Alby's Latest Posts
Song of the Day 7/1: Donald Byrd, “A Portrait of Jennie”
Last night was bittersweet for jazz fans — it was the last weeknight broadcast by DJ Bob Perkins on Temple University’s WRTI (90.1 FM), where he held down the 6-9 p.m. slot for the past 25 years. Now 88 years old, Perkins will continue to host his Sunday jazz brunch from 9 a.m. to 1 […]
Song of the Day 6/30: Moby Grape, “Murder in My Heart for the Judge”
I’m sure millions of people these days can relate to the sentiment expressed by Moby Grape’s Jerry Miller and Don Stevenson, first released on “Wow,” the band’s flawed 1968 follow-up album to their eponymous LP of 1967. That album would have established them as San Francisco’s best band if their manager and record company hadn’t […]
Song of the Day 6/29: Little Feat, “Willin’”
The death toll in the case of the tractor-trailer filled with migrants abandoned in stifling heat in San Antonio, Texas, now stands at 51, making it the deadliest such tragedy in history. This shouldn’t count as much of a surprise — the border between the U.S. and Mexico is among the world’s deadliest, according to […]
Chris Coons Deserves Every Turd Thrown at Him
I was talking to someone the other day who said he thought Jason gives Delaware’s junior senator too much shit. Duncan Black, who blogs as Atrios at eschatonblog.com, would beg to differ. His afternoon post: Don’t think Chris Coons gets enough shit for stopping witnesses from being called at Trump’s 2nd impeachment because he had […]
Song of the Day 6/28: Sean Ono Lennon, “Here, There and Everywhere”
At least two musicians recorded this song as a birthday tribute to Paul McCartney — one by Elvis Costello, the other by John Lennon’s son Sean. It’s an apt choice — McCartney said this was his favorite Beatles song. He wrote it one morning when he arrived at Lennon’s house while John was still sleeping, […]
Song of the Day 6/27: Colin Hay, “Beautiful World”
I apologize for the mellow streak, but laid-back music is about the only thing that keeps the rage at bay these days. This Colin Hay song from his 2001 album “Going Somewhere” actually addresses the need to take solace in the simple things as a refuge from the deluge of doom. The verses list his […]
Song of the Day 6/26: Stubby Kaye and Peter Palmer, “The Country’s in the Very Best of Hands”
Today’s song comes from the 1959 Broadway musical “L’il Abner,” and it shows that hayseeds have been bitching about the same crap for generations. My memory was jogged last Sunday when I heard the tune on Geo. Stewart’s radio show “Crazy College,” which airs every Sunday at 6 5 p.m. on WVUD. Last week’s episode […]
DL Open Thread Sunday, June 26, 2022
Republicans, drunk on their own minority-rule power, think they now have a shot at banning abortion nationwide. If all they have to do to achieve it is outwit our feckless Democratic politicians, I’d say they have a chance. But I don’t think this ends the way conservatives think it does. Anti-anti-abortion violence has already begun. […]
Song of the Day 6/24: Malo, “Suavecito”
With the Supreme Court celebrating “Trigger the Libs Day,” I figure it’s time to once again dip into my mellow summer playlist. Play as necessary until feelings of rage subside. Malo was a San Francisco-based band formed in 1971. Their sound capitalized on two then-current trends in rock — horn sections, typified by Chicago, and […]
DL Open Thread Friday, June 24, 2022
So what do we call them? The Dingleberry Six? Five Jackoffs and a Jill? The Jan. 6 committee named five congressmen who asked Trump for preemptive pardons over their little putsch, along with hearsay that Madge Taylor Greene did, too. Her response: Nuh-uh, you’re the Nazi. The more interesting news was yesterday’s FBI raid on […]
Song of the Day 6/23: Bob Dylan, “Happy Birthday to You”
I did not realize until the other day that Paul McCartney and Brian Wilson were born two days apart in 1942, McCartney on the 18th and Wilson on the 20th, so both of them turned 80 within the past week. Among those who sent along public birthday wishes was an old-timer they know, 81-year-old Bob […]
Song of the Day 6/22: Tommy James and the Shondells, “Crystal Blue Persuasion”
I don’t know if its the daily headline shitstorm or the mild summer weather, but all I want to listen to lately is laid-back tunes from the ’60s. And you can’t get much more laid-back than this. The voluble James has told various stories about the song’s genesis — sometimes it was inspired by the […]
Song of the Day 6/21: Megafaun, “The Longest Day”
Happy summer solstice, a celestial event that, judging from archaeological evidence, seems to have meant more to neolithic peoples than it does to us. Then again, 6,000 people turned out in the mist at Stonehenge this morning to mark the event, which might have been an impressive crowd by prehistoric standards. Megafaun is an indie-folk […]
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