10 SONGS: 10/17/2026

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 # 1357

BANDA AL9: That Thing You Do!

In 1964, I saw the Beatles' then-new movie A Hard Day's Night at The North Drive-In in Cicero, NY. I was four years old--a veteran pop music afficionado!--and it was an unforgettable experience. It stayed with me, and when I became an even bigger Beatles fan in the '70s, I began to realize that A Hard Day's Night was my all-time favorite film.

Thirty years ago this month, A Hard Day's Night was suddenly dethroned by That Thing You Do! From my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1):

"...Well I have heard your record, Guy, and I like it. I like it a lot. 'That Thing You Do!' You know, it's...snappy!

"Actor Tom Hanks made his directorial debut with this light-hearted little romantic comedy about the Wonders (formerly the One-ders), an unknown Erie, PA rock 'n' roll group that manages to score a big hit single in 1964. These fictional one-hit Wonders are a quartet of archetypes--the talent, the fool, the smart one, and the bass player--but the film executes the difficult task of making them seem plausible, real. There's a scene when the members of the Wonders all hear their song 'That Thing You Do!' on the radio for the first time, and that scene precisely nails the giddy rush of rockin' pop music better than any other slip of celluloid I've ever seen. Yeah yeah yeah, even better than the entirety of A Hard Day's Night, which had been my all-time favorite film right up until that night at a movie theater in Cicero, NY in 1996, when my eyes and ears opened wide with glee at Hollywood's best-ever love letter to rock 'n' roll music.

"And none of it would have or could have worked without the perfect song.

"Adam Schlesinger provided that perfect song. Mike Viola of the Candy Butchers co-produced and sang lead; some say Viola also co-wrote the song, but declined to take a songwriting credit, while other say that is not so. It is indisputable that the combined talents of Schlesinger and Viola crafted a stunning confection that steers clear of the quagmire of pastiche or parody, and captures the essence of fab and gear radio-ready 1964...."

In celebration of the film's 30th anniversary, Brazil's phenomenal pop combo Banda AL9 have released a loving and (of course!) snappy rendition of its irresistible title tune. Teen sensations Banda AL9 to the stage! You look good in the black, boys. And you ARE the smart ones.

TONY MARSICO AND THE UGLY THINGZ: Bittersweet

Yes. Just...YES! If the question happens to be Does this track sound like a friggin' hit record?, "Bittersweet," the new single from Tony Marsico and the UglyThingz earns a big, big yes in my programing log. We PLAY the hits! This one comes to us courtesy of Jonathan Lea (of the Jigsaw Scene and TIRnRR Fave Raves Tall Poppy Syndrome), who serves here as a deputy Ugly Thing on guitar. Our Jonathan compared "Bittersweet" to the power pop greatness of the Plimsouls, and if that seems like a bold claim, I say you can see it's true even from a million miles away. "Bittersweet" returns to the Syracuse airwaves on our next show. Bitter? No. Sweet? YES!!!

THE FAR WEST: Bitter, Drunk And Cold

Sure, but enough about me.

THE SPONGETONES: Starting To Feel

A new single from the Spongetones gets an automatic nod for airplay on this show. "Starting To Feel" offers the lead vocal debut of 'Tones drummer Eric Wilhelm on a lovely, McCartneyesque beat ballad. In the near-dystopian world sprawled all around us, we could all do with an opportunity to sway while starting to feel.

(Speaking of that McCartney guy, we'll hear from him in just a few paragraphs.)

THE RAMONES: I Don't Care

As the B-side of "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker," "I Don't Care" was one of the first two Ramones songs I owned, a blind purchase in 1977. I'd read about the Ramones in Phonograph Record Magazine, heard "Blitzkrieg Bop" on college radio, and took the plunge in purchasing the "Sheena" 45 even though I hadn't heard it yet. The 45 had considerable impact on me, and many more Ramones purchases would follow.

"I don't care?" Plainly, I do care. The Ramones were the subject of my first book, featured directly in two chapters (and indirectly in a third) in my second book, and a significant presence in my third book Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies and its novelette-length digest A Band Called GUITARS VS. RAYGUNS! I saw the Ramones eight times, and I co-host a weekly radio show named after a line in a Ramones song. I'm proud to be partisan; indifference is for frauds and hipsters. 

And I don't care about them.

RIHANNA: Shut Up And Drive

From a previous post:

Rihanna's "Shut Up And Drive" is a stupid song about sex. But it's a great stupid song about sex, probably the best-ever stupid song about sex, and a legit contender for my all-time Hot 200. Yeah, even among songs that may or may not be stupid and may or may not be about sex...

...Wikipedia describes "Shut Up And Drive" as a new wave song--no, really!--based on "Blue Monday" by New Order. No offense to the mopey British guys, but I prefer it the way Rihanna did it.

"Shut Up And Drive" strikes me as a sort-of equivalent to "Heavy Music" by Bob Seger and the Last Heard, a track I initially dismissed as a stupid song about sex before realizing it was--you guessed it!--a great stupid song about sex. 

Rihanna's song is greater. Drive, baby. Drive.

PAUL McCARTNEY: Not Such A Bad Boy

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

LED ZEPPELIN: Good Times, Bad Times

Ya never know with us. WE never know with us.

THE FLASHCUBES FEATURING TOM KENNY: Got No Mind

You can't have a hit record if you only play it once. And you can't get word out if you only share information once. Repeated from last week's 10 Songs:

In memory of Flashcubes guitarist Paul Armstrong, the surviving 'Cubes are releasing a new single and planning an epic memorial live show. Let's review my recent hype on behalf of each event:

Our friends at Big Stir Records are now accepting preorders for "Got No Mind," the new 45 by the Flashcubes featuring Tom Kenny. Offered as a memorial tribute to Flashcubes guitarist Paul Armstrong (the song's author), the track has already been a TIRnRR fixture, and it will remain so for the foreseeable. And to sanctify the release of this 7" slab o' cantankerous wonder, the mighty Big Stir is also offering original copies of two previous Flashcubes 45s--1979's "Wait Til Next Week"/"Radio" and 2016's two-fer of Chris Spedding covers, "Boogie City"/"Hey Miss Betty"--both individually and in bundles with the new one. Visit The Flashcubes page at Big Stir for details.

On Saturday, November 7th, fans and participants representing the Syracuse power pop and new wave rock 'n' roll scene that the Flashcubes ignited in the late '70s will gather at Syracuse's original home of rock 'n' roll The Lost Horizon to pay loud and heartfelt tribute to the late, great Paul Armstrong. 

In his brash capacity as a guitarist and general spark plug for the audacious energy of the Flashcubes, Paul Armstrong was a key figure in the history of Syracuse rock 'n' roll, and the impact he and his brother Flashcubes Gary Frenay, Arty Lenin, and Tommy Allen have had upon my life and work is damned near beyond measure. As we bid farewell to Paul Armstrong, you can be damned sure we're gonna put on a tribute show that would make PA proud.

And to do that, a bunch of performers who loved Paul and shared his passion for three chords and a cloud of dust will gather at the Lost for a full-volume celebration of his legacy. We'll have live sets by Amerikan Primitive, Perilous, 1.4.5. Survivors, the Johnny Thunders Orchestra, The Wax Museum host Ronnie Dark, PA's Boston buds Sal Baglio and Mike Gent, Syracuse's favorite son Tom Kenny, and the Flashcubes featuring Mark Doyle. Your emcees will be Dana and Carl, and we promise the sort of bright-lights bonanza that Paul Armstrong would have dug the most.

TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW! It's possible there will still be tickets available at the door...but given the response so far, I would not recommend waiting. This one's for Paul Armstrong. And it's gonna be as loud as he was. YOU should join us. Got no mind? WE don't mind!

COCKTAIL SLIPPERS: Back Where You Belong

And this is where we belong. Sing it, Cocktail Slippers! We'll meet you again back here on Sunday night.

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, its six-chapter novelette digest A Band Called GUITARS VS. RAYGUNS!, 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: 8/29/2026

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 # 1350

THE HALF/CUBES: The Mighty Quinn

For our 1,350th show, we wanted to mix some of our old TIRnRR favorites with some new and recent TIRnRR favorites. Yes, just like any other episode of this show. We're remarkably consistent. Albums in the Jem Records Celebrates series of tribute albums have been consistent fixtures on our playlists, and we've looooooong been consistent supporters of anything related to Syracuse's own power pop powerhouses the Flashcubes. Combining the two? Well, that gives us the opening track for TIRnRR # 1350.

The Half/Cubes are Flashcubes Gary Frenay and Tommy Allen, working with Randy Klawon, Fernando Perdomo, and the occasional Special Guest Bat-Hero. The Half/Cubes make their way-overdue Jem Records Celebrates debut with this track from the newly-released Jem Records Celebrates Bob Dylan. Many years ago, I remember seeing Gary sing "The Mighty Quinn" with one of his other groups (Frenay and the Rays at Earthquake Ethel's); they sounded great, the Half/Cubes sound great, and Bashful Bobby Dylan hisself would be proud. We'll hear the Half/Cubes' "Quinn The Eskimo" again on our next show.

THE CHELSEA CURVE: Jamie, C'mon

THE CHELSEA CURVE: I Can't Help

I didn't know Linda Bean Pardee very well; we were Facebook friends, and Dana and I were big fans of her group the Chelsea Curve. But news of Linda's passing was a punch to the gut. "Jamie, C'mon" has been our top go-to Chelsea Curve track, and we made sure to include that in this week's opening set. We opened our second set with "I Can't Help," from the most recent Chelsea Curve album The Rideout. We've already been programming that one for a couple of weeks--we play the hits, man--and we aim to keep right on doing that. We play it not just in memory of Linda (though that would be enough), but in celebration of her life and ongoing relevance to the sounds we wanna hear. The music helps. Rest easy, Linda.

THE SPONGETONES: The Music At The Close

Earlier this week, someone asked me about depression. I replied that anyone who isn't depressed nowadays isn't paying attention. Still, we soldier on to the best of our mortal ability, and art is one of the many resources we use to fuel our resilience. Whether as comfort or catharsis (or both), music stands at the ready.

If, like Brian Wilson, we just weren't made for these times, the Spongetones' current single "The Music At The Close" provides a soundtrack that fits the tsuris and uncertainty tsunami-ing across all directions.  As stated in last week's 10 Songs:

"...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...."

CHUCK BERRY: Promised Land

Take us there, Chuck. Please...?!

STYX: Kiss Your Ass Goodbye

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE COWSILLS: She Said To Me

One of the many cool little bonus opportunities brought to us by doing this little mutant radio show has been the chance to put together several fine various-artists compilation albums for national release. That experience has allowed us to work with so many compelling recording artists from the past and the present, including people whose work we've admired for decades and decades. A partial list of TIRnRR compilation album participants includes the Rubinoos, Paul Collins, the Smithereens, John Wicks and the Records, the Catholic Girls, Blotto, Carolyne Mas...

...and THE COWSILLS!

The Cowsills' 1998 album Global is my favorite album of the 1990s, and Bob Cowsill was so incredibly nice to allow us the use of the sublime Global track "She Said To Me" on 2006's This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 2. Twenty years later, we are still giddy, and we will always be grateful.

And speaking of the This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio compilation albums....

LAURIE BIAGINI: Hey Mr. DJ

The final set of TIRnRR # 1350 needed to open with a track from our own 2022 compilation album This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5. I won't pretend any kind of modesty here: I regard this as one of the very best power pop (or power pop adjacent) comps ever done, and actually think it's the all-time # 1. SPOILER ALERT: I'm biased. But I mean it. There have been a lot of fantastic compilations in this broad category of rockin' pop, most notably the wonderful Yellow Pills collections curated by the ever-fab Jordan Oakes. I won't concede that anything in this realm is superior to This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5.

That album opens with a spoken introduction by my daughter Meghan ("These guys are still at it? Some people never grow up"), leading directly into Vancouver's phenomenal pop songstress Laurie Biagini with a call to action:

"Hey Mr. DJ, play me a song!"

As written here previously: "As much as we've loved pret' near everything Laurie has crafted over the years, 'Hey Mr. DJ' stands at the pinnacle. We realize it's not about us--the song's titular DJ is Laurie's beacon on a Saturday night, the evening before our own declaration that the weekend stops here--but man, it resonates in a way that's just magic to anyone who ever loved the radio. The track was on her 2022 album Stranger In The Mirror; when we started putting together This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5, 'Hey Mr. DJ' was the only thing we considered for that compilation's opening track. It initiates TIRnRR Volume 5's girl-and-boy song cycle (an idea that was a sort-of reimagining of this song cycle). 'Hey Mr. DJ' is absolutely essential to the concept for TIRnRR Volume 5."

Laurie Biagini asked us to play her a song. And we did. It is, after all, what we do. Thank you for being a part of this, Laurie. And thank you for helping us build an extraordinary album. We remain in your debt.

[REDACTED] FEATURING [REDACTED]: [REDACTED]

A great and special new single due out in November from our friends at Big Stir Records. BUT! It's a secret. Can't tell you about it because, y'know...secret. Nonetheless, we can play it! And we're playing it again at the top of our next show. Grab your bright lights and bikini bottoms--bikini tops are optional--and let's groove.

THE FLASHCUBES: Reminisce

And for this moment: All I wanna do is reminisce with 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: 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 (plus a High School Reunion BONUS!): 7/18/2026

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 # 1345

THE HIGH FREQUENCIES: Subterranean Homesick Blues

We open this week's broadcast bop-a-thon with another great track from the forthcoming tribute album Jem Records Celebrates Bob Dylan, this one courtesy of that force of rockin' pop nature known as the High Frequencies. As our pal Fritz Van Leaven reminds us, Elvis Costello's "Pump It Up" was directly inspired by Bashful Bobby's "Subterranean Homesick Blues;" for their take on the song, the High Frequencies retain the original punk and bile of Robert Zimmerman and Declan McManus alike, while applying an accomplished dash of pure, pretty effervescence that enhances the experience without diluting its anger. The pumps still work! Maybe vandals tried to take the handles, but the mighty muscle of the High Frequencies stopped the damned vandals cold. LOOK OUT, KID! You will absolutely be seeing and hearing this one in future playlists. 

RAMSEY LEWIS: Wade In The Water

Before viewing Questlove's excellent new documentary Earth, Wind & Fire: To Be Celestial vs. That's The Weight Of The World, I did not know that EWF's Maurice White had been a drummer with the Ramsey Lewis Trio from 1966 to 1970. See, ya learn stuff watching TV. That connection was sufficient to prompt Ramsey Lewis's return to the TIRnRR playlist, a feat accomplished with the title tune from Wade In The Water, the first Lewis album to feature White. Wade in the water? Smokin' on the water! We'll hear another track from the same album this Sunday night.

Why? We got a good reason. (And we're not taking the easy way out.)

THE ICICLES: I Wanna Know

THE BLUE HERONS: Take A Break

From this week's playlist commentary:

"... A recent Only Three Lads podcast introduced me to the music of the Blue Herons, and further informed me that Blue Herons singer Gretchen DeVault was also in the Icicles. And I love the Icicles! That compelled me to buy the current Blue Herons album Demon Slayer, to pull out my trusty CD copy of the Icicles' A Hundred Patterns, and to include a track from each in this week's playlist...."

Over the past couple of decades, the Icicles' "Snowman" has been a frequent fixture of our seasonal playlists, and I confess my short attention span--which my daughter once described as AD...OS! (Attention Deficit...Ooo, SHINY!)--prevented me from delving further. We remedied that by playing "I Wanna Know," another go'geous track from A Hundred Patterns, and I cursed the AD..OS! that stopped us from programming this perfect crystal twenty years ago. 

When Gretchen and her Blue Herons collaborator Andy Jossi were on O3L, the show's hosts Brett Vargo and Uncle Gregg played the title track from Demon Slayer, and I was duly mesmerized: Dreamy and vibrant, with echoes of '90s worthies like the Primitives and the Darling Buds. WANT! And got. That's why a benevolent deity gave me a credit card in the first place.

I intended to include that title track in this week's show, but the playlist ran a teensy bit too long, forcing me to sub the slightly shorter "Take A Break" in its place. Not to worry! We will slay that soulless demon on our next show.

THE RAMONES: I Wanna Live

From a previous edition of 10 Songs:

I moved back to Syracuse from Buffalo in 1987. It was not a great time in my life, and it was still going to be a little while before things got better. 

In good times and less-good times, music has always been a highlight. I don't remember if I heard "I Wanna Live" before picking up my copy of the Ramones' 1987 album Halfway To Sanity. I may have seen its video on MTV, but my memory insists I didn't even know the Ramones had a new album out when I spotted and immediately purchased Halfway To Sanity at The Record Theatre up on the SU hill. 

The album includes a fab guest appearance by Blondie's Debbie Harry on "Go Li'l Camaro Go," a meeting of CBGB's minds I'd been wishing for since the late '70s. Nonetheless, my favorite was (and is) "I Wanna Live." 

Is it a life-affirming track? By default, I guess, though it could also be read as a suicide note. But the guitar sounds like it wants to live. Joey Ramone likewise sounds like he's digging in for the long haul. It's what I want, and I'm going with that. 

GENERATION X: Dancing With Myself

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE SPONGETONES: Lifetimeline

This week's show was already programmed when we received word that TIRnRR Fave Raves the Spongetones were releasing a new single. Well, we've gotta play THAT!. Advance copy secured, playlist tweaked ever-so-slightly, and this uberfab track "Lifetimeline" was on the radio where it belongs. And it's back where it belongs again on our next show. The lifetimeline is secure.

SKOOSHNY: It Hides More Than It Tells

Think Like A Key Music is one of our favorite archival labels, particularly for their recent slate of previously-unreleased '70s and '80s live tracks by the majesty of the Shirts (as heard here and here). Think Like A Key's new Skooshny collection The Recordings 1971-1981 plays right into our lovably ornery demographic, preserving 21 tracks of left-of-the-dial pop music that merited a much wider audience. I remember reading about Skooshny in the pages of Bomp! magazine (and I think in Trouser Press) when I was in my teens and early twenties, but I don't think I heard any of their music at the time.

Well! We're hearing it now, thanks to the good folks at Think Like A Key Music. And we're putting it on the radio. More next week.

BETH PEABODY: Out And About

A lot of the coolest radio shows on the whole friggin' planet have been playing "Get It Out," the fabulous current single by Beth Peabody. It's a great song choice, and "Get It Out" deserves every second of that airplay.

We also played Beth's "Get It Out" last week, but we've been playing its virtual flip side "Out And About" all along. Both songs were written and previously recorded by Jim Basnight, Beth sang on Jim's versions, and Jim now plays on Beth's new versions, too. Jim's "Get It Out" has itself received its share of TIRnRR spinnage, and maybe that's why our current Beth Peabody selections have gravitated to "Out And About" instead of "Get It Out."

Still, I don't think we're merely defaulting to "Out And About." Man, both tracks are as radio-ready as one could wish, but there is a specific groove in "Out And About" that just annexes my attention, making its continued TIRnRR playlist appearances both inevitable and unerringly, righteously appropriate.

THE AMPLIFIER HEADS: Rock 'n' Roll Riot

This little mutant radio show has been all in for the Amplifier Heads' forthcoming album Super 8, doling out advance singles as they've become available. That willfully manic plan brings us this week to "Rock 'n' Roll Riot," an exercise in a-stompin' and a-rompin' that lives up to the celebratory promise of its title. Rock 'n' roll riot? Sign us up! And yet another track from Super 8 will open our next radio riot on Sunday. Man your stations, Amplifier Heads! There's a riot going on the air.

MONOGROOVE: Back To School

Back to school? Yep. Got a 1976 high school reunion party that I'll be crashing next week. I'm sure that night's soundtrack will stick to the music of the Me Decade, but for now we start our prep time with a spin of  Monogroove's TIRnRR Pick Hit "Back To School." We'll continue that prep on our next show, supplementing "Back To School" with three additional secondary-education tracks (two from the '70s, one from before I was born) that put the proper BOOM! in the ol' sis-boom-bah. 

And just like when I was in high school: I solemnly swear not to learn anything.

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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