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 # 1218. This show is available as a podcast.
MARY WEISS: Stop And Think It Over
When news broke a couple of weeks ago that singer Mary Weiss had passed, it felt imperative for TIRnRR to attempt a tribute to her legacy and impact. Weiss achieved the bulk of that impact as lead singer of the Shangri-Las, so yeah, we were absolutely going to play some Shangri-Las.
The Shangri-Las broke up by the end of the '60s, their final single released in 1967. An attempted reunion in the late '70s didn't pan out. Weiss's first and only solo releases came in 2007.
And man, they were terrific.
Backed by the rock 'n' roll prowess of the Reigning Sound, Mary recorded Dangerous Game for the mighty Norton Records label. It was my favorite new album that year, but the album and its two attendant singles comprise the the entirety of Mary Weiss's solo output.
"Stop And Think It Over" was one of the singles off Dangerous Game.. We played it a lot when it was new, and we played it to open this week's show. Just so happens we're playing it again this coming Sunday night, too.
Legacy. Impact. Some things endure. With love and respect, This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio remembers Mary Weiss.
JOHNNY THUNDERS: Great Big Kiss
Rules governing internet radio shows limited us to just four Shangri-Las tracks in our three-hour time slot. We played the group's three highest-charting hit singles--"I Can Never Go Home Anymore," "Remember (Walkin' In The Sand)," and "Leader Of The Pack"--and added "Footsteps On The Roof," the B-side from their final 45. We'll have its A-side "Take The Time" on our next program.
We wanted to supplement this fab four with a few covers of other Shangri-Las delights. That plan commenced with the one and only Johnny Thunders, whose former band the New York Dolls owed an obvious debt to the Shangri-Las; the Dolls recorded an originally unreleased cover of "Great Big Kiss," and nicked the song's opening line--"When I say I'm in love, you best I'm in love. L-U-V"--for their original tune "Looking For A Kiss." We included "Looking For A Kiss" in this week's closing set.
Thunders returned to "Great Big Kiss" for his solo debut, 1978's So Alone. Patti Palladin contributed the chick vocals in back-and-forth to Johnny's dude vocals. I regret that Johnny's contrary sense of humor led him to change the original's "Tell me more!" line to something considerably less palatable in his cover's early going, but he changes back to "Tell me more!" after that, and the result is sweeter than you may expect. There's an element of camp or parody, I guess, but it doesn't obscure Johnny's inherent affection for the Shangri-Las.
The affection wins out. As it oughta. MWAH!
NEKO CASE: The Train From Kansas City
Another Shangri-Las cover, this time a live performance by Neko Case. "The Train From Kansas City" was the B-side to the Shangri-Las' "Right Now And Not Later" in 1965, and both sides deserved much greater success. Case's reverent rendition is spirited in its own right, and I honestly couldn't tell you which version I prefer. That doesn't happen often for me with Shangri-Las covers.
PAUL COLLINS: I'm The Only One For You
One of the new albums I'm most looking forward to hearing this year is Stand Back And Take A Good Look, courtesy of power pop king Paul Collins and the intrepid Jem Records label. I've been a Paul Collins fan since I was in college in the late '70s, listening to his work with the Nerves, the Breakaways, and his own subsequent combo the Beat, aka the Paul Collins Beat. The Beat's 1979 debut LP is an acknowledged classic of power pop, and Paul's "Walking Out On Love" is tentatively scheduled to be celebrated in my tentative book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). Power pop fan? That's MY beat!
Based on a spin of the album's first single "I'm The Only One For You" (recorded alongside another power pop great, the late Dwight Twilley), it's a safe presumption that this record's gonna kick what needs kickin'. Stand Back And Take A Look is out February 16th. We played the single this week. We're playin' it again this Sunday night. Can't stop the beat, man. Can't stop the beat.
THE SHANGRI-LAS: Leader Of The Pack
The Greatest Record Ever Made!
TWINKLE: Terry
One measure of a musical act's impact is the sincere flattery of attempts at imitation. The Shangri-Las' "Leader Of The Pack" was a # 1 hit in 1964. That same year, a British singer called Twinkle had a UK hit with "Terry," a song that doesn't sound like the Shangri-Las, but swipes its tragic biker love story directly from "Leader Of The Pack."
As a kid in the '60s, I actually knew "Terry" way before I was aware of "Leader Of The Pack." "Terry" wasn't a hit in the States, but the American Tollie Records 45 was in our family record collection. I don't know if one of my siblings bought it, or if I picked it out on one of the occasions my parents took me to J.M. Fields and let me pick out a 45 of my own.
And its flattery remains sincere. Decades later, I bought a Twinkle best-of CD, and "Golden Lights" became my favorite among her works. Still love "Terry," too.
THE RAMONES: Here Today, Gone Tomorrow
Ain't it the truth, brudders. Ain't it the truth.
MARY WEISS WITH THE REIGING SOUND: Tell Me What You Want Me To Do
Our show-opener "Stop And Think It Over" is my # 1 solo Mary Weiss track. "Tell Me What You Want Me To Do" is a very close second, and further illustration of the sheer enduring vibrance of Dangerous Game.
THE DOWNBEAT 5: Dum-Dum Ditty
One more Shangri-Las cover, and it's a good one. The Downbeat 5's lead singer Jen D'Angora has become a TIRnRR Fave Rave with both the Shang Hi Los and Jenny Dee and the Deelinquents, but we first heard the rock 'n' roll power of Jen's vocals with the Downbeat 5.
And it makes our hearts go dum-dum-ditty-boom-boom. Of course!
THE SHANGRI-LAS: Remember (Walkin' In The Sand)
REMEMBER!
As if we could ever forget. Godspeed, Mary Weiss.
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Carl's new book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones is now 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.
