Posts by Alby

Hall of Fame country singer Charley Pride died of Covid-19 yesterday at age 86. He didn't break the color barrier in country music, but he was the genre's first black…

It was 20 years ago that the film "Wonder Boys," based on Michael Chabon's novel, was released, with this then-new song anchoring the soundtrack, and things remain crazy and times…

Kenny Jeremiah, the lead singer of the Soul Survivors, succumbed to COVID-19 a week ago. While he might not be the best-known musician to die this year, his group's big…

Character actor David L. Lander, famous for his role on "Laverne & Shirley," died last week at age 73. Lander and Michael McKean, as Andrew "Squiggy" Squiggman and Lenny Kosnowski,…

Phillies great Dick Allen, one of the most controversial players in the history of baseball, died Monday, prompting a wave of nostalgia for a man Philadelphia fans demonized and drove…

Whatever else it represented, the assassination of John Lennon 40 years ago tonight closed the door on an encouraging comeback from his self-imposed exile. Not everyone saw "Double Fantasy" that…

The No. 1 song in the nation the day of the Pearl Harbor attack was also the first one ever awarded a gold record. Glenn Miller's swing rendition of the…

Long Island guitarist Leslie West was so impressed by Cream that he formed a band with Felix Pappalardi, who had produced the "Disraeli Gears" and "Wheels of Fire" LPs, on…

It's been nearly a decade since Amy Winehouse died and she still hasn't been replaced. In 2006, when she was on top of the world after the release of her…

It's actually about the band on tour not being able to find the Holiday Inn -- that's the sign they were looking for in the middle of the night --…

If you're old enough, you probably know this as the first record by British invaders Herman's Hermits, one that reached No. 1 in the UK (and No. 13 in the…

Bob Dylan wrote this during the Basement Tapes sessions in 1967 and has recorded it three times (none are available on YouTube, which Dylan's people police pretty closely). None of…

Though they're now acknowledged as founding fathers of power pop, Raspberries weren't fully appreciated in their time. Their Mod-based sound was considered lightweight, their teen-angst lyrics banal, their matching-suits look…