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For our final Throwback Thursday, we’re taking you back to 1966

Throwback Thursday is coming to an end this week, and to bid it adieu we’re going all the way back to 1966.

For our final Throwback Thursday, we’re taking you back to 1966
For our final Throwback Thursday, we’re taking you back to 1966

We are bidding a fond farewell to Throwback Thursday this week. Over 13 Thursdays, we played a curated mix of classics and deep cuts from a different era, theme, or scene in music, from cover songs to jam bands, TV show and movie music to yacht rock.

And in our final Throwback Thursday, we’re kicking it way back to 60 years ago by playing all music from 1966. You’ll hear hits such as “Paint It Black” by The Rolling Stones, “I am a Rock” by Simon & Garfunkel, and “California Dreamin'” by The Mamas & The Papas throughout the day.

Be sure to tune in to 88.5 or stream the broadcast right here on the WXPN website to relive the glory days of the mid ’60s. And thank you for tuning in to Throwback Thursday all summer long!


Week 13

We love a full-on rock performance here at WXPN, but we also love when music is a bit understated and low key. For week 13 of Throwback Thursday, we went Unplugged.

We spun a mix of WXPN and World Cafe unplugged goodies, “MTV Unplugged” performances, and various acoustic and semi-acoustic songs all day.


Week 12

We threw it back to last year’s 885 Countdown of the best cover songs of all time for week 12 of Throwback Thursday.

From Iron & Wine covering The Postal Service to Ike and Tina Turner covering CCR, Sturgill Simpson covering Nirvana to The Band covering Springstee, we played artists interpolating other artists’ songs all day long.


Week 11

MTV used to be more than reality shows and a skateboarder showing internet videos. When the channel launched in 1981—when it was only broadcast to New Jersey households—the debut music video was “Video Killed the Radio Star” by The Buggles.

For week nine of Throwback Thursday, we went all in on MTV for Throwback Thursday airing songs from Culture Club and The Cure to MJ and Madonna, Yo! MTV Raps to TRL.


Week 10

1996 was 30 years ago. Can you believe that? We harkened back to the year that saw the world’s first cloned sheep, Bill Clinton winning a second presidential term, the Atlanta Olympics, and Will Smith’s blockbuster movie Independence Day.

We hit you with songs released only in ’96 on Thursday last week. “Where It’s At” by Beck, “What They Do” by The Roots, “Criminal” by Fiona Apple, “Henry Lee” by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, and “Un-Break My Heart” by Toni Braxton, to name a few.


Week 9

We played all Yacht Rock for Throwback Thursday on July 23, spinning artists and bands such as Bryan Adams, Supertramp, Rupert Holmes, Steve Winwood, The Doobie Brothers, and more.

Our own Dan Reed broadcast his show live from the Delaware River as he rode on the RiverLink Ferry in the afternoon.


Week 8

We gave you a bit of audio whiplash with The Long and Short of It for this Throwback Thursday.

All day Thursday, we played sets of songs 6 minutes or longer and songs under 2:30 minutes.

From “Riot” by Earl Sweatshirt (1:06) to Led Zeppelin’s “Achilles Last Stand” (10:31), “Way Down” by Tori Amos (1:13) then “Pyramids” by Frank Ocean (9:52), we kept you on your toes with song length.


Week 7

We played all things jam for week seven of Throwback Thursday: Grateful Dead, Phish, and the Allman Brothers Band to Goose, Billy Strings, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, and more.

If you missed our day of DEAD-icated programming, Bruce Warren is back on Monday nights to host JamNation. First launched by Warren in the early 2000s, the show is built around artists new and old, with a focus on improvisation, long-form live performance, and the jam scene in all its forms, spanning rock, funk, jazz, bluegrass, reggae, prog, electronica, and beyond.


Week 6

It was the year Peter Frampton came alive, Stevie Wonder released one of the greatest albums ever made, and disco and punk were both on the rise, pulling music in opposite directions at the same time. Half a century later, the songs still hold up.


Weeks 4 & 5

For two weeks, we highlighted the ABCs of R&B, from Jackson 5’s “ABC” to The Trammps’ “Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart.”


Week 3

With Independence Day nearing, we got a wee bit cheeky and played songs from our across-the-pond counterparts with a British Invasion Throwback Thursday.

While the Brits don’t call the shots anymore, their influence on American music is undeniable. From The Beatles to Duran Duran, we played Great Britain’s finest musical exports all day.


Week 2

The perfect song choice can make or break a scene, so we highlighted the songs filmmakers and show runners leaned on to make their visuals hit even harder.

For the second week of Throwback Thursday, you heard songs from iconic needle drop moments in movies and shows such as Reservoir Dogs, High Fidelity, and The OC.


Week 1

For the first week of Throwback Thursday, we traveled back in time… to 1986. Can you believe that was 40 years ago already?!

Spandex and big hair ruled, and a ton of great music came out, too. The year saw big releases from Peter Gabriel, Paul Simon, R.E.M., Janet Jackson, Madonna, and Metallica. Hip-Hop also moved into the mainstream a bit more when Run-DMC taught us to “Walk this Way,” and the Beastie Boys invited us to fight for the right to party.

Throwback Thursday is sponsored by Nolan Painting and Oak Tree Family Fund.

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