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 one hit, Yellow Balloon (which included as a member Don Grady (Robbie on “My Three Sons”).
Otherwise, we briefly noted the Grammys and marked the birthdays of historical figures from Ronald Reagan and Eva Braun to Bob Marley and Kate McGarrigle.
The show ended with the big showdown trying to determine which of the Super Bowl cities had the best songs written about it. On one side: Leiber and Stoller’s standard “Kansas City”; on the other, the Boss’s “The Streets of Philadelphia.” After nine examples for each municipality, you can make up your mind.
Here’s the setlist:
Capital Radio, 2-6-23, 1 – 4:40 p.m., cygnusradio.com
“Washington, D.C.,” The Magnetic Fields
“99 Luftballoons,” Nena
“Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia),” The Flaming Lips
“Sunshine Balloons,” The Flaming Lips
“Balloon Burning,” The Pretty Things
“Balloon,” Imperial Teen
“Heavy Balloon,” Fiona Apple
“Black Balloon,” The Minders
“Up-Up and Away,” The 5th Dimension
“Bridges and Balloons,” Joanna Newsom
“Little Balloon Lady,” Gallery
“Loony Balloon,” The Kinks
“Lead Balloon,” Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson
“Where Do They Make Balloons?” They Might Be Giants
“Balloon Maker,” Midlake
“Red Balloon,” Paul Weller
“Girl with the Red Balloon,” The Civil Wars
“The Red Balloon,” The Dave Clark Five
“The Man Behind the Red Balloon,” P.F. Sloan
“Yellow Balloon,” Yellow Balloon
“Yellow Balloon,” Icarus
“The Last Balloon,” XTC
“Crooked Tree,” Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway
“Hooray Hooray,” Taj Mahal & Ry Cooder
“Chaise Longue,” Wet Leg
“The Way You Do the Things You Do,” The Temptations
“Ashes of American Flags,” Wilco
“Xmas in February,” Lou Reed
“5 Minutes,” Bonzo Goes to Washington
“Ronnie Talk to Russia,” Prince
“Old Mother Reagan,” Violent Femmes
“My Brain is Hanging Upside Down (Bonzo Goes to Bitburg),” The Ramones
“Teasin,’” Willie Tee
“Eva Braun,” John P. Strohm
“(Talk to Me of) Mendocino,” Kate & Anna McGarrigle
“Philadelphia, U.S.A.,” The Nu Tornados
“Philadelphia Freedom,” Elton John
“The Philly Dog,” Earl Van Dyke
“Sailing to Philadelphia,” Mark Knopfler with James Taylor
“TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia),” MFSB
“Streets of Philadelphia,” Bruce Springsteen
“Philadelphia,” Neil Young
“South Street,” The Orlons
“Christian St.,” Marah
“Kansas City,” Little Richard
“Kansas City,” The New Basement Tapes
“Six Months in Kansas City,” The New Basement Tapes
“Kansas City Blues,” Janis Joplin & Jorma Kaukonen
“Kansas City Star,” Roger Miler
“The Train from Kansas City,” The Shangri-La’s
“The Eternal Kansas City,” Van Morrison
“Kansas City / Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!,” The Beatles
“Goodbye Kansas City,” Wilbert Harrison
“Could You Be Loved,” Bob Marley
“Waiting in Vain,” Bob Marley
Capital Radio returns Feb. 13 at 1 p.m. ET on www.cygnusradio.com or on the free cygnusradio.com app, available at iTunes or GooglePlay.
