Alby's Latest Posts
Song of the Day 10/29: Frank Sinatra, “High Hopes”
Guest post by Nathan Arizona “High Hopes” is best known around here as a tune associated with two great singers — Frank Sinatra and Harry Kalas. OK, one great singer. Harry’s voice was much better for announcing Phillies games than for singing. But it’s the late Harry Kalas who’s most identified with “High Hopes” in […]
Song of the Day 10/28: Cliff Nobles, “The Horse”
A lot of people ignore the lyrics in popular music, and there’s good evidence they’re onto something — some songs do better with the vocals removed. That’s what happened to Cliff Nobles, whose single “Love Is All Right” is a footnote to the 1968 hit “The Horse.” You can’t really call it “his” hit, because […]
Song of the Day 10/27: Jerry Lee Lewis, “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On”
Jerry Lee Lewis has become Schrödinger’s Rock Star — TMZ didn’t know if he was alive or dead until somebody checked. The tabloid-on-a-computer site apologized yesterday for taking the word of somebody claiming to be Lewis’ representative and reporting that Lewis had expired at age 87. You can’t kill the Killer that easily — he’s […]
Song of the Day 10/26: The Beatles, “Yellow Submarine (Songwriting Work Tape / Part 1)”
The Beatles recorded output apparently will be mined for sales until the last Boomer is buried, if not beyond. Recent years have seen the serial remastering of the band’s catalog, a project overseen by Giles Martin, son of legendary producer George Martin. The latest album to get the treatment is “Revolver,” the group’s 1966 great […]
Song of the Day 10/25: Ernie K-Doe, “Mother In Law”
Talk about being cancelled — when’s the last time you heard a mother-in-law joke? The meddling mother-in-law is a trope as old as comedy, and back when more risqué topics were off-limits it was frequently employed. Mothers-in-law were milked for laughs routinely by comedians and sitcoms, but it wasn’t until 1961 that New Orleans composer […]
Song of the Day 10/24: Calum Scott, “Dancing on My Own,” Tiësto remix
MAGAts can rage against social change, but they’ve already lost the culture wars when a bunch of guys are dancing around, spraying each other with champagne, while singing the gay anthem “Dancing on My Own” — and the scene isn’t a Rehoboth Beach nightclub but a baseball clubhouse. Baseball is a conservative sport, but there […]
Song of the Day 10/23: Herbie Hancock, “Watermelon Man”
Herbie Hancock’s “Head Hunters” LP, released in 1973, might be the best jazz fusion album ever; certainly it’s the funkiest. It was the best-selling jazz album ever, peaking at No. 13 on the Billboard album chart, until George Benson’s “Breezin’” surpassed it three years later. One of the LP’s highlights was a song that had […]
Song of the Day 10/21: Frank Zappa and the Mothers, “Call Any Vegetable”
Queen-killer Liz Truss was doomed from the moment the Daily Star livestreamed her photo next to a head of lettuce, with a caption asking which would last longer. The smart money was always on the lettuce — one wag wanted to know how it voted on Brexit, leaf or romaine? — because vegetables have been […]
Song of the Day 10/20: Fine Young Cannibals, “Social Security”
Republicans think old people have too much money and rich people don’t have enough, so they’ve promised to cut Social Security if/when they get back into power. Bitter white people will vote for them anyway. Fine Young Cannibals released this song as the B-side to “Good Thing,” the second No. 1 single from their 1989 […]
If White People Are So Smart…
…then why do they make up almost the entire audience for obvious grifters like Donald Trump? Sorry, Whities, but based on the available evidence you’re the dumbest motherfuckers alive. And the funny part is that white conservatives want to claim superior status not based on their own accomplishments, but the accomplishments of other pale-skinned people. […]
Song of the Day 10/19: The Philadelphia Orchestra, “1812 Overture”
H/t Ben, who requested this last month. It was 210 years ago today that Napoleon began his devastating retreat from Moscow, an anniversary not observed by the French. Seventy years later Pyotr Tchaikovsky debuted this commemorative piece, scored for orchestra and artillery, for the dedication of a church that celebrated Russia’s victory, which was achieved […]
DL Open Thread Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2022
It’s sentencing day for unrepentant state auditor Kathy McGuiness. Prosecutors want her to serve 30 days and pay a $30,000 fine. Her attorney wants her slap on the wrist to be a $1,000 fine and nothing else, not even probation. Judge William C. Carpenter’s decision will either uphold or strike at Celia Cohen’s beloved Delaware […]
Song of the Day 10/18: Pixies, “Gigantic”
I admit it, I miss the ’90s. Yeah, I know this song came out in 1988 on the first Pixies album, “Surfer Rosa,” but the post-Replacements sound they helped pioneer, with its distorted guitars and quiet-loud-quiet dynamics, came to dominate the indie-rock music of the early ’90s, so I mentally file it there. This was […]
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