Reading Is Funktamental - A Pod About Books About Music

In this episode, we discuss the history and appeal of concept albums with Bill Kopp, author of What's the Big Idea: 30 Great Concept Albums (HoZac Books).
Music has always been a vehicle for telling stories – of love and heartbreak, of history and fantasy, and much more. Sometimes the stories can be related in a tuneful single lasting under three minutes. In other cases, beginning in the late ‘60s, these stories could unfold across a dozen interconnected songs, an audio movie or novel on four or more sides of vinyl. In time, these bodacious pieces would become a genre unto themselves – Concept Albums -- some beloved, some the object of seemingly endless ridicule. Kopp's book chronicles a wide range, from early entries like Jethro Tull's Thick As A Brick and The Turtle Battle of the Bands to William Shatner's Ponder the Mystery and Drive-By Trucker's Southern Rock Opera. More info can be found in my earlier review here: https://nysmusic.com/2025/12/31/musics-big-idea-the-concept-album-chronicled-in-new-book/
"Reading is Funktamental" is a monthly one-hour show about great books written about music and music-makers. In each episode, host Sal Cataldi speaks to the authors of some of the best reads about rock, jazz, punk, world, experimental music, and much more. Occasionally, the host is joined by notable musicians who have written about their careers. Recent guests have included eccentric British singer-songwriter Robyn Hitchcock, Roxy Music’s Phil Manzanera, Traffic co-founder Dave Mason, and Moon Zappa. Expect a great conversation and a playlist of great music to go with it.
Sal Cataldi is a musician and writer based in Saugerties. He is best known for his work with his genre-leaping solo project, Spaghetti Eastern Music, and is also a member of the ambient guitar duo, Guitars A Go Go, the poetry and music duo, Vapor Vespers, the jazz ensemble Hari Karaoke Trio of Doom and the quartet, Spaceheater. His writing on music, books and film has been featured in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, PopMatters, Seattle Times, Huffington Post, Inside+Out Upstate NY, and NYSMusic.com, where he is the book reviewer.

In this episode of Reading Is Funktamental, we discuss the life and music of Ric Ocasek, the driving force of one of New Wave’s most successful bands, the hitmaking machine, The Cars, with Peter Aaron, the author of the first in-depth biography of the musician.
The sounds of new wave pop music and the early days of MTV were defined by the work of a handful of iconic musicians, and few stood taller in that era than Ric Ocasek, frontman and primary songwriter for the Cars. The band charted 13 Top 40 singles in the U.S. from 1978 to 1987, the music video for their song “You Might Think” won MTV's first-ever Video of the Year award, and their biggest hit, “Drive,” became a Top 10 hit worldwide. They would ultimately be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Following the band's breakup in 1988, Ocasek continued to lead a lively professional and personal life, dating supermodels, publishing poetry, and appearing in movies. He enjoyed enormous success as a producer, working with such bands as Weezer, No Doubt, Guided by Voices, and the Bad Brains. Moving in Stereo: The Life of Ric Ocasek, the Driving Force of the Cars, serves as an in-depth guide to Ocasek's life and career as a musician. Drawing on interviews, personal reminiscences, and the journalistic coverage he so reliably inspired, it gives a memorable portrait of one of the most essential voices in pop music during the MTV era and beyond. For more, read my review at NYSMusic.com https://nysmusic.com/2025/11/24/ric-ocasek-the-cars-driving-force-profiled-in-new-biography/
"Reading is Funktamental" is a monthly one-hour podcast and radio show about great books written about music and music-makers. In each episode, host Sal Cataldi speaks to the authors of some of the best reads about rock, jazz, punk, world, experimental music, and much more. From time to time, the host and authors will be joined by notable musicians, writers, and artists who are die-hard fans of the subject matter covered. Expect lively conversation and a playlist of great music to go with it.
"Reading Is Funktamental" can be heard the second Wednesday of every month from 10 – 11 AM on Wave Farm: WGXC 90.7 FM and online at wavefarm.org. It can also be found as a podcast on Apple, Spotify, and other platforms. Sal Cataldi is a musician and writer based in Saugerties. He is best known for his work with his genre-leaping solo project, Spaghetti Eastern Music, and is also a member of the ambient guitar duo, Guitars A Go Go, the poetry and music duo, Vapor Vespers, and the quartet, Spaceheater. His writing on music, books, and film has been featured in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, PopMatters, Seattle Times, Huffington Post, Inside+Out Upstate NY, and NYSMusic.com, where he is the book reviewer.

In this episode of Reading Is Funktamental, we discuss the long history and profound influence of a single song, “Hey Joe,” a tune that binds nearly every strand of 20th-century American popular music.
“Hey Joe” was written sometime in the early 1960s by a man named Billy Roberts, an obscure singer and guitarist from South Carolina who moved to New York City, drawn by the burgeoning folk music scene in Greenwich Village. It was a time when original material was scarce, leading other singers to quickly adapt quality songs in the spirit of folk music’s oral traditions. Thus began the long journey of “Hey Joe” from New York coffeehouses to the bars on L.A.’s Sunset Strip to the ears of a young guitarist named Jimi Hendrix, who launched his career with his radical, electrified interpretation. The story is related by Jason Schneider, author of That Gun In Your Hand, a new book that also presents previously unpublished information about the life of Billy Roberts, a shadowy figure whose 2017 death went unreported by all news outlets. For more, read my review at NYSMusic.com https://nysmusic.com/2025/10/20/the-strange-saga-of-hey-joe-revealed/
"Reading is Funktamental" is a monthly one-hour podcast and radio show about great books written about music and music-makers. In each episode, host Sal Cataldi speaks to the authors of some of the best reads about rock, jazz, punk, world, experimental music, and much more. From time to time, the host and authors will be joined by notable musicians, writers, and artists who are die-hard fans of the subject matter covered. Expect lively conversation and a playlist of great music to go with it.
"Reading Is Funktamental" can be heard the second Wednesday of every month from 10 – 11 AM on Wave Farm: WGXC 90.7 FM and online at wavefarm.org. It can also be found as a podcast on Apple, Spotify, and other platforms. Sal Cataldi is a musician and writer based in Saugerties. He is best known for his work with his genre-leaping solo project, Spaghetti Eastern Music, and is also a member of the ambient guitar duo, Guitars A Go Go, the poetry and music duo, Vapor Vespers, and the quartet, Spaceheater. His writing on music, books, and film has been featured in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, PopMatters, Seattle Times, Huffington Post, Inside+Out Upstate NY, and NYSMusic.com, where he is the book reviewer.

In this episode of Reading Is Funktamental, we discuss Bob Dylan's New York, a guidebook and history of New York's key role throughout Dylan's lengthy career. It places Dylan's early career within the storied history of Greenwich Village, a hotbed of artistic innovation.
A contemporary of Dylan's, musician/author/educator Dick Weissman walked the same streets, played music in the same venues, and witnessed the growth of the folk music revival from before Dylan became popular to after the height of his impact on the music scene. In this episode, Weissman discusses ten easy-to-follow walking maps and historic photographs, allowing the reader to retrace Dylan's footsteps and experience both Dylan's New York and contemporary New York. It also goes beyond the Village to include the many areas of the city where Dylan lived and worked, as well as the storied time he spent in Woodstock. Combining cultural history with personal history and anecdotes, Bob Dylan's New York illuminates the life and times of this seminal artist. For more, see my print review of the book here: https://nysmusic.com/2025/09/10/bob-dylans-new-york-city-profiled-in-new-book/
"Reading is Funktamental" is a monthly one-hour podcast and radio show about great books written about music and music-makers. In each episode, host Sal Cataldi speaks to the authors of some of the best reads about rock, jazz, punk, world, experimental music, and much more. From time to time, the host and authors will be joined by notable musicians, writers, and artists who are die-hard fans of the subject matter covered. Expect lively conversation and a playlist of great music to go with it.

The Beatles produced five films during their time together: A Hard Day’s Night, Help!, Magical Mystery Tour, Yellow Submarine, and Let It Be. Some were cinematic successes, and some were not, but―along with subsequent reissues, bonus material, and Peter Jackson’s The Beatles: Get Back, a documentary companion to Let It Be―they comprise an endlessly fascinating document of key phases in the group’s career.
In this comprehensive deep-dive into the band’s movies, author and longtime music journalist Steve Matteo follows the origins, filming, and often frenzied fan reception of projects from the 1964 premiere of A Hard Day’s Night through 1970’s Let It Be to the release of Get Back in 2022. Matteo explores the production process, original theatrical film releases, subsequent VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray releases, and bonus materials, along with the US and UK soundtracks. In addition to copious anecdotes and behind-the-scenes details, he also places these films in their larger context, a period of unprecedented artistic and commercial innovation in British and world cinema. Filled with stories and insights that will satisfy collectors, buffs, and casual fans alike, this is the definitive account of an underappreciated part of the Beatles’ creative output.
"Reading is Funktamental" is a monthly one-hour show about great books written about music and music-makers. In each episode, host Sal Cataldi speaks to the authors of some of the best reads about rock, jazz, punk, world, experimental music, and much more. Occasionally, the host is joined by notable musicians who have written about their careers. Recent guests have included eccentric British singer-songwriter Robyn Hitchcock, Roxy Music’s Phil Manzanera, Traffic co-founder Dave Mason, and Moon Zappa. Expect a great conversation and a playlist of great music to go with it.
Sal Cataldi is a musician and writer based in Saugerties. He is best known for his work with his genre-leaping solo project, Spaghetti Eastern Music, and is also a member of the ambient guitar duo, Guitars A Go Go, the poetry and music duo, Vapor Vespers, the jazz ensemble Hari Karaoke Trio of Doom and the quartet, Spaceheater. His writing on music, books and film has been featured in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, PopMatters, Seattle Times, Huffington Post, Inside+Out Upstate NY, and NYSMusic.com, where he is the book reviewer.