Jon Solomon’s 2026 Holiday Radio Show.


Asked and answered! Year 38 of THE MARATHON will be here ridiculously soon!

The 2026 edition of Jon Solomon’s 25-Hour Holiday Radio Show on 103.3 fm WPRB arrives Christmas Eve at 5:00 pm ET and departs Christmas Day at 6:00 pm ET. 

Since it was such a success last year, following the latest lengthy broadcast (which can thankfully go long if we need), a second BEST OF THE MARATHON show will air playing greatest hits and your past favorites until 10:00 pm ET on Christmas night.

All the traditions are scheduled to return in 2026…

Of course this means Snaildartha, Lindstrom’s Little Drummer Boy and Ramones-o-Clock! It would not be Christmas without them.

We can pull from a growing thematic pool that includes ever-evolving Xmas segments inspired by The Misfits, New Order / Joy Division, Black Sabbath, The Velvet Underground, Kraftwerk, Beastie Boys, Neil Young and The Fall (The Fall, The Fall, The Fall)! 

Joel RL Phelps! Maggie’s Reindeer Rumble too! 

…plus hours upon hours upon hours of new material I should really be previewing presently.

The Kraftwerk holiday tribute set was such a hit in 2025 that this year’s theme is DEVO! 

(That’s superb inspiration if you’re trying to come up with something to record.)

Find a fresh line of marathon-inspired shirts here, plus all the prior years’ graphics.

Thank you Patrick Rapa for the inspired marathon artwork.

If you have any shirt variant ideas, I wanna hear ‘em.

Press folks, reach out to me directly.

Now, let’s get to my absolute favorite marathon tradition… 

Your Christmas Stories!

The last 15x years I’ve asked friends, musicians, comedians, fellow DJs and others I respect to record their definition of an original “Christmas Story” to be interspersed throughout my marathon, alongside other annual favorites.

These pieces then premiere frequently thought the marathon. Surprise submissions and pieces by listeners / strangers are often the best of the lot. That’s why I’m inviting YOU to be part of the show!

Listen to past favorites here.

The submission deadline for 2026 is Monday, December 21st. 

This is the year you record something! I just know it.

What is a Christmas Story?

Well…it can be a reading of a favorite Xmas tale, a cover of a holiday song you love or an original piece. I leave that in your hands. Be creative. Have fun. Don’t curse.

Submissions can be sent to this email address.

My one request is that you do not post your piece elsewhere before it airs during the show! Please! Afterwards go wild, just mention the show when you do share on Bandcamp / Soundcloud / etc.

Have a safe holiday season, everybody.

Jon Solomon
103.3 fm WPRB



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10/21/26 : 17:00 – 20:00 pm ET


Hour two of this show was simulcast at the Garden Theatre in Princeton prior to their screening of the Bob Dylan documentary “Don’t Look Back.”

The Rub – The Death of Pop – Bikini Gospel

Model Living – Head of Talent / & Enrichment – The Wall – [N]
Walid Itayim & Sami Shabshab – The City – Habibi Funk 035: Beirut City Pop – [C] – “[T]en tracks from Lebanon’s private press cassette scene of the late 1970s and 1980s.”
The Fall – A Caveat – Post Script – [N] – 32nd (and final?) studio LP.
Ken Vandermark – Voigtländer Brilliant (for Gordon Parks) / First Substitute (for John Sparagana) / Acronym (for Wifredo Lam) – A Living Poets Group
Lambrini Girls – The Basement – No Refunds – [N] – Touring the USA in March with SPRINTS!
Public Enemy – Fight the Power – Do the Right Thing (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) – I combined the Extended Version + Uncensored Soundtrack Version into what you’re hearing tonight.
NOUN – Desperation – VIRAGO – [N]

Hello to everyone listening to the next hour at the Garden Theatre! The following are all Bob Dylan covers…save one…

The Minutemen – Bob Dylan Wrote Propaganda Songs – What Makes A Man Start Fires?
The Specials – Maggie’s Farm – A Special Collection
PJ Harvey – Highway ’61 Revisited – Rid of Me
The Crust Brothers – Going to Acapulco – Marquee Mark
Robert Hazard & The Heroes – Blowin’ In the Wind – Out of the Blue
Dove (the Band of Love) – Gotta Serve Somebody (Live) – Recombo DNA – a/k/a DEVO.

Sunwatchers – Changing of the Guards – Aquarium Drunkard: Lagniappe Sessions
Kurtis Blow – Street Rock – Kingdom Blow – Bob Dylan intro on loop.
The Feelies – Seven Days – Rewind
Siouxsie & The Banshees – This Wheel’s On Fire – Through The Looking Glass

13th Floor Elevators – (It’s All over Now) Baby Blue – Easter Everywhere
Automatic Head Detonator – Desolation Row – What The Fuck Do You Know?

Have so many Bob Dylan covers that those of you not at the movie theater get to enjoy a second hour of them over the radio…

Ramones – My Back Pages – Acid Eaters
Caetano Veloso – Jokerman – Circuladô Vivo (Live 1992)
Fairport Convention – Si Tu Dois Partir – Unhalfbricking – Cover of “If You Gotta Go, Go Now.”
Richard Hell & The Voidoids – Going Going Gone – Destiny Street

Cheap Trick – Mrs. Henry (Live at the Whisky-A-Go-Go, Los Angeles, CA – June 1977) – Sex, America, Cheap Trick
Robyn Hitchcock – Tangled Up In Blue – Robyn Sings
The Dream Syndicate – Blind Willie McTell – Buckefull of Brains flexi – Split with The Bevis Frond.
Bryan Ferry – A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall – These Foolish Things
Sonic Youth – I’m Not There – I’m Not There (Original Soundtrack) – [C]
Rainy Day – I’ll Keep It With Mine – 7″
Silkworm – You Ain’t Going Nowhere – New School-Old School



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10/14/26 : 17:00 – 20:00 pm ET


The Rub – The Death of Pop – Bikini Gospel

Pointed Sticks – Out of Luck – Perfect Youth – As seen / heard in the movie “Out of the Blue!”
Robert Hazard & The Heroes – Interplanetary Private Eye – Out of the Blue
Water Damage – Reel 43 Down On The Street – Repair – [N] – Out October 23rd.
The Stooges – Down On the Street – Fun House
Jane Weaver – A Bird Stole the Gold – Like an Aspen Leaf – [N] – Recently reissued.
Alfonso Soliano – Rohana – Audible Beauty 001: Tiga Trombone – “[T]he untold story of Malaysian jazz.”
CLASS – Take Me With You – Scratching the Ceiling – [N] – Coming next month.

Wall of Voodoo – Back In Flesh – Urgh! A Music War – [C]
Either/Orchestra & Ethiopian Guests – Hulet Weddo Ayhonem – Ethiopiques 32: Nalbandian L’Ethiopien – The last in the series?
A Hope For Home – Unlit Beacon – Years of Silicon
Terry Riley – You’re Nogood – You’re Nogood – The Harvey Averne Dozen, deconstructed.
Kinski – Dayroom At Narit Int’l – Down Below It’s Chaos
Rogér Fakhr – Sitting in the Sun – Habibi Funk 016: Fine Anyway
Choncy – Finance – Trademark – [C]

Crooked Fingers – 21:45 – Live on WPRB – https://crookedfingers.bandcamp.com

Twisted Teens – Stalks – The Holy Cross Tigers – [N]
Al-Qasar – Promises (feat. Cheick Tidiane Seck & Mamani Keïta) – Uncovered
The Bismarck – Lift With Your Legs – Town Destroyer – [N]
Tomeka Reid – Oo long! (feat. Jason Roebke, Mary Halvorson & Tomas Fujiwara) – Dance! Skip! Hop!
E – Null – Living Waters



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10/7/26 : 17:00 – 20:00 pm ET


Chaki and Chris (The Professors of Urgh) join me tonight to talk about Urgh! a Music War in advance of their screening / presentation of this concert film at PhilaMOCA on Tuesday the 13th! Get your tickets here.

The Rub – The Death of Pop – Bikini Gospel

Venom – Black Metal – Black Metal – RIP Cronos. First, a three song tribute.
Beastie Boys – Mark on the Bus – Check Your Head – “…cuz you’re WILD man….WILD.”
Sunn O))) – Does Anyone Hear Like Venom? – Sunn O)))
CZARFACE – No Competition – No Competition – [N]
Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O. – From Planet Orb with Love ～ Good – Bye Mrs. Uranus – Holy Black Mountain Side
Kazdoura – and then? وبعدين – Habibi Funk 037: Markab – [N]
Big’n – T.N.T – Sides 1-4 (Double Single & Comic Book Set) – [C] – AC/DC cover.

XTC – Respectable Street – URGH! A Music War – [C]

(Taking with Chris and Chaki between songs)

Au Pairs – Come Again – URGH! A Music War – [C]

(Taking with Chris and Chaki between songs)

Oingo Boingo – Ain’t This The Life – URGH! A Music War – [C]

Retail Simps – Portal To Miami – Real Simple – [N]
Wordburgler – PLANETOID RAIDERS (Recordor’s Warning) – .mp3
Al Cisneros – Dragonaut Dub – Dragonaut Dub – He of Sleep and Om.
Vanishing Twin – Wherever You Are – Archives – [N]
Chafe Hensley – Clear It Out – Instrument Instrumental
L’Orchestre National de Mauritanie – Kamlat – La Mone / Kamlat 
Eraser – Cindy – Operator – [N]

Sonic Liberation Front – 37:38 – Live on WPRB – https://sonicliberationfront.bandcamp.com

Protomartyr – The Knife Dream – Hotel Usona – [N]
Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan – Rocksavage – The Nation’s Most Central Location



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9/30/26 : 17:00 – 20:00 pm ET


The Rub – The Death of Pop – Bikini Gospel

Pitchblende – Redcap – Kill Atom Smasher – Recently reissued!
Altın Gün – Neredesin Sen – Garip – A tribute to Neşet Ertaş.
Julia Jacklin – Walk On Me – The Gem – [N]
CAN – Arles 75 Vier – LIVE IN ARLES 1975
Stevie Wonder – I’m Into Livin’ – Songs In The Key Of Life – The EP – [N] – He was sitting on these for FIFTY YEARS?!
Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts – Soon I Might Be Going – Second Song
The Gizmos – 21st Century Gizmos Fans – 21st Century Gizmos Fans Can’t Be Wrong

Delivery – Measuring Cup – Zone 3 – [N] – Released today!
Aesop Rock & Blockhead – Trouble Trouble – Trouble Mountain
We Contain Multitudes – Say Nothing – Say Nothing – [N] – Out in November. Members of Bitch Magnet and Smallgang.
Cecil Taylor Unit – KiMo B1 – Live at the KiMo Theater Albuquerque 1979
Jeffrey Alexander + The Heavy Lidders – This Song Is Dedicated To Nature’s God (live at Cafe OTO) – 10″ – Sun Ra composition.
Menahan Street Band & Arthur Verocai – Palace of Illusions – Illusions
Sweeping Promises Something I Learned Today – Maximum MN – [C] – [N] – Husker Du cover.

The Notekillers – 30:22 – Live on WPRB – https://thenotekillers.bandcamp.com

Broken Record – T-60 – Routine
BASIC – Union Pool Melody – S/T – [N] – Chris Forsyth, Douglas McCombs & Mikel Patrick Avery.
Resavoir – 4th Cloud (feat. Gregory Uhlmann) – Stratosphere



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9/23/26 : 17:00 – 20:00 pm ET


The Rub – The Death of Pop – Bikini Gospel

Gray Matter – Take It Back – Take It Back EP
Muluken Mellesse – Djèmèrègn – Ethiopiques 31 – From 1976.
Angine de Poitrine – Tamebsz – Vol. 1
Hench – Gimme 52 Girls – PRF Monthly Tribute Series September 2026: The B-52s – Black Flag vs. The B-52s.
Don Cherry – Sunrise – Sunrise – Live in Ypsilanti, Michigan, 1977 – [N]
Peter Jefferies – Speed Only – The Day They Let You Out Is The Day They Might Not Let You Come Back
Naked Raygun – Home of the Brave (Live in Chicago, November 2, 1985) – This Place Used to Be a Strip Joint (Live) – [N]

C.O.F.F.I.N. – Won’t Let You Down – Out In Oslo – [N]
Tommy Mackay – Birtwistle’s Material Girl In Shop – .mp3 – Madonna vs. The Fall.
Russian Circles – Eluvial – Nine – [N]
Eleventh Dream Day – Sunflower (Live in Chicago, August 15, 1994) – By The Time They Got To Lounge Ax (Live)
Mythic Sunship – Leviathan – Ouroboros
Games – Someday – Habibi Funk 035: Beirut City Pop – [C] – [N]
Mudhoney – Rubber Room – Maximum MN – [C] – Halo of Flies cover.

She-Haw – 42:57 – Live on WPRB – https://www.discogs.com/artist/3461290-She-Haw

Soul Side – Laissez-Faire – Soul Side Plays Scream – [N] – Split single.



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9/16/26 : 17:00 – 20:00 pm ET


The Rub – The Death of Pop – Bikini Gospel

Dead Boys – Sonic Reducer – Young, Loud and Snotty – RIP Cheetah Chrome.
Inspectah Deck & U-God – Kill Too Hard (feat. Masta Ace) – Chamber Music
Immersion Scriber – 076 – 076 – Local.
Brigitte Fontaine – Comme a la Radio – La Fine Fleur 71 – Comme à la Radio – On The Air – [N] – “…previously unreleased live recordings made for the French ORTF radio between 1969 and 1971.”
Big Black – Racer X – Racer X
patsy family singers u n s i l e n t – MISC. TAPE Vol. 02 // unsilent songs – [C]
Twisted Teens – When We First Met – The Holy Cross Tigers – [N] – Their THIRD album of 2026!

Lambrini Girls – Bang Bang Bang – No Refunds – [N]
Chrissy Zebby Tembo & Ngozi Family – I Chose Not To Die – I’m Not Made of Iron – Originally released in 1977.
Sun Within – Luminous Events – 7″ – [N]
Ryan Ebaugh / Mike Meanstreetz – PVD (4-14-25) – EBAUGH + MEANSTREETZ
Nina Winder-Lind – Headfirst – Wild Love
Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe – At Punishment Park – Manifestations in the Shadow of an Uncertain Land – [N]
Sproton Layer Up – (Live At The Blind Pig) – Emit Time EP – Recorded in 2013. The Miller Brothers (Mission of Burma / Destroy All Monsters) plus Steve Smith on trumpet.

Vibracathedral Orchestra – 14 / 17 August 2024 – 14 / 17 August 2024



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9/9/26 : 17:00 – 20:00 pm ET


The Rub – The Death of Pop – Bikini Gospel

Mike Krol – This Is the News – Turkey – Please get this song out of my head.
Czarface and Frankie Pulitzer – Mad Technology (feat. Method Man) – Czarface Meets Frankie Pulitzer – [N]
Chat Pile – Same Rules – Who Loves The Sun
Kucwiny Theatre Industry – Ay Iwanga – Luo Sound of the Alur – [N] – Out in October. From Uganda.
Blue Snaggletooth – Cult of the Spider God – Cult of the Spider God
MEMORIALS – Reimagined River – All Clouds Bring Not Rain
Unrest – Cath Carroll – Cath Carroll

1-800-MIKEY – Faery – In Yun – [N]
Stephanie Stephanou – You Turn Me On – Habibi Funk 035: Beirut City Pop – [C] – “Ten tracks from Lebanon’s private press cassette scene of the late 1970s and 1980s, when short-lived bands and studio projects moved freely between disco, pop, soul, jazz, bossa, rock and AOR.”
Hoax, So What & Dynamite MC – Thread The Needle – Thread The Needle – [N]
SML – Roundabouts – Spontaneous Music Live
Vanishing Twin – Oral Tradition – Archives – [N]
Nahawa Doumbia – Korô Dia (à Mamaye Dramé L’inoubliable) – La Grande Cantatrice Malienne, Vol. 3
MESH – Hold On To – No Fun At All – [N]

The Teeth – 34:02 – Live on WPRB – https://theteeth4ever.bandcamp.com

Downtown Boys – Can’t Hardly Wait – Maximum MN – [C] – Replacements cover.
Mike D – True Colors – Thank You – [N]
Terry Gross – Full Disclosure – Huge Improvement 



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9/2/26 : 17:00 – 20:00 pm ET


MEMORIALS (Verity Susman from Electrelane and Matthew Simms of Wire) join me in hour two to talk about the music that influenced their latest acclaimed full-length “All Clouds Bring Not Rain.”

Come see the band at a don’t miss WPRB-sponsored show this Sunday, September 6th at PhilaMOCA.

The Rub – The Death of Pop – Bikini Gospel

Sweeping Promises – My Friend’s An Entomologist – You Say I Romanticize – [N]
Malika & Party – Si Bure Mambo – Zanzibara 10: First Modern Taarab Vibes From Mombasa & Tanga, 1970-1990 – [C]
TW Walsh – 051626-fr-rem-082526.wav – 051626-fr-rem-082526.wav – [N]
Nina Nastasia & Jim White – Late Night – You Follow Me
Bill Orcutt – PART TWO – Four Louies Live – [N]
Waxahatchee – Light of a Clear Blue Morning – Saint Cloud +3 – Dolly Parton cover. RIP.
Upper Wilds – Burning Bright – Mercury – [N]

TEN SONGS: MEMORIALS

Memorials – Watching The Moon – All Clouds Bring Not Rain

Neil Young – Like a Hurricane – Unplugged
The Stranglers – Golden Brown – Golden Brown

Bill Fay Group – Just a Moon – Tomorrow Tomorrow and Tomorrow
David Axelrod – Holy Thursday – Song of Innocence

The Electric Prunes – Kol Nidre – Release of an Oath
Stereolab & Nurse With Wound – Simple Headphone Mind – Pulse of the Early Brain [Switched On Volume 5] 

Remigio Ducros – Una Partita Agitata – La Palla è Rotonda – Viva il Calcio
The Freeborne – Peak Impressions and Thoughts – Peak Impressions

Yoko Ono – Walking On Thin Ice – Season of Glass
Catherine Ribiero + Alpes – Jusqu’à ce que la force de t’aimer me manque – Paix

Franco Battiato – Summer On A Solitary Beach – La Voce Del Padrone

Memorials – Cut Glass Hammer – All Clouds Bring Not Rain

Kiwi Jr. – Stage Names – Blowin’ Up – [N]
Eazy Emo – Jolene (Dolly Parton vs Kraftwerk) – .mp3 – RIP
Klip Collective – Rem – Night Forms: Infinite Wave



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8/12/26 : 17:00 – 20:00 pm ET


The Rub – The Death of Pop – Bikini Gospel

Oneida – Each One Teach One – Each One Teach One
CZARFACE and Frankie Pulitzer – All It Takes Is One Bad Day – Czarface Meets Frankie Pulitzer – [N]
Tripod Jimmie – Broke Again – A Warning To All Strangers
Maha – Law Laffeina El Ard – Habibi Funk 020: Orkos – RIP.
Vorhex Angel – The Great Fatted Bull (Stone Tablet #36) – Drain – [N] – Members of JEFF the Brotherhood and Silver Synthetic.
Sun Ra & His Arkestra – Intercosmosis – Elliptical Orbits – Recorded in 1965, newly mastered.
CS Cleaners – Mans Needs Milk – What’s This? – [N]

Parts & Labor – Haunted Limbs – Set of All Sets – [N]
Jurassic 5 – A Day At the Races (feat. Percy P & Big Daddy Kane) – Power In Numbers
Water Damage – Reel 45 – Repair – [N] – Out in October.
Eleventh Dream Day – Testify (Live in Chicago, August 2, 1991) – By The Time They Got To Lounge Ax
OSEES – Block of Ice – Live In Los Angeles – [N]
Jane Weaver – O’ To Be In This Land – Cherlokalate – Reissue of her second album from 2007.
Dead Best – Dial Tone Pulse – God: Out Of Order – [N] – Brian Sokel and Adam Goren.

Buried Beds – 26:37 – Live on WPRB – https://buriedbeds.bandcamp.com

X – Los Angeles – Los Angeles
Batsumi – Anishilabi – As-Shams Archive Vol. 2: Super Jazz from Joburg & Soweto 1974-1978 – [C] – [N]
PAL – Bob Sawyer (Live) – Adam Up / Bob Sawyer (Live) – Rush cover.
Toshi Tsuchitori – a / Φ (musique differencielle 1°) – Disappointment-Hateruma



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