Posts by Alby

You have to be eligible for Medicare to have first-hand memories of Bobby Rydell, the South Philly teen idol from the early days of rock 'n' roll. He had his…

Stevie Wonder, whose albums made critics' Top 10 lists in the '70s, seems to have fallen into relative neglect in recent years -- Marvin Gaye, not Wonder, is now considered…

This song went viral on social media last summer, and mainstream media picked up on it by autumn, but I didn't hear it until last week, and it cracked me…

Genesis, the venerable British band that pioneered prog rock in the '70s and churned out synth-pop hits like clockwork in the '80s, called it quits last week, 55 years after…

The No. 1 hit that made Steve Miller a star is, in a way, the first song that owes its existence to sampling. Miller assembled it in large part from…

Actor Bruce Willis' family announced yesterday that he's retiring from acting due to aphasia, a brain condition that affects language and communication. The 67-year-old Penns Grove, N.J., native rocketed to…

The headlines said Taylor Hawkins, who died at age 50 Friday in Colombia, was the drummer for the Foo Fighters, but that only captured a portion of his talent. He…

How could a song that advocates peace become controversial? Well, how about if the guy who wrote it later supported the assassination of an author for blasphemy? Even when it…