When singer Debbie Harry helped form Blondie in 1974 she developed a unique stage persona to front the band. Though she may have appeared to fans as a hyper-femme caricature, Harry recalls her role as androgynous or "transexual" in her 2019 memoir Face It. In the third episode of Soundscapes N.Y.C., host Ryan Purcell talks with Cornell University professor o ... Show More
Aug 15
Inna Faliks, "Weight in the Fingertips: A Musical Odyssey from Soviet Ukraine to the World Stage" (Backbeat Books, 2023)
Adventurous and passionate” (The New Yorker) Ukrainian-born pianist Inna Faliks has established herself as one of the most communicative, and poetic artists of her generation. She has made a name for herself through commanding performances of standard piano repertoire, as well ge ... Show More
45m 38s
Aug 13
Richard Mainwaring, "What the Ear Hears (And Doesn't): Inside the Extraordinary Everyday World of Frequency" (Sourcebooks, 2022)
What do the world's loneliest whale, a black hole, and twenty-three people doing Tae Bo all have in common? In 2011, a skyscraper in South Korea began to shake uncontrollably without warning and was immediately evacuated. Was it an earthquake? An attack? No one seemed quite sure. ... Show More
1h 10m
Jun 2024
The Devil's Music 62: Cynthia B-Girl
Cynthia Ross is a musician, writer, poet and spoken word performer. Better known as her stage name Cynthia B-Girl, she’s a punk rock pioneer and one of the earliest of proponents of the underground scene in Toronto, Canada. In 1977, Cynthia and B-Girls singer Lucasta met at post- ... Show More
1h 8m
Nov 2024
Veronica Keller and Sabrina Mittermeier, "From Broadway to the Bronx: New York City’s History through Song" (Intellect, 2024)
From Broadway to the Bronx: New York City’s History through Song (Intellect, 2024) tells the history of New York City in song across a variety of different genres that the city has been home to and instrumental in developing, covering everything from early twentieth-century sheet ... Show More
56m 40s
Oct 2023
Stephen B. Armstrong, "I Want You Around: The Ramones and the Making of Rock 'n' Roll High School" (Backbeat Books, 2023)
Stephen Armstrong's new book I Want You Around: The Ramones and the Making of Rock-n-Roll High School (Backbeat Books, 2023), provides a detailed production history of this beloved film that draws upon extensive interviews the author has conducted with many of the people who cont ... Show More
1h 11m
Jan 2015
Someone Else - co-founder of the record labels foundsound little helpers tuning spork and fuzzy box
Someone Else is Philadelphia’s Sean O’Neal, co-founder of the record labels Foundsound, Little Helpers, Tuning Spork and Fuzzy Box. He comes from a musical family: His grandfather was a high school music teacher and also played bass with Bill Haley and the Comets, while his fathe ... Show More
1h 4m
Sep 2024
Episode 1577 - Kathleen Hanna
Kathleen Hanna’s life and career exist at the nexus of punk rock, outsider art, photography and feminism. Now that she’s been able to put it all into her memoir, Rebel Girl, Kathleen talks with Marc about her upbringing in the Pacific Northwest, the music scene in Olympia, Washin ... Show More
1h 39m