Alby's Latest Posts
Song of the Day 4/10: The Kingsmen, “Louie Louie”
Guest post by Nathan Arizona Tomorrow is International Louie Louie Day. Not every song gets a Day, but “Louie Louie” isn’t every song. It’s been almost fanatically celebrated from the time it was a Top 10 hit in 1963. Venerable rock critic Dave Marsh wrote a book that ranked the 1,001 greatest singles of all […]
Song of the Day 4/9: Fred Astaire, “Nice Work If You Can Get It”
It’s an age-old story: Person gets elected, uses the office to get a cushy job in the NGO sector, then uses their government position to steer money to their non-government employer. El Somnambulo has been pounding the table about this for years, yet professional news organizations have for the most part ignored it. I find […]
Song of the Day 4/8: Tyrone Davis, “Can I Change My Mind”
Trump earned his taunting “taco” sobriquet because he almost always makes bellicose threats and then backs down instead of following through on them. But I think everyone’s glad he rescinded his latest ultimatum to Iran, even if it will only lead to another round of fulminations in two weeks. Everyone wants to say he chickened […]
Song of the Day 4/7: Napoleon XIV, “They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-haaa!”
After Donald the Trump posted his Easter screed, threatening Iran like Iran has never been threatened before – big, beautiful threatening, the greatest threatening they’ve ever seen, many people are saying – the Rude Pundit responded in a way more circumspect pundits didn’t dare: “It Should Be a Bigger Story That the President of the […]
Song of the Day 4/6: Queen, “Hammer to Fall”
Another day, another deadline. Mad Donald, ever projecting, says Iran had better “open the fuckin’ strait, you crazy bastards” or tomorrow he’ll commit more war crimes by bombing civilian targets. Given that all the bombing so far hasn’t budged the mullahs’ regime, people are worried Trump will go nuclear, literally rather than figuratively. When “Hammer […]
Song of the Day 4/5: Murray Head, “Superstar”
Before the movie, before the stage show, before even the concept album, “Jesus Christ Superstar” began with this single. Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice couldn’t get financial backing to mount the stage production, a retelling of the Passion of Christ with Judas Iscariot as the central character, so they decided to record it as […]
New Poll: Who’s Next Redux
After our last poll, it took just one week for Trump to pull the trigger on Pam Bondi, so let’s see if it takes that long for the next domino to fall. The rumor mill is awash with possibilities. Most pundits, noting the femalitude of Trump’s first two sacrificial lambs, see Lori Chavez-DeRemer and Tulsi […]
Song of the Day 4/3: The La’s, “There She Goes”
Buh-bye, Pam Bondi. The jangle-pop classic “There She Goes” stands as the crowning achievement of a songwriter who’s been called “the J.D. Salinger of pop.” Liverpool native Lee Mavers, frontman of the La’s, earned the comparison because, like the reclusive American author, he created a critically acclaimed album and then stopped letting the public hear […]
Song of the Day 4/2: Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band, “Against the Wind”
H/t to Cape Gazette editorial cartoonist Jim Paterson, whose recent cartoon used the title of the Bob Seger song as the headline for his take on the battle between the state and Sussex County over an offshore wind farm. Delaware’s Chancery Court ruled last week that Sussex County can’t deny a permit that would allow […]
Song of the Day 4/1: Elvin Bishop, “Fooled Around and Fell in Love”
Fate played a mean joke on blues guitarist Elvin Bishop. Bishop, who cut his teeth playing with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, is remembered as a one-hit wonder for his composition “Fooled Around and Fell in Love,” but he didn’t even get to sing it. Bishop thought his gravelly voice wouldn’t do the song justice, […]
Song of the Day 3/31: Unicorn, “No Way Out of Here”
It seems Donald Trump has finally found a bed he couldn’t unshit. Since blundering into his war on Iran, his two chief weapons, bullying and whining, have failed to open the Strait of Hormuz, and according to the Wall Street Journal he’s considering employing his third chief weapon, running away and telling somebody else to […]
Song of the Day 3/30: Sia, “Helium”
Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has bottled up a significant portion of the world’s petroleum and nitrogen-based fertilizer. It’s also choked off a third important resource that’s starting to get more attention: helium. The inert gas is used in a variety of industries, most noticeably semiconductors and medical imaging. While prices will rise […]
Song of the Day 3/29: Tatsuro Yamashita, “Sparkle”
Guest post by Nathan Arizona You’ll be hearing a lot about the K-pop group BTS, international superstars back on stage after completing compulsory service in the South Korean army. But a much more interesting Asian-pop style has been sparking interest in young listeners, thanks partly to a YouTube algorithm that captured their attention. They call […]
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