‘The Night I Hung With …': 7 Cerphe Brushes With Greatness

WASHINGTON — Most music fans who have lived anywhere near the nation’s capital for the past 40 years have spent some time listening to Cerphe.

The longtime radio broadcaster, who got his start in the early 1970s at the iconic WHFS, has talked on air and backstage with some of the most influential musicians of our time.

In his new book, “Cerphe’s Up: A Musical Life with Bruce Springsteen, Little Feat, Frank Zappa, Tom Waits, CSNY, and Many More,” co-authored by Stephen Moore, Donald “Cerphe” Colwell tells some of the stories he’s gathered, in his years at stations including WAVA, DC101, WJFK, and Classic Rock 94.7.

Cerphe now hosts a daily online show, at musicplanetradio.com, unencumbered by the limitations of commercial radio.

In September 1985, Cerphe testified on Capitol Hill, with Frank Zappa, Dee Snider and John Denver, opposing a rating system for music suggested by the Parents Music Resource Center.

In a WTOP exclusive, Cerphe shares audio recollections of seven brushes with music and entertainment greats.

1. Talking (cold) turkey with one of music's great frontmen

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2. The local road sign that inspired a rock classic

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The post ‘The night I hung with …': 7 Cerphe brushes with greatness appeared first on WTOP.

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