Afleveringen
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In Pt. 2 of this lively, insightful conversation with Liberty DeVittoâ, Billy Joelâs longtime drummer revisits the challenge of drumming in the synth-driven 1980s; the making of Joelâs albums The Bridge, Storm Front and River of Dreams; the creation of the smash single âWe Didnât Start the Fireâ; the reason DeVitto plays on only one River of Dreams song; and his irate fax that wound up on that last albumâs control room wall. DeVitto also addresses his high-profile split from Joel and subsequent lawsuit against the singer-songwriter. How did they reconcile, with Joel writing the foreword to DeVittoâs memoir, Liberty: Life, Billy and the Pursuit of Happiness? Have DeVitto and Joel played together since then? Why or why not? What did DeVitto say that got left on the cutting-room floor of the two-part HBO documentary: Billy Joel: And So It Goes? He recalls playing with Karen Carpenter and Paul McCartney as well. (Photo: Petra den Tenter)
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Hired when Billy Joel wanted âa New York-style drummer,â Liberty DeVitto laid down indelible parts for the singer-songwriter-pianistâs music from 1976âs Turnstiles onward. In part one of a lively two-part conversation, this big-talent, big-personality drummer takes us from his early years, when his and Joelâs teenage bands crossed paths, through their shared success with The Stranger, 52nd Street, Glass Houses, The Nylon Curtain and An Innocent Man. Which Joel song does DeVitto call âthe hardest to play and be happy about itâ? How did Joel introduce and develop songs with the band? What impact did producer Phil Ramoneâs arrival have? On which song did Ramone and DeVitto butt heads over a disco beat? How did the band arrive at the jazz interludes on âZanzibarâ? How much were they listening to the punk/New Wave of the time? Which Nylon Curtain song may be DeVittoâs favorite by Joel? What circumstances drove Joelâs hit throwback album An Innocent Man?
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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Rachel Lichtman grew up listening to 1970s AM radio and watching local TVâa world of soothing music, tacky ads, eye-grabbing graphics and reruns galore. A keen-eyed and -eared graphic artist, comedian and filmmaker, Lichtman evokes the humor and beauty of that era in Programme 4, her would-be-station-turned-film she is touring alongside live musical/comedy performances. Based in fictional Golden Sands, Programme 4 presents opening credit sequences for TV shows that should have been (The William Joel Show, A Man Named Brady, Brooker) plus ads, short films and killer jokes revolving around harpsichords, the Rhodes electric piano and steamy brown coffee. Aimee Mann, Ted Leo and Dag Juhlin are among an all-star cast that has contributed to the Easy AM 66 (âYour Beautiful Music Stationâ) playlists and performs at the variety shows. Where did Lichtmanâs love for this vibe and aesthetic come from? How did she conjure up the vision and develop the skills to pull off this unique project?
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Swamp Dogg turns 84 on July 12, making him 24 days younger than Paul McCartney, yet heâs still on the rise. Heâs been gaining new fans through the 2024 documentary Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted; his 31st album, Swamp Dogg Contemplates the Afterlife, is out June 19; and then thereâs his cookbook, If You Can Kill It, I Can Cook It. Formerly known as Jerry Williams and Little Jerry Williams, Swamp Dogg is an all-time talent and character. The cover of his 1971 album Rat On! is hall-of-fame worthy itself, but he also has written, performed and/or produced about 2,000 songs while working with hundreds of artists on close to 500 albums. Speaking from his now-famous house, Swamp Dogg reflects on his seven decades of making music; the ways politics and race affected his career; his friendship with John Prine; his role in the 1983 album Beatle Barkers (!) and his ability to keep his songwriting, voice and sense of humor sharp. (Photo by Cooper Davidson.)
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Singer-songwriter Ike Reilly has been reaching critical mass. He shared a microphone with Bruce Springsteen in January, has gained new fans with the 2024 documentary Donât Turn Your Back on Friday Night (as well as his SiriusXM show), and is wowing more listeners than ever with his longtime band the Ike Reilly Assassination. He has made music his family business, with his three sons performing with him while his oldest son, Shane, is featured on his new album, Blind and Surrounded, out June 12. Reillyâs sharply observed songs can rouse you and/or break your heart, and heâs quite a storyteller. Here he reflects on how his sons relate to him as a band leader vs. father, and he discusses his friendships with fellow Libertyville, Ill.,, native Tom Morello and Crackerâs David Lowery and Johnny Hickman, among others. A former gravedigger and employee-of-the-year Park Hyatt doorman, Reilly also recalls getting stiffed by a future President of the United Statesâand what he did in response.
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To mark the 60th anniversary of the Beach Boysâ Pet Sounds, Interscope-Capitol has released a limited-edition Definitive Sound Series One Step version of this landmark album. Tom âGroverâ Biery, who oversaw the project, tells of its unusual sourcing, which involves the 1972 master of Pet Sounds that was released as part of a double LP with the then-new Beach Boys album Carl and the Passions âSo Tough.â Why was that 1972 Pet Sounds so revered, and how did it come to be used here instead of the original 1966 mono master? How does this DSS version differ from the mono/stereo Pet Sounds that Universal's Vinylphyle series just released? Do people buying these new Pet Sounds versions already own multiple copies? (Raises hand...) Biery also produced One-Steps from Dr. Dre, Beck, R.E.M. (as previously discussed on Caropop), Tom Petty, Green Day and Prince and the Revolution, and he explains why the quality justifies the price.
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Bill Millionâs percussive strumming propels the Crazy Rhythms of the Feelies, who are playing their only two 2026 showsâand perhaps their final shows everâMay 22 and 23 in Jersey City, New Jersey. As the band marks its 50th anniversary, Million reflects on his songwriting partnership and dueling guitar sounds with lead singer/guitarist Glenn Mercer. How did Mercer and he decide which guitars to play, and did Million always see himself as a rhythm guy? Did they know the Feelies would return, even with a different lineup, during the six-year period between Crazy Rhythms and The Good Earth? What was Million doing while the Feelies werenât playing between 1992 and 2008? Does Million feel more magic in the studio or on stage? Who sets the rhythm and tempo when the Feelies perform live? What are the Feeliesâ plans for recording new materialâand how might their instrumentals-oriented alter-ego, the Willies, fit in?
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Part 2 of this splendid conversation with XTC guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Dave Gregory picks up with the bandâs ill-fated 1982 trip to the U.S. and the end of its touring days. How did he deal with the financial ramifications? Was it necessary for XTC to stop touring to reach its subsequent creative heights? Was the studio Gregoryâs happy place, or did he long to be back on stage? How did he balance virtuosity vs. trying to play the perfect part for each song? Which XTC songs did he most regret not being able to play live? Could he still play a frenetic song like âScissor Manâ? Are more âLive Bootsâ recordings coming? Gregory also revisits his exit from the band and relates the current state of XTC and grudge-holding. Did he see Colin Mouldingâs and Terry Chambersâ TC&I project or Chambersâ EXTC tribute band? And does he think the XTeeHee parodies on YouTube are by none other than Andy Partridge?
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Weâre so happy to welcome back to Caropop one of our favorite musicians, XTC guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Dave Gregory. The occasion is the Record Store Day releaseâand upcoming CDâof XTCâs fast, furious performance on Live Boots: Emerald City, Cherry Hill, New Jersey, 17th April 1981. In Pt. 1 of this two-parter, Gregory discusses why the band played everything at such breakneck speed and whether he admires or regrets that approach now; what he thinks of the âbootlegâ sound quality; how XTC approached concerts differently in the U.S. and U.K.; whether XTC might have lasted longer as a live band if frontman Andy Partridge didnât throw himself so intensely into each performance; how (or whether) Gregoryâs ears survived the tour; which guitars he took on the road; and how the bandâs live attack differed on 1982âs abortive English Settlement tour. We also go down a Rickenbacker rabbit hole.
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Joe Segal, who would have turned 100 on April 24, recorded 8- to-10,000 shows at his own Jazz Showcase and other Chicago clubs. In 2011, âJazz Detectiveâ Zev Feldman began visiting Segal and exploring his vast archive. Joe Segal died in 2020, but Feldman continued to work with Segalâs son, current Jazz Showcase owner Wayne Segal, and on Record Store Day, live-at-the-Jazz-Showcase albums were released from Joe Henderson, Ahmad Jamal, Yusef Lateef and Mal Waldron, plus an earlier Segal-recorded performance from Terry Callier. Feldman here describes the archive, the tapesâ condition (reel-to-reel? cassettes?), the recordingsâ quality and why a digital step was used to prepare them for release. He also discusses why these performances were chosen for release first and what else is in store. And he tells how he wound up with 11 Record Store Day releases this year, including acclaimed ones by Freddie King and Buster Williams. (Photo by Zak Shelby-Szyszko)
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Brendan Hunt, a.k.a. Coach Beard on Ted Lasso, is back in his hometown of Chicago to open a one-man show at Steppenwolf Theatre: The Movement You Need. The title comes from âHey Jude,â and Huntâs subject is how his mother and he bonded over the Beatles amid more troublesome aspects of their relationship. Here we bat around the Beatles and their appeal to parents and kids, all while so little current music sounds like them. Hunt also discusses the motivation and process of creating a one-man show, with Broadway in his sights. This emotionally loaded gig, with its eight performances a week, certainly requires much more talking than the laconic Coach Beard. Hunt reflects on his longtime collaboration with friend Jason Sudeikis; theyâre Ted Lasso co-creators/co-writers who previously worked together in the Amsterdam-based improv troupe Boom Chicago. Given that Sudeikis and Hunt initially characterized Ted Lasso as a three-part journey, how did they recalibrate to create the upcoming Season 4? (Photo by Robyn Von Swank)
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It's time to get the record store perspective on Record Store Day (April 18) from Tim Peterson, owner of Squeezebox Books & Music in Evanston, Ill. Thatâs where I line up each RSD morning, so I visited Peterson to hear him explain how it all works. How does he determine which and how many records to order? Does he usually get what he wants? Is it worse to over- or under-order? Do the first-in-line customers tend to be flippers or just big fans? When Taylor Swift has an RSD offering, does that boost other sales? Which of this yearâs releases will be most in demand? What are the sleepers? What percentage of the storeâs annual sales come from Record Store Day? We also dissect the types of RSD offerings, such as live albums (and the inevitable Grateful Dead box); picture discs and zoetropes; collections of demos, alternative versions and rarities; deluxe album editions; represses of albums youâve never heard of; and various-artists compilations.
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Chef Rick Bayless worked in his parentsâ Oklahoma City BBQ restaurant before he found his passion exploring Mexicoâs regional foods. When he and his wife Deann opened Chicagoâs game-changing Frontera Grill in March 1987, he wowed the ever-packed dining rooms with complexly flavored Mexican dishes featuring hard-to-source ingredients. The chef pushed the boundaries of fine dining two years later by opening Topolobampo, which, like Frontera Grill, would win the James Beard Foundationâs Outstanding Restaurant award, with Bayless previously named Outstanding Chef. Topolobampo became a favorite date spot for Barack and Michelle Obama, who invited Bayless to prepare a White House state dinner. Speaking in a conference room above Frontera Grill, Bayless reflects upon all that plus his experience winning Top Chef Masters; his other restaurants that include Xoco, Bar SĂłtano and the Tortas Fronteras outlets that serve OâHare International Airportâs best food; the Frontera retail ventures and what happened to my favorite granola; his efforts to combine cooking and acting on stage; and the post-pandemic state of business, with Fronteraâs 40th anniversary approaching.
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More than a half century after co-founding the classic power-pop band Shoes, guitarist-singer-songwriter Gary Klebe is releasing his first solo album, Out Loud, though he was reluctant to do so. He explains why here and digs into Shoesâ unlikely, inspiring careerâhow he and brothers Jeff and John Murphy (a previous Caropop guest) formed the band in Zion, Ill., before any of them could play instruments. Little did they know that all three would become masters of crafting and singing perfect guitar-pop songsâand would release their first acclaimed album before theyâd played a live gig. What went right and wrong in the bandâs career, particularly its three albums on Elektra? Did Klebe start writing the Out Loud songs for a potential Shoes album? Will he and the Murphy brothers ever reboot the band? The self-effacing Klebe also tells whether the bandâs name was inspired by the Beatles, and he recalls the one time he played on stage with anyone other than Shoes.
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Ronnie Barnett was a rock journalist in Houston when he met Kim Shattuck, then bassist for the Los Angeles band the Pandoras, and their fates intertwined. Soon Barnett was living in L.A. and playing bass in the Muffs, Shattuckâs new pop-punk band in which she played guitar and applied her impassioned vocals to her tight, tuneful songs. The band had a strong three-album run with Warner Bros., though its most famous song became its punked-up cover of Kim Wildeâs âKids in Americaâ that played over the opening credits of 1995âs Clueless yet never was released as a single. Amid more acclaimed albums, Shattuck took a brief detour as the Pixiesâ bassist. Sixteen days before the October 2019 release of the Muffsâ final studio album, No Holiday, Shattuck died at age 56 from complications of ALS, news that shocked and devastated the many who loved her and her music. Barnett takes us through the thrills and heartbreak of his life with Shattuck and the Muffsâand offers some record-collecting notes because heâs that kind of guy. (Photo by Tommi Cahill)
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Vince Wilburn Jr. was growing up on Chicagoâs South Side when his mother would get him all dressed up because his Uncle Miles Davis was coming to town. Sometimes they'd see the brilliant trumpeter perform, including at the tiny Plugged Nickel club in Old Town. By the 1980s, Wilburn was playing drums in Davisâ band and helping produce his albums. Wilburn now performs in Miles Electric Band (MEB) and co-manages Davis' estate, which is overseeing the Miles Davis 100 campaign to mark his uncle's 100th birthday. One major release is The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965, a 10-LP/eight-CD box set covering a legendary live engagement by Davis and his âsecond great quintetâ (drummer Tony Williams, pianist Herbie Hancock, tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter and bassist Ron Carter). Wilburn reflects on the bandâs wildly experimental approach those nights, as well as what it was like to be Davisâ nephew and how heâs keeping his uncleâs legacy alive.
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Len Kasper is starting his sixth season as the Chicago White Soxâs radio play-by-play announcer after 16 years as the Cubsâ TV play-by-play guy, but heâs got another passion: playing bass and writing songs for his band Sonic45. This Chicago all-star five-piece, which features recent Caropop guest Dag Juhlin on guitar, made its debut performance after my 2019 âTalking in Spaceâ conversation with Kasper. Since then, the band, which has had a name change that he explains, has released two albums: Space and Time (2021) and SuperSonic (2024). The sound is muscular and swirling while Kasperâs lyrics are vulnerable and revealing. Kasper is open here as well as he discusses whether he dreamt more of being a baseball announcer, player or musician; how the Cubsâ âHot Stove Cool Musicâ charity concerts fueled his music career; whether he considered singing in Sonic45; and whether it was coincidental that he took the White Sox radio job weeks after Theo Epstein left the Cubs. (Photo by Katrina Vlasich)
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Any author would dream of the kind of acclaim and attention that Christine Sneed has received, including a front-page Sunday New York Times Book Review rave of her 2013 novel Little Known Facts. The accolades continued for subsequent novels and short-story collections, yet getting her work published has become harder than ever. Sneed launched a Substack called Bookish that offers tips, reflections, interviews, agent lists and more to fellow writers and interested readers. Here she addresses: How much energy does she spend writing vs. trying to get her work out into the world? Does a writer need a so-called platform? Why can't more agents and editors respond to writers in a timely manner? How much of a problem is the shuttering of so many book sections? Sneed and I often swap tales of publishing misadventures, and now you can enjoy her hard-earned wisdom as well. (Photo by Adam Tinkham)
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Musicians are said to have a lifetime to create their first album and six months to make the follow-up. That was literally the case with Graham Parker, whose landmark debut album, Howlinâ Wind, came out in April 1976, followed that October by the acclaimed Heat Treatment. Parker, the subject of Jay Nachmanâs excellent new book Graham Parkerâs Howlinâ Wind, tells his fascinating origin story here. He worked in factories and at a gas station, tried on almost every â60s/â70s musical style and wrote, wrote and wrote. How many songs had he written before he came up with one that made the cut for Howlinâ Wind? How did he get connected to his ace backing band, the Rumour, and did he start writing with them in mind? The still-active, feisty Parker presents a vivid portrait of the artist as a young man--and conveys his current feelings about how the system is rigged against musicians trying to make a living. (Photo by Steve Goulding)
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Michael Blair had much training in percussion, including a degree from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, by the time he pulled out the marimba, congas, drums and other instruments for Tom Waitsâ landmark 1985 album Rain Dogs. As was the case with recent Caropop guest Mark Ribot, Rain Dogs propelled Blair to more work with Waits (including the album and Steppenwolf Theatre performances of Franks Wild Years) and projects with Elvis Costello and producers T Bone Burnett and Hal Willner. Thatâs Blair delivering the âDonât Let Me Be Misunderstoodâ riff on marimba on Costelloâs cover of the song and playing a wild array of percussion instruments on Costelloâs Spike. Blair tells how he landed the drumming gig on Lou Reedâs Magic and Loss and the unusual way that album's drums were recorded. He also relates how he wound up on the Replacementsâ All Shook Down and why he has lived in Stockholm, Sweden, for many years. (Photo by Cato Lein.)
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