Posts by Alby

Tom Smothers, the comic half of the squabbling Smothers Brothers, died Tuesday at age 86. Though they'll always be remembered for having their top-rated variety show axed by CBS in…

According to one of those sketchy "favorite (noun) of every state" lists, Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" is the most popular Christmas song in Delaware. Well,…

Most retellings of the nativity understandably dwell on the spiritual aspects. Canadian singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn went in another direction. I wanted to put it into terms people can relate to…

In the five years I've been writing the Song of the Day feature, nobody has compiled more page views than John Prine. Prine loved Christmas – he told Rolling Stone…

You're probably familiar with "Little Saint Nick," the Beach Boys' tune about Santa's new hot rod. Alternate transporation for Santa was a popular theme back in the '50s and '60s,…

Mannheim Steamroller sounds like the name of a Krautrock outfit, but it's really mostly one guy, composer/producer Chip Davis, who would have a footnote in music history even without the…

Elvis Presley made this cowboy Christmas song a classic, but I can't listen to it without thinking of this porcine parody, which pretty much ruined Elvis' version for me. Yes,…

The media is having a newsgasm because Colorado's Supreme Court barred Trump from the ballot there, based on the 14th Amendment's insurrection clause. The appeal to SCOTUS will determine the…

Here's another piece of evidence supporting the theory that time makes songs Christmas classics: The LP "A Christmas Gift for You from Phillies Records" was a flop when it was…