Arts and Entertainment
‘Bulo’s Fave Tunes Of 2020: #’s 20-11
20. 19. 18. 17. Yves Tumor: Gospel For A New Century. Click ‘n watch. 16. 15. 14. 13. Sheer mastery. With a suitably goth video to match. 12. 11.
Song of the Day 12/28: Petula Clark, “Downtown”
Given that there’s no sign yet that Nashville suicide bomber Anthony Quinn Warner left a suicide note, let alone a manifesto, people grasping for his motive have seized on the fact that he chose* this 1964 Petula Clark smash to blast over a loudspeaker in his RV between warnings to evacuate the area. Is there […]
‘Bulo’s Fave Tunes Of 2020: #’s 30-21
30. There will always be a place for Japanese math rock here for as long as I do these lists: 29. 28. 27. 26. Tie: 24. Choosing between these two artists and these two songs is like choosing between my two daughters. Ain’t gonna happen. They have performed at the Arden Gild Hall, they […]
Song of the Day 12/27: Incubus, “Pardon Me”
This one’s for all the criminals, creeps and Republicans — but I repeat myself — who want a last-minute pardon from Donnie Two Scoops. This is the song that exposed Incubus to a wide audience. The version on the “Make Yourself” LP, released in 1999, is an alt-metal squall of sound that hammers home the […]
Song of the Day 12/26: The Pretenders, “2000 Miles”
No, I am not extending the Christmas music season with this tune because, contrary to popular belief and usage, it isn’t a Christmas song, or wasn’t intended as one. Pretenders leader Chrissie Hynde wrote it in 1983 during the recording of the band’s third LP, “Learning to Crawl,” their first after the deaths of bassist […]
Song of the Day 12/25: Philadelphia Orchestra, “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”
“The Glorious Sound of Christmas,” recorded in 1962 by the Philadelphia Orchestra under Eugene Normandy, remains the best-selling classical holiday album ever — it sold 1 million copies before Christmas 1963, and has continued to sell well in every recording medium since invented. Why? I think it’s because it’s the rare classical album that doesn’t […]
Song of the Day 12/24: Darlene Love, “Christmastime for the Jews”
Speaking of Jewish songwriters composing so many great Christmas songs, there’s one Christmas song that’s not only written by a Jew, Robert Smigel, the comic genius behind SNL’s “TV Funhouse” and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog — it was written specifically for the Jews. “You grow up Jewish and you can’t help it,” Smigel said. […]
Song of the Day 12/23: Paul Simon, “Getting Ready for Christmas Day”
Everyone knows why there have never been any good Hanukkah songs — the Jewish songwriters were too busy writing Christmas music. From Mendelssohn to Johnny Marks, Jewish composers and lyricists have produced an outsized portion of holiday perennials, so it’s kind of surprising that Paul Simon, who used Christian imagery frequently throughout his long career, […]
Song of the Day 12/22: George Winston, “The Holly and the Ivy”
The words to this old English carol date to at least the early 19th century, possibly the early 18th, and the concept it’s based on, using holly as a symbol of Jesus Christ, goes back to medieval times (the ivy, though given short shrift in the lyrics, represents Mary). Like most true folk songs, its […]
Song of the Day 12/21: Hall & Oates, “Jingle Bell Rock”
The first rock and roll Christmas song was not classified as a rock and roll song when it was released. Bobby Helms was a country singer who had a pair of No. 1 hits on the country charts before the song he’s remembered for was released in 1957. It was released just two days before […]
Song of the Day 12/20: David Qualey, “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring”
New Age guitarist David Qualey recorded a few LPs for Windham Hill, and his arrangement of this famous Bach piece was one of the label’s standout tracks. It featured not only on the compilation disc “A Winter Solstice III,” released in 1990, but was even pressed as a promotional single. Most people think of this […]
Song of the Day 12/19: Debbie and the Darnels, “Santa, Teach Me to Dance”
Every year musical artists record new Christmas songs to release into the world, hoping they’ve found the next chestnut that will make them as famous as Mariah Carey. It almost never happens, but people keep trying, because if “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” can become a holiday staple, anything is worth a shot. […]
Song of the Day 12/18: Alex Boyé, “Little Drummer Boy”
Originally titled “Carol of the Drum,” this Christmas standard was written in 1941 by an American composer, Katherine Kennicott Davis, who mostly wrote music for the choir at Wellesley College, where she was a student and later a teacher. It’s usually given a somewhat somber treatment, but not by English-born Nigerian Alex Boyé, a onetime […]
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