Arts and Entertainment
Song of the Day 2/29: David Seville, “Witch Doctor”
In a DL exclusive, sources tell us this guy was in serious consideration to be appointed Coronavirus Czar in the Trump White House, but aides couldn’t convince the president that the “witch doctor” and David Seville were the same person. They also had difficulty getting Trump to accept that “oo ee oo ah ah” had […]
Song of the Day 2/28: Steely Dan, “Black Friday”
The coronavirus has infected one prominent American, a certain Mr. Wallingford “Wall” Street of New York City. His case has been marked by large, red, inky blotches and panic attacks. The Trump administration is doing everything it knows how to do for Mr. Street, including prayers and expressions of concern, but he showed no sign […]
Song of the Day 2/27: Little Willie John, “Fever”
This winter was the last time we’ll ever live through cold and flu season — from now on, it will be known as cold, flu and coronavirus season, because if the only thing standing between Earth and a pandemic is the Trump administration, dude, we’re getting a pandemic. Eventually we’ll all have the fever. Of […]
Song of the Day 2/26: The Lovin’ Spoonful, “Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?”
Well, you have to make up your mind now. Are you going to get on board with Bernie, or are you going to play the punditry game and wring your hands over socialism? This was one of several hits the Lovin’ Spoonful had during their heyday from 1965 to 1967, reaching No. 2 in 1966. […]
Song of the Day 2/25: Red Hot Chili Peppers, “Give It Away”
Theme song for the Delaware Cash Handout Council, or whatever they’re now calling the governmental agency that gives away your tax dollars to undeserving corporations. This was RHCP’s first No. 1 hit and won the Grammy for Best Hard Rock with vocal. The video also won awards from MTV. And if you want to feel […]
Song of the Day 2/24: The Replacements, “Unsatisfied”
This should be the theme song for the Democratic electorate, or at least the MSNBC portion of it. Paul Westerberg’s masterpiece from the 1984 “Let It Be” album is delivered with an intensity that sounds like anguish, though he attributed his shredded vocal years later to “the drugs wearing off.” The band played the song […]
Song of the Day 2/22: Bay City Rollers, “Saturday Night”
This pop earworm hit No. 1 in America late in 1975, earning the band, which marketed the Edinburgh quintet as tartan-clad teen idols despite the band having been around for a decade by then. Even if you hated the tune, written by the veteran British songwriting team of Bill Martin and Phil Coulter, the hooks […]
Song of the Day 2/21: Steely Dan, “Kings”
Was this tune from Steely Dan’s debut LP, “Can’t Buy a Thrill,” about Richard the Lionhearted or Richard Nixon? The album cover claimed the song contained “no political significance.” The record came out just months before Nixon’s 49-state wipeout of George McGovern, and Donald Fagen and Walter Becker are the most unreliable of unreliable narrators, […]
Song of the Day 2/20: The Hooters, “Fightin’ on the Same Side”
No, I didn’t watch the “debate.” Open up your eyes, folks — we’re fighting on the same side. In their early days gigging around Philadelphia, years before they signed a major-label record deal, the Hooters played a ska-influenced blend of pop and rock, sounding a bit like the Police. Their catchiest tune was this one, […]
Song of the Day 2/19: Bad Company, “Bad Company”
Yesterday Trump pardoned every white-collar criminal he’s seen on TV, from Michael Milken and Eddie DeBartolo to Rod Blagojevich and Bernard Kerik and, I’m pretty sure, Doctor Loveless from “The Wild, Wild West.” All that’s left is for this rogue’s gallery to go into business together as private detectives on a reality TV show with […]
Song of the Day 2/18: Chicago, “25 or 6 to 4”
In the late ’60s and into the ’70s, Mt. Pleasant High School would annually book a national-level band for a concert. Fifty years ago tonight the school played host to Chicago, back when the group was still a rock band with horns. The band’s second album, the first to use its truncated name (the real […]
Song of the Day 2/17: The Presidents of the United States of America, “Volcano”
Hey, it’s Presidents Day, so who better to play at the party? PUSA, like virtually all ’90s alt-rock bands, made a splash with its debut in 1995, then quickly faded from view. The songs on their second album, released the next year, were more structured than their earlier shambolic singles (“Peaches,” “Lump”), and by the […]
Song of the Day 2/16: Strawbs, “Benedictus”
The lyrics make this sound like a religious song, and in a way it is, but it didn’t spring from any Christian tradition. Strawbs got together in England in 1964 as the Strawberry Hill Boys, playing bluegrass music. The group’s music and personnel evolved over the years, with singer/guitarist Dave Cousins the constant presence, and […]
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