The weekend’s imperialist invasion of Venezuela by the United States colored a lot of the show, with songs from The Clash and Jesse Wells to Elvis Costello and Neil Young, whose Iraqi War -era anthems, sadly, still apply.
The new year was noted by The Breeders, Death Cab and Paul Kelly; birthdays were noted for artists from Iris DeMent (turning 65) to Chris Stein of Blondie (76). And there was a generous sampling of music that came out of Sun Studio by Sam Phillips, born this day in 1923.
We closed with songs that entered the public domain on Jan. 1 — with a handful of recordings from 1925, most featuring Louis Armstrong, and a dozen American standards first published n 1930. And we marked the release, 50 years ago today, of Bob Dylan’s “Desire.”
Above are the links to the archived show — now in three parts! The setlist follows:
Capital Radio January 5, 2026 1 – 4:41 p.m. www.cygnusradio.com
- “Capital Radio Two,” The Clash
- “Spanish Bombs ,” The Clash
- “Washington Bullets,” The Clash
- “The Road to Venezuela,” Stackridge
- “Venezuela,” Jesse Welles
- “The Invasion is Coming,” The Invasion
- “Invasion,” Dwight Twilley Band
- “Primera Invasion,” Santana
- “Invasion Hit Parade,” Elvis Costello
- “The Deadliest Day Since the Invasion Began,” Dean Wareham
- “Harry Kidnap,” Ocean Colour Scene
- “War,” Bob Marley
- “War,” Edwin Starr
- “When the War Came,” The Decemberists
- “War on War,” Wilco
- “Shipbuilding,” Tasmin Archer
- “Let’s Run This,” Girl Talk
- “Let Me Run Wild,” The Prissteens
- “Fuck and Run,” Liz Phair
- “Before they Make Me Run,” The Rolling Stones
- “Let’s Impeach the President,” Neil Young
- “The New Year,” Death Cab for Cutie
- “New Year,” The Breeders
- “Happy New Year Blues,” Mary Harris
- “New Found Year [live],” Neil Finn & Paul Kelly
- “My Dear Acquaintance (A Happy New Year),” Regina Spektor
- “Sunday Girl,” Blondie
- “Ladyfingers,” Luscious Jackson
- “Night Game,” Paul Simon
- “Let the Mystery Be,” Iris DeMent
- “How Many More Years,” Howlin’ Wolf
- “Rocket 88,“ Jackie Brenston
- “That’s All Right Mama,” Elvis Presley
- “Honey Don’t,” Carl Perkins
- “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On,” Jerry Lee Lewis
- “Get Rhythm,” Johnny Cash
- “Ooby Dooby,” Roy Orbison
- “Down by the Riverside,” The Million Dollar Quartet
- “Papa De-Da-Da,” Clarence Williams’ Blue Five featuring Eva Taylor
- “Sugar Foot Stomp,” Fletcher Henderson and his Orchestra
- “Careless Love Blues,” Bessie Smith
- “Sweet Georgia Brown,” The California Ramblers
- “Georgia on My Mind,” Hoagy Carmichael
- “I Got Rhythm,” Ethel Waters
- “Sitting on Top of the World,” Mississippi Sheiks
- “Mood Indigo,” Duke Ellington & His Orchestra
- “Embraceable You,” Django Reinhardt
- “Get Happy,” Judy Garland
- “Body and Soul,” Tony Bennett and Amy Winehouse
- “Walking My Baby Back Home,” Nat King Cole
- “On the Sunny Side of the Street,” Brenda Lee
- “I’m Confessin’ (That I Love You),” The Chantels
- “But Not for Me,” Elvis Costello
- “Dream a Little Dream of Me,” The Mamas & The Papas
- “One More Cup of Coffee,” Bob Dylan
Capital Radio returns Jan. 12 at 1 p.m. ET until after 4 on www.cygnusradio.com. The show can also be heard via the cygnusradio.com app, available free at iTunes or GooglePlay. Recent shows are (usually) available on demand at cygnusradio.com. Older shows are posted at Substack.com/@rogercatlin.