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

NEWS FROM ME: That Thing You Do!

Mark Evanier's News From ME is my favorite blog, and the model for whatever the hell it is I do here at Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do). News From ME is also the specific resource from which I habitually pilfer that "whatever the hell it is I do" line. I'm a recidivist. 

A recent News From ME post found Mark speaking about my all-time favorite film, 1996's That Thing You Do! , and Mark followed that post with a few more words about the movie ("More On That Thing You Do!"). Mark's fresh appreciations of this wonderful movie prompted me to send him some information about its title song's author, the late Adam Schlesinger. Mark was nice enough to quote my remarks (and link to my Greatest Record Ever Made! celebration of Schlesinger's snappy little song) in one more News From ME That Thing You Do! post.

While some may question Mark's description of me as "a gentleman," and perhaps some will quibble about his determination that I "seem to be rather well-versed" about pop music, I'm very, very grateful for the mention. Thanks, Mark! And please, do keep on doing that thing you do.

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

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, and on the web at http://sparksyracuse.org/ You can read about our history here.

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl

10 SONGS: 10/14/2022

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

This week's edition of 10 Songs draws exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1150.

EYTAN MIRSKY: This Year's Gonna Be Our Year

Our 1150th show coincides with the release of our new compilation album This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5. HuzZAH! You can read about the album here, and then select your choice of CD or digital download to purchase for your music library. We'll be glad you did!

We opened TIRnRR # 1150 with the last track on This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5: "This Year's Gonna Be Our Year" by Brother Eytan Mirsky. This fantastic, fantastic song is one of the defining tracks of TIRnRR's long and storied history. It earns its own chapter in my long-threatened book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1), and it is one of my all-time favorite tracks by anyone at any time.

There was never any doubt that Eytan's "This Year's Gonna Be Our Year" was going to be on This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5. In fact, we built the compilation with the conscious intent that all of its songs in sequence would lead into "This Year's Gonna Be Our Year" at album's end. Because after all trials and tribulations, steps forward and back, triumphs, tragedies, and even the mere treading of water, we all try to somehow just keep doing, to the best of our mortal ability. The goal is elusive, maybe illusionary, but always in our eyesight: This year, man. This year.

(We also served up fabulous Volume 5 tracks by Irene Peña and Kelley Ryan, plus one more track we'll discuss shortly.)

TIR'N'RR ALLSTARS: Waterloo Sunset

In addition to the five This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio compilations, we must also mention 2019's Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, a collection put together on our behalf by some of our talented friends. The project was spearheaded by Steve Stoeckel of the Spongetones and Keith Klingensmith of the Legal Matters (and of Futureman Records, which handled the release). We had nothing whatsoever to do with its creation, and didn't even know about it until it was a fait accompli. It ain't actually possible to make us feel humble about anything, but this touching gesture may have accomplished it anyway. Thank you, friends.

The title tune, a cover of the Kinks' classic, was performed by Steve Stoeckel, Keith Klingensmith, Bruce Gordon, Eytan Mirsky, America's Sweetheart Irene Peña, Teresa Cowles, Dan Pavelich, Joel Tinnel, Stacy Carson, and Rich Firestone. It's such a commanding performance, and such a moving gesture. Damn it. Maybe we can feel humble after all.

(This week's playlist also included two more tracks from Waterloo Sunset, performed by the Click Beetles and Gretchen's Wheel. Futureman's original digital-only release of Waterloo Sunset remains available and recommended, and you can also still get Kool Kat Musik's CD version.)

PATTI SMITH GROUP: Ask The Angels

Penthouse magazine was the perhaps-unlikely platform for my introduction to Patti Smith. Journalist Nick Tosches interviewed Smith for the April 1976 issue of Penthouse, and ya know what? Even as a 16-year-old, while it woulda been a fib to say I only read Penthouse and Playboy for the articles, I did indeed read a lot of the articles. Nick's Penthouse chat with Patti was my first-ever peripheral exposure to what would later be called punk rock. My accounts of that experience can be found here and here.

My first actual exposure to this music came about a year later, after reading Phonograph Record Magazine had primed my radar for punk. Before I heard the Sex Pistols on the radio in the summer of '77, the Patti Smith Group appeared on TV's The Mike Douglas Show, singing "Ask The Angels."

I hated it.

That opinion evolved. And how! I was a Patti Smith fan by year's end. Ask the angels, and the devils, too. And it's wild, wild, wild, wild!

THE FINKERS: Last Thing On My Mind

For our 1150th show, we wanted to include four tracks apiece from each of our five This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio compilations. Our inaugural CD was This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 1, released by JAM Recordings in...I forget. 2005 sounds right. For obsessive rockin' pop fans like your Dana and your Carl, the prospect of slapping together our own CD successor to the K-Tel and Ronco various-artists LPs of our misspent youth made us giddy, delirious, and...yeah, we're like that anyway. But this was giddiness with a PURPOSE...!

JAM's Jeremy Morris made it all happen. Among the treats on Volume 1 was "Last Thing On My Mind," a full-throttle irresistible from Australian combo the Finkers. We'd been corresponding with the Finkers' drummer Mickster, and we'd been programming our fair share of Finkers material. But this track absolutely knocked me out on first spin, prompting me to declare on air that "Last Thing On My Mind" was exactly the sort of song that always made me wish I had a radio show, just so I could play songs like "Last Thing On My Mind" on my radio show.

I also wrote the liner notes for Whole Lotta Fun, a Finkers best-of issued in 2002 by the Japanese label Wizzard-In-Vinyl. Yep, an American writer preachin' on behalf of an Australian band for a Japanese label. We are the world. The Finkers may have been our introduction to their lead singer Michael Carpenter, who has accumulated a ton of TIRnRR airplay as a solo artist.

(Other This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 1 tracks heard on TIRnRR # 1150 were by Popdudes, the Jellybricks, and the Lolas. The original CD is long, long out of print, but remains available as a download from Futureman Records. We really oughtta look into a CD reissue of Volume 1 some day.)

ANNY CELSI: Empty Hangers

Oh God, I love this song, from songer-songwriter Anny Celsi's 2003 album Little Black Dress & Other Stories. It's like a pop record written by Mickey Spillane, and it was my introduction to Celsi's magic talent. It was predestined that "Emptry Hangers" would find its way ontoThis Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 3 in 2013.

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 3 was our first with Ray Gianchetti's label Kool Kat Musik. Ray gave us carte blanche to assemble Volume 3 and its successors, and we took that as license to stuff the disc with Fave Raves by Mannix, the Tearjerkers, Blotto, Hawaii Mud Bombers, and the Catholic Girls. And Anny Celsi! "Empty Hangers" is absolutely one of the defining tracks of TIRnRR.

(The other This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 3 tracks we played this week were by Steve Stoeckel and his This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio All-Stars, Mannix, and Hawaii Mud Bombers. We also played Michael Carpenter's "I've Been Loving You" from his 2015 album The Big Radio; that track first appeared on This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 3. Like Volume 1, the CD of Volume 3 is out of print, but remains available as a Futureman Records digital album.)

THE FLASHCUBES FEATURING THE PALEY BROTHERS: Come Out And Play

The mighty Big Stir Records label has become a playlist perennial here, placing at least one track (and usually more) in almost every one of our weekly shows. That's been the case since even before Big Stir started releasing singles by Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse the Flashcubes. But, y'know, releasing Flashcubes singles doesn't exactly hurt, dig?

That trend will continue. Looking ahead to next week's show, I see three Big Stir tracks firmly perched within the playlist, including one brand-new track, one other track from earlier this year, and--obviously!--this fab current single by the Flashcubes featuring the Paley Brothers. We thank our friends at Big Stir for their role in getting us new music to play from my favorite group. 

MR. ENCRYPTO: The Last Time [a cappella]

I have mixed feelings about 2006's This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 2. It has a lot of great stuff, and it features an absolutely incredible '90s track by the Cowsills. I mean, whatever else we do or don't do with this little mutant radio show, Dana and I can puff with pride at the memory of the Cowsills letting us use one of their greatest songs on one of our CDs.

But whatever fond recollections I have of Volume 2 come equipped with an asterisk. It did not turn out like what we envisioned; there were disagreements with the label, nothing earth-shattering, but enough to change the result. Let’s let it go at that. I still have a big box of unsold Volume 2 CDs in my garage, and we wound up parting company (amicably) with JAM Recordings after its release. Dana may not share my disappointment with Volume 2, and the CD does have a bunch of very cool tracks contained within its digital grooves. Honestly, Volume 2 deserves better appreciation than what I'm saying about it now. Mixed feelings. Mixed feelings.

For TIRnRR # 1150, we programmed Volume 2 treats by the Spongetones, the Fire Apes, the B.A.R., and Tim Anthony. And we played a non-album expanded mix of Mr. Encrypto's amazing Volume 2 cut "The Last Time [a cappella]," a stunning vocals-only recording that still gives me chills to experience.

(The This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 2 CD is officially out of print, but you can buy it from me on eBay. C'mon! Help me clean out my garage! You can also, of course, get the Futureman download.)

THE WONDERS: That Thing You Do!

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE RUBINOOS: Nowheresville

Over the course of a whole lot of years doing this, TIRnRR has given us an extraordinary opportunity to connect with so many great artists whom we've admired for an even greater number of years. Our five TIRnRR comps have included contributions from the likes of the Cowsills, the Spongetones, Paul Collins' Beat, the Smithereens, John Wicks and the Records, Carolyne Mas, the Catholic Girls, the Grip Weeds, the Rooks, P. Hux, and Amy Rigby, as well as work from members of the Pandoras, Blondie, the Bee Gees, the Stems, and a big ol' list of more. We have been very lucky, and we are well aware of our good fortune.

I've been a fan of the Rubinoos since I was a senior in high school, during that same Spring '77 timeshot when I saw the Patti Smith Group on The Mike Douglas Show. I heard the Rubinoos on the radio (AM and FM), saw them on American Bandstand, and purchased their debut album. And their second album. And more after that.

Flash-forward: many years later, I wrote the entry for the Rubinoos' induction into The Power Pop Hall Of Fame. I've corresponded a little with Tommy Dunbar and Al Chan; Tommy saw that we were playing Beserkley Records-era Rubinoos material from a source he felt was substandard, so he upgraded us to the boxed set Everything You Always Wanted To Know About The Rubinoos. Well...all right!

And, best of all, the Rubinoos let us use their luxurious pop pulp noir track "Nowheresville" on 2017's This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 4. That story is told here. And we remain grateful for this ongoing opportunity. With such continued good fortune, that's how we do it here in Somewheresville.

(This week's playlist also included Volume 4 tracks by Circe Link and Christian Nesmith, the Slapbacks, and the Hit Squad. Both the CD and the download can still be grabbed and loved by discerning rockin' pop fans.)

THE VILLAS: Someone To Hold On To

One more from This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5. The Villas' previously-unreleased masterpiece "Someone To Hold On To" is not only a gorgeous and endlessly inviting pop number, it also served a specific purpose for Volume 5's concept. 

Volume 5's sequence and flow was inspired in part by a song cycle I did several years ago. I like the idea of assembling songs from different artists, and letting the songs chat with one another. A girl speaks. A boy speaks. A girl speaks. A boy speaks. And a story unfolds.

As This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5 plays, the girls and boys take turns relating where they think they are and what this place looks like today. And then, a girl and a boy speak together: Angie and Bill Villa. At last, after all was said and done, they had found someone to hold on to. As the Villas dance off together, our Volume 5 concludes with the wistful determination of Amy Rigby's "Tom Petty Karaoke" and, of course, Brother Eytan Mirsky. 

There is something to hold on to. Maybe we never thought we'd find it. Maybe it's still out there (as Ballzy Tomorrow's Volume 5 track suggests), awaiting discovery. But it exists. Hold on. We'll get to it yet.

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

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, and on the web at http://sparksyracuse.org/ You can read about our history here.

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl

10 SONGS: 4/21/2022

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

This week's edition of 10 Songs draws exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1125.

THE SAINTS: (I'm) Stranded

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

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

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

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

BLONDIE: In The Flesh

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

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

DATURA4: Open The Line

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

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

THE MONKEES: Tapioca Tundra

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

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

THE FLASHCUBES FEATURING SHOES: Tomorrow Night

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

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

JUNIPER: Turn To You

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

JIM BASNIGHT: Hello Mary Jane

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

AL GREEN: I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry

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

THE WONDERS: That Thing You Do!

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

SONNY AND CHER: The Beat Goes On

Yes. Yes it does. Join us!

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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.

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl