Arts and Entertainment
Song of the Day 7/10: The Beatles, “Cry Baby Cry”
This one’s for President Whiny Little Bitch. What’s wrong with the brains of people who listen to this crybaby and hear strength? John Lennon had the chorus to this one months before he finished it in India, and he wasn’t happy with the final result, describing it years later as “a piece of rubbish.” That’s […]
Song of the Day 7/9: Randy Rainbow, “Poor Deplorable Troll”
I noticed that a lot of Randy’s recent parodies have used Disney tunes, and then I remembered that half of Broadway’s musicals these days originated as the mouse house’s animated feature films. For those who didn’t watch those movies over and over when their kids were young, this one uses “Poor Unfortunate Souls” from “The […]
Song of the Day 7/8: Styx, “Come Sail Away”
This one’s for Allan Loudell, who loved to tell the story of Styx playing at his high school prom in the early ’70s, back when the band was a popular Chicago-based regional act. The members had been together a decade at that point, but didn’t achieve wider popularity until the mid-70s. Between then and 1983, […]
Song of the Day 7/6: Cast of “Hamilton” featuring Phillipa Soo, with Jimmy Fallon and the Roots, “Helpless”
I don’t know what the weekend was like for the rest of you shut-ins — was it just my neighborhood, or did it sound like the civil war had broken out on the night of July 4? — but at my house we celebrated the Founding Father without a father by watching the filmed version […]
Song of the Day 7/4: Madisen Hallberg and Emmanuel Henreid, “The Star-Spangled Banner”
I’m no fan of “The Star-Spangled Banner” — IMHO the national anthem should be “America the Beautiful” as sung by Ray Charles — but this rendition is special. Madisen Hallberg, a graduate student at Portland State University, was recording the song for an online graduation ceremony, when passing professional singer Emmanuel Henreid heard her and […]
Song of the Day 7/2: Randy Newman, “Jolly Coppers on Parade”
Critics were lukewarm toward Randy Newman’s “Little Criminals” LP when it came out in 1977, but thanks to the surprise success of his controversial hit “Short People,” it became his best-selling album. This song, its title taken from a Swedish mystery novel, got little notice then or since, probably because most people didn’t and don’t […]
Song of the Day 7/1: Johnny Cash, “God Bless Robert E. Lee”
Statues are coming down and names scrubbed from buildings as once-revered figures are recast as traitors and racists. The Lost Cause has no greater hero than Robert E. Lee, whose myth rested on the idea of him as a reluctant rebel who turned down command of the Union army out of patriotism towards his home […]
‘Bulo’s Fave Tunes: June 2020
This set sure runs the gamut. I done found you some real good stuff: Hey, this band is seriously cool. I want one more, meaning you’re gonna get one more: Phoebe Bridgers can do anything she wants to. My fave album of the year so far: Dylan And Whitman: 1967 called. They want their song […]
Song of the Day 6/30: David Bowie, “I’m Afraid of Americans”
The European Union has banned tourists from the United States because of our nation’s inability to get a handle on its COVID-19 pandemic, making fear of Americans an official policy. Frankly, given some citizens’ quick resort to firearms during any disagreement, I think fear of Americans is an entirely rational default setting, virus or no […]
Song of the Day 6/29: Randy Rainbow, “Cover Your Freakin’ Face”
Randy Rainbow dropped this timely public-service message this morning. It’s a simple message, but too many simpletons are resisting it.
Song of the Day 6/28: Neil Young, “White Line”
Neil Young’s deep vault of unreleased material is legendary, but one important tranche is unreleased no longer: This week Young finally released his 1975 LP “Homegrown” in its entirety. Several of its songs appeared on Young’s later releases — “White Line” surfaced in 1990 on the “Ragged Glory” album, “Love Is a Rose” on “Decade” […]
Song of the Day, 6/27: Spinal Tap, “Hell Hole”
With the European Union’s decision to ban American tourists, it’s pretty clear we’re living in a hellhole, so maybe we should adopt this as our new national anthem. Most people know this song only from the snippet that plays in the film; this is the ’80s-era MTV video, complete with every cheesy cliche the period […]
Song of the Day 6/26: Michael Stipe and Aaron Dessner, “No Time for Love”
I’m so old I can remember when record companies would have made a big deal about a collaboration between Michael Stipe, late of R.E.M., and Big Red Machine, itself a collaboration between Aaron Dessner of the National and Justin Vernon of Bon Iver. In these times of COVID, they do it differently. Stipe and Dessner, […]
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