Alby's Latest Posts
Song of the Day 11/14: Scandal, “Goodbye to You”
To everything there is a season, and with you-know-who in mind, this is the season for kiss-off songs. This New Wave classic by Patty Smyth and Scandal was the standout track on the band’s introductory EP in 1982. The song, written by guitarist and band leader Zack Smith, reached only No. 65 on the Hot […]
Song of the Day 11/13: Steve Miller Band, “Take the Money and Run”
Trump’s stubborn fandom will forever perplex me, but I think it’s related to the way Americans lionized bank robbers during the Depression, or outlaws like Jesse James in the post-Civil War days. Trump fits right in — he’s still taking the rubes’ money, and one way or another he’s gonna run, either for office or […]
Song of the Day 11/12: Ray Charles, “Hit the Road Jack”
Somebody should blast this at the White House 24/7 until he concedes. Ray Charles took this blunt kiss-off to No. 1 in 1961. Margie Hendrix of the Raelettes plays his foil, something she could do easily because they were in a stormy relationship at the time, but the song isn’t about them. It was written […]
Song of the Day 11/10: Weird Al Yankovic, “I Lost on Jeopardy”
I thought this would be a good way to acknowledge the passing of Alex Trebek, but I had forgotten that this parody of Greg Kihn’s “Jeopardy” actually predates Trebek’s association with the game show. The original show aired on NBC on weekday afternoons from 1965 to 1975 and was briefly resurrected a couple of times […]
Song of the Day 11/9: The Kinks, “Do It Again”
h/t RE Vanella Republicans who still can’t accept that their turd emperor got flushed have floated the idea that we should hold another election. Sure, fellas, just wait four years. Meanwhile, Democrats are gearing up to do it again in Georgia, because winning the two run-off elections for Senate seats would give them control of […]
Song of the Day 11/8: The Four Seasons, “Walk Like a Man”
I don’t know if it’s true, but I heard the Trump campaign tried to get these guys to perform at that infamous Northeast Philly press conference. They didn’t show because they went to the Four Seasons hotel by mistake. Also, too, the song describes something else Trump can’t do. Like most of the group’s string […]
Song of the Day 11/7: Bob Camp (as Stinky Wizzleteats), “Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy”
If ecstatic Democrats are going to gather in crowds to cheer Joe Biden — amid a pandemic, please remember — I wish they would all sing and dance to appropriately gleeful but simpleminded music. This tune, for example. The song first appeared in the sixth episode of the first season of “Ren and Stimpy,” the […]
So Maybe Hillary Wasn’t the Problem
It is time to reassess the supposed unique weakness of Hillary Clinton as a candidate. She shouldn’t have been nominated, some contend, because she had been demonized by right-wing media for 30 years. She wasn’t “likable” enough. She turned off conservative women. She triggered people’s inherent misogyny. I’m sure there are other widely believed tropes […]
Song of the Day 11/6: Chumbawumba, “Drip, Drip, Drip”
Those mail-in ballots just keep trickling in. It must feel like water torture to Twitler. This song was on the same album that made Chumbawumba a one-hit wonder, “Tubthumping,” released in 1997. That eponymous single hit No. 6 in the Hot 100, a major feat by then for any rock track, and drove the LP’s […]
Song of the Day 11/5: Stephen Bishop, “On and On”
How long will the vote counting last? It just goes on and on… Try to relax with a little yacht rock. Back in 1976, when the mellow music of Southern California was known, oxymoronically, as soft rock, Stephen Bishop released his debut album, “Careless,” and what would remain his biggest hit. “On and On” climbed […]
Song of the Day 11/4: Alice Cooper, “Elected”
This one is for all the people who were elected yesterday, a list that does not yet include a president. Though the song appeared Alice Cooper’s 1973’s “Billion Dollar Babies” LP, it was released as a single the autumn before, in time for the 1972 presidential election. It didn’t make much of a dent in […]
Song of the Day 11/3: The Chambers Brothers, “Time Has Come Today”
How much more cowbell could a song have? None. None more cowbell. The Chambers Brothers were unlikely pioneers of what became known as psychedelic soul, first recording this trippy classic in 1966. Just a year earlier they had performed at the Newport Folk Festival, at the invitation of Pete Seeger himself — as a gospel […]
DL Open Thread 11/3/20, Election Day
The concept of “election day” might be on its way out. More than 97 million votes were cast before polls opened today, about 67% of the entire 2016 total. The fate of the nation will be decided by how many more votes are out there. Drive-thru votes in Houston are safe for now, as a […]
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