Alby's Latest Posts
Carney Addresses the Statewide Property Tax
In what has become an annual custom, Mark Brainard, grand poobah of Delaware Technical and Community College, is asking the General Assembly for a new statewide property tax to raise money for upkeep of its facilities. And a lot of lawmakers seem ready to give it to him. Senate Bill 50, sponsored by frequently-used tool […]
Song of the Day 2/20: Steely Dan, “Only a Fool Would Say That”
Every time I hear another attack on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez this song pops into my mind. Some people say this is the Dan’s answer to John Lennon’s “Imagine,” (Lennon, remember, was the “Fool on the Hill”), belittling the idea of “a world where all is free.” This being Steely Dan, that’s open to some interpretation — […]
Song of the Day 2/19: The Rolling Stones, “Hand of Fate”
The star of this track is a guy who almost became a Rolling Stone. Wayne Perkins was a session guitarist out of Muscle Shoals, one of a half-dozen or so who auditioned for Mick Taylor’s job after Taylor left the band in 1974. Keith Richards later said the “Black and Blue” album, released to mixed […]
Song of the Day, 2/18: The Nazz, “Open My Eyes”
It’s hard for those who didn’t live through the ’60s to appreciate how large the Beatles loomed over pop culture. Not only did their music spawn entire new genres, they also starred in films that influenced how bands presented themselves. In the case of “Open Your Eyes,” the Nazz ripped off the Who’s “Can’t Explain” […]
Song of the Day 2/17: Paul Anka, “Wonderwall”
That Ryan Adams cover of Oasis’ “Wonderwall” is great, but it’s so gloomy. Paul Anka, on his album of rock covers, gave it a much more upbeat, ring-a-ding-ding reading that gets my foot tapping every time.
Song of the Day 2/16: Ryan Adams, “Wonderwall”
Ryan Adams has found himself in a world of trouble for something rock stars used to consider one of the perks of the job: Smutting around with underage girls. The New York Times gave Adams the full #metoo treatment, interviewing several aspiring young musicians plus Adams’ ex-wife, actress Mandy Moore, who all painted pretty much […]
Song of the Day 2/15: Ten Years After, “I’d Love to Change the World”
This song, the highlight of the band’s 1971 album “A Space in Time,” was by critical consensus the pinnacle of British blues guitarist Alvin Lee’s career, though I have to agree with Robert Christgau about the empty philosophy Lee espouses — “Fellow seems to believe that if you ‘tax the rich to feed the poor’ […]
Bezos Pulls Out
Jeff Bezos, the world’s richest man except for Vladimir Putin, is having a rough year. First he announced his divorce, but that turned out to be his way of getting ahead of the National Enquirer’s story about his relationship with Lauren Sanchez. That turned even uglier when Bezos revealed AMI threatened to publicize his dick […]
What Chris Coons Gets for His Bipartisanship — Trump in His Face
Politico posted a story yesterday about Donald Trump’s supposed growing embrace of Christianist ideals, and chose as its opening anecdote this vignette starring none other than our senator, Fightin’ Chris Coons, the Bipartisan Brawler. The night before last week’s National Prayer Breakfast, President Donald Trump was hosting religious leaders and lawmakers for dinner at the […]
Song of the Day 2/14: Syl Johnson, “Is It Because I’m Black”
Once upon a time in America, people didn’t tiptoe around issues of race. The fight for civil rights legislation was hard and bitter, and the racists didn’t keep their feelings hidden. (Look at those old photos of young whites pouring ketchup and mustard on young blacks who were integrating lunch counters — they didn’t even […]
Song of the Day 2/13: Flash Cadillac, “She’s So Fine”
When I got to thinking about bands that sound like throwbacks, I realized that sometimes they do it on purpose — for example, when a movie is set in the past. Consider this nugget from the “American Graffiti” soundtrack. Back in the early ’70s the country went through a wave of nostalgia for the music […]
Song of the Day 2/12: IBM 7094, “Daisy Bell”
Yesterday Jason slagged Greta Van Fleet for sounding “old,” because their classic-rock sound and Robert Plant-manque lead singer make them sound like a 50-year-old band, Led Zeppelin. Well, I’m here to argue that old music is one of the best art forms for speaking to us from the past, and serves as a point of […]
Song of the Day 2/11: Greta Van Fleet, “Highway Tune”
Last night’s Grammy Awards got the Song and Record of the Year right — Childish Gambino’s “This Is America” won both — but no Grammy Awards ceremony would be complete without some shocking snubs and undeserved victories. No victory was more controversial than Best Rock Album winner Greta Van Fleet, a young Michigan quartet featuring […]
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