10 SONGS: 6/21/2024

10 Songs is a weekly list of ten songs that happen to be on my mind at the moment. The lists are usually dominated by songs played on the previous Sunday night's edition of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl. The idea was inspired by Don Valentine of the essential blog I Don't Hear A Single. 

This week's edition of 10 Songs draws exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1238.

THE FLASHCUBES: Do Anything You Wanna Do

This week's extravaganza opens with the Flashcubes' ace annexation of Eddie and the Hot Rods' power pop classic "Do Anything You Wanna Do." I didn't mention this on-air, but I knew when we programmed the show that I would be recording my parts for this episode on my daughter's 29th birthday. 

Given that, of course we open with "Do Anything You Wanna Do." 

Do anything you wanna do. It's the ambition I've always wished for her, the advice I've always offered her, and the words-to-live-by I've always hoped could guide her through a world of fulfillment and delight. I'm a proud father every second of every day.

BLOODSTONE: My Little Lady

Among the advantages of free-form playlist-building is that inspiration can come from anywhere, and neither a programming director nor (even worse) a programming consultant can block the mission-from-God implementation of your divine revelation.

Bloodstone is a soul group best-known for their sublime 1973 hit "Natural High." Last week, everybody's pal Robbie Rist (no doubt himself inspired by immersion in recent viewings of The Midnight Special on YouTube) posted:

"Bloodstone was a BAND! Not four guys in pastel suits with a backing band. And the high voiced dude played BASS! Dang. Skills."

Fair enough. And both a gent named Mark Fletcher and I immediately asked Robbie if he had ever seen Bloodstone's movie. One can imagine the pricking of his thumbs as Robbie replied:

"THEY DID A MOVIE???????"

Yep! I recall seeing Bloodstone's 1975 flick Train Ride To Hollywood on HBO when I was still a '70s teen. It's goofy and very much of its time, steeped in '70s nostalgia for Hollywood's golden age, featuring the Bloodstone gang cavorting alongside actors playing Humphrey Bogart, Bela Lugosi, W. C. Fields, Clark Gable, et al. (Typical scene? The Hollywood crew getting stoned, and Dracula telling Sam Spade, Don't Bogart that joint!) The entire movie is up on YouTube, and I should maybe oughta give it another view one of these days.

Anyway, Robbie's mention of Bloodstone was sufficient to determine that it was high [HAR!] time this little mutant radio shindig played Bloodstone again. We have played them before--we played "Rock 'n' Roll Choo Choo" from, you guessed it, Train Ride To Hollywood--but that was years ago. I didn't want to play the obvious choice of "Natural High," at least not this early in the show, so we opted for the lesser-known "My Little Lady."

(I wanted to circle back and play "Natural High" at the show's end, but we ran out of time. So "Natural High" will finally make its long-overdue TIRnRR debut this coming Sunday night. Two weeks in a row with a band called Bloodstone! Thanks for the inspiration, Robbie.)

WONDERBOY: Girl Songs

For dramatic purposes, the part of Robbie Rist will be played by DC Comics character Sunny Sparkle

Form follows function. Or function follows form--I forget which. Either way: Bloodstone singin' about a little lady in one set, then Robbie Rist with Wonderboy extolling the merit of girl songs in the next. That's how you build a better playlist, people.

THE GRIP WEEDS: Dandelion

THE ROLLING STONES: Get Off Of My Cloud

The recent tribute album Jem Records Celebrates Jagger & Richards has been feeding our playlists with satisfaction-level frequency. We played one of the Grip Weeds' contributions to that tribute (the great "We Love You") a couple of weeks back, and this week it seemed time to turn our attention to their cover of "Dandelion." We'll hear two more Jem Records Celebrates Jagger & Richards tracks on our next show, one of which we've played before, and one we, y'know, ain't played yet. But. We. WILL!

"Get Off Of My Cloud" was the first Rolling Stones song I knew, a well-remembered AM radio smash in 1965. I was but five years old, but even then I noticed how the Stones tweaked the familiar phrase Two's company, three's a crowd into their own uniquely cantankerous One is company, two's a crowd. On my cloud, baby.

BILLY JOEL: You May Be Right

The form function form thing again. Dana played Los Straitjackets performing Nick Lowe's "I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass." Billy Joel's "You May Be Right" literally opens with the sound of breaking glass. 

You gotta love that.

NICK LOWE: So It Goes

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

sparkle*jets u.k.: Box Of Letters

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio has been all-in for sparkle*jets u.k. since the dawn of ever, or at least since the dawn of TIRnRR. We signed on the air in December of 1998, and it wasn't long before "10 Inches" (from the group's 1998 album In, Through, And Beyond) secured a playlist berth or two on the big show. We're fans!

And this fan is really taken with the new sparkle*jets u.k. album Box Of Letters. We've been playing the album's title tune as an advance single for a few weeks already, and we'll be playing it again Sunday night. We'll also be playing another Box Of Letters track, too.

Because that's what "all in" means. 

THE TEARJERKERS: Syracuse Summer

I hate hot weather. I hate cold weather, too; it's not an either/or situation, and it certainly makes sense to me to despise both extremes anyway. But when it's chilly, I can add extra layers of clothing. I can't peel off my skin when the temps pop to some unholy number that starts with a friggin' 9.

Hey, you remember Robbie Rist, star of stage, screen, and some 10 Songs mentions a few paragraphs north of here? When he was visiting Syracuse earlier this year, we got together for a lovely evening of banter and dining. As we were leaving the restaurant, Robbie saw me donning my old-man toque, and exclaimed with great dismay:

LOOK! LOOK! Carl's wearing a HAT! It's COLD!!!! How do you people live here...?!

I'd mock him, but I'm too busy sweating now.

Even so, the residual little kid lurking within me retains an affection for summer. There's a sense of greater possibilities, a broader array of things to do, the elusive allure of vacation and fun. 

It doesn't last as long so it means a little bit more.

Flashcubes bassist Gary Frenay wrote "Syracuse Summer," the ultimate tribute to Central New York's mercurial climate. It was first recorded by the Tearjerkers in 1980, with Gary singing the bridge. I find I can hate hot weather and still absolutely, unequivocally adore this song. I am large. I contain multitudes.

THE RAMONES: Rockaway Beach

The summer's here. The time is right. And it's not hard, not far to reach. Surf's up, brudders and sisters. Surf's up.

If you like what you see here on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), please consider a visit to CC's Tip Jar. 

Carl's book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones is available, courtesy of the good folks at Rare Bird Books. Gabba Gabba YAY!! https://rarebirdlit.com/gabba-gabba-hey-a-conversation-with-the-ramones-by-carl-cafarelli/

If it's true that one book leads to another, my next book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) will be published in July. Stay tuned. Your turn is coming.

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, streaming at SPARK stream and on the Radio Garden app as WESTCOTT RADIO. Recent shows are archived at Westcott Radio. You can read about our history here.

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl

10 SONGS: 12/8/2023

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 # 1210: SUMMER IN DECEMBER! This show is available as a podcast.

IT'S MY PARTY: On The Beach Tonight

When school is done for everyone/We'll have some fun under the sun!

Statement of intent. If you're gonna pause the Central New York snowfall for an out-of-season celebration of summertime, you've gotta open with an enthusiastic statement of your sun-kissed intent. And if your sun-kissed intent just happens to involve girls in bikinis, well, all the better.

Rochester, NY's It's My Party! provide that statement. "On The Beach Tonight" first appeared on the 2000 compilation International Pop Overthrow Volume 2, and wound up on the group's album Can I Get To Know You Better? that same year. The "group" is really an ever-changing line-up of three young ladies playing the role of an early '60s girl group--kind of a distaff Menudo via the Brill Building (and 1650 Broadway)--executing both period covers and similarly sparkly originals. 

It's My Party! recorded the definitive version of "That Boy Belongs To Yesterday," the song Mick Jagger and Keith Richard wrote (as "That Girl Belongs To Yesterday") for Gene Pitney, and I tell ya, there aren't many renditions of Gene Pitney hits that can eclipse Pitney's take. "On The Beach Tonight" is still my favorite It's My Party! favor. And it was the undisputed choice to kick off our summer party this week.

SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE: Hot Fun In The Summertime

In (I think) the early '80s, readers responding to a poll in Trouser Press magazine named "Hot Fun In The Summertime" by Sly and the Family Stone as the all-time greatest summer single. It's a fantastic choice, and it was also carved in (wait for it!) stone as one of my picks for this SUMMER IN DECEMBER! playlist. 

As I write this, an email from my local library informs me that my reserve copy of Stone's new memoir Thank You (Fallettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) is ready for pickup. I'm very much looking forward to reading this, and even though I just started reading Quentin Tarantino's novelization of Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood, I'm thinkin' ol' Sly moves into place ahead of ol' Quentin. Hi, hi, hi, hi there.

THE RAMONES: Oh Oh I Love Her So

"Oh Oh I Love Her So" offers solid evidence of the Ramones' sheer 'n' irresistible prowess as a pure pop group. A pure pop group on amphetamines, sure, but a pure pop group nonetheless. Here, they exchange their familiar chainsaws and tubes of E-Z Sniffin' glue in favor of hangin' out by the soda machine at Burger King and ridin' the coaster at Coney Island. Yes, it's summertime with America's band!

(Oh! As SUMMER IN DECEMBER! surfs headlong into the ho-ho-holidays, I'd be remiss if I didn't recommend my Ramones book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones as the ideal stuffing for the stocking du jour. Naughty AND nice. Oh? OH!)

LAURIE BIAGINI WITH MARTY RUDNICK: As Long As I'm With You

The late Marty Rudnick's fab "Some Summer" would have been an absolute natural in this spot, as would a number of Laurie Biagini's Beach Boys-influenced treasures. And "As Long As I'm With You," the non-LP B-side to the Rubinoos' hit cover of Tommy James and the Shondells' "I Think We're Alone Now," was likewise an important track to consider. So much summer to pick from!

Realizing that I also really wanted to include both "As Long As I'm With You" and the Rubinoos' cover of the Raspberries' "Cruisin' Music," it was an easy solution to program the latter alongside Marty 'n' Laurie's ace rendition of the former. Solomon ain't got nothin' on us.

BLUE ÖYSTER CULT: This Ain't The Summer Of Love

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE SPONGETONES: This Kiss Is Mine Tonight

Songs played within a musical salute to summer don't need to be all summer-specific; the playlist should include selections that aren't necessarily about just sun, surf, the beach, bikinis, and the celebratory lack of pencils, books, and/or teacher's dirty looks. There are a plethora of songs that can make us think of summer, many that evoke the feel of summer without invoking its tropes. 

That's why we played the Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations" instead of "Surfer Girl," "Surfin' USA," "The Girls On The Beach," et al. It's why the playlist includes "Windy," "Mr. Tambourine Man," "I'm Tired," "Stay," ""I Saw The Light," "Some Jingle Jangle Morning," and others that aren't exactly summer songs, except that they are. Hell, it's why I almost played "Shout It Out Loud" by KISS. I'm still bummed we didn't have time for a KISS record.

And speaking of that word "kiss"...."This Kiss Is Mine Tonight."

Credit the Only Three Lads podcast for the inspiration that landed the Spongetones on this week's playlist. The Spongetones' Jamie Hoover was a guest on a recent O3L, and that episode's interior spin of the 'Tones classic "This Kiss Is Mine Tonight" provided sufficient and welcome oomph for me to cry out WE GOTTA PLAY THIS AGAIN ON TIRnRR THIS WEEK! 

Luckily, there wasn't anyone else with me in the car at the time. Some of my fellow commuters may have cast a worried glance my way, but what do THEY know about summer in December? No harm, no foul. I'm only proclaiming what's mine.

THE TEARJERKERS: Syracuse  Summer

There was no friggin' way TIRnRR was gonna do a SUMMER IN DECEMBER! special without a spin of the Tearjerkers' "Syracuse Summer." And I say that even though we initially, y'know, forgot to program it. Yeah, we surprise ourselves sometimes. As always, that initial programming blueprint included a few open spots to be filled in, and "Syracuse Summer" shot right into the curl of one of those open surfin' spots. 

Seasons change and you live extremes/You got snowfall covering your sunny dreams/You have to wait, but you want it more when it comes. Yeah. No friggin' way we do this week's theme without "Syracuse Summer." (The Tearjerkers' original 1980 45 is loooong OOP, but you can still get the track itself digitally as part of our own 2013 compilation This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 3.)

THE FLASHCUBES: Come Out And Play

"Syracuse Summer," of course, was written by Gary Frenay, bassist for Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse the Flashcubes. Gary also recorded his own version with the FabCats, the British Invasion-salutin' combo that includes Frenay as well as 'Cubes guitarist Arty Lenin. 

The Flashcubes themselves have never recorded (nor performed) "Syracuse Summer." Had I my druthers, the Flashcubes' current (and spectacular) all-covers album Pop Masters would have expanded an eensy bit beyond its twelve-track menu for some bonus tracks of our Cubic Heroes covering...themselves, i.e. songs written by Gary, Arty, or guitarist Paul Armstrong (and drummer Tommy Allen, if he has tunes any up his sleeve), but previously recorded by some of their other rockin' pop DBAs. That certainly could have included a Flashcubes reading of "Syracuse Summer."

That said, I've been flat-out thrilled with Pop Masters as-is, and it surprises no one when I say it's my # 1 album of 2023. For the summer music playlist at hand, the Flashcubes' Pop Masters cover of Chris Stamey's "The Summer Sun" would have been our most obvious selection, or we could have reached back to the late '70s for the group's own "Muscle Beach."

Instead, we went with "Come Out And Play," the Flashcubes' Pop Masters collaboration with the Paley Brothers to remake the latter's pure pop gem. Because c'mon: What's summer without a chance to go out and play?

THE MONKEES: You Bring The Summer

From their magnificent 2016 album Good Times!, the Monkees' "You Bring The Summer" offers a perfect summation of the implicit intent of SUMMER IN DECEMBER!: Summer from your clear blue skies will melt away the winter's gloom.

It's going to snow. We get it. And, if past is prologue, it's likely we're gonna get it. But I've got snow tires and determination, I've got warm clothes, and I have the most important magic totem of all: I've got my music.

That music brings the summer. Year-round.

LIBRARIANS WITH HICKEY: Listen, The Snow Is Falling

Can't stop the inevitable. Yoko Ono (via Librarians With Hickeys) invites you to listen. We'll serve up the soundtrack, and plow through together. Summer will come again. 

And really: Winter ain't that bad. Pass the eggnog! We'll spin our first holiday track of the season on our next show. 

If you like what you see here on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), please consider a visit to CC's Tip Jar. 

Carl's new book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones is now available, courtesy of the good folks at Rare Bird Books. Gabba Gabba YAY!! https://rarebirdlit.com/gabba-gabba-hey-a-conversation-with-the-ramones-by-carl-cafarelli/

If it's true that one book leads to another, my next book will be The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). Stay tuned. Your turn is coming.

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, streaming at SPARK stream and on the Radio Garden app as WESTCOTT RADIO. Recent shows are archived at Westcott Radio. You can read about our history here.

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl

10 SONGS: 3/31/2023

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 # 1174. This show is available as a podcast.

LIBRARIANS WITH HICKEYS: Can't Wait 'Till Summer

When we receive a new album for TIRnRR airplay consideration, both Dana and I take foolish pride in our ability to pick out great singles. I say we've done pretty well in that regard, but we fell short with "Can't Wait 'Till Summer," the current single from Librarians With Hickeys' superswell 2022 album Handclaps & Tambourines.

In all fairness to us, it's worth noting that our initial pick t' click from this album was the brilliant "I Better Get Home," and we have no second guesses about poundin' that one into the airwaves. I mean, that track is powered by confident cries of HEY!, and ya can't go wrong putting confident cries of HEY! on the radio. You can't. We did our job with that one.

Alas, our obsession with "I Better Get Home" rendered us oblivious to the boundless pop splendor of "Can't Wait 'Till Summer." Man, whatta great single, even without the prerequisite power of HEY! The track is tinged with melancholy, less a celebration of surf and sun and more reminiscent of the fleeting nature of summer romance, the longing and even regret we hear in the Beach Boys' "Girl Don't Tell Me" and Chad and Jeremy's "A Summer Song." The mighty Big Stir Records has released "Can't Wait 'Till Summer" as a digital single; we played it this week, and we'll play it again next week. It didn't need to wait for summer. It just needed to wait for its turn. 

(PLUS! It has a really nice new video.)

THE TEARJERKERS: Syracuse Summer

THE MONKEES: You Bring The Summer

Opening this week's shindig with Librarians With Hickey's "Can't Wait 'Till Summer" compelled us to follow with two more summer-titled tunes. Happier summer songs. Never mind that spring has barely sprung, or that it's still been snowing in Syracuse. It's the sun-kissed thought that counts.

"Syracuse Summer" was written by Gary Frenay of the Flashcubes, and released as a single by the Tearjerkers in 1980. Lead vocals are by Gary's long-time pal/Tearjerkers guitarist Charlie Robbins and Tearjerkers bassist Dave DeCirce, Gary and his fellow Flashcube Arty Lenin join Ducky Carlisle and Keith Vincelette on backing vocals (as Northside All-Star Singers), Gary sings the bridge, and Tearjerkers guitarist Dave Soule and drummer Larry Dziergas complete the magic of this perfect, perfect single. This sublime tribute to the mercurial climate of Central New York--Seasons change and you live extremes/You got snowfall covering your sunny dreams--has owned a permanent berth on my all-time Hot 100 for more than four decades. Its only CD or digital appearance to date was on our 2013 compilation This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 3, which included a cool percussive intro that was omitted on the original 45.

"You Bring The Summer" was the second preview single from the Monkees' stellar 2016 album Good Times! That second single served as a great reassurance for me at the time. I was initially underwhelmed with the first single "She Makes Me Laugh," and I wrote about that here; "You Bring The Summer" was an instant, welcome earworm, and its release prompted me to write an emotional reminiscence of my high-school friendship with another Monkees fan. With "You Bring The Summer," I knew for sure that good times were in store. Good Times! turned out to be my favorite album of the year, and the subject of the only record review I've written since my Goldmine days.

("You Bring The Summer" also made a brief appearance in the 2016 Netflix miniseries Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life. Good enough for Lorelei and Rory? Good enough for all of us, man. Good enough for all of us. Bring it.)

ORBIS MAX AND LISA MYCHOLS FEATURING ED RYAN: RUOK

A cautionary tale from the combined forces of Orbis Max and Lisa Mychols featuring Ed Ryan, "RUOK" is gorgeous on its own merit and vital in its reminder that our friends need us, just as we need them. Are you okay? We need to ask. 

And we've gotta listen closely to the answer.

BRENDA LEE: What'd I Say

In addition to her pivotal role in inspiring my lovely wife Brenda's preferred nickname, Brenda Lee was Little Miss Dynamite, and you can hear that explosive ability in her rockin' '50s sides like "Sweet Nothin's." I think more people associate Lee with ballads like "I'm Sorry," or with her holiday smash "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree," records which don't demonstrate Lee's capacity for the incendiary.

My top two Brenda Lee performances would be both sides of this phenomenal 1964 UK single, "Is It True"/"What'd I Say." Recorded in London, produced by noted British hitmeister Mickie Most, and with Jimmy Page on guitar, these tracks are dynamite indeed. I knew the irresistible A-side from its appearance on Rhino Records's essential girl-group sound boxed set One Kiss Can Lead To Another, but I first heard Lee's wild 'n' terrific take on Ray Charles' "What'd I Say" a week or two ago, when I snagged a copy of a various-artists set called The Rebel Kind: Girls With Guitars 3. Whoa! Dynamite on demand. That what I say.

THE TEMPTATIONS: My Girl

The occasionally random nature of the TIRnRR programming process: I don't remember if I had any intention of playing the Temptations this week. But when Dana chose a spin of Iggy Pop's "Pumpin' For Jill," I automatically followed with "My Girl." As one does. Don't seek to understand the programming process. The programming process is the programming process.

My long-threatened book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) does not include an entry for "My Girl," though it would certainly qualify for that ongoing and infinite discussion. The song is referenced in two other entries, for the Temptations' "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone" and former Temps lead singer David Ruffin's "I Want You Back:"

"...The Temptations had been one of Motown's most consistent hitmakers throughout the '60s, and success had continued into the early '70s. The group's line-up had changed over time; David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks, and Paul Williams were all former Temptations by the time of 'Papa Was A Rollin' Stone' in '72. 'Papa Was A Rollin' Stone' was as far removed from earlier Temps hits like 'My Girl' and 'The Way You Do The Things You Do' as the party of Abraham Lincoln in the 1860s was removed from the party of Nixon's Southern strategy in the late 1960s...."

"Ruffin had been a proven and experienced hitmaker with the Temptations. If Motown was the sound of young America in the '60s, the Temptations were arguably the sound of Motown. Their hits were many, their popularity vast, and 'My Girl' in particular is immortal, and perhaps the definitive Motown single. 'My Girl' is furthermore the sort of pervasive classic that is always lying somewhere near the surface of your subconscious, a tune you might not think anyone ever actually wrote, but which must instead have been passed down from generation to generation.

"Ruffin had been the lead voice on 'My Girl,' as well as on the Temptations' 'Ain't Too Proud To Beg,' '(I Know) I'm Losing You,' and 'I Wish It Would Rain,' among others. But by 1968, being one of the Temptations had ceased to bring Ruffin sunshine on a cloudy day. With that, he was no longer a Temptation..."

So why isn't "My Girl" in the GREM! book? Don't seek to understand the writing process. The writing process is the writing process.

THE BEAS: International Girl

The Beas' obscure 1966 B-side "International Girl" also receives a mention in The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1), though it's just a passing reference in (off all things) my Freddie and the Dreamers chapter. The A-side "Nothing Can Go Wrong" is also cool but no less obscure, and it can't match the sheer zip of "International Girl," which shoulda been the focus track. See, they coulda used Dana & Carl to pick the singles. Granted, I was six at the time, but I would have served if I had been called to do so.

"International Girl" was the reason I bought my copy of The Rebel Kind: Girls With Guitars 3, the compilation that gave me Brenda Lee's "What'd I Say." I knew "International Girl" from some '60s girl group compilation I downloaded with my eMusic membership years ago. Those files disappeared when my iTunes library melted circa 2019. I love the track, so it was high time I replaced it. If memory serves, "International Girl" made its TIRnRR debut in August of 2010, a dedication to my daughter Meghan the night before we flew to England for her first overseas trip. International girl/Dance all around the world.

The liner notes to The Rebel Kind say that songwriter Jerry Styner claimed that the unidentified lead singer of the Beas went on to be a member of the Honey Cone, best-known for their '70s bubblesoul classic "Want Ads." I have found nothing to corroborate that claim. But what the hell: I'm using it as an excuse to start a rumor that Reggie Mantle of the Archies played bass on "International Girl." Why not? Veronica was an international girl, too.

THE BAY CITY ROLLERS: Rock And Roll Love Letter

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE RAMONES: Sitting In My Room

As I continue to prepare for the May publication of my new book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones, we've been programming a lot of Ramones music. That's not unusual--the Ramones are always one of our top acts on TIRnRR--but I do currently have a more deliberate intent to play this group I call the American Beatles, the greatest American rock 'n' roll group of all time. This piece touches a bit on how the months of April and May figure to be specific celebrations of 2023 as my year of the Ramones.

I've been re-listening to the Ramones' 1981 album Pleasant Dreams. It's such a great record, even though it doesn't sound like any other Ramones album. Here's a sneak peak at what I'll be saying about Pleasant Dreams in a forthcoming post:

"Pleasant Dreams was produced by Graham Gouldman, who achieved great success in the '60s as a songwriter for the Yardbirds, the Hollies, and Herman's Hermits, and subsequently as a performer with 10cc. And, as Johnny Ramone said in our interview, 'The guy from 10cc producing the Ramones? 10cc sucks, and it's not right for the Ramones.'

"On Pleasant Dreams, Gouldman's production made the Ramones sound...I dunno, smoother than expected? Phil Spector had done something similar with 1980's End Of The Century, another album that doesn't sound like any other Ramones album. In Spector's hands, the bubblepunk purity of the Ramones got lost in his Wall of Sound; Gouldman turned the Ramones into a new wave pop band. Neither End Of The Century nor Pleasant Dreams is at the same transcendent level as the classic first four Ramones albums that preceded them.

"Ignoring the anomaly of this album's place in the larger Carbona-huffin' picture, though, I need to risk contradicting myself: Pleasant Dreams is a fantastic record. Fantastic. I know Marky Ramone liked it, and we've established that Johnny hated it, but the fact that it wasn't Rocket To Russia doesn't prevent it from being compelling in its own right nonetheless.

"Pleasant Dreams is loaded with great Ramones songs, from 'We Want The Airwaves' to 'It's Not My Place (In The 9 To 5 World)' to 'She's A Sensation' to the superb album closer 'Sitting In My Room.' 'The KKK Took My Baby Away' is the best-known of the bunch. Would the tracks sound better if Ed Stasium or Tommy Ramone had produced them? Possibly. They sound pretty good as-is...."

Prior to my reacquaintin' session with Pleasant Dreams, I'd forgotten how just friggin' cool its last track "Sitting In My Room" is. Pleasant Dreams will never be my favorite Ramones album; the first four albums have a lock on my top spots, I've always been fond of 1983's Subterranean Jungle, and the group's '90s stuff was way better than most folks realize. But Pleasant Dreams is also solid. We'll hear my # 1 favorite Pleasant Dreams track on our April 9th show. 

PERILOUS: Rock & Roll Kiss

Perilous' ace number "Rock & Roll Kiss" was one of my top tracks in 2022, and we were delighted to include it on our most recent compilation album This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5. I'm very much looking forward to seeing Perilous play out live, and we're working on a plan to make that happen at a book release party in May.

Which book? Oh, you know which book....

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.

Carl's new book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones is now available for preorder, courtesy of the good folks at Rare Bird Books. Gabba Gabba YAY!!

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: 5/26/2020

10 Songs is a weekly list of ten songs that happen to be on my mind at the moment. Given my intention to usually write these on Mondays, the lists are often dominated by songs played on the previous 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 is the 21st entry in my 10 Songs series, and it achieves a specific milestone I'll talk about tomorrow. This week's edition of 10 Songs draws exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1026.

P. P. ARNOLD: The First Cut Is The Deepest


Well, let's get in our first obligatory plug for my book-in-progress The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1), as always dedicated to the simple truth that an infinite number of songs can each be THE greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Soul singer P. P. Arnold's forgotten original version of the oft-covered classic "The First Cut Is The Deepest" certainly deserves that breathless accolade:

"The First Cut Is The Deepest" is well-known via hit covers by Rod Stewart in 1977 and Sheryl Crow in 2003. Each of these is, really, a good record on its own, though neither is within hailing distance of the version recorded by the song's author, Cat Stevens. And no version--no version--is within light years of the beguiling, seductive, flawless original release by P. P. Arnold.

Like most American pop fans, my introduction to this composition came in 1977 with Rod Stewart's hit cover. I liked Stewart's record, but then my girlfriend played Stevens' version for me. Whoa! Instant fave rave, and I eventually scored my own copy on a double-album compilation called Hard-Up Heroes. I don't know how long it was before I realized that Stewart had omitted a line from the chorus, and everyone else has likewise skipped the same line after that. All versions include "When it comes to being lucky, she's cursed/When it comes to loving me, she's worse," but then Rod and Sheryl Crow and all other punters leave out "But when it comes to being loved, she's first," which strikes me as a pretty important line. "That's how I know!" For many years, I thought Cat Stevens released the first version of his own song, but P. P. Arnold's exquisite rendition actually predates Stevens' record. I say P. P. Arnold is also considerably better-looking than either Stevens or Stewart, but that's me. Even if we close our eyes and just listen to her absolute mastery of every syllable, every nuance of longing and regret, hope and fear, it's clear that P. P. Arnold's standout performance of "The First Cut Is The Deepest" is The Greatest Record Ever Made.

JIM BASNIGHT: This Is Where I Belong


This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio routinely refers to The Kinks as our house band. We're also fond of Jim Basnight, a durable interest that dates back to his work with the fabulous punk-pop group The Moberlys and extends through his subsequent solo career. So, the idea of Jim Basnight covering The Kinks is just A-OK with us, and here's ample evidence our Jim is up to the task. Jim's ace cover of "This Is Where I Belong"--one of my many favorite Kinks songs to begin with--was previously in Big Stir Records' digital singles series, and recently included in irresistible physical form on the collection Big Stir Singles--The Sixth Wave. Purchase of that singles collection benefits Sweet Relief's Musician Assistance Fund, so you probably oughtta buy one right now. Jim's considering doing a covers album, so we look forward to hearing more.



THE BAY CITY ROLLERS: Saturday Night



Never feel guilty for digging a pop song. I reject the ludicrous notion of guilty pleasures in music; you either like something or you don't like something, and no amount of misplaced hipsterism should be allowed to alter that. Stand your freakin' ground, and dig what you dig.

I dig The Bay City Rollers. I pretty much always have, at least once I got over the absurdity of them being hyped as the next Beatles. In 1987, they were the subject of my first feature article in Goldmine, and The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) will include a chapter on their fantastic recording of "Rock And Roll Love Letter." As a teen, I owned the Rollers' "Rock And Roll Love Letter" and "Saturday Night" 45s. I did not care whether or not my peers approved of the choice. Guilty? Not me, man--your rules do not apply.

THE DAVE CLARK FIVE: Glad All Over



The mid '60s British Invasion is my most prominent prevailing touchstone in music; as a flashpoint in time, only '70s punk even comes close to rivaling the importance of that era for me. I was four years old in 1964, and although I already loved music (of course!), the impact of Beatlemania and its aftermath had both an immediate and an everlasting impact on me. From soul to bubblegum, glam to power pop, rhythm and blues to folk rock, ska, new wave, metal, or what have you, my taste in pop music is firmly rooted in that giddy, transcendent moment of yeah, yeah, YEAH!

But when I think of the British Invasion, the first songs that come to my mind aren't Beatles songs. I think even my subconscious mind puts The Beatles into their own separate and exclusive class. No, mention of the British Invasion instantly conjures two songs before all others in that swirling mess o' everything I call my brain: "You Really Got Me" by The Kinks and "Glad All Over" by The Dave Clark Five.

I don't really remember either song contemporary to their release. I remember the DC5's "Bits And Pieces," and I remember The Searchers' "Needles And Pins," Herman's Hermits' "Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter," and The Rolling Stones' "Get Off Of My Cloud" from that impressionable time when I was four and five in '64-'65. And of course I remember The Beatles. Awareness of The Kinks, and of DC5 songs that weren't "Bits And Pieces," came later, when I was a high school student in the '70s. And both of those songs took over as my enthusiasm for the British Invasion reached a fevered zenith that has never subsided, and likely never will.

THE EQUALS: Baby Come Back



I have no recollection whatsoever of when I may have first heard The Equals' 1968 hit "Baby Come Back." The Equals were never quite as well known in the U.S. as they were in Europe, and even "Baby Come Back"--their sole Billboard hit--peaked at # 32. It's still possible I heard it on the radio in those dearly-missed days of regional hits that prevented radio stations in one city from sounding exactly like radio stations in another city. But I digress....



When Eddy Grant's fabulous "Electric Avenue" took over my '69 Impala's AM radio in 1983, I'm sure I had no idea that Grant had been in The Equals (if I'd even heard "Baby Come Back" by then, though I'm sure I had), nor probably that The Equals had recorded the original version of Grant's "Police On My Back," a song I only knew from a then-recent cover by The Clash. I learned. The Equals' original recordings can be a little hard to find now--beware of Equals CDs polluted by remakes rather than the rockin' real deal--but it's worth the effort. If you can find it, a 1994 2-CD best-of set called First Among Equals is your recommended resource for all things being Equal.



RICH FIRESTONE: If The Sun Doesn't Shine



Rich Firestone returns to the playlist and to 10 Songs in the wake of the third anniversary of his first solo show for our charming little radio station. Nowadays, the esteemed Mr. Firestone hosts the always effervescent Radio Deer Camp on SPARK! WSPJ Syracuse every Sunday afternoon from 5 to 7 Eastern. Several years back, before they relocated from Maryland to Michigan, Reechie and his wife Kathy Firestone twice visited Syracuse to guest-host episodes of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio. 

But on May 21st of 2017, after the Firestones had moved too far away to make a trip to Syracuse for a long weekend, Dana and I needed a night off. Dana, as I recall, had a secret mission that Sunday, probably teaming up with The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. to combat the evil machinations of T.H.R.U.S.H., those bastards; details of that affair remain classified. Me? My wife Brenda and I were in Ithaca for our daughter Meghan's college graduation, and my heart bursts with pride at the summa cum laude memory. 

So Reechie stepped in. He programmed and recorded his own episode of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, and he saw that it was good. Ever since then, Dana and I have wanted Rich to do more shows for our station, and the need for fresh programming during sequestration gave us the opportunity to make it so. The seed of Radio Deer Camp first took root in that 5/21/2017 TIRnRR, and we remain grateful to Rich for all of that.

The boy can sing pretty good, too.



THE FLAMIN' GROOVIES: First Plane Home



In August of 1992, Brenda and I were preparing for our first-ever trip across the Atlantic, set to visit my sister and her family in England. The first Dana & Carl radio series We're Your Friends For Now had just ended abruptly in June. With minds fixed on finally making a pilgrimage to the land that birthed my beloved British Invasion, we got up early on the morning of our departure, all packed and ready. Just prior to leaving the house and cruising to the airport, I had one important task to accomplish. I grabbed a record by an American group, The Flamin' Groovies. I don't remember if it was the Jumpin' In The Night LP or the CD best-of Groovies' Greatest Grooves. Either way, I needed to crank one song before we left: "First Plane Home."

"First Plane Home" is occasionally my favorite Flamin' Groovies track, which is quite a thing to say when you realize their song "Shake Some Action" is The Greatest Record Ever Made! If a song about catching the first available return flight seems an odd choice for the soundtrack to starting one's trip abroad, you've gotta understand that I was focused on one key line in the song:

I'm bound for ol' HEATHROW!

My words can't convey that feeling. It was an indescribable flame of bliss, anticipation, excitement, wonder, reverence, and disbelief. I was 32. After decades spent as an unabashed Anglophile, I was at long last bound for ol' Heathrow. My senses preen and tingle at the recollection.

I love England. I love London. I love a lot of places that fortune has favored me with the opportunity to see, from New York to Cleveland to Toronto to Key West to San Francisco to Malaga to Mechelin to Morocco to Washington, DC, and more. London! We never made it up to Liverpool, but we were in England. Cheers!

As we shelter at home, and even before the pandemic fixed us in place, I have wished we could travel more. It's difficult and daunting. There are more places I still want to see before the sun does set on my own mortal empire. And I want to return to London, to England. I so, so want to be bound for ol' Heathrow once again.

CAROLYNE MAS: In The Rain



Although singer 'n' songwriter Carolyne Mas' widest notoriety came during her late '70s-early '80s run as a Mercury Records artist, she continued to perform and record after parting company with the label in 1981. A 2003 compilation with the fitting title Beyond Mercury provides a partial document of the richness of her work during that post-'81 period. Beyond Mercury includes some of her '80s recordings with The Skeletons--America's coolest band--and it also includes this otherwise-unavailable 2001 gem "In The Rain." I'm in the process of trying to track down a CD copy of Beyond Mercury, and I aim to continue playing this particular track for the foreseeable future. (And, in the mean time, Beyond Mercury is available as a digital download. Blue skies, baby!)

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: Girls In Their Summer Clothes



I do not dislike Bruce Springsteen, and in fact I do like (and even love) a number of his works even though I don't think l would include him on a list of my 200 all-time favorite rockin' pop artists. "Girls In Their Summer Clothes" is an oddball selection for one's go-to Springsteen track, but I tell ya, it just has a sublime majesty that touches me in a way no other Springsteen track ever really has. And yes, "Girls In Their Summer Clothes" gets its own chapter in The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1).

THE TEARJERKERS: Syracuse Summer



In early June of 1992, Dana and I arrived at the studio of WNMA, which was then the host of our five-month-old radio show We're Your Friends For Now. We were there to record a theme show, "The Sounds Of Summer," as gloomy downpours turned Syracuse into a rain-gray town not sufficiently well-known for its sound.

That's when we were informed that WNMA would be signing off for good by the end of the month. It would be the end of We're Your Friends For Now, and presumably (and plausibly) the end of any Dana & Carl radio shows. The decision to shutter WXXE had not yet been announced, so we weren't allowed to say anything about any of it on our show that night. We went about the drudgery of playing happy and exuberant summer music as our moods faded to black. At the end of the show, we played The Tearjerkers' fabulous Central New York seasonal celebration "Syracuse Summer" at the same time as we played a sound effects record of a thunderstorm. The Beach Boys-inspired good vibrations of "Syracuse Summer" mixed with the dreary noise of dark clouds shedding Heaven's tears as we prepared to bid a final farewell to our short radio careers.

(We, um, came back eventually. This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl: the sunshine after your rain since 1998.)

"Syracuse Summer" was written by Gary Frenay of The Flashcubes, and it has occupied a permanent berth on my all-time Hot 100 since its 45 rpm release in 1980. Its sound fills my soul with local pride, with hope for deliverance from inclement weather, with dreams of magic summers that don't last as long, so they mean a little bit more. The beach awaits. We'll get there when we can.


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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.

The many fine This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio compilation albums are still available, each full of that rockin' pop sound you crave. A portion of all sales benefit our perpetually cash-strapped community radio project:

Volume 1: download

Volume 2: CD or download

Volume 3: download

Volume 4: CD or download

Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio:  CD or download

Carl's writin' a book! The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) will contain 134 essays about 134 tracks, each one of 'em THE greatest record ever made. An infinite number of records can each be the greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Updated initial information can be seen here: THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! (Volume 1).