Weekend Listomania: Special In the Jingle Jangle Morning I'll Come Following You/"Bob Dylan -- Poetic Musical Visionary or CIA Spook?" Edition

Okay ladies and germs -- let's get right to the weekend's business.

To wit:

Best Post-Mr. Tambourine Man Pop/Rock/Folk/Soul Song/Record featuring electric or acoustic 12-string guitar riffage that's NOT the work of either The Beatles or The Byrds!!!

No arbitrary rules here; we're basically talking about the stuff played on the radio after Roger (nee Jim) McGuinn changed the sound of contemporary music back in June of 1965.

I remember where I was -- do you? 😎

And my totally Top of My Head Top Six is:

6. The Who -- I Can't Explain

Once heard -- particularly at an impressionable age (I was 17) -- that riff can never be unheard. And Pete Townshend's 12-string sound on that is pretty much the definitive non-folk rock/non-arpeggiated guitar examplar.

5. We Five -- You Were on My Mind

This pretty much defined the electric folk-rock sound (non-"Like a Rolling Stone" organ and keyboard version) in the immediate wake of The Byrds. I'm not sure if any of these guys were actually playing the jangly/percussive guitar parts, but whoever LA session players were doing it, the 12-string licks are about as good as it gets.

4. The Beach Boys -- Dance Dance Dance

Utterly killer, and apparently inspired by Carl Wilson having purchased a Rickenbacker 12-string in England after a Beach Boys British tour where he saw George Harrison playing one onstage. And yeah, I know, a lot of the backing stuff on Beach Boys records from this period was actually the work of the legendary (uncredited) session musicians known as the Wrecking Crew, but this one seems to be just the actual Boys doing all the great guitar and drum parts, including the 12-string solo in the middle.

I mean my god -- that opening riff!!!

3. You Am I -- Mr. Milk

These guys are (justifiably, as you can hear from this song) gods in their native Australia. I should add that I was introduced to them (and this) one afternoon in 1996 when I wandered into my favorite neighborhood (then the Upper West Side) record store NYCD, and proprietor (and friend of PowerPop©) Sal Nunziato was blasting it over their sound system.

An instant life changer, and I bought the CD on the spot. Thanks, Sal!

2. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers -- The Waiting

Oh god, that guitar at the top. I remember hearing the record on the radio for the first time in 1981 (when it came out) and thinking "oh my god, that validates me on a million levels." 😎

And the bestest chiming geetar work evah, as if you didn't see this coming, is...

1. The Floor Models -- Getting Back Into My Life

Oh right. Like you didn't know this was gonna go to something by my old band. 😎

In all seriousness, that song is by power pop legend Marc Jonson (who also does the beyond gorgeous background vocal harmonies, and who claims to have written it for us, which may well be true; in any case, we played it live all the time back in the early '80s). I should add that the perfecto 12-string stuff on the 2019 version above is the work of my long-time bandmate/friend of PowerPop J.D. Goldberg, who also gets a coveted PowerPop No-Prize© for having suggested the theme of the week's Listomania. Way to go, my friend!!! 😎😎

Alrighty then -- what would YOUR choices be?

And have a great weekend, everybody!!!

Only in New York

From the NY Times "Metropolitan Diary," January 11, 2026.

Dear Diary:

I’ve been obsessed with the Dirty Projectors’ song “Remade Horizon” since it came out in 2009. It’s one of the few songs I keep permanently downloaded on my phone, so I don’t need Wi-Fi when I want to hear it.

When the mood strikes — and it often does — I press play, and there it is: a strange, beautiful bit of art pop with a wild passage at the end where two women’s voices trade off notes so quickly it sounds like one instrument.

Some years after first hearing the song, I moved from Dallas to the Lower East Side. Not long after that, I was at my favorite neighborhood bar, talking with my favorite bartender, Kayla, when her two roommates walked in. They joined us, and I ended up chatting with one of them, Haley, who took the stool next to mine. I asked the usual New York question: “So, what brought you here?”

“Oh,” she said, “I moved to Brooklyn to sing with a band.”

“Would I have heard of them?” I asked.

“Maybe,” she said. “They’re called Dirty Projectors.”

I didn’t say anything, just pulled out my phone, opened my music library and turned the screen toward her so she could see the title: “Remade Horizon.”

“Are you on this track?” I asked.

“Yeah,” she said, as if it were nothing.

It turned out that the voice I had been hearing for more than a decade leaping through that final passage belonged to the woman now sitting next to me.

We became friends, and I still have “Remade Horizons” on my phone. Now, when it comes on during a crowded subway ride, New York feels exactly like the place I wanted it to be when I moved here.

— Steve Crozier

I'm sorry -- and I say this not out of New York City chauvinism -- but that is like the coolest story I have ever heard.

P.S.: Here's the song in question.

Heh.

Your Wednesday Moment of Words Fail Me: Special "Heart Full of Seoul" Edition

Power Pop from...South Korea?

Anyway, enjoy HOA (not sure how that's pronounced) and a pretty astonishing live performance medley of their "Push Man" and "I Don't Know Why".

Wow. Seriously.

For the record (as it were) I can find very little info about those kids, but apparently they've been doing stuff like the above (those songs seem to have been hits somewhere) since 2015. And they are currently on tour in Asia.

I gotta say I had absolutely no idea that music like that was being made in their, er, neighborhood. Not sure I totally dig the choreography, but stylistically that's some interesting stuff anyway, no? Kinda like Liverpool meets the Demilitarized Zone. 😎

Tuesday's Cartoon and Photo Guffaws

That last one is my favorite. For obvious reasons. 😎

Okay, I Didn't See This One Coming Down Broadway

Seriously...words kind of really fail me on that.

Aside from being musically quite gorgeous (and I love that thing she's playing in lieu of a guitar -- it's called a strumstick), Grant (who made her commercial bones as a so-called Christian artist) is not exactly the first person you'd expect the song's lyrical sentiments from. I mean, if I'm reading it right, her metaphorical equation of the secessionists' attack on Harpers Ferry and the titular more recent dark day in American history is pretty damned explicit.

In any event, pretty damned great, and good for her.

I should add that she actually released it last Tuesday, which of course was January 6.

Weekend Whatsis/Whatchamcallit?: Special "A Desperate Cry for Help" Edition

So -- here's the deal, kids.

For a variety of reasons -- annoying if minor old age-related health issues (you don't want to know), my general angst over what's going on in the world thanks to President Metamucilini, fear that One Battle After Another won't win the Best Picture Oscar -- I found myself absolutely unable to come up with a new idea for either a Weekend Listomania or a Weekend Essay Question.

There. I've said it.

Seriously, I was gonna recycle an old one, as has been my wont when this kind of malaise has struck in the past, but even that seemed to me too exhausting to contemplate. I mean, I suppose I just could chalk it up to writer's block, which it kind of is, actually, but that's an obvious cop-out, right? So what to do?

And then BOOM! It hit me!

I could ask YOU guys for an idea!!!

So here we go: I'm officially soliciting a subject/theme/whatever for either a Listomania or an essay question for next week.

From YOU -- the readers!!!

In the case of the lists, you don't have to supply the actual individual entries -- I'll be able to do that -- and the essay questions are self-explanatory.

But as Madeleine Kahn said so poignantly in Blazing Saddles -- I'm tired. So can you guys help me?

And just to sweeten (heh) the deal, the reader whose suggestion I take for next week's entry will receive an extra-special/combat valor version of the coveted PowerPop No-Prize© at no extra cost.

Okay, and just because I don't want you to think I'm a total slacker, I'm gonna leave you with this.

From their just released new album Psychology, please enjoy splendidly monikered L.A. wise guy pop punksters Drool Brothers and their aptly titled new single "Have Fuzz Will Travel."

I only just accidentally discovered the Brothers -- who have apparently been making noises like the above for quite a while now -- the other day; you can (and should) hear more of their music and find out more about them in general over at their official website HERE.

What can I say -- for obvious reasons, I'm sensitive about drool jokes, but those guys got to me.

Okay -- apologies again for being such a tool today, and thanks in advance for all your help. I look forward to pondering your brainstorms, which I have no doubt will be absolutely and uniformly brill.

So let's hear from you. The phone lines are open. Our operators are standing by. This is a free call.

Meanwhile, have a great weekend, everybody! See you on Monday with a normal posting featuring the high level of groovieness you've come to expect from me.

Poppin' the Cherry Part III: Blame It All on the Nights on the Bowery

Okay -- as attentive readers will recall, we alerted you back in November to the news that the good folks at Cherry Red Records (aka the Coolest Record Label in the World) had seen fit to include a track by The Hounds (i.e. the 70s pop/rock band I toiled with beginning in college) on a new 4 CD (101 songs!) boxed set devoted to groups who played at the legendary New York City club C.B.G.B.

Well, I just got my review copy, and wow -- Cherry Red knocked it out of the park.

You can get more details about the collection at the first graf link above; for now, let me just say that ace rock critic Rob Tannenbaum, who compiled the set, contributes absolutely fabulous liner notes, and that the packaging and mastering are across the board terrific; everything here looks and sounds great (our track has never jumped out of the speakers quite so adroitly, for which I'm profoundly grateful).

The official release date is January 30th; in the meantime, you can pre-order it at Amazon, or if Jeff Bezos offends you (as well he should) directly from Cherry Red over HERE.

Hey, what are you waiting for? 😎

P.S.: If you want to hear the Hounds song, it's at the link in the first graf as well. On the actual box set, it's on disc one, between The Dictators, Patti Smith, The Dead Boys and The Ramones. How cool is that?

[cross-posted at FLOOR YOUR LOVE]

Songs I'd Forgotten I Loved From Albums I Haven't Listened to in Ages (An Occasional Series): Special "And Speaking of Gorgeous" Edition

From their 1971 classic Muswell Hillbillies, please enjoy -- I recommend under the headphones -- The Kinks and their lightyears beyond poignant ode to "Oklahoma U.S.A."

I used to listen to that album with near-religious fervor back in the day, but I can't for the life of me recall the last time I even thought about it. Until the above YouTube clip popped up on the feed of a Facebook acquaintance the other day.

Words, as I so often say of late, fail me. 😎

I should add that the real-life pub in the album cover photo -- the Archway Tavern -- apparently is still in business; if I ever get back to London, I'm gonna make it a point to have my picture taken at the end of the bar, where Kinks Dave Davies and Mick Avory are seen hanging out.

Bucket list and all that, know what I mean? 😎😎

Tuesday's Cartoon and Photo Chuckles

I particularly like the Fabs meeting Bigfoot. 😎

BTW, the supposed 8mm home movie that the photo-shopped pic of the creature with the Abbey Road Beatles derives from has been pretty definitely proven to be the work of John Chambers, the legendary Hollywood makeup guy who did Mr. Spock's ears on the first iteration of Star Trek and the costumes in the original Planet of the Apes movies.

As hoaxes go, it was a pretty good one, though. 😎😎

How Do You Say "More and More I'm Digging That Rock en Español" in Yiddish?

A friend writes:

"ThIs Argentinian hit is THE PERFECT ROCK SONG!! Everything about it is spot on!
If there were any market these days for rock music on the charts (which I suspect there isn’t), someone should do for this what McCartney did with his demo for Badfinger's “Come and Get It”: Find a band to record it in English and tell them “PLAY IT EXACTLY LIKE WHAT THEY ARE DOING HERE!”

You know -- on balance, I think he's right.

I should add that these Soda Stereo guys were apparently the biggest band in Argentina ever (the song above is from 1990 -- the band broke up in '97), and I love their look.

It's kinda like Paul Westerberg meets Slash meets Zal Yanovsky and then they all go out for a shot of tequila. 😎

Oh, and you can find out more about them (it's a very interesting story) over HERE.

De nada! 😎😎