely Mean It

Another song that Gary Frenay wrote and recorded with Screen Test was called "I Am Sincere." And while that song has nothing to do with the Armoires' new single "We Absolutely Mean It," I dig the shared lyrical celebration of authenticity. Sincerity has great intrinsic value. Its value is embodied in the work of the Armoires.

That's not just true of the band's music. It's a defining quality of Armoires mainstays Rex Broome and Christina Bulbenko, who are also the proprietors, CEOs, primary enforcers, benevolent despots, intimidating muscle, and photogenic poster kids for the mighty Big Stir Records label. Other than the annual edition of Dana's Funky Soul Pit and the occasional special program, a TIRnRR playlist without at least one Big Stir track is rarer'n rare. We like Big Stir. We like Rex and Christina. And, obviously, we like the Armoires. 

And also obviously: We absolutely mean it. 

THE CYNZ: Just A Boy

I think I've settled on my designated Pick T' Click from Little Miss Lost, the superswell new album from the Cynz. We've been playing a number of its individual treats, and this is our third consecutive playlist to spin the album's treat-of-treats "Just A Boy." It's a hit! And it will rack up TIRnRR airplay for its fourth week in a row this coming Sunday night. 

SHADOWY MEN ON A SHADOWY PLANET: Tired Of Waking Up Tired

Too good for words. And I don't even mean that as a reference to the fact that it's an instrumental. I've always loved the Diodes' 1979 power pop classic "Tired Of Waking Up Tired." Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet re-worked the song into a surf instrumental, and--much like the Nutley Brass' transcendent easy-listening cover of the Ramones' "I Wanna Be Sedated"--the resulting triumph illustrates how a great song can be adapted into different styles and still retain its essential mojo. I will not be tiring of this any time soon.

THE FOUR TOPS: Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)

In building a better playlist, there is no such thing as a song-to-song segue so obvious we wouldn't deign to do it anyway. Case in point: Dana played Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet's "Tired Of Waking Up Tired," and I turned immediately to "Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)" by Motown's phenomenal pop combo the Four Tops. It's not rocket surgery, folks--IT'S POP MUSIC! Sometimes the obvious thing is the right thing. We'll return to this subject of playlist building in just a moment. 

But first, this word:

THE BARBARIANS: Take It Or Leave It

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE GRIP WEEDS: Lady Friend [vocals only mix]

STEVE STOECKEL: Mod Girl [a cappella]

MR. ENCRYPTO: The Last Time [a cappella--expanded mix]

Playlist building in action. Both of your intrepid TIRnRR co-hosts are big fans of the Grip Weeds, and both of us adore the Grip Weeds' cover of the Byrds' "Lady Friend." That track was on the Grip Weeds' exquisite all-covers album DiG, and we split its airplay between the album version and a vocals-only mix found on the companion album A Deeper DiG.

So! This week, Dana played the Grip Weeds' vocals-only "Lady Friend." I felt delightedly compelled to follow with the a cappella mix of Steve Stoeckel's "Mod Girl." The full track appeared on Steve's album The Power Of And, but the vocals-only mix is officially unreleased. And it's freakin' awesome, showcasing simply incredible backing-vocal interplay courtesy of Jamie Hoover and Elena Rogers. This cries out for legit issue.

Finally, Dana completed our little no-instruments-allowed hat trick with one of the defining tracks of TIRnRR's long and storied history: The a cappella mix of Mr. Encrypto's "The Last Time." Go'geous! Go'geous and a HALF!  

And that's how one builds the superior playlist. Something great triggers another something great. Instrumental, a cappella, full-band, what-have-you. We know what fits, and when. This is rock 'n' roll radio.

ELENA ROGERS: Queen

Oooo, speaking of Elena Rogers: YEAH!!!!!! My gosh, she's good. We're giving her next week off. She'll be back, and she'll be back soon.

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