Caropop

Nora O’Connor is a super collaborator, someone who loves singing harmonies and makes everyone sound good. She’s a member of the Chicago all-star group the Flat Five and a formidable singer-songwriter in her own right, as her 2022 solo album, My Heart, her first in 18 years, reminded us. Here she reflects on her life as “a music worker,” including what she’s learned from performing with such artists as the Decemberists, Iron & Wine, Mavis Staples, Andrew Bird, the New Pornographers and Neko Case. How has she has balanced her career and family life—and would a male performer have faced similar challenges? What ambitions does she have for herself and the Flat Five? What's the secret behind the alchemy she creates with frequent collaborator/Flat Five bandmate Kelly Hogan? And what role has the Chicago club the Hideout played in her musical life?

Macie Stewart, half of the Chicago-based duo Finom, is one of those musicians who can do almost anything. She’s a classical pianist and violinist who wrote her first piece for an orchestra at age 11 and still creates string arrangements, such as on her 2021 solo album Mouth Full of Glass. She also taught herself acoustic guitar and began writing songs on it when she was 13. When she finally picked up an electric guitar, she and fellow singer-songwriter-guitarist Sima Cunningham formed an experimental side project that has blossomed into Finom, which released one of 2024’s best albums, Not God. What distinguishes what Stewart writes for Finom and herself? What telltale characteristics do Stewart and Cunningham each bring to Finom songs? How did Jeff Tweedy push them in the studio? And what drives Stewart's creativity? (Photo by Shannon Marks.)

Michael Jerome had been drumming in a post-industrial metal band when he auditioned for Richard Thompson in 1999, little knowing he would be this brilliant guitarist's percussive foil for the next 25 years and counting. Jerome also has played with Charlie Musselwhite, the Blind Boys of Alabama and, for several years, John Cale. He’s been Better Than Ezra’s drummer since 2009 and played and toured with Slash for his latest album—and what started as an experimental side project is now moving center stage: The Third Mind, the improvisatory psychedelic band assembled by Dave Alvin and Victor Krummenacher. As thoughtful in conversation as he is dazzling behind his kit, Jerome tells how he developed his unique style and adapts it for each project—and he relates what it’s like to be in Los Angeles now as he tries to help friends and others who have lost almost everything in the catastrophic wildfires. (Photo by Robby Klein.)

It's time for our fourth annual check-in with masterful mastering engineer Kevin Gray as he comes off yet another crazy-busy year. What new did he and Doors engineer/producer Bruce Botnick think they could bring to the instant-sellout Rhino High Fidelity box The Doors 1967-1971? Which Rhino High Fidelity album doesn’t make sense to him as an audiophile release? Among Rhino, Blue Note and Craft’s Original Jazz Classics, which label works far in advance, and which one keeps him rushing? Is he still learning anything after all these years? How does he plan to balance his mastering work with his own Cohearent Records label— and what key role did his granddaughter play in the upcoming album from saxophonist Cory Weeds? And which expensive type of release does Gray consider to be “an absolute scam foisted on the buying public”?

Redd Kross, a band overdue for massive appreciation, is having a moment. There’s a new page-turner of a memoir, Now You’re One of Us, co-written by brother bandmates Jeff and Steven McDonald with Dan Epstein. Their narrative rocks to life in Andrew Reich’s new documentary, Born Innocent: The Redd Kross Story. The movie, in turn, inspired the 2024 double album Redd Kross, a candy-colored collection of irresistible hooks, massive riffs and sharp reflections, all wrapped in a cover that one brother thought shouldn't be red. Steven McDonald, the younger bass-playing brother, opens up here about what it’s been like to work with Jeff (a previous Caropop guest) since the age of 11, his abduction at age 13, his increased songwriting role in Redd Kross, how he juggles his many Redd Kross duties with playing in the Melvins and other bands, what Kurt Cobain said to tick him off and why he takes Redd Kross's commercial struggles personally.

Beatles author Bruce Spizer wrote the liner notes for the new vinyl box The Beatles U.S. 1964 Albums in Mono, and here he digs into the history of these reconfigured U.S. Capitol albums, from Meet the Beatles! through Beatles ’65 and The Early Beatles. Spizer is a New Orleans tax lawyer and CPA, and that expertise has helped him untangle the Beatles’ early dealings with labels such as Chicago’s Vee-Jay. Capitol executive Dave Dexter passed on the Beatles four times before being put in charge of their U.S. releases, and Spizer details how Dexter added singles and cut out other songs to create the albums that introduced millions of listeners to the Beatles. Then there’s the sound of this all-analog-from-the-original-masters collection, with Spizer discussing how the U.S. mixes were different and sometimes more exciting than their U.K. counterparts. (Photo by Zach Smith.)

Steve Conte became lead guitarist in one legendary band, the New York Dolls, and co-wrote half of his latest album, The Concrete Jangle, with the main singer-songwriter of another one: Andy Partridge of XTC. Conte is a longtime New York working musician who has played with such artists as Paul Simon, Peter Wolf, Phoebe Snow and, in a great story, Chuck Berry. Now he has released two solo albums on Stevie Van Zandt’s Wicked Cool label and has two songs vying for the Coolest Song of the World 2024 on Little Steven’s Underground Garage. Here he recalls what it was like to join the New York Dolls and to work with David Johansen—and with guitar in hand, he tells how he got connected with Partridge and demonstrates how the two of them wrote some very catchy songs together. (Photo by Anja van Ast.)

Don Was may be an accomplished performer and producer, as covered in Pt. l, but he’s also got quite the day job: president of Blue Note Records. How did this rock-funk musician become the top executive at one of the most prestigious, influential jazz labels? What was the Blue Note album that turned him on to jazz when he was 14 years old? What early mistakes did he make at the label, and how did the Tone Poet reissue series factor into the solution? How much does Was prioritize new artists? What have been the most significant releases of his tenure? How much of Blue Note’s business is catalog vs. new releases? Which legendary performer is he producing right now? And what is Bob Dylan like to produce? (Photo by Myriam Santos)

His ‘80s band Was (Not Was) scored a top 10 hit, “Walk the Dinosaur,” but Don Was has had an even greater impact on the music world as a producer. In 1989 he produced two big comebacks: Bonnie Raitt’s Grammy-winning Nick of Time and “Love Shack” and other songs on the B-52’s Cosmic Thing. Then came work with Bob Dylan, Iggy Pop, Willie Nelson and—in a long, fruitful collaboration—the Rolling Stones. He’s got amazing stories detailing his Stones job interview and the origin of Cindy Wilson’s cry of “Tin roof! Rusted.” He also relates how he helps artists get to the essence of what they do best. Then there’s his own return to performing in Don Was and the Pan-Detroit Ensemble and how playing live helps him as a producer and as president of Blue Note Records (the subject of next week's episode).

Happy Thanksgiving! Thank you so much for listening to Caropop since our launch in the fall of 2021. We’re now 157 episodes and more than three years in, and we can’t wait to share more great conversations about creative work with you. Please enjoy this brief message from the Caropop team, and take this opportunity to catch up on any episodes you may have missed, and we'll be back with another fantastic guest next week. Thanks!

Graham Gouldman already had written classic ‘60s hits—including the Yardbirds’ “For Your Love” and “Heart Full of Soul,” the Hollies’ “Bus Stop” and “Look Through Any Window” and Herman’s Hermits’ “No Milk Today”—by the time he and Manchester schoolmates Lol Creme and Kevin Godley plus ex-Mindbender Eric Stewart formed one of the '70s’ most tuneful, innovative bands, 10cc. These four singer-songwriters made four distinct, head-spinning albums, with Stewart and Gouldman’s hypnotic “I’m Not in Love” providing the commercial breakthrough. After Godley and Creme split off, Gouldman and Stewart continued on as 10cc, scoring hits with the ebullient earworm “The Things We Do for Love” and the island misadventure “Dreadlock Holiday,” on which Gouldman sings lead. Now Gouldman is the only original member touring under the 10cc banner, and he reflects here on songwriting, collaborating and relationships among ex-bandmates.

“It felt like I just stepped into a rodeo, and they shut the gate behind me.” That’s how Grant Achatz describes his first day of working in the kitchen of Charlie Trotter’s, then considered one of the world’s finest restaurants. The future 3-Michelin-star Alinea chef was just 21 in the summer of 1995 when he convinced Trotter to give him a shot at his namesake Chicago restaurant. But Achatz did not have a positive experience and left after a few months, moving on to a longer tutelage under Chef Thomas Keller at the French Laundry in Napa Valley. When Achatz returned to Chicago to run his own kitchen, he and Trotter had what Achatz calls an “aggressively competitive” relationship. Trotter closed his restaurant in 2012 and died from a stroke the following year at age 54. Now Achatz—who appears in Rebecca Halpern’s documentary about Trotter, Love, Charlie (as do I)—is presenting a lavish Trotter’s menu at his restaurant Next and reflecting on his relationship with the late chef, whom he thinks hasn’t received proper credit for all the innovative ways he changed fine dining.

Susan Cowsill was the kid sister of the family band the Cowsills, and she made an indelible impression singing “and spaghetti’d!” on the Cowsills’ 1968 hit version of “Hair.” Jump to the 1990s, and she was singing and, for the first time, writing songs in the indie supergroup the Continental Drifters, which also included her friend Vicki Peterson of the Bangles and Peter Holsapple of the dB’s. With the Drifters having a resurgence with a new book and compilations—and with Susan still performing with the Cowsills and on her own—she takes us on a lively tour of her long, colorful career. Did she want to join the family band at age 7? How close did the Cowsills get to starring on The Partridge Family? How is singing other people's songs "like having an amusement park in your body?" And can we expect new Continental Drifters music?

Sima Cunningham has had two albums released this year: Not God from Finom, her band with fellow Chicago singer-songwriter-multi-instrumentalist Macie Stewart; and a long-gestating solo project, High Roller. With Finom kicking off a tour this weekend and a solo album launch and a Roches-themed show coming up, Cunningham is enjoying the culmination of a lifetime of music-making and collaboration. Here she recalls growing up in a musical and artistic household; tells of her sibling-like connection with Stewart and how they find their beautiful, surprising, distinct harmonies; recounts their history with Jeff Tweedy, who produced Not God, and her work with Chance the Rapper, Richard Thompson and Waxahatchee; emphasizes the importance of community; and explains as best as she can why the band had to change its name from Ohmme. Plus, she sings snippets of songs she wrote when she was 11. (Photo by Shannon Marks.)

Iain Matthews was an early member of the pioneering British folk-rock band Fairport Convention, singing on its first two albums and leaving during the recording of the third one, Unhalfbricking. Since then this singer-songwriter has formed other bands — Matthews Southern Comfort, Plainsong — and released much solo work, including the just-released How Much Is Enough. He has scored some hits — Southern Comfort’s cover of Joni Mitchell’s “Woodstock,” his 1979 solo song “Shake It”—and says he has recorded about 70 albums total, all projects included. So he has many tales to tell —about the Fairport years with Richard Thompson, Judy Dyble and Sandy Denny and his break from the group; the many places he has lived and whether they had an impact on his music; his years as an A&R rep; and that vocal arrangement of his that the Eagles borrowed without credit. (Photo by Lisa Margolis.)

Joan Osborne is best known for a certain big hit yet has amassed an impressive career since then. Her latest album, Nobody Owns You, may be her most personal yet, with songs about her mother’s Alzheimer’s, the impact of time spent in “Too Many Airports” and the title track addressed to her daughter. Yet she remains as enthusiastic interpreting others’ songs as her own. One early such song, Eric Bazilian’s “One of Us,” initially was intended for another singer (Osborne does an excellent impression here), but she made it her own on her 1995 debut album, Relish. “One of Us,” in turn, made Osborne a star but perhaps gave listeners a misleading first impression of a powerful blues/soul singer who belts “Right Hand Man,” “Ladder” and others. Osborne reflects on it all, including the strangeness of being a shy person whose job it is to sing in front of other people. (Photo by Laura Crosta.)

When the young Zion, Ill., band Local H shrunk from four members to two, leader Scott Lucas decided he liked the guitar-and-drums attack and has stuck with it for more than 30 years. Local H has had its moments of popularity (the 1996 album As Good As Dead and single “Bound for the Floor”), critical triumphs that fell short commercially (1998’s dazzling concept album Pack Up the Cats) and subsequent albums that showcase Lucas’ smart, melodic songwriting, his formidable vocal and guitar chops, and the duo's ferocious interplay. Local H is marking the 20th anniversary of Whatever Happened to P.J. Soles?, the album that Lucas thinks best represents him, with deluxe rereleases and shows, including the tour finale Oct. 16 at Metro Chicago. The previous evening Lucas is premiering his hybrid Local H concert film Lifers at Chicago’s Music Box Theatre. The ever-thoughtful Lucas has much to say about bands, labels, maintaining a vision and the meaning of success.

To mark Episode 150 of Caropop, we’re doing something different. My friend Steve Dawson— an awesome singer-songwriter who was my guest back on Episode 10, as well as my co-author on Take It to the Bridge: Unlocking the Great Songs Inside You—said he wanted to turn the tables and interview me for an episode. So here we go, with Steve probing me on what drove me to become a newspaper writer and, eventually, to launch Caropop. We discuss the importance of curiosity, the keys to interviewing celebrities, how my math-science brain may factor into my work, how Caropop became so music-focused, and why talking about creativity is more satisfying than talking about sales and careers. Paul McCartney, John Travolta and Cuba Gooding Jr. may make cameo appearances... (Photo by Todd Rosenberg)

This week’s episode takes us behind the scenes of an independent record label and record store out of Portland, Oregon: Jackpot Records, with its founder Isaac Slusarenko. He opened the store in 1997 as a place that was all about music, no T-shirts or candles. He launched the label in 2004 with a vinyl edition of the 1971 self-titled psychedelic soul album by Beauregard, a Portland wrestler, followed by albums by local rockers the Wipers. With repeat Caropop guest Kevin Grey providing the all-analog mastering then and now, the label offers Record Store Day treasures (Gandalf!) while releasing higher-profile titles by the Meters, Booker T. and the M.G.’s, Etta James, the Electric Prunes, Bill Evans, Martin Denny and others. How does the licensing of albums work? How does Slusarenko make his Jackpot pressings stand out? How important are the cover art, colored vinyl and limited editions? Slusarenko pulls back the curtains.

Immediately after Uncle Tupelo co-leaders Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy parted ways 30 years ago, bassist John Stirratt and his fellow bandmates followed Tweedy into a new band, Wilco. Now Stirratt and Tweedy are the only members left from that original lineup, and Stirratt reflects on Wilco’s exciting, turbulent early years as well as the more stable past two decades with the same lineup. Then there’s Stirratt’s other band, the Autumn Defense, which he and multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone (who joined Wilco later) formed to highlight their melodic songwriting and sweet lead vocals. Ten years have passed since the last Autumn Defense album, but a new one is coming. From playing with the unpredictable Alex Chilton while a young man in the South (and singing his songs later) to entering the hospitality industry from his current home in Maine and being on call for Wilco, the ever-gracious Stirratt has many adventures to share.

The Dream Syndicate/Baseball Project singer-songwriter-guitarist just released a new memoir, I Wouldn’t Say It If It Wasn’t True, and solo album, Make It Right. But Steve Wynn’s second Caropop visit is no mere rehash of his book and career. He loves talking about music, and our subjects this time include the guitars that got away, the fun of hunting for obscure records in the pre-digital era, and his 1981 pilgrimage to Memphis to track down Big Star’s Alex Chilton. Wynn also shares his perspective on finding happiness in a long career where disappointments are inevitable, whether he considers travel a hassle or a joy, and whether writing a memoir transformed how he views his early years or prompted him to revisit any relationships. He knocks this conversation out of the park. (Photo by Guy Kokken)

Jeff McDonald’s band Redd Kross is marking its 45th anniversary this year, which is all the more impressive given that the singer-songwriter-guitarist is barely in his 60s. Jeff and his younger brother, bassist Steven, started the band in their teens, and their songs are as catchy and powerful as ever on their new self-titled double album. (A Redd Kross documentary and memoir also are out this year.) As you’d expect from someone whose love of music bursts from every power chord, massive hook and pop-culture shout-out, Jeff McDonald is a lively conversationalist who’s as keen to debate whether it's OK to reuse another song’s title as he is to revisit his band’s adventures. How have his and Steven’s songwriting dynamic changed over the years? Have they actually met Linda Blair?

Wanted to let you know that we’re taking the last three weeks of August off, and we’ll be back the Thursday after Labor Day, Sept. 5, all refreshed and ready with a new Caropop conversation. In the meantime, we encourage you to explore our back catalog. There are 145 episodes, after all.

Have you listened to Ep. 102 with jazz-R&B pianist/singer/composer Patrice Rushen? How about Ep. 90 with Suzzy Roche of the Roches? Or Ep. 88 with Eddie “King” Roeser of Urge Overkill? Or Eps. 24 and 25 with, respectively, Colin Blunstone of the Zombies and Sam Phillips? Or Ep. 9 with legendary mastering engineer Bernie Grundman? How about one of the XTC episodes with Colin Moulding, Dave Gregory or Terry Chambers? You can find these and discover others at https://www.caropop.com/caropopcast or go to Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Producer Chris Cwiak and I wish you all a great end of summer, and we’ll talk with you again soon. Thanks!

When I spoke with guitarist Jimmy James a few weeks ago for Caropop Ep. 143, he cited Steve Cropper of Booker T. and the M.G.’s. as a key inspiration. Listen to James’ work with the organ trio Parlor Greens and, before that, the Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, and you hear how he, like Cropper, is a rhythmic guitarist who never overplays yet can make your head spin. I told James I’d love to hear him to interview Cropper, and he said that would be a dream come true. Turns out, the 82-year-old Cropper, my guest for Caropop Ep. 93 last summer, has a new album, Friendlytown, coming out Aug. 23. I pitched the idea of James talking with Cropper, guitarist to guitarist, generation to generation, and here it is—with fantastic stories and insights plus a few guitar licks. (Photo by Stacie Huckeba.)

Dan Zanes enjoyed a good run with the Boston band the Del Fuegos but had no idea what broader, more enthusiastic audiences awaited him when he began making “family music” with friends such as Sheryl Crow and Suzanne Vega. The Dan Zanes and Friends albums and concerts got fans young and old dancing and singing along—and earned him a Grammy Award. Now he and his wife, Claudia Zanes, have a new album, Pieces of Home (out Aug. 30), as the couple continues expanding its reach through sensory-friendly performances and events for various communities. Zanes talks about the Del Fuegos’ rise and fall, how his younger brother Warren joined, why they did that beer commercial and how, once he discovered family music, there was no turning back. Claudia Zanes also comes on to tell her part of the story—in perfect harmony, of course. (Photo by Schaun Champion.)

Jimmy James is a fantastic, funky guitarist who never plays more than is needed yet can seize any moment. This Seattle native is a longtime member of the big soul-funk band True Loves but may have been best known for his standout work in the Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio. He left that group (and discusses his departure here) and now plays in a new, all-star organ trio, Parlor Greens, with Hammond player Adam Scone of the Sugarman 3 and drummer Tim Carman of GA-20. Its new album, In Green/We Dream, came out last week. James is precise about how he plays and passionate and encyclopedic about earlier-era guitarists who have inspired him, including Jimi Hendrix, with whom his family had a personal connection. He also offers a tribute to his late mother that's as lyrical as any part he might play. (Photo by Chris C. Bowden)

Guitarist Chris Stein was a driving force behind Blondie and, with longtime songwriting/personal partner Debbie Harry, co-wrote many of its classic songs, including “Rip Her to Shreds,” “Heart of Glass,” “Dreaming,” “The Hardest Part” and “Rapture.” His passion for exploration pushed Blondie beyond its punk roots into disco, pop, reggae and rap, and in this conversation we dig into the details. What struck him most about Harry’s voice and songwriting? Where did Blondie fit amid the art-punk CBGB scene? What song did Stein model “Dreaming” on before drummer Clem Burke blasted it in another direction? Which Blondie album did the label complain had no singles? Which one Blondie song did Stein know would be a hit? How did Stein overcome an autoimmune disease and all-consuming drug addiction? And how did writing his new memoir, Under a Rock, change his perspective? (Photo by Axel Dupeux)

After a fluky financial windfall, Mona Best bought a Victorian mansion in Liverpool, opened the Casbah Coffee Club in the cellar, and the Quarrymen, an early version of the Beatles, became the resident band. When the Beatles needed a drummer for their 1960 Hamburg residency, they called on Mona's son Pete. Pete Best became a key player in the Beatles' evolution before being unceremoniously replaced by Ringo Starr on the eve of the band's EMI recording sessions. Here, in vivid detail, he recalls those early years, including the grueling living and playing conditions in Hamburg and his and McCartney's arrest there for attempted arson. What were his impressions of John, Paul and George? What did he think of the first Lennon-McCartney songs? What happened with the Beatles' Decca audition? He also reveals the last time he had contact with any of them and details about the Casbah's new incarnation as a B&B.

With the Fourth of July falling on a Thursday, we encourage your independence to explore the 140 Caropop episodes so far. Go to Caropop.com/caropopcast—you can scroll through them or use the search tool—and you also can find the epsiodes on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Some suggestions based on artists now touring: Scott McCaughey, Steve Wynn and Linda Pitmon of the Baseball Project; Jody Stephens and Chris Stamey (also dB's) of the Big Star Quintet; David Lowery and Johnny Hickman of Cracker; and the formidable Bettye LaVette, who just opened for the Rolling Stones at Soldier Field in Chicago. And please consider supporting this little operation so we can keep it going. You can become an official Caropop Friend for a mere $24 at caropop.com. Come back next week for a brand new Caropop conversation that you won't want to miss.

Graham Maby is one of rock’s most revered bassists, known especially for his work with Joe Jackson. Maby and Jackson were in another band together in England before Jackson proposed forming his own band with Maby’s bass front and center. That was the approach of Jackson’s first three albums—starting with 1979’s Look Sharp!—and the ever-gracious Maby reflects on how his indelible parts came to be. He also recalls the breakup of the Joe Jackson Band, his continued work with Jackson on albums such as Night and Day and Body and Soul, and what prompted him to join previous Caropop guest Marshall Crenshaw's band. How did Crenshaw’s approach to bass parts differ from Jackson’s? How did Maby wind up back in the Jackson fold? And when will they record and perform together next?

Drummer Will Rigby provided the propulsion, grooves and furious fills for the dB’s, a North Carolina foursome who launched their collective career in New York City yet had their powerfully poppy first two albums released only overseas. Now the dB’s landmark 1981 debut, Stands for Decibels, finally has come out in the U.S. on vinyl and streaming services, with Repercussion to follow, and the classic lineup of singer-songwriters Chris Stamey and Peter Holsapple, bassist Gene Holder and Rigby will tour for the first time in 12 years. The ever-engaging Rigby recalls the band’s formation with Stamey, the addition of Holsapple, the making of those early dB’s albums, the reasons behind Stamey’s departure and the more American sound of 1984’s Like This. Rigby also discusses his own idiosyncratic songwriting and his work with other artists, such as Steve Earle. (Photo by John Gessner)

Vicki Peterson wrote, sang and played lead guitar on many of the Bangles’ best songs, even if they weren’t the ones that made the band famous. In a smart, revealing conversation, the down-to-earth Peterson reflects on the Bangles’ origins—and her desire to be in an all-female band, which soon would include her sister Debbi (a former Caropop guest) and singer/guitarist Susanna Hoffs—and the compromises and rising tensions that accompanied their success. In the aftermath of a painful Bangles breakup, Peterson—a band person through and through—joins the Continental Drifters, teams with Susan Cowsill in the Psycho Sisters and tours with the Go-Go’s. The Bangles also reunite for two more albums. What lies in the future for the Bangles and Continental Drifters? What is Peterson’s creative life like now? (Photo: Rebecca Wilson Studio.)

Impex Records has been releasing stellar audiophile recordings since Abey Fonn founded the small label in 2009. Impex’s offerings have included 33 and 45 rpm LPs (including Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin and Paco De Lucía’s Friday Night in San Francisco and Saturday Night in San Francisco) as well as deluxe 1Step releases such as Getz/Gilberto, Patricia Barber's Companion and, coming June 14, Sing and Dance with Frank Sinatra. Here Fonn pulls back the curtain on how Impex chooses and makes deals for its titles, what the competition is like with the larger audiophile labels, how Impex decides which format is best for an album, whether original master tapes have become harder to obtain, whether a one-to-one analog transfer is superior to a high-res digital copy, which act has been Fonn’s white whale and which one she was happiest to land.

After co-producing R.E.M.'s Murmur and Reckoning, Don Dixon got calls from other bands, often southern and jangly, seeking his services. He produced three albums by Guadalcanal Diary, another Georgia band, but it was his work with New Jersey's the Smithereens that took him to another level. It also prompted Nirvana to ask him about producing Nevermind. Dixon was pursuing his own career as well while thinking U.S. labels had slighted his previous band, Arrogance. What happened when the head of Enigma Records approached him in a European airport about releasing the song "Praying Mantis"? What unorthodox scheme did Dixon propose to the label in lieu of releasing albums? Why does he, of all people, think recording ruined music? Dixon has enough great stories and insights to fill two episodes. This is the second.

Don Dixon already had spent 13 years playing, singing and writing with the North Carolina indie band Arrogance when he joined Mitch Easter to co-produce R.E.M.’s trailblazing first two albums, Murmur and Reckoning. He went on to produce the first two crunchy-and-sweet Smithereens albums plus music from Guadalcanal Diary, Matthew Sweet, Marshall Crenshaw and Marti Jones, to whom he remains married. His own infectious “Praying Mantis” got him some airplay as well. Did he see himself more as a soul singer, a songwriter, a bassist or producer? What are the secrets to being a strong producer? What happened when Nirvana asked him about producing Nevermind? Dixon has enough great stories and insights to fill two episodes. This is the first.

William Bell is a soul legend who scored an early hit for Memphis’s Stax Records with 1961’s “You Don’t Miss Your Water” and wrote and sang such much-covered classics as “I Forgot To Be Your Lover,” “Everybody Loves a Winner” and “Every Day Will Be Like a Holiday.” He and Booker T. Jones co-wrote Albert King’s “Born Under a Bad Sign,” and Bell vividly recalls the story behind that one. He also recounts his friendship with Otis Redding and how Redding’s death, followed by Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination, affected him, Memphis and beyond. At age 84, Bell continues to make music, releasing the Grammy-winning album This Is Where I Live in 2017 and One Day Closer to Home last year. His voice and writing—as well as his wit and memory—remain impressively strong.

We were devastated to hear of Steve Albini’s death at age 61 of a heart attack. He was a titanic figure in the music world and a mensch among musicians who were not well known yet were able to book time with one of the industry’s most supportive, talented engineer/producers. Albini spoke with us for back-to-back Caropop episodes posted in January 2022. The first took place in his Electrical Audio studio on Chicago’s North Side and dug into analog vs. digital technology and preservation. The second was conducted over Zoom and zoomed in on his work with Nirvana and his refusal to take artist royalties. We’re combining these two conversations into a supersized episode so we can revisit his fierce intelligence and stubborn integrity. We wish we could hear more from him.

I spoke with Grant Achatz, one of the world's most talented, creative and thoughtful chefs, as his 50th birthday and his Chicago restaurant Alinea's 19th anniversary approached. He has received just about every possible accolade for a chef, including multiple James Beard awards, Alinea being named the country's best restaurant, and three Michelin stars being awarded to Alinea every year since 2011. Early in this spectacular run, he successfully fought stage 4 cancer of the tongue through innovative treatments at the University of Chicago. Yet despite all he has accomplished and been through, including the pandemic-time transition of Alinea to a carryout restaurant, he keeps restlessly pushing forward. What might the next culinary revolution look like, and how can he be at its forefront? Why does he wish Alinea were more like a rock band?

Madeleine Peyroux started her career busking on the streets of Paris and earned comparisons to such heroes as Billie Holliday and Bessie Smith as she broke through with the 2004 album Careless Love. Twenty years later, she is soon to release her ninth studio album, Let’s Walk, for which she, for the first time, co-wrote all of the songs. In this no-holding-back conversation, she reflects on her beginnings (the 1939 movie musical Gulliver’s Travels plays a role), her creative growth and her struggles to process the current state of our world artistically and otherwise. How does she feel about the only job she's ever had? Is she cool with turning 50 this month? How does she co-write? Does she feel compelled to communicate empathy now? Is she part of the problem or solution?

Bruce Botnick engineered the first five Doors studio albums and produced the last one that featured Jim Morrison, L.A. Woman. He also co-produced Forever Changes, the brilliant 1967 album from Doors’ L.A. contemporaries Love, and engineered some of the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds. Botnick continues working on Doors releases, including Rhino’s new Record Store Day entry Live at Konserthuset, Stockholm, September 20, 1968. He tells of how these performances, which feature the Doors at peak power, were recorded and recently discovered. He also reflects on the band’s dynamic, the reason the album version of "Light My Fire" is slow and flat, what prompted producer Paul Rothchild to leave the L.A. Woman sessions and the contrasting approach that Botnick took on the project. What was it like working with such unpredictable geniuses as Morrison, Arthur Lee (Love) and Brian Wilson?

Many Caropop guests are looking back on amazing careers, but Niko Kapetan of Friko is on the cusp of one. His Chicago-based band’s debut album, Where we’ve been, Where we go from here, has been garnering raves and airplay while its live shows wow audiences with their intense energy and dynamism. Kapetan’s voice and songs—and the band, anchored by his Evanston high school classmate Bailey Minzenberger on drums—cover a broad musical and emotional range: delicate and fragile one moment, fierce and roaring the next. Having returned from a whirlwind South by Southwest trip (with Lollapalooza to follow this summer), Kapetan recalls how he started learning instruments, forming bands and developing his unique approach to songwriting before a major indie label, ATO, liked what it heard and signed Friko. He's got a lot going on. Where do they go from here?

Bruce Sudano had co-written the Tommy James & the Shondells 1969 hit “Ball of Fire” and played keyboards in the bands Alive ‘N Kickin’ and Brooklyn Dreams by the time he met Donna Summer. The two of them clicked professionally and personally and soon were co-writing the smash title track and other songs for Summer’s blockbuster 1979 album, Bad Girls. They also co-wrote Dolly Parton’s #1 country hit “Starting Over Again,” based on his parents, and continued collaborating throughout a marriage that lasted until her 2012 death from lung cancer. Since then, he has rebooted his own career, recording several albums, including the new Talkin’ Ugly Truth, Tellin’ Pretty Lies. Sudano takes us from his mentorship with Tommy James through his life with arguably the disco era’s greatest artist, for whom he and his daughters recently accepted a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award. Toot-toot! Beep-beep! (Photo by Amy Waters)

Cicely Balston won the 2023 Music Producer’s Guild’s Mastering Engineer of the Year Award, and when you hear the music she has mastered—and the smart, easygoing way she discusses it—you understand why. Working out of AIR Studios in London, Balston has applied her talents to the doom-punk band Witch Fever and David Bowie’s back catalog, as well as some dynamite-sounding hip-hop reissues for the Vinyl Me, Please record club, including Eric B. & Rakim’s Don’t Sweat the Technique, Gravediggaz’s 6 Feet Deep, and Madlib’s Shades of Blue. How did this young British woman become an ace hip-hop masterer, and do those albums require a specific skill set? Are people too fixated on analog vs. digital? How did she become a mastering engineer anyway, and what's the most commonly misunderstood aspect of what she does? (Photo by Silvia Gin.)

If you love music, you have loved recordings mastered by Greg Calbi. Ever hear that Bruce Springsteen album Born To Run? He mastered that and has thoughts about how it turned out. He also tells of working with, among others, John Lennon, David Bowie, Harry Nilsson and Todd Rundgren. This legendary engineer has mastered classic albums by Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Talking Heads, Supertramp, R.E.M., Paul Simon and the Strokes. More recently he won a Grammy for his work with Kacey Musgraves and mastered new albums by the Smile and MGMT. He shares decades’ worth of insights into how he makes great music sound even better. What’s his mastering philosophy? How does he give digital recordings the warmth of analog? And when did he get chills upon realizing he was one of the first people to hear a classic album? (Photo by Andrew Lipovsky.)

Slim Jim Phantom is the Stray Cats’ drummer, host of “Slim Jim’s Rockabilly Raveup” on Little Steven’s Underground Garage and a cool-cat storyteller. He takes us through the Stray Cats’ formation, with bassist and elementary school classmate Lee Rocker and singer-guitarist Brian Setzer, and their early days as a “rockabilly bar band” playing New York clubs like CBGB before they relocated to London. The band had recorded two British albums by the time a U.S. label released the compilation Built for Speed, which, powered by the hit singles “Rock This Town” and “Stray Cat Strut,” turned the Stray Cats into unlikely early ’80s stars. Why did the band split after the follow-up album—and reunite after solo projects? What’s happening with the Stray Cats now? And who is on Phantom’s rockabilly Mount Rushmore?

That tap-tap, tap-tap at the beginning of “Blister in the Sun” may be one of rock’s most air-drummed fills, and former Violent Femmes drummer Victor DeLorenzo explains how the song's indelible intro came to be. He shares many more stories about this Milwaukee band, including the name’s origin, the invention of his tranceaphone and the jaw-dropping tale of how the Pretenders discovered Violent Femmes busking outside the theater and invited the trio to open for them that night. Violent Femmes’ instant-classic self-titled debut sounded like nothing else, the third album was produced by Talking Heads’ Jerry Harrison, and after five studio albums, DeLorenzo had had enough. He tells of his ongoing acting career that included a tryout for Brian De Palma’s The Untouchables, his reaction to the "Blister" Wendy's ad and his up-and-down relationship with his former bandmates.

As Rhino Records’ senior director for A&R, Patrick Milligan oversees ambitious packages such as the Joni Mitchell archival series; deluxe releases from Warner Music Group artists such as the Ramones, the Doors and Crosby, Stills & Nash; and the recently launched, limited-edition High Fidelity vinyl series. That last one, which features audiophile pressings mastered by recurrent Caropop guest Kevin Gray, has included acclaimed versions of the Cars’ debut album, which sold out, and Television’s Marquee Moon, which Television guitarist Richard Lloyd discussed here last week. Milligan shares his reaction to the praise and pushback these releases receive, explains the selection process of the High Fidelity titles, previews upcoming albums, and tells of how the company and business have changed during his two stints at Rhino. Is his job a crate-diggers’ dream?

If you ranked rock's great two-guitar tandems, Television's Richard Lloyd and Tom Verlaine would be at or near the top. Verlaine was the poetic songwriter, idiosyncratic singer and improvisatory guitarist, but Television would not have been Television without Lloyd’s dazzling counterpunches and composed solos that take melodic leaps no one could anticipate. Television launched the mid-1970s art-punk scene at the grungy East Village club CBGB and produced arguably the greatest album from that era, Marquee Moon. How did the band capture such combustible magic in songs like “See No Evil” and the epic title track? Why did Television make only two more studio albums, and why was Lloyd dissatisfied with each? Why did Jimi Hendrix punch out a teenage Lloyd? What impact did drugs and alcohol have on Lloyd’? How did he wind up making more great music with Matthew Sweet? And how did he feel when Television moved on without him? Was he in touch with Verlaine before the Television leader died a year ago?

Cheers ended its 11-year TV run in 1993, yet on the Emmy Awards in January, George Wendt showed up as his old character, Norm, and drew laughs and, yes, cheers. Even 31 years later, everybody knows his name. Wendt discusses his beginnings at Chicago’s Second City, including his firing and rehiring there. How did that ensemble work prepare him for Cheers? How did the series’ energy change when Kirstie Alley replaced Shelley Long? Was the Saturday Night Live episode he co-hosted with Francis Ford Coppola the weirdest one ever? How did he wind up in those “Da Bears” sketches and in Michael Jackson’s “Black or White” video? How did he enjoy his roast hosted by his nephew, Jason Sudeikis? Pull up a stool and grab a beer, because Wendt has stories to tell.

Brendan Canty’s work in Fugazi established him as one of rock’s great drummers, but this thoughtful, multitalented artist has done much more than that. Rooted in Washington, D.C., Canty played with the hardcore bands Deadline, Rites of Spring, Happy Go Licky and One Last Wish before Fugazi, Deathfix afterward, and he currently is stretching out his jazz-punk chops in the instrumental trio Messthetics. He’s also a soundtrack composer and filmmaker, having directed documentaries featuring Eddie Vedder, Wilco and others. Here Canty takes us deep into the music, where exploration and improvisation bang up against structure. He tells the story of Fugazi, from the breakout song “Waiting Room” and intense touring through the band’s 2003 “indefinite hiatus.” And he explains how a big reunion would—or would not—jibe with Fugazi’s values.

Our Colin Moulding conversation picks up with XTC working in Woodstock, N.Y., on what would become one of their most beloved albums, Skylarking. Moulding appreciated that producer Todd Rundgren chose to include five of his songs, though the recording experience was a bit of a minefield. XTC built on its newfound momentum with Oranges & Lemons, a bright, lively album that features Moulding’s hit single “King for a Day.” Moulding continued to be a keen observer of everyday life, but financial issues plagued the making of Apple Venus Volume 1 and Wasp Star and precipitated Dave Gregory’s departure. Moulding reveals what prompted his final split from singer-songwriter Andy Partridge as well. Moulding has since reunited, briefly, with original XTC drummer Terry Chambers as TC&I, and he continues to make music in the band’s collective hometown of Swindon, England. Might the four of them ever share a stage, a studio or just a night out again?

Bassist Colin Moulding wrote, played on and sang some of the XTC’s greatest songs, including the breakthrough singles “Life Begins at the Hop” and “Making Plans for Nigel” plus “Ten Feet Tall,” “Generals and Majors,” “Runaways,” “Ball and Chain,” “Wonderland” … and those are just in the period covered in Pt. 1 of this fun, insightful conversation. Speaking from his home outside Swindon, England, Moulding tells of his musical beginnings; his and the band’s evolutionary leap when guitarist Dave Gregory joined for Drums and Wires; the weird vibes as Moulding, and not primary singer-songwriter Andy Partridge, was writing the band’s early hits; his reaction to the abrupt end of XTC’s touring days; the jaw-dropping moment when drummer Terry Chambers quit; the joyous psychedelic side project, the Dukes of Stratosphear; and that time David Gilmour asked him to replace Roger Waters in Pink Floyd.

It's time for our third early-year check-in with renowned mastering engineer Kevin Gray. In 2023 he was more in demand than ever; your jaw may drop when he reveals how many albums he mastered. Plus, he launched his own label, Cohearent Records, with an album he recorded in his home studio: saxophonist Kirsten Edkins’ Shapes & Sound. With Cohearent’s second release, jazz guitarist Anthony Wilson’s Hackensack West, imminent, Gray discusses mic placement, what he has learned as a label owner and whether he’ll shift more energy in that direction. He also details his work on Rhino’s High Fidelity series (including his first encounter with Television’s Marquee Moon) as well as Blue Note’s Tone Poet and Classic Vinyl series, Craft’s Original Jazz Classics and Jazz Dispensary releases and more from Jackpot Records and other labels.

Janet Beveridge Bean drums, sings and writes in the great, muscular Chicago guitar band Eleventh Dream Day, which celebrated its 40th anniversary last year. She also sings, writes and plays guitar in the off-kilter-beautiful Freakwater, her country-folk group with singer Catherine Irwin that released its debut album in 1989. Those bands have 25 albums between them, yet Beveridge Bean, who calls herself “musically illiterate,” has applied her ever-restless artistic spirit to many other projects as well. She takes us inside the dynamics of her various collaborations, tells of how Eleventh Dream Day maintained its singular vision while working with and without major labels, and presents a life lived at peak creativity. (Photo by Iwona Biedermann.)

Joe Bonamassa, who opened for B.B. King at age 12, was a cocky 26-year-old blues-rock guitar virtuoso when he made his breakthrough third album, Blues Deluxe, in 2003—and an established 46-year-old when he released Blues Deluxe Vol. 2 in the fall. In a thoughtful conversation, Bonamassa reflects on all that has happened in between, how he has grown as a musician, taken control of the business side of his career and launched his own label and foundation, both called Keeping the Blues Alive. He also weighs the impact of artificial intelligence on music. Would the blues be the hardest kind of music for robots to fake? (Photo by Adam Kennedy)

Andrew Sandoval is a musician, producer, author, publisher, reissue compiler, liner notes writer, video director, fanzine creator, record collector extraordinaire and more. Not only did he write and publish the gorgeous The Monkees: The Day-By-Day Story, but he also oversaw many of that band’s reissues and produced their shows—and still works with Micky Dolenz. Ray Davies requested that he oversee recent Kinks reissues, and he has performed in Dave Davies’ band, led musicians at the Wild Honey Foundation’s Nuggets concert and released his own albums. His many compilations for Rhino Records include the Grammy-nominated Where The Action Is! (Los Angeles Nuggets: 1965-1968) and Elvis Costello’s reissues campaign. In an inspiring entrepreneurial tale, Sandoval has created a life around the music that he loves.

Maybe you know Paul Williams for hits he co-wrote for the Carpenters (“We’ve Only Just Begun,” “Rainy Days and Mondays”) and Three Dog Night (“An Old Fashioned Love Song”). Or for his performances in Brian De Palma’s Phantom of the Paradise and the Smokey and the Bandit movies. Or for his Oscar-winning song with Barbra Streisand, “Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born).” Or for the songs he wrote for Bugsy Malone and Ishtar. Or for his singing (and writing) on Daft Punk’s 2013 Grammy-winning album, Random Access Memories. Or for what may be his most beloved song of all, “Rainbow Connection” (plus the rest of The Muppet Movie soundtrack). Factor in the current stage adaptation of the 1977 Jim Henson TV special, Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas, and Williams has a lot to talk about—and he does so, delightfully.

Brilliant pianist Bill Payne, who founded Little Feat in 1969 in Los Angeles with singer-songwriter-guitarist Lowell George, takes us on this great American band’s rollercoaster ride through the 1970s. Payne wrote or co-wrote more than half of Little Feat’s self-titled debut album, but the mercurial George came to dominate as the band ascended via the albums Sailin’ Shoes, Dixie Chicken and Feats Don’t Fail Me Now, the last of which features the Payne standout “Oh, Atlanta.” By the time of the classic 1978 live album Waiting for Columbus, George had pulled back and was struggling with addictions, and tensions ran high — yet the band still cooked. What happened? And how did Payne revive Little Feat after George’s death to continue leading it through today?

The Vinyl Me, Please record club marked its 10th anniversary this year and now boasts more than 30,000 members. As senior director of music and editorial, Andrew Winistorfer chooses many of the Records of the Month and exclusive store drops. A passionate music fan himself, he has developed keen insights into the psyche of obsessive vinyl buyers (raising my hand) as well as the business of licensing music from labels and getting albums mastered and pressed to the club’s standards. How does VMP select its “Lost Sounds Found” and less obscure albums? Where did it get the gumption to try to top Mobile Fidelity with its Miles Davis box? What factors drive album pricing? How much does FOMO drive sales? Vinyl fanatics, this one's for you.

Justin Hayward joined the Moody Blues in 1966 and wrote and sang most of the band’s singles from “Nights in White Satin” and “Tuesday Afternoon” through such ’80s hits as “The Voice” and “Your Wildest Dreams.” How much did the Moody Blues shape his songwriting, and how much did his songwriting shape the Moody Blues? Did he write to fit the albums’ concepts? Did he especially enjoy writing songs with multiple parts and tempo changes? When he performs now, does he feel more emotionally connected to material from one era or another? Will he ever again perform with the surviving Moody Blues? He still has that golden voice, whether singing or discussing his days of future passed. (Photo by Joe Schaeffer.)

Happy Thanksgiving! We're hitting the pause button on Caropop this week to say thank you and to give you a chance to catch up on some of the great conversations you may have missed. Please enjoy this brief message from the Caropop team, and we'll be back with another fantastic guest next week. Thanks!

The English Beat—or, if you live in England, the Beat—was one of the key bands of the late ‘70s/ early ‘80s British ska-punk scene. Guitarist/songwriter Dave Wakeling sang most of this interracial, socially conscious group’s songs, with Ranking Roger toasting, and he takes us inside the making of the band’s brilliant debut album, I Just Can’t Stop It (out in an expanded edition for Record Store Day Black Friday). Wakeling tells how the bass-driven “Mirror in the Bathroom” came together and digs into the band's relationship with Specials, the Beat's breakup, and songs such as “Save It for Later” and “Tenderness,” the latter from Wakeling’s and Ranking Roger’s subsequent band, General Public. Was there a rivalry between General Public and Fine Young Cannibals, the other Beat spinoff band? How did Wakeling and Roger wind up fronting their own versions of the Beat on either side of the Atlantic? (Photo by Bryan Kremkau.)

Kenny Wayne Shepherd is a blues-rock guitarist and songwriter with one foot in the future and one foot in the past. Honoring the past is something blues artists do, but Shepherd has revisited his own past by rerecording his second album, Trouble Is… (which includes his biggest hit, “Blue on Black”) 25 years after its release—thus interpreting the same material at ages 20 and 45. Now Shepherd is releasing an all-new album, Dirt on My Diamonds Vol. 1, that has a modern snap along with those big riffs and expressive solos. How have his playing and writing evolved since he launched his career at age 18 with Ledbetter Heights? How do his songwriting collaborations work? How does he keep his solos fresh? And what happened when he dreamt a great song and then woke up? (Photo by Mark Seliger)

It's time to hear about producer Ed Stasium’s acclaimed new remix of the Replacements’ album Tim, as well as his work with the Ramones, Talking Heads and the Smithereens. How did Stasium make the "Let It Bleed Edition" of Tim so much more muscular than Tommy Erdelyi’s original mix? Has he gotten feedback from Paul Westerberg? How did Stasium work with Erdelyi (a.k.a. Tommy Ramone) on the classic early Ramones albums? How did he wind up playing on the Ramones' Phil Spector-produced End of the Century and getting held prisoner in Spector’s home? Why, despite the Smithereens’ Dennis Diken’s objections, does he like drummers to play with click tracks? What happened when Madonna was scheduled to sing on a Smithereens song? And what’s his secret to making music sound so good?

Before Ed Stasium made his name as a producer/engineer of the Ramones, Talking Heads, Living Colour and the Smithereens—and before his muscular remix of the Replacements’ Tim on the new “Let It Bleed Edition” box set—he’d already experienced a career’s worth of colorful adventures. He discovered overdubbing via The Wonderful World of Disney, invested in a seafoam Strat to be played by him and Johnny Ramone, chased rock-star dreams, and engineered some key soul releases. How did Skull Snaps’ self-titled debut bond him with Living Colour’s Vernon Reid? How did he help Gladys Knight get the sound she wanted on “Midnight Train to Georgia”? Where do John & Yoko, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Mick Jagger and Jeff Beck fit in among Stasium’s joyfully told tales? Listen…

Drummer Dennis Diken and New Jersey friends Jim Babjak (guitar) and Mike Mesaros (bass) bonded over their love of British Invasion music and found the perfect singer-songwriter-guitarist to join them: Pat DiNizio. The Smithereens delivered catchy, crunchy power pop, with a teenage vigilante movie introducing their unexpected breakthrough song, “Blood and Roses.” Hits such as “Only a Memory,” “A Girl Like You” and “Too Much Passion” followed. Diken, who named the band and propelled its attack, reflects on the Smithereens’ rise, what rankled him about the hit album 11, how grunge affected the band’s popularity, and how they regrouped after DiNizio’s death in 2017. Will the Smithereens record new material with fill-in frontmen Marshall Crenshaw and Robin Wilson? And how did Diken become the drummer for a mini Kinks reunion?

On stage and on her album Come On & Get It, Judith Owen has stepped out from behind the piano to sing sexually charged jazz and blues songs performed by women during the repressed 1940s and 1950s. Among them: Mary Lou Williams’ “Satchel Mouth Baby,” Dinah Washington’s “Big Long Slidin’ Thing” and Nellie Lutcher’s “Fine Brown Frame.” This Welsh-born, London-raised artist says this project has given her permission to be her unapologetic self, even as she has written her share of heartbreaking songs and accompanied guitarist-songwriter Richard Thompson on several projects. Owen is an energetic, empowered storyteller as she recalls meeting husband Harry Shearer while he was dressed up as Spinal Tap bassist Derek Smalls, describes their life in New Orleans and asserts that “sexiness is confidence.” (Photo by Rick Guest.)

Peter Frampton played guitar, wrote and sang on four Humble Pie studio albums and a live album that outsold them all. Then he made four solo albums and a live album that outsold them all—by a lot. With Intervention Records’ stellar Frampton@50 box reintroducing listeners to the best three of those early solo albums, Frampton takes us back to those formative years when he was doing session work on George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass, discovering the talk box, refining his sound, writing “Show Me the Way” and “Baby, I Love Your Way” the same day and taking the rocket ride that was Frampton Comes Alive! He also reveals what he actually is saying on the talk box portion of the live “Do You Feel Like We Do.” (Photo by Austin Lord.)

There’s much more to the fiercely intelligent, multitalented singer-songwriter-keyboardist Patrice Rushen than “Forget Me Nots,” though that song, with its get-up-and-dance groove and Rushen’s sweet vocals, is undeniable. Not only was it a Grammy-nominated hit in 1982, but it served as the basis for Will Smith’s “Men in Black” (amid a tense negotiation) and in 2021 became a viral TikTok dance sensation. Just what you’d expect from a formally trained jazz pianist who began studying music at age 3, was signed to the jazz label Prestige at age 17 and moved on to record funky, genre-defying music for Elektra. She also has scored films such as Hollywood Shuffle, served as music director for the Grammy and Emmy Awards, and chairs the University of Southern California’s Popular Music Program. It’s all of a piece, she explains, and straight from the heart.

As guitarist for the impossibly funky New Orleans band the Meters, Leo Nocentelli wrote an array of indelible riffs and songs; you’ve likely heard “Cissy Strut” in movies, TV promos and hip-hop samples, and “People Say,” from the great 1974 album Rejuvenation, is another of many classics. He also played on high-profile releases as a teenage session musician in New Orleans and later, with and without the Meters, on songs by Robert Palmer, Dr. John, Labelle (including “Lady Marmalade”) and Peter Gabriel. And while the Meters were on hiatus in 1971, Nocentelli wrote and recorded a James Taylor-inspired singer-songwriter album, Another Side, that sat for 50 years before a miraculous resolution. It's a helluva story.

The first time I saw Jane Lynch, she was playing Carol Brady on stage in Chicago in Real Live Brady Bunch, but you’re more likely to know her from Glee or The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel or Hollywood Game Night or The 40 Year Old Virgin or Best in Show or Funny Girl on Broadway or…the list goes on. She’s a quick-witted improviser, a hard-working performer, a five-time Emmy winner and, as you’ll hear, a dynamic conversationalist. Did she know she was funny while growing up in the Chicago south suburb of Dolton? Did she have a positive experience at Second City? Does she prefer improvising or working with a script? What was her "white hot ambition"? How important is projecting confidence? And why and how is she so busy? You’ll listen with glee...

ZZ Ward has a powerful, soulful voice, a great ear for hooks and an old-school blues-rock sensibility fused with hip-hop rhythms, all playing out on a spaghetti-western landscape. Her third album, Dirty Shine, comes out Sept. 8 and is her first as a mother as well as an independent artist after two albums (Til the Casket Drops and The Storm) with Disney’s Hollywood label. Her DIY approach certainly hasn’t curbed her artistic ambitions: The new album includes collaborations with Vic Mensa and Aloe Blacc, her brother Adam William Ward directed mini-movies for several of the songs, and she even made (and sells) the fedoras she wears in them. My daughter Ruthie Caro, who turned me on to ZZ Ward’s music years ago, joins this lively conversation with one of her musical heroes.

Johnny Hickman has provided “bonehead guitar riffs,” memorable songs and a spark-plug energy to Cracker since the band debuted more than 30 years ago. Hickman and primary singer-songwriter David Lowery already were friends from Redlands, Calif., when Lowery called him after the implosion of his band Camper Van Beethoven. The ever-lively Hickman digs into the bounty of riffs, hooks and wit that went into Cracker’s self-titled debut album, which includes “Teen Angst (What the World Needs Now).” How did the band raise the bar with Kerosene Hat, propelled by the hits “Low” and “Get Off This?” Why did the formidable rhythm section leave, prompting Cracker to move to the “Steely Dan model”? What’s the story behind Hickman’s arrest after wielding his 1977 Les Paul as a weapon? Listening to Hickman play or speak is a cure for feeling low.

You may know Sally Potter as the groundbreaking English director of such films as Orlando, The Tango Lesson and Yes, but now she also is a recording artist. At age 73 Potter has released her first solo album, Pink Bikini, writing, singing and playing keyboards. The songs look back on her teenage years in 1960s London, when she was discovering her own sexuality, wrestling with shame, rebelling against her mother and finding her artistic and political voices. Speaking from her studio, Potter also reflects on the transformative effect of having a film camera in her hands at age 14, the paucity of female filmmakers when she started and her unwillingness to let age limit her creative pursuits. As she puts it: “Who cares about the calendar?”

Michael Shannon is an Oscar-, Tony- and Emmy-nominated actor who, the night before this conversation, sang R.E.M. songs at the Chicago club Metro. He’s multitalented, thoughtful and fearless, with a commitment to Chicago theater that doesn't wane no matter how high his profile rises. In this probing, good-humored on-stage conversation at the club Space, Shannon couldn’t discuss his prominent film and TV work due to the SAG-AFTRA strike against Hollywood’s producers, so he went deep in other areas, such as: his early ping-ponging between Kentucky and Chicago’s North Shore; his repeated path-crossings with Tracy Letts; how his family life inspired his direction of the upcoming indie film, Eric Larue; what he did when only two audience members showed up for a Hurlyburly performance; what he thinks of the strike; and whether he preps for a concert as if it’s another role. He also performs two original songs that—spoiler alert—are awesome.

Los Lobos was doing its label a favor when it played on what turned out to be a big album: Paul Simon’s Graceland. Why did the band wind up feeling burned? Los Lobos sax/keyboard player Steve Berlin explains. Happier times arrived as Los Lobos hit No. 1 with its cover of Richie Valens’ “La Bamba.” How did they capitalize on their newfound popularity? What was so strange about the recording process for the album The Neighborhood? What key takeaways from that experience led to the Los Lobos’ 1992 masterpiece, Kiko? Berlin takes us inside that creative peak period and explains why the band was behind the eight-ball when it came time to record the groovy follow-up, Colossal Head—and how David Hidalgo may be the most unassuming great guitarist there is.

Saxophonist/keyboard player/producer Steve Berlin played with the Blasters before joining Los Lobos, and he noticed a stark contrast between how those two L.A. bands operated. He stuck with Los Lobos and still plays with them 40 years later. A call-‘em-as-he-sees-‘em storyteller, Berlin recounts a crazy Gregg Allman experience, an ordeal with a bad-decisions-prone producer, and his first experience playing what would become his trademark instrument, the baritone sax, on a celebrated Blasters song. He also discusses Los Lobos' sometimes-messy creative process and his co-production—and eventual falling out—with T Bone Burnett on early Los Lobos records. That conflict led to his being diverted to produce the band’s soundtrack for an apparent B-movie. The title? La Bamba. Berlin serves up so much tasty material, you’ll get a second helping next week.

Booker T. and the M.G.’s were an all-time great band on their own and while playing with such Stax acts as Sam & Dave, Eddie Floyd, Albert King and Otis Redding. Guitarist Steve Cropper, who made every note count, produced many of Redding's sessions and co-wrote such hits as “Mr. Pitiful” and the landmark “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay.” After Redding died in a plane crash in late 1967, Cropper prepped “The Dock of the Bay” and other recently recorded tracks for a series of posthumous albums that Rhino Records has compiled in a new box set called Otis Forever. Speaking from his Nashville home, Cropper tells surprising stories about working with Redding, Booker T. and the M.G.’s, Mavis Staples, the Blues Brothers, Neil Young and more. Play it, Steve!

It's no wonder that Peter Zaremba was the star of the recent Lenny Kaye-hosted Nuggets all-star concert in Los Angeles: He has been keeping ‘60s psychedelic garage rock alive for decades through his energetic work with the Fleshtones as well as his DJ gig as the Psychedelic Count on Little Steven’s Underground Garage. (You also may remember him as host of the 1980s MTV show I.R.S. Records presents The Cutting Edge, a precursor to 120 Minutes.) With the charismatic Zaremba out front, the New York-based Fleshtones made crowds groove and sweat, and they worked to translate that energy to the recording studio. Zaremba discusses the thrills of playing live and making records, the story behind the Fleshtones’ recent Spanish-language hit, his search for Russian surf zombie songs and much more.

With Mike Peters belting out anthemic songs such as “Sixty Eight Guns” and “Spirit of ’76,” the Alarm could rouse an audience no matter the size—and it often was big. “Rain in the Summertime” and “Sold Me Down the River” boosted this Welsh band’s U.S. popularity before Peters broke up the group in 1991 and re-started it years later. In the meantime he was diagnosed with leukemia, and he wrote much of the Alarm’s new album, Forwards, during a recent, harrowing hospital stay. Now he is performing again and reflecting on the concert that changed his life, the folly of kidnapping a journalist, all those U2 comparisons, the lightning bolts of inspiration and how he has created what he calls his own little soundtrack of hope to lead him out of the darkness.

When you want to add joy and beauty to your life, listen to the Roches. There’s magic in these three sisters’ harmonies and good humor and heartbreak in their songs. They are Maggie and Terre and Suzzy, the last of whom is the little sister age-wise, the middle sister voice-wise and the glue personality-wise. Speaking from her New York home, Suzzy Roche reflects on the wonders and challenges of singing with her sisters and dealing with a music industry that thought it could make stars out of them. She also discusses the origins of their "Hallelujah Chorus" interpretation and “The Death of Suzzy Roche”; her standout acting turn in “Crossing Delancey”; and what made Maggie, who died from breast cancer in 2017, so special. (Photo by Albie Mitchell.)

The Los Angeles-based Love had one of the rock’s great first-three-album progressions, culminating in the 1967 masterwork Forever Changes, before leader Arthur Lee started over with an entirely new band. Johnny Echols, Love’s lead guitarist for that classic stretch, had known the enigmatic Lee since they were kids in Memphis who relocated to L.A.,, where Echols played with Billy Preston and backed Little Richard. Love, a rare interracial rock band, debuted with an energetic reworking of Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s “My Little Red Book." The explosive single “7 and 7 Is,” the brilliant, jazzy second album, Da Capo, and the darkly beautiful, acoustic-orchestral Forever Changes followed. Why did Love wind up in the Doors’ shadow? Why didn't Love tour much? Why were session musicians brought in to start Forever Changes? What role did drugs play in the band’s troubles? How did Echols reunite with Lee in the early 2000s and continue playing Love songs after Lee died of leukemia in 2006? Echols sets the scene.

The Urge Overkill singer/songwriter/bassist/guitarist spoke with Caropop on the 30th anniversary of the swaggering Chicago alt-rock band’s breakthrough album, Saturation (and before the death of powerhouse drummer Blackie Onassis). Leaving behind Chicago’s Touch & Go label (and prompting some hard feelings), Urge signed with Geffen, the label of Nirvana, with whom Urge was touring when that band exploded. Urge enlisted the Butcher Bros. production team known for its hip-hop work and came up with songs that burst from the speakers, such as “Sister Havana” and “Positive Bleeding.” They played with Paul Shaffer’s band on The Late Show with David Letterman, and Quentin Tarantino featured Urge’s cover of Neil Diamond’s “Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon” in Pulp Fiction. All was good, right? Roeser explains how everything played out.

Even if you don’t recognize his name, you should know the music Dave Robinson has brought into the world. As co-founder of Britain’s Stiff Records, Robinson signed (and in some cases managed) Elvis Costello (whom he also helped rename), Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds, Ian Dury, the Damned, the Pogues, Kirsty MacColl, Tracey Ullman and Madness (whose videos he directed). When Island Records bought Stiff and hired Robinson as president, he propelled Frankie Goes to Hollywood and a posthumous Bob Marley into the sales stratosphere. Earlier he had Van Morrison as a flatmate and tour-managed Jimi Hendrix. Now he’s managing and has produced the new album from the British band Hardwicke Circus. This Irish force of nature, one of the music industry’s great storytellers, will give you Reasons to be Cheerful.

Few bands have maintained such consistent vision, quality and stability as Cowboy Junkies. The same people who made the 1986 debut album Whites Off Earth Now!! and the recorded-around-one-mic breakthrough The Trinity Session (1988) also made their new album, Such Ferocious Beauty. Throughout, Michael Timmins has been the primary songwriter and plays quietly roaring guitar leads while his sister Margo supplies hushed, haunting vocals, brother Peter drums and longtime friend Alan Anton plays bass. Michael Timmins discusses what has changed and not changed about his songwriting, how Lou Reed reacted to their version of “Sweet Jane,” the keys to choosing cover songs, how the band falls into a hypnotic groove on stage, and whether they ever were in danger of splintering. Also, are Cowboy Junkies as serious as they appear?

Inventive Devo guitarist Bob Mothersbaugh belongs to one of the band’s two sets of brothers and one set of Bobs. His older brother is Mark Mothersbaugh, and he was Bob 1 to the late Bob Casale’s Bob 2, Gerald Casale’s younger brother. Although Devo became known for synths, its debut was a piledriving guitar album with Bob 1’s playing up front. Bob 1 also sang the “Secret Agent Man” cover, co-wrote key early songs and contributed memorable guitar parts even as sequencers took over. How did that feel? What was David Bowie’s involvement with Devo? What dark impact did the success of “Whip It” have on Bob 1? Have Mark Mothersbaugh and Gerald Casale, who complained about his band co-founder on his earlier Caropop appearance, made peace? Does Devo still have a future?

After his on-the-rise cult band Camper Van Beethoven imploded, singer-songwriter David Lowery formed Cracker, which delivered smart, tuneful, sharp-witted Americana through songs such as “Teen Angst (What the World Needs Now),” “Low” and “Get Off This.” Lowery has continued performing with Cracker and the re-formed Camper, but his most recent works have been autobiographical solo albums, including this year’s Vending Machine, which reflects on his music-biz triumphs and misadventures and why he keeps coming back for more. Lowery also is a leading artists’ rights advocate and a University of Georgia business professor, and he has much to say about the creation of his music, the workings of the industry and why he’d rather release CDs than place his songs on streaming services. (Photo by Jason Thrasher.)

Multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter Ivan Neville has carved out an impressive career of his own, and he has memories: of being a 7-year-old when his father, Aaron Neville, hit No. 2 with “Tell It Like It Is”; of his Uncles Art and then Cyril playing in the quintessential New Orleans funk band the Meters; and of Art, Cyril, Aaron and Charles Neville forming the Neville Brothers. Ivan played in the Neville Brothers too, as well as in Bonnie Raitt’s band and on Rolling Stones and Keith Richards albums. His band Dumpstaphunk carries the New Orleans funk torch, and he just released his first solo album in 19 years, Touch My Soul. What’s it like being a Neville in New Orleans? Is he an optimist after all he’s been through? Ivan Neville tells—and sings—his story like no other. (Photo by Steve Rapport.)

Lenny Kaye has secured his place in rock history as the Patti Smith Group’s longtime guitarist, but he also helped define rock history with one of the most influential compilation albums of all time: Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era 1965–1968. To create that 1972 double album, Kaye pulled together a largely obscure collection psychedelic and garage-rock songs that made a new kind of sense together, from the Electric Prunes’ throbbing “I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night)” to the guitar freakery of the Count Five’s “Psychotic Reaction” to Sagittarius’s gently trippy “My World Fell Down.” Now Kaye has expanded upon his work with a 5-LP Nuggets box released by Rhino on Record Store Day. What were his must-haves this time around? How do these songs hit differently 50-plus years later? How has Nuggets affected Kaye’s own music-making, and how do his writing sessions with Patti Smith go?

In the second half of this free-flowing conversation with producer Brad Wood, he digs into the recording of Whip-Smart, Liz Phair’s follow-up to her groundbreaking debut album Exile in Guyville, and the subsequent tour that never happened—and he tells of his more limited involvement on her third album, whitechocolatespaceegg. He reflects on what went right with Veruca’s Salt’s debut album, American Thighs, and its hit single “Seether,” and what went wrong when Billy Corgan hired him to produce Smashing Pumpkins’ Adore. He also discusses his efforts to let the Bangles be the Bangles on Doll Revolution, his poignant reunion with Veruca Salt, the reason he moved from Chicago to Los Angeles and what a producer should and should not do.

Singer-songwriter Michael McDermott is in a good place now, but what he went through to get there could fill a book and did. His early ‘90s emergence was met with hype, acclaim and public praise from author Stephen King, but his sales figures disappointed, and he spiraled into addiction and self-destruction, even as he kept creating new music. Both lead characters of the poker movie Rounders were named after him, with one resembling him more than the other. If you’ve heard McDermott’s lyrical songs, you won’t be surprised that he is a tremendous storyteller, and he offers great energy, hard-earned wisdom and jaw-dropping tales here. He also relates his fears of forgetting the lyrics to “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Wrigley Field, and, wait, HOW many verses did he write for that new song? (Photo by Darin Back.)

The second half of this lively conversation with the great Graham Parker covers his classic run of ‘70s and ’80s albums, including the first five with the Rumour. What impact did producers Nick Lowe, Mutt Lange, Jack Nitzsche, Jimmy Iovine and Jack Douglas have on his music? Did Parker have any inkling that Squeezing Out Sparks would become so revered? Which of his albums does he consider a “stone old classic”? What’s his issue with The Up Escalator? Why did he need to move on from the Rumour to maximize his growth as a singer-songwriter? Whom was he evoking in his singing on “Wake Up (Next To You),” his one U.S. Top 40 hit? Which of his songs should’ve been a dance hit? This episode hits the spot. (Photo by Dion Ogust.)

From his 1976 debut album with the Rumour, Howlin’ Wind, through the all-time classic Squeezing Out Sparks through his 1980s commercial peaks and much excellent work since then, Graham Parker stands as one of the all-time great singer/songwriter/performers. In Part 1 of a lively, insightful conversation, Parker recalls growing up in Deepcut (!), England, and falling under the spell of the Beatles, the Stones, American R&B and a certain Motown singer he would try to emulate. He was a hippie singer-songwriter before developing his “nasty voice” and creating scorching albums with the Rumour. He recounts his decades-later reunion with that killer band, their appearance in Judd Apatow’s This Is 40 and why he is working with other musicians again. And he lets us know what he really thinks of the term “pub rock.” (Photo by Dion Ogust.)

Jennifer Egan is a rare novelist whose work is innovative, fiercely intelligent, emotionally potent and fun to read—and she’s equally thoughtful and provocative in conversation. She won the Pulitzer Prize for A Visit from the Goon Squad (2010), and The Candy House, just out in paperback, made Barack Obama’s list of favorite 2022 books. Those novels’ interconnected stories and characters occupy the same universe, but should someone read one book before the other? Does she start her novels with an idea, characters, plot or storytelling strategy? Has she ever learned anything useful from a review? Why does she think every college student should be an English major? And what did she hear from David Bowie about Goon Squad? (Photo by Pieter M. Van Hattem.)

The Bangles specialized in intricate harmonies and tough, taut, tuneful guitar songs yet broke through with relatively glossy versions of “Manic Monday,” “If She Knew What She Wants” and “Walk Like an Egyptian.” Drummer/singer Debbi Peterson recounts the female foursome’s formation in L.A. with her sister, Vicki Peterson, and Susanna Hoffs, both of whom wrote, sang and played guitar. Debbi sang “Going Down to Liverpool” on the wonderful debut album, All Over the Place, but had a hard time with producer David Kahne. Label pressure increased on Different Light, with band members having to audition to sing the “Walk Like an Egyptian” verses. Why did the Bangles split after their third album and power-ballad smash “Eternal Flame”? Would they have been treated differently if they weren’t women? Is the Bangles’ tale triumphant or something more bittersweet?

Cary Baker was a Chicago music writer and fanzine creator who made a good impression on R.E.M. and wound up running publicity for the band and its label, I.R.S. Records. There he also worked with the Go-Go’s, General Public, Fine Young Cannibals, the Alarm, Concrete Blonde and Timbuk 3, whom he got booked onto Saturday Night Live. After R.E.M. left the label, Baker did too, moving to Capitol Records and working with Paul McCartney, Tina Turner, Bonnie Raitt, the Smithereens and other big names. Eventually he formed his own firm, Conqueroo (a Chicago blues reference), and represented acts including the one that changed his life as a college student: Cheap Trick. Baker recently retired after 42 years of adventures in the publicity game, and he has stories to tell.

When Adrian Belew was brought in to record his mind-bending guitar solos on what became Taking Heads’ landmark 1980 album Remain in Light, he felt an unprecedented amount of freedom. He was presented not with almost-finished songs but unstructured grooves that felt like vast open spaces for him to color in. That he did, brilliantly, and Belew and Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads are now revisiting this album with a live tour. Of course, Belew’s resume covers a lot more ground, including guitar wizardry with Frank Zappa, David Bowie, Paul Simon and Nine Inch Nails, his stint as lead singer/songwriter of King Crimson and his own solo career. How did each of these collaborations stretch him? And was he really asked to replace David Byrne in Talking Heads?

Peter Case is a singer-songwriter who has covered a tremendous amount of ground, both physically and stylistically, over a long, impressive career. He played pop-punk with the Nerves, power-pop with the Plimsouls (“A Million Miles Away”), Americana as a solo artist before Americana was a thing, and many styles since then, including the pounding piano blues of his upcoming Doctor Moan. Here he recalls days of scraping by as a street musician, tells jaw-dropping L.A. stories featuring the Go-Go’s and Jerry Lee Lewis, recounts how Blondie came to cover the Nerves’ “Hanging on the Telephone,” recalls the Plimsouls' appearance in Valley Girl and relives his dreams, disappointments (with a cameo by the label exec who also rejected Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot) and triumphs, This is a great conversation for songwriters and music fans alike.

Denny Laine was the one full-time Wings member whose last name isn’t McCartney—as well as a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee with the Moody Blues. Wings went through multiple lineup changes during the 1970s, and for Band on the Run and much of London Town, the band was down to just Paul and Linda McCartney and Laine. Which Wings lineup does Laine consider the strongest? What was co-writing with McCartney like? How did they come to write and record “Mull of Kintyre,” and were they surprised when it became, at the time, the biggest-ever British hit single? Did they work better without an outside producer? Did McCartney’s cannabis arrest in Japan mark the end of Wings? Laine co-wrote “No Words” but has plenty of good ones in this Caropop conversation.

David Pasquesi is an actor who makes an impression even if you don’t know his name. He brightens The Book of Boba Fett as the sly, untrustworthy Majordomo. He’s the smiling, conniving Veep ex-husband Andrew Meyer. He’s the ever-searching alchemist Blaise St. John on the cult-fave series Lodge 49. You also may have caught him on She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (another cheerful scoundrel), At Home with Amy Sedaris (Knife Man Tony!) and in movies including Groundhog Day. For more than 20 years, he has performed the wholly improvised TJ and Dave show with fellow Second City alumnus T.J. Jagodowski. How does Pasquesi balance acting and improv? Why does he play so many shifty characters? Will he attend Star Wars conventions now? Pasquesi is quick-witted and revealing in this Caropop conversation, recorded live at the club Space in Evanston. Don't miss actor Michael Shannon's question at the end.

Robyn Hitchcock has been writing surreal, catchy, muscular, gentle, haunting, melodic pop rock songs from his late-'70s/early '80s work with the Soft Boys through his excellent new album, Shufflemania! He still sounds young yet digs into aging and mortality in his music and this conversation. He also discusses whether he absorbs or echoes such influences as Syd Barrett and John Lennon, how his collaboration with XTC's Andy Partridge worked, what his live-performance pet peeve is and whether inspiration more often finds him or forces him to seek it out. Hitchcock remains as inventive, imaginative and thoughtful as they come.

Brendan Benson is an accomplished solo artist who also happens to co-lead a popular band, the Raconteurs. He'd released three albums of tuneful, smart rock when he played an unfinished song for his Detroit friend Jack White. The White Stripes frontman completed it, they recorded it with another band’s rhythm section, and a supergroup was born, along with its first hit, “Steady, As She Goes.” Now Benson lives in Nashville, where he recorded his excellent eighth solo album, Low Key, and he also collaborates with other musicians, some country, some not (including Robyn Hitchcock). How do those co-writing gigs work? Why can they be embarrassing? Has Nashville rubbed off on his songwriting? Does he consider his work to be autobiographical? Will he ever tour again on his own or with the Raconteurs? Benson is as insightful in conversation as he is in song. (Photo by Guillaume Lechat.)

Mastering engineer Kevin Gray returns to Caropop to break down mono vs. stereo and other issues of sound. Gray has been remastering Blue Note’s acclaimed Tone Poet and Classic Vinyl series, including separate mono and stereo releases of John Coltrane’s Blue Train. Which does Gray prefer and why? Are there time periods when mono is likely to be superior to stereo and vice versa? How are the rules different for jazz and rock? What accounts for a recording’s soundstage—how spread out the instruments sound?

Gray also discusses whether the Beatles revamps are revisionist history, whether electronically reprocessed stereo is ever any good, the differences between the Tone Poet and Classic Vinyl releases and his work at Cohearent Audio on funky ’70s recordings for Craft Records’ Jazz Dispensary label and Intervention’s stunning reissue of Joe Jackson’s Night and Day. Then there's his own label's upcoming first release: a jazz album recorded at his home studio modeled after legendary engineer Rudy Van Gelder's Hackensack set-up.

Singer-songwriter Vonda Shepard played herself on TV’s Ally McBeal, performing at the characters’ favorite piano bar, and she co-wrote and sang the show’s theme song, “Searchin’ My Soul.” But even with multiple Ally McBeal-tie-in albums, there’s been much more to Shepard’s career than the show. She performed her first gig as a 14-year-old, toured in Rickie Lee Jones’ band and duetted with Dan Hill on the 1987 smash “Can’t We Try.” Years of development with Warner Brothers led to her self-titled debut album, but the label dropped her, Ally McBeal creator David E. Kelley boosted her, and she kept writing songs and releasing albums, including this year’s Red Light, Green Light (produced by husband Mitchell Froom). She reflects on her career's many twists and turns in this lively, wide-ranging Caropop conversation. (Photo by Greg Shappell & Nick Leopold.)

Guitarist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter was an original Steely Dan member who played on the band's indelible first three albums: Can’t Buy a Thrill, Countdown to Ecstasy and Pretzel Logic. Those are his memorable solos on “My Old School” and “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number.” When Steely Dan quit touring, he found more success with the Doobie Brothers and eventually brought in singer Michael McDonald, who pushed that band in a more soulful, keyboards-heavy direction. Skunk left to do more studio and touring work and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with the Doobies. After all these years, he finally released his first-ever solo album, Speed of Heat. Oh, and in his "day job," he games out war scenarios for the U.S. government. He has a lot to reel in in this ear-opening Caropop conversation.

Nora Dunn is a smart, funny, very talented actor and writer who has put up with much bad behavior and isn’t afraid to call it out. Despite all of her excellent work that followed, she feels like she’ll always be associated with Saturday Night Live. She and Jan Hooks were the lounge-singing Sweeney Sisters, she played talk-show host Pat Stevens, and she famously boycotted an episode hosted by comedian Andrew Dice Clay because she argued the show was normalizing someone who reveled in the abuse of women. How did Lorne Michaels punish her at the SNL 40th anniversary? Which legendary director jammed something down her blouse while she was vying for a role? Dunn knows how to tell a story, and she’s still calling it out.

Kelly Hogan is fantastic singer who sounds equally at home singing lead or providing sublime harmonies with Mavis Staples, Neko Case, the Decemberists and her fellow members of the Flat Five. She delivered a torchy jazz-twang-rock hybrid with the Jody Grind, her early ’90s band from Atlanta’s Cabbagetown neighborhood, before moving to Chicago and proving in many contexts that she can sing anything. Chatting in person with her cuddly dogs Eddie and Ernie at her side, Hogan tells stories of tragedy and comedy, the futility of trying to abandon music in Chicago and the joy of discovering the perfect harmony partner. Everyone loves working with Hogan, and when you hear her sing—or talk—you understand why.

Soul singer Bettye LaVette has had an epic career. She recorded her first single "My Man — He's a Lovin' Man" as a 16-year-old Detroiter in 1962, and its success put her on tour with Ben E. King, Clyde McPhatter and a young Otis Redding. Yet it was another 20 years before her first album was released and another 20 years before her career finally caught fire and the accolades and Grammy nominations started pouring in. How did she become one of our most treasured song interpreters? How did she overcome her “buzzard luck”? And what did Bob Dylan do to tick her off? Don’t underestimate or mess with Bettye LaVette. (Photo by Joseph A. Rosen.)

Please enjoy this brief Happy Thanksgiving message from the Caropop team, plus a countdown of the Top 10 most downloaded episodes and a preview of next week's guest. Happy Thanksgiving and thanks, everybody!

Drummer Stan Demeski has held down the crazy rhythms of the Feelies for four decades, with a stint in the alt-rock supergroup Luna in between. He replaced the late Anton Fier in the Feelies and played in the related bands the Trypes, Yung Wu and the Willies before appearing on his first Feelies album, the classic The Good Earth. Demeski takes us inside the idiosyncrasies and dynamics of this propulsive, percussive group as they appear in Jonathan Demme’s Something Wild, jump to a major label, take a 16-year break and resume making music together. He also recounts his Luna experience, how that ended and what it was like for him, a huge Velvet Underground fan, to tour with Lou Reed.

As Part 2 of this Caropop conversation with this astute producer/label owner begins, Fairport Convention has reached its peak, but lead singer Sandy Denny is suddenly out. Did she jump or was she pushed? We also hear about Boyd’s Hollywood stint, the story of how "Dueling Banjos" became a fluke hit and his role in Aretha Franklin’s Amazing Grace film and why it sat on the shelf for decades. Then there’s how he rescued Richard and Linda Thompson’s Shoot Out the Lights, why he stopped producing solo Richard Thompson, and how he dealt with the non-egos of R.E.M. to move the band forward with Fables of the Reconstruction. There's also a song about a sending a camel to bed.

When Joe Boyd moved to London in the mid-‘60s, he had no idea how he’d change the music world. He opened the soon-to-be-legendary underground UFO Club and produced the first single by its house band, Pink Floyd. He also produced Fairport Convention, which rebounded from a tragic crash and basically invented British folk rock; the Incredible String Band, whose Woodstock appearance remains Boyd’s biggest professional regret; and Nick Drake, who was plagued by his lack of commercial success in his short lifetime. And that takes us just into the early ‘70s, with adventures with Aretha Franklin, smash singles involving banjos and a camel, and landmark work with Richard and Linda Thompson, R.E.M. and many others to follow. Enjoy Part 1.

If all Klaus Voormann had done was design the cover of the Beatles’ Revolver, his place in rock history would be secure. The band needed artwork to match their bold musical leap forward, and he delivered striking black-and-white line drawings of his friends, with photos woven through their flowing hair. He recalls hearing the mind-blowing new music in the studio and struggling to draw one particular Beatle. Voormann also was Manfred Mann’s bassist and played with all four Beatles, including on John Lennon’s early solo singles and albums, All Things Must Pass and Ringo. He played bass on Harry Nilsson’s “Without You,” Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain” and Randy Newman’s “Short People" as well. He’s been here, there and everywhere and wants to tell you.

Dave Davies is constantly searching for answers beyond ordinary human comprehension, so a conversation with the trailblazing Kinks guitarist isn’t just a chance to geek out on music questions. We dig into the band's past, present and future, including the songs he wrote (“Death of a Clown,” “Strangers”…), the indelible harmonies he sang and the new box set showcasing Muswell Hillbillies and Everybody’s in Show-Biz. We also discuss his stroke recovery and whether it’s time to retire talk of a Kinks’ reunion. But beyond the songs and dynamics with older brother Ray, Dave Davies is exploring the higher power of love and what it means to be alive. We’re all living on a thin line, after all.

(Photo by Rebecca G. Wilson)

Glam band Slade ruled England in the early 1970s, with six No. 1 singles, including “Mama Weer All Crazee Now,” “Cum on Feel the Noize” and “Merry Xmas Everybody.” Drummer Don Powell supplied the stomping beat but in 1973 was in a horrific car crash that killed his girlfriend and left him seriously injured and with amnesia. He returned to the band within two months. Powell takes us through Slade’s early skinhead phase, the glam peak, his recovery and the band’s frustrating attempts to crack the U.S. market—which finally happened after Quiet Riot had a top-5 hit with its 1983 “Noize” cover. Powell also explains wot’s up with those phonetic spellings and recalls how Sharon Osbourne and a shotgun prompted him to quit drinking.

From the Young Fresh Fellows through the Minus 5, the Baseball Project and many more, Scott McCaughey has been in a lot of bands. He also played with R.E.M. for years and has collaborated with Wilco and others who love working with him. In late 2017 he suffered a stroke, landed in the ICU and worked his way back to the stage within months amid an outpouring of affection and support. How did Peter Buck help him rebound? How did McCaughey feel about the attention? How does he feel, period? With new albums by the Baseball Project and the No One awaiting release, he also digs into his songwriting process. McCaughey goes deep in this first episode of the second year of Caropop.

To cap a year’s worth of Caropop episodes, we’ve got an original Beach Boy, Al Jardine. He provided perfect harmonies to this band of brothers and a cousin; he sang lead on “Help Me, Rhonda,” “I Know There’s an Answer,” “Vegetables” and “Cotton Fields”; and he brought in “Sloop John B” and wrote "California Saga/California." At 80 and still sounding great, Jardine tours with his own Endless Summer Band and Brian Wilson and has a solo album, A Postcard from California. How did his mom give the Beach Boys its start? What did he think of the band’s use of studio musicians? When did he realize Brian suffered from mental illness? Why was there no 60th anniversary reunion tour this year? Jardine knows there’s an answer…

Welcome to pub rock! Brinsley Schwarz is the namesake of the band Brinsley Schwarz and guitarist for Graham Parker and the Rumour. The band Brinsley Schwarz, which featured songs written and sung by his schoolmate, Nick Lowe, began with a burst of bad publicity—which he recounts blow by blow—but flourished as the quintessential British pub-rock band. Yet not even Lowe’s “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding” or a tour with Paul McCartney and Wings could break the band commercially, so it split. Schwarz went on to form the Rumour (with last week’s Caropop guest, Steve Goulding), which became known for backing Graham Parker. Now he’s creating Brinsley Schwarz albums as himself. Schwarz knows how to tell a story, and he’s got some great ones.

Drummer Steve Goulding has brought his crisp, distinct style to more great songs than you may realize. As a member of Graham Parker and the Rumour, he played on Howlin’ Wind through the classic Squeezing Out Sparks. He demonstrated his reggae chops on Elvis Costello’s “Watching the Detectives” and powered Nick Lowe’s Jesus of Cool/Pure Pop for Now People while earning a songwriting credit on “I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass.” He had one high-profile performance with David Bowie, and since the mid-‘80s, with a break and a Poi Dog Pondering stint thrown in there, he has been driving the many beats of the Mekons. Goulding takes us through the up and downs, breakups and reunions, colorful personalities and overbearing producers, with great humor, candor and, of course, a steady hand.

Steve Wynn is singer-songwriter-guitarist for the Dream Syndicate and the Baseball Project, with a prolific solo career thrown in there as well. He’s also one of the most thoughtful people in the rock world, someone who was saved from journalism by discovering punk rock yet has retained his searching spirit when it comes to making music. He takes us back to the Paisley Underground and the creation of The Days of Wine and Roses through his solo work, the all-star Baseball Project, and his current, even more exploratory version of the Dream Syndicate. He also goes deep into how he writes for each project and recalls his reaction to hearing that the Bangles' "Hero Takes a Fall" was about him. (Photo by Charles Cherney)

Despite some identifiable influences (Velvets, Modern Lovers, Eno…), the Feelies are a band like no other. Their sound is crisp, their playing precise and explosive, their songs indelible in an often-mysterious way. Glenn Mercer and Bill Million provide the jittery, chiming guitars, while Brenda Sauter delivers melodic bass lines amid the propulsive thunder of Stan Demeski's drums and Dave Weckerman's percussion. Singer-songwriter-lead-guitarist Mercer, who views his voice as just another instrument, takes us through the Feelies’ pursuit of its unique vision over 40-plus years, including such brilliant albums as Crazy Rhythms and The Good Earth, that Something Wild appearance, an early shakeup and later breakup, and a triumphant last roundup that will last...how long?

Pylon lead singer Vanessa Briscoe Hay never thought she’d still be talking about—and singing the songs of—this brilliant, groundbreaking Athens, Ga., band more than 40 years after it began recording. Appearing on the scene between the B-52’s and R.E.M., Pylon was conceived as a sort of art project by University of Georgia students who took inspiration from the textile factory where three of them worked. Briscoe Hay, whom Paste magazine named one of the “25 Best Frontwomen of All Time," says the band was a machine, and her job was to fit into the spaces. Although Pylon disbanded (for the first time) after just two albums, Gyrate and Chomp, its taut, propulsive music sounds as potent as when it was recorded. Briscoe Hay turns up the volume on this unique, timeless band's story.

Go-Go’s drummer Gina Schock brought the beat to “We Got the Beat” and elevated that band with her powerful, disciplined attack. She was hooked on muscular rock with her first concert, a one-time-only double bill of the Who and Led Zeppelin. After touring behind a star of John Waters' Pink Flamingos, Schock joined the Go-Go's, and that band took off. How did her fierce work ethic go over with her bandmates? What were recording sessions like? What made the distribution of songwriting credits and finances so unfair? In Schock’s new coffee table book, Made in Hollywood: All Access with the Go-Go’s, bassist Kathy Valentine says, “The drummer rules the band.” The passionate, enthusiastic Schock rules Caropop as well.

When drummer Gilson Lavis joined Squeeze, he became the band’s most experienced musician, having previously played with Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis and Dolly Parton. Starting with the gallop of Squeeze’s debut single, “Take Me I’m Yours,” he powered such undeniable Glenn Tilbrook/Chris Difford songs as “Up the Junction,” “Cool for Cats,” “Pulling Mussels (From the Shell),” “Another Nail in My Heart,” “In Quintessence” and “Tempted.” But the group dynamics grew tricky, his drinking knocked him out of the band twice, and after he got sober for good, he joined old bandmate Jools Holland’s Rhythm and Blues Orchestra and became an in-demand portrait painter. Lavis flips the Hourglass on an epic career here.

If you’re a fan of Philadelphia soul, you’ve enjoyed the work of Dexter Wansel. He wrote for and produced such Philadelphia International artists as Lou Rawls, Billy Paul, Patti LaBelle, Teddy Pendergrass and the Jacksons, and he conducted and played with MFSB, whose “TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)” was the “Soul Train” theme but wasn't called that for a reason he explains. As a kid working at Philadelphia’s Uptown Theater, Wansel assisted Stevie Wonder, James Brown and other acts. Later he got studio gigs as an early adopter of synthesizers, and his debut album, the much-sampled Life on Mars, showcases his jazz-funk chops and a lifelong passion for space. His stories and memories are a blast.

Drummer Freda Love Smith recently hung up her sticks after a long career playing in bands from Blake Babies to Antenna, Mysteries of Life and the Sunshine Boys. She also wrote Red Velvet Underground, a perfectly titled memoir that covers her rock ‘n’ roll life and her passion for cooking. Here she reflects on growing up in Bloomington, Indiana, and teaming up with John Strohm and, later in Boston, Juliana Hatfield to form Blake Babies. How did Allen Ginsberg come to name the band? Why didn’t that band last, and how did she feel about Hatfield’s solo success? What supernatural force named Antenna? How hard was the decision to retire? What’s she writing now? And why are rock ‘n’ food so entwined?

Drummer Linda Pitmon brings her abundance of power, groove and talent to the supergroups the Baseball Project and Filthy Friends plus other bands. Growing up in Minneapolis, she banged on Tupperware to replicate the fills of her favorite songs. She had indie success with Zuzu’s Petals, then moved to New York, where she connected musically and personally with Steve Wynn, now her husband. She tells of the joy of recording and performing songs about baseball with Wynn, Scott McCaughey and R.E.M.’s Peter Buck and Mike Mills. She also previews the Baseball Project’s upcoming album, produced by Mitch Easter, and shares how she has thrived in the male-dominated world of rock drummers.

Soul jazz organist Ronnie Foster works as a solo artist but also played on Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life (“Summer Soft”), George Benson’s Breezin’ and albums by the Jacksons, Robert Flack, Grant Green and others. His first album, the scorching Two Headed Freap, came out in 1972 on Blue Note Records and was just remastered by Kevin Gray. Fifty years later he’s got a new Blue Note album, Reboot, his first release in 36 years. He’s also got great stories that cover a half century’s worth of playing, writing, producing, falling in love with the Hammond B3 and becoming best friends with fellow Taurus Stevie Wonder. You’ll also learn what a “Freap” is.

Peter Holsapple is the dB’s sole-singer songwriter when the band finally lands a U.S. record deal, but the excellent Like This is undercut by issues with the mix and distribution. Recording and releasing The Sound of Music is a fraught experience as well, and when the dB’s finally split, Holsapple accepts an offer to tour and then to record with R.E.M. He plays on R.E.M.’s breakthrough single (“Losing My Religion”) and album (Out of Time), but as he recounts in heartbreaking detail, a dispute over songwriting credits ends his relationship with these friends for years. Holsapple is eloquent and gracious as he describes the many industry challenges he has faced while continuing to pursue his love of music.

You may have seen Peter Holsapple playing live with R.E.M. or Hootie and the Blowfish, but you should know his own music. He co-led and then led the dB's, writing and singing such smart, tuneful songs as "Black and White," "Big Brown Eyes," "Living a Lie," "Neverland," "Amplifier" and "Love Is for Lovers." He also has played in the Continental Drifters, made three excellent duo albums with Chris Stamey, and toured and recorded under his own name. In part one of our conversation, he recalls being inspired while listening to Chicago's WCFL-AM from North Carolina, describes the beginnings of the dB's and Stamey's departure, and offers deep insights and colorful stories about maintaining the creative life of a songwriter/musician.

Spoon's Jim Eno doesn’t appear to be doing anything fancy when he drums, yet his deceptively groovy playing makes you want to move. He and frontman Britt Daniel, the two remaining original members, keep Spoon sounding unmistakably like Spoon amid the band's constant growth, changes and innovations. Much of the band’s guitar-heavy latest album, Lucifer on the Sofa, was recorded at Eno’s Austin, Tex., studio, with Eno having established himself as a producer with Spoon and artists such as Alejandro Escovedo (and he's got a fun story about working alongside Bowie producer Tony Visconti). Eno takes us inside Spoon’s creative process, how Daniel presents the songs, how Eno approaches playing them, how a seemingly straightforward rocker like “Held” is driven by experimentation and how the band learned to be happy again.

In audiophile communities it’s common to read raves about “the Bellman Cut” of an album because if Chris Bellman mastered it, it probably sounds great. One 2021 Record Store Day release even came with a sticker boasting “a killer lacquer cut by Chris Bellman.” How did he go from working on disco-era dance tracks to having the original masters of the first five Van Halen albums land on his desk? What impact did mastering Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill have on his career? What was special about the Tom Petty Wildflowers recordings he recently mastered? And is his job to make an album sound "better" than ever or just like the original?

The continuation of our conversation with the Devo co-leader goes deeper and darker into the band's history and our ominous cultural landscape. What caused Devo to split the first time, and why does Gerald Casale feel like he must do the heavy lifting now? What does he think of Mark Mothersbaugh's movie-scoring career? What was his experience directing videos by Cars, Rush and Foo Fighters? What are the stories behind his Jihad Jerry solo project and Devo's energetic reunion album, Something for Everybody? How big a hole did his late brother Bob Casale leave? Can we ever expect to hear new Devo music? Casale pulls no punches.

Devo’s Gerald Casale helped conceive the concept of “de-evolution,” but even he didn’t think things would get so bad. He’s also not happy about that Rock and Roll Hall of Fame snub, and he has frustrations with band co-leader Mark Mothersbaugh. Devo’s striking visuals and presentation, often conceived by Casale, may lead some to overlook this groundbreaking band’s power. We dig into the music here, how Casale and Mothersbaugh wrote those songs and who did what. He also discusses Devo’s Saturday Night Live debut (and how Neil Young factored in). Did the band wear yellow jumpsuits and red Energy Domes into the studio? You’ll find out.

Filmmaker Judd Apatow listens to other people as much as he projects his own voice. His new documentary, George Carlin’s American Dream (HBO, HBO Max), is a complex, intimate portrait of one of the most impactful comedians ever. His new book, Sicker in the Head: More Conversations about Life and Comedy, finds him sharing tales of pandemic life, depression and expression with creative people including David Letterman, Hanna Gadsby and Lin-Manuel Miranda. In his latest comedy, The Bubble, Apatow attempts to reflect the madness of the pandemic in real time. What drives all this activity? How does his constant outreach affect his creativity? How does he feel about his daughters joining the family business? Is he working on This is 50? This conversation about life and comedy covers a lot of ground.

Delvon Lamarr can play almost every instrument but one, but he’s happiest behind his Hammond organ powering soul-jazz instrumentals that suggest what might happen if Booker T. and the MG’s met the Meters on a rocket into the 21st Century. The Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio makes hot, groovy music with seemingly telepathic interplay. Why does Lamarr prefer the trio format, even if it requires him to play bass on the organ? What’s the secret to naming instrumentals (and the story behind “Pull Your Pants Up”)? How much of his writing springs from improvisation? How important is melody? Shouldn’t more bands be making “feel good music”? Lamarr is a great talker and player. Enjoy.

Chef Sarah Stegner is not only one of the most talented chefs in the Chicago area but also among the most impactful. A two-time James Beard Award-winner, she scaled fine dining’s heights at the Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton in Chicago, then decided she’d rather share with more people her vision of how ingredients and guests should be treated, so she opened Prairie Grass Café. She also co-founded the trailblazing Green City Market and advocates for women in restaurants through The Abundance Setting. She has no use for yelling in the kitchen and offers thoughtful ideas on how to push the industry forward. When she talks, other chefs listen, and when she cooks, bring your appetite.

Jeff Murphy makes brilliant power pop with his brother John and their friend Gary Klebe in the band Shoes. They began by recording at home in Zion, Ill., released indelible songs (“Tomorrow Night,” "Your Imagination") and albums (Present Tense, Tongue Twister) for Elektra and went into heavy rotation on MTV when the channel debuted in 1981. Then they discovered they were better off recording and releasing their own music. How can a band thrive with three equal singer-songwriters? Why are record labels so dumb? How much musical knowledge is needed to create such catchy tunes? What went right and wrong with Material Issue, whom Jeff produced? Tap your toes and listen.

Chris Stamey played with Mitch Easter and Alex Chilton before forming the dB’s and producing Pylon and other bands, but he has created a formidable body of his own work. His songwriting and arranging have grown in sophistication and skill, and he has written an illuminating memoir, A Spy in the House of Loud: New York Songs and Stories, that immerses us in his artistic development amid that city’s transformative rock scene. Here he talks about Chilton, the dB’s, music theory, the smell of analog tape, and those lightning-bolt moments when a new song becomes a precious secret in your head. This conversation is like a master class about songwriting and creativity.

Justin Roberts is a first-rate songwriter who happens to make music for kids. His songs are intuitive, funny and catchy, and four of his albums are Grammy nominated, including 2020’s Wild Life, the first he wrote after becoming a parent himself. Talking in his sunny living room, he digs into the craft of songwriting and the business of releasing his own music. How does he distinguish between songs he writes for kids and adults? How can he thrive when his audience keeps growing older? How has parenthood changed his work? As an added treat, he performs two new songs. You don’t have to be a parent or kid to enjoy this Caropop conversation.

Nashville-based mastering engineer Ryan Smith works on high-profile vinyl releases such as recent albums by Adele and Taylor Swift, but he’s become renowned for the fantastic-sounding reissues he has mastered. As a member of the Vinyl Me, Please record club, I have become happily familiar with the phrase “AAA Lacquers Cut From The Original Analog Tapes by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound.” In this illuminating conversation, Smith discusses his approach to an optimal recording, the level of detail possible in original pressings vs. new versions, the merits of black vs. colored vinyl, and the relative importance of where lacquers are cut vs. where albums are pressed. Listen…

Drummer Terry Chambers was the motor that powered XTC through its first five albums before frontman Andy Partridge broke down and abruptly ended the band’s touring days. Chambers left soon afterward, moved to Australia and was away from music for three decades—in part trying to pay off the massive debt from that cancelled tour. Yet recently he moved back to Swindon, England, and teamed with XTC songwriter/bassist Colin Moulding on a new band, TC&I. When Moulding pulled the plug on that project, Chambers decided to tour XTC songs anyway—in EXTC. With candor and good humor, he discusses his playing and reveals what it was like to be in and then out of XTC—and who's the biggest obstacle to a possible reunion.

Whether you consider him country, bluegrass, folk or rock, Robbie Fulks is one of our greatest songwriters and an awfully talented guitarist and singer as well. He can be satirical and biting but also can pierce your heart, as the penetrating character studies on his albums Gone Away Backward and the Grammy-nominated Upland Stories have done. Having long lived in Chicago, Robbie moved to Los Angeles a few years ago. Why would he do that? He also talks about his writing process—does he write when he doesn’t have to?—his 30 Rock guest spot, his love of collaboration and his poolside meeting with another accomplished singer-songwriter because apparently that’s what one does in L.A.

Some songs you enjoy in the background while others take up residence in your bones. Sam Phillips’ music is in the latter category. She was Christian pop artist Leslie Phillips until she outgrew those constraints and, as Sam, began releasing such transcendent songs as “Holding On to the Earth” and “I Need Love” and wonderful albums such as the spirited The Indescribable Wow, the tour de force Martinis and Bikinis and the intimate Fan Dance. What threat did she make to get released from her Christian label? How did she wind up playing a mute villain in Die Hard with a Vengeance? How is she still searching for the euphoric? She’s as perceptive and spellbinding in conversation as in song.

Colin Blunstone has one of the sweetest, most distinct voices in rock, yet his band, the Zombies, has a bizarre history. It broke through with “She’s Not There” and “Tell Her No,” then went three years before the release of its second album, the masterful Odessey and Oracle. By then the Zombies had split, and when “Time of the Season” became a hit almost a year later, fake versions of the band, including one featuring members of a soon-to-be-famous group, toured the U.S. Now Blunstone and songwriter/keyboardist Rod Argent are Zombies again, and in a lively, good-humored conversation, Blunstone recounts his spat with Argent over "Time of the Season" and a rollercoaster career that led to a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction.

He’s been known as Miami Steve, Little Steven and Steve/Steven/Stevie Van Zandt. He’s been Bruce Springsteen’s and Tony Soprano’s No. 2 guy, the artistic force behind Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, the leader of his own Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul and the star of Netflix’s Lilyhammer. He united rockers and rappers to battle South African apartheid with “Sun City,” oversees three satellite radio stations and a record label, wrote the memoir Unrequited Infatuations and he wishes he’d done more. Why does Stevie Van Zandt say the '70s were the worst time to record? Does he think Springsteen's concerts are too long? Why is he so frustrated? No one could tell this story like he does.

The Mekons, the Waco Brothers, Four Lost Souls, the Pine Valley Cosmonauts—those are just some of Jon Langford’s bands, and he’s an accomplished visual artist to boot. Since moving to Chicago from England almost 30 years ago, Langford has become one of the city’s greatest assets, and during the pandemic he has performed constantly in support of small clubs and other good causes. He recalls the influence of reggae and country music on the early British punk scene, how the Mekons never were in a riot until they were, how the band took on Led Zeppelin, and how much he misses the late Wacos drummer Joe Camarillo. He’s also performs two new songs JUST FOR YOU. Listen and enjoy.

When singer-songwriter Alex Chilton and drummer Jody Stephens played their first Big Star concert in almost 20 years in 1993, Stephens said it was the first time the band had performed before a paying audience that actually knew their songs. This soulful Memphis power-pop group’s initial three albums—#1 Record, Radio City and Third/Sister Lovers—barely were heard upon release but now stand as all-time greats. Stephens, the original lineup’s sole survivor and one of rock’s good guys, recalls the contrasting brilliance and instability of Chilton and original co-leader Chris Bell, Chilton’s instrument-smashing blow-up with bassist Andy Hummel, and the inspired work that led the Replacements’ Paul Westerberg to sing, “I never travel far without a little Big Star!” He's also got a great Ringo story...

If you pay close attention to the vinyl world, you know the name of Kevin Gray. He’s been mastering recordings since the early 1970s, and his name is on some of the best-sounding reissues being released, including albums by Blue Note jazz artists, Aretha Franklin, T-Rex, the Kinks, John Prine and a much-sought-after version of Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon. What distinguishes his work from other mastering engineers, such as previous Caropop guest Bernie Grundman? Does a great master require an all-analog source? What does he think of half-speed mastering? How long does he take to master an album? Does he share Grundman's appreciation for CDs? Does he agree with Grundman that recordings on quarter-inch tape sound better than those on half-inch tape? We’re digging deep, so listen, learn and enjoy.

Camper Van Beethoven bassist Victor Krummenacher is a standout player in a standout band that was peaking when it imploded. This former Wired art director has a journalist’s eye for detail as he recalls how this inventive group sprung from a shambling Southern California scene, covered miles of stylistic ground, recorded songs such as “Take the Skinheads Bowling” and "Pictures of Matchstick Men” (a radio-ready cover the label ordered up for Key Lime Pie) but could not sustain the happy energy of its music. Does he regret leaving in the middle of the subsequent European tour? How did he feel about Camper frontman David Lowery’s subsequent band, Cracker? How did Camper mend fences? Krummenacher, who also has released 10 solo albums, has tales to tell.

Amy Landecker is a working actor of many talents. She was Sarah Pfefferman on the Emmy-winning series Transparent, plays detective Nancy Costello on the Showtime series Your Honor and made an indelible impression as the heavy-lidded Mrs. Samsky in the Coen Brothers’ A Serious Man. She has done tons of voiceover work and is skilled in “Primitive Sound Emanation”—an extremely loud monkey screech YOU WILL HEAR in this conversation. She also discusses the script she's writing, how COVID recently hit her and her husband Bradley Whitford and cost them roles, and how growing up the daughter of a Chicago radio legend helped prepare her for life in Hollywood. Amy Landecker is one of those actors everyone likes and respects. Join the club.

In Part 2 of our Caropop conversation, we dive into the most famous album that Steve Albini produced, Nirvana’s In Utero. Which version does he consider to be definitive? Why does he think the controversy over his mixes, with the two singles remixed by Scott Litt, was overblown and reflects a misunderstanding of how musicians think? How did he feel about creating a new In Utero mix with the surviving band members 20 years later? Also: Do fellow producers resent him for not taking artist royalties and, in theory, driving down rates? And after years of being outspoken, has Steve Albini become a mellow guy? You be the judge.

Steve Albini raised his profile while recording Nirvana, the Pixies, the Breeders, P.J. Harvey and more, but he never became part of the rock machine. He works only on analog equipment, refuses to accept producer royalties and takes pride in remaining accessible to a wide variety of artists. Part 1 of this Caropop conversation takes place at his Chicago recording studio, Electrical Audio, as he discusses analog vs. digital technology, whether the digital revolution has been more of a blessing or curse, whether the industry has become more or less exploitative of artists, and which band he’d especially love to record. Always sharp and provocative, Steve Albini pushes you to think deeper about the lasting power of music.

When Dave Gregory joined XTC in 1979, he transformed the band through his muscular, melodic guitar playing, occasional keyboards and, on "1000 Umbrellas," a string arrangement. Gregory always found ways to elevate singer-guitarist Andy Partridge’s and bassist Colin Moulding’s tuneful songs, such as “Generals and Majors” and “Senses Working Overtime.” But Gregory, frustrated by Partridge’s controlling ways, quit in 1999, and the band hasn’t released new material in more than 20 years. Although all four members of the classic lineup now live in Swindon, England, they don’t see one another. But Gregory remembers much as he takes us through the creative explosion and eventual implosion that was XTC.

He photographed the Beatles during the Get Back project and in their final photo session. He shot the Rolling Stones during their peak years and was airlifted out of Altamont Speedway with them. He provided the indelible images for Who’s Next and other album covers. Ethan Russell was a young man from San Francisco who moved to London and became a rock ‘n’ roll photographer before that was considered a profession. He bonded with John Lennon yet kept his distance from subjects because his job was to capture moments, not to make friends. His photos tell vivid stories, and so does he in this Caropop conversation.

Chicago-born producer Shel Talmy and the Kinks revolutionized rock with the distorted-guitar attack of “You Really Got Me,” so impressing Pete Townshend that the Who leader wrote “I Can’t Explain” as a Kinks-like song to lure Talmy to produce them too. Talmy did, starting with “My Generation,” and also produced the Easybeats (“Friday on My Mind”), the Creation (“Making Time”) and a young David Bowie while continuing with the Kinks. Now living in Los Angeles, Talmy has tales to tell about all of them, including how the Kinks and the Who behaved in the studio, what Jimmy Page really did on “You Really Got Me” and how corrupt the music business can be. You’ll want to listen All Day and All of the Night.

Mekons concerts are dancing-in-the-face-of-the-apocalypse parties, and at their center is Sally Timms. Her beautiful, pure voice is way better than what you’d expect from a post-punk, country-tinged, what-have-you band, and, as she explains here, she feels duty-bound to spread joy from the stage, especially when times are dark. Typically quick-witted and thoughtful, she discusses the Mekons’ early days in Leeds, England, and their unique, enduring creative process; her longtime friendship with the late Pete Shelley of the Buzzcocks; how she and fellow Mekon Jon Langford have embedded themselves in Chicago life; and why she has helped so many strangers get vaccinated.

Carrie Nahabedian is a trailblazing, Michelin-starred chef, a mentor to many and a great talker. She offers an unvarnished look into what it’s like to run a high-end restaurant (Brindille) during a pandemic. Which has hit harder, staffing or supply-chain issues? Why are women leaving the hospitality industry? Why won’t she charge extra on New Year’s Eve or Valentine’s Day? Why does she hate tented dining in the winter? What’s it like to work with family? What notes do they keep about guest behavior? What are the best ways to make bacon and grilled cheese? Chef Carrie will leave you satiated and hungry.

Not only does Steve Dawson continue to be one of Chicago’s most talented and well-liked singers and songwriters—whether solo or with Funeral Bonsai Wedding or Dolly Varden—but he also has inspired countless other musicians through his innovative songwriting classes at Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music. His new album At the Bottom of a Canyon in the Branches of a Tree is one of his best. In our book Take It to the Bridge: Unlocking the Great Songs Inside You, Steve and I have a dialogue about songwriting that continues here. Why do some songwriters peak early while others keep evolving? Prepare to be inspired.

Bernie Grundman is a legendary mastering engineer, but what is mastering, and why do people look for “BG” in the dead wax of vinyl albums? He has mastered some of the greatest, and greatest sounding, recordings of all time, including Joni Mitchell's Blue, Steely Dan’s Aja, Michael Jackson’s Off the Wall and Thriller, Prince’s classic run and OutKast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. He’s an enthusiastic talker as he discusses working with these famous artists, what he thinks of vinyl vs. CDs, and which sounds better, a pristine original album or one remastered on modern equipment? Prepare to have your ears opened.

Drummer Chris Frantz, who formed one of rock’s funkiest rhythm sections with bassist Tina Weymouth, helped drive Talking Heads to heights perhaps unreached by any other American band. Frantz’s memoir, Remain in Love, could be read as a love letter to Tina, his wife, but not to Talking Heads frontman David Byrne, whom Frantz thinks hogged credit. How did the band create “Psycho Killer” and other songs? How did the Tom Tom Club’s success affect Talking Heads? What does Frantz think of Byrne’s American Utopia? Will Talking Heads ever reunite? Don’t miss the Tina Weymouth cameo!

Part 2 of our conversation with Mitch Easter jumps right into the making of those classic first R.E.M. records: Chronic Town, Murmur and Reckoning. What is that weird pulsating sound that opens “Radio Free Europe”? Why are pool balls colliding in slow motion on “We Walk”? Easter also discusses the ups and downs of his band Let’s Active and his work with the late Scott Miller’s bands Game Theory and The Loud Family. This good-humored producer/performer offers a treasure trove of insights into the recording process. Which record and guitar would he grab if he could save just one of each? You’ll learn that too.

Mitch Easter could be considered the Godfather of Jangle except he dislikes the term. His production work on the first R.E.M. records and bands such as Game Theory and the Windbreakers helped define the cool sounds of the ’80s. He offered his own indelible songs, including “Every Word Means No,” in his band Let’s Active. A great talker and music-history appreciator, he flashes back to his days as a guitar-loving North Carolina kid who preferred the Move to southern boogie, and he walks us through how he and R.E.M. got that amazing sound.

Riccardo Muti is music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and one of the world's great conductors. He's a fierce advocate for culture (as opposed to entertainment) and a passionate artist who knows what he wants. Sitting in his Symphony Center quarters, he was eloquent and good-humored while discussing the pandemic's impact on culture, why he won't listen to his old recordings, whether he’s ever nervous to meet anyone, which audience behavior annoys him the most, why he keeps donkeys at home and what he plans to do after his CSO contract ends in 2023.

"Spill the Wine," “All Day Music,” “Slippin’ into Darkness,” “The Cisco Kid,” “The World Is a Ghetto,” “Me and Baby Brother,” “Why Can’t We Be Friends?” “Low Rider,” "Summer"--you know the songs, but how much do you know about War and its talented musicians? Founding keyboardist/singer/songwriter Lonnie Jordan has stories to tell about how this multiracial L.A. band came up with such an intoxicating mix of soul, rock, funk, Latin rhythms, jazz and reggae; what Jim Morrison was doing in a Superman outfit; and whether the surviving War members can make peace.

Kathy Valentine is a smart, resilient rock ‘n’ roller with much to say. Propelling the Go-Go’s with her innovative bass playing, writing and singing, she experienced the thrills of performing great songs to massive audiences while learning how much the deck remains stacked against female musicians. Speaking from her Texas home, she discusses the creation of those wonderful songs, the band’s overdue induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, continued battles for reproductive rights and equality, and the writing of her alternately heartbreaking and exhilarating memoir, All I Ever Wanted.

Bruce Thomas was the stupendous bassist for Elvis Costello and the Attractions, creating the indelible bass lines that drove such songs as “Pump It Up,” “(I Don’t Want To Go To) Chelsea” and “Everyday I Write the Book.” He and Costello had a falling out years ago...but is a thaw in the air at last? What was it like to play in such a hot band? How did they arrange the songs? Which legendary British band tried to recruit Thomas before he joined the Attractions? Which legendary British band did Thomas try to join? This is an epic deep dive for music lovers. Enjoy!

Has anyone in the rock world maintained a longer, more sustained level of excellence than Richard Thompson? From his 1960s recordings with Fairport Convention through his most recent work, this British musician has been setting a ridiculously high standard with his razor-sharp songwriting and incendiary guitar playing. He’s a great storyteller in conversation as well; listen as he discusses mastering acoustic vs. electric guitar, the circumstances behind Sandy Denny’s firing from Fairport Convention, his invitation to join the Eagles, his studio work with Badfinger and more.