Song of the Day 12/16: Frank Sinatra, “Christmas Waltz”
Guest Post by Nathan Arizona “The Christmas Waltz” is a holiday song that exists for one good reason: FRANK WANTED IT. In 1954 Frank Sinatra was about to enter the…
Song of the Day 12/15: The Philadelphia Orchestra with Eugene Ormandy, “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”
People like to make cracks about the best Christmas music being written by Jews, but you can't blame Felix Mendelssohn for getting that ball rolling. The music Mendelssohn composed in…
Song of the Day 12/14: The Piano Guys, “All I Want for Christmas Is You”
Yes, of course this is Mariah Carey's song, but the squeaky-clean Piano Guys get the nod here because they assembled a Lego-mation video that uses the pain-in-the-foot building blocks to…
Song of the Day 12/12: Bill Staines, “River”
Guest post by Mike Dinsmore Three million miles. Enough miles to go around our planet 120 times. That's how many miles folksinger Bill Staines traveled in a career that spanned…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…