Arts and Entertainment
Song of the Day 7/6: Frank Sinatra, “Summer Wind”
Though it’s not as well known as “My Way” or “New York, New York,” most people associate this song with Sinatra. Someone who loved and lost like Frank has a perfect feel for Johnny Mercer’s rueful lyrics, and his vocals, like Nelson Riddle’s arrangement, start quietly and builds to a crescendo. But those lyrics aren’t […]
Song of the Day 7/5: Barnstorm, “Turn to Stone”
Even Joe Walsh fans tend to forget that after he left the James Gang and before he joined the Eagles, Walsh moved from Cleveland to Colorado, where he formed a trio he called Barnstorm. Though intended as a group, the records were marketed as solo records, and drummer Joe Vitale and bassist Kenny Passarelli became […]
Song of the Day 7/4: Bruce Springsteen, “Born in the USA”
This song has a complicated history because of its use as a rollerball in the culture wars, but it’s interesting that the version that became a hit was never planned or intended. The song started as the title of a screenplay that director Paul Schrader sent to Springsteen when he was toying with the idea […]
Song of the Day 7/3: Ray Charles, “America the Beautiful”
This should be the national anthem, and I don’t mean just the song itself but this rendition of it. Accept no substitutes. It is no accident that Charles starts with what was intended as the song’s third verse, about war heroes. Many people think that’s a tribute to all war heroes, but “mercy more than […]
Song of the Day 6/30: Elton John and Taron Egerton, “Your Song”
“Rocketman,” the Elton John biopic/fantasy/jukebox musical, has generated only about one-tenth the box office, and even less of the buzz, of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” but it has exceeded analyst expectations and is already in the black. One of the selling points in the film’s marketing was that star Taron Egerton sang all his own vocals; here […]
Song of the Day 6/29: CeeLo Green and Daryl Hall, “Fuck You”
I think of this song every time Donald Trump opens his mouth. It’s been nine years since CeeLo Green (born Thomas DeCarlo Callaway), along with collaborators including Bruno Mars, wrote the ultimate male-centric breakup song. (Note to Mike Dinsmore: This is the song that led to my realization that women tend to sing heartbreak songs […]
‘Bulo’s Fave Tunes: June 2019
Another monster month, aided and abetted by some songs I’d missed that made NPR’s best songs list for the first half of 2019. I’m cheating on this one, but it’s a classic from the new 25th anniversary re-release of perhaps my all-time fave roots/Americana album: BTW: Here’s a review of the re-release of ‘King Of […]
Song of the Day 6/27: Jakob Dylan and Jade Castrinos, “Go Where You Wanna Go”
In case you hadn’t noticed, Laurel Canyon is having a moment, and it’s not just the new Springsteen album. Jakob Dylan has put together a documentary called “Echo in the Canyon” about the music scene in that part of Los Angeles in the late ’60s. The film has gotten mixed reviews — one big criticism […]
Song of the Day 6/26: John Prine, “Lake Marie”
This isn’t John Prine’s most famous song, but it’s the one that many of his fans — including Bob Dylan — consider his greatest. Unlike most of his story songs, this one has an inscrutable plot — each of the three verses seems unrelated to the others. The first is about how the Twin Lakes, […]
Song of the Day 6/25: George Harrison, “Wah Wah”
Here’s another song that, for reasons I can’t fathom, has never been employed for its obvious calling as a TV commercial. It’s Hoagiefest time at the region’s favorite convenience store, and though the chain has in the past used Beatles-esque music and Peter Max-style visuals, it has never made the no-brainer decision to use the […]
Song of the Day 6/24: Blue Swede, “Hooked on a Feeling”
“Hooked on a Feeling” had been a hit twice and been recorded by several artists before it hit No. 1 in America in 1974 with this version by a group of Swedes, who reached the top by doing a cover of a cover. The song was written by Mark James, best known for writing “Suspicious […]
Song of the Day 6/22: Death Cab for Cutie, “Cath…”
Huzzah! Tonight’s Firefly lineup actually includes a band whose name I recognize. After a string of successful albums in the ’00s, Death Cab seemed to peak in 2008 with its “Narrow Stairs” album, which included this melancholy retelling of “Wuthering Heights.” Songwriter Ben Gibbard, who started the band as a solo project, is known for […]
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