10 SONGS: 9/14/2024

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 # 1250.

sparkle*jets u.k.: Make Something Happen

POP CO-OP: Wait Til Next Week

THE KENNEDYS: Walking Through The Park

Three as-yet-unreleased tracks from a compilation album coming from Big Stir Records in 2025. We have little more to say about this at the moment, except to note that each of these tracks is stellar, and that one of them will be the album's de facto title tune. 

Beyond that?

Well. Wouldn't YOU like to know.....

THE HALF/CUBES: My Girl

Oh, this is splendid. Splendid AND sublime! The Half/Cubes, of course, are two of the Flashcubes--bassist Gary Frenay and drummer Tommy Allen--working with Randy Klawon and a legion of super guest-stars to remake a few ace rockin' pop tunes from the past. Some you know. Some you don't know. Hell, some I don't know. The result is their debut album Pop Treasures, one of this year's best records and the best covers album since the Flashcubes' own Pop Masters.

For their Pop Treasures rendition of Eric Carmen's "My Girl," the Half/Cubes enlist the aid of Darian Sahanaja (of Wondermints and Brian Wilson's band) to apply just the right balance of shine and oomph. Gorgeous! And I tell ya: I would love to hear the Half/Cubes take on the Flashcubes' 1978 debut single "Christi Girl," written by Arty Lenin. Bright lights illuminate pop treasures of their own.

(And keep an eye out for an upcoming This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio special, casting its spotlight on some of the individual tracks that so influenced the Flashcubes and the Half/Cubes. Brilliant!)

WAR: Why Can't We Be Friends?

I wrote this in 2020. Still applies:

"We can be friends. But politics do matter. What happens in politics affects all of us, as we determine the way our society should function on a day-to-day basis. Friends care about what happens to friends, about what happens to friends of friends. Friends don't vote with the specific shallow goal of making liberals cry again. Friends don't delight in the notion of progressive heads going all Scanners if America's Biggest Mistake somehow wins a second term. And friends, on the right or the left, don't gloat when the other side loses. That's crass and insensitive. We go high. That's what friends do. That's what everyone ought to do.

"Man, we don't have to agree on everything. We don't even have to agree on all that much. Why can't we be friends? At the end of all of this: Why the hell can't we be friends?"

2024 update: With that said....

None of the above should be misread as willingness to compromise my values. If our values don't mesh in some way, then maybe we shouldn't have been friends to begin with.

OASIS: Digsy's Dinner

Well, this would have been an eensy bit more of a statement if we'd had time to play "Rock 'n' Roll Star" or even "The Hindu Times," but you go to the airwaves with the playlist that fits into a three-hour time slot, not the playlist you wish fit into a three-hour time slot. I've never been much of an Oasis fan, but I've been taken aback by the backlash against recent news of their upcoming reunion shows. Jeez, man, dig what you dig. This reunion means a lot to legions of Oasis faithful, and I'm delighted on their behalf.

This is the only previous thing I've ever had to say about Oasis on this blog:

"In the mid '90s, a coworker named Bob Ketcham was hooked on the first Oasis album, Definitely Maybe, and he shared his enthusiasm with me. Or maybe it was the second album, (What's The Story) Morning Glory? I don't remember, because Oasis just left me cold at the time. My friend Chuck Higbie in Key West also tried to recruit me into the Oasis Army, but I was a resister, I was. The Flashcubes opened a late '90s live show with an ace cover of Oasis' 'Rock 'n' Roll Star,' and that was a bit of all right, awright. 

"One evening in 2002, my daughter and I were watching Top Of The Pops on BBC America, and I fell in helpless thrall to the then-new Oasis single 'The Hindu Times.' I didn't even mind when Oasis themselves turned up on a subsequent TOTP, and were introduced as 'The greatest rock 'n' roll band in the world!' Nonetheless, my favorite Oasis-related track is 'Birth Of An Accidental Hipster,' the fab song co-written by Noel Gallagher of Oasis with the Jam's Paul Weller for the Monkees' 2016 album Good Times!"

And yeah, for this week's Oasis spin, I wanted to say, "Tonight, I'm a rock 'n' roll star," but time restraints forced us to sub in the much shorter track "Digsy's Dinner." Guess we'll settle for saying, "Eat it, haters."

THE BUZZCOCKS: I Don't Mind

I'LL MIND IF I DAMNED WELL WANNA MIND...!!

ROY CRANK: Don't Kill That World I'm Living In

I wasn't familiar with Ukrainian performer Roy Crank prior to the current release of his ace number "Don't Kill That World I'm Living In." That track is paired with the Armoires' "Snake Island Thirteen" as Songs For Ukrainian Independence Day. And while this show is obviously gonna play TIRnRR Fave Raves the Armoires (see below), Crank's track is also good, really good. "Don't Kill This World I'm Living In" reminds me of Queen at their best, and I think a lot of other pop music addicts will likewise appreciate it. I'm gonna need to take a deeper dive in Roy Crank's body of work. Time to thrill that world we're living in.

THE BAY CITY ROLLERS: Yesterday's Hero

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE ARMOIRES: You Oughta Be Cut In Half

Pop music as manifesto. The Armoires' Octoberland is nothing short of breathtaking, a firm planting of feet and raising of banner on behalf of values and virtues that are even larger than the music itself. The album opens with "We Absolutely Mean It," closes with "Music & Animals," and threads the sentiments together with nine more tracks of resolute sincerity, empathy, and accomplishment. It is a whole-album experience, as all of the superb advance singles somehow sound even better in context. The influences, whether deliberate or God-given, unite pop, rock, folk, Americana, Europa, Broadway (no, really!), rural soul, California sun, and--to quote an older Armoires song title--Appalachukrania, blended to form a unique and sublime tapestry. The production just sounds amazing, so inviting and warm, enhancing hooks and melodies unwilling to shy away from deeper meaning, hummable tunes unafraid to embrace their own essential kickass identity. The Armoires absolutely mean it. 

I'm convinced.

If you like what you see here on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), please consider a visit to CC's Tip Jar. 

My new book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) is now available; you can see details here. My 2023 book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones is also still available, courtesy of the good folks at Rare Bird Books. 

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.

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: 10/21/2023

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 # 1203. This show is available as a podcast.

THE FLASHCUBES: Nothing To Do

On This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio this year, we've been poundin' the livin' chiclets out of Pop Masters, the current album by Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse the Flashcubes. I'm a heart-on-sleeve kind of guy, and I co-host a radio show with the specific intent of poundin' the livin' chiclets outta stuff I think is cool. Why else even have a radio show in the first place?

Given my (and Dana's) long-standing enthusiasm for the 'Cubes, no one is surprised to hear that Pop Masters is my favorite album of 2023, and we play one or another of its tracks almost every week. Masters of pop! The album took a break from our playlist last week, so we could instead program an older Flashcubes track featuring the late Ducky Carlisle. Proper Pop Masters representation returns this week with the Cubic cover of Sparks' Nothing To Do," and two other Pop Masters tracks are already scribbled in place for our next couple of playlists. These chiclets won't just pound out by themselves, man.

THE RAMONES: Blitzkrieg Bop

I've mentioned a time or two thousand that my daughter Meghan and I agreed a very long time ago that when she got married, our father-daughter dance would be "Bad Reputation" by Joan Jett. Obviously. That happy event took place two weeks ago today, and we made good on our promise. Best night ever. Mazel tov, Meghan and Austin.

As the wedding reception sparkled on, the DJ also played my request for something by the Ramones. You can't have a real party without the Ramones. I gave him a choice between "Blitzkrieg Bop" and "I Wanna Be Sedated," and he opted for the former. Seeing how the dance floor filled to the music of Forest Hills' Finest--prompted in some part by the father of the bride yelling DANCE! Everybody DANCE!!!--the DJ circled back a bit later to play "Sedated" as well. Hey ho, let's GO!

P. HUX: Til The World Looks Right

The brand-new P. Hux album is called As Good As Advertised, and that album will inevitably accrue scores of on-line reviews saying that its title provides its own review. We rockin' pop pundits are so clever.

Well, consider this just one among that score. I tell ya, I'm glad to be part of the crowd in this case. As Good As Advertised makes its TIRnRR debut with this spin of the delectable track "Til The World Looks Right." It will spin again next week. As advertised! Pretty good, my friends. Pretty damned good.

CARLA OLSON: Street Fighting Man

Awright! The fabulous Carla Olson's ace cover of the Rolling Stones' classic "Street Fighting Man" is an advance single from her new album Have Harmony Will Travel 3. One of my first Stones LPs (perhaps my very first) was a beat-up used copy of Through The Past, Darkly, snagged at either Record Revolution or The Record Exchange in Cleveland Heights when teen me was visiting my sister circa Christmas break 1976.

That second-hand Stones best-of record was my introduction to "Street Fighting Man," about eight years after its original 1968 release. It was an instant favorite, and Olson does the tune justice and then some. Tall Poppy Syndrome's Jonathan Lea is one of the guitarists on her version, and it all rocks like it oughta. What can a poor boy do? We'll hear Carla Olson's "Street Fighting Man" again Sunday night. Hell, we'll even throw in the latest from Tall Poppy Syndrome. A sleepy Syracuse town is just the place for "Street Fighting Man."

THE KENNEDYS: Life Is Large

A big ol' Happy Birthday to the phenomenal Maura Kennedy! A bright light then and now, Maura will always be younger than me, and yet she'll also probably remain wiser than me. We love her nonetheless.

The Kennedys have a NEW album, Headwinds, out now. You can buy yourself a copy, and you can fill in the nagging gaps in your Kennedys library, all courtesy of the Kennedys themselves. I'm also still hoping for a Maura and the Bright Lights album maybe someday (perhaps with a guest appearance by Carla Olson, just like Roger McGuinn guests on "Life Is Large"). Vote for the Kennedys of your choice. But VOTE! And sing. And enjoy! Birthday cake goes great with the Kennedys.

DAVE KUCHLER: In It With You

From former Soul Engines guitarist Dave Kuchler's new album Love + Glory, "In It With You" is just insanely, instantly catchy, thoroughly radio-ready, and the irresistible epitome of whatever the hell it is Dana and I do here on The Best Three Hours Of Radio On The Whole Friggin' Planet. It's kinda like when we first heard the Finkers' TIRnRR Fave Rave "Last Thing On My Mind" all those years ago, and I gushed something to the effect that "Last Thing On My Mind" is exactly the sort of record that always made me wish I had a radio show, just so I could play records like "Last Thing On My Mind" on my radio show. Kuchler sounds nothing at all like the Finkers, but my level of immersive thrill is comparable. We HAVE a radio show! We're in it with Dave Kuchler.

WAR: Low Rider

At Meghan and Austin's wedding reception, the DJ also played music to accompany the entrances of various parts of the wedding party. Richard Hernandez and I--the respective fathers of the groom and the bride--bopped in to the percolatin' sound of War's classic "Low Rider." We'll hear the entrance music for the newlyweds' mothers on our next show.

THE VELVELETTES: He Was Really Sayin' Somethin'

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

NEW MATH: Die Trying

A week ago tonight, the great Rochester, NY group New Math presented their last-ever live show, and I'm happy to say that TIRnRR was there. Whatta show! Both 1.4.5. and the Presstones put on incredible, invigmoratin' sets, and New Math provided a commanding capper to their career. My first New Math show was back in 1978, when they played with the Flashcubes at The Firebarn in Syracuse. I only saw them a total of three times--maybe (but probably not) four--when I was in my teens and early twenties. I wish I'd had more opportunities to bask in the glory of New Math live. But I'm so glad I was able to see them one last time this month.

THE GRIP WEEDS: Lady Friend

Your intrepid TIRnRR Good Guys will also be in attendance at the Grip Weeds's first-ever Syracuse appearance. That happens Friday October 27th at Syracuse's home of rock 'n' roll The Lost Horizon, on a bill with 1.4.5., Perilous, Preacher, and Kenne Highland's Airforce. HuzZAH!! We'll open next week's radio program with music from the Grip Weeds (plus 1.4.5. and Perilous), and we get set to anticipate with this spin of a track from the Grip Weeds' most recent album DiG. The group's able cover of the Byrds' "Lady Friend" is a likely lock for a berth on our year-end countdown show of TIRnRR's most-played tracks in 2023. Here it comes again, it's going to happen to me....

And at the Lost Horizon next Friday, it can happen to you. BE THERE!

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: 12/15/2020

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 # 1055.

KING MIXER: Talking Down To Me

Man, this radio gig has some fab perks. I don't believe King Mixer has released any music to the public yet, so this track comes to us courtesy of our mutual pal Steve Stoeckel. Now, Steve's a TIRnRR legend. The Spongetones! Jamie & Steve! The THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO All-Stars! I probably forgot one of Steve's essential credits, and it wouldn't surprise me to learn he was also the fifth Beatle, the finest swordsmen in all of France, and the only person who knows to whom the voice of the invisible Shadow belongs. Nice guy, too. Hella talented. Reportedly a better'n decent cook. Can't rap to save his life, but nobody's perfect.

Anyroad. King Mixer is piloted by a band o' brothers, Danny Stevenson and Bruce Stevenson, and they're working on a CD. They let Steve have a listen, and the song "Talking Down To Me" caught his fancy. Steve added some sublimely Spongetoney bass to the track, and presto: Instant hit! And because we just so happen to play the hits, Steve forwarded us the track for immediate broadcast. We will hear more from King Mixer. Even if it costs us a fortune in Breach of Promise cases, we're dead pleased. 'Ello, Grandfather! The perks of radio, my friends. The perks of radio.

THE MONKEES: Love Is Only Sleeping

In 1967, "Love Is Only Sleeping" was almost released as The Monkees'  fourth single, a plan nixed when some label or network stiff realized the potential scandal of suggesting that love = sleeping (i.e., bouncin' with frisk-filled intent). It would have been the first Monkees 45 cut with lead vocals by Michael Nesmith instead of Micky Dolenz or Davy Jones. Peter Tork never got anywhere near singing lead on a Monkees A-side. The song is a highlight of my favorite Monkees album Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd., and this is what I said about it in a blog piece about my Top 25 Monkees tracks:

I've written elsewhere of my discovery of the Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd. and Head albums as a high school senior in the Spring of 1977. I had already heard "Love Is Only Sleeping" in TV reruns, but it really hit me for the first time in '77. Lyrically, this Barry Mann-Cynthia Weil song may be about female sexual dysfunction (more so than Sandie Shaw's deceptively-titled "Girl Don't Come" anyway), but it's so much more than that. It's a tale of hope. It's a tale of frustration and despair conquered by passion and persistence, sweet deliverance earned and embraced. Chip Douglas' bass and Nesmith's guitar slice, as Michael's lead vocal shimmers with cool, calm confidence, all made breathier and more inviting by harmony from Dolenz. Love is only sleeping. Try it! It can work for you, too!

When speaking to my peers in '77, "Love Is Only Sleeping" was Exhibit A in pleading my case on behalf of The Monkees. Teenagers in the '70s deemed The Monkees uncool. I knew better. This track helped me prove it.

ORBIS MAX WITH LISA MYCHOLS: Ooh Baby Baby

The combined talents of Orbis Max and Lisa Mychols bring us this dreamy cover of The Miracles' classic "Ooh Baby Baby," a song which I first knew from Linda Ronstadt's hit cover in 1978. This new version made its SPARK! Syracuse debut Sunday afternoon on Rich Firestone's essential Radio Deer Camp show. We played it again on TIRnRR Sunday night, and our Lisa's silky-smooth and swoon-worthy delivery prompted loyal RDC and TIRnRR listener Joel Tinnel to quip, "I don't smoke, but after hearing that twice, I feel like I need a cigarette." Swoon away.

IRENE PEÑA: Ridiculous

Attempts at branding are part and parcel of my silly ambition to pretend TIRnRR is a force in pop culture. Humor me; I'm harmless. So we become The Best Three Hours Of Radio On The Whole Friggin' Planet, preaching The Joy Of Radio, noting that Radio's Job Is To Sell Records. The Kinks become The House Band. The Ramones are The American Beatles, The Greatest American Rock 'n' Roll Band Of All Time. And Irene Peña is America's Sweetheart.

Because she is. Here's further proof. Sometimes branding gets it exactly right.

POP CO-OP: Persistence Of Memory

Hey, it's that Steve Stoeckel guy again! Oh yeah, that's the Stoeckel group I forgot to mention: POP CO-OP! Our above-mentioned branding initiative lists Pop Co-Op's Factory Settings as Your Favorite Album Of 2020, and who are we to argue with that? 

SMOKEY ROBINSON & THE MIRACLES: The Tears Of A Clown

An infinite number of songs can each be THE greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. From my eventual book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1):

I've written extensively about how important AM Top 40 radio was to me when I was (in theory) growing up. In the period from, say, 1970 to 1975, maybe 1976, my ears were surgically attached to WOLF-AM and WNDR-AM in Syracuse, the soundtrack of my sentence as an adolescent and teen. The giddy thrill of enjoying pop songs on the radio--the very place where pop songs were most meant to be enjoyed--shaped me in ways I had no idea about at the time. Amidst the splendor of Badfinger and Johnny Nash and Gladys Knight & the Pips, Alice Cooper, The Raspberries, Isley Brothers, Sweet, a Chuck Berry oldie, and some guys who used to be in The Beatles, AM radio gave me the gift of Motown's greatest miracle: the gift of Smokey Robinson & the Miracles.

"The Tears Of A Clown" was a song out of time. It had been an album track on the Miracles' 1967 LP Make It Happen, but it was not originally released as a single; "More Love" and "The Love I Saw In You Was Just A Mirage" were the chosen 45s off Make It Happen. A year passed. Two years, three years, a freaking eternity in the ephemeral world at the top of the pops. In 1970, this by-now-ancient track was exhumed and dusted off as a single release in England, and it cried all the way home to a UK # 1. British success prompted an American single release, which also hit # 1, the only Smokey Robinson & the Miracles single ever to top Billboard's Hot 100.

The motif of the clown who cries is held in disdain as trite, hoary. I remember once seeing a TV movie scene that took place in a writers' workshop. The scene contrasted the approaches of two would-be writers: a pretty young woman (our heroine) whose elegant and aching study in quiet desperation depicted her protagonist's nearly-empty refrigerator as a long-term effort to slowly commit suicide by starvation; and a middle-aged hack in the making, writing cloyingly about the tears of a clown. The former creative effort could be art; the latter could only be rubbish.

But we forgive and embrace the use of this motif when it transcends itself, in Pagliacci, and in the careful grace of Smokey Robinson & the Miracles. Robinson had touched on the allusion previously in The Miracles' 1965 gem "The Tracks Of My Tears," with its couplet "People say I'm the life of the party 'cause I tell a joke or two/Although I might be laughing loud and hearty, deep inside I'm blue." Robinson used the lines "Just like Pagliacci did/I'll keep my sadness hid" in "My Smile Is Just A Frown (Turned Upside Down)," a song he co-wrote and produced for Carolyn Crawford in 1964. It's familiar, it's pat, but it works just fine as a pop lyric. Hell, in the right context, it approaches genius as a pop lyric....

SPARKS: Lawnmower

I was a relative latecomer to the music of Sparks. I betcha I heard them at some point in the '70s; it seems likely that Utica's WOUR-FM must have played somethin' Sparky during that 1976-78 time frame when I was moving from AM Top 40 to freer-form FM. But the closest memory I can conjure would be the similar sound of The Quick's 1976 cover of The Beatles' "It Won't Be Long." I did see an ace New York City group called The Fast on a bill with The Flashcubes in 1978, and The Fast were also a little influenced by Sparks. 

Other than that, Sparks was just an act I read about in the rock press. My first conscious exposure to the sound of Sparks was "Tips For Teens," a track I heard and loved via a 1981 budget compilation LP called Blitz. '81 was also the year I was introduced to the 1979 Sparks song "Beat The Clock," albeit by the incongruous second-hand means of Stars On 45's hit disco medley. I discovered more Sparks over time (including the actual "Beat The Clock," which I specifically associate with a memory of crossing the bridge to Canada on an early '90s visit to Montreal). "Tips For Teens" remains my favorite Sparks track. You never forget your first kiss.

And decades later, I'm delighted that Sparks is still with us, and still making new tunes that are quirky, engaging, and fun. "Lawnmower" comes from Sparks' 2020 album A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip, and it continues the proud Sparks legacy of peerless, percolatin' pop music.

VEGAS WITH RANDOLPH FEATURING KEN STRINGFELLOW: Howl At The Moon

When the mighty Vegas With Randolph joined forces with the likewise-mighty Lannie Flowers for the 2017 track "The Weekend's Coming" (heard on our CD and digital compilation This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 4), I wrote:

As a life-long fan of comic books, I very much appreciate the idea of two separate favorites joining forces as one. Superman and Batman! Spider-Man and Red Sonja! Wonder Woman and Jerry Lewis! The list goes on and on, from Mary Marvel and Bulletgirl to KISS and Vampirella, Archie and The Ramones. Your two fave raves in one adventure--who can resist that?

So Dana and I feel like the power pop equivalent of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby as we announce this epic team-up of Vegas With Randolph and Lannie Flowers. Face front, True Believers--this one's got it all!

The above applies equally to "Howl At The Moon," a new super team-up uniting VWR with Ken Stringfellow of The Posies and Big Star. So...go ahead and howl. Heroically!

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!

THE YES IT IS!: The Night I Heard A Scream

Well, make that the YEAR I heard a scream. Nonetheless, great cover of 20/20's fab original, done now by a jingle-jangle bubbletoon group called The YES IT IS! Yep, The YES IT IS! is a contemporary Saturday morning TV cartoon combo lacking only a Saturday morning TV cartoon show to accompany them. You can read their story and buy their digital single (complete with its virtual B-side cover of XTC's "Senses Working Overtime") right here. I'm grabbin' a bowl of cereal, then I'll meet you on the dancefloor.

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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
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). My weekly Greatest Record Ever Made! video rants can be seen in my GREM! YouTube playlist. And I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl.