Started with a salute to the recently departed, beginning with jazz composer and pianist Carla Bley, including works with Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason to Linda Ronstadt — and we heard an early NRBQ cover of one of her songs. There were two from power pop’s Dwight Twilley, who died last week and a pair from the Isley Brothers, whose stylish founding member Rudolph Isley passed earlier this month.
Then it was all about ghosts, as we approach Halloween. The 34 ghostly selections ran from Lightnin’ Hopkins and Billie Holiday to Kate Bush, Los Straitjackets and The Jam.
There were birthday greetings to sax man Ernie Watts, who turns 78 today, with samples of his work with Frank Zappa and Steely Dan. Songwriting ace Ellie Greenwich, born this day in 1940 was celebrated with a handful of classics, and a cut from country’s Dwight Yoakam, who turns 67 today, sent us home.
Here’s a link to the whole show; the setlist follows:
Capital Radio, Oct. 23, 2023, 1 – 4:38 p.m., www.cygnusradio.com
- “Washington D.C.,” The Magnetic Fields
- “Life Goes On,” Carla Bley, Andy Sheppard & Steve Swallow
- “Can’t Get My Motor to Start,” Nick Mason
- “Why,” Carla Bley featuring Linda Ronstadt
- “Ida,” NRBQ
- “I’m on Fire,” Dwight Twilley
- “TV,” Dwight Twilley
- “Testify, Parts 1 & 2,” The Isley Brothers
- “It’s Your Thing Thing,” The Isley Brothers
- “There’s a Ghost in My House,” R. Dean Taylor
- “There is a Ghost,” Marianne Faithfull
- “Ghost of a Chance,” Billie Holiday
- “Watching You Without Me,” Kate Bush
- “The Loneliest Ghost in Town,” Southern Culture on the Skids
- “Ghost Mountain,” The Unicorns
- “Wise Up Ghost,” Eric Costello & the Roots
- “Ghost Town Parade,” Les Dudek
- “The Ghost,” Fleetwood Mac
- “Mr. Ghost Goes to Town,” The 5 Jones Boys
- “Living in a Ghost Town,” The Rolling Stones
- “Ghost Town,” The Specials
- “Ghost Dance,” Robbie Robertson & the Red Road Ensemble
- “Black Ghost,” Lightnin’ Hopkins
- “Ghost” Japan
- “The Ghost in You,” The Psychedelic Furs
- “Ghostbusters!” Los Straightjackets
- “Ghost on the Canvas” Glen Campbell
- “Natural Ghost,” Ryan Adams
- “Ghosts,” Bruce Springsteen
- “Walking with a Ghost,” Tegan and Sara
- “Ghosts,” The Jam
- “Ghost,” Neutral Milk Hotel
- “Ghost [live],” Phish
- “Ghosts of Cape Horn,” Gordon Lightfoot
- “Ghost Broadway,” Johnny Mainstream
- “Spooksville,” The Nu-Trends
- “Spookmaster,” The Ghastly Ones
- “Ghost Train,” Virgil Holmes
- “Friendly Ghost,” Eels
- “Casper the Friendly Ghost,” Jerry Livingston & Mack David
- “Run Spook Run,” Todd Keith
- “Ghost Rider,” Anna Calvi
- “(Ghost) Riders in the Sky,” Johnny Cash
- “Cletus Awreetus-Awrightus,” Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention
- “My Old School,” Steely Dan
- “The Kind of Boy You Can’t Forget,” The Raindrops
- “Leader of the Pack,” The Shangri-Las
- “Maybe I Know,” Lesley Gore
- “Chapel of Love,” Jonathan Richman
- “I Can Hear Music,” The Ronettes
- “A Thousand Miles from Nowhere,” Dwight Yoakam
Capital Radio returns Oct. 30 at 1 p.m. EDT on cygnusradio.com, where recent shows are also archived. Can also be heard on the free CygnusRadio app available from iTunes or GooglePlay.