Alby's Latest Posts
Song of the Day 6/29: OMC, “How Bizarre”
This was the song of the summer 24 years ago, when it was inescapable on radio and MTV. Despite never being released as a single, it topped Billboard’s airplay chart in summer 1997, after reaching No. 1 first in the group’s native New Zealand, then in Australia and several European countries. OMC was started as […]
Song of the Day 6/27: Mumford and Sons, “Hopeless Wanderer”
Mumford and Sons, the British band that soared to popularity a decade ago by dressing up like farmers and playing Americana, hit the news this week when their banjo player left the band because, basically, he’s a right-wing dude-bro, and fans weren’t happy about it. Winston Marshall, 33, the group’s co-founder and a self-described “trustafarian,” […]
DL Open Thread Sunday, June 27, 2021
It’s been six years since the Supreme Court ruled that laws forbidding same-sex marriages were unconstitutional, and the warnings that it would destroy marriage seem to have melted into nothingness, just like most right-wing boogeymen. While some LGBTQ activists are disappointed that the ruling didn’t improve much else where rights are concerned, the just-completed census […]
Song of the Day 6/24: Tom Cochrane, “Life Is a Highway”
In honor of the Senate’s infrastructure deal, which apparently will be confined to not much more than highways. This one pops up all the time on classic rock radio, and to be honest I never knew when it was released. I don’t recall it ever being a new song — it just started showing up […]
DL Open Thread Thursday, June 24, 2021: The Sellout
Enough Democrats in the Senate have sold out their party to come up with a skinny infrastructure bill that won’t raise any taxes to fund $600 billion worth of repairs, which means rich fucks skate again thanks to Chris “I’m a rich boy, how ’bout you?” Coons. A couple of former NRA honchos got the […]
Song of the Day 6/23: Ohio Players, “Funky Worm”
Have you seen any stories about this invasive species of Asian “jumping” earthworms that’s tearing up forest land in the Midwest? Check the link and prepared to be creeped out. But do it while you listen to the Ohio Players’ first charting single, from their 1973 LP “Pleasure.” It was a No. 1 R&B hit, […]
Song of the Day 6/21: Blue Cheer, “Summertime Blues”
The year: 1968. The place: San Francisco, home to the blues-rock hybrid that came to be known as psychedelic or acid rock. The band: Blue Cheer, named for one of Owsley Stanley’s LSD recipes. The song: “Summertime Blues,” the biggest hit (Billboard No. 8, 1958) for rockabilly pioneer Eddie Cochran, who had a knack for […]
Song of the Day 6/20: Nat King Cole, “Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer”
Has there ever been a summer better suited to nostalgia than this one? After the Year Without a Summer, people are going to appreciate every little pleasure a good bit more. Nat King Cole was more TV star than singer by the time this jolly number reached No. 6 on the Hot 100 in 1963. […]
DL Open Thread Sunday, June 20, 2021
Bipartisan Boy, in his secret identity as mild-mannered Delaware Sen. Chris Coons, has used his progressivism-fighting powers to issue a press release, co-signed by nine other Democrats and 10 Republicans, informing the world that they don’t need no stinkin’ tax increases. You know, those onerous Biden tax proposals that would increase taxes on those earning […]
Song of the Day 6/18: Bowling for Soup feat. Hanson, “Where’s the Love”
How’s this for postmodernism in practice: A punk-pop band popular in the ’00s covers a hit by a ’90s boy band, gets them to sing back-up on the single, then sets the whole thing to a video featuring animation in the ’70s style of “Scooby Doo.” Bowling for Soup’s sense of humor always distinguished them […]
Song of the Day 6/17: Boz Scaggs, “We Were Always Sweethearts”
This one’s for El Somnambulo, the biggest Boz Scaggs fan I know — and not just of the “Silk Degrees” tunes that remain in classic-rock rotation today. This song led off 1971’s “Moments,” Scaggs’ second solo album after leaving the Steve Miller Band, but it was his first-ever single. You’d think its Latin rhythm and […]
DL Open Thread Thursday, June 17, 2021
The Intercept got ahold of a Zoom call between West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin and a centrist money-dispensing outfit called No Labels — founded by ex-Sen. Joe Lieberman — in which Manchin reveals his true feelings about filibuster reform, among other things. Most noteworthy to me was Manchin’s begging these donors to help him find […]
Why Do Americans Claim to Love Bipartisanship?
Spineless Democrats cling to bipartisanship the way Cletus and Lurleen cling to guns and religion, and for a simple reason: In every poll, overwhelming majorities, regardless of political affiliation, claim to support bipartisanship. Here’s a recent example. Why do so many people support the concept? For another simple reason: The question is loaded. Notice the […]
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