It was a good day: I woke up to the news (I already knew) that Jim McGuinn has been named APD at WXPN in Philly. Jim (seen above with Jacqueline Saturn and yours truly back in the day) worked at WXPN prior to his tenure at KCMP, and also programmed Alternative station Y100 in Philly, as well as KPNT St. Louis, WEQX Albany, WPGU Champaign and, of course, his high school station, WDGC in Downers Grove, Ill., which is when he and I first met. Jim is a beloved programmer, and we’re all thrilled that he’s landed where his myriad talents will be appreciated. Also on the agenda was celebrating the 47th anniversary of Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run, which is one of the greatest albums of all time. Because I’m a nerd (and because most men don’t want to talk about their feelings), a topic of recent social gatherings with the fellas has been, “If you had to skip one song on Born to Run for all of eternity, which one would it be?” The consensus answer is “Night” (still a great song), with daggers thrown toward anyone who dares to answer with “Meeting Across the River.” Also, I will never accept that the lyric in “Thunder Road” is anything other than “Mary’s dress waves.”

I keep telling my music loving kid that they’ll always be able to bond with other kids over music. We went to Chicago last weekend to see Addison Grace at Beat Kitchen—the show was sold out, and both Addison and opener Sydney Rose spoke onstage about their love for Phoebe Bridgers. I told my kid that I worked “Kyoto,” which impressed them not in the least. I remain deeply uncool and embarrassing. The friends I saw in Chicago, Greg Latterman, Joe Shanahan and Jimmy Steal, are people I met through music. Joe gave Julian a tour of the Metro, which is where Joe and I met in 1982, when I was trying to get Bauhaus to do their scheduled interview with a local college radio station (and Peter Murphy yelled at me). Speaking of Phoebe, I’m excited to see her this weekend at the Ain’t No Picnic festival, along with Wet Leg, Shame, IDLES, Sparks and Beach House, among other favorites.

As I congratulated Glassnote’s Michael Starr on his 11th anniversary at the label and his first Top 10 with Phoenix’s “Alpha Zulu,” we agreed that life would be infinitely better if Phoenix played on every show we see. Michael is also gaining traction with RIPE’s “Settling” (a certain call-out favorite) and the genius Two Door Cinema Club single “Lucky,” which SHOULD be as omnipresent as Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky.”

Hooray for Scott Burton on delivering another chart-topper for Jack White and for reminding radio why Lovelytheband’s “Sail Away” deserves a slot on everybody’s playlists.

It looks like Capone will have another #1 Alt song this week with Giovannie and the Hired Guns’ “Ramon Ayala,” which will be followed by Ayelet’s Killers’ The Killers’ “Boy” in the top spot, likely immediately after the holiday.

My favorite new song is “Maniac” by Macklemore, featuring Windser. Yes, the same Windser whose “Memory” is a bona fide hit at SiriusXM’s AltNation, as is his latest, “Friends I Barely Know.” Speaking of AltNation and Jeff Regan, check out a song he’s championing called “Insomnia” by The Moss, which you’ll be hearing more about from Buddy Deal, Amy Kaplan and me!

Thrilled to see the new AJR single, “I Won’t,” vault towards the Top 10. Bravo to Amanda and Drew!

Keep your eyes peeled for more new music from The 1975, although it would be spectacular to see “Part of the Band” reached its deserved spot in the Top 10.

Jagwar Twin’s “Happy Face” is the sleeper hit of the summer. Stay the course, people!

I’m excited to launch The Lumineers’ “A.M. Radio” in a few weeks, driven by the streaming story and the insane tour numbers (over 30,000 tickets sold for the band’s upcoming show at Wrigley Field). This is the song that Lenny Diana and Andy Hawk have been saying is the big hit from the band’s current album. I never question those two.

SONG TO HEAR: Mod Sun’s brilliant “Battle Scars.”