Alby's Latest Posts
Song of the Day 8/19: Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs, “Stay”
Some obituaries for Maurice Williams, who died earlier this month at 86, called him a one-hit wonder. Yes, “Stay,” a No. 1 single in 1960, was his only hit with the Zodiacs, but it was just one of the tunes Williams wrote that reached Billboard’s Top 40. In 1957, when his group was called the […]
DL Open Thread Monday, Aug. 19, 2024
The Harris/Walz ticket is riding high right now, and the chattering classes seem to think the Democratic National Convention, which starts today, is going to keep the positive vibes flowing. I’m too old to think a Democratic convention in Chicago is likely to go without a hitch. Indeed, the media should be counted on to […]
Song of the Day 8/17: Gangstagrass, “Good At Being Bad”
Mondegreen isn’t the only music festival in the region this weekend. The Philadelphia Folk Festival, which runs through Sunday, closed last night’s bill with Gangstagrass, which might mark the first time rap has been represented among all that acoustic music. Hip-hop/country crossovers have become increasingly common, but they mostly meld mainstream country with modern R&B. […]
Song of the Day 8/16: Phish, “Moma Dance”
WXPN in Philadelphia has been doing its Funky Friday for more than 30 years now, long enough that I automatically associate Fridays with soul and funk. One band I never hear on the show is Phish, despite their late-’90s foray into what Trey Anastasio labeled “cow funk.” Phish can, and has, covered just about every […]
Who Do I Vote For When All the Candidates Suck?
That’s the situation confronting voters in the gubernatorial primary. They might suck to different extents and in different ways, but they all have significant drawbacks. Bethany Hall-Long’s are obvious. Even without the financial mismanagement and Delaware Way mutual backscratching, I consider her unqualified for the job. Head of the health department? Sure, she seems like […]
Song of the Day 8/15: Phish, “You Enjoy Myself”
The pandemic has killed off Dover’s Firefly music festival, but this year The Woodlands found a replacement: Phish’s four-day Mondegreen festival. There’s a big difference, though. Where Firefly hosted dozens of bands who drew a broader spectrum of fans, Phish is the only band playing Mondegreen – two shows each night – so much of […]
Song of the Day 8/14: R.E.M., “Orange Crush”
OK, so the election isn’t being held today and a lot can change in (checks watch) 82 days. But right now the Harris/Walz ticket looks poised to crush a certain orange someone, and I don’t mean Tony the Tiger. It will, however, be gr-r-reat! Michael Stipe wasn’t referring to soda on this tune, released on […]
DL Open Thread Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024
For months, the war in Ukraine has been pushed to the media back burner, where slow Russians gains provided grist for the “Surrender Dorothy Ukraine” crowd’s ever-grinding mill. Millions of pixels were devoted to experts explaining how things would play out. And I’m pretty sure exactly zero (0) of those experts predicted Ukraine would invade […]
Song of the Day 8/13: Veruca Salt, “So Weird”
If whoever programmed “My Heart Will Go On” for the Trump rally is looking for more troll bait, might I suggest this as a theme song? It dates from 2006, when Louise Post was fronting the band herself after she and Nina Gordon split up in 1998. They had reunited by the time of this […]
DL Open Thread Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024
The Harris campaign has shown a talent for reducing Donald Trump to a sputtering fountain of rage, and never more so than when mocking him over crowd sizes – hers are bigger. It’s not entirely his ego at stake. His whole rationale for the Big Lie, that his enormous crowds mean he must have won, […]
Song of the Day 8/12: The Staple Singers, “I’ll Take You There”
The Staple Singers’ first No. 1 hit, and the song they’re best remembered for, didn’t really have much to do with the group. Mavis Staples is the only one who appears on the record. All the instruments are played by the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. When Mavis calls for “Daddy,” it’s Eddie Hinton, not Pops […]
DL Open Thread Monday, Aug. 12, 2024
Is there a bad idea John Carney won’t embrace? Most basketball fans are aware that the Philadelphia 76ers want to construct a new arena in downtown Philly right next to Chinatown. The project is supported by the construction workers’ unions – is there a bad idea they won’t embrace? – but opposed by those who […]
Song of the Day 8/11: Céline Dion, “My Heart Will Go On”
As El Som noted in today’s Open Thread, the musical highlight of Trump’s sparsely attended Montana rally was the syrupy tear-jerker “My Heart Will Go On” by Céline Dion – famously, the theme song to James Cameron’s “Titanic.” People started speculating that the choice was the work of a mole in the Trump campaign. I […]
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