Snap, Crackle, POP! with Alec Cumming

Today’s Snap Crackle POP! was a tribute to the epic production team of drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare. Sly passed away on January 26th 2026 at the age of 73. ==============================   Double Barrel – Dave & Ansell Collins Right Time – The Mighty Diamonds Two Sevens Clash – Culture Get Up Stand Up – Peter Tosh   Sponji Reggae – Black Uhuru Greetings – Half Pint Don't S...

In tribute to, and in acknowledgement of, the Battle of '26 in wintry Minneapolis. Enclosed photo is by Philip Cheung for The New Yorker . ==================================== Why Can't We Live Together – Timmy Thomas Streets of Minneapolis – Bruce Springsteen How Much Did You Get for Your Soul? – Lucinda Williams Know Your Rights – The Clash City of Heroes – Billy Bragg Join Ice – Jesse Welles It...

I've been doing two "drivetime" 7 - 9 am airshifts lately on WPKN 89.5 FM Bridgeport lately  - my regular Monday morning one and, for a bit, the Tuesday morning slot too, covering for a world-wandering Steve Di Costanzo. I like doing these shows live, as I can announce times and give weather reports and even traffic news if I can find and organize it (which I'm not too good at yet). But I live in...

This Morning’s Backstory: though I always want to do these “Snap Crackle POP!” drivetime programs live, so I can give out weather and traffic (lol) reports, I had to pre-record this one because of the blizzard-y weather, considering that I was snowed as of Sunday evening, the night before the show, way out here in Mystic.    Why my time announcements may be off here and there: uhhh... it's too eso...

I talked a lot about and played some Life In a Blender, a fantasticly creative band from NYC who are coming up to Milford this Friday, January 23rd, 2026. And I also played some music that I'd consider twee, although I don't think that's a bad word. (Google's "AI Overview" is telling me "'Twee' describes something overly cute, sweet, quaint, or sentimental, often in an affected or delicate way, or...

In a recent interview with the New York Times, President Donald J. Trump said he felt the Civil Rights Movement and its reforms were harmful to white people, who “were very badly treated.” Also, the administration made sure that Martin Luther King Jr. Day - still a national holiday (for now) - would not be a day where people could visit America's national parks for free. Trump did, however, make h...

The title of this podcast is influenced by a Reds, Pinks and Purples song lyric. Lotsa good new/new-ish music here, much in the tradition of the show I'm filling in for - Steve Di Costanzo's RADIO BASE CAMP. Hard Livin' – Railroad Earth Save Your Soul – Kathleen Edwards Pick Up That Knife – Wednesday Frontrunner – Horsegirl  Gimme Time – Hannah Jagadu   All We Ever Do Is Talk– Del Water Gap Oh Dor...

On this morning's show, I did a tribute of sorts to the great Bob Weir, who passed away over the weekend. A great big thanks to Lane Steinberg for writing insightfully about what Bob could really make happen on guitar. But before that we started off with some sexy mornin' Dusty. Just a Little Lovin' – Dusty Springfield  Some of Your Lovin' – Dusty Springfield   Pussywillow, Cattails – Gordon Light...

In which I finally give up and acceptance the consensus worship of my friends re: Sharp Pins.  Life Is – Jessica Pratt Guess I'm Dumb – Glen Campbell Mock The Hours – David Nance Say It On – J Mascis Coke, Suede and Waterbeds – Sopwith Camel  Not Enough – Benny Sings   Cruise Ship Designer – Dry Cleaning Wreck – Neko Case Edge of the Ocean – Ivy  Keep On Movin' – Soul II Soul   Hold Steady – Queen...

For the first show of a precarious new year, I chose to focus on a theme of reletively obscure 1970's "deep cuts", apropos of... nothing. Some great songs, though. The first song isn't all that obscure, but the movie it served as the theme song for is deeply quaint; it's about a late '70s commercial rock radio station being forced (gasp) into using a format and playing from a songs list , and the...

This was a fill-in episode for Steve Di Costanzo's classin WPKN morning show, RADIO BASE CAMP. I should be doing a lot of these Tuesday shows as well as the Monday shows, and that's good because I can get better at this.  Because it's the Eve of New Year's Eve, I went with that as the theme; hour 1 is more of a downer than hour 2.  Millennium – Robbie Williams    Auld Lang Syne – Guy Lombardo  Enj...

There's been a lot of CBGBs in the air lately at WPKN, courtesy of programmers Dave Schneider (The Zambonis), Chris Frantz (Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club) - yes, THE Chris Frantz -and Rob Tannenbaum, a great music journalist who produced a must-have (IMHO) new box set for Cherry Red Records named "CBGB: A New York City Soundtrack 1975-1986". Inspired by the annual CTBGs show at the Fairfield Theater...

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...

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...

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 li...

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...

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.  ...

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 absol...

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 de...

This show is an unashamedly gooey look at a wonderful if greatly underrated genre of music - BUBBLEGUM. That is, the stuff you heard from the mid-60s through the early '70s. Bubble Gum Music – The Rock & Roll Dubble Bubble Trading Card Co. of Philadelphia 19141  Hello Hello – Sopwith Camel   Popsicles And Icicles – The Murmaids  Can't Get Used to Losing You – Andy Williams  Dance On Through –...

I had to pre-record this episode, because on September 2nd I was actually in London on a wonderful honeymoon (which had been delayed for 9 months!). I rarely pre-record shows these days - it takes me too much time because I fuss over them way too much - but I had to do it for this one, and I'm suprised at how tired and unenthusiastic I sound. I *think* that was because I was rushing to get it done...

Occasionally I do shows like this, and it's both an honor and something quite sad when I do. My buddy from Syracuse University, Jim Van Norstrand, passed away a few days before this broadcast, so I did this show in honor of him. Love you, Jim. Miss you.  Free As a Bird (2025 Mix) – The Beatles 1979 – Smashing Pumpkins Sweet Jane – The Velvet Underground Once In a Lifetime – Talking Heads Accidents...

I'm not sure what to write about shows like this... this is just me putting together a set on the fly. Some new stuff, some old stuff, a small Joni tribute at the top, a Cornershop two-fer later. It works (I think). Chelsea Morning – Sergio Mendes & Brasil 66 Night in the City – Joni Mitchell All I Want – The Supremes   Pleasant Valley Sunday (demo) – Carole King Pressed Flower – Frankie Cosmo...

This is a fave recent episode of mine. For the first half of the show, my dear friend Dawn Eden Goldstein (who now resides in Milford and whom I would love to hear on the air at WPKN, and I'll do whaterver I can to make that happen) stopped in and co-hosted the show with me, pulling *so* many great, obscure '60s records out of our legendary stacks and then talking about them brilliantly. Although...

At some point in the earty aughts, when I was going through a divorce and saw my daughter mainly on the weekends, I discovered a Saturday morning show on the classic freeform station WFMU called "Greasy Kids Stuff". She and I both LOVED it. It was a music show for kids, but it wasn't cheesy kids music. No offense to The Wiggles and Baby Beluga and all that, but that stuff's aimed at a 5-year-old a...