Cinco De Mayo brought a handful of themed songs to Capital Radio today, from El Vez and Liz Phair to Brave Combo and Bob Dylan, who sings of marrying Isis on the 5th day of May. It was Tammy Wynette’s birthday, and also that of Blind Willie McTell, Johnnie Taylor and Ian McCulloch of Echo
Capital Radio recognized another D.C. institution, the Library of Congress, by playing most of the selections of its latest additions to the National Recording Registry, which included Brother Bones, Thelma Houston, Tracy Chapman, Amy Winehouse and Freddy Fender. We also ruminated on the dreaded 100 Days as well as other collections of 24 hour periods,
The papal death this morning led to a hastily organized opening set spotlighting the pope in pop from artists that included Prince, Donovan, Joe Pernice and Pope Francis himself, from his 2015 rock album. We also paid tribute to Nino Tempo, Larry Welch and even Win Martindale, who was a recording artist before he was
The eve of Tax Day brings a number of songs about taxation itself, the nature of money, the fate of the poor and the rich and finally the coming of hard times, which seemed plausible after the wild fluctuations in the stock market. It was also the birthday of Loretta Lynn, born this day in
Late news of Clem Burke’s death this morning at 70 meant lots of last minute changes in order to properly pay tribute to the great drummer from Blondie, first with a handful of songs from that groundbreaking band before hearing work he did with The Split Squad and in the studio work with artists ranging
Cutting into the annual 24 Hours of Christmas programming for my own holiday edition of Capital Radio, I tried to concentrate on somber, more solemn numbers appropriate for the day rather than dazzle dazzle of jingle bells. Themes of “Christmas Day is Here” were much favored over “Christmas time is coming.” Nice to have Coltrane
The last show before Christmas warrants the annual avalanche of holiday songs, starting with the Bosstones, Aimee Mann and Nick Lowe, shifting to ’60s oddities from Bobby Goldsboro and Brian Hyland, and enduring rokcers from the Kinks and the Ramones. There was so much Yuletide, there wasn’t time for the usual birthday salutes, except for
Things don’t always go right when you pre-record a show. Sometimes, last week’s show repeats by mistake, which it did today. And as happy as I was with that show, I’m sadder that the today’s Shane MacGowan-dominated show didn’t go live. But here it is, a few hours later, in archived form. Besides our full-bodied
Taping my show last week means the Shane MacGowan tribute will have to wait a week. Instead, today’s Capital Radio had a couple songs about December, and 25 musical numbers in a sort of opposite of a countdown. There were a lot of birthdays to count up as well — including Southside Johnny, turning 75
Mondays 1pm etHost: Roger Catlin From Washington DC comes the urgent sounds of recorded import, from blues moans of a century ago to the digitized homegrown innovations of today’s youth, with punk, soul, rockabilly, country, doo wop and pop in between. And don’t forget Bobby Womack.Hosted by Roger Catlin, onetime Hartford Courant rock critic and
