Alby's Latest Posts
Song of the Day 9/21: Buckingham Nicks, “Crying in the Night”
Before they joined Fleetwood Mac, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks performed as a duo. They released one folk-rock album in 1973 that got more attention for its cover than anything inside. It sold poorly, but Buckingham’s guitar playing caught Mick Fleetwood’s ear and he was asked to join the group. He said he and Nicks […]
When the Rubber Meets the Road
Delaware Democrats are gung-ho for electric vehicles when they’re legislating. They sing a different tune when the rubber meets the road. DelDOT is worried about revenue, so it’s imposing new registration fees for EVs. This solution makes owning an electric vehicle more costly, thereby disincentivizing EV ownership – while at the same time incentivizing their […]
Song of the Day 9/19: Darrell Banks, “Open the Door to Your Heart”
For entertainers, dying is supposedly a good career move, but it doesn’t always work out that way. Sometimes it’s just a one-way ticket to Palookaville. Darrell Banks coulda been somebody. He had a soul hit in 1966 with a song he called “Open the Door to Your Heart” that reached No. 2 on the R&B […]
Song of the Day 8/18: Tom Petty, “It’s Good to Be King”
Donald Trump quite obviously wants to be a king, so it probably galls him – doesn’t everything? – to visit an actual one. The contrast couldn’t be starker: Charles is a king but not a dictator, while Trump is a dictator but not a king. Also, Charles isn’t a child who puts ketchup on everything, […]
Song of the Day 9/17: Bo Diddley, “Bo Diddley”
Guest post by Nathan Arizona Bo Diddley used to say he was the father of rock ’n’ roll. He had a pretty good case. He wasn’t the first guy who came out of Chicago to record music that drew on blues and R&B but sounded somehow different. Bo Diddley also brought that beat. The syncopated […]
Song of the Day 9/16: B.J. Thomas, “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head”
Robert Redford, who died early today at 89, was launched into stardom when he co-starred with Paul Newman in the 1969 George Roy Hill film “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” The movie featured this Burt Bacharach-Hal David tune as its theme song, to Redford’s consternation. “When the film was released, I was highly critical,” […]
Song of the Day 9/15: Marc Cohn, “Walking in Memphis”
Trump is bragging that putting troops on the streets of Washington DC has brought down crime. Considering that the National Guard alone is costing $1 million a day – the city’s entire police department budget is less than twice that – the 10% reduction hardly seems worth it, but facts and fascists don’t mix. Trump […]
Words to Cringe By
Guest post by Nathan Arizona I’ve been putting together a list of fashionable (or recently fashionable) words and phrases that make me cringe. In fact “cringe” is one them. Fine as a verb, but I’ll never forgive Gen Z for deciding something can BE cringe. Maybe some people think saying these words makes them seem […]
Song of the Day 9/13: Spinal Tap, “The Devil’s Just Not Getting Old”
“Spinal Tap II: The End Continues” arrived in theaters yesterday. The reviews are affectionate but not glowing; it seems age has caught up with not just the actors and their characters, but the entire premise as well. The original film, released in 1984, mocked rockers in their 40s who were trying, and mostly failing, to […]
Song of the Day 9/12: Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, “In the Capital”
Guest post by Nathan Arizona With our nation’s capital under attack by its own government, thoughts automatically turn to a band called Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever. You’re right. They don’t. Even if you knew the group has a song called “In the Capital” you’d be going down the wrong path. But the path could be […]
Song of the Day 9/11: Warren Zevon, “Accidentally Like a Martyr”
Yesterday he was a provocateur. Today he’s a martyr. I’m talking about the guy who said, “I can’t stand the word empathy, actually. I think empathy is a made-up, new age term that – it does a lot of damage.” The English word actually dates from 1908. You’d think a college student, which is what […]
Song of the Day 9/10: Joe Dassin, “Les Champs-Elysées”
You might have heard this song while you were watching the Paris Olympics last year, or Wes Anderson’s “Darjeeling Limited.” It was a huge hit for Joe Dassin in 1969, when it sold 600,000 copies in France alone and made the charts all over Europe. Back then the Champs-Elysées was known for its nightlife, as […]
Song of the Day 9/9: Supertramp, “Just Another Nervous Wreck”
Supertramp was a band that couldn’t survive success. The band was founded by organist Rick Davies and guitarist Roger Hodgson, who shared lead vocals and songwriting duties. They began drifting apart after the success of “Breakfast in America,” the 1979 album that spawned four Billboard hit singles and went quadruple platinum, and Hodgson left in […]
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