Alby's Latest Posts
Song of the Day 6/10: Randy Newman, “Guilty”
This is the song I’d like to hear played when Donald Trump is hanged for treason. The song closed side 1 of Randy Newman’s controversial 1974 album “Good Old Boys” and was released as the LP’s first single. It didn’t chart. Newman wasn’t the first to record the tune. Bonnie Raitt, backed by most of […]
Song of the Day 6/9: The Weavers, “The Hammer Song”
Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson will wield the hammer of justice — a gavel, actually — when the House select committee he chairs on the Jan. 6 insurrection presents its findings tonight at 8 p.m. in that old-school format, the prime-time television broadcast. I’m not sure how that will play in our post-TV era. Pete Seeger […]
Song of the Day 6/8: Seals and Crofts, “We May Never Pass This Way (Again)”
Jim Seals, who died Monday at age 80, wasn’t just half of the ’70s soft rock duo Seals and Crofts. He and his musical partner were also among the best-known adherents of the Baháʼí faith, which does indeed hold that we won’t be reincarnated, but we will experience some kind of life after death. The […]
Song of the Day 6/6: Sheryl Crow, “Can’t Cry Anymore”
Polling conducted after the Uvalde Massacre asked respondents if they feel that mass shootings are “unfortunately something we have to accept as part of a free society” or “something we can prevent and stop if we really tried.” To nobody’s surprise, 44% of Republicans said we just have to accept mass slaughter or we’re not […]
DL Open Thread Tuesday, June 7, 2022
Say what you like about Liz Cheney, she has more balls than 90% of Washington’s Democrats. She told CBS News that the Jan. 6 conspiracy was broad and well-organized. Funny, I don’t see Chris Coons rushing to applaud her bipartisan spirit. A bunch of Proud Boys were indicted for seditious conspiracy, which hardly seems fair […]
Song of the Day 6/5: Wilco, “Cruel Country”
The genre now known as Americana was once known as alt-country, and Jeff Tweedy’s band, Uncle Tupelo, helped set the template by injecting pop-punk energy into country rock. That band split after four albums, and Tweedy formed Wilco in 1995. His music since then has ranged over broader territory, but with his new album “Cruel […]
DL Open Thread Saturday, June 4, 2022
Alex Pareene asks the salient question, “What do cops do?” He answers it, too — they do what’s easy, avoid what’s hard and slack off a lot, just like people in every other job. The difference is they’re not fired for it. In further proof that “Republican” is now synonymous for “shithead and proud of […]
Song of the Day 6/3: Bobby Gentry, “Ode to Billy Joe”
On this date in fictional history, Billie Joe McAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge, triggering one of pop music’s greatest mysteries: What did the narrator and Billie Joe throw off the bridge? The question gripped America in the summer of 1967, when Gentry’s debut record knocked the Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love” out of […]
Song of the Day 6/1: Kate Bush, “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)”
Digitalized music has played havoc with the old-fashioned record charts compiled by the likes of Billboard magazine. Songs released decades ago keep popping up near the top, their spikes in popularity cued by their use in popular movies and TV shows. The latest overnight sensation, Kate Bush’s 1985 hit “Running Up That Hill,” was used […]
Song of the Day 5/31: Sex Pistols, “God Save the Queen”
With England set to celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee, marking her 70 years on the throne, it seemed like the perfect time to release a TV series about the Sex Pistols’ constantly controversial 2½-year existence, and the tumultuous times the band both caused and reflected — particularly because reactionary governments and social movements again seem […]
Song of the Day 5/30: João Gilberto, “Chega de Saudade”
Guest post by Nathan Arizona The warm weather always gets me thinking about the beaches of Ipanema. I’ve never been to Rio, but every spring and summer I get transported to Brazil when I break out the bossa nova. The mellow blend of samba and American cool jazz is perfect for kicking back with a […]
Song of the Day 5/28: The Black Keys, “Tell Me Lies”
There’s so much lying in public life that the media has become numb to it — producers and editors aired and printed Trump’s lies with a shrug and without bothering to check or correct them. Maybe that’s why people seem so stunned by the fumbling, bumbling lying by the Uvalde Police Department. The tune appeared […]
Song of the Day 5/27: Emitt Rhodes, “You Should Be Ashamed”
This one’s for all the people who think that gun violence can be curtailed by doing anything other than restricting access to guns. The song, released on Rhodes’ eponymous 1970 LP, is a good example of why people thought this was actually Paul McCartney recording incognito. Rhodes’ three early ’70s albums made him a cult […]
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