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 from Iggy Pop to Bob Dylan and Pete Townshend.
Also noted the passing of Gang of Four bassist Dave Allen, folk mainstay Michael Hurley and pop singer Johnny Tillotson, before moving to the birthdays of Billie Holiday, Bobby Bare, Janis Ian and Babatunde Olatunji, among others.
There was time for ten songs about April (or nominally so), before recalling the COVID death five years ago today of John Prine.
Here’s a link to the whole show; the setlist follows:
Capital Radio March 7, 2025 1 – 4:30 p.m. www.cygnusradio.com
- “Capital Radio Two,” The Clash
- “Dreaming,” Blondie
- “One Way or Another,” Blondie
- “Hangin’ on the Telephone,” Blondie
- “Atomic,” Blondie
- “Sunday Girl,” Blondie
- “Now Hear This,” The Split Squad
- “Secondhand Love,” Pete Townshend
- “Under Your Spell,” Bob Dylan
- “The Villagers,” Iggy Pop
- “Belinda,” Eurythmics
- “Hey Hey Baby,” The Split Squad
- “Damaged Goods,” Gang of Four
- “I Love a Man in a Uniform,” Gang of Four
- “Hog of the Forsaken,” Michael Hurley
- “Move It On Over,” Michael Hurley
- “Poetry in Motion,” Johnny Tilllotsin
- “Good Morning Heartache,” Billie Holiday
- “God Bless the Child,” Billie Holiday
- “Sweet Talkin’ Guy,” The Chiffons
- “He’s So Fine,” The Chiffons
- “Society’s Child,” Janis Ian
- “Book of Love,” Bobby Bare
- “Detroit City,” Bobby Bare “Some Day the Sun Won’t Shine for You,” Jethro Tull
- “Cat’s Squirrel,” Jethro Tull
- “Sweets for my Sweet,” The Drifters
- “When My Little Girl is Smiling,” The Drifters
- “Computer World,” Kraftwerk
- “V-2 Schneider,” David Bowie
- “Oya (Aw-Yah),” Babatunde Olatunji
- “Jingo,” Santana
- “I Shall Be Free,” Bob Dylan
- “Out of Touch,” Hall & Oates
- “April 5th,” Talk Talk
- “April 5th,” Elvis Costello, Rosanne Cash & Kris Kristofferson
- “April 10th,” Garbage
- “April,” Beach Bunny
- “April Anne,” John Phillips
- “April Come She Will,” Simon & Garfunkel
- “April Skies,’ The Jesus and Mary Chain
- “April Showers,” Al Jolson
- “April After All,” Anne Sofie Von Otter & Elvis Costello
- “Angel from Montgomery,” John Prine
- “Jesus the Missing Years,” John Prine
- “When I Get to Heaven,” John Prine
- “Three Little Bops,” Stan Freberg & Shorty Rogers
Capital Radio returns April 14 at 1 p.m. EDT 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.