Alby's Latest Posts
Song of the Day 2/11: Alive and Kicking, “Tighter, Tighter”
I have no idea why this song popped into my head the other day, because I don’t think I’ve heard it in years. Obscure even for a one-hit wonder, Alive and Kicking, later stylized to Alive N Kickin’, was a Brooklyn six-piece band signed to Roulette Records, the mob front label that was also home […]
The Badger and the Coyote
Yes, it sounds like one of Aesop’s fables, and it does crop up in Native American folklore, but it’s based on observed reality. Though coyotes and badgers are each solitary predators, they will at times team up to hunt together. There’s are even videos of them together. The latest one shows them in a culvert […]
Song of the Day 1/20: John Prine, “Sweet Revenge”
I hate to repurpose one of my favorite songwriters, but this should be the theme song for the rest of Donald Trump’s first, and with luck only, term as president. I guess it’s true that all of his friends are not dead or in jail — some are still awaiting sentencing. Lyrically, the first verse […]
Song of the Day 2/1: Teenage Fanclub and De La Soul, “Fallin'”
This one is for the Senate Republicans. Congratulations, fellas. As the chorus of this one-off collaboration goes, you played yourself. Thanks to Ice-T, that phrase was already in circulation when this was recorded in 1993. (In a sign that the ’90s are officially back, the phrase is once again in circulation thanks to DJ Khalid.) […]
Song of the Day 1/31: Randy Newman, “Guilty”
The most quietly devastating song on Randy Newman’s misunderstood album “Rednecks” reveals its protagonist in a moment of drunken self-awareness and self-loathing that goes a long way to explaining his, and by extension the South’s, resentment of the Northerners who look down on them. I thought it would be appropriate for today, given that Republicans […]
DL Open Thread: Fri., Jan. 31, 2020
Today is a day that will live in obloquy: Britain’s last day in the European Union and Donald Trump’s exoneration by the U.S. Senate. Don’t get mad, get even. The coronavirus is spreading around the world, even as airlines cancel flights to and from China. I’m looking forward to the stories of anti-vaxxers who purposely […]
Song of the Day 1/30: The Moody Blues, “Question”
Question time continues in the Senate, but this question, posed 50 years ago by Justin Hayward of the Moody Blues, still hasn’t been answered. This was the Moodies’ second-best-selling single in the U.K., reaching No. 2, but only No. 21 in the U.S., despite the song being inspired by the band’s American touring. Hayward told […]
Song of the Day 1/29: The Thompsons, “I’ll Always Love You”
The Sound of Philadelphia dominated popular music in 1975, when records produced by Gamble & Huff for the O’Jays, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, and the Three Degrees filled the airwaves. That made it easy for even Philly Soul fans to overlook “I’ll Get Over It,” the LP by this band of brothers from […]
Song of the Day 1/28: Elvis Presley, “Suspicious Minds”
Thanks to John Bolton, Republican senators are indeed caught in a trap — a perjury trap. They’ve been lying for the White House, but the White House never told them Bolton’s manuscript would reveal the truth. And they can’t walk out because they love Trump too much, baby. This video catches Elvis in August 1970, […]
Song of the Day 1/27: Billie Eilish, “Bad Guy”
Billie Eilish, the 18-year-old pop phenomenon from Los Angeles, swept the four major categories — record of the year, album of the year, song of the year and best new artist — at the Grammy Awards last night, so after hearing about her for more than a year now I thought I’d give a listen. […]
Song of the Day 1/26: Daniel Deitrich, “Hymn for the 81%”
Most people outside the evangelical community, believers and unbelievers alike, are struck by the hypocrisy of these Bible thumpers who claim to follow the teachings of Jesus the Nazarene while failing spectacularly to follow his example in real life. Some people inside the evangelical community have noticed it, too. Daniel Deitrich, an ex-evangelical young minister […]
Song of the Day 1/25: Randy Rainbow, “That Don”
I know his fans, which is just about everyone, have seen the latest Randy Rainbow video. It’s funny and catchy, as always, but though the tune was familiar I couldn’t quite place it. But when I showed it to a thirty-something, he immediately recognized it as “Gaston,” a comic tune from Disney’s “Beauty and the […]
Song of the Day 1/24: The Band, “It Makes No Difference”
I listened to Adam Schiff’s closing speech last night, and thought of this song — not just the title, but the sense of regret and resignation Rick Danko expresses so eloquently. Centrists, moderates, whatever you want to call the people who want our politicians to get along and work together — they need to understand […]
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