10 SONGS: 7/14/2022

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

This week's edition of 10 Songs draws exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1137.

THE OVERTURES: What's It All Coming To

THE FLASHCUBES: When You Walk In The Room

MIKE BROWNING: All The Love Is Here

Pop Aid is a new 3-CD, 63-track compilation to benefit humanitarian aid in Ukraine. It's due out in August from our friends at Kool Kat Musik, and its profits go to World Central Kitchen's efforts to serve a million meals each day to the beleaguered people of Ukraine. Even if you hated pop music, you would want to contribute. For those of us who happen to love pop music, this gift gives back, again and again and again. All of these tracks are CD-exclusive to Pop Aid, making it an even more essential gotta-have-THIS!!

We plucked three tracks from Pop Aid for this week's shindig. We opened the show with "What's It All Coming To" by the Overtures, drawn by the exuberance of its jangle and its inherent promise of better living through rock 'n' roll radio. Among its many other treats for the ear and soul, Pop Aid includes the first-ever CD appearance of the Flashcubes' cover of the Jackie DeShannon/Searchers classic "When You Walk In The Room" and our pal Mike Browning's beautiful "All The Love Is Here." We played all of those this week. We'll play three more Pop Aid tracks on next week's TIRnRR.

CARLA THOMAS: When Tomorrow Comes

I don't get to take many vacations. Time, budget, scheduling, responsibilities. Plus, y'know, COVID. I'm fortunate enough to have traveled a lot in previous decades; I'm grateful for those opportunities, and the cherished memories of journeys across the country and across the sea remind me that I have no freakin' right to complain. I've been places. Many folks haven't been as lucky as I have been.

At the end of June, Brenda and I decided to get away and spend a few days in Massachusetts. We picked the Amherst area, which is a shorter drive from Syracuse than Boston would have been, and which is home to the Eric Carle Museum, honoring one of Brenda's favorite creators of children's books.

So: AMHERST-BOUND! It was a stress-free drive there and back, bookending a relaxing time spent together. Brenda located a wonderful used bookstore, Gray Matter Books in Hadley, and I might have been content to spend half of the vacation just burrowing there. 

Confession: visiting used book and record shops is an essential part of my ideal vacations. I actually enjoy bookstores even more than I enjoy record stores (and I'm a CD buyer rather than a vinyl buyer), but I adore both kinds of stores. On this trip, I scored a few books (including The Heebie-Jeebies At CBGB's--A Secret History Of Jewish Punk, which Brenda bought for me at The Yiddish Book Center), and stops at Mystery Train Records in Amherst and Turn It Up! and Joe's Albums in Northampton netted me CDs by Divinyls, Sonny and Cher, Link Wray and the Raymen, Emmylou Harris, Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, the Professionals, and Carla Thomas.

Each of the above acquisitions grew what had previously been a perfunctory presence by the artist in my CD library. Most of these are best-of sets; the Professionals and Carla Thomas discs are individual albums. The expanded reissue of Carla Thomas' The Queen Alone is particularly revelatory, taking me beyond the familiar singles I know from my Stax/Volt boxed set. The delight of new discovery can bend perception, but I think I may prefer "When Tomorrow Comes" even over her classic "B-A-B-Y."

Brenda and I spent just three nights in Massachusetts. It was a short, welcome getaway after the all-of-this of all of this. Vacation. All I ever wanted. Work and responsibility will still be there, when tomorrow comes.

CHRIS VON SNEIDEN: Goodnight Sailor

AMY RIGBY: Tom Petty Karaoke

One pressing responsibility is the task of prepping our own new compilation CD This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5 for a projected September release on Kool Kat. We finalized the track selections and sequence on July 2nd, and we'll be sharing that information very, very soon. I have turned the master tracks over to the studio wizard who's going to make 'em all sound great together--I'll keep that wizard's identity a secret for today--and will need to start work on the liner notes ASAP. Meanwhile, I've listened to a rough mix of the compilation, and I do think you're going to fall in love with it.

For TIRnRR # 5, expatriate Central New Yorker Chris von Sneidern has given us a fab new track called "Goodnight Sailor," and the mighty Amy Rigby has allowed us the use of her inspiring 2018 digital single "Tom Petty Karaoke." On both counts, we could not possibly be more thrilled.

The CVS and Amy Rigby tracks join an assembled Avengers line-up of Pop Co-Op, Irene Peña, Carolyne Mas, Laurie Biagini, Gary Frenay, Maura and the Bright Lights, Justine and the Unclean, Deadlights, Kelley Ryan, the Mayflowers, Perilous, Kid Gulliver, Kingmixer, Hoover and Martinez, Arielle Eden, In Deed, Ballzy Tomorrow, the Villas, the Jangle Band, Tall Poppy Syndrome, and Eytan Mirsky. A quick vacation accomplished, and now the return to work on This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5. Life is good.

TRACEY ULLMAN: They Don't Know

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE WALKER BRIGADE: I'm Tired

Covering Madeline Kahn may not seem particularly rock 'n' roll (the late Ms. Kahn's undeniable greatness notwithstanding). Specifically, the idea of a rock band covering "I'm Tired," Kahn's mock-Teutonic camp romp from the film Blazing Saddles, might strike one as, I dunno, not a terribly promising prospect.

The Walker Brigade pull it off. As the current single from their recent album If Only, "I'm Tired" finds the Walker Brigade shtupping the beat--hey, they're Beat Shtuppers!--and flashing their own blazin' saddles with tongue in cheek and hands on guitars. Tired? The Walker Brigade have just the quicker picker-upper you need.

BARRY HOLDSHIP: It's Only Make Believe

One of the infinite number of varying blueprints for my long-threatened book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) included an intention to spotlight Conway Twitty's incredible 1958 hit "It's Only Make Believe." I never got around to writing that chapter, and the song fell out of my proposed Table of Contents as I streamlined my plan. But, for now, suffice it to say that I love Conway Twitty's "It's Only Make Believe." 

And now, I also love Barry Holdship's new cover of "It's Only Make Believe." Our Barry throws his entire self into this performance. It would be over the top if it weren't perfect. 

And it is perfect.

The track comes to us from Sing Me A Song--A 50th Birthday Celebration, which is a 74-track digital compilation curated by Adam Waltemire on behalf of his own fab show Pop Garden Radio. I'm going to try to tear myself away from Barry's "It's Only Make Believe" long enough to program some other tracks from Sing Me A Song in near-future playlists. It's not make-believe to think I'll accomplish that.

But you better believe we'll be playing "It's Only Make Believe" again, too.

LISA MYCHOLS AND SUPER 8: I Can't Explain

Dana and I have a long-standing history of digging tribute albums when they're done right. Jem Records has a proven track record of doing tribute albums right, and we for damned sure dig previous efforts Jem Records Celebrates John Lennon and Jem Records Celebrates Brian Wilson. The righteous digging continues with the forthcoming Jem Records Celebrates Pete Townshend, currently teased by an advance single of Lisa Mychols and Super 8 transforming "I Can't Explain" into something like Peggy Lee could have done (and done well). Torch, meet Mod. Mod, shake hands with Torch. We're all gonna get along just fine.

Dig?

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

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

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl

10 SONGS: 5/5/2022

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

This week's edition of 10 Songs draws exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1127.

THE BABLERS: You Are The One For Me

England's phenomenal pop combo the Bablers commence a new series of digital singles for the mighty Big Stir Records with "You Are The One For Me." You remember in That Thing You Do! when Mr. White tells teen sensations the Wonders that their single is snappy? "You Are The One For Me" is snappy, and it just so happens that I want something snappy. And I just happen to co-host a radio show built of all things snappy. Maximum snappiosity. We look forward to future snaps from the lads.

RONNIE SPECTOR: Something's Gonna Happen

The late, great Ronnie Spector recorded a handful of collaborations with Marshall Crenshaw about thirty years ago. They recorded five Crenshaw songs together in the late '80s or early '90s, though the public didn't get to hear them until 2003. I wasn't even aware of these until after our dear Ms. Spector passed in January. But this is just fantastic stuff, and we are poorer for not having the opportunity to experience them when they were new. And the record industry is a big moronhead for not embracing the project and demanding an extended Spector-Crenshaw team-up.

As is: working with Marshall Crenshaw, Ronnie Spector accomplished a minor miracle. Her renditions of Crenshaw's songs are even better than his already-incredible original versions, and they're on a par with the best recordings she ever made. The Ronettes' "Be My Baby." Ronnie Spector and the E Street Band's "Say Goodbye To Hollywood." Ronnie and Marshall's "Something's Gonna Happen." Pretty good company to keep. It's happening, all right. 

LUCINDA WILLIAMS: Passionate Kisses

I think "Passionate Kisses" is probably best-known via Mary-Chapin Carpenter's 1992 cover. Carpenter does a very nice reading, but my heart belongs to Lucinda Williams' 1988 original. I first heard it in a mix tape compiled by my friend Andrea Ullman, part of a flurry of cassette exchanges I had in the late '80s/very early '90s with her and with her future husband Greg Ogarrio. Ah, the mix tapes of our lives!

THE WALKER BRIGADE: Shake Shimmy

The above-mentioned Andrea Ogarrio was a member of the SoCal pop band the Bunny Rabbits, and Andrea and her fellow lepus janglus comrades co-wrote an ace 'n' angry pop tune called "Fallout." The Walker Brigade covered "Fallout" as a Big Stir single in 2020, and that same track now serves as the opening salvo on the Walker Brigade's new album If Only.  We'll be playing the Walker Brigade's "Fallout" again on a very near-future show.

But this week, we felt we oughtta pound the console on behalf of If Only's release by spinning something we ain't played before. That honor fell to this boppin' li'l number "Shake Shimmy," which we will also be playing again on a very near-future show. The way we Walker is just the way we...never mind.

SCOTTY GRAND, JACOB YOFFEE, AND ROAHNE HYLTON: All I Know (The Wonder Years Theme)

In writing my long-threatened book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1), the many entries I completed but then removed from the book's Table of Contents include three songs associated with TV series: the Dandy Warhols' "We Used To Be Friends" (a track known by many--me included--as the theme song for Veronica Mars), "The Batman Theme" by Nelson Riddle, and "The Green Hornet Theme" by Al Hirt. As a more recent TV theme song (from ABC's current reboot of The Wonder Years) makes its way to the TIRnRR playlist, these paragraphs from the Nelson Riddle chapter seem relevant:

"I grew up in a time when TV theme songs routinely entered the public consciousness. The catchy ditties that opened shows like Gilligan's Island, F Troop, The Beverly Hillbillies, The Patty Duke Show, and Car 54, Where Are You? weren't hit records in the usual sense, but within our shared pop culture they were nonetheless as big as any 45 spinning on the radio. 

"Many theme songs were sufficiently hook-laden to prompt release as a single, sometimes by the original artist and sometimes in cover versions, and sometimes to chart success. The Cowsills' swell cover of 'Love American Style' wasn't a hit, but it should have been, and it remains a staple of their live act. The Ventures, Perry Como, Henry Mancini, and Johnny Rivers all made the Top 40 with their respective renditions of themes from Hawaii Five-0, Here Come The Brides, Peter Gunn, and Secret Agent Man. Television tunes continued to maintain a radio presence throughout the '70s and '80s. In June of 1995, the Rembrandts' 'I'll Be There For You,' the theme from the NBC sitcom Friends, was the # 1 song on radio the week my daughter was born. I thought that was appropriate, and pretty cool...."

I've been digging the new Wonder Years, and a recent episode included the show's theme song "All I Know" within the episode itself. That spotlight made me notice the song in a way I hadn't noticed it before. "All I Know" sounds like a period-appropriate late '60s soul song, and I bought the digital single immediately. TV on the radio!

THE MONKEES: Terrifying

This week's show marked the sixth anniversary to the day of our first spin of "She Makes Me Laugh," the first advance single from the Monkees' 2016 album Good Times! The album was one of the highlights of a miserable year. And one of its best individual tracks was "Terrifying," a digital bonus track that has still not been issued on CD, nor in any physical form outside of limited-edition vinyl. The situation remains terrifying.

GLADYS KNIGHT AND THE PIPS: Midnight Train To Georgia

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

DAVE COPE AND THE SASS: Julee

Don't ever let anyone get away with trying to tell you there's no worthy new music. That's nonsense. Maybe the good new stuff doesn't reach your ears as effortlessly as it did when you were younger. But it's out there, and it's worth the effort to find it. Every week on TIRnRR, Dana and I try to do our part to mix the great new stuff with the great familiar stuff. Right now is always the best-ever time to be a fan of rockin' pop music.

"Julee," the title tune from a 2022 Kool Kat Musik release by Dave Cope and the Sass, is my favorite new track of this year so far. That's saying something, because as crappy as the year has been in general terms, there's been a rush of fabulous new music, courtesy of Kool Kat, Big Stir, Red On Red, Jem, Rum Bar, and so many others. In my head, "Julee" conjures a million different influences I can't quite isolate or identify; I hear some kind of mid/late '60s British vibe, which may be imaginary, but I don't care. Can't play this one enough.

BARBRA STREISAND: Stoney End

I do believe this is the first time we've ever played Barbra Streisand on TIRnRR. I didn't check with our intrepid stats man Fritz Van Leaven, and it wouldn't shock me if I turned out to be wrong about this, but I'm pretty sure about it. I loved the Funny Girl soundtrack LP when I was a kid, but neither it nor most of Streisand's pop hits are the sort of thing I'm terribly likely to play nowadays, either for myself or for others. I mean, my top Streisand moment is her co-starring role in the 1972 comedy What's Up, Doc?, a non-musical flick that is absolutely one of my all-time favorite films.

Streisand's 1970 Top Ten hit "Stoney End" popped into my head last week. I have no idea how or why it got there, but as I sang along silently (or not) with its virtual spin in my pop-obsessed brain, I knew we needed to include it in the ol' playlist. Dana has certainly played the song's author Laura Nyro on occasion, and I think we may have played Nyro's own version of "Stoney End"...maybe? I dunno. It's a fabulous tune in either incarnation. And it's ALL pop music. Yesterday I learned that June Millington of Fanny played on Streisand’s recording. That makes it even cooler, I say.

CAROLYNE MAS: In The Rain

Great, great, great track by Carolyne Mas. It's out of print. For now.

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

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

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl

10 SONGS: 6/3/2020

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 # 1027. 

THE MONKEES: Good Times


"Good times!" was what we promised for this week's This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, as I was intent on saluting The Monkees' amazing 2016 album Good Times! on the occasion of its fourth anniversary. We did not predict what an awful week this would be in the dumb old real world. 

In bad times, of course, we need good times more than ever. Like kicks, they keep getting harder to find.

JAMES BROWN: Please, Please, Please



In my possibly-eventual, possibly-imaginary book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1), the chapter on James Brown's incredible "Please, Please, Please" is inspired by Brown's incendiary appearance in the 1964 film The T.A.M.I. Show. I regard Brown's set in that in that film as the single most electrifying live performance ever captured on video. And, in the very midst of Beatlemania, it depicted the hardest working man in show business establishing a beachhead to counter the Redcoat incursion:

The infidels attempted to usurp his crown, his kingdom. He would not have that. He was the king of them all, y'all. The Hardest Working Man In Show Business. The Godfather Of Soul. Soul Brother Number One.

James Brown was not about to surrender his sovereign territory to interlopers, foreigners. James Brown would not bow to the insurrectionists in this British Invasion...

...In truth, there was probably very little arrogance on the part of these British pop stars. The British Invasion succeeded because its practitioners were avid fans of American music, their enthusiasm for red, white, and rhythm 'n' blues driving them to international pop heights no previous generation of English kids could even dream of. The Beatles were thrilled to make it in America, and that visceral excitement was almost certainly shared by all the U.K. hitmakers who followed immediately in The Beatles' Cuban-heeled path, from The Dave Clark Five through Chad & Jeremy...

...Brown took the stage like a tornado barely (and not really) contained, a twister obliterating all objects in its path. He moved like no one on this mortal plane should have been able to do, sizzling, damned near combusting with energy. "Out Of Sight," then "Prisoner Of Love," the latter featuring Brown dropping to his knees, a teasing hint of what was about to transpire:

"Please, Please, Please."

If you're a rockin' pop fan and you've never seen The T.A.M.I. Show, you owe yourself the absolute treat of witnessing what is far and away my all-time favorite concert film, with stellar live turns from everyone involved, from Chuck Berry through The Rolling Stones. But James Brown steals the show. The king of them all, y'all.

EARTH, WIND & FIRE WITH THE EMOTIONS: Boogie Wonderland



In general, I do what my iPod tells me to do. In my car--my preferred place to listen to music--I switch back and forth between SPARK! WSPJ Syracuse on the radio and my trusty ol' iPod as my only mobile music resources. The results of the random music shuffles that power my morning and evening commutes often influence selections I make for the next available This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, as I move through traffic on 81-South and declare with authority, Yeah, we GOTTA play that one on the show this week! That's how "Boogie Wonderland," the masterful 1979 disco smash by Earth, Wind & Fire with The Emotions, made its way onto Sunday night's playlist. "Boogie Wonderland" is also the most recent addition to The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1), as I surrender eagerly to the 20th-century Greek chorus of The Emotions. DANCE! All respect to the amazing EWF, but the chick vocals provided by The Emotions send this one into the stratosphere. 

THE EASYBEATS: Friday On My Mind



My series The Everlasting First has already told the tale of how I belatedly became a fan of The Easybeats in the '70s. The Easybeats' classic "Friday On My Mind" also earns a chapter in The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1):

Rock 'n' roll has always been working class music. The landed and the privileged may also enjoy it, and many/most of its practitioners share a fever dream of breaking into the exclusive ranks of the upper crust, enjoying all the glittery, golden things money can buy, with an endless resource of the cold, hard cash one needs to buy them all. The same could be said of country, R & B, soul...any popular music. Rich folks aren't the target audience; the rest of us are.

It's no accident that so many pop songs have reflected that viewpoint, nor that so many have specifically embraced the treasure of the weekend. Work's done! Time for play! From Little Richard's "Ready Teddy" through any random recognition of the Monday-to-Friday death march ceding way for the wall-to-wall fun of Friday and Saturday night, we dig our weekend party anthems. The Easybeats' "Friday On My Mind" is the definitive example.

THE KINKS: All Day And All Of The Night

When discussing the monolithic 1-2 punch of The Kinks' first two U.S. hits, "You Really Got Me" tends to grab all of the loud 'n' grungy glory. It is, after all, the greatest record ever made. But its follow-up "All Day And All Of The Night" is even more savage and relentless, and if it lacks a tiny bit of "You Really Got Me"'s mesmerizing single-mindedness, it compensates with its sheer combustibility. "All Day And All Of The Night" sounds like it's 'bout to explode, and it sounds loud (if never quite loud enough) at even the lowest volume. As revealed in my Everlasting First piece about how I discovered the group, "All Day And All Of The Night" was the first Kinks track I ever owned. There would be many, many more to follow.

KISS: Calling Dr. Love



Trying to satisfy the voracious hunger of a daily blog means I'm constantly kicking around ideas that may or may not lead me to write something. One idea I've noted but not yet pursued is called "The Idea Of KISS." That would be about how I have greater affection for KISS as an abstract (if you will) than I have for their actual records or performances. This is not to say that I don't like KISS. KISS was my first rock concert, The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) will include a chapter on "Shout It Out Loud," I still wear my KISS t-shirt pretty regularly, and I'm always eager to get right back in the face of any punter who dares to question my right to like KISS if I want to like KISS. 

But my love of KISS is not on the level of my love of The Beatles, The Ramones, The Monkees, The Kinks, The Flashcubes, or any of dozens of other acts. I have a sporadic blog series called All-Time Top 25, wherein I talk about my 25 favorite tracks by a designated artist. I've published All-Time Top 25s about The Beatles, The Monkees, and Paul McCartney, and I've begun drafts of still more: The Hollies, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones...and KISS. The Stones piece is a placeholder, but I'll have no trouble coming up with a long list of great tracks that I'll need to narrow to a mere 25. The Hollies' short list is currently 28. The Kinks' short list is 48! 

With KISS, I only have 20 songs listed, and even a few of those are a stretch. I could do a rock-solid Top 10, and it would include some obscurities as well as some of the more familiar KISS tunes. But my passion for the music of KISS simply doesn't match my interest in the idea of KISS. It's complicated. But I love it loud. And I love "Calling Dr. Love," which would absolutely be in that above-mentioned rock-solid KISS Top 10.

MANNIX: Highway Lines



"Highway Lines" is a track from Come To California, a rich and rewarding 2001 album recorded by Mannix. Dana played the song shortly after its release, and it went on to be This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio's most-played track that year. I was hypnotized by the track from its first spin, and it should rightly be considered one of the defining fave raves of this show's long mutant history. Joe Mannix allowed us to use the song on This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 3 in 2013; its lyrical conceit of a desperate man listening to the radio as he drives across the country in one last-ditch effort to salvage a discarded love affair is a stone natural for whatever it is we do on TIRnRR. And it most certainly merits its own chapter in The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1):

"Hitting 95 and I'm feelin' half-alive
But I had to get things straight again
My engine's cryin' and my tranny she is dyin'
And the radio is my only friend"

There are times when the songs on the radio seem to know us better than we know ourselves. That's why we still need the radio.

"Another saga 'bout another love gone wrong
And the DJ knows what I'm goin' though..."

...Mannix's "Highway Lines" is probably the most obscure song discussed in this book. It's less heralded even in comparison to a local Syracuse hit single like Baron Daemon's "The Transylvania Twist," or the occasional cult act or lesser-known gem exalted elsewhere within these pages. Hell, even my favorite why-ain't-these-guys-stars?! underdog combo The Flashcubes have at least received some positive ink somewhere. But Mannix? Many of you don't know Mannix at all. But by God, you should....

No relation to the TV detective played by actor Mike Connors. Or so we've been lead to believe.



MARYKATE O'NEIL: I'm Ready For My Luck To Turn Around



Marykate O'Neil's "I'm Ready For My Luck To Turn Around" has made more appearances in 10 Songs than any other individual track. The track itself is wonderfully inviting and engaging, but its lyrical and thematic concerns have made it a particular go-to this year. We've played the song (from Marykate's 2006 album 1-800-Bankrupt) several times over the years, and it returned to the TIRnRR playlist in February. At that time, its airplay was prompted by my own feeling of spiritual restlessness; I had turned 60 the previous month, and had grown frustrated with the long and seemingly fruitless effort to get my book published. I was ready for...you know. The song has taken on a much wider meaning for me since then, as we've tried to deal with all of...this, from a pandemic and an incompetent pretend President through the latest episodes of violence, brutality, racism, and myopic resistance to the simple concept that Black Lives Matter. Marykate O'Neil has provided me with a spark of comfort throughout this weird and troubled time. I can't say it enough: we're all ready for our luck to turn around.

KEN SHARP: The Kids Are Alright



Ken Sharp recorded this cover of The Who's 1965 power pop classic as a 75th birthday tribute to Pete Townshend. When I was a senior in college in 1979-80, a British group called The Pleasers recorded their own determinedly Beatley take on "The Kids Are Alright," produced by none other than the legendary Tommy Boyce. Yay, Monkees pedigree! At the time I preferred The Pleasers' version to The Who's. Ah, the heresy of youth! Ken's new version is even more bubbly and poppy than what Boyce did with The Pleasers, but it please-pleases me just the same. Find out for yourself at https://kensharp.bandcamp.com/

THE WALKER BRIGADE: Fallout



This former digital B-side by The Walker Brigade is contained on Big Stir Records' recent compilation Big Stir Singles--The Sixth Wave, an essential set that benefits Sweet Relief's Musician Assistance Fund, so GREAT tunes, GREAT cause, radio's job is to sell records, and you have an overwhelming obligation to buy the thing already. I don't want want you to feel guilty, which is why you should order one and avoid that dreadful sense of not having done your part. See? I'm here for you!

"Fallout" deserves an extra-special shout-out, because it was originally done by a fab SoCal group called The Bunny Rabbits, whom I loved even though they ignored my suggestion to call themselves The Cherry Hearts. Artists. What can you do? The Bunny Rabbits' Larry Jacobson was an on-line pal in the early '90s, and when he was looking for musicians to join his group, I was among the people he asked for leads, as was another on-line pop acquaintance, Greg Ogarrio. The band that would be Bunny Rabbits was in L.A., Greg was in San Francisco, and I was in Syracuse and, by the way, couldn't play a freakin' instrument if my life depended on it. But Greg and I had another mutual pop friend who was within the greater City of Angels area: one Andrea Ullman. Andrea wound up joining the group, and she co-wrote "Fallout" with her fellow Bunny Rabbits. The Bunny Rabbits never released "Fallout," but their former bassist Mark Fletcher is now with The Walker Brigade, and finally able to bring this terrific track into the light.

Now, if you look at the songwriting credits for "Fallout" on the Big Stir Singles--The Sixth Wave CD, you'll note the lack of an Ullman but the presence of an Ogarrio. Andrea and Greg met not long after that flurry of hands-across-the-internet exchanges, they fell in love, they got married, and they've been together ever since. They remain two of my favorite pop people. I guess there are still some good times out there after all.


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

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

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Carl's writin' a book! The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) will contain 134 essays about 134 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).