R A D I O    S H O W

ABC to XTC: The Best Of Synth, Post-Punk, New Wave And Much More

John Connolly mounts a one-man campaign to convince the doubters that there is much to be cherished in the music of 1977-1989. From The Ramones to A Flock of Seagulls, and from Talk Talk to The Stranglers, not to mention the titular ABC and XTC, he plays a personal selection of his favourite tracks from those years; follows the careers of artists such as Kate Bush, The Cure, and Depeche Mode, who were products of that era and continue to produce new music; and picks up on modern artists such as Fever Ray and Ladytron who wear the influence of that earlier period on their sleeves. The only rule: there are no guilty pleasures. This is all just good music.

Well, most of it . . .

Tune in HERE
Tuesday @ 22.00 GMT
(5 PM EST... 4 PM CST... 3 PM MST... 2 PM PST)
Repeats Saturday @ 21.00 GMT
(4 PM EST... 3 PM CST... 2 PM MST... 1 PM PST)

Note that the playlist for each week's show will be available to view and listen to after the Saturday show repeat.

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2012

  May 8th (& May 12th)

• Don't Let Go—Wang Chung
• Things Can Only Get Better—Howard Jones
• Miss Me Blind—Culture Club
• Love And Pride—King
• Wouldn't It Be Good—Nik Kershaw
• The Captain Of Her Heart—DOUBLE
• Dream To Sleep—H2O
• She Bop—Cyndi Lauper
• Chant No. 1 (I Don't Need This Pressure On)—Spandau Ballet
• I'm Not Scared [Album Version]—Eighth Wonder
• Hungry Like The Wolf—Duran Duran
• Cath—The Bluebells
• Everything Counts—Depeche Mode

  May 1st (& May 5th)

• Lucretia My Reflection—The Sisters Of Mercy
• Atmosphere—Joy Division
• Joy Division Oven Gloves—Half Man Half Biscuit
• Severina—The Mission
• Birds Fly (Whisper To A Scream)—The Icicle Works
• Animation (2007 Digital Remaster)—The Skids
• Fields of Fire—Big Country
• Litterchurch—White Lord Jesus
• Never Let Me Down Again—Smashing Pumpkins
• Stray Cat Strut—Stray Cats
• I Was A Teenage Werewolf—The Cramps
• Gone Daddy Gone/I Just Want To Make Love To You—Violent Femmes
• Sex Beat—The Gun Club
• Johnny Come Home—Fine Young Cannibals

  April 24th (& April 28th)

• Don't Bang The Drum—The Waterboys
• Reptile—The Church
• Kelly's Blues—The Triffids
• Pink Frost—The Chills
• Honey Be Good—The Bible
• Swamp—Talking Heads
• Down To This—Wire
• What I Am—Edie Brickell & The New Bohemians
• Strange Kind Of Love—Love And Money
• The Mating Game—The Monochrome Set
• Yachting Types—Yachts
• Ship Of Fools—World Party

  April 17th (& April 21st)

• Hyperactive—Thomas Dolby
• European Son—Japan
• #9—Planningtorock
• Life In A Day—Simple Minds
• The American—Simple Minds
• Someone Somewhere In Summertime—Simple Minds
• Colouring of Pigeons—The Knife
• What—Soft Cell
• Ieya—Toyah
• The Misunderstanding—Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
• Complex—Gary Numan
• Duel—Propaganda

  April 10th (& April 14th)

• Girls & Boys—Prince
• Boys Don't Cry—The Cure
• Complicated Girl—Puppet Rulers
• Games For Boys—Television Personalities
• Girls Are Always Right—Any Trouble
• The World Is Full Of Angry Young Men—XTC
• Woman In Chains—Tears For Fears
• Bad Boys—Wham!
• I Know What Boys Like—Waitresses
• Women Around The World At Work—Martha & The Muffins
• How Men Are—Aztec Camera
• Handsome Woman—Throwing Muses
• Valley Of The Lost Women—John Cooper Clarke
• Some Kind Of Women—Heroes
• Sharp Dressed Man—ZZ Top

  April 3rd (& April 7th)

• Bastards Of Young—The Replacements
• Hello Mr. Johnson—The Shades
• Starry Eyes—The Records
• All About You—Scars
• News At Ten—The Vapors
• Reunion—Penetration
• I Want You Back—Hoodoo Gurus
• Sleeping Gas—The Teardrop Explodes
• Trampolene—Julian Cope
• Life Goes On—The Damned
• Reconnez Cherie—Wreckless Eric
• Right Now—Creatures
• Evolution—Key
• Insha-Allah—Nasa
• What A Waster—Ian Dury

  March 27th (& March 31st)

• No More Blue Horizons—China Crisis
• I Often Dream Of Trains—Grant-Lee Phillips
• America For Beginners—Latin Quarter
• In A Manner Of Speaking—Martin Gore
• My True Country—Paul Buchanan
• Morning Splendor—Pauline Anna Strom
• We Have All the Time In the World—My Bloody Valentine
• Rocket Man—Kate Bush
• Little Horses Of Tarquina—The Durutti Column
• Old And Wise—The Alan Parsons Project
• J For Jules—'Til Tuesday
• Hunting High And Low—a-Ha
• A Violent Yet Flammable World—Au Revoir Simone
• Doors Of Your Heart—The Beat

  March 20th (& March 24th)

• Mexican Radio—Wall Of Voodoo
• Birdhouse In Your Soul—They Might Be Giants
• Oh No!—Camper Van Beethoven
• Furious—Throwing Muses
• That's What You Always Say—Dream Syndicate
• Monkey Dance—T-Bone Burnett
• Orange Crush—R.E.M.
• The Boys Of Summer—Don Henley
• Fun & Games—The Connells
• Heart Of Glass—Blondie
• Wordy Rappinghood (You Don't Stop)—Tom Tom Club
• Whip It—Devo
• I Want To Help You Ann—The Lyres
• Amplifier—The dB's
• Ways To Be Wicked—Lone Justice
• Judy Is a Punk—The Ramones

  March 13th (& March 17th at 22.00 GMT/6:00 pm EDT)

• Over the Hillside—The Blue Nile
• Man of Colours—Icehouse
• I Believe—Tears for Fears
• Coupe de Ville—Neil Young
• Blue Period—The Smithereens
• Your Blue Room—Passengers (U2 & Brian Eno)
• Sequent 'C—Tangerine Dream
• Last Night I Dreamt that Somebody Loved Me—Low
• Barramundi—This Mortal Coil
• San Jacinto—Peter Gabriel
• The Rhythm Divine—Yello featuring Shirley Bassey
• Renee—Talk Talk

  March 6th (& March 10th)

• Wednesday Week—The Undertones
• Gigantic—Pixies
• Victoria—The Fall
• About The Weather—Magazine
• Shack Up—A Certain Ratio
• Uptown Top Ranking—Althea & Donna
• Less Than Zero—Elvis Costello
• It's Kinda Funny—Josef K
• Falling And Laughing—Orange Juice
• Israel—Siouxsie & The Banshees
• Final Day—Young Marble Giants
• (When You Wake) You're Still In A Dream—My Bloody Valentine
• The World's A Mess; It's In My Kiss—X
• Duchess—The Stranglers
• Little Girl—The Banned
• Tourist Information—Tours
• Ahead—Wire

  February 28th (& March 3rd)

• Cemetry Gates—The Smiths
• Greenman—XTC
• Are You Ready To Be Heartbroken?—Lloyd Cole & The Commotions
• Desire As—Prefab Sprout
• Broken English—Marianne Faithfull
• War Baby—Tom Robinson
• View From A Hill—The Chameleons
• My Ever Changing Moods (Long Version)—The Style Council
• There Goes A Tenner—Kate Bush
• Our House—Madness
• Anarchy In The UK—Sex Pistols
• Where's Bill Grundy Now?—Television Personalities
• Happy Hour—The Housemartins
• Hurry Up Harry—Sham 69

  February 21st (& February 25th)

• Visions of China—Japan
• The Man-Machine—Kraftwerk
• Shadows in the Halls—Terror Bird
• White Car in Germany—The Associates
• Luxury (extended version)—Fad Gadget
• The Funeral Party—The Cure
• Shake the Disease—Hooverphonic
• Boys and Girls—The Human League
• Snobbery and Decay—Act
• Left to My Own Devices (single)—Pet Shop Boys
• And You Tell Me—a-ha
• We Came to Dance—Ultravox

  February 14th (& February 18th)

• Valentine's Day—ABC
• Love Goes On!—The Go-Betweens
• Don't Talk To Me About Love—Altered Images
• Is It Love—Gang Of Four
• That's Not Love—The Blades
• Blue Valentines—Tom Waits
• Love's Strange Ways—Chris Rea
• All That Love And Maths Can Do—The Durutti Column
• Seekers Who Are Lovers—Cocteau Twins
• Valentine—Bryan Ferry
• Kiss—Prince
• We Will Not Be Lovers—Waterboys
• Fourteenth of February—Billy Bragg

  February 7th (& February 11th)

• What Do I Get?—The Buzzcocks
• I Just Can't Be Happy Today—The Damned
• Rat Race—The Specials
• Pretty—Raincoats
• (I Wanna Be A) Policeman—The Cheaters
• These Are The Things—The Pale Fountains
• Lips Like Sugar [12" Mix]—Echo & The Bunnymen
• Save It For Later—The Beat
• If I Was With A Woman—Ian Dury & The Blockheads
• Earthbeat—The Slits
• Cat-Scan Hist'ry—The Blue Aeroplanes
• White Mice—The Mo-Dettes
• Wintergardens—Killing Joke

  January 24th (& January 28th)

• Don't Tell Me—Blancmange
• Autumn's Edge—Xeno & Oaklander
• The Great Commandment (Extended Dance Remix)—Camouflage
• So Good So Pure So Kind—Landscape
• Warm Leatherette—The Normal
• On the Water—Future Islands
• Joan Of Arc—Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
• Maid—Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
• In 20 Years—Void Vision
• Stop Start—The Assembly
• Empire State Human—Optiganally Yours
• Lawnchairs—Our Daughter's Wedding
• Car Crash—Vitesse
• Leave me alone—Destroyer

  January 17th (& January 21st)

• The Lines—White Night
• Romeo Void—A Girl in Trouble (is a temporary thing)
• Furniture—it continues
• Modern English—Ricochet Days
• The Fixx—Stand or Fall
• Red Rockers—China
• The The—This is the Day [Disinfected Version]
• Care—My Boyish Days (12" version)
• Alphaville—Call Me
• Dalek I Love You—Horrorscope
• Red Box—Chenko (Tenka-Io)

  January 10th (& January 14th)

• New Order—Blue Monday
• Duran Duran—Save a Prayer
• Roxy Music—To Turn You On
• Tears for Fears—Mad World
• ABC—The Look of Love Parts I & II
• Elvis Costello—Shipbuilding
• The Lotus Eaters—First Picture of You
• The Police—Invisible Sun
• The Smiths—This Charming Man
• The Dukes of Stratosphere—Pale and Precious
• Gary Numan—We Are Glass
• Heaven 17—Play to Win

  January 3rd (& January 7th)

• The Clash—Should I Stay or Should I Go
• The Jam—Going Underground
• The Undertones—Teenage Kicks
• Squeeze—Up the Junction
• The Fat Lady Sings—Arclight
• REM—South Central Rain
• Television—Marquee Moon
• Big Country—In a Big Country
• U2—I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
• Paul Simon—Graceland
• The Ramones—I Wanna Be Sedated
• Tom Waits—Rain Dogs
• Talking Heads—Good Thing
• The Cure— In-Between Days

2011

  December 27th (& December 31st)

• The Skids—Into the Valley
• Rich Kids—Ghosts of Princes in Towers
• The Modern Lovers—Pablo Picasso
• Mission of Burma—Academy Fight Song
• Camper Van Beethoven—When I Win the Lottery
• The Minuteman—Corona
• Wire—Eardrum Buzz
• The Undertones—Jimmy Jimmy
• Tours—Jimmy's Younger Brother
• The Clash—Guns of Brixton
• The Police—Regatta de Blanc
• The Stranglers—Strange Little Girl
• Television—Venus
• Lene Lovich—I Think We're Alone Now
• Lydia Lunch—Blame
• Jayne County—Man Enough to Be a Woman
• The Pogues & The Dubliners—The Irish Rover

  December 20th (& December 24th)

• Aztec Camera—Walk Out to Winter
• The Colourfield with Sinead O'Connor—Monkey in Winter
• Deacon Blue—Christmas and Glasgow
• Tom Waits—Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis
• Robyn Hitchcock—Winter Love
• Aimee Mann—I Was Thinking I Could Clean Up for Christmas
• Kid Creole—Christmas on Riverside Drive
• Durutti Column—Snowflakes
• Au Revoir Simone—Fallen Snow
• Galaxie 500—Snowstorm
• Kate Bush—Wild Man
• Jonathan Richman—Abominable Snowman in the Market
• XTC—Thanks for Christmas

  December 13th (& December 17th)

• Kings Of The Wild Frontier—Adam & The Ants
• Tusk—Fleetwood Mac
• One Step Ahead—Split Enz
• Choci Loni—Young Marble Giants
• You're No Good—ESG
• Tao Perto—Cabine C
• Pressure—Pressure
• Eloise—The Damned
• Darkness Before Dawn—Killing Joke
• Come Live With Me—Heaven 17
• Do Or Die—The Human League
• I've Seen That Face Before (Libertango)—Grace Jones
• Big Sleep—Simple Minds

  December 6th (& December 10th)

• Boops (Here To Go)—Sly & Robbie Featuring Shinehead
• Glamorous Life—Sheila E.
• Head—Prince
• Sho' You Right—Barry White
• Single Life—Cameo
• Get It Up—The Time
• Funkytown—Lipps Inc.
• Billie Jean—Michael Jackson
• Master Blaster (Jammin')—Stevie Wonder
• Buffalo Soldier—Bob Marley & The Wailers
• I Feel For You—Chaka Khan
• Living In America—James Brown

  November 29th (& December 3rd)

• Wake Up (edit)—XTC
• Cue Fanfare—Prefab Sprout
• Cut Me Down [Extended Remix]—Lloyd Cole & The Commotions
• Forgotten Town [12" Dub Version]—The Christians
• Rip It Up—Orange Juice
• To Cut A Long Story Short (Long Mix)—Spandau Ballet
• Wasteland—The Mission
• Ball Of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)—Love & Rockets
• The Story Of A Young Heart—A Flock Of Seagulls
• Hampton Beach—China Crisis
• Cities In Dust—Siouxsie & the Banshees

  November 22nd (& November 26th)

• Sex Crime (1984)—Eurythmics
• A Million Miles Away—The Plimsouls
• The Living Daylights—a-Ha
• Ken—Kate Bush
• If You Leave—Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
• Live And Let Die—Chrissie Hynde
• Wake Up Stop Dreaming—Wang Chung
• You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby—Kirsty MacColl
• Nobody Does It Better [From "The Spy Who Loved Me"]—Carly Simon
• Cat People—David Bowie
• Eighth Day—Hazel O'Connor
• The Hardest Walk—Jesus & Mary Chain
• Bring On The Dancing Horses—Echo & The Bunnymen
• Tubular Bells (extract)—Mike Oldfield
• You Only Live Twice— Soft Cell

  November 15th (& November 19th)

• Black Celebration (live)—Depeche Mode
• Collapsing New People—Fad Gadget
• So Fine—Telepathe
• World In My Eyes—The Cure
• Club Country—The Associates
• Europe After The Rain—John Foxx
• After A Fashion—Midge Ure And Mitch Karn
• Life In Tokyo [12'']—Japan
• Mind Of A Toy—Visage
• Enjoy the Silence—Lacuna Coil
• Absolute—Scritti Politti
• St. Swithin's Day—Dubstar
• Are 'friends' Electric?—Gary Numan & Tubeway Army

  November 8th (& November 12th)

• Armageddon Days (Are Here Again)—The The
• Food For Thought—UB40
• The Light That Pours Out Of Me—Magazine
• Brass In Pocket—The Pretenders
• Sister Europe—The Psychedelic Furs
• What A Waste—Ian Dury & The Blockheads
• Whatever Happened To David Zé?—Family Fodder
• Flaming Sword—Care
• Hands Off .... She's Mine—The Beat
• The Selecter—The Selecter
• Sweetest Girl—Madness
• Funeral Pyre—The Jam
• Back Of My Hand—The Jags
• Accidents Will Happen—Elvis Costello

  November 1st (& November 5th)

• A Thousand Hours: The Cure (Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me)
• Quiet Heart: The Go-Betweens (16 Lovers Lane)
• Loving The Alien: Icehouse (Heroes)
• Sara Smile: The Bird & The Bee (Interpreting The Masters Volume 1: A Tribute To Daryl Hall And John Oates)
• The Right Moment: Gerry Rafferty (Right Down The Line: The Best Of Gerry Rafferty)
• Did She Jump Or Was She Pushed: Richard Thompson & Linda Thompson (Shoot Out The Lights)
• Enjoy The Silence: Susanna And The Magical Orchestra (Melody Mountain)
• Cry: 10cc (The Very Best Of 10cc)
• Another Green World: Brian Eno (Another Green World)
• For What It's Worth: Talk Talk (Asides/Bsides)
• Let's Go Out Tonight: Craig Armstrong (The Space Between Us)
• Lifeguard Sleeping, Girl Drowning: Morrissey (Vauxhall And I)
• Listen: Tears For Fears (Songs From The Big Chair)

  October 25th (& October 29th)

• Refugee: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (Damn The Torpedoes!)
• Goo Goo Muck: The Cramps (single)
• Have You Ever Seen The Rain? Minutemen (3-Way Tie (For Last))
• Roadside Flowers: Winter Hours (Winter Hours)
• A Common Disaster: Cowboy Junkies (Studio)
• Teen Age Riot: Sonic Youth (Daydream Nation)
• Perfect Circle: R.E.M. (Murmur)
• Kiss Me On The Bus: The Replacements (All For Nothing)
• Sadly Beautiful: The Replacements (All Shook Down)
• Counting Backwards: Throwing Muses (The Real Ramona)
• She Floated Away: Hüesker Düe (Warehouse: Songs And Stories)
• Wishing Well: Bob Mould (Workbook)
• Hoover Dam: Sugar (Copper Blue)
• From Out Of Nowhere: Faith No More (The Real Thing)

  October 18th (& October 22nd)

• In Our Angelhood: Cocteau Twins (Head Over Heels)
• Don't Call: Desire (II)
• Hiroshima Mon Amour: Ultravox (Ha Ha Ha)
• I'm Not Done: Fever Ray (Fever Ray)
• Going Wrong: Planningtorock (W)
• ...And the Rain: John Maus (We Must Become The Pitiless Censors Of Ourselves)
• Say Hello, Wave Goodbye: Soft Cell (Say Hello To Soft Cell)
• The Things That Dreams Are Made Of: The Human League (Dare!)
• White Elephant: Ladytron (Gravity The Seducer)
• Lose It: Austra (Feel It Break)
• Who's That Girl? Eurythmics (Touch (2005 Re-Master))
• The Patience Of A Saint: Electronic (Electronic)