Alby's Latest Posts
Song of the Day 4/27: Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, “Blinded By the Light”
Guest post by Nathan Arizona Is “Blinded by the Light” a Bruce Springsteen song or a Manfred Mann song? Bruce wrote it in 1973 but people didn’t buy it. The song was an afterthought. He put it on his debut album only after the record company insisted. The British group Manfred Mann’s Earth Band recorded […]
Song of the Day 4/26: Nirvana, “Lithium”
H/t El Somnambulo’s Sunday magazine item about lithium mining. Rechargeable batteries weren’t on Kurt Cobain’s mind when he wrote this “Nevermind” track in 1990 – back then lithium was best known as a treatment for bipolar disorder. Cobain explained that the song’s protagonist has lost his wife and turned to Marx’s opiate, religion, to stave […]
Song of the Day 4/24: Spoon, “My Mathematical Mind”
Donald Trump, who likes to brag about going to Penn’s Wharton School, is obviously bad at math – how else could he go bankrupt running casinos? He has repeatedly demonstrated his innumeracy by proclaiming that drug prices have dropped by impossible percentages well in excess of 100%. The media have mostly given him a pass […]
Song of the Day 4/23: Dave Mason, “Only You Know and I Know”
Dave Mason, the British guitarist who cofounded the psychedelic band Traffic before embarking on a solo career, died Sunday at 79. Mason wrote some classic rock staples that were bigger hits for other singers. “Feelin’ Alright?” didn’t chart for Traffic, but it was a hit for Joe Cocker. “Only You Know and I Know” missed […]
Song of the Day 4/22: The Rainmakers, “Drinkin’ on the Job”
If Kash Patel didn’t want reporters to look into his drinking, maybe he shouldn’t have guzzled beer with the U.S. hockey team at the Olympics. It would have been a bad look anywhere outside Frat Row, but it made me long for the days when the FBI director had enough sense to not get photographed […]
New Poll – Who’s Next?
Lori Chavez-DeRemer walked the plank to pursue opportunities in the private sector, since critics made it difficult to run scams in the public sector any longer. So once again a DL longshot came in. Chavez-DeRemer was the DL voting public’s fourth choice. Tulsi Gabbard was the favorite, and given the shrinking number of women to […]
Song of the Day 4/21: Jim Sullivan, “U.F.O.”
Guest post by Nathan Arizona “X-Files” Case No. 158: Singer-songwriter Jim Sullivan made an unsuccessful album in 1969 called “U.F.O.” The subject had long fascinated him. Later, he walked into the desert in space alien-friendly New Mexico and was never heard from again. They never found the body, but they did find his Volkswagen bug, […]
Song of the Day 4/20: Tom Petty, “You Don’t Know How It Feels”
Today is the first 4/20 when recreational cannabis is legal in Delaware, and I’m gonna say I told you so: It’s been far from the financial windfall for the state that a lot of people were anticipating. WHYY checked the figures last month and they’re far short of expectations. The bottom line for now is […]
Song of the Day 4/19: Generation X, “Kiss Me Deadly”
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s class of 2026 has a distinctly British flavor. The only Americans inducted are Queen Latifah, the Wu-Tang Clan and Luther Vandross. Phil Collins, Iron Maiden, Billy Idol, Oasis, Sade and Joy Division/New Order are all British acts. A lot of people would say it’s about time, because Brits […]
DL Open Thread Saturday, April 18, 2026
Whoopee! Trump says the Strait of Iran (sic) is open again! And you can believe what Trump says, right? Especially on Friday afternoons. Tell ya what, though, you go through first. No links because at publication time nobody actually has any clear idea of what’s going on. It seems Secretary of Belligerence Pete Hegseth isn’t […]
Song of the Day 4/17: Little Millie Small, “My Boy Lollipop”
Guest post by Nathan Arizona Before there was Bob Marley, there was Little Millie Small. Little Millie had the very first Jamaican hit in America with a 1964 ska song called “My Boy Lollipop.” It was a snappy tune you could dance to, heavy on the island backbeat but spun from American R&B like other […]
DL Open Thread Friday, April 17, 2026
Data centers: To know them is to hate them: [T]he share of Virginians saying they’d be “comfortable” if a new data center were built in their community has plummeted to half the level it was at just three years ago. In 2023, 69 percent of state residents said a new data center was fine with […]
Song of the Day 4/16: Matthew Sweet, “Evangeline”
The Trump administration seems to have declared war on the Vatican. Donald Trump commands the U.S. military’s 1.3 million active personnel. The Pope is protected by the 135-man Swiss Guard. That hardly seems like a fair fight. What the Holy See needs is someone like Evangeline, an indie comic book heroine of the ’80s who […]
Recent Comments