Alby's Latest Posts
Song of the Day 2/9: Mary Wilson, “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You”
Mary Wilson, the Supreme who stuck it out until the end, died yesterday at 76. In the group’s early days, all three Supremes took turns singing lead. Wilson’s deeper, grittier voice lent itself to soul numbers, but it didn’t fit the band’s Holland-Dozier-Hollard material particularly well, so she didn’t feature on any of their run […]
Song of the Day 2/7: Esther Phillips and the Dixie Flyers, “Brand New Day”
Gotta say, this new Biden administration and the invigorated Democratic Congress has far outstripped every expectation I had coming out of Trump’s Reign of Error. The change in the mood of the country over the past two weeks has bowled me over. Feels like a brand new day. This criminally overlooked Van Morrison composition, from […]
DL Open Thread Sunday, Feb. 7, 2021
The challenges facing the country and the Biden administration are monumental, and some of them are not going to be undone as quickly as we all would like. Topping the flaming shitpile is the U.S. Postal Service. Trump installed Louis DeJoy as postmaster general not in spite of, but because the greedy little fuckstick has […]
Song of the Day 2/6: Christopher Plummer, “Edelweiss”
Christopher Plummer, the accomplished Shakespearian actor made famous in a role he despised, died yesterday at age 91. Though he considered the movie he called “The Sound of Mucus” sentimental crap, it remains the most popular musical of all time, and Plummer’s scene singing “Edelweiss” to his children is a key moment in the film. […]
Song of the Day 2/5: Lindsey Buckingham, “Go Insane”
My pick for the new Republican Party theme song. I still find it incredible Fleetwood Mac fired the guy most responsible for their superstardom, but when the band had to choose between him and their most popular member, Stevie Nicks, the choice was pretty obvious. Mick Fleetwood and John McVie can always find two guitarists […]
Song of the Day 2/4: Randy Rainbow, “Marjorie Taylor Greene”
If, like me, you wondered what Randy Rainbow was going to do with Trump out of the White House, you’ll be happy to hear that a new target has appeared on his Jewish Space Laser screen. Set to the tune of Barbra Streisand’s “Evergreen.” While I was out sick I also missed his farewell to […]
DL Open Thread Thursday, Feb. 4, 2021
The GOP House caucus — motto: “More shitbags than a colostomy clinic” — gave Marjorie Taylor Greene a standing ovation at a closed-door meeting over her “controversial” (translation: batshit loony) statements about Q, school shootings and Jewish space lasers. True to their craven cowardice, they also let Lynne Cheney keep her leadership position, thereby proving […]
Song of the Day 2/2: Nat King Cole, “Almost Like Being in Love”
In Punxatawney, Pa., Phil the groundhog somehow saw his shadow through the snowflakes, meaning it’s six more weeks of winter. But the view from my window, snow blanketing anything, looked more like Feb. 3 in the Bill Murray film. That’s the point when this Lerner and Loewe tune from “Brigadoon” plays and the credits roll.
Song of the Day 2/1: Laura Nyro, “Stoney End”
For reasons that are obvious to me, if nobody else. Even more than Randy Newman, Laura Nyro was a singer’s songwriter. Despite her soaring mezzo-soprano voice and compositions that somehow blended Tin Pan Alley with gospel, blue-eyed soul and rock, she never recorded a hit or a gold record. Yet her first three LPs served […]
DL Open Thread Sunday, Jan. 31, 2021
Quote of the Day: The contract between a Trumpist politician and their voters runs a little something like, “I will enrich myself while exacerbating every problem that lands on my desk, but in exchange for the measurable decline in your quality of life, I will lie to your face about who’s to blame, allowing you […]
Song of the Day 1/30: Lana Del Rey, “Fuck It I Love You”
Guest post by Nathan Arizona I believe there are some hipsters out there who still haven’t gotten on the Lana Del Rey bandwagon. Sure, the wagon leads to some darkish film-noir kind of places, but that’s a good reason to hop on. The reluctant might still be thinking about her disastrous debut on “Saturday Night […]
Song of the Day 1/29: The Rolling Stones, “Jigsaw Puzzle”
Guest post by Nathan Arizona Have you heard the news? This is National Puzzle Day. Alby, who usually fills this spot, would never embarrass himself by using National Puzzle Day as an excuse for a Song of the Day. On the other hand, he might if he knew he could get a two-fer out of […]
Song of the Day 1/28: Bonny Light Horseman, “Bonny Light Horseman”
Folk music has had either about a hundred revivals since the one in the ‘60s or it has never gone away. I vote for the latter. Styles seem to flow seamlessly from one to the other and before you know it folk music has a new sound. The flow has led to the American acts […]
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