Happy New Year to Charlie and ALL KINDSA GIRLS!!!
All Kindsa Girls- The Real Kids Real Kids
Jody- Silver Sun Disappear Here
My Sharona- The Knack Get the Knack
Lorraine- Durango 95 Lose Control
Belinda- Ben Folds & Nick Hornby Lonely Avenue
Keep On Knocking- The Cars Move Like This
Enola Gay- Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark Urgh! A Music War
Diane- Material Issue International Pop Overthrow
She Walks The Night- Matthew Sweet Modern Art
Angela- New Math Die Trying 7"
Mother Mary- Foxboro Hot Tubs Stop Drop and Roll
Christabelle- Sorrows Love Too Late
Melody- Kevin K The Best Of Kevin K - New York, New York
Ronnie- The Rubinoos Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About
*Unkind- Sloan The Double Cross
*The Summer Place- Fountains Of Wayne Sky Full Of Holes
*Adamant- The Wellingtons In Transit
*Tribute to Charlie- Cute Lepers Adventure Time
*Sorry- The Smithereens 2011
Lolene- Mad Turks Cafe Istanbul
Red- Hoehn & Duren Blue Orange
Jesamine- Squire Big Smashes
Poison Flower- Urge Overkill Rock & Roll Submarine
Glendora- The Slickee Boys Gotta Tell Me Why 7"
Stella- Ida Maria Fortress Round My Heart
Mary Annette- Doug Powell Four Seasons
Paula- The Golden Horde The Golden Horde
Wicked Annabella- The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society
Dolly- The Lyres On Fyre
Dianalee- Nerf Herder IV
52 Girls- The B-52's The B-52's
*SacroSet: My Top 5 Albums of 2011
The first show of the new year is my DEDICATION SPECIAL where I play all the dedication songs from the previous twelve months. I also highlight what I think are the best releases from the prior year. All in all, 2011 was a pretty good year for Power Pop. New LP's by old friends from the 70's (The Cars), 80's (The Smithereens, Urge Overkill) and 90's (Sloan, Fountains Of Wayne, Matthew Sweet) joined upstarts from the 2000's (Cute Lepers, Wellingtons) on the ALL KINDSA GIRLS playlist. Since I initially envisioned the show would be centered in the late 70's/early 80's, all this new music is a huge bonus.
It's funny how getting older changes your perspective on things. When I was in college I remember railing against the Rolling Stones for refusing to get out of the way and make room for new rock & roll bands. Now, I'm heralding a 2011 release by The Cars, led by 62 year old Ric Ocasek. Furthermore, I share the sentiment the Cute Lepers' express in "Tribute To Charlie" from tonight's SacroSet. The song is an ode to the great Charlie Harper. Just to clarify, they are NOT talking about the character "Charlie Harper" played by Charlie Sheen on the TV show Two And A Half Men (who lived and died a douchebag). They are talking about Charlie Harper, lead singer of British punk band UK Subs, pictured above. He is 67 years old and has been singing with the group for 36 years!
Charlie Harper was the first person I ever interviewed for WERS, my college radio station. We met backstage at a club called Spit on Lansdowne Street in Boston. The person at the station who set up the interview told me to expect the drummer or, at best, UK Subs guitarist Nicky Garratt. Needless to say, I was very impressed to see lead singer Charlie Harper walk into the room. More than a little nervous, I stumbled through the first few questions while Charlie did his best to put me at ease. It ended up being a pretty good interview- he even turned me on to Hanoi Rocks, described as "a gay heavy metal group from Finland," a band I grew to love. (For the record, I don't think the guys in Hanoi Rocks are gay but I once personally witnessed lead singer Mike Monroe and guitarist Andy McCoy's sharing of a microphone devolve into a big sloppy tongue kiss. The look of shock and disgust on my girlfriend Sue's face was just priceless...) Anyway, my "over 40's get off the stage" tune has changed since college and I'm in full agreement with the Cute Lepers "Tribute To Charlie" when they sing:
Most of my heroes will die rockers
I know Charlie Harper will die a rocker!
This is not just talk on my part as I still strap on the guitar myself a few times a year as a member of The Dadz. In fact, my profile picture comes from the first Dadz show:
That show is a great story that I'll get to in a future post.I've been putting together year end lists of my Top 5 movies, albums, TV shows, etc. since 1999. If you're interested in past selections you can check out the blog Rick's Top 5 Lists Along with the five albums in tonight's SacroSet, my 2011 Top 5's include:
TOP 5 MOVIES
Win Win (wrestling with your demons, literally)
Crazy Stupid Love (title says it all)
The Guard (Irish Independent)
Hugo (cinephilia)
Higher Ground (the miracle of faith)
TOP 5 DVD'S
Attack The Block (aliens vs. outsiders)
Beginners (we all get a do-over)
Together “Tilsammans” (Swedish fishbowl)
The Battle of Algiers (modern warfare in 1966)
Dogtooth “Kynodontas” (alternative child rearing techniques)
TOP 5 ALBUMS
Sloan- The Double Cross (XX marks the spot)
Fountains Of Wayne- Sky Full Of Holes (a return to form)
The Wellingtons- In Transit (Power Pop Lives…in Australia!)
Cute Lepers- Adventure Time (Mr. Nix’s opus)
The Smithereens- 2011 (New Jersey’s finest)
TOP 5 BOOKS
A Visit From The Goon Squad- Jennifer Egan (Nobody beats the goon)
The Perks Of Being A Wallflower- Stephen Chbosky (Charlie says…)
The Hunger Games Trilogy- Suzanne Collins (May the odds be ever in your favor)
The Lonely Polygamist- Brady Udall (Mo marriages, mo problems)
Pygmy- Chuck Palahniuk (nobody writes like Chuck)
TOP 5 TELEVISION/CABLE SHOWS
American Horror Story (the house always wins)
Treme: Season 1 (a dead city rises)
Happy Endings (Chicago’s finest)
Justified: Season 1 (Harlan County Confidential)
Louie (brutal/hilarious honesty)
Feel free to comment with Top 5's of your own- I'm always looking for material for next year's list! You could also post a comment over on my facebook page.You can download tonight's show by clicking the links below (right click and "Save Target As"):
Hour 1
Hour 2
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