THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! Works In Progress

 

Although I've long since completed (and submitted) a draft of my proposed book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1), the subject itself remains open for me. I continue to work on more GREM! entries, for use here on the blog and for potential engagement in an even-more-theoretical The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 2). An infinite number of tracks can each be THE greatest record ever made as long as they take turns. Maybe I take the infinite part of the book's tagline too literally.

Nonetheless! Here's a look at bits of some of my many GREM! works in progress. 

THE PRETENDERS: Back On The Chain Gang

It was just like starting over.

The Pretenders emerged in England in 1978, led by Chrissie Hynde, an American playing guitar and singing lead. Hynde, guitarist James Honeywell-Scott, bassist Pete Farndon, and drummer Martin Chambers turned out to be great Pretenders, debuting on record with a 1979 single covering the Kinks' "Stop Your Sobbing." More records followed: singles, two albums (1980's Pretenders and 1981's Pretenders II), with the 1981 EP Extended Play in between albums. 

And then half the band died. 

WAR: Low Rider

Has anyone ever used the word "imperious" to describe the rhythm of War's 1975 hit "Low Rider?" I'd presume it hasn't been done, and it may be a stretch to use it now. But GodDAYum, that regal riddum rules by divine and absolute right. Imperious War!

When discussing the records that make us wanna dance, prance, and make romance, we often talk about the beat. But more than the beat, "Low Rider" has a visceral, almost physical rhythm that dictates a mandatory moving of your body. Typical of me being me, I didn't come to appreciate that rhythm until way, way after the fact.

BONEY M: My Friend Jack

My relationship with disco is complicated. I hated it during its heyday, but began to re-think my position as it became clear that some (not all) of the Disco Sucks movement was built upon a foundation of tacit racism and homophobia. I further realized that a lot of the disco LP-burnin' Fascists hated my preferred punk and power pop almost as much as they hated dat ole debbil disco, so...enemy of my enemy is my friend.

But never mind the shifting parameters of my mixed-signal interactions with disco. Eurodisco group Boney M was a breed apart anyway, willfully weird but extremely pop.

PEGGY LEE: Fever

There is cool, and then there is cool. Cool-as-a-fever cool. No other approximation of cool has ever been anywhere near the sizzling cool of Peggy Lee's 1958 absolute annexation of Little Willie John's R & B (and crossover pop) hit "Fever." 

THE MAYTALS: Pressure Drop

Listening to Johnny Nash didn't prepare me for this.

I first saw Toots and the Maytals name-checked in some magazine (either Rolling Stone or Playboy, possibly both) in the late '70s, though I wasn't conscious of the music until many years thereafter. I recall that Linda Ronstadt was among those praising the essential nature of Maytals LPs Funky Kingston and Reggae Got Soul, and if I couldn't quite fit reggae into my new wave rock 'n' roll world view at the time (the Clash notwithstanding), I did get there eventually. 

THE POLICE: Roxanne

When I worked at a record store in the '80s, one of my co-workers was horrified when I mentioned that I didn't really care about the music of the Police. "Horrified" may not be much of an exaggeration; he gasped, put his hands to the sides of his face in a manner that would have made Macaulay Culkin proud, and backed away from me slowly. I think I saw him mouth the world Unclean! 

I had liked the band initially, around the time of their first two albums in the late '70s, but found myself losing interest in them as they became (to my taste) increasingly...mainstream? I guess. I wasn't trying to be hipper than the crowd, honest; it was just that I preferred their earlier records. I appreciate some of their bigger hits a bit more now than I did then, though I'm pretty sure I'll always detest that damned stalker song, "Every Breath You Take."

And "Roxanne?" My God, "Roxanne" was far and away the best thing on AM Top 40 in 1979. Nothing else even came close to it. 

ABBA: Dancing Queen

There is a false conviction among some rock 'n' roll fans that ABBA's music is inherently schlocky. This conviction is a big ol' pile of piggy poop.

AM radio surrendered to ABBA's "Waterloo" in 1973. I may have struggled with some indecision over whether or not I liked the song at the time, and I can't explain why. It was a pop song. I like pop songs. And I sorta liked ABBA. Ultimately, I decided that I liked "Waterloo," too. 

"SOS" was my favorite among ABBA's initial run of hits, though the only ABBA singles I bought were "Knowing Me, Knowing You" and "Take A Chance On Me." I also loved "Dancing Queen." I had no use for "Fernando." I was indifferent to "Mamma Mia" and "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do." Reading in Bomp! magazine's 1978 power pop issue about "So Long," a purportedly great ABBA power pop song I'd not yet heard, was reason enough for me to buy my friend Jay's copy of ABBA's Greatest Hits. I was perfectly okay with ABBA's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Hell, a lot of ABBA's hits are closer to original-formula '50s/early '60s rockin' pop than anything that a band like, say, Genesis ever did.

"Dancing Queen" is ABBA's signature tune. It's often lumped in with disco, but its gloss is more girl-group than Studio 54. It shimmers in its own deliciously pure pop way, not beholden to trends, timeless yet still so '70s it could have been sporting a WIN button.

THE AVENGERS: We Are The One

The Clash sang that anger could be power. Even before that line appeared in The Clash's London Calling album track "Clampdown" in 1979, a San Francisco group called the Avengers was on stage at Winterland, opening for the Sex Pistols in that group's final appearance meltdown, and embodying the concept of cathartic fury. Anger. Power. Rock 'n' roll.

BLONDIE: (I'm Always Touched By Your) Presence, Dear

A love letter from Lois Lane, sung by Marilyn Monroe, backed by the Dave Clark Five.

Blondie's lead singer Debbie Harry was sexy without any appearance of trying to be sexy. She didn't even seem to be conscious of her everyday allure, her natural beauty and glamour, her God-given possession of It. She just was. 

My first awareness of Blondie came via Phonograph Record Magazine in 1977. I've never forgotten writer Mark Shipper's description of the band's look as "like Marilyn Monroe backed by the Dave Clark Five," a blurb which (even more than Debbie Harry's attractive image) sold me on Blondie well before I ever heard a note of their music. When I got to college that fall, I immediately started carpet-bombing the school radio station with requests for all of the acts I'd read about in PRM, from Television to the Dictators, and certainly including constant (and urgent) petitions to hear Blondie's "X Offender." I loved the track on first spin, and I have never stopped loving it since. And they called it puppy love!

THE JAM: In The City

Punk could be pop. In America, the Ramones already knew that, even if the charts didn't reflect the verity of that aesthetic.

THE YOUNG RASCALS: Good Lovin'

Little Steven says garage rock is "white kids trying to play black rhythm and blues and failing--gloriously." Fair enough. So what do we call it when a white group tries to play soul music, and succeeds? We could call that the Young Rascals.

THE RECORDS: Starry Eyes

Dreams of fame and fortune are not held solely by the performers.

THE VOGUES: Five O'Clock World

It should only be a footnote in the story of "Five O'Clock World," but the result is so engaging, so perfect, that I can't help elevating it to a prime moment in the history of rockin' pop on TV. 

THE DICKIES: Banana Splits

TRA-LA-LAAAA! TRA-LA-LA-LAAAAAA! TRA-LA-LAAAA! TRA-LA-LA-LAAAAAAAAAA!

No. You get a hold of yourself. Don't be messin' with the manifest majesty of the Banana Splits.

And don't be messin' with the manifest DESTINY of The Greatest Record Ever Made!, whether it's Volume 1, Volume 2, or an undrafted free agent. The infinite does what the infinite does.

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: 9/24/2020

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 week's edition of 10 Songs draws exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1043.

EDDIE COCHRAN: Somethin' Else

Power pop's point of origin remains a point of contention for many of its fans. Some insist that power pop was a reaction against prevailing musical trends in the '70s, and therefore nothing recorded before The Beatles' 1970 break-up can be called power pop. I don't agree with that at all. Power pop is a genre, a sound; claiming that sound can't exist prior to a specific date reduces it to nostalgia, some kind of retro move, and I reject that notion. Power pop existed in the '60s. Pete Townshend coined the phrase around 1967, and The Who's early records embody the power pop ideal. The Kinks. The Creation. The Nazz. I think the label also applies to some of The Beatles' singles, and I pinpoint "Please Please Me" as power pop's Ground Zero. Writer Gary Pig Gold, in turn, disagrees with me and places power pop's starting line with The Crickets back in the '50s. Gary and I had a very enjoyable debate about the subject, and you can read all about it here.

While I still don't think that the great rockin' pop stuff from Buddy Holly, Phil Spector, or The Beach Boys quite qualifies as power pop--it all strolls amiably, but doesn't LEAN FORWARD with the urgency I expect from power pop--it's difficult to dismiss the power pop bona fides of Eddie Cochran. Cochran's "Summertime Blues" is really close, its stroll balanced by legit power chords and seething teen frustration. The fantastic party anthem "C'mon Everybody" is maybe a further half-step removed, but "Nervous Breakdown" and especially "Somethin' Else" provide concrete evidence of pre-Beatles power pop.

THE HONEY CONE: One Monkey Don't Stop No Show

I don't know if pundits consider bubblesoul to be a proper sub-genre. Unlike power pop, I do think bubblesoul is tied to a specific timeframe: late '60s/early '70s, AM radio music, performed (mostly) by black artists but with an unabashed ambition for crossover success. Think of The Jackson Five's earliest hits, the music of The Foundations, "Band Of Gold" by Freda Payne, the shoulda-been-hits of Josie and the Pussycats, and of course, The Honey Cone. The Honey Cone's lead singer Edna Wright passed away recently. We played the group's biggest hit "Want Ads" not long ago, and we chose to pay tribute to Wright this week with a spin of the lesser hit "One Monkey Don't Stop No Show," an effervescent number with both bubble and soul to spare.

KID GULLIVER: Carousel

Simone Berk first came to my attention as one of the musical architects of WhistleStop Rock, whose single "Queen Of The Drive-In" would seem to be on a likely collision course with TIRnRR's year-end countdown show. Meanwhile, her own combo Kid Gulliver has a new single, "Carousel," which longs for the simple pleasures of childhood while settin' off the sort of sonic pyrotechnics that requires adult supervision. The song's accompanying video is likewise blessed with phantasmagoric splendor, and that video premieres this weekend. Your brass ring awaits.

HAROLD MELVIN AND THE BLUE NOTES: Don't Leave Me This Way

As much as I once loathed disco, it's become clear that I do indeed appreciate some of it, like some of it, and even love some of it. My book-in-progress The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) will include entries about Donna Summer's "I Feel Love," The Trammps' "Disco Inferno," and Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes' original version of "Don't Leave Me This Way," which was later a (quite wonderful) hit for Thelma Houston. From the book:

At the height of its popularity, disco was anathema to me. I had, at best, a superficial familiarity with soul and R & B to begin with, and little appreciation for it anyway. I don't know if an embrace of dance-oriented pop and Philly soul a bit earlier in my timeline might have made me more receptive to the throb of dat ole debbil disco, but the scene turned me off immediately. I liked The Bee Gees before "Jive Talkin'" and not after; I loathed KC and the Sunshine Band. And I despised discos; my few visits to those places were unpleasant and uncomfortable. It wasn't even just the music that turned me off; it was the whole atmosphere, the artificial vibe, the mix of the smug and smarmy, an insincere mating ritual without substance. I wouldn't have minded dancing, making out, maybe accompanying a dance partner elsewhere, but it all felt so...empty. Fake. I didn't even stick around long enough to try to talk to any girls. I just hated being there...

..."Don't Leave Me This Way" was originally recorded by Philly soul legends Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes in 1975. Like previous Blue Notes hits "If You Don't Know Me By Now," "The Love I Lost," and "Bad Luck," "Don't Leave Me This Way" featured a commanding lead vocal performance by Teddy Pendergrass; unlike those, however, "Don't Leave Me This Way" was not a pop hit for Melvin, Pendergrass, and company, missing Billboard's Hot 100 entirely when released as a single. It was a # 5 hit in England, and it made it to # 3 on Billboard's Disco chart.

And it's flippin' fantastic. As a punk-pop fan with a notoriously short attention span, I generally favor the 3:22 single edit to the 6:04 album track, but I would do that, wouldn't I? It's a simply transcendent record at either length, Pendergrass slipping with silky, slender ease from the seductive coo of the verse to the demonstrative Ohhhhhhhhhhhh BABY! that signals the triumphant pleading of the chorus. Hell, even as I write this, I'm listening to the long version for the first time in forever, and damn if my short attention span isn't waiving a white flag and succumbing to the sweet sway of Philadelphia soul at its finest. "A broken man with empty hands/Oh baby please, please don't leave me this way"....

THE MONKEES: Birth Of An Accidental Hipster

The Monkees' 2016 album Good Times! was eagerly anticipated, and it lived up to desperately sky-high expectations. It is indeed a pretty damned good album, and I still listen to it often. And I still think of "Birth Of An Accidental Hipster" as THE one track that just kicks the whole thing to the next level. Here's what I wrote about the track in a discussion of my 25 all-time favorite Monkees tracks:

No one saw this one coming. The surprise announcement that surviving Monkees Dolenz, Tork, and Nesmith--Jones passed away in 2012--would mark the group's 50th anniversary in 2016 with a new Monkees album called Good Times! was unexpected enough, and word that Noel Gallagher of Oasis and Paul Weller of The Jam and Style Council had collaborated on a new composition for this new Monkees record bordered on the flabbergasting. But the result? Lord! "Birth Of An Accidental Hipster" builds a rainbow bridge from the best of The Monkees circa 1968 into this far-future world of the 21st century, a track that sounds simultaneously classic and contemporary. If it had magically appeared on The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees or the Head soundtrack in '68, it would have been the greatest cut on the former and the second-greatest on the latter. Yet it doesn't sound retro at all, at least not to my ears. Nesmith sings this with a force and conviction that almost sounds like he's still that young maverick of fifty years ago, just a bit more seasoned, certainly wiser, but resolutely unbowed. Dolenz chimes in vocally to make it a pop song. Together, they make it a masterpiece. Listeners of the ultracool satellite radio station Little Steven's Underground Garage voted "Birth Of An Accidental Hipster" as The Coolest Song In The World for 2016.

THE ROYAL GUARDSMEN: The Return Of The Red Baron

While the Hanna-Barbera TV cartoon tie-in Secret Squirrel was probably the first LP I ever owned, my first pop music album was Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron by The Royal Guardsmen. I also had the Laurie Records 45 of its first sequel, "The Return Of The Red Baron." I played the single often, probably drawn in part by the illicit thrill of the group almost cursing on record (The German shook his fist, you could hear him swearing/"Ach Du Lieber!" and the closing refrain of One of these days he's gonna make you pay/And you'll go straight to...Well, watch out, Red Baron!). I was seven years old, and I felt like a rebel. My first punk record? I was on the highway to Well.

JIMMY SILVA: Weight Of The Wind

The Beau Brummels' lead singer Sal Valentino lent his magnificently earthy folk-rock voice to this world-weary Heartland shrug from 1986. The late singer-songwriter Jimmy Silva was an amazing talent, and it's a shame he never achieved the recognition he deserved. "Weight Of The Wind" is my favorite Silva track, a song enriched to such an unforgettable degree by that voice, the Sal Valentino who sang "Laugh, Laugh" and "Just A Little" and "You Tell Me Why" and "Don't Talk To Strangers." In my head, I hear "Weight Of The Wind" as one with the best of The Beau Brummels, even though our Sal is the only Brummel in sight here. God, such a great song.

TELEVISION: Elevation

From Television's debut album Marquee Moon, the track "Elevation" just fascinated me when I was 17. Fall of 1977, freshman in college, trying to finally hear all these punk or new wave or whaddayacallit bands I'd read so much about in the pages of Phonograph Record Magazine. I asked the campus radio station for help, and was rewarded with the sounds of The Ramones, Blondie, The Dictators, The Adverts, The Jam, Willie Alexander and the Boom Boom Band, The Runaways, and oh yeah!, Television. I could never get enough of this jagged, loping, serpentine noise, so mesmerizing, so different, so gratifyingly dizzying in its willful application of elevation going to my head. And staying there. Marquee Moon was among my earliest LP purchases in this broad category of NEW MUSIC circa '77 and '78. It would not be the last. Oh no, not even close to the last.

THE TEXTONES: Vacation

An illustration of how much a song can change. The Textones' original version of "Vacation" was a left-of-the-dial DIY number written by one of the group's co-founders, Kathy Valentine. Valentine took the song with her when she became bassist for The Go-Go's, and her new bandmates Charlotte Caffey and Jane Wiedlin helped to revamp it into an almost-new pop ditty, sharing DNA with The Textones' tune but markedly glossier, catchier, more vibrant and exciting. Both versions are cool, but they're different songs. Sisters, maybe?

TOOTS AND THE MAYTALS: Reggae Got Soul

The late reggae great Toots Hibbert transcended genre. "Reggae Got Soul" and "Funky Kingston" were the first two Maytals songs I ever heard of, while "54-46 Was My Number" was the first I ever actually heard, many years later. "Pressure Drop" ultimately became my favorite, and it's vying for position with "54 46, That's My Number" (the earlier version of "54-46 Was My Number") for a spot in The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). But kudos also to "Reggae Got Soul," a sublime record that states its case with rock-steady eloquence and authority.

TIP THE BLOGGER: CC's Tip Jar!

You can support this blog by becoming a patron on Patreon: Fund me, baby! 

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 165 essays about 165 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).

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1043

I first became aware of Toots and the Maytals by name only. The group was mentioned in Rolling Stone and Playboy in the late '70s, cited by folks like Linda Ronstadt as a then-current Fave Rave sound. I recall the Maytals' Funky Kingston and Reggae Got Soul LPs being mentioned specifically. I was a college student in my late teens. Toots and the Maytals? Reggae Got Soul? I had no idea what these people were talking about.

That situation would not change for quite some time thereafter. I knew the Maytals' song "Pressure Drop" via a cover version by The Clash. I have no idea when I finally got around to hearing any actual Maytals music. I remember seeing Toots and the Maytals on a TV show called Viva Variety in 1997, performing a smokin' rendition of "54-46 Was My Number." It seems inconceivable that I hadn't heard the Maytals somewhere before that...but I dunno.

I do know that I got a copy of a Toots and the Maytals best-of CD around that time. I was in touch with a small reissue label, which was sending me some of its product as part of a conversation about getting me to oversee a power pop compilation. Though nothing ever came of that project, I asked about maybe getting the label's Maytals set. The label's rep responded, "I didn't know you were into reggae!" I replied, "Man does not live on skinny-tie white boy pop music alone."

It would be wrong to say I ever became a huge reggae fan, or an avid Maytals supporter. But man, I liked this stuff immediately and whole-heartedly. We played Toots and the Maytals on the very first This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio in December of 1998. Our first Maytals spin was a cover of John Denver's "Take Me Home Country Roads," which was actually a mistake; I meant to play "Pressure Drop," but miscued. Cool consolation choice though, and I think we played "Pressure Drop" on our next show. We've played it many times over the years. It's an irresistible track, and it earns its own chapter in my eventual book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1).

This week, I won't pretend to match the sorrow of reggae fans and Maytals fans as we bid farewell to the late, great Toots Hibbert. But I know enough to recognize greatness when I see it, when I hear it. When I dance to it. When I play it on the radio. Reggae got soul. This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio joins the faithful in mourning the passing of one of music's true legends. Now, no one else has that number.

We also say goodbye to Edna Wright of The Honey Cone, and we offer new music from The Morning Announcements and Kid Gallahad alongside the cherished treasures we already love. It is you, oh yeah. This is what rock 'n' roll radio sounded like on a Sunday night in Syracuse this week.

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 all about this show's long and weird history here: Boppin' The Whole Friggin' Planet (The History Of THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO). TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS are always welcome.

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

PS: SEND MONEY!!!! We need tech upgrades like Elvis needs boats. Spark Syracuse is supported by listeners like you. Tax-deductible donations are welcome at
http://sparksyracuse.org/support/

You can follow Carl's daily blog Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) at 
https://carlcafarelli.blogspot.com/

Hey, Carl's writin' a book! The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) will contain 165 essays about 165 songs, each one of 'em THE greatest record ever made. An infinite number of songs can each be the greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Updated initial information can be seen here.

TIRnRR # 1043: 9/20/2020
TIRnRR FRESH SPINS! Tracks we think we ain't played before are listed in bold.

THE RAMONES: Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio? (Rhino, End Of The Century)
--
THE BANGLES: Live (Columbia, All Over The Place)
BIG STAR: September Gurls (Ardent, # 1 Record/Radio City)
DEL AMITRI: Not Where It's At (A & M, Some Other Sucker's Parade)
ULTRAVOX: Saturday Night In The City Of The Dead (Spectrum, The Island Years)
TOOTS & THE MAYTALS: 54 46, That's My Number (Island, Time Tough)
THE ENGLISH BEAT: Save It For Later (Shout Factory, Keep The Beat)
--
KID GULLIVER: Carousel (kidgulliver1.bandcamp.com)
DR. FEELGOOD: Roxette (Rhino, I'm A Man)
THE ROYAL GUARDSMEN: The Return Of The Red Baron (One Way, Anthology)
THE PRIMITIVES: Crash (RCA, Lovely)
EDDIE COCHRAN: Somethin' Else (Razor & Tie, Somethin' Else)
THE TEXTONES: Vacation (Big Beat, single)
--
THE KINGS: This Beat Goes On/Switchin' To Glide (Griffin Music, Unstoppable)
THE KINKS: Australia (Essential, Arthur)
HAROLD MELVIN & THE BLUE NOTES: Don't Leave Me This Way (Epic, The Ultimate Blue Notes)
TELEVISION: Elevation (Elektra, Marquee Moon)
--
MATT SPRINGFIELD: Haunted (Akamusic, Erase All Data)
THE CLASH: Police On My Back (Epic, Clash On Broadway)
THE ROLLING STONES: Not Fade Away (Abkco, Singles Collection: The London Years)
GRAHAM PARKER & THE RUMOUR: Discovering Japan (Spectrum, The Very Best Of Graham Parker & the Rumour)
THE WELL WISHERS: We Grow Up (thewellwishers.bandcamp.com, Shelf Life)

GREGG YETI & THE BEST LIGHTS: My Narcoleptic Sara (Eskimo Kiss, Heart Palpitations Of The Rich And Famous)
--
THE HONEY CONE: One Monkey Don't Stop No Show [Part 1] (Varese Saraband, VA: Soulful Pop)
RUFUS "HOUND DOG" THOMAS: Bear Cat (The Answer To Hound Dog) (Varese Vintage, VA: Sun Records: 25 Blues Classics)
THE BLACKBYRDS: Walking In Rhythm (Rhino, VA: Can You Dig It)
BILLY (THE KID) EMERSON: Red Hot (Varese Vintage, VA: Sun Records: 25 Blues Classics)

TOOTS & THE MAYTALS: Reggae Got Soul (Island, Time Tough)
ROSCO GORDON: The Chicken (Dance With You) (Varese Vintage, VA: Sun Records: 25 Blues Classics)

--
TOOTS & THE MAYTALS: Pressure Drop (Island, Time Tough)
THE BEATLES: Two Of Us (Apple, Let It Be...Naken)
SOFT CELL: Tainted Love [7" version] (Mercury, The Very Best Of Soft Cell)
THE FIRST CLASS: Beach Baby (Varese Sarabande, VA: The Voice Of Tony Burrows)
POP CO-OP: Catching Light (Futureman, Factory Settings)
BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD: Sit Down I Think I Love You (Rhino, Buffalo Springfield)
--
THE MORNING ANNOUNCEMENTS: Don't Leave Recess In Pieces (themorningannouncements.bandcamp.com)
THE 1910 FRUITGUM COMPANY: Simon Says (Buddha, The Best Of The 1910 Fruitgum Company)
DEVO: Whip It (Rhino, Pioneers Who Got Scalped)
THE SHIVVERS: Teen Line (Big Beat, VA: Come On Let's Go!)
JIMMY SILVA & THE GOATS: Weight Of The Wind (ESD, Heidi)
THE TOMS: Better Than Anyone Else (Big Beat, VA: Come On Let's Go!)
--
JOE GIDDINGS: If I Don't Have Love (Kool Kat Musik, Better From Here)
THE MOODY BLUES: I Really Haven't Got The Time (Deram, Days Of Future Passed)
THE MONKEES: Birth Of An Accidental Hipster (Rhino, Good Times!)
THE RAMONES: Sheena Is A Punk Rocker (Rhino, Rocket To Russia)
CHUCK BERRY: Promised Land (MCA, The Anthology)
THE JAM: In The City (Polydor, Direction Reaction Creation)

JUSTINE & THE UNCLEAN: Fourth Love (Rum Bar, VA: Somebody Out There Is Having A Party Vol. 2)
THE LEARS: The Byrd That Couldn't Fly (Not Lame, VA: Full Circle)
WHISTLESTOP ROCK: Queen Of The Drive-In (whistlestoprock1.bandcamp.com)
THE MERRYMAKERS: I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better (Not Lame, VA: Full Circle)

THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY: Singing My Song (Razor & Tie, The Partridge Family Album)
THE MUFFS: Rock And Roll Girl (Sympathy For The Record Industry, Hamburger)

10 SONGS: 1/14/2020

This is the start of a new (presumably) weekly series called 10 Songs. Each entry in this series will list ten songs that happen to be on my mind at the moment. Given my intention to usually write these on Mondays, the lists will probably be 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 inaugural edition of 10 Songs draws exclusively from the many fine tracks played on This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio this week: TIRnRR # 1008.

BONEY M: Painter Man



My relationship with disco is complicated. I hated it during its heyday, but began to re-think my position as it became clear that some (not all) of the Disco Sucks movement was built upon a foundation of tacit racism and homophobia. I further realized that a lot of the disco LP-burnin' Fascists hated my preferred punk and power pop almost as much as they hated dat ole debbil disco, so...enemy of my enemy is my friend. Eurodisco group Boney M was a breed apart anyway, willfully weird but extremely pop. The group is best-remembered for their smooth cover of The Melodians' "Rivers Of Babylon." My favorite Boney M song is their cover of The Smoke's '60s mod-psych classic "My Friend Jack," but props also to this cover of The Creation's power pop touchstone "Painter Man."

THE DODGERS: Don't Know What You're Doing



This 1976 U.K. single is so damned catchy, and it looks to be my song of the week. The Dodgers included two former members of Badfinger, Tom Evans and Warner Brothers-era addition Bob Jackson. In the category of Badfinger-related tracks, I might rank "Don't Know What You're Doing" just below "Baby Blue," "Day After Day," and "No Matter What," on a par with "We're For The Dark" and "Gotta Get Out Of Here," possibly even above "Come And Get It." And I love all of those songs.

EURYTHMICS: Would I Lie To You



Far and away my favorite Eurythmics track, sounding to me like Aretha Franklin backed by The Kinks and The Memphis Horns. I don't own any Eurthymics CDs, so the impulse to play "Would I Lie To You" on this week's show prompted me to borrow the band's Greatest Hits CD from my daughter. Thanks, Meghan!

MARY LOU LORD: Right On 'Till Dawn



A relatively obscure track from Mary Lou Lord's 2001 Speeding Motorcycle EP, "Right On 'Till Dawn" is a demo-recording duet by Lord and Nick Saloman (The Bevis Frond). Saloman wrote the song, and it's an underrated, unrecognized gem in both the Mary Lou Lord and Bevis Frond collections.

THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY: Somebody Wants To Love You



Listen: forget about the ephemeral TV show soundtrack and 16 magazine pinup pejoratives our oh-so-hip consciousness demands us to attach to something as crass and mundane as music from a sitcom about a fake family band. Although merely the B-side to a lesser song ("I Think I Love You") that, y'know, topped the charts, "Somebody Wants To Love You" is mature and accomplished, David Cassidy could really sing, and only a hopeless curmudgeon would deny the sheer groove and panache on display here.

SAM PHILLIPS: Baby I Can't Please You



Suffering from withdrawal during this long, long wait until the next season of Amazon Prime's TV series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, lovely wife Brenda and I have begun re-watching Maisel creator Amy Sherman-Palladino's previous series Gilmore Girls. Most of the scene transitions on Gilmore Girls are accompanied by exquisite off-screen la-la-lalala-laaaaas, all courtesy of singer Sam Phillips. That was sufficient motivation for me to grab one of my Sam Phillips CDs off the shelf and make room for Ms. Phillips on this week's playlist.

RUSH: Circumstances



The ceaseless parade of mortality that continues to claim our idols creates a risk that our radio playists can be transformed into morbid obituaries of the week. I very often find myself torn between an ongoing desire to pay tribute to artists we've lost and a fear of trivializing those passings. I was never really a Rush fan, but I've always liked the song "Circumstances," from Rush's 1978 album Hemispheres; that track managed to get through to this punk and power popper. The death last week of Rush drummer Neil Peart compelled me to play that song again, and it is definitely still a song buzzing pleasantly in my head this week. Respect.

TOOTS & THE MAYTALS: Reggae Got Soul



I first saw Toots & the Maytals name-checked in some magazine (either Rolling Stone or Playboy, possibly both) in the late '70s, though I wasn't conscious of the music until many years thereafter. I recall that Linda Ronstadt was among those praising the essential nature of Maytals LPs Funky Kingston and Reggae Got Soul, and if I couldn't quite fit reggae into my new wave rock 'n' roll world view at the time (The Clash notwithstanding), I did get there eventually.

THE VELVET UNDERGROUND: Sunday Morning



"Sunday Morning" was the Velvet Underground song most likely to be covered by The Monkees, and believe me, I mean that as a compliment. It was also the first VU song I ever heard, when I snapped up a (very) used copy of The Velvet Underground & Nico on my way to a lost long weekend visiting friends in the spring of 1981. 

THE WEEKLINGS: Change Your Mind



We opened this week's show with a public service for rockin' pop fans, identifying for our listeners what will certainly be one of their favorite albums of 2020. The Weeklings' new album 3 is irresistible, a collection of confident, exuberant performances that draw equal, enthusiastic inspiration from the '60s British Invasion and '70s power pop. Covers of The Beatles ("Baby, You're A Rich Man") and The Easybeats ("Friday On My Mind," with lead vocals by Special Guest Bat-Weekling Peter Noone) are fab as fab can be, but the original tunes freakin' rule, especially "I Want You Again," "In The Moment," and "Change Your Mind." We will hear many terrific albums in 2020; The Weeklings' 3 is an early clue to the new direction, and an early lock on a berth in many a year-end Top Ten.

The Gilmore Girls approve of 10 Songs.

TIP THE BLOGGER: CC's Tip Jar!

You can support this blog by becoming a patron on Patreon: Fund me, baby! 

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

Hey, Carl's writin' a book! The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) will contain 100 essays (and then some) about 100 tracks, plus two bonus instrumentals, 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).