Theft of the Dial: Robyn Hitchcock

Posted at 9:12 AM on April 24, 2009 by Steve Seel
Filed under: Theft of the Dial

It was a thrill of a lifetime for me to welcome indie-rock statesman Robyn Hitchcock to the DJ booth for a Theft of the Dial today. He was all the things he has the reputation for being: elegant, funny, genteel, and surreal. And he was a great DJ! Listener Mike wrote in during the session and asked, "Steve - can you get him in once a week?"

First, we played the title track from Robyn's latest record with his band The Venus 3, "Goodnight Oslo." Robyn then took the DJ chair and played his picks:

1) The Decemberists, "The Rake's Song"
2) The Minus 5, "Cigarettes, Coffee and Booze"
3) Love, "And More Again"
4) Gillian Welch, "Look At Miss Ohio"
5) Bob Dylan, "Cold Irons Bound"
6) Neko Case, "People Got a Lot of Nerve"
7) Jimi Hendrix, "Are You Experienced?"
8) The Doors, "Strange Days"

Finally, Robyn treated us to an exclusive piano performance of one of his classic tunes from the early 80s "Flavour of Night" from I Often Dream of Trains. My skin was vibrating at this point.

I couldn't possibly do justice to describing what it was like to be present for this unbelievably awesome radio experience ... but I don't have to! If you missed it, or want to enjoy it again, here it is.

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And seriously, listen through to the end, to hear Robyn's piano stylings. They're a real treat. Our thanks again to Robyn Hitchcock - a natural DJ if there ever was one.

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