10 SONGS: 10/10/2025

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 # 1305.

STEVE STOECKEL: I Wanna Be A Vampire

It's important to have goals. Be the vampire you wish to be!

My book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) includes a chapter about "The Transylvania Twist," a terrific 1963 single credited to Baron Daemon and the Vampires. Baron Daemon (played by the late, great Mike Price) was Syracuse's local TV vampire when I was a kid in the '60s. As I wrote in the book: To any kid living in Syracuse at that time, Baron Daemon was as big as the Beatles.

Friend of TIRnRR Steve Stoeckel is best-known as singer/songwriter/bassist with North Carolina's phenomenal pop combo the Spongetones. Our Steve was not a Syracuse kid in the 1960s, and any familiarity he might have with Baron Daemon probably came from, y'know, reading my book (a book that also contains a chapter about the Spongetones). But Steve effectively channels the Dracula Beat on "I Wanna Be A Vampire," his contribution to Big Stir Records' epic new Halloween compilation Chilling, Thrilling Hooks And Haunted Harmonies.

The music of the night! And a vampire song that does not suck. We'll switch from vampires to witches for a spin of another track from Chilling, Thrilling Hooks And Haunted Harmonies on our next show.

THE RAMONES: I Don't Want To Grow Up

Grow up...?! As if.

(But speaking of the Ramones--the American Beatles, the greatest American rock 'n' roll band of all time--lemme take this opportunity to thank my friends at Rare Bird Books, the publisher of my 2023 book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones. The book was featured in this week's edition of Rare Bird's newsletter The Bird's Eye View, and I am very grateful for the mention.

Grateful. Still not grown up, mind you, but grateful.)

THE WEEKLINGS: Diamond Dogs

From the wonderful current compilation Jem Records Celebrates David Bowie, here's the Weeklings' cool take on Bowie's "Diamond Dogs." We offer it here as a dedication to the coaching staff (plus Higgins) of UFC Richmond. Hey guys! Looking forward to seeing you again this summer.

THE KENNEDYS: Walking Through The Park

From her secret origin as Maura Boudreau in North Syracuse, Maura Kennedy has always been one of us, a native daughter made good. Her husband Pete Kennedy isn't from around here, but he is likewise one of us, and Central New Yorkers proudly consider Maura and Pete's internationally-renowned coffeehouse pop combo the Kennedys to be local heroes, their downstate base of operations notwithstanding. It's a legit homecoming whenever the Kennedys play in Syracuse, and their latest homecoming occurs this Saturday, October 11th, at The 443 Social Club & Lounge. Tickets for the show? Glad you asked! Grab 'em with delirious glee right here.

Adding to the homecoming vibe, the Kennedys recently participated in Big Stir Records' various-artists blockbuster Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes, recording a sublimely aching cover of the Flashcubes' lovely "Walking Through The Park." Here's hopin' the Kennedys' homecoming includes a live performance of "Walking Through The Park" at the 443 on Saturday.

VEGAS WITH RANDOLPH: She's An Intellectual

Calling all intellectuals! Long-time TIRnRR Fave Raves Vegas With Randolph have released Drops Of Gold: The Best Of Vegas With Randolph, an absolutely primo retrospective set that oughta be an automatic purchase for all of us who adore music of the rockin' pop persuasion. And the lads of VWR are promoting Drops Of Gold with an absolutely primo new video for their past TIRnRR Pick T' Click "She's An Intellectual." Even better, it's an animated video inspired by the style of classic DC Comics cartoons. HEY! They're playing directly to MY demographic! And they're playing to win. It's Vegas, baby.

SLYBOOTS: Silent Storm

New single from Slyboots! Their 2024 single "If We Could Let Go" was my # 1 favorite new track last year, and "Silent Storm" continues that world-weary but determined sense of reaching for a better world. 

And I think we could all use a better world at this point.

TINA TURNER: The Acid Queen

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE SUPREMES: All I Want

Like the rest of the group's post-Diana Ross output, the Supremes' 1972 cover of Joni Mitchell's "All I Want" is woefully, criminally underrated. It's too much of a hot take to say the Supremes records after Ross left are a better group o' tunes than the familiar hits with Ross, but I admit the hyperbole is tempting. Not true, I guess. But tempting. 

Either way, if you can find it, a two-disc Supremes compilation called The '70s Anthology is well worth seeking and acquiring. Will it be all the Supremes you want? No, probably not. Will it be worthwhile in its own right? Damned right it will.

SHOES: Tomorrow Night

From The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1):

In the late '70s, power pop was a niche genre that did not wish to be a niche genre. It wanted fame, fortune. It wanted action. It for damned sure wanted the girl, right now. If not tonight, then tomorrow night...

...Shoes was one of the most notable (and durable) among '70s power pop groups, an exquisite four-man band from Zion, Illinois. Shoes took their first step with an album that was literally homemade, recorded in guitarist Jeff Murphy’s living room and released on the group’s own Black Vinyl label in 1977.  

That album, Black Vinyl Shoes, was an instant pop classic, bursting with understated gems, songs simultaneously Beatlesque yet not strictly derivative of anything. Black Vinyl Shoes brought the group to the attention of Bomp Records/Bomp! magazine visionary Greg Shaw. Bomp released a non-LP 45 of  “Tomorrow Night”/”Okay,” which still ranks as the best 1-2 punch of Shoes’ always-distinguished recording career. 

"Tomorrow Night" is nearly textbook power pop, a pretty ditty that combines yearning and lust, its façade suggesting an equal measure of the two, but really looking for a steamy tomorrow-night stand. What the track lacks in explosiveness á la the Who or Raspberries is more than compensated by its confidence and posture, the music leaning forward with single-minded precision. It's catchy and aggressive, its dreamy, breathy vocals piloting a rockin' sound with one Beatle boot perched in the British Invasion and one ragged Converse stepping on a back-breaking crack in the New Wave of post-punk rock 'n' roll....

THE ISLEY BROTHERS: Shout (Part 1)

The perils of prerecording a radio show: On Sunday night, my back-announcement of spinning the Isley Brothers' "Shout (Part 1)" was accompanied by my prerequisite cry of Let's GO, Buffalo! That moment aired shortly after the previously-unbeaten Buffalo Bills had been defeated by themselv...er, by the Patriots. Nonetheless: Let's GO, Buffalo! I retain my hope of seeing Bad Bunny perform a Halftime show during a Bills game on TV this February.

If you like what you see here on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), please consider a visit to CC's Tip Jar. You can also become a Boppin' booster on my Patreon page.

I compiled a various-artists tribute album called Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes, and it's pretty damned good; you can read about it here and order it here. My new book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) is now available, and you can order an autographed copy here. You can still get my previous book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones from publisher Rare Bird Books, OR an autographed copy here. If you like the books, please consider leaving a rating and/or review at the usual online resources.

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

THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! Tina Turner, "The Acid Queen"

Drawn from a previous larger post, this is not part of my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1).

An infinite number of tracks can each be THE greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Today, this is THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE!

TINA TURNER: The Acid Queen

Written by Pete Townshend

Produced by Denny Diante and Spencer Proffer

Single from the album Acid Queen, United Artists, 1975

This may seem an unlikely candidate to be anyone's first Tina Turner track, but I am as God made me. It's not that I didn't know who Turner was in 1975; I'd seen her on TV, more than once, and definitely at least once with Cher. I remember the song "Nutbush City Limits," and I may have seen/heard Ike and Tina Turner's cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary" in that time frame, but I would not be willing to testify to that in a court of law.

As little as I knew, I still knew enough to respect Turner's talent. Man, she was amazing, the shakin' and shimmyin' embodiment of rock 'n' roll. Nonetheless, I had no motivation to own any of her music until she covered the Who.

The truth be told, I really wasn't much into the Who then, either. AM radio had taught me a couple of their songs from Tommy, "Pinball Wizard" and "See Me, Feel Me." I was (at best) indifferent to the latter, but I did like "Pinball Wizard." Later on, when Elton John covered "Pinball Wizard" for the '75 film version of Tommy, I liked his version more than I liked the original.

Looking in my Billboard reference books, I was astounded to learn that "Pinball Wizard" was not a huge Top 40 hit for ol' Elton. It was never even released as a single, but it was all over Syracuse Top 40 radio when I was 15, and I wanted it. The Tommy soundtrack album was the only way to get it.

I was intrigued by the idea of the Tommy movie. For one thing, as a red-blooded fifteen-year-old boy, I thought actress Ann-Margret was gorgeous, and time spent staring at her image on-screen would be time well-spent. And I must have seen film clips of both Elton's "Pinball Wizard" and Tina's "The Acid Queen" on TV somewhere, maybe on The Midnight Special, because I vividly recall those sights and sounds. 

I never did get around to seeing the movie. My sister Denise bought the soundtrack for me, and it was my first true exposure to the Who's Tommy storyline. I would become a fan of the Who within the next two to four years. In 1975, I played Elton John's flamboyant "Pinball Wizard" and Tina Turner's sassy, sexy "The Acid Queen" over and over. Over time, I returned to the Who's original "Pinball Wizard," and deemed that the definitive take. 

Tina Turner still owns "The Acid Queen."

If you like what you see here on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), please consider a visit to CC's Tip Jar. You can also become a Boppin' booster on my Patreon page.

I compiled a various-artists tribute album called Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes, and it's pretty damned good; you can read about it here and order it here. My new book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) is now available, and you can order an autographed copy here. You can still get my previous book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones from publisher Rare Bird Books, OR an autographed copy here. If you like the books, please consider leaving a rating and/or review at the usual online resources.

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

VIRTUAL TICKET STUB GALLERY: First live performance experiences of an artist's work (in person or by proxy), Part 1

The title for today's post is a little bit clunky, and it's resisted my attempts to unclunkify it. But I was thinking the other day about performers I've seen in concert, and wondering how many times my first concert experience with a given act was also the first time I'd ever seen anyone play that act's music live.

For example: I don't think I'd ever witnessed anyone play a Prince song live before I saw Prince and the Revolution in concert, but I certainly saw a million bands play Beatles and even Wings songs waaaaay before I went to a Paul McCartney show. 

So! Let's look back at a few of the performers in my Virtual Ticket Stub Gallery and determine whether of not my first [artist name here] concert was also my live introduction to [artist name here]'s songbook.

THE ANIMALS

Seeing the reunited Animals--Eric Burdon, Alan Price, Hilton Valentine, Chas Chandler, and John Steel--was a dream come true. This was around 1983. Before that, I'm reasonably certain a great Rochester, NY combo called the Insiders included some Animals covers in their live shows.

But we can go all the way back to the early '70s for my first exposure to Animals material played live. When I was in middle school, circa 1972 or '73, a student assembly in the auditorium presented a variety show during one school day. I don't remember much about it, except that I think there was a representative of one of the armed services branches singing "Don't Rain On My Parade," and there was most definitely a teen band from one of the Central New York high schools, plugged in and playin' "House Of The Rising Sun."

This was my first live rock 'n' roll experience, and I loved it. My classmates were nonplussed, but I was in freakin' Heaven. I wish I knew who that teen band was; I wonder if any of its members went on to do more, and if I ever saw any of them in later incarnations. We'll likely never know. Though anonymous, my virtual ticket stub gallery started right here.

THE BEACH BOYS

I didn't see the Beach Boys until the late '80s, and common sense dictates I must have already seen someone perform an "I Get Around" or an "In My Room" or the like. 

I can't think of a single specific instance. 

Nonetheless, I'm gonna go with common sense. There's no way the Beach Boys in concert could have plausibly been my introduction to Beach Boys songs played live. 

KISS

Tabula rasa, baby. KISS was my first concert, and none of the school assembly or wedding bands I'd seen prior to that show ever exhorted an audience to rock and roll all night and party every day.

IGGY POP

In the early '80s, a Brockport, NY bar band called the Party Dogs regularly included Iggy's "Funtime" and the Stooges' "I Wanna Be Your Dog" in their live sets.

TINA TURNER

I think the band at my brother's wedding reception in 1973 played "Proud Mary," but their performance used Creedence Clearwater Revival's original arrangement rather than aping Ike and Tina Turner. I think. Anyway, if we don't count that, I doubt I saw anyone attempt any Turner classic moves before I saw Tina Turner in the late '80s.

That's three outta five where my first concert wasn't my first chance to hear one or more of an act's songs performed live by...somebody! We'll revisit this topic in a near-future post. 

IN-PERSON EVENT! On June 29, I will be making an in-store appearance at GENERATION RECORDS, 210 Thompson Street in NYC on behalf of my  new book GABBA GABBA HEY! A CONVERSATION WITH THE RAMONES. The book contains my 1994 interviews with Joey, Johnny, Marky, and C.J., which were cited by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as essential reading. I'll be at Generation to chat with fellow Ramones fans, talk about the book, the interviews, and how the music of the Ramones impacted my life. If you are in the New York area on June 29th, I would love to see you at Generation Records. Hey-ho, let's GO! 

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, 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/

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: 6/10/2023

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 # 1184. This show is available as a podcast.

TEGAN AND SARA: Girls Talk

The fifth and final season of the Amazon Prime TV series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel was top-to-bottom marvelous indeed, and the series finale two weeks ago hit all the marks it needed to hit. No spoilers. The glow of satisfaction lingers, and I know I'm going to remember Maisel as one of my all-time favorite series. 

(The first season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel also inspired me to write a tangent that is one of my favorite blog pieces, a fantasy about a make-believe 1950s rock 'n' roll movie called Jukebox Express. Somebody get Sophie Lennon on the phone!)

Also mixing Maisel and music, the finale's end credits rolled to the tune of Tegan and Sara's irresistible new cover of "Girls Talk," a song written by Elvis Costello and a long-time Fave Rave as rendered by Dave Edmunds in 1979. We played Linda Ronstadt's version just a couple of weeks back. 

Tegan and Sara's "Girls Talk" doesn't quite displace the Edmunds version in my rockin' pop cosmology, at least not yet, but damn, it's a solid, beguiling performance that is absolutely what I wanna hear again right now. Hits up. And Tegan and Sara's "Girls Talk" returns to the playlist next week.

TINA TURNER: What You Get Is What You See

I think my first real awareness of the late Tina Turner came via her TV appearances in the early '70s. I must have heard Ike and Tina Turner's hit cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary" on AM Top 40 in '71, but I have no recollection of it. To me, Turner was the dynamo I saw on television, beltin' out stuff like "Nutbush City Limits," probably with Cher, or maybe on Midnight Special. In '75, Turner's version of the Who's "The Acid Queen" became the first Tina Turner tune to have direct impact on teen me, and the first to enter my record library when my sister bought me the Tommy soundtrack LP. So: TV and turntable. That's how I knew Tina Turner. I didn't know her from radio.

That changed in the '80s. Freed from tethers to her abusive ex-husband, Tina Turner annexed the airwaves as her own, on her own. I remember hearing her then-new cover of Al Green's "Let's Stay Together" on a Buffalo FM station in '83, with no inkling of the massive uptick Turner's popularity was about to enjoy.

What's love got to do with it? Everything. I bought Private Dancer, and while I confess I haven't retained my affection for '80s Turner--I've come to prefer her older material, notwithstanding the involvement of the schmuck to whom she had been married--my interest in Private Dancer was genuine at the time.

I saw Turner in concert in the late '80s, with the incongruous choice of Wang Chung as her opening act. She was great. Of course she was great. She was Tina friggin' Turner. Simply the best.

Knowing we were going to play Ike and Tina's "River Deep--Mountain High" in this week's Greatest Record Ever Made! spot, I wanted to be sure to play something credited to Tina Turner as a solo artist. "What You Get Is What You See" has long been my favorite example of '80s Tina Turner. It bops like nothing else, recalling Dire Straits while bustin' through the plasticized morass that characterized so much '80s pop music. 

What you get is what you see. We were fortunate to live in a world that got to see Tina Turner.

THE SMITHEREENS: Face The World With Pride

A big ol' WELCOME BACK to Rich Firestone, whose essential rockin' pop wireless shindig Radio Deer Camp returned to the airwaves this week, right here on SPARK! And we figured we'd roll out the red carpet with this simple directive from one of Rich's favorite beat groups, the Smithereens. 

"Face The World With Pride" was recorded in 1993, but remained unreleased until just this past September, when it finally saw daylight on The Lost Album. Rich, as a Smithereens insider, knew about the track for the better part of three decades; when it finally came out on The Lost Album, our Reechie urged his fellow DJs to carpet-bomb playlists with spins of "Face The World With Pride," to make the damned thing the hit he always knew it was.

We heard. We obeyed. "Face The World With Pride" was TIRnRR's # 1 most-played track in 2022, which is pretty impressive for something released about a week before the year's last quarter. 'Cuz Rich Firestone said so.

With Radio Deer Camp back on the air where it belongs, there could be no track more appropriate to mark Rich's return to the airwaves. Face the world with pride. Good advice. Welcome back, Reechie.

DAVE COPE AND THE SASS: Circles

Another one of my favorite 2022-released tracks is the title tune from the album Julee by Dave Cope and the Sass. The group has a brand-new album Killer Mods From Inner Space, courtesy of Kool Kat Musik, and it's gonna get a little airplay on our little mutant radio show. It's what we do! That airplay begins with "Circles" this week; we'll hear another Killer Mods From Inner Space track on our next program. Julee would demand nothing less. 

THE RAMONES: Pet Sematary

It wasn't exactly an oversight when we omitted "Pet Sematary" from our recent three-part salute to THE RAMONES AT THE MOVIES. Well, it kinda was an oversight, but I'd do it again. For THE RAMONES AT THE MOVIES, I wanted to pay full and proper tribute to Ramones tracks heard in their 1979 film Rock 'n' Roll High School, I wanted to play some recognized Ramones classics ("Rockaway Beach," "I Wanna Be Sedated," and "Blitzkrieg Bop") that turned up in films otherwise unrelated to the Ramones, I wanted to squeeze in "Chop Suey" from 1983's Get Crazy, and it felt important to include "I Believe In Miracles," which the Ramones' lip-synced on-screen in Car 54, Where Are You?, their final film appearance. 

That plan occupied all twelve of the spots we had available for Ramones tracks over the three-week span of THE RAMONES AT THE MOVIES. There was no room for "Pet Sematary."

It was a glaring omission nonetheless. As the title theme from a movie based on a Stephen King book, "Pet Sematary" was one of the Ramones' highest-profile tracks during their career, and we should have gotten to it. We did play a live version in April. The studio version at long last makes its TIRnRR debut this week. 

Think of it as a return engagement. THE RAMONES AT THE MOVIES. Held over! By popular demand.

THE MONKEES: Birth Of An Accidental Hipster

2016 was not a good year. No, 2016 was not a good year at all. 

Still, even lousy years are allowed a positive moment. 2016's best moment was the release of Good Times!, a triumphant new album by the Monkees. Leading up to the album's appearance, I wrote that I was less than captivated by its first teaser single "She Makes Me Laugh," fully taken with its second teaser "You Bring The Summer," and just awed by third single "Me & Magdalena." By the time the album itself was released at the end of May, my anticipation was at Defcon 1. 

The album lived up to my expectations--surpassed them, really. I had retired--PERMANENTLY!!!!--from writing record reviews years before. I came out of retirement just long enough to write my Good Times! review. I followed with a supplemental piece on the album's bonus tracks, and circled back later to craft my hypothetical speech inducting the Monkees into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

Yeah, that hasn't happened yet. But it shoulda.

"Birth Of An Accidental Hipster" was the key track for me, even more than "Me & Magdalena." Written by Paul Weller and Noel Gallagher, "Birth Of An Accidental Hipster" could have been on the Monkees' 1968 Head soundtrack album, while still sounding like 21st century Monkeeshines. Good Times! stands as one of the Monkees' best albums, and I like a lot of Monkees albums. 2016 can suck it. I'm heading out to the sunshine, babe.

THE FLASHCUBES: Forget About You

Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse the Flashcubes have a new album due out by the end of the summer. It's called Pop Masters, it will be released by the mighty Big Stir Records, and it collects all of the Flashcubes' Big Stir digital singles, a series of tracks which find our 'Cubes covering pop masters by Shoes, the Spongetones, Pezband, and more, often with a little assistance from members of the original acts. It's GREAT, I wrote the liner notes (teased here), and I can't wait for everyone to hear this. It is to 2023 what the Monkees' Good Times! was to 2016.

Pop Masters will also include a few tracks that have not yet been released, like this absolutely ace take on the Motors' "Forget About You." We'll hear one of the familiar Pop Masters singles on next week's show, as part of a Flashcubes THEN and Flashcubes NOW! two-fer, paired with a cover tune the 'Cubes recorded for a compilation album some years back. 

IKE AND TINA TURNER: River Deep--Mountain High

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE CYNZ: Tell That Girl To Shut Up

Confident and assured, the Cynz firmly reject irrelevant backtalk on this cover of Holly and the Italians' classic "Tell That Girl To Shut Up." We've been playing this a lot, and it seems guaranteed a spot on our year-end countdown of TIRnRR's most-played tracks in 2023. We'll give it another spin this coming Sunday, too. Don'tcha give me no lip. The record can speak for itself.

MAX FROST AND THE TROOPERS: Shape Of Things To Come

This week's show was recorded before we learned of the passing of legendary songwriter Cynthia Weil. With her husband Barry Mann, Weil created a rockin' pop body of work that will live on forever and ever. We'll hear four of my favorite Mann and Weil compositions on our next show.

The appearance of Mann-Weil song on this week's show is neither design nor coincidence. Nearly every installment of TIRnRR gathers nonpareil material from across a span of decades, and that often includes a little something from the Mann and Weil songbook. I don't remember where, when, or how I first heard "Shape Of Things To Come" by Max Frost and the Troopers; I've never seen Wild In The Streets, the film that gave us this song on its soundtrack, though I know enough to shout 14 OR FIGHT! whenever Dana plays the track. My introduction to the song came courtesy of the Raiders, for whom it was an LP track on their Indian Reservation album. 

I picked up my used copy of Indian Reservation for fifty cents at Mike's Sound Center in North Syracuse, Spring of 1977. It happened to be around the time I was becoming specifically aware of Mann and Weil's work. Greater awareness would follow. The shape of things to come. Rest in peace, Ms. Weil. 

IN-PERSON EVENT! On June 29, I will be making an in-store appearance at GENERATION RECORDS, 210 Thompson Street in NYC on behalf of my  new book GABBA GABBA HEY! A CONVERSATION WITH THE RAMONES. The book contains my 1994 interviews with Joey, Johnny, Marky, and C.J., which were cited by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as essential reading. I'll be at Generation to chat with fellow Ramones fans, talk about the book, the interviews, and how the music of the Ramones impacted my life. If you are in the New York area on June 29th, I would love to see you at Generation Records. Hey-ho, let's GO!  

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, 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/

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

THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE: River Deep--Mountain High

This is a chapter from my long-threatened book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). It was written well before the passing of Tina Turner, but is offered today in her memory. Simply the best.

An infinite number of tracks can each be THE greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Today, this is THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE!

IKE AND TINA TURNER: River Deep--Mountain High
Written by Phil Spector, Jeff Barry, and Ellie Greenwich
Produced by Phil Spector
Single, Philles Records, 1966

The original post has been unpublished for bookkeeping purposes. It can be seen as a chapter in my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1)

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, 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/

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