This Is NOT Bill Finger

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1072

I've never really been a morning person. But it occurs to me that my morning commute is often the best part of the day. It's not because I'm buoyed by naive anticipation or optimism for what the new day might bring--let's not get crazy--but because of the two constants that ride with me at that time. I have my morning mug of coffee. And I have my music.

The car is my preferred place to hear music. As the songs drive me, well baby, I can drive my car. In rain or sleet, gloom or light, as the sun glows sweetly or as the snow piles up with rude impunity, I sip my cup of Chock Full O' Nuts and listen to my Monkees and my Aretha, The Flashcubes, The Bangles, The Chambers Brothers, punk and bubblegum, ska and soul and power pop. Rain? I don't mind. Shine? The weather's fine.

The pursuit of pop music is its own reward. I'm sure we've said that before; I have a tendency to bludgeon my talking points with reckless abandon. But it's true: music rewards us with each listen, whether fresh or familiar. It drives my commute. It drives this radio show. And it's well, well worth the drive. Start your engines. This is what rock 'n' roll radio sounded like on a Sunday night in Syracuse this week.

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, and on the web at http://sparksyracuse.org/ You can read all about this show's long and weird history here: Boppin' The Whole Friggin' Planet (The History Of THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO). TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS are always welcome.

The many fine This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio compilation albums are still available, each full of that rockin' pop sound you crave. A portion of all sales benefit our perpetually cash-strapped community radio project:

Volume 1: download
Volume 2: CD or download
Volume 3: download
Volume 4: CD or download
Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio:  CD or download

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

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

TIRnRR # 1072: 4/11/2021

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

THE RAMONES: Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio? (Rhino, End Of The Century)

--

ARETHA FRANKLIN: Save Me (Atlantic, I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You)

SUGAR PIE DeSANTO: I Want To Know (History Of Soul, VA: Singing From My Soul: Soul Chronology 5)

THE WHO: The Punk Meets The Godfather (MCA, Quadrophenia)

HOLLY GOLIGHTLY: Down Down Down (Damaged Goods, Serial Girlfriend)

MARYKATE O'NEIL: I'm Ready For My Luck To Turn Around (71, 1-800-Bankrupt)

THE BANGLES: The Real World (Omnivore, Ladies And Gentlemen...The Bangles!)

--

ANDREA GILLIS: Leave The Light On (Red On Red, single)

THE LINDA LINDAS: Claudia Kishi (single)

PENELOPE HOUSTON: Scratch (Reprise, Cut You)

RICHARD HELL & THE VOIDOIDS: I Gotta Move (Omnivore, Destiny Street Complete)

CAROLYN FRANKLIN: Reality (Kent, Sister Soul: The Best Of The RCA Years 1969-1976)

THE STEMS: She's Fine (Rhino, VA: Children Of Nuggets)

--

KEN SHARP: Something Happening (kensharp.bandcamp.com, Miniatures)

VIC GODARD & THE SUBWAY SECT: No Love Now (Motion, Twenty Odd Years)

ALLAN KAPLON: Every Single Day (n/a, Notes On A Napkin)

HARMONIC DIRT: Blue Moon Atlas (harmonicdirt.com, Rhode Island Street)

LESLIE ODOM, JR.: Good Times (Abkco, VA: One Night In Miami... OST)

TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS: Refugee (MCA, Anthology: Through The Years)

--

THE LEGAL MATTERS: Please Make A Sound (Futureman, Chapter Three)

TEENAGE FANCLUB: God Knows It's True (Rhino, VA: Children Of Nuggets)

PETER, PAUL & MARY: Leaving On A Jet Plane (Warner Brothers, Ten Years Together)

THE CHAMBERS BROTHERS: All Strung Out Over You (Columbia, Time Has Come)

BUDDY HOLLY: You're The One (MCA, Showcase)

THE BEATLES: I've Just Seen A Face (Apple, Help!)

--

BARRY LEE & THE MYSTIC ARROWS: Dearest (Big Stir, single)

THE BEARDS: This Girl (Sympathy For The Record Industry, Funtown)

THE OHIO EXPRESS: Had To Be Me (Real Gone Music, Beg, Borrow & Steal)

XTC: Cross Wires (Caroline, White Music)

THE ARMOIRES: Great Distances (Big Stir, Incognito)

THE BEAT: U.S.A. (Wagon Wheel, The Beat)

--

JOHN FLYNN: Wishing Well (Kool Kat Musik, Citrus)

THE TOURISTS: Blind Among The Flowers (BMG, Greatest Hits)

KID GULLIVER: Boy In A Bubble (Red On Red, single)

X-RAY SPEX: The Day The World Turned Day-Glo [rough mix] (Castle, Germfree Adolescents)

THE POLICE: Roxanne (A & M, Outlandos d'Amour)

SLANT 6: Blue Angel (Dischord, Soda Pop * Rip Off)

--

THE FLASHCUBES: Soldier Of Love [live] (unreleased--for now!)

THE CARS: My Best Friend's Girl (Rhino, Just What I Needed)

THE MUFFS: Saying Goodbye (Warner Brothers, The Muffs)

SKY: Homin' Ground (Zen, Don't Hold Back)

THE EQUALS: Baby Come Back (ICE, First Among Equals)

THE TROGGS: Lost Girl (Fontana, Archeology)

--

BEEBE GALLINI: To Love Somebody (Rum Bar, Pandemos)

THE CURE: Jumping Someone Else's Train (Elektra, Boys Don't Cry)

FOOLS FACE: They Don't Apply To You (n/a, Fools Face)

LOVE: Alone Again Or (Rhino, Love Story 1966-1972)

EYTAN MIRSKY: Sweeping Up After The Elephants (M-Squared, If Not Now...Later) 

THE JAM: The Modern World (Rhino, VA: DIY: The Modern World)

--

THE SMITHEREENS: Sorry (Entertainment One, Smithereens 2011)

BIG COUNTRY: Prairie Rose (Spectrum, Wonderland)

THE WONDERS: That Thing You Do! (Play-Tone, VA: That Thing You Do! OST)

FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE: Denise (Atlantic, Utopia Parkway)

THE MONKEES: Our Own World (Rhino, Good Times!)

AMY RIGBY: Balls (Koch, The Sugar Tree)

MAD MONSTER PARTY: Can't Stop Loving You (Futureman, VA: This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 3)

THE SMALL FACES: What'cha Gonna Do About It (Deram, The Anthology 1965-1967)

THE FLAMIN' GROOVIES: First Plane Home (Grown Up Wrong, Between The Lines)

SHOES: The Things You Do (Elektra, Tongue Twister)

Tonight On THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO

Buddy Holly from the '50s. Aretha Franklin from the '60s. The Who from the '70s. The Bangles from the '80s. The Muffs from the '90s. The Beards from the '00s. The Monkees from the '10s. Leslie Odom, Jr. from our current, slightly used decade. Brand new music from The Legal Matters, Beebe Gallini, Ken Sharp, John Flynn, Andrea Gillis, and Barry Lee and the Mystic Arrows. An as-yet-unreleased 1979 live track from The Flashcubes. And that's just a sample of the sounds from then and now that occupy this week's exercise in The Best Three Hours Of Radio On The Whole Friggin' Planet. Your calendar has no meaning here. All that matters is tonight. Sunday night, 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, http://sparksyracuse.org/

POP-A-LOOZA: Comic Book Retroview: BATMAN # 180

Each week, the pop culture website Pop-A-Looza shares some posts from my vast 'n' captivating Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) archives. The latest shared post is my Comic Book Retroview look back at a comic book published in 1966, Batman # 180.

As its intro says, this piece was originally written as a (rejected) spec submission to Comics Buyer's Guide in the '80s. I'm not sure exactly when I actually wrote and submitted it--that was an awful lot of '80s fried eggs ago--but I'm pretty sure it was after I'd already sold a retrospective of the '60s Batman TV series to CBG editors Don and Maggie Thompson for use in a magazine called Comics Collector in 1985. Both CBG and Comics Collector were published by Krause Publications in Iola, Wisconsin; Krause also published the record collectors' tabloid Goldmine, and I betcha this celebration of Batman # 180 was written after I began freelancing for Goldmine in 1986. The Goldmine affiliation lasted twenty years, and is a large part of whatever notoriety I managed to establish as a rockin' pop pundit. That story is told in some detail in The Road To Goldmine, which is likely my favorite of all the things I've written for this blog.

Before writin' about records for Goldmine, and even before chronicling Batman's on-screen BIFFs, BAMs, and POWs for Comic Collector, my first freelance writing sales were to a magazine called Amazing Heroes, starting in 1984. A previous post talked about my short history with Amazing Heroes, and I've reprised a couple of my AH pieces here: a history of DC's '60s espionage series The Secret Six and an A-Z romp through some obscure DC characters, "Who's...WHO?!" 

But enough about me. Let's talk about Batman! A Comic Book Retroview celebration of Batman # 180 gives us the latest Boppin' Pop-A-Looza.

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

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

The many fine This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio compilation albums are still available, each full of that rockin' pop sound you crave. A portion of all sales benefit our perpetually cash-strapped community radio project:

Volume 1: download
Volume 2: CD or download
Volume 3: download
Volume 4: CD or download
Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio:  CD or download

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl.

THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE: Thank You, Girl

I put this piece together as a potential chapter for my (clearly imaginary) book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1), but it is not included in the book's current blueprint. That may change, but for now, it's a blog piece instead.

(And, considering the parts-is-parts manner in which Capitol Records cobbled together the American versions of The Beatles' early LPs, it's fitting that this chapter was itself stitched together from sections contained within two previous posts. Waste not, want not.)

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

THE BEATLES: Thank You, Girl

Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney

Produced by George Martin

Original release: Single (B-side of "From Me To You"), Parlophone Records [U.K.], 1963

GREM! mix: From the album The Beatles' Second Album, Capitol Records, 1964

Americans old enough to meet The Beatles' records in the '60s (or even for a good while thereafter) were introduced to this forever fab sound via U.S. label Capitol Records' much-maligned and possibly Philistine muckin' about with the original British tracks. The American LPs were shorter than their nearest U.K. counterparts, there were consequently more Beatles albums released here than in Her Majesty's domain, and a lot of the tracks were tweaked and meddled with by Yankee hands indifferent to the intent of The Beatles and their producer, George Martin. One could imagine an American record producer chomping on a cigar and shrugging off criticism of such crass creative butchery: It's not ART ferchrissakes, it's a freakin' pop record! Jeez, it's for kids who don't know any better; otherwise they'd listen to something good instead. But until they grow up outta this Beatle nonsense, WE know what the American kids wanna hear!

Philistines? Yeah Yeah Yeah. But I remain adamantly devoted to The Beatles' American LPs. It's how we heard The Beatles, how we fell in love with The Beatles. My Rubber Soul is the American Rubber Soul, the one that inspired Brian Wilson to create Pet Sounds. My two all-time favorite albums are the U.S. patchworks Beatles '65 and Beatles VI. I prefer Meet The Beatles to With The Beatles. I recognize the purity of the British originals. I can't and won't shake my affection for the records that made me.

For all the (sometimes deserved) crap hurled at Capitol Records' somewhat ham-handed treatment of The Beatles' records before Sgt. Pepper, "Thank You, Girl" is one shining example of Capitol taking a fab song and making it better. The original U.K. version of this track is fine. But the U.S. version, on Capitol's money-grabbing hodgepodge LP The Beatles' Second Album? Man, that track explodes with more energy than even virgin vinyl can carry, adding extra harmonica parts, absolutely superfluous (yet paradoxically essential) echo, and a full-volume, full-throttle atmosphere that could be seen as over-the-top if weren't so exactly, unerringly right. There are days when this is The Greatest Record Ever Made. And there are certainly occasional evening commutes when this is the only song worth playing, over and over, making me glad when I was blue.

The American mix of "Thank You, Girl" is better than the U.K. version. It's not even close. I remember the first time I heard the British "Thank You, Girl." I was in high school, spring of '77, and I bought an import reissue of The Beatles' Hits EP, specifically to own a copy of "Thank You, Girl," a track I knew and loved from my cousin Maryann's copy of The Beatles' Second Album. And I was so disappointed with the relatively lifeless mix on the EP. AND IT HAD LESS HARMONICA! Heresy! Sure, it turned out to be heresy in reverse, I guess, but no matter. I knew which version moved me. I still do. I chalked it off to experience, and snagged a beat-up copy of The Beatles' Second Album at the flea market. And all I've gotta do is thank you, Capitol. Thank you, Capitol.

TIP THE BLOGGER: CC's Tip Jar!

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

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

The many fine This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio compilation albums are still available, each full of that rockin' pop sound you crave. A portion of all sales benefit our perpetually cash-strapped community radio project:

Volume 1: download
Volume 2: CD or download
Volume 3: download
Volume 4: CD or download
Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio:  CD or download

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl.

MY WEEKLY VIDEO BLOG: THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! # 25: Aretha Franklin, "Respect"

An infinite number of songs can each be THE greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. I like that idea so much I'm writing a book about it. And I'm promoting that book with a weekly video series, discussing each of the book's chosen tracks one by one.

Since Brenda and I just watched the eight-part National Geographic mini-series biopic about Aretha Franklin, it seems an obvious choice this week to flip my book's pages to the chapter about the Queen of Soul and her definitive rendition of Otis Redding's "Respect." I know you know the song; if you don't, well, I guess that's evidence of life on other planets. But yeah, of course you know it, and you can spell it: R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Nonetheless, GREM! protocol requires me to link the song here, and then invite you to witness my rant on its behalf:

If you dig whatever the hell it is I'm doing in these weekly videos, please subscribe to my YouTube channel. NEXT WEEK: we'll be back with more from The Greatest Record Ever Made!

THIS WEEK'S VIDEO: Aretha Franklin, "Respect"

GREM! # 24: Pink Floyd, "Wish You Were Here"

GREM! # 23: The Carpenters, "Only Yesterday" and Material Issue, "Kim The Waitress"

GREM! # 22: The Beatles,"Yesterday"

GREM! # 21: The Bay City Rollers, "Rock And Roll Love Letter"

GREM! # 20: Buddy Holly, "Peggy Sue"/"Everyday"

GREM! # 19: The Monkees, "The Girl I Knew Somewhere"

GREM! # 18: Melanie with the Edwin Hawking Singers, "Lay Down (Candles In The Rain)"

GREM! # 17: The Romantics, "What I Like About You"

GREM! # 16: The Hollies, "I Can't Let Go"

GREM! # 15: Wilson Pickett, "In The Midnight Hour"

GREM! # 14: Crazy Elephant, "Gimme Gimme Good Lovin'"

GREM! # 13: Neil Diamond, "Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show"

GREM! # 12: Little Richard, "The Girl Can't Help It"

GREM! # 11: Eytan Mirsky, "This Year's Gonna Be Our Year"

GREM! # 10: The Monkees, "Riu Chiu"

GREM! # 9: Patti Smith, "Gloria"

GREM! # 8: Big Mama Thornton, "Hound Dog"

GREM! # 7: Elvis Presley, "Heartbreak Hotel"

GREM! # 6: The Sex Pistols,"God Save The Queen"

GREM! # 5: Dusty Springfield,"I Only Want To Be With You"

GREM! # 4: Chuck Berry, "Promised Land"

GREM! # 3: Baron Daemon and the Vampires, "The TransylvaniaTwist"

GREM! # 2: Badfinger, "Baby Blue"

GREM! # 1: The Ramones, "Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?

TIP THE BLOGGER: CC's Tip Jar!

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

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

The many fine This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio compilation albums are still available, each full of that rockin' pop sound you crave. A portion of all sales benefit our perpetually cash-strapped community radio project:

Volume 1: download
Volume 2: CD or download
Volume 3: download
Volume 4: CD or download
Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio:  CD or download

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl.

POP-A-LOOZA: Lights! Camera! REACTION! My Life At The Movies: Rock 'n' Roll!

Each week, the pop culture website Pop-A-Looza shares some posts from my vast 'n' captivating Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) archives. The latest shared post is a Lights! Camera! REACTION! look at rock 'n' roll movies.

This piece was written in 2018, and I haven't added much to my rock 'n' roll flick ticket stub gallery since then. We talked about the Herman's Hermits pastiche Ripped! in our last Boppin' Pop-A-Looza; I also saw Times Square and Earth, Wind & Fire in That's The Way Of The World, neither of which is exactly Casablanca, nor even Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls. I did pick up a DVD copy of Gerry and the Pacemakers in Ferry Cross The Mersey, and I'm looking forward to watching it. 

I'm surprised my original piece didn't mention Prince, Morris Day, and Apollonia in Purple Rain, a movie I certainly enjoyed in its original 1984 theatrical run. That's a pretty big omission, and it stuck out immediately when I re-read the piece this week. Oops? This is what it sounds like when bloggers cry.

I also omitted Detroit Rock City, an inessential but fun 1999 jukebox movie about KISS fans in the '70s. Detroit Rock City was an authorized KISS project, but the band only appeared in a climactic in-concert cameo, allowing, y'know, actual actors to carry the day. The result was silly and inconsequential, and I liked it a lot more than the lackluster 1978 TV movie KISS Meets The Phantom Of The Park. 

I'm sure I forgot others that should have been cited in the original article, but I regret forgetting about Detroit Rock City and especially Purple Rain. I betcha I'll regret others as I remember them. But omissions notwithstanding, it's still a decent piece about my love of rock 'n' roll movies. "Lights! Camera! REACTION! My Life At The Movies: Rock 'n' Roll!" serves as the latest Boppin' Pop-A-Looza.

TIP THE BLOGGER: CC's Tip Jar!

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

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

The many fine This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio compilation albums are still available, each full of that rockin' pop sound you crave. A portion of all sales benefit our perpetually cash-strapped community radio project:

Volume 1: download
Volume 2: CD or download
Volume 3: download
Volume 4: CD or download

Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio:  CD or download

Follow me on Twitter @CafarelliCarl