A bumper crop of birthdays means two hours of great music from Marshall Crenshaw and XTC’s Andy Partridge, both turning 71, to Dave Alvin, 69; Chris Dreja of The Yardbirds, 79; Narvel Felts, 86; and Jon Batiste, 38; . Also LaVern Baker, born this day in 1929; and Mose Allison (1927). 

Lesser-known early works from producer “Mutt” Lange, turning 76 today, came alongside tunes inspired by Kurt Vonnegut, born this day in 1922.

But eventually we had to deal with the events of last week and found disillusion and fear from David Bowie, cynicism from Leonard Cohen, and an array of tunes from Paul Simon, one of them less than two wees old, which asked “Where is the country I promised my children?”

Here’s the link to the archived show. The setlist follows: 

Capital Radio Nov. 11, 2024  1 -4:20 p.m. www.cygnuradio.com 

  • “Capital Radio Two,” The Clash
  • “Saved,” LaVern Baker
  • “Tweedlee Dee,” LaVern Baker 
  • “See See Rider,” LaVern Baker 
  • “V-8 Ford Blues,” Mose Allison
  • “Look Here,” The Clash
  • “Everybody’s Crying Mercy,” Elvis Costello
  • “Young Man Blues [live],” The Who
  • “Allison,” Pixies 
  • “Crying Out for Love (At Crying Time),” Marshall Crenshaw 
  • “Blues is King,” Marshall Crenshaw 
  • “Cynical Girl,” Marshall Crenshaw 
  • “Mary Anne,” Marshall Crenshaw 
  • “Someplace where Love Can’t Find Me,” Marshall Crenshaw
  • “There She Goes Again,” Marshall Crenshaw 
  • “A Few Thousand Days Ago,” Marshall Crenshaw 
  • “Life Begins at the Hop,” XTC
  • “Dear God,” XTC 
  • “The Mayor of Simpleton,” XTC 
  • “Abilene,” Dave Alvin 
  • “Out in California,” Dave Alvin 
  • “American Music,” The Blasters 
  • “Long White Cadillac,” The Blasters 
  • “4th of July [demo],” X 
  • “Cry Baby Cry,” Narvel Felts 
  • “Heart Full of Soul,” The Yardbirds 
  • “You’re a Better Man than I,” The Yardbirds 
  • “For Your Love,” The Yardbirds 
  • “Freedom,” Jon Batiste 
  • “Dancing the Night Away,” The Motors 
  • “You Might Think,” The Cars
  • “Heat Treatment,” Graham Parker 
  • “Starry Eyes,” The Records 
  • “So It Goes,” Nick Lowe 
  • “Blue Monday,” New Order 
  • “The Last Man on Earth,” Wolf Alice 
  • “What’s Going On (Rhythm N’ Strings Mix),” Marvin Gaye 
  • “Winter in America,” Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson 
  • “This is Not America [live],” David Bowie 
  • “I’m Afraid of Americans [live],” David Bowie 
  • “Everybody Knows,” Leonard Cohen
  • “It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine),” R.E.M. 
  • “Bad Dream,” Paul Simon and Edie Brickell 
  • “America,” Simon & Garfunkel
  • “American Tune,” Allen Toussaint
  • “White Bird,” It’s a Beautiful Day

Capital Radio returns Nov. 18 at 1 p.m. ET on www.cygnusradio.com, where this and other recent shows are posted. The show can also be heard via the cygnusradio.com app, available free at iTunes or GooglePlay. Older shows are available at Substack.com/@rogercatlin.