Your Friday Cage Match: The Kinks' "I Need You" vs. The Beatles' "I Need You" vs. America's "I Need You." Discuss.

Does receiving a rave P. 1 Sunday NYT Book Review cement an author's career? Does a writer need a so-called platform? Does one's sales track rule all? Author Christine Sneed shares publishing-world tales and hard-earned wisdom on the new Caropop. www.caropop.com/caropopcast/...

It's time to Guess Tomorrow's Caropop Guest! Hint #1: Her first novel received a rave review from Curtis Sittenfeld on P. 1 of the Sunday New York Times Book Review.

Your Friday Cage Match: Bob Dylan's "I Want You" vs. the Beatles' "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" vs. Elvis Costello's "I Want You." Discuss.

I'm getting really tired of being bombarded with negative campaigning from the super PAC backing Laura Fine, including these two that came in the mail today. You're in the same party. Do better.

Graham Parker shares his story and music industry tales with @markcaro.bsky.social's Caropop podcast. #singersongwriter #authors #rockmusic #rockandroll #pubrock #booksaboutmusic #britishrock #70s #70srock #60s #60srock #davidbowie #rootsmusic #americana #backtoschooldays #daveedmunds #rockmusic

I failed to tag @thegrahamparker.bsky.social on this. Follow and listen to the man.

The great Graham Parker tells his fascinating origin story and conveys his current feelings about how the system is rigged against musicians trying to make a living, all on the new Caropop. www.caropop.com/caropopcast/...

It's time to Guess Tomorrow's Caropop Guest! Hint #1: He had a lifetime to make his first album and six months to make his second one.

Your Friday Cage Match: Pairs Figure Skating vs. Solo Figure Skating. Discuss.

Percussionist Michael Blair played HOW MANY instruments on Elvis Costello's Spike? Did WHAT on Tom Waits' Rain Dogs? Drummed on Lou Reed's Magic and Loss under WHAT circumstances? Played drums on the Replacements' All Shook Down WHY? All on the new Caropop... www.caropop.com/caropopcast/...

Percussionist Michael Blair played HOW MANY instruments on Elvis Costello's Spike? Did WHAT on Tom Waits' Rain Dogs? Drummed on Lou Reed's Magic and Loss under WHAT circumstances? Played drums on the Replacements' All Shook Down WHY? Please listen to the new Caropop. www.caropop.com/caropopcast/...

It's time to Guess Tomorrow's Caropop Guest! Hint #1: He's been a student in Champaign-Urbana and performed at Steppenwolf.

“I do have a blessed life. There are certain things that could be better in my life, but I have a good life.” Robert Duvall, RIP. www.chicagotribune.com/1996/08/18/h...

Your Friday Cage Match: Downhill vs. Slalom. Discuss.

On the new Caropop, Victor Krummenacher, brilliant bassist of The Third Mind and Camper Van Beethoven, discusses those bands' futures, the RSD release of Camper's "Tusk," his latest solo work and how the outside world affects it all. www.caropop.com/caropopcast/...

Movies didn't get more formative for me than "Harold and Maude." Bud Cort, gone for real, RIP. (I showed "Harold and Maude" in my "Is It Still Funny?" series at the Music Box and wrote about the experience for the New York Times. nytimes.com/2017/03/24/m...)

We keep posting new and classic Caropop episodes onto our YouTube channel. Recent archival ones include Justin Hayward, Stevie Van Zandt, Gina Schock, Chris Frantz plus Mitch Easter/Don Dixon, Dag Juhlin, Marc Ribot and Robyn Hitchcock eps. Please listen and subscribe! www.youtube.com/@Caropopcast

Your Friday Cage Match: Sushi vs. Sashimi. Discuss.

The Michael Shannon/Jason Narducy R.E.M. project, Sunshine Boys, Poi Dog Pondering, the Slugs -- Dag Juhlin has had many musical lives and revisits them all on the new Caropop. www.caropop.com/caropopcast/...

It's time to Guess Tomorrow's Caropop Guest! Hint #1: He's currently the frontman in one band and guitarist in another.

I don't know how I got through decades of TV watching without helpful "Here's how to watch" news stories.

Catherine O'Hara. RIP, damnit. www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsKa...

Your Friday Cage Match: Goose vs. Geese. Discuss.

On the new Caropop, guitarist/songwriter/studio musician Marc Ribot reflects on his love of Latin American music; the creative leeway that Tom Waits and Elvis Costello gave him, his decision to start singing, and his fight for indie musicians’ rights. www.caropop.com/caropopcast/...

it's time to Guess Tomorrow's Caropop Guest! Hint #1: His distinctive guitar playing has elevated many artists' albums as well as his own.

Your Friday Cage Match: Pepperoni vs. Sausage. Discuss.

The beauty of writing a sports movie is that you can have the announcers shout obvious exposition at the audience the entire time. (Yes, I just watched the one best picture nominee I didn't predict--and if I'd seen it ahead of time, I still wouldn't have predicted it.)

Your Friday Cage Match: One Battle After Another vs. Marty Supreme. Discuss.

On the new Caropop w/Mitch Easter & Don Dixon, I said the Murmur "Radio Free Europe" sounds "snare-y," and Easter explained that the band's recording lacked snare so he recorded and mixed in a track of him just banging a snare. Did @remhq.bsky.social know about this? www.caropop.com/caropopcast/...

On the new Caropop w/Mitch Easter & Don Dixon, I said the Murmur "Radio Free Europe" sounds "snare-y," and Easter explained that the band's recording lacked snare so he recorded and mixed in a track of him just banging a snare. Did @remhq.bsky.social know about this? www.caropop.com/caropopcast/...

This new Caropop episode reuniting producers Mitch Easter and Don Dixon includes revelations about the making of R.E.M.'s Murmur that blew this longtime diehard fan's mind. You'll never hear "Radio Free Europe" or "Perfect Circle" in the same way... www.caropop.com/caropopcast/...

It's time to Guess Tomorrow's Caropop Guests! Hint #1: They worked together on one of rock's greatest debut albums.

Your Friday Cage Match: Playing Guitar Sitting Down vs. Playing Guitar Standing Up. Discuss.

In the first Caropop of 2026, Robyn Hitchcock bats around the music of 1967 and whether it would have had such an outsized impact on his own music if not for where, how and at what age he experienced it. www.caropop.com/caropopcast/...

Oops, I forgot to cue up Guess Tomorrow's Caropop Guest. Well, if you happen to see this... Hint #1: His most recent album is all covers except for one original.

Turned on NPR while driving, and they're playing this extended James Austin Johnson bit. That guy is uncanny.

Your Friday Cage Match: Crème Brûlée vs. Flan. Discuss.

Topic I'm pondering this morning: Colors. How important is it to get your preferred color when buying, say, a car? Guitar? Bike? Toothbrush? Or if you find the right model, are you happy no matter the color?

Your Friday Cage Match: The Kinks vs. The Who. Discuss.

Where does John Wesley Harding stop and Wesley Stace begin (or vice versa)? On the new Caropop, the English singer-songwriter-turned-U.S. citizen discusses his dual identities, his Frank Capra title-mining and his reaction to Elvis Costello snark. www.caropop.com/caropopcast/...

Where does John Wesley Harding stop and Wesley Stace begin (or vice versa)? On the new Caropop, the English singer-songwriter-turned-U.S. citizen discusses his dual identities, his Frank Capra title-mining and his reaction to Elvis Costello snark. www.caropop.com/caropopcast/...

It's time to Guess Tomorrow's Caropop Guest! Hint #1: He has done work under a pseudonym and his own name.

When you get notices that your iCloud storage is almost full, do you... a) Pay for more storage b) Delete 10,000 duplicate cat photos

I'm so glad I was able to get guitarist Jimmy James together with one of his idols, Steve Cropper, on Caropop. This was a great conversation. As it happens, James' band Parlor Greens is playing tonight at Garcia's in Chicago--check 'em out. www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4DZ...

Your Friday Cage Match: "Green Onions" vs. "Hip Hug-Her." Discuss.

Do you ever put something you did on your To Do list just so you can cross it off?

Getcha some hot local blues talk right here —

Dave Specter was Son Seals’ rhythm guitarist for two years before becoming a bandleader himself. I love hearing Specter play as well as chatting with him at his club @evanstonspace.bsky.social, but I’d never gone in depth with him like we do on the new Caropop. www.caropop.com/caropopcast/...

It's time to Guess Tomorrow's Caropop Guest! Hint #1: He plays blues guitar.