Encore: 79rs Gang joins host Gwen Thompkins

On Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras gangs take to the streets of New Orleans chanting, dancing, and facing off with one another in fierce competition. Today we’ll hear the unlikely story of two rival gangs that came together to make music as the 79rs Gang. Big Chiefs, Romeo Bougere and Jermaine Bossier , join New Orleans correspondent Gwen Thompkins to share about the making of their collaborative album, Expect The Unexpected – which features members of Arcade Fire and LCD Soundsystem – plus, the lingering trauma of Hurricane Katrina and the song they wrote about it.

*Professor Longhair “Go To the Mardi Gras” New Orleans Party Classics

The Dixie Cups “Iko Iko” Chapel of Love

79rs Gang “79rs Bout to Blow” Expect the Unexpected

79rs Gang “War Cry (Way Downtown Mix)” Expect the Unexpected

79rs Gang “Stop the Water” Recorded Live for the World Cafe

79rs Gang “Brand New Day” Expect the Unexpected

79rs Gang “Needle Don’t Lie” Expect the Unexpected

Irma Thomas “Ruler of My Heart” Var: Saturday Night Fish Fry

The Meters “Hey Pocky Way” Rejuvenation

Dr. John “Goin’ Back to New Orleans” Going Back to New Orleans

Lakou Mizik “Iko Kreyol” HaitiaNola

Sonny Landreth “Congo Square” South of I-10

Fats Domino “Walking To New Orleans” Eight Classic Albums Plus Bonus Tracks

Hour Two
*The Dirty Dozen Brass Band “My Feet Can’t Fail Me Now” Our New Orleans

Preservation Hall Jazz Band “Kreyol” A Tuba to Cuba

Leyla McCalla “Settle Down” The Capitalist Blues

Allen Toussaint “Yes We Can Can” Our New Orleans

Trombone Shorty “On Your Way Down” Backatown

Bonnie Raitt “What is Success” Streetlights

Lucinda Williams “Crescent City” Lucinda Williams

Tom Waits “I Wish I Was In New Orleans” Small Change

The Animals “House of the Rising Sun” The Animals

Arlo Guthrie “City of New Orleans” Hobo’s Lullaby

The Hawkettes “Mardi Gras Mambo” Mardi Gras Mambo (single)

The Staple Singers “New Orleans” Let’s Do It Again (soundtrack)

John Boutte “Treme Song” Jambalaya

*Optional Song