Arts and Entertainment
Song of the Day 11/7: Lesley Gore, “It’s My Party”
The late, great Quincy Jones was arguably overqualified to produce this No. 1 hit for 16-year-old Lesley Gore in 1963. He had already led his own 18-piece jazz band on European tours and worked as a composer, arranger and band leader for people like Frank Sinatra and Count Basie. When he turned his attention to […]
Song of the Day 11/6: Frédéric Chopin, “Piano Sonata No 2 in B flat minor, Third Movement (Marche funèbre)”
Something that fits the mood of the day, because the middle section contains hope as well as grief. Chopin composed the funeral march two years before the rest of his sonata, which critics sniffed at but the public embraced. Its opening section has been played at millions of funerals, including Chopin’s own in 1849.
Song of the Day 11/5: Counting Crows, “Omaha”
The odds are against it, but thanks to the quirks of the Electoral College, if all the toss-up states break just the right way, the presidential race could come down to Nebraska’s 2nd District – Omaha and its suburbs. Adam Duritz thought it represented middle America on “August and Everything After,” the band’s 7-million-selling debut […]
Song of the Day 11/4: Huffamoose, “Wait”
WXPN’s David Dye is so impatient for the election to be over he devoted an entire show yesterday to songs about waiting. I had completely forgotten about this one, which reached No. 34 on the Modern Rock chart in 1998. Huffamoose, formed by a quartet of Temple University students in the early ’90s, looked like […]
Different Strokes for Different Folks
Two Monica Beard mailers landed in my mailbox yesterday. At first glance they seemed like duplicates, because both showed her against a pink background on the front, with a list of polling places on the back. But they weren’t the same. The one addressed to the Democrat showed thumbnail headshots of all the Democratic candidates […]
Song of the Day 11/1: The Temptations, “Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World Is Today)”
Another song that sadly hasn’t lost any relevance over the past 54 years. In early 1970 Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong took a hard look at the wreckage of the ’60s and proclaimed it an unholy mess that was flashing by while the band played on. When Motown’s Wrecking Crew recorded it they kept playing […]
‘Bulo’s Fave Tunes: October 2024
A surprisingly superb selection this month. ‘Surprising’ in that I have a rule. It’s a stupid rule, but a rule nonetheless: If a song comes out, but is on an album that will not be released until the following year, I don’t include it. I will say that January and February of 2025 sound real […]
Song of the Day 10/31: Camille Saint-Saëns, “La Danse Macabre”
Camille Saint-Saëns was one of the most famous and prolific composers of his day, and his serious works are part of the classical canon, but he’s best known to the general public for this short tone poem. He composed the theme in 1872 as a piano piece to accompany a poem called “Égalité, Fraternité” by […]
Song of the Day 10/30: Garbage, “The Men Who Rule the World”
Joe Biden is getting grief for calling MAGAts “garbage,” which I maintain was just him being polite. Garbage got its name when a friend used the term to describe the music they were playing, an amalgam of every genre extent when it was formed in the early ’70s. They’ve remained popular whenever they’ve reformed over […]
Song of the Day 10/29: Fleetwood Mac, “Gypsy”
Stevie Nicks is everywhere the past few weeks, appearing on Saturday Night Live, releasing a new song about women’s rights and, most recently, appearing on a CBS Sunday show to talk about the abortion she underwent at the height of the band’s fame. In 1979, around the time of “Rumours,” she was impregnated by Don […]
Song of the Day 10/28: The Grateful Dead, “Box of Rain”
Phil Lesh, the Grateful Dead bassist who died last week at age 84, had never played the bass when Jerry Garcia asked him to join the band. But he had studied trumpet, violin, modern classical composition and free jazz, and brought an improvisational spirit to the Dead that made them the model for all the […]
Song of the Day 10/25: Jay & the Techniques, “Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie”
Peach season is long gone, but fall is prime time for apples and pumpkin pie. Though it wasn’t the only chart appearance for Allentown, Pa.’s, Jay Proctor and the Techniques, this No. 6 single from 1967 was their biggest hit; one food-themed follow-up, “Strawberry Shortcake,” stalled at No. 39. The backup singers were Nick Ashford […]
Song of the Day 10/24: Blind Melon, “No Rain”
Move over, Dry January. Philadelphia and the surrounding region are experiencing a dry October – there has been no measurable rainfall this month, and there isn’t expected to be any through Election Day. Blind Melon was a one-hit wonder in large part because their lead singer, Shannon Hoon, died of a drug overdose in 1995. […]
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