Alby's Latest Posts
Song of the Day 3/11: The Staves, “I’m on Fire”
One of Bruce Springsteen’s simplest compositions is also his most frequently covered — well over 100 versions are out there. The Staves — the stage name of the Staveley-Taylor sisters from Watford, Hertfordshire — give it a three-part harmony that IMO puts their version in a class by itself. Here’s the most intriguing thing about […]
Song of the Day 3/10: Dua Lipa, “Levitating”/Artikal Sound System, “Live My Life”
A copyright infringement lawsuit was filed last week against Dua Lipa over her hit “Levitating,” Billboard’s No. 1 song of 2021, by a reggae band called Artikal Sound System. Though I doubt it was intentional, I can’t see a jury failing to notice the similarity. Here’s “Levitating,” released on Dua Lipa’s “Future Nostalgia” album in […]
Song of the Day 3/9: Sugarloaf, “Don’t Call Us, We’ll Call You”
As Americans face rising gas prices with their usual calm equanimity, a couple of slapdicks in the Middle East have decided they’re going to leverage their oil supply to issue ultimatums to the Biden administration. Biden has tried to call Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the UAE’s Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan […]
Song of the Day 3/8: AC/DC, “Big Balls”
Everybody from pundits to peons is showing love for Voldomyr Zelenskyy, but nobody has put it better than Bon Scott and AC/DC did way back in 1976. Though it all blends together from this distance, the song and the album it appeared on, “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap,” weren’t officially released in the US until […]
Song of the Day 3/7: Every Mother’s Son, “Come on Down to My Boat”
This seems like a good time to get a bargain on a super-yacht, as governments around the world (not the US, yet) have begun seizing atop-the-liquid assets owned by oligarchs close to Putin. There are upwards of 10,000 boats of over 24 meters around the world, and a trade industry group estimates 7 to 10 […]
Song of the Day 3/6: Cake, “I Will Survive”
A song for Ukraine, which Putin thought would crumble, lay down and die. Not so far. There have been nearly 200 covers of this song, in more than a dozen languages, since Gloria Gaynor’s original in 1978. Cake’s 1996 version is the only one I’ve heard that strips it down and gives the bass a […]
Song of the Day 3/4: Electric Light Orchestra, “Showdown”
It’s raining all over the world. From “On the Third Day,” ELO’s third LP and its first without co-founder Roy Wood, released in 1973. The single reached No. 12 in the UK but couldn’t crack the top 40 in the US. Jeff Lynne played the guitar solo on Marc Bolan’s Gibson Firebird. The song was […]
Song of the Day 3/3: Bob Marley and the Wailers, “Exodus”
As might be expected, the Russian war on Ukraine has produced lots of refugees — more than 1 million so far, according to the United Nations, about 2% of the country’s population. Officials expect that as many as 4 million people eventually will leave, with another 3 million displaced within the country. Most European Union […]
Song of the Day 3/2: Emerson, Lake & Palmer, “The Great Gates of Kiev”
Keith Emerson was probably the most technically accomplished keyboard player rock ever saw, and he loved to show off his chops by covering the classics. For The Nice, his band before ELP, he scored rock arrangements of pieces by composers from Sibelius to Bach to Dave Brubeck. So nobody was surprised in 1971 when his […]
Song of the Day 3/1: Paul Simon, “Take Me to the Mardi Gras”
In another sign that the pandemic is slackening, New Orleans is celebrating Mardi Gras this year after Covid forced last year’s cancellation. You can watch some of the parades live at a link provided at the link above. Though it’s now considered a minor song in his catalog, “Take Me to the Mardi Gras” was […]
Song of the Day 2/28: Sting, “Russians”
In 1985, when Ronald Reagan was saber-rattling against the Soviet Union, Sting included this song on his first solo album, “Dream of the Blue Turtles.” Released as the fourth single from the LP, it reached the top 10 in several European nations, but only No. 12 in the UK and No. 16 in the US, […]
Song of the Day 2/27: Rod Stewart, “Only a Hobo”
For a while in the early ’70s, Rod Stewart was the best Bob Dylan interpreter around. His recordings don’t make the “Best Bob Dylan Covers” lists anymore, but this one was so good it kept Dylan from officially releasing his own version for decades. It had been released to the public only once before Stewart […]
Song of the Day 2/26: Gabriel Sullivan, “The Rust, the Knife”
Guest post by Nathan Arizona The desert, with its big sky, endless waves of sand and scattered cactuses, has inspired a lot of music lately. It’s no surprise that dry and dusty New Mexico and Arizona are the center of this hybrid of Mexican-flavored rock guitars,Tex-Mex trumpets, Latin cumbia and spaghetti western/noir moodiness. Even the […]
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