Alby's Latest Posts
Song of the Day 8/8: Taylor Swift, “Look What You Made Me Do”
Taylor Swift cancelled three shows in Vienna after three suspects were arrested and charged with plotting an attack on her show. Police found bombs and ISIS propaganda, indicating again that Islamic terrorists consider music venues fair game. As a music fan, this does not predispose me to expressing any sympathy for the goals of Islamic […]
Song of the Day 8/7: Warren Zevon, “I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead”
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz might present as an old man, but he’s only 60, and a whole lot cooler than he looks. He proved it when the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced its class of 2023. Walz sent out a tweet: “As Governor of Minnesota I cannot believe Warren Zevon was not inducted […]
DL Open Thread Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024
Reaction to Kamala Harris’ selection of Tim Walz as her running mate has been widely praised. Most pundits have cited his mien, best summed up by Harold Meyerson of the American Prospect as “Hubert Humphrey without Vietnam.” Walz’s happy warrior style reminded me of Humphrey, too, but I’d say “with a sharper tongue.” Ol’ Hubert […]
Song of the Day 8/6: Big Data feat. Joywave, “Dangerous”
Trends in popular music evolve rather slowly in modern times, which makes it harder to tell when they shift. Eleven years ago, for instance, this tune was all the rage, hitting No. 1 on the alternative rock chart. It typifies the bass-heavy sound that was popular then – “All About That Bass” was a product […]
DL Open Thread Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024
Kamala Harris will name her choice for vice president today. Because American politics is essentially sports for the athletically disinclined, the bookies have Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz pulling slightly ahead of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as the betting favorite, and that’s considered a news story. A couple of bad days for the stock markets was […]
Song of the Day 8/4: Aerosmith, “Dream On”
Some of the rock bands that formed in the ’60s are still performing live – some are on their third or fourth farewell tour. But bands formed in the ’70s and beyond don’t seem to have the same luck. Aerosmith, formed in Boston in 1970, just called it quits on the cusp of their planned […]
Song of the Day 8/2: Rupert Holmes, “Escape (The Piña Colada Song)”
These hot, sticky days call for tropical drinks with tiny umbrellas in them, and no tropical drink with a tiny umbrella is more popular than the piña colada – nobody ever wrote a song about the mai tai, did they? Sorry, Parrotheads, margaritas aren’t served with cocktail umbrellas, and “Margaritaville” wasn’t a No. 1 hit. […]
Song of the Day 7/31: Prince, “On the Couch”
JD Vance, the Ted Cruz of the North, did not write in his memoir that he once had sexual congress with a latex glove wedged between his couch cushions. But when someone on the internet said he did – the since-gone-viral tweet cited specific pages, which helped sell the gag – the claim took off. […]
DL Open Thread Wednesday, July 31, 2024
Everyone knows the story of the emperor’s new clothes, but I think they miss the point of it. As Hans Christian Andersen told it, two con-men told the king their cloth was invisible to stupid people, so everyone pretended they saw it to avoid appearing stupid. It took a child to blurt out that he […]
Song of the Day 7/30: Flavor Flav, “Unga Bunga Bunga”
OK, who saw this one coming? A major financial backer and official hype man for the U.S. women’s water polo team is none other than Flavor Flav, who came to fame as Chuck D’s sidekick in Public Enemy before he went mainstream on reality TV. If you have to ask why, you don’t understand modern […]
DL Open Thread Tuesday, July 30, 2024
I’ve kept up my vaccinations, so I’m immune to Olympic fever, but as a part-time resident of Paris I’ve been following organizers’ quixotic quest to have athletes swim in the Seine, always a sketchy plan because the water is often polluted. Sure enough, the triathlon, scheduled for this morning, was postponed because fecal coliform levels […]
Song of the Day 7/29: The Police, “Every Breath You Take”
Though 1983 was the year Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” put five singles on Billboard’s Year-End Top 100 chart, even “Billy Jean” missed the top spot. It finished second to what became The Police and Sting’s signature song, “Every Breath You Take,” the highlight of the band’s best-selling LP, “Synchronicity,” which was just rereleased with lots of […]
DL Open Thread Monday, July 29, 2024
I was assured several days ago that Republicans would welcome a race against Kamala Harris because they had lots of ways to attack her. So far the attacks have been off-the-bottom-shelf specials noting that, hmm, let’s see…Apparently she’s a woman and she’s Black, so she slept her way to the top when she wasn’t being […]
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