Alby's Latest Posts
Song of the Day 7/5: James Ingram, “I Believe I Can Fly”
Great news for fans of “The Jetsons” — you can sign up now, for a small deposit, for your flying car. Well, not exactly a car. As the article at the link notes, “To avoid automobile crash-test laws and other regulations, it will have a 25mph limit, and drive more like a golf cart than […]
Song of the Day 7/4: The Tubes, “Proud to Be an American”
Patriotism, as George Bernard Shaw pointed out, is the conviction that one’s country is superior to all others because one was born in it. Ambrose Bierce, in his “Devil’s Dictionary,” defined patriotism as “combustible rubbish ready to the torch of anyone ambitious to illuminate his name. In Dr. Johnson’s famous dictionary patriotism is defined as […]
Song of the Day 7/3: Train, “Meet Virginia”
Jason has already addressed the fallout from Virginia’s decision to put the onus of age verification on internet porn suppliers — Pornhub pulled the plug on the whole state. A reminder for those who didn’t pay attention in American history class: The Puritans landed in Massachusetts, not Virginia. The Cavaliers weren’t looking for religious freedom, […]
Song of the Day 7/1: Jackson Browne, “Call It a Loan”
The Supreme Court hath spoken, and it repeated its mantra: Money talks, everything else walks. Call it American justice: Bankruptcy can wipe out all the loans you can’t repay except the ones you took out when you were in or just out of your teens. The loan Jackson Browne was singing about was emotional, not […]
Song of the Day 6/30: Three Dog Night, “Black and White”
The day of jubilee is upon us! The Supreme Court, convinced of its power to dictate the terms of reality, has proclaimed that the nation is colorblind, so affirmative action is not only no longer necessary, it’s illegal! Note to SCOTUS:If you can’t tell the difference between black and white, that’s not colorblindness. It’s blindness. […]
Song of the Day 6/29: David Bromberg, “Sharon”
I just read in the News Journal about the final concert by Wilmington’s adoptive son, David Bromberg. He said the show he played at New York’s Beacon Theater June 10 with his band will be his last as a touring musician. Bromberg, who sold his violin repair shop a couple of years ago, is now […]
Song of the Day 6/28: Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, “The Mexican Shuffle”
I’m so old I remember when Mexicans weren’t reviled – in fact, they were considered fun and exotic. Case in point: Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. Though best-known now for founding of A&M Records with Jerry Moss, Boomers will remember Alpert as a trumpeter whose Latin-sounding instrumentals were everywhere in the early to mid-60s. […]
Song of the Day 6/27: Lynyrd Skynyrd, “Gimme Back My Bullets”
This one is for Cabela’s, though it doesn’t sound as if they’re all that concerned about all that missing inventory, does it? The title track to Lyrnyrd Skyrnyrd’s 1976 LP, its fourth but first without Al Kooper producing. It failed to chart as a single, but the album went gold in the wake of the […]
Song of the Day 6/26: Elton John, “Rocket Man” live at Glastonbury 2023
Sir Elton John closed this year’s Glastonbury music festival with what he billed as his final UK concert. He went out with a bang. “Rocket Man” was his final song, and if his voice has declined since his hit-making heyday, his piano work was as energetic as ever. He extends the ending so long it […]
Song of the Day 6/25: Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose, “Too Late to Turn Back Now”
So let me get this straight: The revolt of the Wagner mercenaries got halfway to Moscow and then turned back. I’m no warlord, but I don’t think that’s the way you’re supposed to do it. The Cornelius Brothers and their sister Rose (eventually joined by their other sister, Billie Jo) were a family singing act […]
Song of the Day 6/24: The O’Jays, “Backstabbers”
The head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary forces is marching 25,000 soldiers on Moscow, and Vladimir Putin has responded in classic fascist fashion, describing it not just as treason but that old propaganda standby, a stab in the back. The O’Jays, formed in 1958, had their first Top 40 hit when “Backstabbers” reached No. 3 in […]
Song of the Day 6/23: Randy Rainbow, “Donald in the John With Boxes”
Randy Rainbow just dropped his latest, a ditty about Trump’s reading habits and storage facilities set to the tune of “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds.” I suppose any Rainbow criticism of Trump has to be seen in context, though. Like other political humorists before him — Will Rogers, Pat Paulsen, Marianne Williamson — Rainbow […]
Song of the Day 6/22: Stray Cats, “Cat Fight (Over a Dog Like Me)”
Republicans always seem to stick together, if only because they’re the minority party in the U.S. so they’re doomed if they don’t. Give them a scrap of power, though, and they’ll fight over it like seagulls over a french fry. Case in point: The House of Representatives’ two reigning divas, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren […]
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