Arts and Entertainment
Song of the Day 5/10: Whitesnake, “Here I Go Again”
Tawny Kitaen, the model/actress who gained her greatest fame gyrating on the hood of a Jaguar in this Whitesnake video, died last week at age 59. Born Julie Kitaen, she began using “Tawny” by the time she was 12, and was a rock groupie at 14. She was living with Ratt guitarist Robbin Crosby while […]
Song of the Day 5/8: Ringo Starr, “It Don’t Come Easy”
When the Beatles broke up, everyone knew that John, Paul and George would pursue solo careers. But what about Ringo? The guy Robert Christgau called “our representative on the Beatles” usually got one vocal turn per album and had scant songwriting experience. So people were surprised when this 1971 stand-alone single climbed the American charts, […]
Song of the Day 5/6: Steely Dan, “Don’t Take Me Alive”
Trying to determine the top five rock guitarists is like trying to establish the top five colors. It can only be done subjectively, and it begs the question — what does “best” mean? Do you base it on soloing, or is versatility important? Is speed crucial, or does melodic sense outweigh it? It’s a problem […]
Song of the Day 5/4: Rock Hall of Fame 2004 induction concert feat. Prince, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”
Did anyone in rock history rise to the big occasion better than Prince? His Super Bowl halftime show in the Miami rain stands as the best has come close to matching his concert in the Miami rain, and his blistering guitar solo at his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame left a […]
Song of the Day 5/3: Curtis Mayfield, “Blue Monday People”
Curtis Mayfield’s 1975 LP “There’s No Place Like America Today” seems to get more attention for its pointed cover image (slightly altered from a 1937 Margaret Bourke-White photo) than its content, which a lot of critics think is uneven, and some thought even worse; Robert Christgau gave it a D+, calling it “noodling” and “incoherent.” […]
‘Bulo’s Fave Tunes: April, 2021
So many of you (well, my oldest daughter) have asked, ‘Where’s your Fave Tunes list for April’? It’s right here. It may still be a work-in-progress (logistical stuff), but it’s really good as it is. Enjoy! Simply gorgeous. A great kickoff to this month’s list: Pair the last one with this one, and you’ll be […]
Song of the Day 4/30: The Clash, “Rudie Can’t Fail”
They clearly weren’t singing about Giuliani, who doesn’t do much except fail. He did, however, use this tune as his intro song at campaign rallies when he ran for president in 2008. He failed at that, too. “London Calling” included a couple of Jamaican covers (“Revolution Rock,” “Wrong ‘Em Boyo”), but this one is a […]
Song of the Day 4/29: The Platters, “With This Ring”
Some days there’s no news peg for the song, and you just get whatever has become my latest earworm. In this case it’s this tune, now best known among Northern Soul aficionados after serving as a comeback song for The Platters in 1967. It reached No. 14 in Billboard, the group’s first Top 20 hit […]
Song of the Day 4/27: Alan Price, “O Lucky Man”
We have entered a world where British tabloids now print the truth in order to dispel internet rumors. Take the case just this week of British musician Alan Price — don’t say “Alan who?” I’ll tell you in a moment — whose death briefly became a swiftly-spreading rumor on social media across the pond. He […]
Song of the Day 4/26: The Kinks, “Celluloid Heroes”
I should have posted this yesterday in advance of the Academy Awards, though the Hollywood Ray Davies was singing about — most of the stars he names were dead or retired when the song came out on “Everybody’s in Show-Biz” in 1972 — bears scant resemblance to today’s film industry. I doubt one person in […]
Song of the Day 4/24: Digital Underground, “The Humpty Dance”
Old school rap lost an influential figure this week. Greg Jacobs, better known as Shock G, the rapper who fronted the Oakland rap collective Digital Underground, was found dead in his Tampa hotel room Thursday at age 57. Though he went by Shock G, he also took on various alter-egos, the most famous being Humpty […]
Song of the Day 4/23: Bay City Rollers, “Rock ‘n’ Roll Love Letter”
You know rock is over the hill when the lead singer of the first boy band dies at age 65. Les McKeown, the lead singer for the Bay City Rollers in their heyday, died suddenly on April 20, cause still unknown. He was with the band for only five years, from 1973-78, but that included […]
Song of the Day 4/22: Ennio Morricone, “For a Few Dollars More”
The proposal to increase Delaware’s minimum raise to $15 an hour over the next several years got a House committee hearing longer than a Sergio Leone spaghetti western yesterday. It could have used a theme song from Ennio Morricone, the Italian composer most famous for scoring Leone’s “Dollars” trilogy. Morricone’s scores were one reason those […]
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