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The Feb. 1 edition of Strictly Roots celebrated the music of Sly Dunbar.

The legendary drummer and producer — best known for his work with bassist Robbie Shakespeare — passed away on Jan. 26 at age 73.

If you missed it, here’s the archive. 

While Dunbar’s career began in the late 1960s, it formally took off once he met Shakespeare who recommended Dunbar to producer Bunny Lee as a possible drummer for the Aggrovators, the house band Lee used for recording sessions.

In addition to Dunbar and Shakespeare, numerous musicians did spells with the Aggrovators before embarking on solo careers, including future Bob Marley band leader bassist Aston Barrett, keyboardist Jackie Mittoo and horn man Tommy McCook.

Following their time with Lee, Dunbar and Shakespeare continued working together, in the studio and on stage. They formed Taxi Records in 1980.

Dunbar, who had 13 Grammy Award nominations and won two Grammy Awards, also worked with Lee Scratch Perry’s band, the Upsetters and with the Revolutionaries, the house band for Channel One studio boss Joseph Hoo Kim.

Dunbar played drums on several noteworthy tracks produced by Perry, including “Night Doctor,” Junior Murvin’s “Police and Thieves” and Bob Marley & the Wailers’ “Punky Reggae Party.”

Dunbar and Shakespeare played on Bob Dylan’s “Infidels” and “Empire Burlesque. The duo also appeared on recording by Grace Jones, Herbie Hancock, Joe Cocker, Serge Gainsbourg and the Rolling Stones.

The Jan. 23 edition of Crashing The Ether paid tribute to Toad’s Place with two hours of music recorded at the legendary New Haven music venue which marks its 50th anniversary this year.

If you missed it, here’s the archive. 

Opening its doors in 1975 as a restaurant, Toad’s was transformed into a live music club in 1976 and has been at the center of New Haven’s music scene for five decades.

Some of the industry’s biggest names have graced the stage at the York Street location — known as the place “where the legends play” — including The Rolling Stones, Billy Joel, David Bowie, Bob Dylan, James Taylor and most recently, Foo Fighters.

Bands that are today household names, such as U2 and REM, played Toad’s on their earliest tours, long before gaining international superstardom.

Some of the artists for the feature included, King Crimson, Ian Hunter with Mick Ronson, Nick Lowe with Paul Carrack, Little Feat, Rickie Lee Jones, Richard Thompson and Living Colour.

In 2021, Brian Phelps, the owner of Toad’s, collaborated with Randall Beach to write The Legendary Toad’s Place: Stories from New Haven’s Famed Music Venue (‎Globe Pequot Publishing).

Toad’s was inducted into the New England Music Hall of Fame in 2025.

Emmy Award winners Andy Billman and Joe Franco have collaborated on an independently produced documentary about Toad’s — Where Legends Play — which could be released this year.

The Jan. 24 edition of Greasy Tracks celebrated the career of Bob Weir and there was an interview with Dogs In A Pile guitarist Brian Murray who discussed the band’s recent release, Destroid.

If you missed it, here’s the archive, while a playlist is here.

In true jam-band style, The Asbury Park, N.J.-based Dogs in a Pile bring a mix of rock, funk and jazz with flashes of psychedelia.

Weir, best known as one of the founding members of the Grateful Dead, recently passed away at the age of 78.

The Jan. 4 edition of Strictly Roots celebrated the music of reggae legends who passed away in 2025.

If you missed it, here’s the archive. 

Artists that were featured included: Ken Parker, Cocoa Tea, Max Romeo, Junior Byles and Jimmy Cliff.

The life and music of Jethro Tull and Blodwyn Pig guitarist Mick Abrahams was celebrated on the Dec. 22 edition of The Devo Rock Show. Abrahams passed away Dec. 19 at the age 82.

If you missed it, here’s the archive. 

Born in Luton, Bedfordshire, UK, he and Ian Anderson, along with drummer Clive Bunker and bassist Glen Cornick formed Jethro Tull and began playing the London club scene. Abrahams appeared on their 1968 debut album, This Was.

This version of Jethro Tull leaned more into blues and jazz, but after a falling out with Anderson, Abrahams left the band and formed Blodwyn Pig.

Blodwyn Pig’s debut, Ahead Rings Out, came out in 1969. It featured Jack Landcaster (sax), Andy Pyle (bass) and Ron Berg (drums). It was followed in 1970 with Getting To This which continued the band’s more experimental and jazz-oriented approach to blues rock. Both albums reached the top 10 in the UK album charts and also charted in the United States.

The band broke up later in 1970 with Pyle joining Savoy Brown and Lancaster becoming a record producer.

Abrahams would front various revamped Blodwyn Pig lineups over the years as well as leading the Mick Abrahams Band. In addition to releasing numerous albums with each outfit, he also had prodigious solo recording career, albeit one that never saw the charts.

While most people are fixated on the holidays, the Dec. 20 edition of Greasy Tracks focused on fusion, especially music incorporating the Fender Rhodes.

If you missed it, here’s the archive, while a playlist is here.

It may not have the same legendary status as the Hammond B-3 with Leslie speakers, but the Rhodes was a key piece of the fusion sound.

The hybrid of improvisational jazz that collided with rock, funk and R&B, fusion emerged in the late 1960s and was full-blown in its glory period of the 1970s with the Rhodes playing a major role.

The Rhodes is an electro-mechanical piano known for its warm, bell-like tone. Invented by Harold Rhodes and popularized in the 1960s and 70s, it uses metal tines struck by hammers and amplified by pickups.

It shaped recordings by artists like Herbie Hancock, Joe Zawinul, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, George Duke, Stevie Wonder and Billy Preston, to name but a few.

The Dec. 13 edition of Greasy Tracks paid tribute to Steve Cropper who recently passed away at the age of 84.

If you missed it, here’s the archive, while a playlist is here.

Known as one of the architects of the Memphis Sound at Satellite and later, Stax Records, Cropper was part of such legendary bands as the Mar-Keys, Booker T and the MGs and the Blues Brothers. His writing and production credits are too numerous to list, but suffice to say, he had a hand in some of the most famous songs ever recorded.

In addition to music from across his storied career, we went to the interview archives and revisited some of Cropper’s appearances on Greasy Tracks over the years.

Considered one of the most important guitarists in history, Cropper’s inimitable sound was a key component to legendary recordings by Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, William Bell, Eddie Floyd, Wilson Pickett and Rufus and Carla Thomas to name but a few.

As 2025 draws to a close, it’s time for holidays, family gatherings, pulling out the winter clothes, gift shopping and of course, the inevitable onslaught of “best of” lists.

Never one to back down from a challenge, we bring you the WRTC Top 100 rock albums for 2025!

The most-played new rock releases on the WRTC airwaves between Dec. 1, 2024 and Nov. 30, 2025. The list is based on “spins” as reported to Spinitron.

Those of you expecting Taylor Swift will be disappointed as British progressive rocker Steven Wilson and American swamp rockers Little Feat easily conquer the top two spots with brand new albums that were popular with many of WRTC’s rock DJs. Relative newcomers Fantastic Cat finished third.

Among the others in the Top 10 are perennial favorites such as Suzanne Vega, Bruce Springsteen and Hawkwind as well as younger, up-and-coming act Goose.

See the full list below and be sure to tune in to The Devo Rock Show on Dec. 29 as he and his guest, DJ Rob of Crashing the Ether, countdown highlights from the list. The program airs 9 a.m.-noon. Click here to listen live.

THE LIST

1. Steven Wilson — The Overview
2. Little Feat — Strike Up The Band
3. Fantastic Cat — Now That’s What I Call Now That’s What I Call Fantastic Cats
4. Low Cut Connie — Connie Live
5. Hawkwind — Live At The Royal Albert Hall
6. The Ed Palermo Big Band — Prog vs. Fusion – A War of the Ages
7. Goose — Everything Must Go
8. Bruce Springsteen — Land Of Hope & Dreams
9. The Black Keys — No Rain, No Flowers
10. Suzanne Vega — Flying with Angel
11. Role Model — Kansas Anymore
12. Brian Dunne — Clams Casino
13. The Cure — Songs Of A Lost World
14. The Who — Live At The Oval 1971
15. John Hammond — Bear’s Sonic Journals: You’re Doin’ Fine
16. The Jellybricks — Dreaming In Stereo
17. The Moons Of Jupiter — The Moons of Jupiter
18. My Morning Jacket — is
19. Sloan — Based on the Best Seller
20. Olivia Dean — The Art of Loving
21. The 860 — The Water’s Fine
22. 20/20 — Back To California
23. Roger Waters — This Is Not A Drill: Live From Prague
24. Tears For Fears — Songs For A Nervous Planet
25. Los Straitjackets — Somos Los Straitjackets
26. Dennis Weise — Arcane Dream
27. Sparks — MAD!
28. Tate McRae — So Close To What
29. David Bowie — I Can’t Give Everything Away (2002-2016)
30. The Who — Who Are You (Super Deluxe Edition)
31. Elton John & Brandi Carlisle — Who Believes In Angels?
32. Goose — Chain Yer Dragon
33. Pink Floyd — Live at Pompeii: MCMLXXII
34. Wet Leg — Moisturizer
35. Crowded House — Gravity Stairs
36. Kathleen Edwards — Billionaire
37. Buckingham Nicks — Buckingham Nicks
38. Sarah and the Sundays — Like A Damn Dog
39. Tommy Keene — Performance: Rockin’ The IOTA (Live)
40. Simple Minds — Live in the City of Diamonds
41. Jimmy Page/Black Crows — Live at the Greek
42. Ravyn Lenae — Bird’s Eye
43. The Mommyheads — One Eyed Band
44. Tony Levin — Bringing It Down to the Bass
45. Odin Stone — Dark Times
46. Sam Fender — People Watching
47. The Beths — Straight Line Was A Lie
48. J.D. Simo & Luther Dickinson — Do The Rump!
49. The Rolling Stones — Black And Blue (Super Deluxe)
50. Chris Trapper — Watching Sparks Fly By
51. Joe Bonamassa — Breakthrough
52. Kevin Atwater — Achilles
53. Lettuce — Lettuce with the Colorado Symphony (Live)
54. The Doobie Brothers — Walk This Road
55. Slash — Orgy of the Damned
56. Mik Miz — Sometimes By Surprise
57. The Wood Brothers — Puff of Smoke
58. Jeff Tweedy — Twilight Override
59. Samantha Fish — Paper Doll
60. Kelley Stoltz — La Fleur
61. Love Fiend — Handle With Care
62. The Beatles — Anthology 4
63. Amöniacö — Live at Unisono Buenos Aires
64. Hawkwind — There Is No Space For Us
65. Jethro Tull — Curious Ruminant
66. Molly Tuttle — So Long Little Miss Sunshine
67. Mumford & Sons — Rushmere
68. Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts — Talkin to the Trees
69. The Brobecks — Happiest Nuclear Winter
70. The Chesterfield Kings – We’re Still All The Same
71. Clairo — Charm
72. Bruce Springsteen — Tracks II: The Lost Albums
73. Carbon Leaf — Time is the Playground
74. David Byrne — Who Is The Sky?
75. Erykah Badu — Next To You
76. Grey Gallows — ΣΑΝ ΤΗ ΝΥΧΤΑ (San ti nychta)
77. Guided By Voices — Universe Room
78. Larkin Poe — Bloom
79. Lucy Dacus — Forever Is A Feeling
80. MJ Lenderman — Manning Fireworks
81. Peach Pit — Did You Love Somebody
82. The Goo Goo Dolls — Summer Anthem
83. The Heavy Heavy — Live
84. Eddie 9V — Saratoga
85. Alice Cooper — The Revenge Of Alice Cooper
86. Waxahatchee — Tigers Blood
87. The Nines — Echoes of Past Future
88. The Len Price 3 — Misty Medway Magick
89. Bon Iver — SABLE, fABLE
90. Dire Straits — Brothers In Arms (40th Anniversary)
91. Djo — The Crux
92. Dropkick Murphys — For The People
93. Dua Lipa — Radical Optimism
94. Genesis — The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (2025 Mix)
95. Ivy — Traces of You
96. Magdalena Bay — Imaginal Disk
97. Malcolm Todd — Malcolm Todd
98. Remi Wolf — Big Ideas
99. The Chills — Spring Board: The Early Unrecorded Songs
100. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross — Challengers (Original Score)

Strictly Roots celebrated the career of Jimmy Cliff on Dec. 7. The reggae legend passed away Nov. 24 at the age of 81.

The Jamaican ska, rocksteady, reggae and soul singer was a versatile writer and one of his nation’s most celebrated musicians. He was credited with helping to popularize reggae music internationally.

At the time of his death, Cliff was the only reggae musician to hold the Order of Merit — the highest honor granted by the Jamaican government for achievements in the arts and sciences. He was also nominated seven times for the Grammy Awards, winning twice.

In 1972, Cliff starred in groundbreaking “The Harder They Come” — the first major commercial film from Jamaica. The soundtrack helped introduce reggae to the world.

He was known for such tracks as “Many Rivers to Cross,” “If I Follow My Mind,” “You Can Get It If You Really Want,” “The Harder They Come” and “Reggae Night.” His covers of Cat Stevens’s “Wild World,” Johnny Nash’s “I Can See Clearly Now” — from the “Cool Runnings” soundtrack — and the Elton John/Tim Rice-penned “Hakuna Matata” which appeared on the “Lion King” soundtrack drew acclaim.

Cliff was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010. He is one of a handful of Jamaicans in the hall, including Bob Marley (1994) while Thom Bell and Sandra “Peppa” Denton who were inducted this year.

The Nov. 15 edition of Greasy Tracks featured an interview with Mike Miz who discussed his recently-released Sometimes By Surprise as well as a tribute to Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay.

Here’s the archive, while a playlist is here.

Now fully part of the Nashville scene, Miz, not to be confused with the wrestler, has made a gem of an album, his third, much of it co-written with modern day outlaw country troubadour Boo Ray.

We celebrated the career of Donna Jean who recently passed away at 78. Best-known for her association with the Grateful Dead, she was first and foremost an in-demand studio singer. We focused on some of her session work, some obligatory tracks with the Jerry Garcia Band as well as post-GD projects including The Heart of Gold Band, The Ghosts and solo work.

Drummer Greg Anton and guitarist Steve Kimock are interviewed and share insights on Donna Jean who first worked with the duo in 1979 after she and keyboardist then-husband Keith Godchaux had left the Grateful Dead. They would record as The Ghosts and the short-lived Heart of Gold Band.

Anton and Kimock would go on to form Zero in 1980.