Alby's Latest Posts
Song of the Day 11/3: Dr. Feelgood, “Roxette”
Without Dr. Feelgood, punk rock never happens. The Ramones played fast, but they weren’t threatening. Neither were the dozens of British bands in the back-to-basics pub rock scene, where country rock and R&B provided good-time music for drinkers. Dr. Feelgood was something beyond that. Hailing from Canvey, a dingy English seaside town, snarling front man […]
Remember When Joe Told Us the Fever Would Break?
I’m so old I remember the first time. It was in an interview on Nov. 4, 2012, with Chris Matthews, when Biden predicted an Obama victory would be the game-changer: “We need leaders that can control their party, and I think you’re gonna see the fever break.” He sang the same tune in May 2019, […]
Song of the Day 11/2: Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show, “Sylvia’s Mother”
Shel Silverstein was a true triple threat. Though most remembered today for his children’s books, he was also a Playboy cartoonist and a songwriter. Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show was a North Jersey bar band hired to perform Silverstein’s music for a 1971 Dustin Hoffman movie about a pop songwriter, “Who Is Harry Kellerman […]
Song of the Day 11/1: Louis Armstrong, “When the Saints Go Marching In”
France has an odd relationship with religion. Those cathedrals and basilicas the tourists visit are owned not by the Catholic church but by the state, which nationalized all church property during the revolution and has never given it back. Yet the country’s holiday schedule still revolves around the main holy days of obligation observed by […]
Song of the Day 10/31: Santana and Peter Green, “Black Magic Woman”
A song in honor of our modern celebration of the Celtic pagan harvest festival Samhain. Peter Green, the founder and original guitarist for Fleetwood Mac, wrote it about his girlfriend. Carlos Santana and his eponymous band made it a classic rock staple. On only one occasion did they play it together. By coincidence, or perhaps […]
Song of the Day 10/30: Rick Wakeman, “Morning Has Broken”
It’s rare for a hymn to become a hit on the pop charts, but that’s what happened with Cat Stevens’ “Morning Has Broken,” which owes much of its popularity to Rick Wakeman’s piano arrangement. Wakeman has performed it in concert for years, but without any vocals. Because there are no lyrics, Wakeman technically isn’t playing […]
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 […]
Recent Comments