Lots of goodness to cover this - Jams will be kicked out with the MC5- we’ll delve into some Northern Soul with a tribute to the late Lou Ragland, celebrate a Sex Pistol’s birthday, hear some prog- rock-sampling hip hop with Madvillains, take a look at the bond between jazz and the Civil Rights movement with Max Roach, Abbey Lincoln, and several others, plus Peter Tosh, Wanda Jackson, Beastie Boys, The Kinks, Kristin Hersh, and MANY more, as well. Sound cool?

This week, we're visiting Turkey. Pakistan. Indianapolis. You know, ALL the glamour spots. We’ll get stupid (how stupid? SUPER stupid) with the mighty Funkadelic. We’ll say goodbye to Vern Rumsey of Unwound, wish Sir George Shearing (and several others) a happy birthday. We’ll go on a crime spree with Serge Gainsbourgh and Brigitte Bardot, bounce with Big Freedia, we’ll get punk- of both “mod” and “post” varieties- with The Jam and The Slits, get big with Free and Jimmy Reed, and get fresh with LL Cool J. A whole lot more, too.

Lots of ground covered this week- The Velvet Underground (in honor of Mr. Warhol’s birthday), we’re celebrating Buddy Collette with the Chico Hamilton Quintet, stopping by Washington, D.C. with Trouble Funk, Slant 6, and several more, getting tropical with Stan Getz and João Gilberto, getting our raï on with Rachid Taha, having a yé yé dance party with Jacqueline Taïeb, and leaning into any anxieties we’re feeling these days, with Soundgarden, Eddie Cochran, James Carr, and other non-licensed but well-meaning therapists.

We’re all over the place this week, in the best possible way: Jr. Walker & the All Stars, a tribute to Peter Green, birthday greetings to Kate Bush (and others), a farewell to Tim Smith of Cardiacs, Joni Mitchell, a mini tour of African sounds featuring Staff Benda Bilili, Rodrigo Y Gabriela, Stevie Wonder, an epic based on an epic by the Decemberists, Milt Jackson with ‘Trane...and that ain’t even the HALF of it. Let’s get groovy.

This week: birthdays, farewells, the roots of a landmark rock & roll tune, microtonal goodness, one the most sampled songs in history, a look at the use…

This week's itinerary is a doozy: we’ll visit Spain and Russia in addition to our more usual haunts. We’ll rock steady with Desmond Dekker, get soulful…

This week, we’ll be saying goodbye to Johnny Mandel, Ennio Morricone, and Hachalu Handessa, giving birthday salutes to Bon Scott and a host of others, and…

Lots of goodness on the agenda this week: X, Mongo Santamaria, Queen Ifrica, White Fence, Tom Waits, Charles Mingus, Mavis Staples, Lemmy’s musical life…

LOTS on the docket this week: we’ll kick it off with Fishbone, we’ll bid a fond adieu to Dame Vera Lynn, examine the Bo Diddley beat, confront our…