Posts by Alby

This song, a No. 5 hit for the American Breed in 1968, was prophetically titled – several bands covered it in the '60s, and it sounded different each time. Credited…

When I think of Mummers string bands, I imagine the string bands of my childhood – masses of banjos in parade formation, supplemented by saxophones and glockenspiels, all played by…

Yesterday for Song of the Day I related the story of Serge Gainsbourg's disastrous first date with Brigitte Bardot, who was married at the time, and how she told him…

Brigitte Bardot, who died Sunday at 91, owed her sex kitten image to the movies she made in the '50s and '60s, but her ambition, and the monetization of her…

Stephen Miller, the illegitimate child of Nosferatu and Joseph Goebbels, caused a stir the other day when he tweeted, “Watched the Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra Family Christmas with my…

There are lots of reasons Americans are firmly against AI, but perhaps the biggest is what it will do to your electric bills. A Bloomberg News analysis found that areas…

Nobody sets a happy story on Dec. 26. So when Ben Folds' song opens with a timestamp – 6 a.m., day after Christmas – it pretty much guarantees we're about…

Visitors hit the archive every Christmas for holiday songs from years past. There are the most visited holiday songs from the archive this year. Admittedly, they would make a disjointed…

When you hear this novelty tune these days, it's usually the Jackson 5's version, with 12-year-old Michael playing the youngster shocked to see his mother canoodling with Kris Kringle. It…

Guest post by Nathan Arizona “We Need a Little Christmas” is a Christmas song about celebrating Christmas when it’s not Christmastime. Auntie Mame has just lost all her money in…

Christmas can be a hectic time for young adults. You've left the nest, but your parents expect you to return home for the holidays, and they're likely to treat you…

Guest post by Nathan Arizona There are two Christmas songs with what seem like almost endless strings of “o’s” in the word “gloria” – “33 syllables in just one breath,”…