This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1115

A good radio show is a crusade. It's an ongoing effort to provide YOU, the good citizens of [insert your local equivalent of Gotham City here], the essential biff-bang-pow to rescue you from the clutches of..ah, skip it. The fact is, neither Dana nor I looks particularly convincing in costume. Strike fear into the hearts of superstitious and cowardly criminals? Yeah, that ain't us. Best we can hope for is to a strike a chord in our listeners' minds and ears. That we can do. Yes, Commissioner! We've got a radio show.

This week's crusade swings in with new music from Cheap Star, the Linda Lindas, Tony Valentino, Old Town Crier, Shanda and the Howlers, and the Blusterfields, and lets 'em mingle freely with David Ruffin, the Bangles, the Jive Five, Amy Rigby, the Velvet Underground, Pop Co-Op, the Toys, NRBQ, the Monkees, Al Green, Palmyra Delran and the Doppel Gang, Carolyne Mas, Mott the Hoople, the Isley Brothers, the Who, Toots and the Maytals, the Muffs, the Beatles, the Ramones, and more. They all play together, like happy heroes oughtta. 

A radio crusade. I think Batman would approve. We hope you will, too. The city is safe. This is what rock 'n' roll radio sounded like on a Sunday night in Syracuse this week. Atomic batteries to power. Turbines to speed. Roger! Ready to move out. Evil won't even know what hit it.

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 # 1115: 2/6/2022

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)

--

CHEAP STAR: Flower Girl (Kool Kat Musik, Wish I Could See)

THE VAPORS: Turning Japanese [alternate version] (Cherry Red, Waiting For The Weekend)

BALLZY TOMORROW: Double Our Numbers (single)

20/20: Nuclear Boy (Real Gone Music, 20/20-Look Out!)

TOOTS & THE MAYTALS: Pressure Drop (Island, Time Tough)

THE FLAMIN' GROOVIES: Carol (Buddha, Teenage Head)

--

THE LINDA LINDAS: Growing Up (Epitaph, Growing Up)

THE MUFFS: On My Own (Omnivore, No Holiday)

PALMYRA DELRAN & THE DOPPEL GANG: Lucky In Love (Wicked Cool, single)

THE LEFTOVERS: Get To Know You (Oglio, Eager To Please)

POP CO-OP: The Only Thing I Really Want (Futureman, VA: Futureman Records 2021)

THE OHMS: Chain Letter (Northside, single)

--

DAVID RUFFIN: Each Day Is A Lifetime (Hip-O, David)

JACKIE LOMAX: Sour Milk Sea (Apple, VA: Come And Get It--The Best Of Apple Records)

THE SWING SET: Trying To Get You Out Of My Mind (Peppermint, single)

NRBQ: It's A Wild Weekend [soundcheck recording] (Omnivore, In Frequencies)

EAGLES: Twenty-One (Asylum, Desperado)

NELSON BRAGG: Glorious Days (Steel Derrick, Gratitude Blues)

--

TONY VALENTINO: Barracuda (Big Stir, single)

NIKKI & THE CORVETTES: He's A Mover (Bomp!, Nikki and the Corvettes)

LANNIE FLOWERS: Good (SpyderPop/Big Stir, Flavor Of The Month)

THE VELVET UNDERGROUND: There She Goes Again (Polydor, Peel Slowly And See)

THE JIVE FIVE: Hully Gully Callin' Time (Collectables, Their Greatest Hits)

MOTT THE HOOPLE: All The Young Dudes (Columbia, The Ballad Of Mott)

--

OLD TOWN CRIER: You (Old Town Crier, You)

THE JAM: So Sad About Us (Polydor, Direction Reaction Creation)

THE BEATLES: The Night Before (Apple, Help!)

BILL LLOYD: Kissed Your Sister (New Boss Sounds, Back To Even)

THE TOYS: May My Heart Be Cast Into Stone (Sundazed, A Lover's Concerto/Attack!)

BRAM TCHAIKOVSKY: Heart Of Stone (Cherry Red, Strange Men, Changed Men)

--

DUSTY SPRINGFIELD: I Only Want To Be With You (Mercury, The Very Best Of Dusty Springfield)

ANNY CELSI: Au Revoir, My Darling (Ragazza, Kaleidoscope Heart: 12 Golden Hits)

TAVARES: Free Ride (EMI, The Best Of Tavares)

AMY RIGBY: I Don't Want To Talk About Love No More (Signature Sounds, Little Fugitive)

GENE PITNEY: It Hurts To Be In Love (One Way, Ultimate Anthology)

AL GREEN: L-O-V-E (Love) (Capitol, The Definitive Greatest Hits)

--

THE MONKEES: Pleasant Valley Sunday (Rhino, Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd.)

ALLAH-LAS: Could Be You (Mexican Summer, Calico Review)

THE MONKEES: Listen To The Band [single version] (Rhino, 50)

ANY TROUBLE: Second Choice (Salvo, VA: Born Stiff)

CAROLYNE MAS: In The Rain (Savage Juliet, Beyond Mercury)

THE BANGLES: Tell Me (Columbia, All Over The Place)

--

SHANDA & THE HOWLERS: Used To Call Me Baby (Rum Bar, It Ain't Easy)

ANDY ELLISON: Cornflake Zoo (Cherry Red, VA: Looking At The Pictures In The Sky)

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

THE RAMONES: I Can't Give You Anything (Rhino, Rocket To Russia)

THE MYNAH BIRDS: I Got You (In My Soul) (Motown, VA: Motown Unreleased: 1966)

THE WHO: Barbara Ann (MCA, Who's Missing)

THE FLASHCUBES: I Can't Explain (Northside, Flashcubes On Fire)

THE VITAMINS: New Town (Cherry Red, VA: 1978: The Year The UK Turned Day-Glo)

--

THE BLUSTERFIELDS: Insomnia (New Atlas, The Vicious Afterglow)

CHARLIE ROBBINS: Heart Said Go (Blue Wave, VA: History Of Syracuse Music Volume 14)

LOLAS: My Thoughts Have Been Replaced (Kool Kat Musik, All Rise)

THE BEVIS FROND: Now You Know (Woronzow, Bevis Through The Looking Glass)

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

THE ON AND ONS: 9 Days (n/a, Menacing Smile)

THE ISLEY BROTHERS: Twist And Shout (Epic, The Essential Isley Brothers)

TODD RUNDGREN: Couldn't I Just Tell You (Rhino, Something/Anything?)

--

CLOUD ELEVEN: Radiant Radish (Theme) (Kool Kat Musik, Pandora's Box)

Tonight On THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO

We will not suffer for a groundhog's cowardice. The groundhog says six more weeks of winter? We say snow is over (if you want it). And we're set to melt all your meltables with the latest from THE LINDA LINDAS, CHEAP STAR, OLD TOWN CRIER, TONY VALENTINO, and SHANDA AND THE HOWLERS, all snuggled up warm 'n' comfy with AL GREEN, NRBQ, BALLZY TOMORROW, THE BEATLES, THE RAMONES, TAVARES, AMY RIGBY, THE ISLEY BROTHERS, 20/20, DUSTY SPRINGFIELD, and PALMYRA DELRAN AND THE DOPPEL GANG, and still more hot sounds than you can shake a snowball at. If that's your idea of a good time. THIS is our idea of a good time. Groundhog, go home! 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: Revealing My Age (One Concert Ticket At A Time)

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 called "Revealing My Age (One Concert Ticket At A Time)."

If memory serves (and it occasionally does), the last live music event I attended before everything went kersplatticky! in March of 2020 was to see the duo of Gary Frenay and Arty Lenin (founding members of Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse the Flashcubes) play at a hotel lounge up on the Syracuse University hill. A hotel lounge gig may seem a pretty dire setting for live music magic, but lemme tell ya, Gary and Arty owned that long-running gig at the Sheraton, mixing covers and originals to the delight of fans who went there specifically to soak up that experience. That weekly residency had ceased in 2019, but this late-winter 2020 appearance marked their triumphant return to the Sheraton, albeit for just one more show. If memory's correct--it might be!--and that really was my final pre-COVID live show, it was a pretty good note to end on.

Before that? I think it was either Gary and Arty again or the Kennedys, both of those shows taking place in late 2019 at The 443 Social Club And Lounge, one of my very favorite venues. The Gary and Arty show was an all-originals showcase, a sequel to a similar show they'd done at the 443 the preceding May. At the Kennedys show, I had the honor of joining CNY radio legend Dave Frisina on stage to introduce the band. 

Also at the Kennedys show,  I ran into my eighth grade art teacher John DiGesare; Mr. D was my favorite teacher (a story told as part of the chronicle of my superhero creation Jack Mystery), and it's always nice to see him. He was at the 443 to see his former pupil Maura Kennedy, and he chatted with my wife Brenda and me before the show. He told Brenda she should call him John, and then he smiled and said to me, "You can call me Mr. D."

(Whenever Mr. D sees me, he tells me to stop wasting time with whatever other triviality occupies me in the moment, and to get back to drawing. Okeydokey, Mr. D!)

Earlier, in the summer of 2019, Brenda and I had also seen C. J. Ramone with Dog Party at an outdoor venue in Liverpool, NY, and the Cowsills and others as part of the Happy Together Tour at The Landmark Theater. Meeting the Cowsills--the nicest people in pop music--after the show, Dana and I talked about the possibility of maybe getting the Cowsills back to Syracuse some day to headline their own show. A great idea! At the time, no one knew live music would be banished from the scene by a pandemic and quarantine.

As quarantine concerns eased, at least a little bit, for a little bit, I did manage to see a few live shows in 2021. The first was, of course, Gary and Arty, this time with their (mostly) '60s cover band the FabCats. Our daughter Meghan accompanied Brenda and me to see Joan Jett and the Blackhearts at the New York State Fair. Brenda and I saw Los Blancos at the 443. Each of these was an outdoor show. I was THISCLOSE to buying tickets to see Squeeze at a casino date a few months back, but I couldn't do it. Not ready for that yet.

But I will return to the live music experience. In the mean time, we look back at a snapshot of some shows I saw in a less viral era. "Revealing My Age (One Concert Ticket At A Time)" is the latest Boppin' Pop-A-Looza.

Joan Jett on the screen at the State Fair in 2021, photo by Meghan Cafarelli

You can support 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

Fake THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO Playlist: Virtual Ticket Stub Gallery, Once Removed

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl is simply too large a concept to be neatly contained within a mere three-hour weekly time slot. Hence these occasional fake TIRnRR playlists, detailing shows we're never really going to do...but could.

This latest exercise in willful fabricatin' presents a playlist of acts that I have never seen in concert. BUT! For each track here, I have seen at least one of its players perform in a live setting, billed under some other appropriate rockin' pop DBA. I used each individual player just once in selecting tracks for this playlist, and I avoided acts whose nom du bop included the player's name. That kept, for example, Eric Burdon and War, Michael Nesmith and the First National Band, and Dolenz, Jones, Boyce and Hart off the playlist; I regret that I didn't use any members of the Animals or the Monkees here, but I'm happier to know that I SAW THE ANIMALS AND THE MONKEES LIVE!!

Ahem.

I've had the good fortune to see a number of fine acts perform in live settings. Here's a playlist of acts I didn't actually see, but did have the privilege of experiencing as best I could, just one step removed.

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl--y'know, the real one--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.

You can support this blog by becoming a patron on Patreon, or by visiting CC's Tip Jar. Additional products and projects are listed here.

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl

Fake TIRnRR Playlist: Virtual Ticket Stub Gallery, Once Removed

THE BEATLES: Rain [Ringo Starr]

THE MODERN LOVERS: Roadrunner [Ernie Brooks, Jerry Harrison]

GUNS N' ROSES: Sweet Child O' Mine [Axl Rose]

THE CONTINENTAL DRIFTERS: Some Of Shelly's Blues [Susan Cowsill, Vicki Peterson]

TINTED WINDOWS: We Got Something [Bun E. Carlos]

MOTT THE HOOPLE: Roll Away The Stone [Ian Hunter]

--

THE LOVIN' SPOONFUL: Summer In The City [John Sebastian]

AEROSMITH: Sick As A Dog [Joe Perry]

THE TRAVELING WILBURYS: Handle With Care [Tom Petty, Bob Dylan]

BLONDIE: (I'm Always Touched By Your) Presence, Dear [Debbie Harry, Chris Stein]

MYRACLE BRAH: I'm In Love [Andy Bopp]

THE MOSQUITOS: I Know A Secret [Vance Brescia]

--

THE NEW YORK DOLLS: Babylon [David Johansen]

THE HEARTBREAKERS: Born To Lose [Johnny Thunders]

THE ROOKS: Reasons [Kristin Pinnell]

THE MOODY BLUES: Go Now! [Denny Laine]

ARGENT: Hold Your Head Up [Jim Rodford]

BADFINGER: Baby Blue [Joey Molland]

--

DAVID WERNER: Too Late To Try [Mark Doyle]

THE ARCHIES: Jingle Jangle [Ron Dante]

BIG STAR: September Gurls [Alex Chilton]

THE TEARAWAYS: Nowhere Left To Turn [Jesse Benenati]

THE DEAD BOYS: 3rd Generation Nation [Stiv Bators]

THE DICTATORS: (I Live For) Cars And Girls [Scott Kempner]

--

THE BEAT: Rock N Roll Girl [Paul Collins]

KURSAAL FLYERS: Television Generation [John Wicks, Will Birch]

HAVANA 3 AM: Reach The Rock [Joe Strummer]

SHAM 69: If The Kids Are United [Dave Tregunna]

SQUEEZE: Tempted [Paul Carrack]

THE WOMBLES: Remember You're A Womble [Chris Spedding]

--

JOAN ARMATRADING: When I Get It Right [Gary Sanford]

THE BABYS: Isn't It Time [John Waite]

PACIFIC SOUL LTD.: We Go High [Teresa Cowles, Adam Marsland]

THE BAR: Katie's Shoes [Kurt Reil, Jim Babjak]

LITTLE VILLAGE: Don't Bug Me When I'm Working [John Hiatt[

THE KINGSMEN: Louie, Louie [Jack Ely]

--

BROWNSVILLE STATION: Let Your Yeah Be Yeah [Cub Koda]

THE VERBS: Ain't No Ingenue [Meegan Voss]

WONDERMINTS: You Need Love [Probyn Gregory, Darian Sahanaja]

THE HOLLIES: Gasoline Alley Bred [Terry Sylvester]

MEN AT WORK: Be Good, Johnny [Colin Hay]

THE BARRACUDAS: Somewhere Outside [Nicky Turner]

--

GREAT BUILDINGS: Hold On To Something [Phil Solem]

THE MAJOR LABELS: I Don't Hear A Single [Ducky Carlisle]

THE STOOGES: I Wanna Be Your Dog [Iggy Pop]

CANDY: Whatever Happened To Fun [Kyle Vincent]

WONDERBOY: Believe [Robbie Rist]

PARTHENON HUXLEY: Double Our Numbers [Rusty Anderson]

--

JOHN LENNON: Woman [Earl Slick]

THE FIREMAN: See The Changes [Paul McCartney]

R.E.M.: Shiny Happy People [Peter Holsapple]

THE DAMNED: Neat Neat Neat [Brian James]

THE MASTER PLAN: Dead Horse [Keith Streng]

CIRCE LINK: Yellow Dress [Christian Nesmith]

THREE DOG NIGHT: It's For You [Chuck Negron]

SCANDAL: Goodbye To You [Frankie LaRocka]

10 SONGS: 2/3/2022

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 # 1114.

THE VENTURES: Walk--Don't Run

As we age, there is a risk of TIRnRR playlists becoming the de facto Obituary of the Week. Time is the enemy. The passing of the Ventures' guitarist Don Wilson prompted me to wanna play a few Ventures tracks this week, opening the show with "Walk--Don't Run." I have a specific memory associated with that song, a memory I shared when we lost the Ventures' other guitarist Nokie Edwards in 2018:

In the late '80s, probably around '88 or so, the Ventures were scheduled to play at a bar located in a shopping center in Seneca Knolls, a suburban area north of Syracuse. In another manifestation of Syracuse's frustrating feast-or-famine existence, the Godfathers were elsewhere in Syracuse that same night, and the Bodeans were also appearing at yet another local venue. I wanted to see all three shows. But there was no real choice: I had to see the Ventures.

The Ventures were one of the most influential groups of the early '60s, and the most influential American instrumental rock 'n' roll combo. I can say that without denying the sheer magnificence of Dick Dale and the Del Tones or Link Wray, or the importance of the Shadows in England. I became a fan in the early '80s, via an oldies radio spin of "Walk--Don't Run." Riveted. There was no way I would or could pass up a chance to see the Ventures play live.

I don't remember the name of the bar. The floor in front of the stage had been garnished with sand, to conjure a beach party ambiance. Soon, the band was on stage. Nokie Edwards had left the group by then, so the Ventures I saw were the "Hawaii Five-O" line-up of Bob Bogle, Don Wilson, Gerry McGee, and Mel Taylor. The owner of the venue introduced, "The best fucking dance band in the world, THE VENTURES!!"

Enthusiastic applause, followed by something like a half-second pause for effect. Maybe a quarter-second. Maybe a full second or more. No time at all, but a seeming eternity, a tantalizing tease. You know what I mean. That brief moment when time stands still, when a performer or a group knows intuitively that he or she or they is about to claim you in full. A half-second. Quarter-second. Less than a tick, yet a sweet, enticing forever. Mel Taylor's drums rolled. That guitar intro.

The Ventures opened their show with "Walk--Don't Run."

The Ventures opened their show with "Walk--Don't Run!"

I've had the pleasure and good fortune to see a lot of terrific shows, from the Kinks to the Ramones to Paul McCartney. No one grabbed me from the get-go better than the Ventures did.

DAVID RUFFIN: Don't Stop Lovin' Me

I've recently been in serious thrall to David, the originally unreleased 1971 album by former Temptations singer David Ruffin. "Don't Stop Lovin' Me" is one of the few David tracks that was issued in its day, serving as the B-side to "Each Day Is A Lifetime" (a track which also would have been on David, if there had been a David). I remain puzzled by Motown's decision to consign the album to the vaults. Great, great record, and we'll hear another of its tracks on next week's TIRnRR.

LOLAS: My Thoughts Have Been Replaced

Following several years of scattered Dana & Carl radio shows in varied incarnations, 1999 was This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio's first full year on the air. Lolas' debut album Ballerina Breakout was released in late '99, but it immediately became my favorite album of the year. Its track "The Best Part" became the first of many Lolas songs played on TIRnRR over the years, and we're delighted to add Lolas' latest to our little Play-Tone Galaxy of Stars. The new album All Rise was a digital-only release in 2021, and it's now available in physical (i.e., real) form courtesy of our friends at Kool Kat Musik. Of course we played it this week! Good stuff, then and now.

BRAM TCHAIKOVSKY: Breaking Down The Walls Of Heartache

Our playlists are affected by our listeners. I don't mean just in terms of requests, but also in reading their comments and developing an understanding of what they dig. One such listener is Joel Tinnel, guitarist for the way fab Pop Co-Op. I don't think it's much--maybe any--exaggeration to say that either Dana or I pick at least one track each week with the specific goal of landing within Joel's rockin' pop wheelhouse. We aims t'please. Joel has good taste, so we figure a song that Joel likes has better'n even odds of enhancing whatever the hell it is we do here.

Joel has expressed his interest in the music of Bram Tchaikovsky, the late '70s/early '80s British act (BT the name of both the band and its frontman) best known for the pop classic "Girl Of My Dreams." When we played the Bandwagon's Northern soul essential "Breaking Down The Walls Of Heartache" a few years back, it was Joel who pointed out that Bram Tchaikovsky covered the song on his/their third and final studio album, 1981's Funland. This week, that version finally made its belated TIRnRR debut. For Joel! The playlist benefits from an understanding of what our listeners like. Thanks again, Joel.

THE JAM: Monday

In the early '80s, I absolutely worshipped the Jam. Setting Sons had become one of my all-time favorite albums, and I likewise adored its successor Sound Affects. And yet, in our current far-future world of the 21st century, I had completely forgotten about the sublime Sound Affects album track "Monday" until Dana selected it for this week's radio extravaganza. Thanks, Dana!

THE 5TH DIMENSION: Aquarius/Let The Sun Shine In (The Flesh Failures)

The effect of listeners again, though this one was an actual request from intrepid TIRnRR fan Dominique King. Thanks, Dominique! Mystic crystal revelation, the mind's true liberation.

BUCK OWENS AND HIS BUCKAROOS: Who's Gonna Mow Your Grass

"Who's Gonna Mow Your Grass" wasn't a request this week, but I first learned of this superswell Buck Owens number because a listener named Elma Tiran (whom we've since dubbed Sparky) wanted us to play it on the show a few years ago. Ever your rock 'n' roll radio customer service specialists, we tracked it down, loved its vibrant application of Beatlisms and fuzz guitar to the C & W Bakersfield Beat, and it became a TIRnRR perennial in short order. Thanks, Sparky!

THE CLICK BEETLES: Goodbye Margot

This ace new track from the glory, the splendor, and the wonder of the Click Beetles initially slipped right by us because, well, um...SQUIRREL!! Times are tough, so we can't afford to pay attention. Rich Firestone of Radio Deer Camp (heard Sunday afternoons from 5 to 7 Eastern, right here on SPARK!) was the first to give "Goodbye Margot" the radio love it deserves, and we're always eager to copy our Reechie and his Radio Deer Camp brilliance. Thanks, Rich!

"Goodbye...?!" But I wanna listen to Rich Firestone on Radio Deer Camp!

CHRIS CHURCH: Pillar To Post

LANNIE FLOWERS: Good

While each week's 10 Songs is built in large part from songs released in years (and decades) gone by, we always, always play new and/or recent irresistibles right alongside our cherished and familiar gems. I mean, would it be TIRnRR if we didn't play something from the Big Stir Records label? Hyperbole is its own reward. We love Big Stir, there's at least one Big Stir release in nearly every weekly playlist, and that trend may never end. 

Our current Big Stir obsessions are Darling Please by Chris Church and Flavor Of The Month by Lannie Flowers. We played tracks from each on last week's show, and different tracks from each on this week's show. You can't have great radio unless you play great records. Big Stir releases great records, and so we play 'em as part of our ongoing effort to slap together great radio. Thanks, Big Stir. Thank you, listeners. Let's play.

You can support 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-A-LOOZA: Batman In THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD [annotated]

 
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 an expansion of a previous shared post, annotating my pipe dream of a writing a 12-issue series of Batman in The Brave And The Bold.

Both of these posts frolic 'n' gambol within my imaginary Old 52 pre-Crisis continuity, a never-gonna-happen notion of new DC Comics universe based on what the company published prior to the line-changing Crisis On Infinite Earths series in 1985-86. All three pieces are purely intended as exercises in creative nostalgia, nothing more, nothing less. 

So: just imagine! It's okay to imagine. My flight of fancy crafting a year in the Bronze Age life of the Batman and his Brave And Bold co-stars serves as the latest Boppin' Pop-A-Looza.

You can support 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

BOPPIN's Monthly Day Off

Once a month, Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) takes an all-too-brief twenty-four break from its near-suicidal commitment to daily public posting. On that day--TODAY!--we shift our focus to a private post for the blog's paid patrons. This month's private post is another chapter from my long-threatened book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1), this time celebrating the splendor of "Time Has Come Today:" by the Chambers Brothers.

Regular daily public posting will resume tomorrow. Wanna get in on the private posts? For as little as $2 a month, you can support this blog by becoming a patron on Patreon. Additional products and projects are listed here.