Bob Dylan Birthday Tribute

New York based broadcasters East Village Radio are planning a special Bob Dylan tribute for the singer's 70th birthday.

Despite almost fifty years in the public eye, Bob Dylan remains infuriatingly enigmatic. Celebrating his 70th birthday today (May 24th) fans are using this as an opportunity to look over the singer's seminal output.

Tributes are taking place around the globe, with countless events planned. In New York, East Village Radio are set to devote almost their entire schedule to Bob Dylan with some special guests and unusual features.

Close friends with ClashMusic, East Village Radio kindly invited Clash Magazine Editor (and notorious Dylan buff) Simon Harper to record a program of his own.

Rising to the challenge, the result is 'Dylan A-Z'. Set to be broadcast today, Simon Harper opted to use an alphabetical sequence as a means to explore the artist's life and enduringly provocative music.

Mixing in a few personal anecdotes, examples include 'G Is For Glasgow' in which Harper recounts a personal story of seeing Bob Dylan play in Scotland before playing a bootleg live cut from the show.

Kicking off at 7pm BST, East Village Radio have arranged for a series of special shows. 'Rolling Stone's Best Of The Bootlegs' will find RollingStone editor Austin Scaggs, one of the few journalists to interview Dylan in the last decade, guiding listeners through some of Dylan's more brilliant cast offs.

Rifling through off-cuts found on the studio floor, Austin Scaggs will explore lesser known masterpieces such as 'Blind Willie McTell'.

Finally, East Village Radio's very own crate digger Chances With Wolves are set to demonstrate how Bob Dylan's work spread across all genres. Leaping into the archives, the DJ crew will present oddities such as Nina Simone’s rendition of 'The Ballad of Hollis Brown', The Isley Brothers’ take on 'Lay Lady Lay' and a whole lot more.

Starting at 7pm tonight (May 24th) you can tune in via the East Village Website HERE.