Labor Day brought songs of work, unions and workers on a holiday Capital Radio. But there was also a set about wigs — flipping, tightening and falling off. Among birthday celebrations, it was the centenary for alto sax ace Art Pepper. Sly & The Family Stone drummer Greg Errico was turning 77; Archie Bell, 81;
Yes, Elvis Costello turned 71; Jeff Tweedy was 58. So there were was big birthday tributes to both. We also had salutations for jazz man Wayne Shorter, Belle and Sebastian frontman Stuart Murdoch, turning 57; and had shoutouts for Shock G of Digital Underground and Terminator X from Public Enemy. It was the 50th anniversary
We remembered a number of artists who’ve died in recent weeks, with retrospecitves of the underrated Terry Reid, who died Aug. 4 at 75; Derek and the Dominos co-founder Bobby Whitlock, who died Aug. 10 at 77; and Tex Mex ace Flaco Jiménez, who died July 31 at 86. Also noted: the passing of country’s
Kenny Gamble, half of Philly International’s famed writing and production team Gamble & Huff turned 82 today, so there was an array of some of their greatest tunes. It was also the 71st birthday of Joe Jackson, and we blew out candles for Eric Carmen, producer Shel Talmy, Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie,
Finally getting around to posting a couple of radio shows from the beginning of the month, pre-recorded before I was out of the country for a couple of weeks. Aug. 4 was the anniversary of the first ever Billboard Hot 100 so we revisited some of the well known and not so well known songs
The death of Ozzy Osbourne July 22 at 76 brought an abundance of unusual collaborations — from Ian Hunter and Elton John to Miss Piggy — as well as some of his high points from his singular solo career and that of Black Sabbath, emphasizing covers he recorded in 2005. (Here’s a thing I wrote
We began with a half dozen hits from Connie Francis, who died Wednesday at 87 and paid tribute to Jamaica’s Owen Gray, who died Sunday at 86. Then it was a dozen-song salute to Kim Fowley, the unusual producer, writer and sometime performer who worked on the fringes of recording for decades, born this day
In the mood for a revolution? We marked Bastille Day 2025 with ten such songs, before turning to songs from some of France’s beloved roster of performers from Edith Piaf and Maurice Chevalier to Serge Gainsbourg and Françoise Hardy. Also: songs simply in French, or about Paris. But it was also the birthday of Bob
Here’s the rare Capital Radio show that was recorded but never played (at its regular time). So here it is a day late, belatedly celebrating what would have been the 124th birthday of baseball great Satchel Paige, the Negro League and MLB pitcher who is remembered not only for his five-decade-long career but for his
Out traveling, so I haven’t been able to post the last show of June until now. It was dedicated largely to a holiday already passed (though some are still shooting off remaining firecrackers). But it was also the birthday of, among others, Lena Horne, Stanley Clark, Florence Ballard and Andy Scott (from Sweet, turning 76!).
