Song of the Day 6/18: The Thorns, “No Blue Sky”
The Thorns was an interesting experiment. Solo artists Shawn Mullins, Pete Droge and Matthew Sweet began working together as a CS&N-style acoustic harmony group in 2002 for an album that…
Song of the Day 6/17: Al Kooper, “God Sheds His Grace on Thee”
Al Kooper is one of rock's Zelig characters. His career started in the 1950s as a member of the Royal Teens, responsible for the single "Short Shorts." In the 1960s…
Song of the Day 6/16: New York Philharmonic Orchestra, “Fanfare for the Common Man”
This is probably the only piece of music in the classical canon inspired by a political speech. Henry A. Wallace, FDR's third-term vice president, proclaimed in early 1942, "Some have…
Song of the Day 6/15: The James Gang, “Tend My Garden/Garden Gate”
Back when Midwestern power trios like Grand Funk Railroad ruled American rock, none was better than the classic lineup of the James Gang -- Jim Fox on drums, Dale Peters…
Song of the Day 6/14: Baltimora, “Tarzan Boy”
After that '80s-sounding song yesterday, I got to wondering what would be the most '80s song ever -- the one that best embodied the sound of the decade, for good…
Song of the Day 6/13: Billy Ocean, “When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going”
This song was born in the wrong decade. If it had been written and released before the mid-'70s it would be considered a Carolina beach music classic -- it's got…
Song of the Day 6/12: The Velvet Underground, “Rock & Roll”
The LP was named "Loaded" because the band's new record company wanted an album "loaded with hits." The result was the most pop-oriented set of Lou Reed's career. Of course,…
Song of the Day 6/11: Courtney Hadwin, “Hard to Handle”
This clip is from last year, but I didn't know about it until the weekend, when it popped up on my YouTube feed because I had clicked on a different…
Song of the Day 6/9: Billy Preston, “That’s the Way God Planned It”
This song, one of the best fusions of rock and gospel ever written, became famous from Preston's roof-raising performance at George Harrison's Concert for Bangladesh in 1971, but the original…
Song of the Day 6/7: Dr. John, “Iko Iko” and “Such a Night” in SCTV’s “Polynesiantown”
In all his long career, through his more than two dozen albums and endless session work, Malcolm John "Mac" Rebennack Jr., who died Thursday at 77, made his strongest public…
Song of the Day 6/6: Weezer ft. Tears for Fears, “Everybody Wants to Rule the World”
Weezer is finding new life as a cover band for iconic songs of the '80s. They hit the charts with their recording of Toto's "Africa" and released a whole LP…
Song of the Day 6/5: XTC, “King for a Day”
While Donald Trump is in England having monarch envy, the lads of XTC had his sort pegged back in the Thatcher era. "King for a Day," which appears on the…
Song of the Day 6/4: The Kinks, “Sunny Afternoon”
The Kinks had a string of hits during the original British Invasion that became instant garage-rock classics. "Sunny Afternoon," released in the summer of 1966, continued Ray Davies' move toward…