10 SONGS: 8/22/2026

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 # 1349

SPECTRAFLAME: The Look In Your Eyes

Awright, we've been playing St. Petersburg, Florida's phenomenal pop combo Spectraflame a lot this year, a situation cued up by our pal Robbie Rist's involvement with (and recommendation of) the group, but maintained in dedicated earnest by the quality of Steve Burgess's original pop songcraft. We have three hours of airtime to occupy each week, and it's more efficient to occupy that airtime with good stuff. Spectraflame has proven to be a reliable resource for the good stuff, and "The Look In Your Eyes" is Spectraflame's best one yet. Resistance is futile. Occupation continues. I know that look.

VERDELLE SMITH: Life Goes On

Today's post is the first entry in my theoretically-weekly 10 Songs series since July 25th. The absence has been a byproduct of my decision to suspend Boppin's status as a daily blog, limiting posting to two or three times a week. I believe this period has been the first interruption in 10 Songs'' schedule since the feature's debut in early 2020.

Is it back now? I dunno. The world around us has felt increasingly discouraging, and I'm sometimes overwhelmed by the pointlessness of whatever the hell it is I do here. But...I dunno.

I do know that life goes on. George Harrison said it goes on within you and without you. In 1965, singer Verdelle Smith insisted it just goes on, our troubles notwithstanding. There will come another day. There will be another Spring. Life goes on.

Or so one hopes.

THE SPONGETONES: The Music At The Close

More new music from the Spongetones? Yes, please! A "We'll Meet Again" to meet the overarching yechh of modern times, "The Music At The Close" is the virtual 45 RPM equivalent of whistling through the graveyard, a joyride on the Titanic, stubbornly blessed with incongruous will to keep boppin' no matter how futile the boppin' may seem. 

The song was co-written by Spongetones bassist Steve Stoeckel and his Pop Co-Op cohort Joel Tinnel--two longtime friends of TIRnRR-- and if its stiff upper lip might be equally likely to contort into a sneer or a smile, one senses it's open to the promise of singing past the close--particularly if the "close" refers to what the damned walls feel like they're doing all around us.

(Furthermore, I betcha our Joel is thrilled to have co-written a single for the freaking Spongetones. Well done, Agent J! We're playing this one again on this Sunday night's celebration of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1350. And what the hell, we'll play a little Pop Co-Op as well. Let's put off closing time for at least a little bit longer.)

JUDAS PRIEST: Heading Out To The Highway

From a previous post:

I'm not really a metal guy. But there have been a few fist-shakin', head-bangin' truncheonfests that I have found to be agreeably bludgeoning, albeit all of them on the pop side. I love Twisted Sister's "We're Not Gonna Take It" without any hint of guilt or apology. I enjoy some Def Leppard, a little bit of Black Sabbath, and--maybe stretching the parameters--some Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin, plus the light hair-metal of "We Stand Alone" by Killer Dwarfs. And Motörhead. And KISS! I mean, if you wanna count KISS as metal, I guess.

And Judas Priest?

There was something about the Priest that made me unable to take them seriously...which would be okay if they didn't seem so hell-bent-for-leather intent on being taken seriously. I very much liked the first Judas Priest track I ever heard, which was their gloriously unsubtle take on the Joan Baez folk chestnut "Diamonds And Rust." After that, though, I thought "Breaking The Law" was tiresome, and its video really made Judas Priest look dumb beyond redemption. CREEM magazine started to make fun of them, and I went right along with that spirit of derision and dismissal.

But..."Heading Out To The Highway." GodDAMN I loved that from its first bombastic chug and squeal, and in the present day it still inspires turn-it-UP volume and a defiantly paradoxical mix of sneering and grinning when it plays in my car. 

Especially if I happen to be heading out to the highway. LOUDER! LOUDER!!! 

CINDY LAWSON: The Reckoning

ANGER! Sheer, pissed-off rock 'n' roll anger! Cindy Lawson knows the story, and she is not afraid to spit that story right back in the face of those in dire need of a freakin' reckoning, stat. From her forthcoming new release ¡Long Live The Resistance!, "The Reckoning" channels the lesson the Clash taught us all those years ago: Let fury have the hour. Anger can be power! How can you refuse it?

Cindy Lawson is not inclined to refuse, nor to back down. It's the only reckoning that matters.

LITTLE EVA: Stand By Me

SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE: Stand!

THE PRETENDERS: I'll Stand By You

I tell ya, sometimes these segues just write themselves.

THE MONKEES: Words

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE BEATLES: Tomorrow Never Knows

It's now been a full sixty years since the Beatles' released the Revolver album. And it still feels like the daunting yet inviting sound of tomorrow. Turn off your mind. Relax. Float downstream. We got you.

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.

My new book of short stories Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies is out now, and you can get autographed copies of the new book and my previous book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) directly from me. You can still get my previous 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.

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. 

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: 7/4/2026

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 # 1343

PAUL COLLINS: Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again

Here comes the Zimmer...man. Our friends at Jem Records continue their superb series of various-artists songwriter spotlights with Jem Records Celebrates Bob Dylan, and that series ain't made a misstep yet. Jem Records Celebrates Bob Dylan is due in August, and its release is heralded with this first teaser track, as TIRnRR fave rave Paul Collins takes on Bashful Bobby's "Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again." Dylan is (deservedly) one of the most-covered songwriters of the Rock 'n' Roll Era, and the Bard of Hibbing is in very good hands here. I'm very much looking forward to hearing more of this album.

(And if this series ever gets around to Jem Records Celebrates Michael Nesmith, I would really love to hear what our hometown heroes and Jem recording artists the Half/Cubes could do with Nesmith's "Rising In Love.")

MONOGROOVE: Back To School

From a previous 10 Songs:

"I've been a fan of Monogroove's Rin Lennon since hearing her former group On The Air's contribution to the 1984 Rhino Records (then-) contemporary girl group compilation The Girls Can't Help It. My pal Andrea Ogarrio included an On The Air track in a mixtape she sent me in the early '90s, and I snagged my very own copy of On The Air's 1987 eponymous six-song EP during a Florida vacation in 1994. More recently, we've been delighted to add Monogroove to our little Play-Tone galaxy o' stars, and 'That Girl' (from Monogroove's recent album Popsicle Drivethru) was TIRnRR's # 35 most-played track in 2025. Yep: ON THE AIR! It's what we do.

"In 2026, our on-the-air Monogroove presence has been established by the group's recent single 'Back To School,' and that's been a perfectly peppy rah rah siss boom bop in its own right. Pencils? Books? Teacher's dirty looks? It's all writ in # 2 graphite. 'Back To School' pushes against the scornful demands of high school's cliques and ninnies, on behalf of all of us who lurked in the nooks and crannies instead. School is in."

While this time of year may seem more suited to Alice Cooper crooning that school is out for the summer, Monogroove's "Back To School" returns now to the playlist as part of the new Kool Kat Musik release Anthology, a 20-track set commemorating Monogroove's 30th anniversary. And "Back To School" will be back again in a near-future playlist. We can't let the truants have ALL the fun.

BETH PEABODY: Out And About

JIM BASNIGHT: Get It Out

Beth Peabody is a singer and a member of Jim Basnight's band. We've been playing Jim in a variety of his rockin' pop dbas (including the Moberlys, the Rockinghams, Meice, and more) since the dawn of ever, and Beth has just released a new two-song digital 45 with her own ace lead vocal renditions of two Basnight songs, "Out And About" and "Get It Out." We debuted Beth's version of "Out And About" this week, and we also encored Jim's "Get It Out" in that same set. Now duly empowered, we'll hear Beth's take on "Get It Out" in our next show, AND we'll also hear her sing "Out And About" again. Can't have a hit record if you only play it once.

THE RAMONES: Rockaway Beach

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

SPECTRAFLAME: Life Is Fine

In between the lines, we all know that life is not fine. Maybe it never was, and maybe it never can be. The struggle continues. The feeling of struggle continues, too.

A new song by Spectraflame offers...well, not quite solace, but "Life Is Fine" does offer solidarity in standing against the forces of yechh. 

Things don't always go your way
Unless you've got something to say
But it's just a game you play

Love is fine
Can't get you off my mind
Love is blind you see it all the time
In my mind you always look divine

But they get smarter every day
It makes your game harder to play
But just who's playing anyway

Struggles can be physical or emotional, personal or societal, winnable or...not winnable. The battle rages on. Spectraflame is on our side.

"Life Is Fine" music and lyrics by Steve Burgess

KIRSTY MacCOLL: He's On The Beach

SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE: Hot Fun In The Summertime

'Cause the summer's here and the time is right.

Oh! And if you're looking for some summer reading: I write books!

BUY!!

THE BEATLES: All You Need Is Love

As we stated earlier this week: If love isn't the only thing, it may be the most important thing. Without it, we won't progress at all. Without it, we are nothing. Is love all we need? No. But it remains a damned good start.

THE DAHLMANNS: Dark Side With You

The Dahlmanns are a great, great recording combo from Norway, and we don't play them nearly as much as we oughta. Their 2012 track "Shake Me Up Tonight" remains a legit contender for my all-time Hot 200, and recently we've been programming the righteous hell out of "Dark Side With You" (from the Dahlmanns' current album Life In Reverse). With tough and tender chick vocals, a bruised but resilient heart safety-pinned to its sleeve and the first four Ramones long-players blastin' on its trusty Walkman, "Dark Side With You" is so unerringly TIRnRR we should nickname it "Dana & Carl With You." But we won't! It's already perfect just as it is. It spins again this Sunday night. Light up the dark, man. Light up the dark.

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.

My new book of short stories Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies is out now, and you can get autographed copies of the new book and my previous book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) directly from me. You can still get my previous 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.

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. 

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: 6/13/2026

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 # 1340

THE HALF/CUBES: The Ghost At Number One

We gave you an advance listen to this latest single by the Half/Cubes a couple of weeks back. Now: It's OUT! So, y'know, we're playing it again. We play the hits! And ya can't get a bigger hit than # 1, as the Half/Cubes cover Jellyfish and the spirits 'n' specters all come out a-boppin'. NUMBER ONE!

THE BANGS: Getting Out Of Hand

Before they switched to their more familiar moniker, the Bangles originally called themselves the Bangs, We're guessing the earlier name was switched at Ellis Island. Lousy bureaucrats. As noted in the commentary accompanying this week's playlist, we recently had the very great pleasure of witnessing a fantastic live performance by Vicki Peterson and John Cowsill, she of the Bangles and he of the Cowsills. We play the Bangles and the Cowsills quite a bit in our sovereign airspace, and we're going to be playing even more on our June 21st show, when Vicki Peterson and John Cowsill will be our Featured Performers. Along with your Bangles, your Cowsills, and your tracks from Vicki and John's exquisite 2025 album Long After The Fire, you can expect to hear the Continental Drifters, the Psycho Sisters, Susan Cowsill, Tommy Tune, and more, all perched within the framework of whatever else we decide to play.

Will we be getting out of hand? Remains to be determined, I guess. But be assured: Bangles by any name would sound as sweet.

THE SPONGETONES: (I Really) Need To Kiss You

It's the second week in a row for TIRnRR airplay of the Spongetones' new single "(I Really) Need To Kiss You." Please see above Half/Cubes-related statement that we play the hits. We do! A theme show this coming Sunday night means we're giving 3/4 of the Spongetones the weekend off, but we'll be retaining the services of 'Tones bassist Steve Stoeckel, whose other combo Pop Co-Op just so happen to fit the theme perfectly. Fear not! The Spongetones will return soon.

HOLLY AND THE ITALIANS: Just For Tonight

This luscious pure pop confection comes to us from the 1981 classic The Right To Be Italian, which was the only full-length album released by the great NYC combo Holly and the Italians. A 1982 follow-up called Holly And The Italians was a Holly Beth Vincent solo album (and billed as such). The Right To Be Italian is one of my all-time favorite albums.

Some years back, the above-mentioned Spongetone Steve Stoeckel recommended I consider writing a series of blog pieces on behalf of individual albums I considered perfect. I took that advice, dubbed it Love At First Spin!, and wrote lengthy appreciations of the Barracudas' Drop Out With The Barracudas, the Byrds' Mr. Tambourine Man, and the Ramones' Rocket To Russia, but never completed any further entries in the series.

If I'd continued Love At First Spin, I probably would have gotten around to extolling the virtues of The Right To Be Italian. I have notes from what would have been that piece's opening paragraphs:

"Even our pop obsessions can be reined in by the limits of our budget. In 1981 I was a recent college graduate, flipping burgers under the Golden Arches to fund little things like rent and food. And beer. Oh, and a college loan, minuscule as it was. I certainly didn't bother with frivolous things like savings, or health insurance. 

"So what little remained of my weekly McDollars went to entertainment. Pop obsessions. Movies, books, magazines, comic books, the occasional bar-band rock 'n' roll show. But my biggest pop obsession was buying and listening to records.

"Duh.

"Still, whether new or used, there were only so many records I could afford to buy at any given time. Some pop obsessions had to be deferred.

"Where did I first hear of Holly and the Italians? I think the initial HEADS UP!! came to me via another pop obsession: CREEM magazine. I don't recall which of CREEM's supercool scribes reviewed the lone Holly and the Italians LP The Right To Be Italian, but I remember how he described the sound:

"Like Lesley Gore or the Angels backed by Leave Home-era Ramones...."

DAVID MYRH: Summer Summer Summer

As we dive into the summer season, David Myrh's new single "Summer Summer Summer" offers an absolutely ace celebration for the beach-bound convertible cruise of your bikini-clad dreams. School's out. Sun's up. SURF'S UP, too!

MIKE BROWNING: It's Festival Time

The summer's here, and the time is right. Mike Browning knows.

IRENE PEÑA: It Must Be Summer 

America's Sweetheart Irene Peña's 2011 album Nothing To Do With You is one of 21st century rockin' pop music's most underrecognized works. The album has never been given a physical release, and I first heard about it waaaaay after the fact, when the good folks at Big Stir Records offered a tenth-anniversary digital-download reissue. Nothing To Do With You retroactively became one of my favorite albums of the 2010s. It's a record that warrants wider appreciation, and it is long overdue for a CD release, perhaps in an expanded edition that includes even more from Irene Peña's catalogue o' wonder. HEY! RECORD LABELS! Yeah, YOU guys. GET ON THIS AWREADY!! And I'm first in line to write some liner notes.

I've been thinking about all of the above for a little while. This week, Dana's spin of Irene's impeccable non-album cover of the Fountains Of Wayne gem "It Must Be Summer" brought the thoughts up front. America's Sweetheart. Let's hear it all.

SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE: Hot Fun In The Summertime

From a previous edition of 10 Songs:

I have previously written that Sly and the Family Stone's "Hot Fun In The Summertime" is "as inviting and idyllic as any June-July-August embrace ever committed to wax, a comforting groove that shines in the daytime and sways with the shadows of twilight." I later added, "If memory serves, a poll of Trouser Press magazine readers in the early '80s named 'Hot Fun In The Summertime' as the # 1 choice for the title of all-time top summer song. Surpassing the Beach Boys in that category would seem a daunting task. But if anyone could do it, it would have to be Sly."

It would probably be a stretch to suggest that Sly Stone wrote "Hot Fun In The Summertime" under the influence of Brian Wilson. I don't quite believe any of Sly and the Family Stone's brilliant work was shaped by Wilson's pet sounds of the soul, at least not willfully. But it would also be a stretch to insist that Wilson wasn't a possible influence; Sly Stone was aware of everything going on in pop music in the '60s, and--to paraphrase something famously uttered by someone else in the Wilson family--Sly Stone was a genius, too. "Hot Fun In The Summertime" doesn't sound like the Beach Boys. Doesn't matter. Sly and Brian sound great in the same radio show. Hot fun, fun, fun in the summertime.

THE MONKEES: Birth Of An Accidental Hipster

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE RAMONES: I Don't Care

Effective this week, I have now written and published three books, two of them non-fiction, one of them a collection of professional lies (aka fiction). Each of the three books has included at least some element celebrating the Ramones; my first book was 2023's Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones, my 2024 book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) contains chapters about two Ramones tracks (plus one about Amy Rigby's "Dancing With Joey Ramone"), and the Ramones are a recurring reference point within my brand-new fiction project Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies. The spiffy Joey Ramone portrait seen above also appears in Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! The Ramones. It's safe to say I'm a big, big fan. The title of this week's Ramones track notwithstanding, it's plain to see that I do care.

Tomorrow night, June 14th, we're devoting the entirety of the next TIRnRR to music by some of the real-life musical acts mentioned in Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Chuck Berry! The Cynz! Slade! Wonderboy! The Grip Weeds! Aretha Franklin! Dusty Springfield! The Flashcubes! The Kinks! King Elvis the First! And lots, lots more, including the Ramones. Wouldn't be one of my books if it didn't reference the Ramones. This IS rock 'n' roll radio. Stay tuned for more rock 'n' roll. 

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.

My new book of short stories Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies is out now, and you can get autographed copies of the new book and my previous book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) directly from me. You can still get my previous 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.

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. 

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: 3/21/2026

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 # 1328

THE ON AND ONS: Speck Of Smiling Faces

From the group's native Australia to our native Syracuse airwaves, the On and Ons have been fixtures on This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio since their 2020 EP Menacing Smile, and that unrelenting barrage of pure pop oomph will keep on keepin' on and on with the forthcoming On and Ons album Luminary. The album ain't out until April, but advance single "Speck Of Smiling Faces" has already made its way to hearts, ears, and smiling faces everywhere in the here, the now, and the AWIGHT!. One should expect no less from  luminaries like the On and Ons.

THE COCKTAIL SLIPPERS: Joyride

"St. Valentine's Day Massacre" by the great Norwegian garage pop group the Cocktail Slippers is one of my all-time favorite tracks, and it earned its own chapter in my 2024 book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). Through an evolving line-up, the group has continued to fascinate and amaze with the same tightly-executed sass that made us love 'em in the first place. New single "Joyride" offers another delighted cruise in the Slippersmobile, where speed limits are optional and the radio's volume is always set to SURRENDER!! Joy! Let's ride.

THE SURFRAJETTES: She Loves You

The Surfrajettes at Middle Ages Beer Hall In Syracuse 3/19/2026

Decades ago, I had the pleasure of witnessing a performance by the Ventures, wherein the group had the admirable audacity to open their fantastic show with "Walk--Don't Run." The club owner introduced the Ventures as "the best fucking dance band in the world," and damned if they didn't prove it.

That torch has been passed to a new generation of North Americans. Over the course of the past eleven years, Toronto's phenomenal pop combo the Surfrajettes have established themselves as one of this world's preeminent surf instrumental groups. On Thursday, the Surfrajettes and their ace opening act Bethlehem Shalom kicked off the second leg of their Road Dogs tour in our beloved Salt City for a show at Middle Ages Beer Hall, and their energetic fun-in-the-sun twang served as the perfect weapon to drive a motherlovin' stake through the icy heart of Syracuse Winter. Armed with original tunes and impeccable savvy in choosing covers (routinely reaching outside the box to convert material by Cream, Iron Butterfly, Spice Girls, and more into their own chosen style), the Surfrajettes are what the Ventures were: The best fucking dance band in the world. The Ventures would be proud to share that distinction with the Surfrajettes.

I remain chagrined by the fact that TIRnRR didn't get around to programming the Surfrajettes until last week's spin of the title track from their Easy As Pie album. We're slackers, but we're slackers with a vision. This week brings us Surfrajettes TIRnRR spin # 2, as the 'Jettes apply yeah-yeah-yeah reverb to "She Loves You" (from previous album Roller Fink). This coming Sunday night brings a reprise of "Easy As Pie," and Dana and I agree that maybe we should just commit to playing the Surfrajettes every week from now on. Pipeline to the stars, man. Surf's up.

THE GREENBERRY WOODS: Whenever You Want Me Too

Rapple Dapple! In my liner notes to Rhino's 1997 compilation Poptopia! Power Pop Classics Of The '90s, I wrote:

"The unfortunate fate of the Greenberry Woods offers a sobering reminder that even the best pop bands can still be resolutely ignored by the buying public. Maryland's favorite pop sons released two absolutely dreamy albums--1994's Rapple Dapple and 1995's Big Money Item--only to be met with appalling indifference by retail and radio. Following the group's apparent demise, a couple members resurfaced in a new group called Splitsville, and released an interesting, cartoony debut album on Big Deal in '96. But Splitsville ain't a proper substitute for the Greenberry Woods, whose passing we mourn here with a spin of their signature tune 'Trampoline,' an impossible-to-resist barrage of singalong charm and halcyon AM-pop style. Come back, guys!"

(Before we go any further, it's important to note that, my '97 self notwithstanding, I soon became a Splitsville fan as well. Pop pundits. We can be a mite slow on the uptake sometimes.)

And now, the return of '90s pop stars the Greenberry Woods should merit a guaranteed berth on any power pop radio playlist, and their new single "Whenever You Want Me Too" certainly deserves that instant-add status. Hell, "Whenever You Want Me Too" woulda fit in on Rapple Dapple, and I further dig its correct titular use of the word "too" to create an effective pun for would-be lovers everywhere. We want this. We hope you want it too.

GENERAL JOHNSON AND JOEY RAMONE: Rockaway Beach (On The Beach)

From a previous post:

I first heard about this beach-music team-up of Joey Ramone and former Chairmen of the Board singer General Johnson when Joey Ramone called to tell me about in 1994. Yes, I am cooler than you are. (I should probably let that illusion stand in place, but Joey's call to me was just a follow-up to a Goldmine interview we'd done within the previous week, as he wanted to make sure I was aware of a number of projects he was doing outside the Ramones' aegis. He never called again. My claim to being cooler than you are is, y'know, suspect at best.)

(Those interviews are, of course, preserved in my 2023 book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones. You should get yourself a copy from publisher Rare Bird Books, or contact me directly to purchase an autographed copy.)

But: back to the record! It's an ongoing testimony to the greatness of Ramones songs that they can thrive in different interpretations. The Swedish girl-pop group Shebang did a girl-pop bubblegum version of "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker." Ronnie Spector covered "Here Today Gone Tomorrow" and "She Talks To Rainbows." KISS did "Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?" with more kitchen-sink Phil Spector than the Spector-produced original. The Nutley Brass and the Ramonetures did entire albums of Ramones covers, in the respective styles of elevator music and surf instrumentals. It all worked. These Blitzkrieg bops remain more versatile and universal than anyone realized at the time.

Remaking the power-pop bubblepunk of "Rockaway Beach" as a soulful slow-groove Carolina beach shag would seem a preposterous notion...until you hear it. Whoa! Grab a blanket, grab your honey, and snuggle by the fire as the sun descends. It's not hard, not far to reach. Hitch a ride, baby.

MADONNA: Dear Jessie

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE DOLLYROTS: Attention Span

"Attention Span...?!" See, that's kind of a problem area for us, especially for me. I suffer from what my daughter calls ADOS, which is Attention Deficit...Oooooo, SHINY!

Where was I? Oh, right. "Attention Span," the flat-out full-on invigmoratin' new single from the irresistible rockin' pop forces of the Dollyrots. PAY ATTENTION! It spins here again this Sunday night.

SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE: Stand!

Good advice.

THE RAMONES: I Don't Want To Grow Up

Also good advice. 

THE LITTLE GIRLS: How To Pick Up Girls

And we finish with a snarky 'n' buoyant pop tune pretending to offer good advice while still being, y'know, snarky. I suspect the Little Girls are snickering at the odious machinations of hapless would-be Lotharios. I say we snicker right along with them.

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.