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Caropop

Mark Caro

There may be nothing more inspiring and entertaining than relaxed, candid conversations among creative people. Mark Caro, a relentlessly curious journalist and on-stage interviewer, loves digging into the creative process with artists and drawing out surprising stories that illuminate the work that has become part of our lives. The Caropopcast is for anyone who wants to dig deeper into the music, movies, food and culture that they love.

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  • 30 episodes
  • weekly
  • Avg 59 min
  • English

Episodes 30

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  • S1 · E245
    Thursday · 38 min

    John Murphy (Shoes), Pt. 2

    In Part 2 of our conversation with John Murphy, the Shoes singer-songwriter-bassist tells what happened after MTV started playing this Zion, Ill., power-pop band’s videos amid Elektra’s disappointment that they hadn’t turned into the next Cars or Queen. What was life like while the band was self-producing and releasing such acclaimed albums as Stolen Wishes, Propeller and Ignition? What are the advantages and disadvantages of the band’s three singer-songwriters—John and Jeff Murphy and Gary Klebe—each being guaranteed four or five songs per album? What were John’s and Jeff’s reactions to Gary Klebe’s solo album Out Loud, which was released earlier this year? Did they know Gary was making a solo album? Did they think some of those songs should have been on a Shoes album instead? Is the band on the same page now? Will there be another Shoes album? The next Shoes drop here…

  • S1 · E244
    October 22 · 50 min

    John Murphy (Shoes), Pt. 1

    Shoes, the now-legendary power-pop band from Zion, Ill., is the most democratic of groups, with each album presenting equal servings of smart, hooky songs from brothers John and Jeff Murphy and their childhood friend Gary Klebe. In Part 1 of a two-parter, John Murphy revisits the band’s formation—when none of them played an instrument and he had to learn bass—and tells how Shoes recorded three DIY albums before its first official release, 1977’s Black Vinyl Shoes. For that one John designed the original (and soon to be replaced) cover art and wrote the first Shoes song to gain wide attention, “Boys Don’t Lie.” Then came the band’s signing with Elektra, which hoped Shoes would follow in the footsteps of its breakthrough artists Queen and the Cars. Confusion over the first singles, “Too Late” and “Tomorrow Night,” didn’t help, though. How did that all shake out? Also covered: the John song featured prominently in Mannequin Two: On the Move.

  • S1 · E243
    October 15 · 57 min

    Palmyra Delran

    Palmyra Delran was a veteran East Coast pop-punk rocker when Stevie Van Zandt (a previous Caropop guest) offered her a hosting gig on his Little Steven’s Underground Garage Sirius XM channel. His instinct was dead on, as she turned out to be a natural, super-lively storyteller and record-spinner, especially when she’s dusting off her Trash Pop Treasures. She traces her love of 45s back to her aunt’s corner-store jukebox in New Jersey. She also developed a passion for drumming—and later would excel as a guitarist and singer as well. She recalls her stints in the bands Pink Slip Daddy and the Friggs and her solo work with the Doppel Gang, including their new cover of Joey Ramone’s “Spirit in My House.” She also discusses forming the Coolies with the late Kim Shattuck and tells how she puts together her Underground Garage shows. Is she playing her own records? Does Van Zandt have to approve her playlists? How did Nancy Sinatra come to record the “Trash Pop Treasures” intro?

  • S1 · E242
    October 8 · 48 min

    David Byrne

    How did David Byrne go from being a twitchy art-rock frontman to one of our most beloved artists? At age 74, he’s got a new book, Sleeping Beauties: Why Good Ideas Go Dormant and How They Wake Up, plus associated live events; an ongoing immersive experience with Chicago’s Goodman Theatre, Theater of the Mind; the new Sirius XM pop-up channel Talking Heads Radio; an upcoming Talking Heads Fear of Music deluxe package; and a recently completed, dazzling live tour spotlighting his latest album, Who Is the Sky? Byrne discusses all this and more, including whether music needs movement; what he’s learned from Theater of the Mind; how Jonathan Demme and Spike Lee treated point-of-view while directing Stop Making Sense and American Utopia, respectively; what everyday people don’t understand about band dynamics; how involved he is in the Talking Heads-related projects; whether he would enjoy playing music with his ex-bandmates in an empty room; and which song of his is the biggest Sleeping Beauty of them all.

  • S1 · E241
    October 1 · 1 hr 11 min

    Jim Babjak (The Smithereens)

    Smithereens guitarist Jim Babjak shared a love of the British Invasion and Beach Boys with classmate and drummer (and previous Caropop guest) Dennis Diken when they teamed up with bassist Mike Mesaros and signed on singer-songwriter-guitarist Pat DiNizio. Babjak describes this New Jersey power-pop group’s rise, fall and current resurgence as a live band featuring a rotating roster of lead singers substituting for the late DiNizio, including previous Caropop guests Marshall Crenshaw, John Cowsill and Wesley Stace. Who wrote the indelible riffs for songs such as “Only a Memory” and “A Girl Like You”? How did Babjak gain confidence in his own songwriting? He explores the thorny issue of publishing royalties and explains why he took a job with a bank for 20 years. He also describes DiNizio’s last years and what prompted the band to resume playing after he was gone. How did 2026 become the Smithereens’ busiest year since 1994? What’s happening with that prospective new Smithereens album?

  • S1 · E240
    September 24 · 1 hr 29 min

    Bill Wyman (Writer)

    Song-ranking articles can be annoying clickbait, but those written by longtime journalist Bill Wyman are endlessly provocative, entertaining and informative, with individual entries becoming deep-diving, mind-opening essays. For Vulture, Wyman ranked every song by the Beatles, Michael Jackson, Led Zeppelin, the Clash and Pink Floyd, as well as every Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee. Now Wyman has added Nirvana and the Eagles songs to the mix and compiled it all in Bill Wyman’s Rock & Roll Lists. Here we bat around his ridiculous choice for the Beatles’ worst song; dissect how publishing royalties muddied the Pink Floyd waters; discuss why he ranked songs by the Eagles rather than, say, R.E.M., U2 or Prince; and weigh the Hall of Fame worthiness of Pat Benatar and Stevie Nicks vs. Aimee Mann and PJ Harvey. Wyman also reflects on Poptimism and Chicago’s early ‘90s glory, feud-fueled days featuring Steve Albini, Urge Overkill and Liz Phair.

  • S1 · E239
    September 17 · 1 hr 8 min

    Natalie Merchant

    After making widely loved music as a solo artist and, beforehand, with 10,000 Maniacs, Natalie Merchant is focusing on children with her latest project, Cabinet of Wonder. Spurred by her work with Head Start preschoolers in upstate New York, Merchant set Mother Goose verses to music and collaborated with members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chicago Children’s Theatre to bring the recordings and videos to life. In this wide-ranging conversation, Merchant speaks of the allure and legend of Mother Goose; describes why working with children is bringing her more joy than pursuing another solo project; and reflects on joining 10,000 Maniacs at age 17, co-writing with band members, working with various producers and feeling compelled to leave after 1992’s hit-filled Our Time in Eden. Did she have any inkling that her first solo album, Tigerlily (1997), would propel her to new artistic and commercial heights? (Photo by Joe Mazza)

  • S1 · E238
    September 10 · 1 hr 6 min

    Susan Orlean

    Susan Orlean has a brilliant talent for crafting compelling narratives from idiosyncratic topics that have piqued her interest: orchid poachers in Florida for The Orchid Thief, a movie star dog for Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend and the Los Angeles Central Library for The Library Book, among others. Last year she shifted the focus to herself for a revealing, inspirational memoir, Joyride, that celebrates pursuing one’s curiosity into odd corners. Here Orlean, who preceded me at the Boston Phoenix by a few years, discusses when she knows a topic has reached critical mass to become a book, whether she does all of her reporting before she begins writing, how she decides how much of herself to put into a story, whether she can write whatever she wants now and how her life was affected by Meryl Streep portraying a fictionalized version of her in Adaptation. (Photo by Chloe Aftel.)

  • August 13 · 1 min

    Caropop Summer Recess 2026

    We're going on break! We'll be back the Thursday after Labor Day! In the meantime, you can listen to this message and catch up on old Caropop episodes (no way you've heard all 237!) and check out what we've posted on our Caropop YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@Caropopcast. Please hit "subscribe" while you're there. Enjoy your late summer, and we'll be back with you soon!

  • S1 · E237
    August 6 · 55 min

    Laura Benanti

    Laura Benanti is a Tony Award-winning Broadway musical star who noticed some things while looking back on her life and career. She has channeled these observations—about being a perpetual people-pleaser and evolving from The Sound of Music-starring ingenue to a fortysomething singer, actor and mother—into a one-woman comedy-musical show Laura Benanti: Nobody Cares (which plays at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Aug. 6-9). Here she talks about how she created the material and co-wrote the songs, how different cities and audiences affect her performances, whether she grew up preferring singer-songwriters or musical soundtracks, how she connected with Stephen Colbert and crafted her Melania Trump impersonation on The Late Show, how she’d like to keep scratching her comedy itch, how television factors into her plans and what it might take to get her back onto a Broadway stage. (Photo by Heather Gershonowitz)

  • S1 · E236
    July 30 · 1 hr 5 min

    Michael Hampton (Funkadelic/Parliament)

    Michael Hampton earned the nickname Kidd Funkadelic as the hotshot guitarist who at age 17 joined the Funkadelic/Parliament universe after wowing P-Funk leader George Clinton with his rendition of Eddie Hazel’s epic “Maggot Brain” solo. Hampton eventually made “Maggot Brain” his own and turned in much more head-spinning guitar work, including on Funkadelic’s relentlessly funky “(Not Just) Knee Deep.” Hampton takes us along for the concurrent run of classic 1970s Parliament and Funkadelic albums, such as Funkentelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome and One Nation Under a Groove. When he entered the studio, did he know which band's session it was? Was the scene as much of a party as it sounded like? Did that atmosphere help or get in the way or both? Hampton also discusses his new mini concept album, King Kong, and how, with and without P-Funk, he continues to make his guitar sizzle and sing. (Photo by Philip Samuel Smith)

  • S1 · E235
    July 23 · 1 hr 8 min

    Urge Overkill/Exit the Dragon

    Urge Overkill appeared to be riding high after the critical triumph of its 1993 album, Saturation, and the prominent appearance of its Neil Diamond cover, “Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon,” in Pulp Fiction in 1994. But by the time the alt-rock trio reunited with producers the Butcher Bros. to record the follow-up album, expectations and circumstances had changed. As singer-songwriter-guitarists Nash Kato and Eddie “King” Roeser recall here in stark detail, the two of them were in different places personally and musically, drummer Blackie Onassis was fighting his own demons, and an unhealthy environment developed around the Butcher Bros.’ new studio outside Philadelphia. Exit the Dragon, the resultant album that recently marked its 30th anniversary, is a dark, slithery, ragged work that has achieved a lasting power amid its tattered nerve endings. What happened here, and why did Exit the Dragon turn out to be the final Urge Overkill album featuring Kato, Roeser and the late Onassis? (Photo: Jerod Herzog)

  • S1 · E234
    July 16 · 1 hr 13 min

    Jason Ringenberg (Jason and the Scorchers/Still Standing)

    Jason and the Scorchers (née Jason and the Nashville Scorchers) were cowpunk trailblazers before anyone was talking about alt-country or Americana. Frontman/songwriter Jason Ringenberg and his bandmates, including fiery guitarist Warner Hodges, infused country music with punk energy to thrilling effect. After EMI America signed the band and added its high-octane cover of Bob Dylan’s “Absolutely Sweet Marie” to its 1983 EP, Fervor, hopes were high. The first album, Lost & Found, generated rave reviews, yet when it came time to make the follow-up, the band had reached a pivot point. To mark the 40th anniversary of that second album, Still Standing, Ringenberg digs deep into the life-altering experience of making it and its aftermath. How did his songwriting change? Why did they hire Cheap Trick producer Tom Werman? Was the plan always to release a cover of the Rolling Stones’ “19th Nervous Breakdown” as the first single? How did Ringenberg get from a downstate Illinois farm to this point? Bonus: There are baby chicks. (Photo by Marty Howell)

  • S1 · E233
    July 9 · 56 min

    Glenn Morrow (Bar/None, Cry for Help)

    Glenn Morrow owned and ran Bar/None Records for decades, signing acts such as They Might Be Giants, Yo La Tengo, Freedy Johnston, Alex Chilton, Ezra Furman and the Feelies. Morrow previously was a writer/editor at the influential punk/new wave magazine New York Rocker, and he fronted bands: “a” was the first to play at the late, great Maxwell’s in Hoboken; the Individuals boosted the power-pop scene; Rage To Live was Bar/None’s first signee; and Glenn Morrow’s Cry for Help, his current group, is about to release Our Final Album Vol. 1. Morrow reflects on his intertwining roles as journalist, label owner and musician. What made Maxwell’s such a special club? How did Bar/None seem like an extension of New York Rocker? How did he feel when Bar/None artists "graduated" to major labels? What’s next for this 70-year-old newly retired music executive still making music?

  • S1 · E232
    July 2 · 45 min

    Liberty DeVitto (Billy Joel), Pt. 2

    In Pt. 2 of this lively, insightful conversation with Liberty DeVitto’, Billy Joel’s longtime drummer revisits the challenge of drumming in the synth-driven 1980s; the making of Joel’s albums The Bridge, Storm Front and River of Dreams; the creation of the smash single “We Didn’t Start the Fire”; the reason DeVitto plays on only one River of Dreams song; and his irate fax that wound up on that last album’s control room wall. DeVitto also addresses his high-profile split from Joel and subsequent lawsuit against the singer-songwriter. How did they reconcile, with Joel writing the foreword to DeVitto’s memoir, Liberty: Life, Billy and the Pursuit of Happiness? Have DeVitto and Joel played together since then? Why or why not? What did DeVitto say that got left on the cutting-room floor of the two-part HBO documentary: Billy Joel: And So It Goes? He recalls playing with Karen Carpenter and Paul McCartney as well. (Photo: Petra den Tenter)

  • S1 · E231
    June 25 · 45 min

    Liberty DeVitto (Billy Joel), Pt. 1

    Hired when Billy Joel wanted “a New York-style drummer,” Liberty DeVitto laid down indelible parts for the singer-songwriter-pianist’s music from 1976’s Turnstiles onward. In part one of a lively two-part conversation, this big-talent, big-personality drummer takes us from his early years, when his and Joel’s teenage bands crossed paths, through their shared success with The Stranger, 52nd Street, Glass Houses, The Nylon Curtain and An Innocent Man. Which Joel song does DeVitto call “the hardest to play and be happy about it”? How did Joel introduce and develop songs with the band? What impact did producer Phil Ramone’s arrival have? On which song did Ramone and DeVitto butt heads over a disco beat? How did the band arrive at the jazz interludes on “Zanzibar”? How much were they listening to the punk/New Wave of the time? Which Nylon Curtain song may be DeVitto’s favorite by Joel? What circumstances drove Joel’s hit throwback album An Innocent Man?

  • S1 · E230
    June 18 · 1 hr 13 min

    Rachel Lichtman

    Rachel Lichtman grew up listening to 1970s AM radio and watching local TV—a world of soothing music, tacky ads, eye-grabbing graphics and reruns galore. A keen-eyed and -eared graphic artist, comedian and filmmaker, Lichtman evokes the humor and beauty of that era in Programme 4, her would-be-station-turned-film she is touring alongside live musical/comedy performances. Based in fictional Golden Sands, Programme 4 presents opening credit sequences for TV shows that should have been (The William Joel Show, A Man Named Brady, Brooker) plus ads, short films and killer jokes revolving around harpsichords, the Rhodes electric piano and steamy brown coffee. Aimee Mann, Ted Leo and Dag Juhlin are among an all-star cast that has contributed to the Easy AM 66 (“Your Beautiful Music Station”) playlists and performs at the variety shows. Where did Lichtman’s love for this vibe and aesthetic come from? How did she conjure up the vision and develop the skills to pull off this unique project?

  • S1 · E229
    June 11 · 54 min

    Swamp Dogg

    Swamp Dogg turns 84 on July 12, making him 24 days younger than Paul McCartney, yet he’s still on the rise. He’s been gaining new fans through the 2024 documentary Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted; his 31st album, Swamp Dogg Contemplates the Afterlife, is out June 19; and then there’s his cookbook, If You Can Kill It, I Can Cook It. Formerly known as Jerry Williams and Little Jerry Williams, Swamp Dogg is an all-time talent and character. The cover of his 1971 album Rat On! is hall-of-fame worthy itself, but he also has written, performed and/or produced about 2,000 songs while working with hundreds of artists on close to 500 albums. Speaking from his now-famous house, Swamp Dogg reflects on his seven decades of making music; the ways politics and race affected his career; his friendship with John Prine; his role in the 1983 album Beatle Barkers (!) and his ability to keep his songwriting, voice and sense of humor sharp. (Photo by Cooper Davidson.)

  • S1 · E228
    June 4 · 1 hr 12 min

    Ike Reilly

    Singer-songwriter Ike Reilly has been reaching critical mass. He shared a microphone with Bruce Springsteen in January, has gained new fans with the 2024 documentary Don’t Turn Your Back on Friday Night (as well as his SiriusXM show), and is wowing more listeners than ever with his longtime band the Ike Reilly Assassination. He has made music his family business, with his three sons performing with him while his oldest son, Shane, is featured on his new album, Blind and Surrounded, out June 12. Reilly’s sharply observed songs can rouse you and/or break your heart, and he’s quite a storyteller. Here he reflects on how his sons relate to him as a band leader vs. father, and he discusses his friendships with fellow Libertyville, Ill.,, native Tom Morello and Cracker’s David Lowery and Johnny Hickman, among others. A former gravedigger and employee-of-the-year Park Hyatt doorman, Reilly also recalls getting stiffed by a future President of the United States—and what he did in response.

  • S1 · E227
    May 28 · 1 hr 2 min

    Tom "Grover" Biery (Pet Sounds)

    To mark the 60th anniversary of the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds, Interscope-Capitol has released a limited-edition Definitive Sound Series One Step version of this landmark album. Tom “Grover” Biery, who oversaw the project, tells of its unusual sourcing, which involves the 1972 master of Pet Sounds that was released as part of a double LP with the then-new Beach Boys album Carl and the Passions “So Tough.” Why was that 1972 Pet Sounds so revered, and how did it come to be used here instead of the original 1966 mono master? How does this DSS version differ from the mono/stereo Pet Sounds that Universal's Vinylphyle series just released? Do people buying these new Pet Sounds versions already own multiple copies? (Raises hand...) Biery also produced One-Steps from Dr. Dre, Beck, R.E.M. (as previously discussed on Caropop), Tom Petty, Green Day and Prince and the Revolution, and he explains why the quality justifies the price.

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