Alby's Latest Posts
Song of the Day 8/16: Del Shannon, “Runaway”
Guest post by Nathan Arizona When was a synthesizer first used in recorded pop/rock music? Maybe surprisingly early. Some say 1961, on Del Shannon’s “Runaway.” The electric keyboard work was one thing that made the zippy “Runaway” so distinctive that many think it’s the best Top 40 song of its era. The one you wanted […]
Song of the Day 8/15: The Animals, “We Gotta Get Out of This Place”
With more RWNJ violence on the horizon, I think this song represents a common sentiment — who wouldn’t want to get out of this place? Released in 1965, it has captured that feeling for everyone from soldiers in Vietnam to high school seniors at graduation ever since. Bruce Springsteen once said all his songs spring […]
White Man Rules Prevail
Armed Trump supporters protest outside of FBI office in Phoenix. Let’s play a little game I like to call “If Ammon Bundy Was Black.”
Song of the Day 8/13: Nena, “99 Luftballons”
Guest post by Nathan Arizona A lot of sabers are rattling these days, except nobody uses sabers anymore. The threat from Russia in the Ukraine and maybe China in the Pacific is all about the nukes. It’s a familiar situation, and bands in the ‘80s were really feeling it. Detente with the Soviet Union was […]
Song of the Day 8/12: The Seekers, “I’ll Never Find Another You”
A great Australian singer died last week, but it wasn’t Olivia Newton-John. Few Americans recognized the name Judith Durham, but many more would recognize the voice that propelled this 1964 folk-pop single to No. 4 on the US Hot 100 in 1965, towards the end of the Great Folk Music Scare. The classically trained Durham […]
Song of the Day 8/11: Olivia Newton-John, “If Not For You”
I don’t mean to speak ill of the dead. Olivia Newton-John seemed to be a nice person, devoting time, money and energy to various worthy charities, never being involved in any controversy other than a court battle that helped limit the predatory contracts record companies once forced artists to sign. But I’d be lying by […]
Song of the Day 8/10: Bananarama, “Cruel Summer”
Now Republicans think it’s a banana republic? Gee, I thought that happened when they all fell in line behind a known criminal. Cruel summer, ain’t it, bitches? This song became a No. 9 hit in the US in 1984 when it was included in the hit movie “Karate Kid.” That was a year after it […]
Song of the Day 8/9: The Supremes, “Stop! In the Name of Love”
We’ll leave the Aussies for tomorrow — Lamont Dozier of Holland-Dozier-Holland fame died yesterday at age 81. He and his partners churned out an astounding 15 No. 1 singles for Motown, including 10 by the Supremes. Dozier started out as a singer on the Anna label owned by Berry Gordy’s sisters. He hired Dozier as […]
I Demand to See the Body Cam Footage
The FBI raided Mar a Lago today. I want to see if his Secret Service agents put up a fight. https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/08/08/us/trump-fbi-raid
Song of the Day 8/8: Free Energy, “Free Energy”
Cleaning out a CD rack this weekend I ran across “Stuck on Nothing,” the debut album from this Philadelphia-based power pop quartet. Critics mostly loved it, and Rolling Stone called them one of the best new bands of 2010. They sounded a lot like Fountains of Wayne without the sense of humor — Free Energy […]
Carper and Coons, Craven to the Core
Ever since SCOTUS pulled its gangland-style execution of Roe, Josh Marshall over at Talking Points Memo has been stumping for Democrats to make the issue the centerpiece of the midterm elections. Obviously this makes a great deal of sense, and so just as obviously the people who run the Democratic Party will have to be […]
Song of the Day 8/7: Nini Music, “LongMa”
I bet when Nancy Pelosi was digging to China as a little girl, she didn’t think she’d find Taiwanese folk metal when she got there. I assume this showed up in my feed because I was reading stories about Taiwan; until a couple of days ago I never even considered that such a genre might […]
Song of the Day 8/6: The Undertones, “Teenage Kicks”
Guest post by Nathan Arizona Iconic British DJ John Peel called it his favorite song ever. He cried when he first heard it. He had lyrics from it carved on his tombstone. One music site pronounced it the second-best indie song ever. Another named it the sixth-best power pop song of all time, allowing that […]
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