Happy first day of May! Today we play music that feels like a fresh start, with selections from The Stylistics, Cocteau Twins, The Replacements, and Ruby & The Romantics alongside tracks from Nilüfer Yanya, Nadine Shah, Widowspeak, Momoko Gill, and Annahstasia. The set stretches outward with global sounds from Yasmine Hamdan, Zeid Hamdan, Sven Wunder, Jeff Parker, and AURORA. 

Check the playlist below and listen to the episode for two weeks after it airs using the player above. 

In The Groove with Ryan Patrick Hooper playlist for May 1, 2026 

• “I’ll Be Your Friend” – Ruti 

• “No Driver” – Widowspeak 

• “Doubt” – Holly Walker 

• “Need to Run” – Matthew Herbert & Momoko Gill 

• “Villain” – Annahstasia 

• “Just A Western” – Nilüfer Yanya 

• “Ya Banat” – Kazdoura 

• “Evil” – Nadine Shah 

• “Nahr El Mot نهر الموت” – Zeid Hamdan 

• “Shmaali شمالي” – Yasmine Hamdan 

• “THE THING” – TOMORA, AURORA & Tom Rowlands 

• “Hang on in There” – Mike James Kirkland 

• “How I Spent My Summer” – Cat Mother and the All Night Newsboys 

• “People Make the World Go Round (Lp Version)” – The Stylistics 

• “Silently” – Tara Clerkin Trio 

• “Take a Break” – Sven Wunder 

• “I Can See the Devil” – S.G. Goodman 

• “Like Swimwear (part two) [feat. Anna Butterss, Jay Bellerose & Josh Johnson]” – Jeff Parker & ETA IVtet 

• “Love Story” – My New Band Believe 

• “Heavy” – Momoko Gill 

• “Thinkin Bout You” – Flea 

• “Our Day Will Come” – Ruby & The Romantics 

• “Where There’s Smoke, There’s Fire” – The Black Keys 

• “Do Anything You Wanna Do” – Eddie & The Hot Rods 

• “Swingin Party” – The Replacements 

• “Closer Lover” – Nabihah Iqbal 

• “Cherry-Coloured Funk” – Cocteau Twins 

• “Daddy’s Gonna Tell You No Lie” – Red Hot Org, Laraaji, Kronos Quartet & Sun Ra 

• “Birthday” – The Sugarcubes 

• “Province” – TV on the Radio 

Listen to In the Groove with host Ryan Patrick Hooper weekdays from noon-3 p.m. ET on 101.9 WDET or stream on-demand at wdet.org. 

This was one of my favorite call-in segments on the Groove Hotline ever! It’s all about obsession songs—not quite earworms, but instead songs you simply can’t get enough of, like some sort of musical fiend. Songs that you wake up with in your head like a jukebox from hell! 

Those picks are noted in the playlist below and include Dirtbombs, IDLES, Paul Westerberg, Buzzcocks, Bryan Ferry and so much more. I’m so grateful for your taste today! 

Check the playlist below and listen to the episode for two weeks after it airs using the player above.

In The Groove with Ryan Patrick Hooper playlist for April 28, 2026

• “Underdog (In The Groove Obsession Songs)” – Dirtbombs

• “Beat On The Brat” – Ramones

• “I’m Scum (In The Groove Obsession Songs)” – IDLES

• “World Class Fad (In The Groove Obsession Songs)” – Paul Westerberg

• “Why Can’t I Touch It? (In The Groove Obsession Songs)” – Buzzcocks

• “Mamouna (In The Groove Obsession Songs)” – Bryan Ferry

• “Heavy” – Momoko Gill

• “100 years of Bill & Lil” – Joe Webb

• “Like Swimwear (part two) [feat. Anna Butterss, Jay Bellerose & Josh Johnson]” – Jeff Parker & ETA IVtet

• “Ya Banat” – Kazdoura

• “Nahr El Mot نهر الموت” – Zeid Hamdan

• “Sleepwalk (Remastered 2010) (In The Groove Obsession Songs)” – Santo & Johnny

• “Alegría (In The Groove Obsession Songs)” – Elia y Elizabeth

• “Aonde Voce Vai (In The Groove Obsession Songs)” – Antonio Adolfo

• “Olhos de Sá” – Joutro Mundo

• “Gurbet” – Özdemir Erdoğan

• “Alemania” – Twin Shadow

• “Desert Raven” – Jonathan Wilson

• “Alone Again Or (Remastered)” – Calexico

• “Hotel California (Spanish Mix)” – Gipsy Kings

• “Southland (In The Groove Obsession Songs)” – Lindsay Lou

• “You Can Bring Me Flowers” – Ray LaMontagne

• “Lavender Buds (In The Groove Obsession Songs)” – MF DOOM

• “White Light” (In The Groove Obsession Songs) – Liam Bailey

• “Time (You and I)” – Khruangbin

• “Could Heaven Ever Be Like This” – Idris Muhammad

• “Use Me (Live)” – Bill Withers

• “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” – Eddie Hazel

• “Road of the Lonely Ones” – Madlib

• “Didn’t I (Dave Allison Rework)” – Darondo

Listen to In the Groove with host Ryan Patrick Hooper weekdays from noon-3 p.m. ET on 101.9 WDET or stream on-demand at wdet.org.