Alby's Latest Posts
Song of the Day 9/22: Warren Zevon, “A Certain Girl”
This Allen Toussaint oldie is for my friend Jonny, who’s crushing on a co-worker who’s already got a boyfriend. Warren Zevon recorded it for the 1980 LP “Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School,” but it works best as a live number. The original by Ernie K-Doe was released in 1961, one of a string of […]
Song of the Day 9/21: Blondie, “One Way or Another”
Trump got his special master. Now will the special master get him? Donnie Two Scoops is more slippery than an eel — uglier, too. But one way or another… Debbie Harry’s lyrics were inspired by an ex-boyfriend who turned stalker, causing her to move out of New Jersey. The music is by Nigel Harrison, Blondie’s […]
Song of the Day 9/20: Freddy Fender, “Across the Borderline”
Operation Immigrant Dump needed Donald Trump to steal the idea from ’60s Southern racists, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to put it into practice, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to fuck it up before it captured the news cycle. My question is, now that they’re turned the “immigrant caravans” of their imagination into real ones, are […]
Song of the Day 9/19: Elton John, “Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding”
Though Queen Elizabeth remains dead, Britain’s almost endless period of mourning — even our British friends said yesterday that enough was enough — will come to a close today with another day-long ceremony culminating in her burial. The music will be somber — sorry, I meant sombre — but it won’t include this Elton John […]
Song of the Day 9/18: The James Gang, “Funk #49”
If you weren’t a fan of the Foo Fighters you probably never heard of Taylor Hawkins before he died in March at age 50. But you’ve definitely heard of some of his admirers. Dave Grohl assembled them at London’s Wembley Stadium two weeks ago for a tribute concert, and the lineup rivaled any all-star concert […]
DL Open Thread Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022
Wilmington is going to get an economic boost next month when media floods the city for the Elon Musk-Twitter showdown in Chancery Court. Background coverage has already begun, such as this profile of Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick. The bus-the-immigrants stunt has succeeded in bringing national attention to a problem that affects mainly border cities in border […]
DL Open Thread Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022
Turns out that business of moving migrants from border states to northern cities might not be as cute as Trump and his orc-governors thought. Turns out it might be illegal. Turns out the stunt isn’t even original. The racist White Citizens Council first pulled the stunt in 1962 as a “Reverse Freedom Ride.” The whole […]
Song of the Day 9/16: King Harvest, “Dancing in the Moonlight”
Connoisseurs of yacht rock trace the roots of the retroactively-defined genre to the Southern California soft-rock boom of the mid-’70s, so this song is technically a precursor. No matter. One-hit wonder King Harvest released it in 1971, and though it only reached No. 13 on the Hot 100, it’s had a long afterlife on soundtracks. […]
DL Open Thread Friday, Sept. 16, 2022
Our Criminal Ex-President is spewing threats about violence again if he’s arrested. The irony is that we know Trump will be hiding in the basement if any violence actually occurs. The unqualified judge he shopped for is still paving the way for his lawlessness to continue. Voting by mail was struck down by Chancery Court, […]
Song of the Day 9/15: World Party, “Way Down Now”
The TV watching public (which is everybody but me, basically) is in a tizzy. The streaming services that have replaced cable TV, which replaced broadcast TV, are slashing programming, removing archived shows and pulling the plug on green-lighted productions, all because subscriber growth has slowed. Yeah, that’s the ticket — raise prices and reduce product, […]
DL Open Thread Thursday, Sept. 15, 2022
Media scolds yesterday chided Joe Biden for flying Air Force One to Delaware to — sit down now — vote in Tuesday’s primaries. “But, but, but he could have voted absentee!” Well, yes, but remember, he’s accustomed to Delaware election rules, and until Covid Delaware had the tightest restrictions in the country on who could […]
Song of the Day 9/14: Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, “The Tears of a Clown”
Colin Bonini always reminded me of a clown. Not figuratively, literally. He’s a large man — his everyday shoes are clown-sized — but his smile isn’t painted on, it’s real. All he lacks is a squirting flower in his lapel. Bonini is an old-fashioned conservative who believes that taxes are too high because government spends […]
Song of the Day 9/13: Chase, “Get It On”
The early ’70s were great times for horn players who wanted to be rock ‘n’ rollers. Jazz was shrinking, and though soul revues often featured horn sections, guitars ruled rock, pretty much to the exclusion of everything else but keyboards and other rhythm instruments. That started to change in 1967, when Al Kooper and Steve […]
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