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.