Caropop

He’s been known as Miami Steve, Little Steven and Steve/Steven/Stevie Van Zandt. He’s been Bruce Springsteen’s and Tony Soprano’s No. 2 guy, the artistic force behind Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, the leader of his own Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul and the star of Netflix’s Lilyhammer. He united rockers and rappers to battle South African apartheid with “Sun City,” oversees three satellite radio stations and a record label, wrote the memoir Unrequited Infatuations and he wishes he’d done more. Why does Stevie Van Zandt say the '70s were the worst time to record? Does he think Springsteen's concerts are too long? Why is he so frustrated? No one could tell this story like he does.

Cheers ended its 11-year TV run in 1993, yet on the Emmy Awards in January, George Wendt showed up as his old character, Norm, and drew laughs and, yes, cheers. Even 31 years later, everybody knows his name. Wendt discusses his beginnings at Chicago’s Second City, including his firing and rehiring there. How did that ensemble work prepare him for Cheers? How did the series’ energy change when Kirstie Alley replaced Shelley Long? Was the Saturday Night Live episode he co-hosted with Francis Ford Coppola the weirdest one ever? How did he wind up in those “Da Bears” sketches and in Michael Jackson’s “Black or White” video? How did he enjoy his roast hosted by his nephew, Jason Sudeikis? Pull up a stool and grab a beer, because Wendt has stories to tell.

“It felt like I just stepped into a rodeo, and they shut the gate behind me.” That’s how Grant Achatz describes his first day of working in the kitchen of Charlie Trotter’s, then considered one of the world’s finest restaurants. The future 3-Michelin-star Alinea chef was just 21 in the summer of 1995 when he convinced Trotter to give him a shot at his namesake Chicago restaurant. But Achatz did not have a positive experience and left after a few months, moving on to a longer tutelage under Chef Thomas Keller at the French Laundry in Napa Valley. When Achatz returned to Chicago to run his own kitchen, he and Trotter had what Achatz calls an “aggressively competitive” relationship. Trotter closed his restaurant in 2012 and died from a stroke the following year at age 54. Now Achatz—who appears in Rebecca Halpern’s documentary about Trotter, Love, Charlie (as do I)—is presenting a lavish Trotter’s menu at his restaurant Next and reflecting on his relationship with the late chef, whom he thinks hasn’t received proper credit for all the innovative ways he changed fine dining.

From the Young Fresh Fellows through the Minus 5, the Baseball Project and many more, Scott McCaughey has been in a lot of bands. He also played with R.E.M. for years and has collaborated with Wilco and others who love working with him. In late 2017 he suffered a stroke, landed in the ICU and worked his way back to the stage within months amid an outpouring of affection and support. How did Peter Buck help him rebound? How did McCaughey feel about the attention? How does he feel, period? With new albums by the Baseball Project and the No One awaiting release, he also digs into his songwriting process. McCaughey goes deep in this first episode of the second year of Caropop.

Peter Case is a singer-songwriter who has covered a tremendous amount of ground, both physically and stylistically, over a long, impressive career. He played pop-punk with the Nerves, power-pop with the Plimsouls (“A Million Miles Away”), Americana as a solo artist before Americana was a thing, and many styles since then, including the pounding piano blues of his upcoming Doctor Moan. Here he recalls days of scraping by as a street musician, tells jaw-dropping L.A. stories featuring the Go-Go’s and Jerry Lee Lewis, recounts how Blondie came to cover the Nerves’ “Hanging on the Telephone,” recalls the Plimsouls' appearance in Valley Girl and relives his dreams, disappointments (with a cameo by the label exec who also rejected Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot) and triumphs, This is a great conversation for songwriters and music fans alike.