Alby's Latest Posts
Song of the Day 12/14: Dean Martin, “A Marshmallow World”
Despite a crying need for Christmas music that hasn’t been played to death, some holiday songs that used to be popular have fallen out of favor. But there’s always hope for a revival. For example, Eartha Kitt’s 1953 tune “Santa Baby” was all but forgotten until Madonna recorded it for the charity record “A Very […]
Song of the Day 12/13: The Killers, “Mr. Brightside”
WXPN concluded its countdown of the best songs of the century so far last evening, and I can’t quibble with the top song. Jack White’s “Seven Nation Army” is familiar even to millions of sports fans who’ve never heard the record because it’s become a stadium chant as familiar as “We Will Rock You.” Even […]
Join Me in Donating to Friendship House
Given the city of Wilmington’s war on the homeless and unhoused, my annual donation to Friendship House is needed more than ever, so I thought I’d try something here on Delaware Liberal that I used to do on my radio show when we raised money for the state’s food banks: I will donate $1,000 to […]
Song of the Day 12/12: Joni Mitchell, “River”
I’m not violating my Only 12 Days of Christmas music rule, because this is not a Christmas song. It’s a breakup song of sadness and regret that mentions the approach of the holiday as a counterpoint to Mitchell’s melancholy, yet like Chrissie Hynde’s similarly themed “2000 Miles” it’s become part of the Christmas canon. Popular […]
Song of the Day 12/11: We Five, “You Were on My Mind”
They don’t get much credit for it, but the San Francisco group We Five recorded one of the first folk-rock songs to reach the top of the American charts. In September 1965 “You Were on My Mind” hit No. 1 in Cashbox, which based its rankings on record sales rather than combining sales with airplay […]
Song of the Day 12/10: Mary Hopkin, “Goodbye”
Paul Krugman, the Princeton economist hired by the New York Times in 2000, published his last column for the newspaper today. He will be sorely missed, or would be if I hadn’t cancelled my subscription earlier this year. Paul McCartney gave this tune to Mary Hopkin, a Welsh singer the Beatles had signed to their […]
Song of the Day 12/8: The Ramones, “High Risk Insurance”
There’s gonna be a big run on this stuff. The Ramones were into it before anybody. It was popular, too. “End of the Century” was the band’s fifth LP, released in 1980, with Phil Spector himself at the control board. Critics and hard-punk fans called its poppier sound and production a sellout, and if it […]
Song of the Day 12/6: The Four Tops, “It’s the Same Old Song”
This might be the most aptly titled song in the Motown catalog. The Four Tops were a decade into their career and had been through four record companies before joining Motown in 1963, where the Holland-Dozier-Holland writing and production team furnished them with their first hit, “Baby I Need Your Loving,” the next year. They […]
Song of the Day 12/5: The Jayhawks, “Blue”
The Minneapolis-based Jayhawks were forerunners of the folk/country/rock blend that was first known as alt-country before Americana became its generally accepted label. Despite critical acclaim they have never sold many records; their 2011 LP “Mockingbird Time,” which marked the return of founding singer/songwriter Mark Olsen, was the only time they cracked Billboard’s top 50 albums, […]
Song of the Day 12/3: Incubus, “Pardon Me”
I don’t give a crap either way if Hunter Biden goes to jail or whatever other punishment awaited him. He’s an entitled piece of shit who tried to leverage the family name into a lucrative living, so sorry, no sympathy here. And if you’re upset about his pardon because you’ve never liked the Bidens, fair […]
Song of the Day 11/28: John Lennon and Elton John, “Whatever Gets You Through the Night”
50 years ago today marked John Lennon’s last public concert appearance, with Elton John at New York’s Madison Square Garden – to honor a lost bet. “Whatever Gets You Through the Night” sprang from something Lennon heard Reverend Ike say on TV one night, and Lennon considered it a bit of a throwaway. When he […]
Song of the Day 11/26: The Rivingtons, “The Bird’s the Word”
Gotta make it quick today due to Thanksgiving prep, including picking up the bird and getting it brined, which made me think of “Surfin’ Bird,” the 1963 No. Billboard 4 hit by surf-rock Minnesotans the Trashmen. I never realized it was a cover of a song released earlier in 1963 by the Rivingtons, the doo-wop […]
Song of the Day 11/25: Boz Scaggs feat. Bonnie Raitt, “Hell to Pay”
Americans love horror stories, and Trump’s selection of a cabinet designed mainly to trigger the libs provides the media with plenty of them. As Boz Scaggs related in this blues tale, even if you buy a senator in Texas and a judge in New Orleans, there’s still hell to pay. This duet with Bonnie Raitt […]
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