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Snap, Crackle, POP! with Alec Cumming
Alec Cumming, WPKN
14 episodes
2 hours ago
A show dedicated to unapologetically intelligent & melodic pop music that oft includes adventure, ambition, angst, bravura, catchiness, curiosity, dancability, deft dynamics, economy, glee, grace, hubris, forward momentum, minimalism/maximalism, passion, wit, wisdom and maybe more than a little nostalgia and melancholy.
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All content for Snap, Crackle, POP! with Alec Cumming is the property of Alec Cumming, WPKN and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.
A show dedicated to unapologetically intelligent & melodic pop music that oft includes adventure, ambition, angst, bravura, catchiness, curiosity, dancability, deft dynamics, economy, glee, grace, hubris, forward momentum, minimalism/maximalism, passion, wit, wisdom and maybe more than a little nostalgia and melancholy.
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Music History
Music
Episodes (14/14)
Snap, Crackle, POP! with Alec Cumming
Snap, Crackle, POP on Ice! (A Christmas Special)

It's a Christmas week episode - what a concept! I owe my friend Al Quagliari a huge thank for providing me with lots of wondrous and oft silly Christmas and New Year's songs and soundbites, and for turning me on to Bob Rivers, the Weird Al of Christmas music. It may have been a bit self-indulgent to play my own Christmas song at the end, but I'm working on a larger Bite the Wax Godhead project at the moment, so I'm hoping to give my and Cynthia's old band just a bit of additional visibilty in the next few months before we return to obscurity. And the song isn't half-bad. This was a fun show to prepare and pull off. Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas Baby – Otis Redding 

O Little Town of Bethlehem – Bob Rivers

Bounce of the Sugar Plum Fairy – John Kirby and His Orchestra

 

Joy To the World – The Butties

I Don't Intend to Spend Christmas Without You – Margo Guryan

Tchotchkes– Tchotchke & The Lemon Twigs  

Decorations – Bob Rivers 

(Yes It's) Christmas – War

 

Christmas In Suburbia – The Cleaners from Venus 

Bellringers Are Hungover – Lorraine Bowen

The Christmas Song – Big Dee Irwin & Little Eva

Old Toy Trains – Roger Miller

Christmas At the Airport – Nick Lowe 

 

How Do You Spell Channukkahh? – The Leevees

I Saw Hanukkah Harry Beat Up Santa Claus – Hal Singer

 

Sled Zeppelin – Bob Rivers 

Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town – John Davidson

What Christmas Means to Me – Stevie Wonder

 

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/Carol of the Bells – Robert Glasper & Cynthia Erivo

Christmas Time Is Here (Vocal Version – studio chatter + Takes 6 & 7) – Vince Guaraldi & St. Paul's Episcopal Church Youth Choir

Santa Don't Go – Farrah

You Trashed My Christmas – The Primitives

Xmasploitation (Santa's Badass Revenge) – monochronic

 

All I Want for Christmas (Is My Two Front Teeth) – Nat King Cole (MJ Cole Remix)  

Father Christmas – The Kinks 

Silver and Gold – Rosine (featuring Nancy Howell and Mark Lerner) 

 

(I'll Be Glad When) Christmastime is Done – Bite the Wax Godhead

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5 days ago
1 hour 54 minutes

Snap, Crackle, POP! with Alec Cumming
Add Some Music To Your Day!

In which we hear from The Elbow Patches (aka John Dunbar), Downtown Mystic, Guerilla Toss, Drugdealer (fronted by Weyes Blood!),The Belair Lip Bombs, a ridiculously hot early take of Vince Guaraldi's "Skating" from 1965, and many more fine performers and combos.

Add Some Music To Your Day – The Beach Boys 

Eyes of the World (Shorefire Remix) – Downtown Mystic 

You Can't Kid Yourself Anymore – The Elbow Patches 

Play On – The Lemon Twigs

Let's Pretend – The Raspberries

Cuddly Toy – The Monkees

Red Flag to Angry Bull – Guerilla Toss

Heartthrob – Indigo De Souza

Chocolates – The Aluminum Group

Twiggy Twiggy/Twiggy vs James Bond – Pizzicato 5

Real Thing – Drugdealer, Weyes Blood 

Love Me or Let Me Be Lonely – The Friends of Distinction

Say My Name – The Belair Lip Bombs

Try To Make It – Sloan

Teenage FBI – Guided By Voices 

Quite the Opposite – Dominic Fike

Tomorrow Tomorrow – Brad Mehldau & Daniel Rossen

classic love – Luke Roberts & Kurt Vile 

Grocery Store – Kate Micucci

The Crumble Song (brown sugar remix) – Lorraine Bowen

Baby Doll – Juniper

Annie Almond – The Junipers

Looking For Santa – The Hungry Dutchmen 

Southhold Santa – The Hunkerdowns

Skating  (#7, Take 2/September 22, 1965) – Vince Guaraldi Trio

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1 week ago
1 hour 54 minutes

Snap, Crackle, POP! with Alec Cumming
Can't Wait Too Long For The Jokerman

My apologies for struggling to try to do the "morning drive traffic". I shouldn't even bother until I get a solid way of doing it that doesn't mess up the flow of the show. Then again, here I am complaining again about how I do the show, and everybody's telling me NOT to do that. I'm trying. I'M TRYING!! 

Anyways, I hope you find the Black Lodge Singers' rendition of "Mighty Mouse" as silly and life-affirming as I do. I was also happy to hear that Zoos of Berlin track, which I discovered somehow when I started at the station in 2016. I know nothing about them, but "Electrical Way" is slammin'. And Finn Wolfhard - who knew? 

Immortal Hands – Stereolab

TPA – Bad Bad Hats
Electrical Way – Zoos of Berlin
Choose The Latter – Finn Wolfhard

Apples (Radio effect intro) – Pugwash
Free Fallin' – Imaginary Future (feat. Kina Grannis)
Turning Point (Original Drums Version) – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
All My Black Tomorrows – Pulling Weeds/Pete Cenedella

Jokerman (live on David Letterman 3/22/84) – Bob Dylan & The Plugz
Shook Loose – Dan Jones and The Squids
Say My Name – The Belair Lip Bombs
Night Birds – Mike Viola

Can't Wait Too Long – The Beach Boys
Mind Games (Ultimate Mix) – John Lennon
If I Fell (Take 11) – The Beatles
I've Got a Broken Heart – The Lemon Twigs

Have You Seen Her Face – The Byrds
Hyacinth House – Supergrass

Sunday Love – Bruce Springsteen
Reach Out for Me – Dionne Warwick
This Guy’s in Love with You – Herb Alpert
Mighty Mouse – The Black Lodge Singers

Harvest – Rufus Wainwright (feat. Andrew Bird & Chris Thile)
September Song – Rufus Wainwright & The Pacific Jazz Orchestra
Stray Cats in Spain – Jeff Tweedy

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2 weeks ago
1 hour 54 minutes

Snap, Crackle, POP! with Alec Cumming
Bloom Baby Bloom, Baby!

Heavy Music – Bob Seger & The Last Heard

No Bills in Heaven – Sunflower Bean 

 

Straight Line Was a Lie – The Beths 

Bloom Baby Bloom – Wolf Alice

Here We Go Crazy – Bob Mould

Always Reaching – The Mommyheads 

 

Jaded – The Mommyheads 

Unsatisfied – The Replacements 

2468 – Horsegirl

Where Evil Grows – The Poppy Family

Little Green Bag – The George Baker Selection 

 

Let's Pretend – The Lemon Twigs 

Friday (I'm Gonna Love You) – The Lemon Twigs

I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight – Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart

The Door into Summer – The Monkees

 

Be Like Him – Darian Sahanaja & Probyn Gregory

Witchi Tai To – Harpers Bizarre

Prelude/To Claudia on Thursday – The Millennium

Looking for the Magic – The Dwight Twilley Band

 

Glad – Saint Etienne  

Can I Talk My Sh*t – Vagabon 

Northern Star – Aggie Miller 

Believe – Kashus Culpepper 

T-Shirt – David Byrne 

 

Transportation (1990 version) – Bite the Wax Godhead

Getting Away with It – Electronic

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3 weeks ago
1 hour 54 minutes

Snap, Crackle, POP! with Alec Cumming
Well Hello, Monday Morning Commuters!

Radio history in the making! (LOL) Starting with this show, I am now the regular Monday "morning drive" 7-9 am deejay at WPKN. I've long wanted to be a cheerful get-your-morning-started announcer, and watch out for what you wish for... but I love it anyways. I finally get my shot, right here, right then. 

Apologies in advance for all the apologies. And Rest In Peace, Jimmy Cliff. And thank you.  

I Wanna Be With You – Vicki and Debbie Peterson 


First Day – Far Caspian 

Just Like a Flower – Winter 

Little Bird – Famous Groupies

 

The Fool on the Hill (Take 5 – Instrumental) – The Beatles 

Tell Me Why (Takes 12 And 13) – The Beatles 

While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Third Version/Take 27) – The Beatles

 

Let's Pretend – The Lemon Twigs 

Cruisin' Music – Ronnie D’Addario 

Not Today – The Lemon Twigs (Ronnie D’Addario cover) 

This Whole World – The Beach Boys

 

I Like Girls (Bearsville Version) – Sparks 

Dick Around – Sparks

 

Deuce – Kiss 

Black Diamond – The Replacements 

I Will Dare – The Replacements

 

Many Rivers to Cross – Jimmy Cliff 

Wonderful World, Beautiful People – Jimmy Cliff 

Hard Road to Travel – Jimmy Cliff 

Rivers of Babylon – The Melodians 

Reconsider Me – Warren Zevon

 

Crying Inside – Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets 

Tomorrow Tomorrow – Brad Mehldau (feat. Daniel Rossen & Chris Thile) 

God Knows – Tunde Adebimpe 

Ankles – Lucy Dacus

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1 month ago
1 hour 54 minutes

Snap, Crackle, POP! with Alec Cumming
Radio Free Bridgeport

This was the last of my series of late-summer 2025 fill-ins for Steve DiCostanzo's Radio Base Camp shows; he would shortly return the favor in November 2025 by filling in for several of the new 7-9 AM morning shows that I was assigned to that I couldn't pull off quite yet because my right foot was healing from (successful) surgery. Thanks, Steve!

As a shortwave radio fan and historian, I was absolutely horrified by the current administration's takedown of our hisroric and essential international broadcasting stations, including the Voice of America, Radio Free Asia and Radio Free Europe. So I was glad to see that mu eternal heroes R.E.M. OK'd the use of their debut song to the world, 1981's "Radio Free Europe", in a new EP that included an excellent new remix of the mysterious, propulsive and soaring original track - the Hibtone one, which came out before the first EP, which I also played. Profits from their new "Radio Free Europe" EP are going towards keeping the actual Radio Free Europe broadcast operations alive, although (as I write this) they are still barely managing to survive. 

Radio Free Europe (Jacknife Lee Remix) – R.E.M. 

Radio Free Europe (Original Hibtone 45) – R.E.M. 

Lament – Blake Babies

So Long – Fischer-Z

This Time – INXS 

 

Block of Wood – The Bats

Pink Frost – The Chills

Map Ref 41 Degrees N 93 Degrees – Wire 

First Day – Far Caspian

Metal – The Beths

 

You Didn't See – Andy Shauf 

F.O.O.F. – Frankie Cosmos

Save Your Soul – Kathleen Edwards 

 

Cryin' Inside – Nick Lowe

American Squirm – Nick Lowe 

Everyday I Write the Book – Elvis Costello & The Attractions

Mayor of Simpleton – XTC

 

Here, There and Everywhere (Take 6) – The Beatles

Stray Cats in Spain – Jeff Tweedy 

As We Go Along – The Monkees 

 

Glad – Saint Etienne 

Can I Talk My Sh*t? – Vagabon 

Shooting Star – Sunflower Bean

Tomorrow Tomorrow – Brad Mehldau feat. Daniel Rossen 

Porcupine – Sparks

 

The Summer's Over (solo acoustic) – Alec Cumming

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3 months ago
1 hour 56 minutes

Snap, Crackle, POP! with Alec Cumming
Back-to-Back-to-Back Stax-o-Trax

If you're an avid listener of the show*, you'd know that a big fave "genre" of mine to play on Snap Crackle POP! is (are?) backing tracks... that is, the sound of a finished track minus the vocals, so one can hear the instruments and the musicians and the musician's/producer's/arranger's artistry much more clearly. You can see the sausage/donuts/magic being made, in other words. So I decided to dedicate a whole show to these kind of tracks, because... well, I probably listen to Beatles and Beach Boys session tracks much more now than I do to their actual finished tracks. (This is why that, for the life of me, I don't care at all about the whole "mono mixes versus today's remastered crap" thing. As long as I can hear an elctrifying/life-affirming piece of music played in a ass-kicking, classic and/or deconstrucrted way, as long as the "magic" of the art-being-made is still thrillingly evident, I'm there.)

Yes, many of these tracks are actually outtakes, alternate versions, rarities or covers in addition to actual backing tracks, but... well, you can deal. 

Jackson 5
Never Can Say Goodbye (DJ Moch's Extended Reconstruction)
I Want You Back (backing track)


The Rolling Stones
Dead Flowers (alternate version)
Brown Sugar (alternate version w/ Eric Clapton)
Rice Krispies jingle
When the Whip Comes Down (live 1978, Sucking In The Seventies version)


The Who
I Can See For Miles (mono mix w/ session noises)
Little Billy
Kids! Do You Want Kids (Pete Townsend demo)
Christmas (Pete Townsend Tommy demo)


The Kinks
Waterloo Sunset (session excerpt + backing track take 2)
Starstruck (alternate mix with session chat)
Phenomenal Cat (alternate mix with session chat)
Do You Remember Walter (backing track)
People Take Pictures of Each Other (cover by Steady Water & Bedouine)
Misty Water (Village Green Preservation Society outtake)


The Beach Boys
Let Him Run Wild (Stack-o-Tracks instrumental version)
Can't Wait Too Long (1993 mix)
With a Little Help from My Friends
Walk On By
Lonely Days
SMiLE backing vocals montage
Good Vibrations (45 backing track)

The Association
Windy (backing track)
Never My Love (w/ extended Larry Knechtel end solo)


Are You There with Another Girl (backing track) – Dionne Warwick/Burt Bacharach
Blackbird – Brad Mehldau


The Beatles
You Only Give Me Your Money (take 36)
Yes It Is (takes 2 & 14)
It's Only Love (takes 3 & 2)
Getting Better (take 1/instrumental)
Getting Better (take 12/instrumental)
I'll Be Back (take 2)
I'll Be Back (take 3)
No Reply (demo)
No Reply (take 2)
This Boy (takes 12 & 13)
Eleanor Rigby (session chat + take 2/instrume)
She's Leaving Home (take 6/instrumental)
Here Comes The Sun (take 9)

 
* you are? for reals? THANK YOU!

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3 months ago
2 hours 54 minutes

Snap, Crackle, POP! with Alec Cumming
Have You Seen the Stars Tonight?

This is a good one. It's December 27th 2025 as I write this, and I'm remembering now how I used to have to get to the WPKN studios at the University of Bridgeport an hour early so I could go through the stacks and pull lots and lots of the station's own vinyl, with most of the records sent originally at the time of that album's release as a radio promotional for-airplay copies. (An arduous task, as the stations albums are listed chronologically instead of alphabetically.) A lot of the records are scratchy as f*ck, hence the name Snap CRACKLE Pop. Regrettably - perhaps - I've gotten much lazier, and I rely much less on the station's crackle-filled record stacks and the more on my collection of "clean" individual song WAVs as channeled through my laptop's DJ Pro software. 

This night I was filling in for two two-hour shows, one right after the other: "Railroad Dave" Schartz and KC Vaz (Paralelo Zero-Radio Brazil). This show is pretty adventurous and plays lots of good obscure music, and it's making me think I should try to add a bit more of this dreamy/mysterious/old-school free-form FM vibe into my curent morning show, and even more so for the occasional fill-ins I still do, especially those at weirder hours. The more crackles each record has, the more plays it must've gotten on the WPKN airwaves, and the more soulfully deep cosmic vibrations get re-released into the ether. 

(What Does It Take) To Win Your Love – Jr. Walker & the All-Stars

Comes The Sun – The Archies
Head Held High – The Velvet Underground
Kings Lead Hat – Brian Eno
The Girls Want to Be With the Girls – Talking Heads
Electrical Way – Zoos of Berlin
I Feel Fine (Really) – The Monochrome Set

Smiling Faces Sometimes – The Undisputed Truth (producer: Norman Whitfield)
Year of Decision – The Three Degrees
Light My Fire – Four Tops
Baby That's Backatcha – Smokey Robinson
Don't Ever Be Lonely – Cornelius Brothers and Rose
Summer Breeze – Isley Brothers

On the Beach – Neil Young
River Man – Nick Drake
By the Time It Gets Dark – Sandy Denny
I Don't Believe in Miracles – Colin Blunstone
Two Winters Long – Irma Thomas

Aubrey – Bread
With You With Me – Milkwood
First Girl I Loved – John Hammond
If Not for You – Bob Dylan
Blues Run the Game – Jackson C. Frank
Not Because It's Easy But Because It's Hard – Jens Lekman

The Kiss – Judee Sill
Calvary Cross – Richard Thompson
Days – Television
Child's Christmas in Wales – John Cale

 

Sands of Time – Fleetwood Mac
Sunshine – Sparklehorse
Fuga No. 2 – Os Mutantes
Seabird – Alessi Brothers
How Can I Make You Love Me – NRBQ 
Lovin' You Ain't Easy – Pagliaro
Speak Your Mind – Marc Benno

Birth of an Accidental Hipster – The Monkees
Along Comes Mary – The Association
I Wanna Know Girls – Portastatic
Is It Like Today? – World Party
Conquistador – Procol Harum

Flash – Wreckless Eric
Playing Pittsburgh – Amy Rigby
Blink of an Eye – Laish
Optimist – St. Vincent & David Byrne
I Love Every Little Thing About You – Syreeta & Stevie Wonder

Godspell – The Cardigans
Complicated Girl – The Bangles
Country Fair – Joe Walsh
Waste – Smash Mouth

Wild Bird – John Surman & Karin Krog
Hush – Calexico

Have You Seen the Stars Tonight? – Paul Kantner & Jefferson Starship

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7 years ago
3 hours 53 minutes

Snap, Crackle, POP! with Alec Cumming
Happy 90th, Burt Bacharach! (Part 2)

Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? – Linda Scott

Tower of Strength – Gene McDaniels 

Me, Japanese Boy – Harpers Bizarre

Dionne Warwick – Dionne Warwick

Send Me No Flowers – Doris Day

Where There's a Heart – The Sandpipers

Love in a Goldfish Bowl – Tommy Sands

I'm a Better Man – Englebert Humperdinck

Another Tear Falls – Puddles Pity Party

Don't You Believe It – Andy Williams

Let the Music Play – The Drifters

Trains and Boats and Planes – Burt Bacharach

What's New, Pussycat? – Tom Jones

This Guy's in Love with You – Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass

The Look of Love – Dusty Springfield

Make It Easy On Yourself – Burt Bacharach

Paper Mache – Dionne Warwick

Kentucky Bluebird (Send A Message To Martha) – Lou Johnson

In the Land of Make Believe – Dusty Springfield 

Living Together, Growing Together – The 5th Dimension

One Less Bell to Answer – The 5th Dimension

Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do) – Christopher Cross

Anyone Who Had a Heart – Wynonna

The Wine Is Young – Dionne Warwick

Walk the Way You Talk – Dionne Warwick

God Give Me Strength – Burt Bacharach & Elvis Costello

Magic Moments – Perry Como

The Story of My Life – Marty Robbins 

True Love Never Runs Smooth – Gene Pitney

Live Again – Irma Thomas

No One Remembers My Name – Burt Bacharach

Who Are These People? – Burt Bacharach feat. Elvis Costello

Lost Horizon – Yeongene

Turkey Lurkey Time – Megan Sikora, Mayumi Miguel, Cameron Adams & the "Promises, Promises" Ensemble (2010) 

Knowing When to Leave – Jill O'Hara

Another Night – Dionne Warwick

Don't Go Breaking My Heart – Burt Bacharach

I Still Remember – John Pagano

In the Darkest Place – Burt Bacharach & Elvis Costello

Long Ago Tomorrow – BJ Thomas

I Don't Need You Anymore (From the Motion Picture "Together?") – Jackie Deshannon

The Sweetest Punch – Bill Frisell

Don't Say I Didn't Tell You So – Dionne Warwick

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7 years ago
2 hours 54 minutes

Snap, Crackle, POP! with Alec Cumming
Happy 90th, Burt Bacharach! Part 1

Promises Promises – Dionne Warwick

Toledo – Burt Bacharach & Elvis Costello

Walk On By – Dionne Warwick

Make It Easy On Yourself (Live at The Garden State Arts Center, 1970) – Dionne Warwick

A House Is Not a Home – Burt Bacharach

Twenty-Four Hours from Tulsa – Dusty Springfield

Baby It's You – The Beatles

Always Something There to Remind Me – Naked Eyes
South American Getaway (From "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid") – Burt Bacharach

After the Fox – The Hollies 

Are You There (With Another Girl) – Dionne Warwick

Promise Her Anything – Tom Jones

Mexican Divorce – The Drifters 

Don't Make Me Over – Dionne Warwick

I Smiled Yesterday – Dionne Warwick

This Empty Place – Mexican Divorce

My Little Red Book – Manfred Mann

Walk On By – The Beach Boys 

New York Lady – Burt Bacharach & The Houston Symphony

Such Unlikely Lovers – Burt Bacharach & Elvis Costello

In Between the Heartaches – Ronald Isley

The Last One to Be Loved – Lou Johnson

Wives and Lovers – Burt Bacharach

I'll Never Fall in Love Again – Jill O'Hara & Jerry Orbach

The World is a Circle – Diana Lee, Bobby Van & Chorus

Balance of Nature – Rumer

So Long Johnny – Jackie Deshannon

With Open Arms – Jane Morgan

Hasbrook Heights – Burt Bacharach

You'll Never Get to Heaven (if You Break My Heart) – The Stylistics 

Nikki – Burt Bacharach

Dancing With Your Shadow – Sheryl Crow

Close to You – Burt Bacharach

Everybody's Out of Town – B.J. Thomas

The Blob – The Five Blobs 

Saturday Night in Tiajuana – The Five Blobs

Ich Warte Jeden Tag – Dionne Warwick

I Say a Little Prayer for you (alternate) – Dionne Warwick

And Then He Walked Right Through the Door – Dionne Warwick

Go Ask Shakespeare – Burt Bacharach

Alfie – Burt Bacharach

The Windows of the World – Bobbie Gentry

What the World Needs Now – Jackie Deshannon

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7 years ago
2 hours 55 minutes

Snap, Crackle, POP! with Alec Cumming
Here's one of my Sam Hopkins overnight fill-ins, for example

Are You Ready for Love – Elton John 

More, More, More – Andrea True Connection 

Steal My Sunshine – Len 

Numb (Single Edit) – Pet Shop Boys

Save Me a Place – Fleetwood Mac

Through the Long Night – Billy Joel 

Poor People – Alan Price

Me and My Arrow – Harry Nilsson

Mosquito – Geraint Watkins

Wives and Lovers – Burt Bacharach

Domingo no Parque – Gilberto Gil 

Mistry Roses – Colin Blunstone 

Sea Song – Robert Wyatt 

Ghosts of American Astronauts – The Mekons

Leroy – Family 

Steady State – Penguin Cafe Orchestra

Kala – Ali Farka Touré & Toumani Diabaté 

Crinian Wood – Alexi Murdoch

The Ways of the Wind – P.M. Dawn

Gratitude for the Shipper – Fan Modine

Automatic – Pernice Brothers

Meadows – Joe Walsh

Fortune Teller – Robert Plant & Alison Krauss

Moon Shake – Can

On The Roof - The Feelies

Goin' back – The Byrds 

Same Old Man – Karen Dalton 

4am  - Stueve 

So Begins the Task – Manassas

Every Kind of Wrong – John Moreland 

River – Terry Reid 

Long Ago Tomorrow – B.J. Thomas

The Bells – Laura Nyro & LaBelle

Oh, Why – Balam Acab

The Donor – Judee Sill

Met Her on a Plane – Jimmy Webb

Lift Him Up That's All – Washington Phillips

Like a Ship – Pastor T.L. Barrett & The Youth For Christ Choir

Mona – Bo Diddley

Another Way Out – Brave Belt

Long Way Around – Gerry Rafferty

She Might Have Been a Nice Girl – The Guess Who

Fineline – Ned Doheny 

Mother Earth – Emitt Rhodes

I Wonder If I Care As Much – The Everly Brothers

One Night of Sin – Elvis Presley

Night Shift – Lucy Dacus

Everything Put Together Falls Apart – Paul Simon

Country of Illusion – William Tyler 

 

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7 years ago
3 hours 54 minutes

Snap, Crackle, POP! with Alec Cumming
We All Remember Comfort Food (Music)

If you start at the very beginning (which is a very good place to start) with these Snap Crackle POP! shows/podcasts, you'll notice I am mainly doing fill-ins, many of them in the wee hours. At the time, I was working a low-self esteem job where the hours were very... well, lets call them variable. So I was frequently doing overnight shifts there, and my sleep hours were all fakakta, and plus... the "romantic" ideal I had of the lonely overnight DJ really appealed to me (cf. the cover of Donald Fagen's The Nightfly).

A lot of this music is what I'd call - for myself - "comfort-food music". For better or worse, many of these songs are regulars on my shows to this day... 

 

(What Does It Take) To Win Your Love - Jr. Walker & the All-Stars 

Let's Go - The Cars 
Street Life - Roxy Music 

The Captain of Her Heart - Double 

Old Town - Phil Lynott 
Another Tricky Day - The Who 

Teenerama - The Records 

Warm Self Sacrifice - Emitt Rhodes

 

Deadbeat Club - The B52s 

London Bridge - Bread 

Baby Blue - The Beach Boys 

You Might As Well Smile - Glen Campbell 

Amateur - Aimee Mann

 

The World Is a Circle - Burt Bacharach 

Brandy - Looking Glass 

Jackie Blue - The Ozark Mountain Daredevils 

Sweet Music - Lon & Derek Van Eaton 

Skinny Man - The 5th Dimension 

Save Me - kd lang 

I Must Be in a Good Place Now - Bobby Charles

 

Drowning In a Sea of Love - Joe Simon

New Sensations - Lou Reed 

Jesus Was a Cross-Maker - Judee Sill 
Don't Make Promises - Helen Reddy 

Don't Go To Strangers - JJ Cale 

Every Night (live) - Paul McCartney & Wings

 

The World Is Turning On - The Pooh Sticks 

Hey Julie - Fountains of Wayne 

I've Got a Secret - Richard Barone & James Mastro 

That's the Story of My Life - The Velvet Underground 

You Ain't Going Nowhere - Bob Dylan 

Speak Your Mind - Marc Benno

 

No Wonder Love's a Wonder - Smokey Robinson & the Miracles 

Secret Smile - Semisonic 

Emma Blowgun's Last Stand - Beulah 

I've Been Loving You Too Long (live) - Otis Redding 

Power of God - Jaimeo Brown Transcendence

 

Station Approach - Elbow 

We All Remember Wes (live) - George Benson

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7 years ago
2 hours 53 minutes

Snap, Crackle, POP! with Alec Cumming
7 Hours of Snap Crackle POP? Preposterous! (Part 2)

Here's part 2. Hoo boy. I wanted to do radio... I got my chance this day. (See episode 1). Here you can hear me subbing for whomever had the 2 - 5 pm slot that Sunday afternoon... it was most likely a fill-in for La Esquina Latina. So here's the latter 3/7th of my unexpected Snap Crackle Pop marathon. It was super-fun and definitely exhausting but also SO MUCH FUN. Thanks to everybody out there who was listening and cheering me on.  

Also Sprach Zarathustra – Deodato

Her Eyes Are a Blue Million Miles – Nona Hendryx & Gary Lucas (w/ Jesse Krakow)

Jesus Just Left Chicago – ZZ Top 

Hallelujah – Sweathog

Tigers – Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks 

Electrical Way – Zoos of Berlin 

Found a Job – Talking Heads 

I'm On Fire – Dwight Twilley Group 

Shadow of a Doubt (A Complex Kid) – Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

Hanging On The Telephone – The Nerves 

Going Down to Liverpool – Katrina & The Waves

Red Lights – The Marbles

The Dean & I – 10cc

Girls Talk – Dave Edmunds & Rockpile

New York Is My Home – Dion & Paul Simon 

The Only Living Boy in New York – Simon & Garfunkel 

Leaving On a Jet Plane – Peter, Paul & Mary 

Lucky One – Alison Krauss & Union Station 

Never Dreamed You'd Leave In Summer – Stevie Wonder 

After Taxes – Lane Steinberg

Dancing Barefoot – Patti Smith Group 

Disappearing – The Sinceros

Elephant Ride – Squeeze 

Hypnotize – Scritti Politti 

I Belong to Me – Richard Barone

Hurry Up Now – Harumi 

Sleep a Million Years – Kathy Heidemann

International – Jackie DeShannon 

Keep On Movin' – Soul II Soul 

Unfinished Sympathy – Massive Attack

Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand – Primitive Radio Gods

How Blue Can You Get – B.B. King

Rockferry – Duffy

The Windmills of Your Mind – Dusty Springfield

Strange (live) – Patsy Cline 

I’m Into Something Good – Earl–Jean 

Uptown Town Ranking – Althea & Donna

Pleasant Valley Sunday (demo) – Carole King

Kisses Sweeter Than Wine – Peter, Paul & Mary

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7 years ago
2 hours 54 minutes

Snap, Crackle, POP! with Alec Cumming
7 Hours of Snap Crackle POP? Preposterous! (Part 1)

(Note to podcast listeners: though I started doing WPKN airshifts as of April 14 2016, this is the oldest episode I have that exists as a music file. So that's where we'll begin. Enjoy... I hope!)

Hoo boy. I wanted to do radio... I got my chance this day. 7 hours of it. I was subbing for Dave Golden's Morning Maniac Music between 10am and 2pm - already a generous 4-hour shift - and then I found out the 2-5 host couldn't make his show due to an emergency of some kind. So I ended up doing a marathon Snap Crackle Pop. It was super-fun and somewhat exhausting. Thanks to everybody out there who was listening and cheering me on. Here's part 1. 

(What Does It Take) To Win Your Love – Jr. Walker and the All–Stars 

Family Affair – Sly and the Family Stone 

You Just May Be the One – The Monkees

Sunday Morning – The Velvet Underground 

Easy – The Commodores 

Sunday Kind of Love – Etta James

Nothing Takes the Place of You – Toussaint McCall

Wiser Time – The Black Crowes 

Sunday Papers – Joe Jackson 

Sunday Girl (French version) – Blondie 

Sunday Mornin' – Spanky & Our Gang 

Will You Be Staying After Sunday? – Peppermint Rainbow 

Sunday Morning Coming Down – Johnny Cash

Get Down Moses – Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros 

Went To See the Gypsy – Bob Dylan

Water Baby – Tom Mirsch 

The Gentle Rain – Astrud Gilberto 

Tanto Tempo – Bebel Gilberto

Walk the Way You Talk – Dionne Warwick

Fina Estampa – Caetano Veloso 

Mansinneedof – Sarah Jarosz 

What Makes You Think You're the One?– Fleetwood Mac

Raindrops – Dee Clark 

Laughter in the Rain – Neil Sedaka 

Only a Moment – Sunflower Bean 

Have You Seen the Stars Tonight? – Paul Kantner & Jefferson Starship 

Let It Be Me – George Harrison

Glad and Sorry – The Faces 

Dead Flowers (alternate) – The Rolling Stones

My Baby Gives It Away – Pete Townshend & Ronnie Lane

The Race Is On – George Jones

My Elusive Dreams – George Jones & Tammy Wynette

Trinity Lane – Lilly Hiatt 

12 Bellevue – Kathleen Edwards 

Dear Boy – Paul & Linda McCartney 

Dear Boy – Percy "Thrills" Thrillington

South American Getaway – Burt Bacharach 

I'll Never Find Another You – The Seekers 

Oh Gilbert (I Need Help) – The Junipers

Clair – Gilbert O’Sullivan

Chelsea Morning – Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66

All I Want – Karin Krog

This Flight Tonight – Joni Mitchell 

Free Man in Paris – Joni Mitchell 

Subspace Biographies – Robert Pollard

Crazy – REM 

Car – Porches 

Lament – Blake Babies 

Dreams – Brandi Carlile

Taking Chances – Sharon Van Etten 

Lost a Number – Nils Lonfgren & Grin 

I Say Yeah – The Pets 

Shore Leave – Yung Wu

Captain Lou – NRBQ (w/ Capt. Lou Albano)

Nothing But a Heartache – The Flirtations

I Never Dreamed – The Cookies

Funky Pretty – The Beach Boys 

Lazy Sunday – Small Faces

Shut Up Kiss Me – Angel Olsen

Over the Ocean – Here We Go Magic 

Wan Light – Orange Juice 

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7 years ago
3 hours 55 minutes

Snap, Crackle, POP! with Alec Cumming
A show dedicated to unapologetically intelligent & melodic pop music that oft includes adventure, ambition, angst, bravura, catchiness, curiosity, dancability, deft dynamics, economy, glee, grace, hubris, forward momentum, minimalism/maximalism, passion, wit, wisdom and maybe more than a little nostalgia and melancholy.