Alby's Latest Posts
Song of the Day 3/20: Traffic, “Medicated Goo”
If you thought idiots dosing themselves with cattle dewormer would stop being a thing now that COVID is receding, you don’t know the persistence of idiots. You might have seen the news last week when an “ivermectin influencer” named Danny Lemoi died when his enlarged heart gave out. That might have killed him without the […]
Song of the Day 3/19: Joe Cocker, “With a Little Help From My Friends”
The sad story of Wrecking Crew drummer Jim Gordon came to an end last week with his death at 77 in a prison hospital, where he spent nearly 40 years after being convicted of second-degree murder for killing his mother in a schizophrenic fit. You might not know his name, but you’ve heard his work […]
Song of the Day 3/17: The Dubliners, “The Auld Triangle”
An Irish air to accompany the consumption of the green-tinted beer sure to flow copiously in Trolley Square today. Like a lot of Irish folk songs, this one isn’t as old as it sounds. It became widely known in 1954, when Irish writer Brendan Behan used it to open his play “The Quare Fellow,” set […]
Song of the Day 3/16: Randy Rainbow, “Life’s a Fucking Fantasy for Santos”
Randy Rainbow’s latest release takes on the Lyin’ King, George Santos, with a rare mash-up of two different tunes, “Life’s a Jolly Holliday With Mary” from “Mary Poppins” and the Seekers’ “Georgey Girl.” In case you haven’t been following the saga of Pinocchio of the House, a former roommate who’s been convicted of running a […]
Song of the Day 3/15: Street Dogs, “Unions and the Law”
Michigan is on the verge of becoming the first state in 60 years to roll back vulture capitalism’s odious “Right to Work” law, which allows union members to not pay their union dues. Each house of the legislature has passed a version of the bill. Once the two bills are reconciled it will go to […]
Song of the Day 3/14: Toad the Wet Sprocket, “Fall Down”
The collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank shouldn’t surprise anyone. The bank, like the valley, was built on silicon chips, and silicon chips are made of sand. Castles made of sand always fall down. “Fall Down” was among the string of hits Toad the Wet Sprocket released in the mid-’90s. This one, from their LP […]
Song of the Day 3/13: Sparks, “The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte”
Cate Blanchett didn’t win the Oscar last night for her performance as an orchestra conductor in “Tár,” but would Michelle Yeoh do this? Like lots of Hollywood folk, Blanchett is a fan of Sparks, the art rock/electronica project of the Mael brothers, Russell and Ron. The duo has released 26 LPs over its 50-plus-year history, […]
Song of the Day 3/12: Creedence Clearwater Revival, “Who’ll Stop the Rain”
After three years of drought, California this winter has been inundated with rain — an “atmospheric river” dumped 13 inches on the central part of the state in the past few days, leading to widespread flooding and mudslides. John Fogerty was raised on the east side of the San Francisco Bay in Contra Costa County, […]
Song of the Day 3/11: Deep Purple, “Hush”
Of all the illegal acts Donald Trump has committed, its appears lying about his hush-money payment to a hooker is the one that will get him indicted first. It’s worth nothing that a hush-money payment is not illegal, but lying about it so he wouldn’t have to declare it as a campaign expense is. Pretty […]
Song of the Day 3/10: The Dave Clark Five, “Catch Us If You Can”
Stop me if you’ve heard this one: The leader of the Trump crime family is about to be indicted. Yeah, sure he is. He’s been indictable for 40 years and it hasn’t happened yet. This should be his family’s theme song. The Dave Clark Five was one of the most popular bands in the first […]
Song of the Day 3/9: Disturbed, “The Sound of Silence”
Sometimes it takes a cover to show everyone how great a song can be. “The Sound of Silence” was the song that made Simon & Garfunkel famous, but not right away. When the duo first began playing it at Gerde’s Folk City in 1963, Dave Van Ronk said, audiences thought it was a joke. He […]
Song of the Day 3/8: Ted Hawkins, “Cold and Bitter Tears”
A lot of people have never heard Ted Hawkins, the singer-songwriter who spent most of his career busking on the boardwalk in Venice Beach, where he earned, he said, about $300 a week. Even public radio station WXPN barely plays his music, and when they do it’s mostly covers of songs he made sound original. […]
Song of the Day 3/7: Sweet, “Fox on the Run”
The Dominion lawsuit against Fox “News” has provided receipts showing the Murdoch media empire is nothing but a propaganda arm of the international fascist movement, which isn’t news to anybody with a working set of critical faculties. Though we should never doubt the ability of the American justice system to fail at administering justice, a […]
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