Alby's Latest Posts
Song of the Day 12/11: Michael Nesmith and the First National Band, “Joanne”
Mike Nesmith was a lot more than just a Monkee. He pioneered country rock for a while, then helped make video the dominant music platform of the ’80s. He died yesterday at 78 of heart disease. Contrary to legend, all four of the Monkees had musical experience when TV producers put together the band, but […]
Song of the Day 12/10: Stevie Wonder, “One Little Christmas Tree”
I feel bad breaking my rule about 12 days of Christmas music, and ONLY 12 days of Christmas music*, but the “personalities” of Fox News are having such a meltdown over an arsonist destroying the Christmas tree outside their studios — slow-witted Brian Kilmeade said it was a “hate crime” — I felt I had […]
Song of the Day 12/8: Tommy James and the Shondells, “Hanky Panky”
Lots of people and groups have been wrongly neglected by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but had more or bigger hits, or a weirder journey through the underbelly of the music business, than the guy born Thomas Gregory Jackson. James started out as Tommy Jackson, the 12-year-old frontman of Tom and the Tornadoes […]
Song of the Day 12/7, Wishbone Ash, “Blowin’ Free”
Guest post by Nathan Arizona Wishbone Ash will probably never get into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Too British, for one thing. Reasonably popular in its 1970s heyday, but now lacking the high profile needed to make those lists of “ten bands that should be in the Hall of Fame.” That doesn’t mean […]
Song of the Day 12/6: Phil Ochs, “Love Me, I’m a Liberal”
Some people who vote for Democrats, and some who get elected as Democrats, have been calling themselves liberals for generations now. Phil Ochs isn’t heard much these days, but he had their number in 1966, when he noted that liberals are “10 degrees to the left of center in good times, 10 degrees to the […]
Song of the Day 12/4: The Clash, “Should I Stay or Should I Go”
H/t puck. I don’t have to be asked twice to play the Clash. Mick Jones didn’t write this song on 1982’s “Combat Rock” about emigration*, but it’s not quite clear what he did write it about. Speculation has always centered on his tempestuous relationship with singer/actress Ellen Foley (it’s her voice on Meat Loaf’s “Paradise […]
Song of the Day 12/2: Paul McCartney creates “Get Back”
I haven’t seen “Get Back” yet, but I’ve noticed two common elements in many of the reviews I’ve seen — it’s really long, and there’s an amazing moment when, as the rest of the band waits for John Lennon, Paul McCartney creates “Get Back.” I’ll save you about 8 hours: Here’s that moment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kOQ5sgzhRA
Song of the Day 12/1: Oasis, “Some Might Say”
Some might say that being snowed in at a remote Yorkshire pub over a long weekend with an Oasis tribute band would be an over-enthusiastic illustration of Sarte’s hell. Indeed, some already have. You can bet most of those people are not Oasis fans, and that they wouldn’t have braved a blizzard forecast to hear […]
Song of the Day 11/30: Josephine Baker, “J’ai Deux Amours”
Though you’ll find no mention of it in American media, a famous American-born entertainer today received one of the highest honors France can bestow — Josephine Baker was interred at the Panthéon in Paris, the first Black woman to join the ranks of the country’s most distinguished citizens in the famous mausoleum. Born in St. […]
Song of the Day 11/29: Ted Hawkins, “Sorry You’re Sick”
I have to thank the Spotify algorithm for introducing me to Ted Hawkins, whose tragic life story is even more incredible and diverse than his repertoire was. Hawkins was born in Biloxi, Miss., in 1936, to a prostitute; he never knew who his father was. He was in reform school by age 12, where he […]
Song of the Day 11/28: Naudo Rodgriguez, “Bette Davis Eyes”
I keep discovering stuff on YouTube I never would have searched for. I don’t even remember what I was looking for when I ran across Naudo Rodgriguez (some sources spell it Rodgrigues), who finger-picks his acoustic-electric guitar for tourists on Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands. The self-taught Brazilian did some recording in that country […]
Song of the Day 11/25: The Cranberries, “Ode to My Family”
Happy Thanksgiving! Or, as they call it à Paris, jeudi. American culture is consumed everywhere, so Parisians are aware of Thanksgiving, but only expat Americans celebrate it. In some regards, this makes preparing the meal simple — the butcher down the street understood right away why we ordered a fresh whole turkey, yet it was […]
Song of the Day 11/24: Dire Straits, “So Far Away”
Mark Knopfler wrote this song, which appeared on his band’s 1985 mega-hit album “Brothers in Arms,” about the difficulty of conducting long-distance relationships by telephone. Speaking from experience, even 35 years later, in the age of What’s App and Skype, it remains difficult, though at least the phone bills are lower. To illustrate how long […]
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