A prerecorded Capital Radio celebrates today’s first day of spring with music from 17 artists, from Ella Fitzgerald to Fontaines D.C. There was some newish music from Belle & Sebastian, Iggy Pop and Beck. Noted the birthdays of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, born this day in 1915; Lee “Scratch” Perry (1936) and Jerry Reed (1937). And
A prerecorded Capital Radio comes in two parts above. We start with songs about Daylight Saving Time, and daylight and time and moving ahead (even if only for an hour), with selections from the Kinks, the Byrds, Daft Punk, Dooley Wilson and Drive By-Truckers, among others. Then a brief salute to Neil Sedaka on his
Jazz giant Wayne Shorter, who died last week at 89, was celebrated in songs from Miles Davis, Weather Report and some of the pop songs to which his sweet sax contributed, from The Rolling Stones to Norah Jones. He also had a long musical connection to Joni Mitchell, who happened to be honored here last
The birthday of John Steinbeck brings a lot of songs associated with his literary output. We remember Chuck Jackson who died Feb. 16, including a couple of his singles written by Burt Bacharach, who also died this month. The recent Ohio disaster brought back a bunch of classic train wreck songs, from the “Wreck of
The death last week of Huey “Piano” Smith at 89 brought to light how much he brought to the New Orleans sound, just in time for Mardi Gras. He also played piano on key tracks from Smiley Lewis to Little Richard, and his “We Like Birdland” echoed years later in Patti Smith’s debut. Saluted Tugroy
Paying tribute to the ace pop songwriter Burt Bacharach, who died last week at 94, is an effort in curation, with thousands of possibilities to choose from. Yes, we could play Dionne Warwick for three straight hours and be satisfied. But while she sang many of the songs presented today (and possibly a majority) it
Balloons and their occasional military consequences are reflected in songs from Nena’s “99 Luftballoons” to the Pretty Things’ “Balloon Burning.” But much of the more than 20 balloon songs we dug up, from the Kinks to Fiona Apple, were light and sunny, defining the genre of sunshine pop, exemplified by a group named after its
The death on Saturday of the endlessly inventive guitarist and rocker Tom Verlaine at 73 meant we spent an hour going through his work in his band Television, live and in the studio, along with work he did with Patti Smith, Luna and an all-star band for a Dylan bio pick. A second major loss
Chinese New Year brings us the year of the Rabbit, so there’s songs from Bright Eyes, The Cramps, Elton John and T. Rex about our long-eared friends. But back to the studio after two weeks away means catching up on the recent deaths of David Crosby and Jeff Beck — who are celebrated by their
It was Charlie Parker’s “Now is the Time” that helped inspire a key line in Martin Luther King’s 1963 speech at the March on Washington. So The Bird begins the MLK Day edition of Capital Radio that includes songs of hope and striving from Bobby Womack, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, Patty Griffin, John
