10 SONGS: 11/29/2025

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.

This week's edition of 10 Songs draws exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1312

THE RAMONES: Punishment Fits The Crime

Each week, when getting ready to plan the show's playlist with Dana, I keep a list of potential track choices to consider. The list includes new stuff, recent faves, old faves, old tracks we've never played before, and assorted items of varying vintage and familiarity that might fit into the presumed master plan of whatever it is we do on TIRnRR. The list carries through from week to week, its contents adjusted as we go.

The Ramones' "Punishment Fits The Crime" has been on that list for many weeks. The song was written by bassist Dee Dee Ramone and Plasmatics guitarist Richie Stotts, sung by Dee Dee, and included on the group's 1989 album Brain Drain (the last Ramones studio album to include Dee Dee as anything other than just songwriter). Frankly, Brain Drain is a contender for my least favorite Ramones album, but it does give us the fantastic "I Believe In Miracles," plus "Pet Sematary" and "Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight)," proving that even the merest Ramones album is still A RAMONES ALBUM!! Anyway, "Punishment Fits The Crime" fits in the category of "old tracks we've never played before," and that status is what placed it in my week-to-week list of playlist possibilities.

Prior to this week's programming session, I realized it had been a little while since we'd opened a show with the Ramones. I considered programming one of my many, many Ramones Picks T' Click in that leadoff spot, but opted to finally give "Punishment Fits The Crime" its long-overdue TIRnRR debut.

Throughout the process, it didn't even occur to me that the song's title could apply to...you know who. Let's hope we find a legal punishment to fit that guy in the very near future. As another punk band said: All crimes are paid.

THE LEGAL MATTERS: Everybody Knows

The minute I found out that the Legal Matters were doing a new album for Big Stir Records, I immediately petitioned the band and label for permission and access to play the then-forthcoming advance single. The album, Lost At Sea, is due in 2026, and the single "Everybody Knows" was released to radio just after this week's show was recorded. But we got it! Everybody knows we would be playing it; we knew we could not wait another week to do so. And everybody should know now: We're playing it again this Sunday. 

SHOES: Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)

We don't get many opportunities to program new music by power pop legends Shoes, and we've never before had an opportunity to play Shows covering power pop's Ur group Raspberries. Opportunity SEIZED! Shoes' rendition of the Raspberries hit "Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)" comes to us from the superb various-artists 'Berries salute Play On: A Raspberries Tribute, a tribute curated by our friend Ken Sharp. Want a hit record? Look no further.

(Raspberries' original version of "Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)" ands Shoes' own incredible 1978 single "Tomorrow Night" are among the 145 tracks--one 45 at a time!--I discuss in my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! [Volume 1]. SPOILER ALERT: I like both of those records a lot. You can read all about them and their 143 GREM! brethren and sistren by ordering your own copy of the book. I'm Carl Cafarelli, and I approve this message.  The Greatest Record Ever Made [Volume 2] is [very] tentatively planned for 2027.)

THE BUSBOYS: The Boys Are Back In Town

When Robbie Rist saw in this week's show hype that we were playing the BusBoys, he immediately wanted to know if we were playing new music by this great group. Alas, although we did program the BusBoys' then-recent single "In My Heart" back in 2024 (and likewise with "Love On My Mind" in 2022), we weren't even aware that there was new BusBoys music available. Honestly, I'd fire the TIRnRR research department, but that department is, y'know, me, and I've got tenure.

Robbie's (presumably) figurative headslap to our collective noggin prompted a fresh search for new BusBoys tuneage, resulting in a purchase of the 2025 digital-only album In My Heart. Target acquired! The album includes both of the 2020s singles mentioned above, and we'll debut another track from In My Heart on Sunday. Thanks for the nudzh, Robbie! Meanwhile, here's another spin of the BusBoys' best-known track "The Boys Are Back In Town," as heard when the BusBoys appeared in the 1982 Eddie Murphy-Nick Nolte flick 48 Hours. 'Cuz when the boys are back, there ain't no foolin' around.

THE MONKEES: Papa Gene's Blues

PLAY, magic fingers!

TAYLOR SWIFT: The Last Great American Dynasty

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

KEN SHARP: I'm A Rocker

One more from Play On: A Raspberries Tribute, "I'm A Rocker" as performed by the set's auteur Ken Sharp. I owned the original Raspberries 45 of "I'm A Rocker" when I was a teen in the '70s, and I was puzzled that it wasn't on the Raspberries' Best Featuring Eric Carmen compilation LP. Our Ken knows Raspberries' best better'n anybody, and he honors that legacy here.

DIRTY LOOKS: Let Go

Staten Island's phenomenal pop combo Dirty Looks with their signature tune. From a previous 10 Songs:

Statement of intent. This Staten Island trio's eponymous debut LP was released on the Stiff America label in 1980, and "Let Go" was an immediate fave rave on 97 Power Rock, a Sunday night alternative-rock showcase aired on Buffalo's 97 Rock FM. Hmmm. A Sunday night rock 'n' roll radio show? I may have made note of that particular notion for possible future use. 

"Let Go" is a perfect post-punk radio pop song, fueled by new wave rock energy, rooted in catchy 1960s radio fare, and dead certain that the Ramones, the Who, Joe Jackson, and Paul Revere and the Raiders are Heaven-sent inspirations.

It's not easy to write a song about rock 'n' roll. It's not. Too many attempts at rock anthems feel forced, or overly earnest, pompous, clueless, heavy-handed, and...blechh. With "Let Go," Dirty Looks pull it off with style, and they make it seem like a cinch. Don't you know that rock 'n' roll is still the best drug? The drumming is hyperactive, the bass pushy (in a good way), the guitar simple and authoritative, the vocals and harmonies steadfast, reflecting the confidence of a group secure in the knowledge that it has God on its side. All you gotta do, let go, let go, let GO! GO! GO! GO! Belief is infectious. And godDAMN, this sounds so exhilarating on the radio. 

It always has.

ELVIS COSTELLO AND THE ATTRACTIONS: Clowntime Is Over

Is clowntime over? All respect to Elvis Costello and the Attractions, but clowntime ain't really over until we heed the words of the Ramones:

Let the punishment fit the crime.

THE HIGH FREQUENCIES: Cleanup Time

And if there is any justice, clowntime will give way to cleanup time. "Cleanup Time" is my favorite track on the High Frequencies' super groovy new album Get High, and like our opening track by the Ramones, the title's topically apt nature didn't strike me until after the fact. Nonetheless: CLEANUP ON PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE! Mops at the ready. Let's go.

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: 10/10/2025

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.

This week's edition of 10 Songs draws exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1305.

STEVE STOECKEL: I Wanna Be A Vampire

It's important to have goals. Be the vampire you wish to be!

My book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) includes a chapter about "The Transylvania Twist," a terrific 1963 single credited to Baron Daemon and the Vampires. Baron Daemon (played by the late, great Mike Price) was Syracuse's local TV vampire when I was a kid in the '60s. As I wrote in the book: To any kid living in Syracuse at that time, Baron Daemon was as big as the Beatles.

Friend of TIRnRR Steve Stoeckel is best-known as singer/songwriter/bassist with North Carolina's phenomenal pop combo the Spongetones. Our Steve was not a Syracuse kid in the 1960s, and any familiarity he might have with Baron Daemon probably came from, y'know, reading my book (a book that also contains a chapter about the Spongetones). But Steve effectively channels the Dracula Beat on "I Wanna Be A Vampire," his contribution to Big Stir Records' epic new Halloween compilation Chilling, Thrilling Hooks And Haunted Harmonies.

The music of the night! And a vampire song that does not suck. We'll switch from vampires to witches for a spin of another track from Chilling, Thrilling Hooks And Haunted Harmonies on our next show.

THE RAMONES: I Don't Want To Grow Up

Grow up...?! As if.

(But speaking of the Ramones--the American Beatles, the greatest American rock 'n' roll band of all time--lemme take this opportunity to thank my friends at Rare Bird Books, the publisher of my 2023 book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones. The book was featured in this week's edition of Rare Bird's newsletter The Bird's Eye View, and I am very grateful for the mention.

Grateful. Still not grown up, mind you, but grateful.)

THE WEEKLINGS: Diamond Dogs

From the wonderful current compilation Jem Records Celebrates David Bowie, here's the Weeklings' cool take on Bowie's "Diamond Dogs." We offer it here as a dedication to the coaching staff (plus Higgins) of UFC Richmond. Hey guys! Looking forward to seeing you again this summer.

THE KENNEDYS: Walking Through The Park

From her secret origin as Maura Boudreau in North Syracuse, Maura Kennedy has always been one of us, a native daughter made good. Her husband Pete Kennedy isn't from around here, but he is likewise one of us, and Central New Yorkers proudly consider Maura and Pete's internationally-renowned coffeehouse pop combo the Kennedys to be local heroes, their downstate base of operations notwithstanding. It's a legit homecoming whenever the Kennedys play in Syracuse, and their latest homecoming occurs this Saturday, October 11th, at The 443 Social Club & Lounge. Tickets for the show? Glad you asked! Grab 'em with delirious glee right here.

Adding to the homecoming vibe, the Kennedys recently participated in Big Stir Records' various-artists blockbuster Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes, recording a sublimely aching cover of the Flashcubes' lovely "Walking Through The Park." Here's hopin' the Kennedys' homecoming includes a live performance of "Walking Through The Park" at the 443 on Saturday.

VEGAS WITH RANDOLPH: She's An Intellectual

Calling all intellectuals! Long-time TIRnRR Fave Raves Vegas With Randolph have released Drops Of Gold: The Best Of Vegas With Randolph, an absolutely primo retrospective set that oughta be an automatic purchase for all of us who adore music of the rockin' pop persuasion. And the lads of VWR are promoting Drops Of Gold with an absolutely primo new video for their past TIRnRR Pick T' Click "She's An Intellectual." Even better, it's an animated video inspired by the style of classic DC Comics cartoons. HEY! They're playing directly to MY demographic! And they're playing to win. It's Vegas, baby.

SLYBOOTS: Silent Storm

New single from Slyboots! Their 2024 single "If We Could Let Go" was my # 1 favorite new track last year, and "Silent Storm" continues that world-weary but determined sense of reaching for a better world. 

And I think we could all use a better world at this point.

TINA TURNER: The Acid Queen

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE SUPREMES: All I Want

Like the rest of the group's post-Diana Ross output, the Supremes' 1972 cover of Joni Mitchell's "All I Want" is woefully, criminally underrated. It's too much of a hot take to say the Supremes records after Ross left are a better group o' tunes than the familiar hits with Ross, but I admit the hyperbole is tempting. Not true, I guess. But tempting. 

Either way, if you can find it, a two-disc Supremes compilation called The '70s Anthology is well worth seeking and acquiring. Will it be all the Supremes you want? No, probably not. Will it be worthwhile in its own right? Damned right it will.

SHOES: Tomorrow Night

From The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1):

In the late '70s, power pop was a niche genre that did not wish to be a niche genre. It wanted fame, fortune. It wanted action. It for damned sure wanted the girl, right now. If not tonight, then tomorrow night...

...Shoes was one of the most notable (and durable) among '70s power pop groups, an exquisite four-man band from Zion, Illinois. Shoes took their first step with an album that was literally homemade, recorded in guitarist Jeff Murphy’s living room and released on the group’s own Black Vinyl label in 1977.  

That album, Black Vinyl Shoes, was an instant pop classic, bursting with understated gems, songs simultaneously Beatlesque yet not strictly derivative of anything. Black Vinyl Shoes brought the group to the attention of Bomp Records/Bomp! magazine visionary Greg Shaw. Bomp released a non-LP 45 of  “Tomorrow Night”/”Okay,” which still ranks as the best 1-2 punch of Shoes’ always-distinguished recording career. 

"Tomorrow Night" is nearly textbook power pop, a pretty ditty that combines yearning and lust, its façade suggesting an equal measure of the two, but really looking for a steamy tomorrow-night stand. What the track lacks in explosiveness á la the Who or Raspberries is more than compensated by its confidence and posture, the music leaning forward with single-minded precision. It's catchy and aggressive, its dreamy, breathy vocals piloting a rockin' sound with one Beatle boot perched in the British Invasion and one ragged Converse stepping on a back-breaking crack in the New Wave of post-punk rock 'n' roll....

THE ISLEY BROTHERS: Shout (Part 1)

The perils of prerecording a radio show: On Sunday night, my back-announcement of spinning the Isley Brothers' "Shout (Part 1)" was accompanied by my prerequisite cry of Let's GO, Buffalo! That moment aired shortly after the previously-unbeaten Buffalo Bills had been defeated by themselv...er, by the Patriots. Nonetheless: Let's GO, Buffalo! I retain my hope of seeing Bad Bunny perform a Halftime show during a Bills game on TV this February.

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: 4/21/2022

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 # 1125.

THE SAINTS: (I'm) Stranded

Australian punk. When we heard that singer Chris Bailey had passed, it felt imperative to open this week's show with his old group the Saints, rampaging their way through their signature tune, "(I'm) Stranded." "(I'm) Stranded" is an enduring classic of '70s punk, a solid rush of obstreperous immediacy, a rock 'n' roll love letter to alienation. 

As the song played Sunday night, our friend Joel Tinnel said that he first heard the song well after the fact, courtesy of Rhino Records' punk compilation series DIY in the early '90s. Both Dana and I recall it from the '70s, Dana from airplay on Syracuse's WAER-FM, me from...I have no idea. But I knew it, and loved it. I eventually picked up used copies of the Saints' first two American LPs, (I'm) Stranded and Eternally Yours. 

I saw a latter-day line-up of the Saints at a club show in the late '80s. Original guitarist Ed Kuepper was long, long gone, but Bailey was still up front, wailin' like a Saint oughtta. The group was promoting its then-recent album All Fool's Day, which had caught the attention of MTV's Sunday night alt-showcase 120 Minutes. 120 Minutes favored the track "Just Like Fire Would," but I'd fallen hard for its album-track brother "Big Hits (On The Underground)." 

The live show was great, though I admit I was disappointed that neither "Big Hits (On The Underground)" nor "(I'm) Stranded" made an appearance in the set list, in spite of (or because of?) me leading the crowd in chanting, STRANDED! STRANDED! STRANDED! STRANDED! at encore time. Ah, well. Stranded, on my own. A classic still, and we mourn the passing of the Saint who sang it.

BLONDIE: In The Flesh

The same embrace of circa '77 punk that led me to the Saints also led me to Blondie. "X-Offender" was my first, following indoctrination and seduction via the pages of Phonograph Record Magazine and my subsequent program of carpet-bombing requests for it at Brockport's WBSU-AM in the fall of my freshman year at college. I was 17, and I couldn't resist Debbie Harry. I'm not deaf, dumb, and blind.

"X-Offender" was the lead track on Blondie's eponymous debut album. It's possible that "You Look Good In Blue," another track from the same album, was my second exposure to Blondie's music; I know I heard the song in the on-campus bar the Rathskeller the following semester. But I think I bought the "Rip Her To Shreds" 12" single before that, specifically to own a copy of "X-Offender." If so, the single's two other tracks--"Rip Her To Shreds" and "In The Flesh"--were the next steps in my assimilation into Blondie's world.

DATURA4: Open The Line

This little mutant radio show has a long and proud history of playing music by Australian pop god Dom Mariani. Dom's work solo and with the Stems, DM3, the Someloves, and Dom Mariani and the Majestic Kelp has revved up many a previous playlist, and DM3's righteously rousing "1 x 2 x Devastated" was included on our very first compilation, This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 1. Yeah, count Dana and Carl firmly in the pro-Mariani faction.

But we've never played anything by Dom's current combo Datura4. It wasn't a slight; we just didn't get to it. We remedy that right now with this spin of "Open The Line," a triumphantly blood-pumpin' victory cry from Datura4's forthcoming album Neanderthal Jam. What took us so long?

THE MONKEES: Tapioca Tundra

I have no contemporaneous memory of Michael Nesmith's song "Tapioca Tundra." It was the B-side of the Monkees' "Valleri" single in 1968, and an album track on The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees that same year. I didn't hear it on the TV show, didn't hear it on the radio, and it wasn't among the meager Monkees artifacts in our family record library. 

So I didn't know the song at all, not until I expanded our Monkees library with the acquisition of both The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees and 1967's Headquarters album on a visit to the flea market in the mid '70s. I was already a fan of the Monkees. I was about to become a much, much bigger fan. Nesmith said it himself, looking out over a sea of fans from the stage at a Monkees concert, and knowing that this made-for-TV combo was larger than its origin, larger even than the Monkees themselves. He wrote "Tapioca Tundra" about that realization: It cannot be a part of me 'cause now it's part of you. We thank you. Michael.

THE FLASHCUBES FEATURING SHOES: Tomorrow Night

My favorite track of 2022 so far? It's a contender. C'mon, it would take an act of Congress to prevent this Big Stir single combining the irresistible pop forces of the Flashcubes and Shoes covering the latter's power pop touchstone "Tomorrow Night" from garnering airplay on TIRnRR. 

And that ain't all. The Flashcubes' artist page at the Big Stir Records website reveals that the 'Cubes will continue their current program of remaking pop gems of the past--"Tomorrow Night," Pezband's "Baby It's Cold Outside," the Dwight Twilley Band's "Alone In My Room"--with more dips into the ol' pop-with-power songbook. Next up: a collaboration with the Spongetones! Oh, I am so diggin' all of this...!

JUNIPER: Turn To You

Hear on TIRnRR, we love the Go-Go's. So we were right stoked to hear of a new Go-Go's tribute album, If You've Gotta Go-Go, Go-Go Now, and it was inevitable we'd start programming stuff from that album as soon as it became available. But where to start? The tribute includes so many Go-Go's songs covered by so many TIRnRR Fave Raves, from Holly and the Italians to Hayley and the Crushers. I guess we coulda gone eenie-meenie...or we could just go-go ahead and play Juniper's "Turn To You." The latter seemed the wiser option. And we'll hear another track from this Go-Go's tribute on next week's show.

JIM BASNIGHT: Hello Mary Jane

Reliable rockin' pop performer Jim Basnight has been making his back catalog available digitally, in many cases for the first time ever. Our Jim's digital offerings via the visionary folks at Powerpopaholic Productions include a fresh remaster of his 1992 release Pop Top, and Jim shared a couple of its cuts with us for potential TIRnRR airplay. SOLD!! "Hello Mary Jane" finds its way to this week's playlist; we'll hear another selection from Pop Top next week.

AL GREEN: I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry

We play the hits. And we play requests. The above-acclaimed Jim Basnight also sent us a bunch of suggestions for records he's like to hear on this here Best Three Hours Of Radio On The Whole Friggin' Planet. They were good suggestions--the lad has taste--so we picked five of them to follow Jim's "Hello Mary Jane" in an incomparable six-song set. Ya can't go wrong with T. Rex ("Telegram Sam"), the Ramones ("I Don't Want You"), and Roxy Music ("Pyjamarama"), and they combine with tunes from Al Green and the Walker Brothers to conjure radio like it oughtta be conjured. I was particularly taken with Green's rendition of Hank Williams' "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry," and following that with the Walker Brothers' "After The Lights Go Out"--a B-side that's even better than their well-loved A-sides--is the stuff of radio legend. Later in the show, we circled back to a couple more of Jim's requests--"I'll Be You" by the Replacements and "The Word" by the Beatles--further demonstrating that Mr. Basnight knows his pop music. Jim, you've come to the right radio show.

THE WONDERS: That Thing You Do!

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

SONNY AND CHER: The Beat Goes On

Yes. Yes it does. Join us!

If you like what you see here on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), please consider supporting this blog by becoming a patron on Patreon, or by visiting CC's Tip Jar. Additional products and projects are listed here.

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

10 SONGS: 4/1/2022

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 # 1122.

MICKY DOLENZ: Some Of Shelly's Blues

Micky Dolenz returns with a four-song sequel to Dolenz Sings Nesmith, which was one of my favorite albums of 2021. Like its full-length predecessor, the 2022 release Dolenz Sings Nesmith--The EP collects new recordings of Dolenz performing songs written by his friend Michael Nesmith, whom we lost in December. One of the EP's tracks, "Grand Ennui," appeared on the album's CD issue (and was played on TIRnRR), while the other three are previously unreleased. One of the songs, "Soul-Writer's Birthday," has never been released by anyone, but we figure our pal Rich Firestone might wanna spin that on Radio Deer Camp afore we get to it. We cede the dibs to you, Reechie. That leaves us with "The Crippled Lion" and "Some Of Shelly's Blues," and we happily opened this week's show with the latter.

SYD STRAW: Think Too Hard

Although Syd Straw also sang with the Golden Palominos, her 1989 MTV hit "Future 40s (String Of Pearls)" was my conscious introduction to her music. I didn't realize (or didn't remember) that she sang on the dB's' 1987 album The Sound Of Music, but I did know (and remember!) that she covered "Think Too Hard," a song from that very dB's album. With a recent acquisition of a used CD copy of her '89 debut solo album Surprise, I figured it was overdue for our Syd to return to the TIRnRR playlist, for the first time in a long time. I didn't realize just how long a time until our friend and intrepid stats man Fritz Van Leaven pointed out that we hadn't played her since...wait, 2016?! Oy. She'll be returning to the ol' playlist in a far more timely manner now.

Presumably. I don't want to think too hard.

AMOEBA TEEN: New Material World

ADDISON LOVE: Wee & Nancy Lee

THE FLASHCUBES FEATURING SHOES: Tomorrow Night

Courtesy of the mighty Big Stir Records label, the single release of Amoeba Teen's "New Material World" (just barely in advance of the group's new eponymous album) compelled immediate airplay. So "New Material World" opened our second set this week, and Dana followed it with another Big Stir release, "Wee & Nancy Lee," from the Addison Love album that asks that musical question, Thoughts On Lunch? Sensing the inevitable allure of a stand-up triple, I followed "Wee & Nancy Lee" with "Tomorrow Night," the recent Big Stir single from the combined forces of the Flashcubes and Shoes. We're ALL winners in this 1-2-3 play. More from the new Amoeba Teen album on next week's show.

SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE: Everyday People

I confess to being a Sly and the Family Stone dilettante, in that I'm mainly aware of the singles rather than deep cuts. But man, those singles! I owe myself a more extensive dive into the group's albums. My favorite is "Everybody Is A Star," which was actually the B-side of "Thank You Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin," the record I suspect may have taught the British band Slade how to spell. Like "Everyday People" says: Different strokes for different folks

THE FLASHCUBES: She's Leaving

I continue to pummel the console on behalf of Flashcubes On Fire, the new archival set preserving a pulse-pounding 1979 live show by my favorite power pop group. The 'Cubes were blessed with three prolific songwriters--bassist Gary Frenay and guitarists Paul Armstrong and Arty Lenin--with drummer Tommy Allen power-shifting the tunes into transcendent overdrive. Especially in a live setting.

The wealth of material at the Flashcubes' disposal meant a lot of great songs got left behind, many of them not even making it to demo stages. Flashcubes On Fire rescues Arty's Big Star-inspired "Cycle Of Pain" and Paul's "You For Me" and "Face In The Crowd," three flowers in the dustbin. The album also includes Gary's "Suellen," which he subsequently recorded as a single with the post-'Cubes combo Screen Test.

Three other songs on Flashcubes On Fire are familiar from studio versions found on Bright Lights, the 1997 compilation that resurrected 'n' refurbished some of the group's original '70s demos. As heard on Bright Lights, though, Arty's "Angry Young Man," Gary's "Beverly," and Paul's "She's Leaving" were new '90s recordings, not old demos. Originally, each of those Flashcubes favorites was as forgotten as "Driving Me Away," "Got To Have A Reason," or "I'm Not The Liar." Still, a song is only forgotten until someone remembers it, and does something to preserve it.

"She's Leaving" is one of my favorite Paul Armstrong songs, maybe my # 1 favorite. I love the version on Bright Lights, but I've always preferred it in its original live arrangement. I had it on a live bootleg cassette (my main Flashcubes artifact during the lean years until the 'Cubes archive started to open in the '90s), and I'm delighted that everyone can now hear it in that invigorating form. 

THE BEATLES: Slow Down

A few years back on this blog, I fabricated a fictional album called Leave My Kitten Alone!, which was a collection of some of the cover songs recorded by the Beatles. The Beatles did some killer covers, and my favorite among those is their rendition of Larry Williams' "Slow Down." (Runners-up: covers of Buddy Holly's "Words Of Love," Chuck Berry's "Rock And Roll Music," the Top Notes' [via the Isley Brothers] "Twist And Shout," and their other two Larry Williams covers, "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" and "Bad Boy." Honorable mention to "Please Mr. Postman.")

THE SEARCHERS: Hearts In Her Eyes

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE SPORTS: Who Listens To The Radio?

Who listens to the radio? With us, that may be a rhetorical question.

If you like what you see here on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), please consider supporting this blog by becoming a patron on Patreon, or by visiting CC's Tip Jar. Additional products and projects are listed here.

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