Song of the Day 3/11: Roxy Music, “Virginia Plain”

People are still talking about Alabama Sen. Katie Britt’s disastrous State of the Union response, which seems to test the theory that there’s no such thing as bad publicity. I seem to remember Bobby Jindal had already disproved it back in 2009, when he was considered the GOP’s young, fresh, not-a-white-male face. All most people remembered was that he got cotton mouth and needed a water break. His Kenneth the page vibe dropped a large boulder on his career.

Why the GOP keeps shoving its rookies into the spotlight is a mystery, unless it’s their way of pantsing up-and-comers they want to blackball. Reviews of Britt’s stilted performance drew lots of comparisons to Sunday school teachers, student over-acting and hostage videos. She’s apparently the Republican idea of a suburban mom, one they can order from the Stepford Wives catalog.

Roxy Music was much bigger in Britain than it ever became in the U.S., where audiences seemed baffled by their hybrid of art rock and just-evolving glam – in fact, their look in this Top of the Pops appearance influenced the style to come. Their eponymous first album rose to No. 10 in the UK in 1972, helped out by this stand-alone single, which reached No. 4. Bryan Ferry took the title from a brand of cigarette tobacco.