10 SONGS: 9/26/2025

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 # 1303.

THE TURTLES: Love In The City

A lot of music lovers may not realize how successful the Turtles were in the '60s. Everyone knows the group's huge # 1 smash "Happy Together," and many recall "Elenore," "You Showed Me," and "She'd Rather Be With Me," if not quite in the sheer numbers of those who remember "Happy Together."

Still, four big hits is already a pretty good pop c.v. The Turtles had eight Billboard Top 20 singles, and each of 'em is good to flat-out great: A cover of Bashful Bob Dylan's "It Ain't Me Babe" (# 8, 1965), "You Baby" (# 20, 1966), "Happy Together" (# 1, 1967), "She'd Rather Be With Me" (# 3, 1967), "You Know What I Mean" (# 12, 1967), "She's My Girl" (# 14, 1967), "Elenore" (# 6, 1968), "You Showed Me" (# 6, 1969)--plus a # 29 showing for 1965's fantastic "Let Me Be." Hell, the Turtles played at the White House in 1969--Presidential daughter Tricia Nixon was a fan--and while a POTUS gig doesn't exactly enhance a rock band's street cred, it does illustrate that the Turtles were a big deal. I wish more people appreciated that fact. I wish the Philistines in charge of The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame would acknowledge it.

Former Turtles singer Mark Volman passed away this month. The Turtles were the Featured Performers on an episode of TIRnRR many years ago, and this week we wanted to expand that feature to also include post-Turtles work by Flo & Eddie (Volman and his long-time musical collaborator and fellow Turtle Howard Kaylan, a partnership that predates their status as Turtles). We programmed four tracks by Flo & Eddie, a number of tracks they did backing other artists, and four tracks by the Turtles.

We did not play any of the Turtles' eight Top 20 hits, nor the # 29 "Let Me Be."

This decision was not born out of some smug hipsterism--the hits are wonderful, and should be played--but out of a desire to go a little further into the Turtles library. Maybe one of the four (the Turtles' version of "It Was A Very Good Year," which predates Sinatra's well-known take) could be called a deep cut. I wanted to play the Battle Of The Bands album cut "Surfer Dan," but time restraints forced us to use the slightly shorter "It Was A Very Good Year" instead. 

Our other three Turtles tunes were "Love In The City," "Grim Reaper Of Love," and Warren Zevon's "Outside Chance," and they can generally be found on any decent Turtles best-of set. They are my three favorite Turtles tracks.

We opened with my # 1 Turtles pick, "Love In The City." It comes from 1969's Ray Davies-produced Turtle Soup, the final Turtles album. The song was released as a single, barely charted at # 91, but I love it without reservation. 

(This week's playlist commentary contains almost all of a reminiscence I wrote several years about my origin as a Turtles fan. You can read the entire original post here.)

TOMMY BOYCE AND BOBBY HART: I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight

The spotlight on Flo & Eddie didn't leave us sufficient time to salute the late performer and songwriter Bobby Hart. Hart was best-known for his work with the late Tommy Boyce, primarily as songwriters but also as a performing duo who made the rounds of 1960s TV sitcoms Bewitched and I Dream Of Jeannie. "I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight" was a # 8 hit in 1968, far and away their highest-charting single as a recording act, but acts like the Monkees and Jay and the Americans had substantial success with gems from the Boyce and Hart songbook. We'll hear a few of those on our next show, as Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart will be our Featured Performers and our Featured Songwriters.

ROB MOSS AND SKIN-TIGHT SKIN: Good Hair Day

Friends of TIRnRR Rob Moss and Skin-Tight have undertaken a series of split-single partnerships with a select group of other performers, with Moss and company recording a cover of one of the guest artist's song, and the guest artist diving into the Rob Moss Songbook. A split-single with Shake Some! A split single with the Amplifier Heads! A split single with Arthur Alexander! And now, a split single with Brother Eytan Mirsky.

After playing a familiar favorite ("My Little Tricycle") from Eytan's own new album All Over The Map in our first set, we opened this week's second set with Rob Moss and his lads covering Eytan's "Good Hair Day." And we played Eytan's version of the Rob Moss classic "What Happened (To The Rock 'n' Roll)?" to kick off our sixth set. 

SPLITSVILLE: I Was A Teenage Frankenstein

Why it CAN be: The return of Splitsville with their ace 2025 album Mobtown has been all hit and no split, and they postscript the triumph of Mobtown with a better-than-the-original remake of their own neckbolt-outta-the-blue "I Was A Teenage Frankenstein." It's ALIVE! Well, it's studio, but never mind that, 'cuz it's SWELL! And it comes to us as part of Big Stir Records' epic various-artists Halloween blowout Chilling, Thrilling Hooks And Haunted Harmonies, so Frankie say Hey, cool! More of the chilling, the thrilling, and the haunted on our next show, courtesy of North Carolina's phenomenal pop combo the Spongetones.

THE VERBS: I Need Glue

Speaking of epic various-artists sets from the Big Stir label, let's treat you to another airing of Meegan Voss, Steve Jordan, and their rockin' pop dba the Verbs' cover of the Flashcubes' "I Need Glue." It's all part of Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes, and we encourage you to buy multiple copies of that album right here.

THE GROOVIE GHOULIES: (She's My) Vampire Girlfriend

Love bites.

SLYBOOTS:  If We Could Let Go

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE RAMONES: Chop Suey

Flo & Eddie provided backing vocals for two tracks by the Ramones. We played "Poison Heart" (from the Ramones' 1991 album Mondo Bizarro) earlier in the show, and returned to the scene of the lobotomy in our next-to-last set for a spin of "Chop Suey." "Chop Suey" comes from the soundtrack of the 1983 movie Get Crazy. In the 1994 interviews that eventually became my book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones, both Joey Ramone and Johnny Ramone remembered the song. Johnny's recollection of "Chop Suey" was not fond:

Before the next album, the Ramones contributed a track called “Chop Suey” to the soundtrack of a movie called Get Crazy. The track was produced by Busta Jones.

JOHNNY: Oh, horrible track. I don’t even know if I’m on it anymore. I don’t hear me on it. I played, but I don’t hear it. I don’t know whose harebrained idea that was—probably [Ramones manager Gary Kurfirst]’s [laughs]. Bad idea.

JOEY: [Rock 'n' Roll High director Allan Arkush]’s next film was Get Crazy. I had written a song called “Chop Suey.” Originally, I had got the B-52's to sing on it, and there was some kind of a problem. And then Flo and Eddie sang on it [instead]. So, eventually maybe we can put out that [original] record.

There was a report around that time that you were going to be doing an album with Busta Jones.

JOEY: I don’t think it was really true. Around that period, I was hangin’ out with Busta Jones and Jerry Harrison. I was hanging out at Electric Lady with them, and the B-52's, and he was working with them. He mentioned about, you know, doing a song with us, and that’s really how [“Chop Suey”] came about. And initially the B-52's were singing background on those parts, the “Chop Suey” parts.

JOHNNY: The song sucked, right [laughs]?

[One other little oddball ricochet relating to the Ramones and Flo & Eddie, and it's something I didn't know when I interviewed the Ramones in 1994: Bruce Springsteen had originally intended to give his song "Hungry Heart" to the Ramones. It is, frankly, a song I've never liked, and I can't even imagine how a Ramones version would sound. Didn't matter; Broooce kept the song for himself, and it became his first legit hit single in 1980. Flo & Eddie sang back up on Springsteen's version.]

THE MOTHERS: Happy Together

Our plan to avoid the Turtles' biggest numbers didn't preclude playing this live version of "Happy Together." When the Turtles broke up in 1970, Volman and Kaylon joined Frank Zappa's group the Mothers of Invention. It was as duly-appointed Mothers that Mark & Howard began billing themselves as Flo & Eddie, originally the Phlorescent Leech & Eddie. Turtles bassist Jim Pons also joined the Mothers, so we got your Turtles rock band street cred right here, pal. A 1971 recording of the Mothers at Fillmore East preserves an exuberant performance of Flo & Eddie singin' the Turtles signature tune. 

THE CROSSFIRES: Fiberglass Jungle

Before becoming Flo & Eddie or fronting the Turtles, Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan were presumably happy together in an early '60s surf instrumental combo called the Crossfires. I think I first heard the Crossfires on a Rhino Records surf instrumental compilation in the '80s, I somehow heard their unique take on "The William Tell Overture" some time after that, and "Fiberglass Jungle" is on the Ace Records set The Birth Of Surf, a CD which held a permanent berth in my CD carrying case during the pre-pandemic days when TIRnRR was a live studio broadcast.

We've played "Fiberglass Jungle" at least once before. This week, we play it again as This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio salutes Flo & Eddie.

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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.

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1303

About four years ago, I wrote a recollection of how I discovered and became a fan of the music of the Turtles. This week, the passing of former Turtle Mark Volman prompted us to spotlight Flo & Eddie: Mark Volman and his long-time musical partner in crime Howard Kaylon, a collaboration that even predates their work with the Turtles. We played a bunch of Turtles and Flo & Eddie tracks, a live cut of Flo & Eddie performing the Turtles' biggest hit "Happy Together" as members of the Mothers with Frank Zappa, examples of Flo & Eddie singing back-up for the Ramones, Blondie, T. Rex, the Knack, and the Johnny Popstar Luv Explosion, a pre-Turtles Flo & Eddie surf instrumental by the Crossfires, and a stupendous track they produced for Starry Eyed And Laughing. We didn't even get around to Flo & Eddie backing Bruce Springsteen ("Hungry Heart") or Psychedelic Furs ("Love My Way"). 

The Turtles placed nine hit singles in Billboard's Top 20; we didn't play any of them (unless you wanna count the Mothers doing "Happy Together"). The Turtles' hits were phenomenal records...but the Turtles were so much more than just their hits. Hell, I dumped my 2-LP Turtles best-of when I realized that I needed to own all of their individual albums. Good decision!

In lieu of further commentary, this is an edit of what I wrote in 2021 about the origin of my Turtles fandom:

Some of the best stories start with a bunch of 45s. Even if the story itself never goes anywhere, you've still got a bunch of 45s. That's a great start for anything. 

The story of my discovering the music of the Turtles doesn't exactly start with a bunch of 45s, but a small collection of 7" singles served as an integral early part of that story. The setting was Jean Price's front porch in Syracuse's Northern suburbs, 1967. Jean wasn't there at the time; she was older, and she certainly wouldn't have been hanging out with a bunch of seven- and eight-year-old children. In truth, I don't even remember Jean herself, and I have no recollection of why I was hanging out on her porch with a small group of the other neighborhood kids.

But if I don't remember the why, I remember the what. We were looking through a box of 45s, presumably Jean Price's 45s. Memory won't surrender the identities of most of those singles, though I think the stash included either "Liar, Liar" by the Castaways or "Wipe Out" by the Surfaris, or maybe both of those. But I clearly, clearly remember seeing the White Whale Records logo, as I stared at the Turtles' "Happy Together" single.

I knew the song from the radio. I had no other specific tether to it in the moment. But in that moment, for whatever mystic forces manipulated (but fail to explain) the situation, "Happy Together" by the Turtles became immediately important to me.

As a teenager, I developed a consuming interest in the rockin' pop of the '60s, both the stuff I remembered from childhood and stuff that was essentially new to my post-adolescent ears. Oldies radio hooked me on the Turtles' pop classics "She'd Rather Be With Me" and "Elenore." "She'd Rather Be With Me" became the first Turtles track I ever owned, courtesy of a various-artists set called 20 Heavy Hits, scarfed up at the flea market. "Happy Together" followed, with a purchase of a (very) used copy of the cheap-o early '70s Do It Now compilation in the spring of 1977, my senior year in high school. 

My first Turtles album was the 2-LP anthology Happy Together Again, a dusty and well-worn used copy rescued from the basement of Record Revolution in Cleveland Heights in the summer of '77, right before the start of my freshman year in college. This was my real indoctrination into all things Turtley, introducing me to wonderful Turtles tracks like "Outside Chance," "Grim Reaper Of Love," "Love In The City," and more.

Happy Together Again accompanied me to college in Brockport. I met a pretty Long Island girl named Eleanor (never mind the spelling), who of course loved the Turtles' "Elenore" but would have greatly preferred me refraining from singing it to her. Back home in the summer of '78, I played the album for my doomed friend Tom, who liked the Turtles but hated one line in "Let Me Be:" I am what I am and that's all I ever can be. That apparent expression of limitation bugged Tom; looking back decades later, I can't wrap my mind around how to reconcile that sentiment with the fact of Tom's suicide in 1979.

It's weird the things we wind up remembering. A friend objecting to an innocuous lyric he heard a year before he killed himself. A box of 45s on a neighbor girl's porch. I became a big fan of the Turtles, and I own each of their original albums via CD reissues on the Sundazed label. I missed a chance to see the Turtles/Flo and Eddie at a club show in Buffalo in the mid '80s, but saw them in Syracuse a decade later. I play the music of the Turtles at home, in my car, and on the radio. 

The story didn't really start with a box of 45s. But by God, it should have. Happy together? Imagine me and you. I do. Brothers and sisters, friends and lovers and random passers-by. Together. We'll do the best we can in that regard.

NEXT WEEK: We will feature the songwriting and performing of  Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart. This is what rock 'n' roll radio sounded like on another 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, streaming at SPARK stream, and on the Radio Garden app as WESTCOTT RADIO. 

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). You can follow Carl's daily blog at Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do).

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TIRnRR # 1303: 9/21/2025

TIRnRR FRESH SPINS! Tracks we think we ain't played before are listed in bold

THE TURTLES: Love In The City (Sundazed, Turtle Soup)

EYTAN MIRSKY: My Little Tricycle (n/a, All Over The Map)

STARRY EYED AND LAUGHING: Saturday (Broadside, All Their Best)

TOMORROW: My White Bicycle (Rhino, VA: Nuggets II)

TOMMY BOYCE AND BOBBY HART: I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight (Varese Sarabande, VA: The Songs Of Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart)

THE SPRINGFIELDS: Bicycle Song (Slumberland, Singles 1986-1991)

--
ROB MOSS AND SKIN-TIGHT SKIN: Good Hair Day (single)

AMY RIGBY: Heart Is A Muscle (Tapete, Hang In There With Me)

THE RAMONES: Poison Heart (Radioactive, Mondo Bizarro)

KELLEY RYAN: The Church Of Laundry (Kool Kat Musik, VA: This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5)

GRAHAM PARKER AND MIKE GENT: Pathetic (Big Stir, VA: Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes)

TEENAGE FANCLUB WITH JAD FAIR: My Life Is Starting Over Again (Gammon, VA: The Late Great Daniel Johnston: Discovered Covered)

--

SHPLANG: Let's Get High (And I Could Be Your Man) (Big Stir, single)

astroPuppees: On My Way (Manatee, Sugar Beat)

THE FLASHCUBES: If These Hands (Big Stir, single)

THE MUFFS: That's For Me (Omnivore, No Holiday)

FLO & EDDIE: Let Me Make Love To You (Columbia, Illegal, Immoral And Fattening)

MARY LOU LORD: Right On 'Till Dawn (Kill Rock Stars, Speeding Motorcycle)

--

COLIN ROBINSON: Can't Help Thinking Bout Me (Kool Kat Musik, VA: The Direct Records Story, Vol. 3)

MATTHEW SWEET: Sick Of Myself (Zoo, 100% Fun)

THE ANDERSON COUNCIL: Boys Keep Swinging (Jem, VA: Jem Records Celebrates David Bowie)

MATTHEW SWEET AND SUSANNA HOFFS: Care Of Cell # 44 (Shout Factory, Under The Covers, Vol. 1)

T. REX: Telegram Sam (Crimson, The Very Best Of T. Rex)

MATERIAL ISSUE: Bus Stop (eggBERT, VA: Sing Hollies In Reverse)

--

SPLITSVILLE: I Was A Teenage Frankenstein (Big Stir, VA: Chilling, Thrilling Hooks And Haunted Harmonies)

THE GROOVIE GHOULIES: (She's My) Vampire Girl (Lookout!, Fun In The Dark)

THE TURTLES: Outside Chance (Sundazed, You Baby)

THE SEARCHERS: Love's Melody (Omnivore, Another Night: The Sire Recordings 1979-1981)

THE HALF/CUBES FEATURING PETER NOONE: I'll Be Taking Her Out Tonight (Jem, single)

UTOPIA: Love In Action (Rhino, TODD RUNDGREN: The Very Best Of Todd Rundgren)

--

EYTAN MIRSKY: What Happened (To The Rock 'n' Roll)? (single)

COCKEYED GHOST: I Hate Rock 'n' Roll (Big Deal, The Scapegoat Factory)

THE VERBS: I Need Glue (Big Stir, VA: Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes)

CRABBY APPLETON: Go Back (Collectors' Choice Music, Crabby Appleton)

FLO & EDDIE: Another Pop Star's Life (Reprise, Flo & Eddie)

THE RUBINOOS: I Think We're Alone Now (Castle, Everything You Always Wanted To Know About The Rubinoos But Were Afraid To Ask)

--

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

SLYBOOTS: If We Could Let Go (single)

CLOCKWORK FLOWERS: Going Going Gone (n/a, Clockwork Flowers)

BLONDIE: T-Birds (Chrysalis, Autoamerican)

THE BEAT: Rock N Roll Girl (Wagon Wheel, The Beat)

MONOGROOVE: That Girl (Kool Kat Musik, Popsicle Drivethru)

THE BEVIS FROND: He'd Be A Diamond (Woronzow, New River Head)

--

FLO & EDDIE: This Could Be The Day (Rhino, The Best Of Flo & Eddie)

THE POPTARTS: Jealousy [alternate version] (PlumTone, Fresh...Out Of The Toaster)

THE TURTLES: It Was A Very Good Year (Sundazed, It Ain't Me Babe)

LULU: Tossin' And Turnin' (RPM, Shout! The Complete Decca Recordings)

THE RAMONES: Chop Suey (Morocco, VA: Get Crazy OST)

GAME THEORY: Linus And Lucy (Omnivore, The Big Shot Chronicles)

THE JOHNNY POPSTAR LUV EXPLOSION: Guess I'm Just A Friendly Guy [alternate mix--Flo & Eddie's Zappa characters] (n/a, Lizzy The Supermarket Drag Queen)

THE BIG THREE: Some Other Guy (Rhino, VA: The British Invasion: The History Of British Rock, Vol. 5)

--

THE TURTLES: Grim Reaper Of Love (Sundazed, It Ain't Me Babe)

THE SPONGETONES: She Goes Out With Everybody (Big Stir, The 40th Anniversary Concert...And Beyond)

THE KNACK: Radiating Love (Capitol, Round Trip)

THE CHESTERFIELD KINGS: She Told Me Lies (Rhino, VA: Children Of Nuggets)

FLO & EDDIE: You're A Lady (Reprise, Flo & Eddie)

BIG STAR: In The Street [original mix] (Rhino, Keep An Eye On The Sky)

THE MOTHERS: Happy Together (Reprise, Fillmore East--June 1971)

THE BEATLES: You Know My Name (Look Up The Number) (Apple, Past Masters)

--

THE CROSSFIRES: Fiberglass Jungle (Ace, VA: The Birth Of Surf)

PINK FLOYD: Interstellar Overdrive--Extract 2 (Instant, VA: Tonite Let's All Make Love In London OST)

10 SONGS: 9/20/2025

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 # 1302.

THE HALF/CUBES FEATURING PETER NOONE: I'll Be Taking Her Out Tonight

This new single by the Half/Cubes featuring Peter Noone finds the Herman's Hermits singer revisiting his early '80s work fronting the ace new wave rockin' pop combo the Tremblers. This is not something Noone revisits very often, and the fact that he's participated in a new and effervescent remake of my favorite Tremblers tune is righteous cause for joy 'n' merriment in these quarters. 

The single serves as herald to the new Half/Cubes album Found Pearls, due in October from Jem Records. I would tell you more about it. except that it's too early for me to tell you more about it. But I've heard it and it's fabulous. I was among several friends of the band and the label that were asked for an opinion of what oughta be the first focus track. I replied:

"To me, the obvious commercial choice is 'I'll Be Taking Her Out Tonight.' It almost doesn't matter whether or not it's one of the album's best tracks (though it does happen to be among them); Peter Noone's involvement is noteworthy to begin with, but the idea of him returning to a track he did with the Tremblers is--what's the phrase?--a big fucking deal. Man, Robbie Rist just mentioned the Tremblers on his podcast a couple of weeks ago, lamenting the fact that Peter never, ever re-visits that album or era. This is a friggin' home run, and it feels like a natural pick for a focus track."

More hype to come. Enjoy this friggin' home run in the meantime. 

THE TURTLES: Elenore

With the passing of Mark Volman of the Turtles, our next show will pay tribute to Flo & Eddie (Volman with long-time collaborator and fellow Turtle Howard Kaylon) as our Featured Performers. We still wanted to squeeze a Turtles spin into this week's program as well, and we opted for one of the hits: "Elenore," written by the Turtles themselves as their snarky response to White Whale Records label suits demanding the group do another frothy 'n' frolicsome pop ditty like "Happy Together." The Turtles (really Kaylon) wrote "Elenore" as a satire of "Happy Together."

The Turtles did not intend anyone to take the deliberately goopy, over-the-top lyrics of "Elenore" seriously, nor as anything other than a grumpy middle digit flashed at their label. But White Whale loved it, released it at 45 RPM, and it became one of the group's biggest smashes. That's show biz.

THE FLASHCUBES: Reminisce

With the release of the new Half/Cubes single (and the promise of more), plus the release of the various-artists blockbuster Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes, right now is a really, really good time for fans of all Cubic pop. The Flashcubes' rhythm section of bassist Gary Frenay and drummer/producer Tommy Allen are the central figures in the Half/Cubes, and they established their once and future power pop legend alongside guitarists Paul Armstrong and Arty Lenin. The Flashcubes. Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse, and an incredibly important act in my life.

That's why I wanted to organize a Flashcubes tribute album: 21 great acts covering 21 great original Flashcubes songs, bolstered by three brand-new tracks from the Flashcubes themselves. Paul Armstrong's "Reminisce" was the first single, and it's the leadoff track on Make Something Happen!

It's also my favorite song of 2025. All I want to do is reminisce with you. Hey-ho, let's go. Reminiscing isn't all I wanna do, but the foundation built by our past gives us a platform to race into whatever comes next.

THE JOHNNY POPSTAR LUV EXPLOSION: Guess I'm Just A Friendly Guy [alternate mix--Flo & Eddie's Zappa characters]

The Flo & Eddie tribute on our next show will skip the Turtles' biggest hits, delving a tiny bit deeper into a quartet of lower-charting singles and LP tracks from a great group that was so much more than just their best-known singles. Alas, that means "Elenore" will have the weekend off, showing how to be exactly what she'd be with whomever she'd rather be, happy together.

One track will will play again in our Flo & Eddie feature is this alternate mix of "Guess I'm Just A Friendly Guy" by the Johnny Popstar Luv Explosion. The track (from the EP Lizzy The Supermarket Drag Queen) was a frequent fixture on our playlists back 'round the turn of the century, and although Flo & Eddie did also sing back-up on the non-alternate mix, we favored this mix, with Flo & Eddie reprising the willfully whiny voices they used as member of the Mothers with Frank Zappa. And we're gonna play it again on Sunday night.

THE TREMBLERS: You Can't Do That

Oh yes you CAN! At the dawn of the 1980s, when Peter Noone wanted to try to establish a more (for lack of a better description) serious rock 'n' roll image separate from cute 'n' cuddly 'Erman of the 'Ermits, he formed his crack combo the Tremblers. Because he COULD do that! Great live band, great album called Twice Nightly, and ultimately a great lost opportunity, as the only thing it couldn't do was get the record-buying public on board. Stupid record-buying public.

Peter and the Tremblers deserved better. "You Can't Do That" is the first track on Twice Nightly, and it sets the album's tone with defiant, confident aplomb. It's my second-favorite Tremblers track, right after "I'll Be Taking Her Out Tonight," followed closely by "Maybe I'll Stay" and "I Screamed Anne" and "Wouldn't I" and "Steady Eddie" and the cover of Elvis Costello's "Green Shirt" and...the whole damned record. Twice Nightly is superb. With the Tremblers, Peter Noone could for damned sure do that. 

And he did.

EYTAN MIRSKY: Apologize In Advance

What do we do when we get brand-new music from Brother Eytan Mirsky? We PLAY that brand-new music from Brother Eytan Mirsky! Obviously. Dana notes that Eytan's new album All Over The Map seems to have something of a country feel to it, and Brother Eytan does indeed bring some winning twang to Forest Hills without ceding an acre or an inch of his Queens-bred Everyman snark. We'll hear more new Mirsky music this Sunday, as Eytan covers Rob Moss and Skin-Tight Skin and Rob Moss and Skin-Tight Skin cover Eytan Mirsky. We ARE the world!

PERILOUS: Glass Of Something

I propose a toast: Here's to another absolutely ace new single from the irresistible force known as Perilous. Glass of something? Set 'er up, and here's to ya.

HERMAN'S HERMITS: A Must To Avoid

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

BALLZY TOMORROW: Five Personalities

From Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes: Noted Tremblers fan Robbie Rist and his Ballzy Tomorrow dba take on one of my many favorite Flashcubes originals. From Half/Cubes featuring Peter Noone to the Tremblers to Robbie Rist to the Flashcubes and back to Robbie Rist; this week's edition of 10 Songs has just about completed the fullness of its circle.

HERMAN'S HERMITS: I'm Into Something Good

That's us. That's us all over. Getting into The Best Three Hours Of Radio On The Whole Friggin' Planet is, by definition, getting into something good.

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.

Talking With MICHAEL McCARTNEY About The FLASHCUBES TRIBUTE ALBUM On THE TIME MACHINE, Mana'o Radio KMNO-FM In Maui

Tonight--Saturday, September 6th--I will be talking with Maui's vet'ran cool DJ MICHAEL McCARTNEY on his essential radio show THE TIME MACHINE. The subject matter, of course, is BIG STIR RECORDS' new various-artists blockbuster MAKE SOMETHING HAPPEN! A TRIBUTE TO THE FLASHCUBES. Michael and I will discuss the project's origin, my history as a Flashcubes fan, and--of the greatest importance!--we'll hear a number of the amazing individual tracks on this labor-of-love tribute album. As a non-Flashcubes bonus, we'll honor the memory of MARK VOLMAN of THE TURTLES with a spin of my favorite Turtles track.

JOIN US! THE TIME MACHINE airs from 2 to 5 pm Hawaii time, which is 8 to 11 pm Eastern time, 7 to 10 pm Central, and yadda und yadda, on Maui's MANA'O RADIO KMNO 91.7 FM . You can find ways to listen at manaoradio.com, on the KMNO app, or via this link: https://manaoradio.com/streaming-player/ A Cubic time is guaranteed for all!

10 SONGS: 4/14/2023

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 # 1176. This show is available as a podcast.

THE RAMONES: Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?

Throughout the month of April, TIRnRR is celebrating the Ramones by playing my # 1 favorite track from each of the Ramones' fourteen studio albums, covering four albums per week. As this week's Ramones celebration turns to the group's second quartet of LPs--End Of The Century, Pleasant Dreams, Subterranean Jungle, and Too Tough To Die, all originally released on Sire Records--the passing of Sire's co-founder and former president Seymour Stein made us want to program a big ol' bunch of Sire stuff in addition to our previously-planned Ramones spins. More than half of the selections on this week's playlist were Sire releases. And all of the prizes in this week's edition of 10 Songs are songs that first entered my collection with the Sire logo in place.

"Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?" is the obvious choice from End Of The Century. Our little mutant radio show steals its name from a line in that song, and it's the very first track discussed in my long-threatened book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). In the interviews for my current book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones, Joey Ramone told me the song "was about disenchantment with the state of radio. Ya know, growin’ up on radio and it being really important, it turned you on to all the great artists. And then radio, it became big business. It seemed like it was just happening in America, but it was really happening all over the world."

Well, Joey, TIRnRR is doing its fair share to fight that. Rock 'n' roll radio. Let's go.

SOFT CELL: Tainted Love

By the end of the summer of 1981, I owned a lot of Sire releases. I had the six studio LPs the Ramones had released by that point (including Pleasant Dreams, which came out that July), their 2-LP in-concert import It's Alive!, their Rock 'n' Roll High School soundtrack album, and three Ramones 45s, all on Sire. I had a few Sire archival collections (single-artist and various artists), and Sire LPs and/or 45s by Talking Heads, Radio Birdman, Plastic Bertrand, the Dead Boys, the Pretenders, Johnny Thunders, Tuff Darts, Richard Hell and the Voidoids, the Undertones, Gruppo Sportivo, M, possibly the Saints and DMZ, and still more Sire beyond those.

But that summer, my 45 of Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" may have accrued more turntable time than all of my other Sire records combined.

Now, I liked this Soft Cell record. I still do. Love it, in fact. But it was my girlfriend Brenda who played the 45, over and over and over again. That may seem like a complaint, but it's not. I love the song, and I love Brenda; we've been married since 1984. Hearing the song conjures a fond memory. Nothing tainted about that.

THE KINKS: All Day And All Of The Night

My very first Sire Record was the 2-LP various-artists collection History Of British Rock Vol. 2, a Christmas gift in 1976. Among this compilation's many essentials by the Dave Clark Five, the Hollies, Dusty Springfield, Badfinger, Chad and Jeremy, and others, its greatest lasting contribution to me was simply this: History Of British Rock Vol. 2 introduced the music of the Kinks into my record library.

"All Day And All Of The Night." I was mere weeks away from my 17th birthday. I only knew the Kinks from "Lola," a track I'd adored on AM radio years before, but which didn't prepare me at all for the welcome sonic assault of "All Day And All Of The Night." From there, my sister pointed me toward the even more primal "You Really Got Me," WOUR-FM's Friday night oldies show hooked me on "Tired Of Waiting For You," and I was a Kinks fan.

My secret origin as a Kinks fan was told in greater detail here. Technically, my Kinks story began with "Lola," but it really got me going with "All Day And All Of The Night" on History Of British Rock Vol. 2. On Sire Records. At the time, I had no idea how important Sire would be to me.

THE RAMONES: All's Quiet On The Eastern Front

As noted in a few recent editions of 10 Songs, I've been reevaluating the Ramones' 1981 album Pleasant Dreams, and while I still don't think it's on the level of da brudders' classic first four albums, it is a much, much better record than I fully appreciated at the time (or for a long time thereafter). For my book, Marky Ramone told me, "I happen to like that album a lot. A lot of people don’t like it because it’s our pop album. John doesn’t like it. Me and Joey like it. I don’t know whether Dee Dee liked it or not. I’m not sure. But I really liked it a lot."

(And Marky was right when he said Johnny Ramone didn't like it: "Yeah, this is the low point of our career here.")

Even when I underrated Pleasant Dreams, "All's Quiet On The Eastern Front" stood out. From a forthcoming piece about my 25 favorite Ramones tracks:

"...'All's Quiet On The Eastern Front' was my immediate favorite when I bought the album in '81, and it has remained so. It's the sprightliest song ever done about a serial killer, stalking the street 'til the break of day, a track delivered with decidedly un-Ramoneslike percussion, and with backing vocals from Dee Dee Ramone asking that musical question, Can't you think my movements talk? Hey, you unsuspecting soon-to-be victims: Pleasant dreams!"

THE SEARCHERS: Hearts In Her Eyes

God, what a magnificent track. In 1979, Seymour Stein had the taste and vision to sign British Invasion stars the Searchers to Sire. The Searchers' 1964 hit "Love Potion No. 9" was also on History Of British Rock Vol. 2, and "Needles And Pins" was on that series' first volume, but after their '60s hitmakin' heyday the group had fallen well under the general public's radar. 

The Searchers did two brilliant albums for Sire, 1979's The Searchers and 1981's Love's Melodies. The highlight was the '79 single "Hearts In Her Eyes," written by John Wicks and Will Birch from the great UK pop combo the Records. From the even-more-theoretical The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 2):

"...Punk would seem to be an unlikely savior of the Searchers' fortunes. As the Sex Pistols sang of no future and the Clash yearned for a riot of their own, some within this new wave of rock 'n' roll eagerly acknowledged and embraced the rockin' pop sounds of the past. 

"The Ramones covered 'Needles And Pins.' Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers--a group then widely considered at least a tangent to new wave--channeled the Searchers' sound in an original song called 'Listen To Her Heart.' The less nihilistic, more pop-minded acts within this broad not-really-a-movement admired and emulated the music of the British Invasion. The Searchers weren't among the most influence-checked bands--those accolades belonged to the Kinks and the Who--but nor were they without honor, without appreciation. More than a decade after needles, pins, and number 9 love potions brought them to fame and acclaim, the Searchers were part of the conversation of what was cool. Seymour Stein must have understood...

"...Lyrically, 'Hearts In Her Eyes' is...well, curious. The boy sings lovingly and admiringly of his girl--a pretty girl, I'm sure--who seems to practice serial hinge-heelededness. Like a kid in a toy shop/She can't stop/She wants all the boys/She's got hearts in her eyes. But the music is pure, pristine, irresistible, the folk rock of 'Needles And Pins' and 'Don't Throw Your Love Away' given power pop muscle, yet retaining the Searchers' familiar grace and charm. It explodes from speakers the way a rockin' pop song oughtta, and jangles with the delirious thrill of getting lost in the eyes, the lips, the arms, the heart of someone to love...."

THE TURTLES: Outside Chance

I've written elsewhere of how I discovered the music of the Turtles, beginning with their huge hit record "Happy Together" when I was a little kid in the '60s and progressing into "She'd Rather Be With Me" and "Elenore" via oldies radio in the '70s. Sire Records provided the fullest portal for my own Turtlemania with a double album best-of set called Happy Together Again.

Happy Together Again was, I think, my third Sire acquisition, following Volumes 1 and 2 of History Of British Rock. Memory is imprecise, but I know I picked up a (very!) used copy of HTA in the basement of Cleveland's late, lamented Record Revolution, and I believe that was in the summer of '77, right before I went to college. 

This collection was a revelation. As wonderful as the Turtles' big hits are, their lesser-known material is greater still. "Love In The City." "Grim Reaper Of Love." And especially "Outside Chance," written by Warren Zevon, simultaneously buoyant and surly, and as definitive a SOD OFF! as you could ever ask a pop song to be.

I no longer own a copy of Happy Together Again. I kinda wish I'd held on to it, but as time went on, I realized that even a double album of the Turtles' best wasn't sufficient; I needed alll of their individual albums, just like I need all of the Beatles' albums. And all of the Ramones' albums. I got the lot of 'em, with bonus tracks, when Sundazed Records reissued the Turtles' library on CD. We remain happy together.

THE RAMONES: In The Park

For a very long time, 1983's Subterranean Jungle was my favorite Ramones studio album outside of the unassailable first four. I'm not sure whether or not I still feel that way...but I might. The album embraces the pop side of the Ramones' influences more than any record since 1977's Rocket To Russia cared to (and more than 1979's fantastic Road To Ruin, which is still an even better album than Subterranean Jungle). "In The Park" is absolutely one of my top 25 Ramones tracks.

THE FLAMIN' GROOVIES: Shake Some Action

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE 13th FLOOR ELEVATORS: You're Gonna Miss Me

Lenny Kaye's seminal '60s garage/punk/psychedelic compilation Nuggets was originally issued by Elektra Records in 1972. It was subsequently reissued by Sire, and in 1979 I grabbed a cutout of the Sire version from the discount bin at Main Street Records in Brockport, NY. I had no familiarity with Nuggets before that, though I knew a few of its tracks, including "Dirty Water" by the Standells. I bought it specifically to get "Lies" by the Knickerbockers and "Liar, Liar" by the Castaways.

I had never heard of the 13th Floor Elevators. My first spin of Nuggets was my first spin of "You're Gonna Miss Me."

It was a HOLY SHIT! moment. Once again from the annals of The Greatest Record Ever Made!:

"...'You're Gonna Miss Me' is acid made punk, as hallucinatory as Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd, as badass as...anything, ever. It's the embodiment of the rock-critic concept of 1960s garage-built psychedelia, while sounding not quite like any of its peers. 

"It could only have come from Texas. It profoundly influenced at least one son of the Lone Star State: Billy Gibbons, later to find fame slingin' his sharp-dressed six-string with ZZ Top. Contemporary to the Elevators, Gibbons played with a group called the Moving Sidewalks, whose own awesome single '99th Floor' couldn't have popped into being without 'You're Gonna Miss Me' providing a blueprint. 'You're Gonna Miss Me' has continued to glow in the dark for all subsequent generations seeking the sound of electric guitars crossed with electric sugar cubes...

"Immediate. Hypnotic. As tough as Detroit's MC5 or Stooges, as potent a warning as a sidewinder's rattle, as intoxicating as drinkin' wine, spo-dee-o-dee, drinkin' wine, goddamn. Welcome to Texas, muthas and bruthas...."

THE RAMONES: Daytime Dilemma (Dangers Of Love)

Confession: while many Ramones fans (and Johnny Ramone himself) regarded 1984's Too Tough To Die as their return to greatness following a series of lackluster albums preceding it, I've never been all that fond of it. I can't say it's my least favorite Ramones album--that would be 1986's Animal Boy--but much of Too Tough To Die is too...I dunno, anonymous for my taste. 

It's not without highlights. The ultrashort instrumental "Durango 95" is a righteous kick anna half, and "Daytime Dilemma (Dangers Of Love)" is peppy 'n' poppin' to the extent that it could have fit in on one of the Ramones' 1970s albums. 

Our month of Ramones continues next week, with my favorite tracks from Animal Boy--even on my least favorite Ramones album, I had a coin toss between two favorite tracks--Halfway To Sanity, Brain Drain, and Mondo Bizarro. 

Brain Drain was the Ramones' last studio album for Sire. With Mondo Bizarro in 1992, the Ramones moved to their manager Gary Kurfirst's label Radioactive Records, where they would remain for the rest of their career.

But we wouldn't have been rewarded with the thrill of the Ramones' music if Seymour Stein's Sire Records hadn't given us the opportunity to experience it. The Sire 45 of "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker" will always be the record that changed my life. Sire Records was an important label, and a vital resource in the development of both of this radio show's impressionable hosts decades ago.

Rest in peace, Seymour.

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

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

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

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl