What's It All About, Andy?, New Plymouth (2025)

18/01/2025

LYNCH MOB - Sunday at 5pm on What’s It All About, Andy? Brought to you by Pianoworks. Only on The Most 100.4FM in Taranaki, 107.4FM in Ōakura, and streaming live at www.mostfm.com
Following the death of the legendary David Lynch this week, I’ve decided to pay tribute in the form of a Twin Peaks-themed show, with songs about cherry pie, owls, a one-armed man, Laura Palmer, Donna, Andy, and damn fine coffee, by The Cat Empire, The Dead South, Katzenjammer, Bastille, Millennium Jazz Music, 10cc, and The Front Lawn, along with tracks from The Audreys and Roger McGuinn (featuring a guest appearance by Kimmy Robertson, who played Lucy). Plus iconic music from the show soundtrack, by Julee Cruise and Angelo Badalamenti, and a song by David Lynch himself.
Photo: the closing credit from every Twin Peaks episode, along with my wife Sue’s Wordle result from Friday morning, five minutes after I told her David Lynch had died.
Listeners outside of NZ please note: time given is NZ Daylight Saving Time, 13 hours ahead of GMT. US: 9pm Saturday night West Coast, midnight Saturday East Coast. UK: 4am Sunday. Australia: 2pm Sunday Brisbane. Dubai: 8am Sunday. Kuwait: 7am Sunday.
“Harry, I have no idea where this will lead us, but I have a definite feeling it will be a place both wonderful and strange.”

11/01/2025

WHAT’S THE CATCH? - Sunday at 5pm on What’s It All About, Andy? Brought to you by Pianoworks. Only on The Most 100.4FM in Taranaki, 107.4FM in Ōakura, and streaming live at www.mostfm.com
Summer must really be upon us, as our cat Cookie has caught her first cicada of the season. Which caught my attention and inspired me to think of using “catching” as a theme for this week’s show. So tune in this Sunday at 5pm to catch songs from Love Sculpture, Shona Laing, Donovan, Mingo Fishtrap, Drax Project, Free, Lisa Loeb, Dave McArtney & The Pink Flamingos, The White Stripes, The Cure, Troy Kingi, The Dave Clark Five, and Katchafire.
Listeners outside of NZ please note: time given is NZ Daylight Saving Time, 13 hours ahead of GMT. US: 9pm Saturday night West Coast, midnight Saturday East Coast. UK: 4am Sunday. Australia: 2pm Sunday Brisbane. Dubai: 8am Sunday. Kuwait: 7am Sunday.
Howzat!

04/01/2025

EXTRA JIMMIES! - Sunday at 5pm on What’s It All About, Andy? Brought to you by Pianoworks. Only on The Most 100.4FM in Taranaki, 107.4FM in Ōakura, and streaming live at www.mostfm.com
Former US president Jimmy Carter, who died this week at the age of 100, was known for his integrity, compassion, social conscience, community spirit and kindness. Values which are conspicuously and proudly absent in the incoming US president. This week’s show salutes Jimmy Carter with a whole lot of songs by and/or about Jimmies. Featuring tracks from The Undertones, Kirsty MacColl, L.A.B., The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Jimmy Cliff, Bob Dylan, Carla Bruni, Jimmy Ruffin, Eddie Cochran, Jim Croce, Laura Nyro (with Labelle), Bill Callahan, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Nail and Parlor Greens.
Listeners outside of NZ please note: time given is NZ Daylight Saving Time, 13 hours ahead of GMT. US: 9pm Saturday night West Coast, midnight Saturday East Coast. UK: 4am Sunday. Australia: 2pm Sunday Brisbane. Dubai: 8am Sunday. Kuwait: 7am Sunday.

28/12/2024

WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT - Sunday at 5pm on What’s It All About, Andy? Brought to you by Pianoworks. Only on The Most 100.4FM in Taranaki, 107.4FM in Ōakura, and streaming live at www.mostfm.com
This week we round off the year with a show based on the NATO phonetic alphabet. While there’s not enough time for songs about all 26 letters, we do manage to cover 14 of them in 12 tracks. Featuring The Popguns, Tom Waits, Martha and The Muffins, John Martyn, Caravan, John Hiatt, Sandy Denny, Split Enz, Indigo Girls, David Lindley & El Rayo-X, Clive Gregson & Christine Collister, and Coconut Rough.
Listeners outside of NZ please note: time given is NZ Daylight Saving Time, 13 hours ahead of GMT. US: 9pm Saturday night West Coast, midnight Saturday East Coast. UK: 4am Sunday. Australia: 2pm Sunday Brisbane. Dubai: 8am Sunday. Kuwait: 7am Sunday.

21/12/2024

FIRST FIFTEEN - Sunday at 5pm on What’s It All About, Andy? Brought to you by Pianoworks. Only on The Most 100.4FM in Taranaki, 107.4FM in Ōakura, and streaming live at www.mostfm.com
This week marks fifteen years of What’s It All About, Andy? So, while I couldn’t squeeze fifteen songs into the hour, all the songs in the show have the number 15 in the title. Featuring Levellers, Foy Vance, Ivy, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Kerryn Fields, Joe Walsh, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Wire, Tapunui Motions, Nik Kershaw, and Radiohead.
Listeners outside of NZ please note: time given is NZ Daylight Saving Time, 13 hours ahead of GMT. US: 9pm Saturday night West Coast, midnight Saturday East Coast. UK: 4am Sunday. Australia: 2pm Sunday Brisbane. Dubai: 8am Sunday. Kuwait: 7am Sunday.

14/12/2024

VIGILANTE MAN - Sunday at 5pm on What’s It All About, Andy? Brought to you by Pianoworks. Only on The Most 100.4FM in Taranaki, 107.4FM in Ōakura, and streaming live at www.mostfm.com
Since the recent shooting of a healthcare insurance executive in New York, vigilante justice has become a hot topic. It’s a complex conversation, which needs to be had but not on this show. Instead I’m presenting a playlist of songs about vigilantes, outlaws, retribution, justice, karma, revenge and payback. Featuring tracks from Neil Finn, Judee Sill, Jerry Harrison, David Blue, John Prine, Christine McVie, The Bats, Bob Dylan, Salmonella Dub, Billy Bragg, The Fabulous Thunderbirds ft Billy Gibbons, and three covers: songs by New Order, Woody Guthrie and Radiohead interpreted respectively by Iron & Wine, Nazareth and Easy Star All-Stars.
Listeners outside of NZ please note: time given is NZ Daylight Saving Time, 13 hours ahead of GMT. US: 9pm Saturday night West Coast, midnight Saturday East Coast. UK: 4am Sunday. Australia: 2pm Sunday Brisbane. Dubai: 8am Sunday. Kuwait: 7am Sunday.
The rules do not apply.

07/12/2024

BY THE BOOK - Sunday at 5pm on What’s It All About, Andy? Brought to you by Pianoworks. Only on The Most 100.4FM in Taranaki, 107.4FM in Ōakura, and streaming live at www.mostfm.com
Songs take their names from many things, one source being books. This week’s show features songs which share their titles with books. Expect to hear tracks from Mary Chapin Carpenter, Chris Knox, Led Zeppelin, Aldous Harding, Deep Blue Something, Mason Jennings, The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, David Bowie, Syd Straw, Buffalo Tom, Richard Ashcroft and, inevitably, Kate Bush.
Listeners outside of NZ please note: time given is NZ Daylight Saving Time, 13 hours ahead of GMT. US: 9pm Saturday night West Coast, midnight Saturday East Coast. UK: 4am Sunday. Australia: 2pm Sunday Brisbane. Dubai: 8am Sunday. Kuwait: 7am Sunday.
By position seventy-two, you were me and I was you…

30/11/2024

ONE MISTY MOISTY MORNING - Sunday at 5pm on What’s It All About, Andy? Brought to you by Pianoworks. Only on The Most 100.4FM in Taranaki, 107.4FM in Ōakura, and streaming live at www.mostfm.com
While there are sure signs of summer around now, we’ve had a couple of misty mornings this week, which inspired this week’s playlist. Expect tracks from Dorothy Moore, Steeleye Span, Ché-Fu, Bob Marley & The Wailers, The Chieftains with Sinéad O’Connor, Jr Thomas & The Volcanoes, Van Morrison, Lindisfarne, Kristin Hersh, Robin Trower, Led Zeppelin, Ella Fitzgerald and Father John Misty.
Listeners outside of NZ please note: time given is NZ Daylight Saving Time, 13 hours ahead of GMT. US: 9pm Saturday night West Coast, midnight Saturday East Coast. UK: 4am Sunday. Australia: 2pm Sunday Brisbane. Dubai: 8am Sunday. Kuwait: 7am Sunday.
They asked us to stay for tea and have some fun…

23/11/2024

JUST DROPPED IN - Sunday at 5pm on What’s It All About, Andy? Brought to you by Pianoworks. Only on The Most 100.4FM in Taranaki, 107.4FM in Ōakura, and streaming live at www.mostfm.com
Following a last-minute visit from my Georgia (USA)-based nephew this week, I thought I’d do a show on the theme of visitors, callers and people you haven’t seen in a long time. With tracks from Margo Price, The Front Lawn, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Joe Walsh, will.i.am & John Legend, Wings, The Audreys, Lindsey Buckingham, John Wesley Harding, Gil Scott-Heron, Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, and The First Edition.
Listeners outside of NZ please note: time given is NZ Daylight Saving Time, 13 hours ahead of GMT. US: 9pm Saturday night West Coast, midnight Saturday East Coast. UK: 4am Sunday. Australia: 2pm Sunday Brisbane. Dubai: 8am Sunday. Kuwait: 7am Sunday.

16/11/2024

GET THE MESSAGE? - Sunday at 5pm on What’s It All About, Andy? Brought to you by Pianoworks. Only on The Most 100.4FM in Taranaki, 107.4FM in Ōakura, and streaming live at www.mostfm.com
Some messages are hard to ignore. The massive hikoi going on around the nation this week, along with the haka performed in Parliament, are sending a powerful message about how much the people of Aotearoa value Te Tiriti o Waitangi. So this week’s show looks at messages and messengers. Featuring tracks from The Specials, Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, Split Enz, Juliana Hatfield, UB40 & House of Shem, The Pretenders, World Party, The Police, Velvet Revolver, Shawn Colvin, Jason Mraz, The Bee Gees, and Prince Far I.
Listeners outside of NZ please note: time given is NZ Daylight Saving Time, 13 hours ahead of GMT. US: 9pm Saturday night West Coast, midnight Saturday East Coast. UK: 4am Sunday. Australia: 2pm Sunday Brisbane. Dubai: 8am Sunday. Kuwait: 7am Sunday.

08/11/2024

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON - Sunday at 5pm on What’s It All About, Andy? Brought to you by Pianoworks. Only on The Most 100.4FM in Taranaki, 107.4FM in Ōakura, and streaming live at www.mostfm.com
OK, we all know what happened this week, so let’s not talk about it. Let’s just put the downfall of civilisation aside for an hour and focus on the good things in life that sustain us in times of adversity. Shut the world out and listen to songs of hope and humanity from Bruce Cockburn, Anika Moa, John Hiatt, The Sundays, The Grateful Dead, Norah Jones, Kossoff Kirke Testu & Rabbit, Mel Parsons, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Isobel Campbell, Paul McCartney, Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, and Melbourne Ska Orchestra.
Listeners outside of NZ please note: time given is NZ Daylight Saving Time, 13 hours ahead of GMT. US: 9pm Saturday night West Coast, midnight Saturday East Coast. UK: 4am Sunday. Australia: 2pm Sunday Brisbane. Dubai: 8am Sunday. Kuwait: 7am Sunday.

02/11/2024

SONGS FOR SWINGING VOTERS - Sunday at 5pm on What’s It All About, Andy? Brought to you by Pianoworks. Only on The Most 100.4FM in Taranaki, 107.4FM in Ōakura, and streaming live at www.mostfm.com
With only a few days left till the US election, incredibly some Americans are still undecided as to whether they’d prefer to carry on abiding by the constitution that’s served them for the past 248 years, or hand government over to a wannabe fascist dictator with six bankruptcies under his belt, plus 34 felony convictions and one for sexual assault. It’s a tough call. So this week’s show looks at songs about or from the undecided so-called “swing states” – Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Featuring songs from Little Feat, Ruth Moody, Jeffrey Foucault, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Elton John, Jim Nothing, The Poets of Rhythm, Josh Ritter, Gram Parsons & Emmylou Harris, Glen Campbell, Fairport Convention, George Thorogood & The Destroyers, and David Bowie.
Listeners outside of NZ please note: time given is NZ Daylight Saving Time, 13 hours ahead of GMT. US: 9pm Saturday night West Coast, midnight Saturday East Coast. UK: 4am Sunday. Australia: 2pm Sunday Brisbane. Dubai: 8am Sunday. Kuwait: 7am Sunday.
The police had warned of repercussions, they followed none too soon…

25/10/2024

LABOUR DAY - Sunday at 5pm on What’s It All About, Andy? Brought to you by Pianoworks. Only on The Most 100.4FM in Taranaki, 107.4FM in Ōakura, and streaming live at www.mostfm.com
Helen takes charge of this Sunday’s show celebrating the long weekend with an eclectic mix of Labour inspired songs - can you guess what might be on the playlist??
Listeners outside of NZ please note: time given is NZ Daylight Saving Time, 13 hours ahead of GMT. US: 9pm Saturday night West Coast, midnight Saturday East Coast. UK: 5am Sunday. Australia: 2pm Sunday Brisbane. Dubai: 8am Sunday. Kuwait: 7am Sunday.

19/10/2024

GRIDLOCK - Sunday at 5pm on What’s It All About, Andy? Brought to you by Pianoworks. Only on The Most 100.4FM in Taranaki, 107.4FM in Ōakura, and streaming live at www.mostfm.com
With the number of roads being closed-off and dug up around New Plymouth in recent weeks, getting into town in the morning seems to take longer than ever. So this week’s show is full of songs to listen to whilst sitting in your car at a standstill. Featuring tracks from Stereophonics, Lucinda Williams, James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt, Roger McGuinn, Katie Pruitt, Stock Aitken Waterman, Big Brother & The Holding Company, Talking Heads, The Five Americans, Oceans Ahead, Jack Johnson, Warren Zevon and Jimi Hendrix.
Listeners outside of NZ please note: time given is NZ Daylight Saving Time, 13 hours ahead of GMT. US: 9pm Saturday night West Coast, midnight Saturday East Coast. UK: 5am Sunday. Australia: 2pm Sunday Brisbane. Dubai: 8am Sunday. Kuwait: 7am Sunday.
Time I get home, my supper be cold….

12/10/2024

THE RACE IS ON - Sunday at 5pm on What’s It All About, Andy? Brought to you by Pianoworks. Only on The Most 100.4FM in Taranaki, 107.4FM in Ōakura, and streaming live at www.mostfm.com
Well, the week has raced by and I’ve had to sprint to put a playlist together for this week’s show. Also, the race is hotting up for the job at the White House. So load up on carbs, pin a number on your chest and head toward the starting line for a show about racing. On the starting blocks this week we have Delaney Davidson, Joni Mitchell, The Cleaners From Venus, Dave Edmunds, The Mendoza Line, Rocket Club, Elizabeth & The Catapult, The Jayhawks, L.A.B., Bruce Springsteen, The Gun, Buckingham Nicks, Jason Isbell, and Racing Cars.
Photo taken by me at the Regent Theatre, Palmerston North, in 2014.
Listeners outside of NZ please note: time given is NZ Daylight Saving Time, 13 hours ahead of GMT. US: 9pm Saturday night West Coast, midnight Saturday East Coast. UK: 5am Sunday. Australia: 2pm Sunday Brisbane. Dubai: 8am Sunday. Kuwait: 7am Sunday.
Wait for it, wait for it….

04/10/2024

PLEASE DON’T TELL ME HOW THE STORY ENDS - Sunday at 5pm on What’s It All About, Andy? Brought to you by Pianoworks. Only on The Most 100.4FM in Taranaki, 107.4FM in Ōakura, and streaming live at www.mostfm.com
I couldn’t let the death of a songwriter as stellar as Kris Kristofferson go unmarked. His influence is huge, spanning practically every genre of popular music, which left me utterly spoilt for choice when selecting other people’s versions of his songs. So I let all the obvious ones go and picked the most eclectic list of covers that I could fit into a one-hour show. Check these names out – Tom Verlaine, Thelma Houston, Prince Tui Teka, Sheryl Crow, M. Ward, Joan Osborne, The Little Wi***es, Sinéad O’Connor, Leo Kottke, Carly Simon, Shawn Mullins, and Calexico. Plus one by Kris himself, who also pops up on two of the others.
Photo taken by me at the Regent Theatre, Palmerston North, in 2014.
Listeners outside of NZ please note: time given is NZ Daylight Saving Time, 13 hours ahead of GMT. US: 9pm Saturday night West Coast, midnight Saturday East Coast. UK: 5am Sunday. Australia: 2pm Sunday Brisbane. Dubai: 8am Sunday. Kuwait: 7am Sunday.
Don’t let the bastards get you down.

28/09/2024

LATE IN THE EVENING - Sunday at 5pm on What’s It All About, Andy? Brought to you by Pianoworks. Only on The Most 100.4FM in Taranaki, 107.4FM in Ōakura, and streaming live at www.mostfm.com
With Daylight Saving starting this weekend, the evenings will be getting longer. So this week’s show looks at evenings and associated things – I squeezed in one sunset. Featuring songs by Sparklehorse, Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians, Diana Ross & The Supremes, Avalanche City, Paul Simon, Rosemary Clooney, Lou Reed, Feist, The Strokes, Karen Dalton, Phish, Marianne Faithfull, Bo Ramsey, and Pat Benatar.
Listeners outside of NZ please note: time given is NZ Daylight Saving Time, 13 hours ahead of GMT. US: 9pm Saturday night West Coast, midnight Saturday East Coast. UK: 5am Sunday. Australia: 2pm Sunday Brisbane. Dubai: 8am Sunday. Kuwait: 7am Sunday.
I heard the sound of a ca****la groups, yeah…

21/09/2024

SEND IN THE CLOWNS - Sunday at 5pm on What’s It All About, Andy? Brought to you by Pianoworks. Only on The Most 100.4FM in Taranaki, 107.4FM in Ōakura, and streaming live at www.mostfm.com
So much of the world seems to be run by clowns at the moment, with a strong possibility of more to come in 2025. Some are funny, some are creepy, some are downright scary. This week’s show looks at many aspects of clownery, with help from Bobby Womack, Placebo, Kathy Mattea, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Judy Collins, Manfred Mann, John Wesley Harding. Cocteau Twins, The Kinks, The Triffids, Stealers Wheel and Goldfrapp.
Listeners outside of NZ please note: time given is NZ Standard Time, 12 hours ahead of GMT. US: 10pm Saturday night West Coast, 1am Sunday East Coast. UK: 6am Sunday. Australia: 3pm Sunday Brisbane. Dubai: 9am Sunday. Kuwait: 8am Sunday.
Don’t bother, they’re here…

What's It All About, Andy?