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....
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