Alby's Latest Posts
Song of the Day 5/21: Gary Portnoy, “Where Everybody Knows Your Name” (“Cheers” theme)
Comic actor George Wendt, most famous for his role as “Cheers” barfly Norm Peterson, died at age 76 yesterday, the 32nd anniversary of the show’s last episode. He appeared on dozens of TV shows before and after the 11 years he spent on the sitcom, but was indelibly identified with the character he once said […]
Song of the Day 5/20: The Doors, “Touch Me”
Big news for fans of the Doors: The bust that decorated Jim Morrison’s tomb, stolen 37 years ago and presumed lost forever, was found in Paris by police investigating unrelated financial crimes. Morrison died in a Paris bathtub in 1971 and was interred in the city’s historic Père-Lachaise Cemetery, where his tomb, like Oscar Wilde’s […]
Song of the Day 5/18: The Electric Prunes, “Get Me to the World on Time”
Most of Donald Trump’s brain might be mush, but he’ll always retain a few things, like his fear of sharks and his childish habit of insulting people in terms that would sound weak coming from a sixth-grader. So when Bruce Springsteen called out the whiny bitch who likes to pretend he’s a strongman, the strongman […]
Song of the Day 5/16: Sam and Dave, “Wrap It Up”
Donald Trump is a big-hearted guy. He doesn’t require people bribing him to go to a lot of trouble. No need to wrap it up, he’ll just take it. Sam and Dave poured their usual double dose of soul into the David Porter/Isaac Hayes composition that ended up on the B-side of “I Thank You,” […]
Song of the Day 5/15: Bruce Springsteen, “Chimes of Freedom”
Bruce Springsteen was once hailed as a new Dylan. The comparison never fit – the young Dylan came to fame by writing the best songs to come out of the Great Folk Music Scare, while young Bruce mostly sang about getting out of New Jersey. But once Springsteen started writing about issues of social justice, […]
NEA Cuts Delaware Arts Funding: A Masterclass in Trump/DOGE Stupidity
Guest post by Jason330 Well, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is on the chopping block. That means 100% of its funding to Delaware for FY25 is probably gone. That’s right – poof! Zeroed out. Vanished. In 2024, the NEA granted the Delaware Division of the Arts a modest $950,000. Not exactly a king’s […]
Song of the Day 5/13: Tom Waits, “Looks Like I’m Up Shit Creek Again”
Of all the people in Trump’s As-Seen-On-TV cabinet, the downright weirdest might be RFK Jr. While just as deluded and fear-aggressive as any MAGAt, he’s at war with an entirely different set of threats and menaces. Human biology appears to be at the top of the list. Washington, like Wilmington, has a combined sewer system, […]
Song of the Day 5/12: Angus and Julia Stone, “Big Jet Plane”
As far as Donald Trump is concerned, the best part of being president is that people give you stuff for free – catnip to the kind of grasping poseur Trump has always been. So naturally he’s not just ready to take a jumbo-jet sized bribe from the Qataris, he’s bragging about it. I’m only surprised […]
Song of the Day 5/11: Frank Zappa and the Mothers, “Camarillo Brillo”
Frank Zappa’s record label wouldn’t let him call his band the Mothers, so he added “of Invention” to pacify them. But nobody called them that. They were the Mothers, though not the sort Hallmark meant to honor. Zappa churned through sidemen, so there were many Mothers. He eventually grew frustrated with trying to herd the […]
Song of the Day 5/9: The Who, “The Song Is Over”
The Who has announced another farewell tour. Yeah, sure, you might scoff – wasn’t their first farewell tour back in 1982? Yes it was, and it took seven whole years for them to decide that maybe they had been hasty. They regrouped for their 25th anniversary and have toured fairly regularly since. This time they […]
Song of the Day 5/8: Luke Bryan, “Little Boys Grow Up and Dogs Get Old”
It doesn’t get any easier no matter how old you get. Mine was a corgi named Mackie – formally, Honeyfox Four on the Floor – and after 14 1/2 years I have to say goodbye to him today. He was a very good boy.
Song of the Day 5/7: The Miracles, “I’ve Been Good to You”
Smokey Robinson, composer of umpteen romantic soul classics, was sued yesterday by four former housekeepers who accuse him of sexual assault and rape, among a raft of other charges. He hasn’t officially responded, but when The Daily Mail managed to get the 85-year-old singer on the phone he told them, “I am appalled. I can’t […]
Song of the Day 5/6: Jake Holmes, “Dazed and Confused”
Led Zeppelin is notorious for claiming writing credit for songs they “borrowed.” It wasn’t just old blues numbers, like turning Willie Dixon’s “You Need Love” into “Whole Lotta Love” and Howlin’ Wolf’s “Killing Floor” into “The Lemon Song.” Guitarist Jimmy Page swiped Randy California’s riff for “Stairway to Heaven” and the band turned Moby Grape’s […]
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