Alby's Latest Posts
Song of the Day 1/10: Peter, Paul and Mary, “Puff, the Magic Dragon”
Peter Yarrow, who died earlier this week at age 86, fought a decades-long battle against an insidious rumor: that “Puff, the Magic Dragon” was about marijuana. In his defense, Yarrow pointed out that he wrote the song while an undergraduate at Cornell in 1959, a time and place where marijuana was still rare. The story […]
Song of the Day 1/9: Ohio Players, “Fire”
You know the California fires are bad – Hollywood is cancelling movie premieres and awards shows. In a way, the victims are lucky this happened now and not next month, when Lex Luthor with a bad rug will take over the White House. “Fire” defined the Ohio Players, the finest funk band ever to come […]
Song of the Day 1/8: Guns N’ Roses, “You’re Crazy”
Axl Rose wrote it about an overenthusiastic female fan, but when a senile dolt elected president by a nation of dolts talks about going to war over Greenland, the only response is this song’s refrain: “You’re fuckin’ crazy.” The profanity wasn’t originally part of the song – Rose ad-libbed it one night in concert when […]
Song of the Day 1/7: Soundgarden, “Fell On Black Days”
The approach of the Trump circus caravan has most right-thinking people experiencing a sense of dread, a mood Chris Cornell knew well. He once told Melody Maker, “Fell on Black Days” was like this ongoing fear I’ve had for years … It’s a feeling that everyone gets. You’re happy with your life, everything’s going well, […]
Song of the Day 1/6: Matt Pond PA, “Snow Day”
Snow days ain’t what they used to be. Global warming has made snow scarce, and even when schools close a lot of kids don’t go education-free, because remote learning didn’t disappear with the pandemic. Kids don’t know the difference, of course. They’re just happy to have a day mostly off with snow to play in. […]
Song of the Day 1/5: Timothée Chalamet and Monica Barbaro, “Girl From the North Country”
“A Complete Unknown,” the Bob Bylan biopic starring Timothée Chalamet released Dec. 25, has gotten mostly good reviews, and even the critics who dismissed it praised Chalamet’s performance. As well they should – he agreed to make the film with director James Mangold five years ago, and spent the time between acting jobs learning to […]
2024 Top Song of the Day Countdown
I know how much El Somnambulo likes Top 10 lists, so here, in reverse order, are 2024’s top 10 Songs of the Day, measured by reader views. The No. 1 song won going away because it’s still getting visitors, while most of the others trailed off a week or so after they ran. 10: Toby […]
Song of the Day 1/3: Bobby Womack, “Lookin’ for a Love”
Listening to this 1974 No. 10 hit for soul singer/songwriter/guitarist Bobby Womack, you’d never guess it started out as a traditional spiritual. Like much of the transformation of gospel into soul, Sam Cooke provided the spark. The origins of “I Couldn’t Hear Nobody Pray” had already been lost by the time the Fisk Jubilee Quartet […]
Song of the Day 1/2: Bartees Strange, “Sober”
This is for El Somnambulo, and anyone else on Day 2 of their Dry January. Bartees Strange is one of his faves. I’m sure he’s this song already – it’s been in heavy rotation on WXPN since it dropped in November, in advance of a new album, “Horror,” coming out next month – but it […]
Song of the Day 1/1: Ferko String Band, “Alabama Jubilee”
You probably don’t know the name of this tune, but if you’ve ever seen a commercial for Philadelphia’s Mummers Parade you’ve heard it. Ferko String Band sold 1 million copies when they released it as a single in 1955. It was an oldie even then. “Alabama Jubilee” was published in 1915, toward the end of […]
Song of the Day 12/31: André Rieu, “Auld Lang Syne”
There is something about the tune we use for Robert Burns’ “Auld Lang Syne” that urges people to start singing. Listen to the start of this video of Dutch violinist and conductor André Rieu striking up the tune at a concert in Maastricht, the Netherlands. He doesn’t get to the end of the first line […]
Song of the Day 12/30: Lou Reed, “Dirty Blvd.”
Bleak times call for bleak songs. Lou Reed made this the centerpiece of his critically acclaimed 1989 LP “New York,” and it topped Billboard’s Modern Rock Tracks chart for four weeks. The blunt, caustic album clicked because it accurately reflected the mood of the country after nearly a decade of Republican rule. The song became […]
Song of the Day 12/29: Counting Crows, “A Long December”
It has been a long December, but I don’t think anybody believes this coming year will be better than the last. Adam Duritz doesn’t sound like he believes it when he sings it, either, but he wrote the song for a friend who was recuperating after getting hit by a car – hence the smell […]
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