Alby's Latest Posts
Song of the Day 8/25: The Mary Wallopers, “Frost Is All Over”
The Israel-Gaza War started with a massacre at a music festival, and nearly two years later the music festival business is still feeling the effects. Israel’s brutal response to the terrorist attack brought on widespread condemnation, and bands who have spoken out against it have faced censorship. The Mary Wallopers, a punk-influenced Irish folk band […]
Song of the Day 8/24: John Schneider, “Cracker Barrel”
Hayseed-Americans – formerly hicks, rubes, shit-kickers, stump-jumpers and chawbacons, all now subsets of MAGA – are in a dither over a corporate logo change. The restaurant/retail chain Cracker Barrel has been accused of “going woke” for scrubbing the seated man and his barrel (though printed in brown-outlined yellow, he codes as white), leaving just the […]
Song of the Day 8/22: Laura Nyro, “Stoned Soul Picnic”
Summer’s waning fast, and you won’t get many days as perfect as today for a picnic. Delawareans can legally make it a stoned one, and Laura Nyro can provide the soul. Like most of Nyro’s compositions, it was a hit for somebody else, in this case the 5th Dimension. The song appeared on her second […]
Song of the Day 8/21: Foghat, “Fool for the City”
Guest post by Gary Mullinax Foghat is a boogie-rock band that thrilled headbangers in the ‘70s with songs like “Fool for the City” and “Slow Ride.” Foghat is not the real Spinal Tap, no matter what some people think. But one time the guys did wander from their bus through a Colorado snow storm and […]
Song of the Day 8/20: The White Stripes, “There’s No Home for You Here”
Jack White won’t be getting any Kennedy Center gigs anytime soon, not with his attitude. He posted a photo of Trump with Zelenskyy in the redecorated Oval Office, along with this caption: Look at how disgusting [sic] trump has transformed the historic White House. It’s now a vulgar, gold leafed and gaudy, professional wrestler’s dressing […]
Song of the Day 8/19: David Bowie and the Pat Metheny Group, “This Is Not America”
How many times have you thought this since Trump took office? When this song appeared in the 1985 spy movie “The Falcon and the Snowman,” it was meant literally – Sean Penn, the Snowman, was imprisoned in Mexico. Now it applies anywhere in the USA. The odd pairing of Bowie with jazz guitarist Pat Metheny […]
Song of the Day 8/18: The Blasters, “Border Radio”
Guest post by Nathan Arizona This is a post about Wolfman Jack, powerful radio signals and goat testicles. It’s also about exciting music U.S. fans could find only on Mexican radio stations, whose call letters all began with “X.” From the 1930s to the 1970s, Mexican radio stations could operate with far more wattage than […]
Song of the Day 8/16: Desi Arnaz, “Babalu”
Guest post by Nathan Arizona If some 1950s Donald Trump – Franco? Stalin? – had tried to deport Desi Arnaz back to Cuba, millions of “I Love Lucy” fans would have raised el infierno. As Ricky Ricardo, he was crucial to the show. He was the one who loved Lucy. Occasionally the wildly popular TV […]
Song of the Day 8/15: Buck Owens, “Put a Quarter in the Jukebox”
For some reason the News Journal obituary for former governor and congressman Mike Castle doesn’t even mention, anywhere, what he will be remembered for outside Delaware: The 50 State Quarters® program. That fact is the lead of the AP’s obit – fittingly, because Castle was something of a hero to coin collectors. While in Congress, […]
Song of the Day 8/14: Elvis Costello and the Attractions, “Goon Squad”
ICE didn’t exist when Elvis Costello wrote this song for “Armed Forces,” the 1979 LP he was originally going to call “Emotional Fascism,” but then all goon squads are pretty much the same, aren’t they. “Armed Forces” was Costello’s most political album, but it also reflected his turbulent personal life and difficulty dealing with sudden […]
Song of the Day 8/13: Dolly Parton and Lorrie Morgan, “Best Woman Wins”
Its always satisfying when villains go after each other – you don’t care who wins, you just root for injuries. By that measure, the current catfight between Trump whisperers Laura Loomer and Marjorie Taylor Greene delivers. Infighting and backbiting are hallmarks of every autocratic regime, as courtiers jockey for access and approval. Greene is frantic […]
Song of the Day 8/12: Johnny Horton, “North to Alaska”
What’s left of Donald Trump’s brain? There already were blank spaces where common knowledge should be, but yesterday’s senior moment was a doozy. I get that he says dumb stuff about drug prices dropping 1,000%, because math is hard and he’s never shown any aptitude for it, hence the bankruptcies. But I did think he’d […]
Song of the Day 8/11: David Bowie, “Starman”
As far as I’m concerned, time travel has been proved impossible. I base this on the simple premise that if it could happen, somebody would have come back in time to rid us of Trump. UFOs, on the other hand, offer a glimmer of hope. If aliens have been keeping tabs on us, as some […]
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