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

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

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

TINA TURNER: The Acid Queen

Written by Pete Townshend

Produced by Denny Diante and Spencer Proffer

Single from the album Acid Queen, United Artists, 1975

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tina Turner still owns "The Acid Queen."

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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.

10 SONGS: 3/16/2024

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 # 1224. This show is available as a podcast

CARLA OLSON: I Can See For Miles

I was very much a latecomer to appreciating the Who. I remember hearing "Pinball Wizard" and "See Me Feel Me" on AM Top 40 radio, but I didn't really develop any serious interest in the Who until my senior year in high school. A spring '77 presentation of '60s rock 'n' roll videos at Syracuse University hooked me on "I Can't Explain," prompting me to scurry back to my sister's copy of Meaty Beaty Big And Bouncy. Appreciation achieved! A year later, Bomp! magazine taught me that the Who invented power pop. Appreciation intensified.

(And yeah, I still say the Beatles invented power pop. Ain't no losers in this debate.)

Carla Olson is, of course, a deservedly well-regarded performer, generally in the broad field we call Americana, but really choosing her own vistas as an artist oughta. Carla's current album Have Harmony, Will Travel 3 has already enriched TIRnRR playlists with her cover of the Rolling Stones' "Street Fighting Man," and her ace take on the Who's power pop classic "I Can See For Miles" opens this week's show.

And I appreciate it. And how!

THE WHO: The Kids Are Alright

My sister's copy of Meaty Beaty Big And Bouncy introduced me to "The Kids Are Alright," one of power pop's early defining tracks. In the '90s, when I wrote a history of power pop for Goldmine, I called the article "The Kids Are Alright." I regarded the song as a sort of power pop litmus test: If you can't imagine a group pulling off a credible cover of "The Kids Are Alright," it ain't a power pop band.

In college, I briefly preferred a cover version by the UK band the Pleasers to the Who's nonpareil original. Part of this was to rib my roommate's girlfriend (who was a BIG Who fan), but I really did have that preference at the time. TIRnRR was originally supposed to be called The Kids Are Alright--It's Sunday night, and THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT!--with the Pleasers singin' the titular tune. We switched to the Ramones-approved This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio while on the way to the studio for our debut show in 1998.

We're not kids, not now and not then. But it's alright.

THE FOUR TOPS: Keeper Of The Castle

I can't believe we've never played this one before. Impossible...but true. The Four Tops are frequent fixtures on this little mutant radio show, though we're more apt to reach back to their '60s Motown motherlode. Still, the 1973 hit "Are You Man Enough" was my first conscious introduction to the top of the Tops--thank you again, AM Top 40 radio--and I reached out to the Motown classics some time thereafter.

Starting with "Are You Man Enough" in '73 means I didn't really notice "Keeper Of The Castle" in '72. I must have heard it, but it didn't stick in between the ol' ears. Honestly, I think I knew it more from Dickie Goodman using its line Red, yellow, black, white, and brown in one of his break-in records.

I recently picked up a single-disc compilation of the Four Tops' '70s sides, and now "Keeper Of The Castle" at long last makes its TIRnRR debut. Come on home, Four Tops.

THE AMPLIFIER HEADS FEATURING BARRENCE WHITFIELD: They Came To Rock

That. They. DID! As a statement of intent, "They Came To Rock" is a friggin' juggernaut, combining the irresistible forces of the Amplifier Heads and garage soul shouter Barrence Whitfield to obliterate namby-pamby naysayers. They came to rock? Mission accomplished, men. Mission accomplished.

THE ELECTROMAGNATES: Airwave Hello

A power pop supergroup, comprised of friends of the show, singin' a rock 'n' roll love letter to radio. Yeah, no one's shocked we're playing this one. Steve Stoeckel, Dolph Chaney, Chris Church, and Peter Watts unite under the rockin ' pop dba the Electromagnates, and their debut single "Airwave Hello" makes its second consecutive TIRnRR appearance this week. We'll hear it again this coming Sunday night.

And now the question: Will we be hearing more from the Electromagnates in the future? Hello! These airwaves await further greetings.

EDDIE COCHRAN: Somethin' Else

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

MARY LOU LORD: Western Union Desperate

THE FIVE AMERICANS: Western Union

An obvious pairing? Yep. Never let the mere fact that something's obvious dissuade you from doing it anyway, if you feel it. Feel bests namby-pamby overthinking every razzafrazzin' day of the week.

Mary Lou Lord has been a TIRnRR Fave Rave for as long as there has been a TIRnRR. Our very first show, December 27th of 1998, included a spin of "Lights Are Changing," from Mary Lou's 1998 album Got No Shadow. Many more spins of many more MLL gems followed, and "Western Union Desperate" was one such gem.

The Five Americans' only big hit was their 1967 Top 5 smash "Western Union." I loved it when I was seven years old, and I love it still. Hell, the Searchers covered it, and even they couldn't improve upon the jangly Dit-da-dit-da-dit-dit-da-dit-da-dit of the original. Message delivered. 

THE CYNZ: Crow Haired Boys

Said it often before, it's a safe bet I'll say it again 'n' again 'n' again: We play the hits. Like the Electromagnates' "Airwave Hello," "Crow Haired Boys" by the Cynz now makes it on TIRnRR two weeks in a row, with a third spin coming this Sunday night. Can't have a hit record if you only play it once.

THE SMITHEREENS: Face The World With Pride

Still good advice. Heed the example of the Smithereens.

Yesterday marked four years since the last-ever live This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio webcast. Cooties took over the world. We took one week off, returned for a live-on-Zoom TIRnRR with Pop Co-Op, and then figured out how to record the show at home, beginning on April 5th of 2020. I recounted our early pandemic experience here.

And that's where we still are: Here. Every week. We haven't missed a show since then. If pride's a sin, we confess it. Hell, we proclaim it.

Face the world with pride. Sing, you Smithereens. Sing.

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

5 ABOVE: Songs Stuck In My Head

5 Above picks five great songs within a specific category. Look out below--these are five that rise above.

With apologies to power pop pundit Aaron Kupferberg (from whose fab book Songs Stuck In My Head I swiped the title for this edition of 5 Above), here are five tracks that seem to pop into my noggin with some frequency. I don't even know if it's an AM frequency or an FM frequency; the songs are just there, unbidden, not prompted by recently hearing the song or seeing the title. 

Although I do indeed love each of these little ditties, none of them is among my all-time Hot 100; that would miss the point of this exercise. They're just great songs that somehow got stuck in my head, with some permanence, but for no apparent reason. 

THE ADDRISI BROTHERS: We've Got To Get It On Again

Hey, an AM radio booty call! Or maybe the spiritual predecessor of Amy Rigby's "Are We Ever Gonna Have Sex Again?" I don't think the earnest horniness of its subject matter has anything to do with the track's omnipresence within my cranium; the song is there because of its hooks, its easygoing '70s Top 40 country-pop sway. 

And, the above-referenced plea for passion notwithstanding, it's worth noting that the song is most emphatically not about a one-night stand, nor a brief affair of any kind. Its pursuit of rekindled fire is on behalf of a monogamous long-term love, a commitment to staying together and staying frisky. Again. And again. And again. 

THE ROYAL COURT OF CHINA: It's All Changed

I believe I first heard the Royal Court of China's relatively obscure '80s alt-pop gem "It's All Changed" on MTV. I don't remember the video at all, but I sure do remember the song. I bought the album, and I oughtta go back and listen to that again, just to see if anything else can match the winding catchiness of this one track. In the mean time: this one track. Its hold on me hasn't changed at all.

SPANDAU BALLET: To Cut A Long Story Short

This is the all-time # 1 among random songs stuck in my head. The insistent riff of Spandau Ballet's "To Cut A Long Story Short" is always with me, for no reason I can discern. To cut a long story short, it's on mind.

THE SYLVERS: Boogie Fever

BOOGIE FEVER! This is such a flat-out fantastic disco number. While my 1970s teen self's head would combust if it knew 21st century middle-aged me would ever use the phrase "flat-out fantastic disco number," let's face it, I'm just plain smarter now. "Boogie Fever" is electric and infectious, and though I've never considered giving it a turn as The Greatest Record Ever Made!, maybe it's time I did. My teen self will get over it. 

THE WHO: The Punk Meets The Godfather

My introduction to the Who's "The Punk Meets The Godfather" came via a really cool late '70s Syracuse group called the Dead Ducks. Dead Ducks guitarist Danny Bonn has a cousin named Dana Bonn, who co-hosts the noted little mutant radio show This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl. The Who were a huge, huge influence on Danny, and that effect was evident in everything the Dead Ducks did.

I'm mostly into early Who, pre-Tommy, "I Can't Explain" through "Magic Bus." I do like Tommy, and I like Who's Next and Quadrophenia, with significantly diminishing returns beyond that point. Outside of maybe "Won't Get Fooled Again" from Who's Next, the Quadrophenia track "The Punk Meets The Godfather" is the only post-Tommy Who number that really moves my needle into deep red. The way the guitar and bass parts face off as the song starts--ladies and gentlemen, place your bets on TOWNSHEND VERSUS ENTWHISTLE!!--is what embeds the song in my brain.

A song stuck in my head. I'm happy to have it there. 

HEY! Since I stole Aaron's title for today's post, it's only fair that I remind you to purchase your own copy of Songs Stuck In My Head, available as a physical copy or as an ebook. Here's the rave review I scrawled on its behalf:

There is no substitute for passion. Aaron Kupferberg combines his enthusiasm for rockin' pop music with knowledge of the music's history and circumstances to craft an engaging guide to power pop. The result is as catchy and engaging as the songs that get stuck in our heads, providing background and context for the soundtrack of the hearts we wear so proudly on our sleeves. The book is a useful introduction for beginners, but also a welcome celebration for anyone already immersed in the delight of power pop and its infectious periphery.

Go! BUY! And tell 'em CC sent you.

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.

10 SONGS: 5/26/2022

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 # 1130.

POP CO-OP: Out My Window

Yes, TIRnRR's Pop Co-Op hype machine chugs on! "Out My Window" is our third of four exclusive radio premiers on behalf of Pop Co-Op's forthcoming new album Suspension, due soon (but not soon enough) from the visionary folks at Futureman Records. We've heard the whole thing, and we endorse it with all the power and authority vested in our position as...well, as a couple of guys who play records on the radio. Man, that does not look anywhere near as impressive in print as it sounded in my head. Nonetheless: Pop Co-Op GREAT! Pop Co-Op's Suspension great! And we'll have one more exclusive radio debut from another Suspension song at the top of next week's show. [SPOILER ALERT: it's the title track.]

Impressive? Yeah, actually. We're DJs. We know what we're doing. 

THE FLASHCUBES WITH THE SPONGETONES: Have You Ever Been Torn Apart?

And, as duly appointed DJs, we know a friggin' hit record when we hear a friggin' hit record. It's our super power.  And we've known about this particular hit, a dynamic summit meeting between power pop legends the Flashcubes and, y'know, power pop legends the Spongetones, for quite some time. We hadn't heard it, mind you, and we weren't told which Spongetones classic these combined forces would be remaking. But we guessed correctly--see above comments re: DJs, know what we're doing--and have been dying to hear it.

And PLAY IT!

A lot of radio shows jumped on "Have You Ever Been Torn Apart?" as soon as it was available, from The Rodney Bingenheimer Show on SiriusXM to Mike Murray's Whole Lotta Shakin' in Rochester, Michael McCartney's The Time Machine  in Maui (the latter with Rich Firestone, host of Radio Deer Camp right here on TIRnRR's home SPARK!), and an apparent zillion others. Awright! A lot of DJs seem to know what they're doing right now. We are legion! We are LOUD! And we for damned sure know a hit when we hear it.

(Oh, and bonus kudos to the Flashcubes and Spongetones themselves for the neat little opening Beatles homage that kicks the track directly into its frenzied Fabmania flight path. See, one gets to pop music by turning left at Greenland, after all.)

DEADLIGHTS: Pretend To Pretend

Over the decades we've been doing whatever the hell this weekly radio thing is supposed to be, we've been big, big fans of Jeff Shelton in all of his many rockin' pop DBAs. Spinning Jennies! The Well Wishers! Hot Nun! Trip Wire! Even the enigmatic Ultratone! And certainly including Jeff's current project Deadlights, who've already scored a few TIRnRR playlist berths this year.

The new Deadlights single "Pretend To Pretend" is one of Jeff's very best ever, on a par with the Well Wishers' should-be-called-a-classic "See For The First Time." Over and above its inherent radio-ready sheen, sales of the digital single directly benefit humanitarian aid to the embattled people of Ukraine. As Jeff hisself says:

"100% of sales of this digital single will go to support Razom for Ukraine. Since its inception in 2014, Razom for Ukraine has provided personal protective equipment to more than 40 hospitals across Ukraine. They mobilized over 400 volunteers to carry out their programs and humanitarian services, including sending over 70 pallets of aid to Ukraine, and approximately 218 tons of essentials and supplies."

Great music in service of a great cause. All we can add is this: BUY IT!!!

PIPER: Bad Boy

I was not among Billy Squier's many fans during his early-'80s MTV heyday. But nor was I aware of the fantastic stuff Squier did before that, for two albums fronting his '70s rockin' pop combo Piper. My first conscious exposure to Piper's music came waaaaay after the fact, when Rhino Records included Piper's irresistible confection "Can't Wait" on a power pop compilation CD in the early '90s. Somewhere after that, I heard the boppin' magnificence of Piper's "Who's Your Boyfriend?," and I was told that the Flashcubes used to cover it live. Yeah, I'd say that's a good fit.

I tracked down a used copy of Piper's eponymous 1977 LP (which included "Who's Your Boyfriend?"), but never did find their other long-player Can't Wait. I didn't hear the latter until American Beat reissued both albums as a two-fer CD in 2005. Can't Wait turned out to be my favorite of the two records, with the title tune, the stellar "Drop By And Stay," and "Bad Boy." Maybe I should give the MTV stuff another chance? 

THE BABLERS: You Are The One For Me

We get the impression that "You Are The One For Me" is a teaser for whatever's coming next from Finland's phenomenal pop combo the Bablers. In the here and now, Dana has already said it's one of his favorite new tracks so far this year, and--because he's a DJ--I suspect he knows what he's doing. (And this week's spin of "You Are The One For Me" inspired me to follow with the Monkees' "You Just May Be The One," and we all benefit from that sequence.)

THE BANGLES: Hazy Shade Of Winter

Many of my TIRnRR playlist selections are the result of a simple process I call Because my iPod said so! However, this week's spin of the Bangles' 1987 hit cover of Simon and Garfunkel's "Hazy Shade Of Winter" wasn't prompted by my iPod's edicts, but by airplay on a radio station in Pensacola, Florida. Good enough for me! 

THE WHO: I Can't Explain

The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THE JIVE FIVE: He's Just A Lucky Man

In the early '80s, the Ambient Sound label issued several records--some singles and some albums--featuring new recordings by classic doo-wop groups. At the time, my sole acquisition from the Ambient Sound catalog was a 1982 compilation LP called Everything New Is Old...Everything Old Is New. I snapped that one up specifically to own the Mystics' rendition of "Doreen Is Never Boring," a song written by Joey Ramone (originally as "Touring," which the Ramones recorded but consigned to the vaults at the time). 

I didn't really pay much mind to the other stuff on that album--I was there for Doreen, man!--so my silly 22-year-old self ignored offerings by Randy and the Rainbows, the Capris, the Harptones, and the Capris. And nor did I pay any attention at all to the music of the Jive Five.

Oh, stupid, silly 22-year-old! 

I got to the Jive Five via Marshall Crenshaw, whose sublime cover of "What Time Is It" inspired me to seek out the even more sublime, luscious, heavenly Jive Five original. I eventually cobbled together a modest Jive Five collection in the form of two non-overlapping Jive Five anthology CDs. The Jive Five's "What Time Is It" is currently slated for a spotlight in my long-threatened book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1).

But neither of my Jive Five CDs included any of the group's '80s stuff. The Jive Five did two albums for Ambient Sound, 1982's Here We Are! and 1984's Way Back, and that's twice as many albums as they did before the '80s. A recent comment from Blitz magazine's Mike McDowell sent me scurrying back to the Jive Five's Ambient Sound era, and this winner from Here We Are! Just because I know what I'm doing doesn't mean I'm not willing to learn more.

KEVIN ROBERTSON: If You're Free

Listeners of this little mutant radio program already adore Kevin Robertson from his work with Vapour Trails (wherein our Kev was billed as Kevin Trail), and from previous spins of his Big Stir digital single "Love's Blue Yonder." Kevin's new album Teaspoon Of Time assigns all its jangle and buzz in the appropriate spots, but ditches mere decorum to rock the house as the cosmos intended. More from Teaspoon Of Time on next week's show.

THE TRAVELING WILBURYS: Not Alone Anymore

A few entries north of here, I mentioned a recent visit to the sunny Southern climes of Florida. I've been to Florida a total of...eight times? I think that's right, starting with a visit to family in the panhandle--the part of Florida that is Alabama--in 1970. 

Half of my Florida trips have been to that greater Pensacola area, where my Uncle Carl, Aunt Jo, and my cousins Langley, Alan, and Colin lived. Langley still lives there. Her brothers have sought their fortunes elsewhere. Aunt Jo passed several years ago. We lost Uncle Carl in December, about two weeks after my Mom--Uncle Carl's sister--left us. Earlier this month, my sister, my brother-in-law, and one of my brothers accompanied me back to the panhandle to represent our ever-glowing nuclear family at Uncle Carl's memorial service.

There's an odd, maybe paradoxical mixture of sadness and joy at a memorial. We grieve our loss, but we revel in the memory. We had just seen Langley at my mother's memorial service in April--when I was just over my (relatively mild) bout with COVID--but I hadn't seen Colin in eighteen years, and I hadn't had much time to really chat with Langley in April. So seeing them and spending time with them in Florida two weeks ago was...well, it was nice. Really nice. 

After I returned to Syracuse, something that should have been obvious my entire life belatedly but suddenly dawned on me: more than just cousins, Langley, Alan, and Colin (as well as our California cousin Mark) were really like my additional siblings. I mean, we fought like siblings, and they were closer to me in age than my actual brothers and sister. We had and still have that bond like siblings. I don't understand why it took me so long to understand. I get it now. And I'm not alone anymore.

The segue into the Traveling Wilburys' "Not Alone Anymore" isn't quite as forced as you think. I first heard the track in Florida, just after New Year's Day of 1989. I was in Key West, a tourist in Margaritaville, visiting old college friends and having a righteous good time. I was, let's face it, high as a freakin' Florida kite. And I heard that voice. That voice.

You're not alone

You're not alone

You're not alone anymore

Although lyrically a sad song rather than an uplifting one, it felt like a message of comfort from beyond the veil. Roy Orbison had left this world behind less than a month before my pilgrimage to Margaritaville. I respected and appreciated Orbison, and I felt the pop world's sorrow at the loss of one of its giants. I knew, of course, that Orbison was one of the Traveling Wilburys, alongside George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and Jeff Lynne. Supergroup? Even that description is inadequate. The only Traveling Wilburys song I really knew before that was the hit, "Handle With Care." Hearing the late Roy Orbison sing "Not Alone Anymore" as only Roy Orbison could, that otherworldly voice both booming and floating above the tchotchkes strewn in the Margaritaville gift shop, I knew I'd been touched by something greater. I needed that CD. I bought it shortly after returning home to Syracuse.

You're not alone anymore. On that 1988-into-1989 trip, I'd flown into Key West from Pensacola after attending Langley's wedding. That was the last time I was in Pensacola, or the last time I was in Pensacola until two weeks ago. During the pandemic, and until Uncle Carl passed in December, I visited Pensacola again via weekly Zoom with Uncle Carl and Langley, my sister hosting the meeting from her home in England. Our final Zoom was a little after Mom died in December. Uncle Carl's rapid decline was perhaps not unexpected. I don't know why it caught me so unprepared.

But I'm not alone. We're going to go back to Pensacola next year, just to go, to spend time, to be together. Life is too short to spend separately. We're not alone anymore. I betcha Roy Orbison would agree. 

I know that Uncle Carl would.

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

Pop With POWER!

This piece was commissioned by John M. Borack and S.W. Lauden for Big Stir magazine # 6, a special edition asking that musical question, IS THIS POWER POP? The magazine is still available and highly recommended, and I was damned proud to participate. Here's my contribution to the discussion.

Pop With POWER!

By Carl Cafarelli

"After all, power pop means pop with POWER! Not some whimpering simp in a Beatles haircut."

--Gary Sperrazza!, Bomp! magazine

It was a straightforward sequence of events. I broke up with a girl just before my 18th birthday. Just after my 18th birthday, I saw my first power pop band.

That band was the Flashcubes, soon to be called Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse, and quickly perched alongside the Beatles and the Ramones in the trinity of my all-time Fave Raves. When I saw them in January of 1978, few (if any) were calling them "power pop," a phrase which was just beginning to work its way into the lexicon. The Flashcubes were a punk band. A punk band that covered the Kinks, the Who, the Searchers, the Hollies, and the Yardbirds, sure, but still a punk band.

And they were absolutely power pop. Loud, proud, and hook-laden. Pop with power.

Many deny any relationship between punk and power pop. Yeah, punk’s angry clatter is certainly a breed apart from Badfinger. But within punk’s first wave, groups like the Ramones, Generation X, Eddie and the Hot Rods, the Buzzcocks, and the Jam were applying battered hearts to tattered sleeves, running AM radio influences through a primal DIY aesthetic. Some pop fans require jangle and harmonies as power pop prequisites, and dismiss, say, "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker" for its lack of either. But man, it ain't power pop if it doesn't have power.

My idea of power pop came from writers Greg Shaw and Gary Sperrazza!, via the power pop issue of Bomp! Magazine in 1978. The phrase predates them; "power pop" was coined by Pete Townshend in 1966, describing what the Who were playing, what the Small Faces were playing, what the Beach Boys had played prior to getting all sober and mature with Pet Sounds. Shaw and Sperrazza! saw the sound of the early Who as the Ur-Example of power pop. Bomp! put forth a simple power pop equation: the punk energy of the Sex Pistols plus the catchy pop of Shaun Cassidy equals the power pop of the Who.

I concur.

(And, whether we start power pop's shot clock with the Beatles [my choice] or with the Who [Bomp!'s pick], it's clear that the style existed in the '60s. I reject the notion that it was created in the '70s as an attempt to recapture the excitement of the British Invasion. The latter view reduces power pop to mere revival, no more vital than freakin' Sha Na Na. Power pop is not a revival. Revivals are well-behaved. Power pop explodes.)

Bomp!'s power pop issue also extolled the unassailable cred of the Ramones as power pop touchstones. The Ramones wed the promise of AM radio with the 1-2-3-4! ferocity of velocity, pure pop for punk people. When I was corresponding with Shaw in the '90s, he still maintained that no discussion of power pop could have any meaning if it didn't include "Rockaway Beach."

The discussion has continued, long after Shaw and Sperrazza! have departed. As power pop fans, we are passionate and confident in our individual, often contrasting points of view. That's okay. We're friends here. Friends can disagree and remain friends. (Except for the guy who called me a ninny for regarding the Ramones as power pop. That guy can take a hike.) Squeeze and Marshall Crenshaw don't fit within my idea of power pop; I love 'em just the same. You don't agree that the Ramones are power pop? I won't let my conviction that you're wrong prevent you from buying me a beer. Cheers!

My own POV can shift over time. But I have a pretty good idea of how I define power pop, and it goes back to that Bomp! equation: Punk + Pop = Power Pop. Still, there are shades and subtleties to consider. And how many power pop acts are really 100% power pop all of the time? Raspberries did the country-flavored "Last Dance." Big Star did "The India Song." The Ramones did "Warthog." The Who did...well, the Who did a lot of stuff, didn't they? On the other hand, Styx is certainly not a power pop band, no way, no how...except with "Kiss Your Ass Goodbye," which is as power pop as anything ever. Musician Marty Ross recently suggested that power pop is an approach rather than a genre. Bomp! said otherwise, but I think Marty's right on this count. Hey, this means we can have it all!

Do the definitions matter? Yes. And no. Yeah, we should have recognized parameters, common ground to understand what the hell we're going on about when discussing power pop favorites (or ska favorites, rockabilly favorites, et al.). Power pop's just a label, a tool to help identify sounds that may appeal to us. Recommended If You Like Cheap Trick. Or, as AM radio told me when it turned me on to Badfinger, "These guys sound like the Beatles."

My favorite music had a name. I didn't know that name until I was in college.

"Power pop'” is a misunderstood genre, and there will never be a true consensus on its meaning and parameters. It's my favorite music. It's not my only favorite music--I adore so many sounds that fall outside my strict definition of power pop, even many that fall outside a broader, nebulous approximation--but it's my primary boppin' raison d'être. My awareness of power pop, my understanding of its meaning, began in 1978 with an incredible magazine called Bomp!

I wrote the above a few years back, introducing a reminiscence about how important Bomp! was to me, particularly in developing my understanding of power pop. Bomp! is still my go-to reference in that regard. Greg Shaw's equation still holds. Gary Sperrazza!'s statement still rings true: "Power pop means pop with POWER!"

Pop with power. Whimpering simps need not apply. No matter what kind of haircut they have.

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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.

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