Arts and Entertainment
Song of the Day 3/17: Dropkick Murphys, “The Wild Rover”
If you’re reading this before your first green-dyed beer of the day, you probably know this tune, or at least its “no, nay, never” refrain, by heart. It’s among the most widely known and performed Irish folk songs, even though it’s not originally Irish. The lyrics have been traced to a 17th-century broadside from England, […]
Song of the Day 3/16: Yusuf Islam, “Don’t Let Me Be Understood”
When Cat Stevens converted to Islam in 1977, he changed his name and dropped out of the music industry for almost 30 years. He made headlines in 1989 when he was quoted supporting the fatwa against Salman Rushdie, and his music was promptly dropped by most U.S. radio stations. When he finally recorded another pop […]
Song of the Day 3/15: The Who, “Pictures of Lily”
I’ve been talking a lot about power pop recently, mainly because it seems Jason330 is a fan of the genre even if he didn’t realize what it was called. So let’s look into the history of the only genre of rock and roll that shunned being cool in favor of commercial appeal, only to be […]
Song of the Day 3/12: Sugar Stems, “We Only Come Out at Night”
I’m invoking our new Earworm Warning for this one, which I first heard when it was released in 2014 and not much since. Yet it popped into my head unbidden a few days ago and it’s still there. So consider yourself warned. Sugar Stems formed in Milwaukee in 2007 and released two albums before “Only […]
Song of the Day 3/11: AC/DC, “Hard as a Rock”
Can someone please explain why Viagra hasn’t used this as their theme song? The Young brothers didn’t even bother to disguise it a double entendre — it’s crystal clear what Brian Johnson is singing about. In case there was any doubt, the B-side to the single was “Caught With Your Pants Down.” “Hard as a […]
Song of the Day 3/10: The Outsiders, “Time Won’t Let Me”
The American answer to the British Invasion was in full swing by 1965, when a Cleveland R & B outfit called the Starfires got signed to Capitol Records and changed its name. Their first single as the Outsiders hit No. 5 in spring 1966, its punchy horns and driving beat making it an instant white […]
Song of the Day 3/9: Lloyd Williams, “Shama Lama Ding Dong”
Anybody who’s seen “Animal House” remembers the scene at the Dexter Lake Club — “Otis! My man!” — and the song Otis Day and the Knights launch into as it begins. “Shama Lama Ding Dong” fits right in with the movie’s soundtrack of late ’50s-early ’60s R&B, a doo-wop flavored number full of scat syllables […]
Song of the Day 3/8: Paul McCartney, “Let Me Roll It”
“Band on the Run” is a contender for best post-Beatles album by any of the Fab Four. It’s full of solid songs beyond the monster hits, especially this grinding number that sounds just like a John Lennon song to everybody on Earth but McCartney. The draggy tempo, the tape-echo vocals, the short, biting guitar licks […]
Song of the Day 3/7: The Beths, “Future Me Hates Me”
They’re from New Zealand, they’re a bunch of kids who know each other from high school, they’re making a splash stateside (they played Philly last week) and the title track from their new album is the most kick-ass power pop song of the year so far. That’s all I know, and all ye need to […]
Wanna See The Best Blues Harp Player In The World?
You’re in luck. I’ve booked him for a show at the Arden Gild Hall on Saturday, April 13, 2019 at 8 p.m. Jason Ricci is the reigning, and 2-time, Blues Music Award Winner for Best Harmonica. He is also one of very few openly-gay blues musicians, and he doesn’t hesitate to flaunt it. He also […]
Song of the Day 3/5: Brewer & Shipley, “One Toke Over the Line” b/w “Oh Mommy (I Ain’t No Commie)”
This 1971 stoner classic is the answer to the trivia question, “What’s the only song covered by both the Grateful Dead and Lawrence Welk?” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVxA1MkEkyo Folk duo Mike Brewer and Tom Shipley, both originally from the Midwest, hooked up in LA in the late ’60s but moved back to Missouri to eke out a living […]
Song of the Day 3/4: Bob Rivers, “An Ignorant Man”
When Donald Trump proclaimed Sunday via Twitter, “I am an innocent man,” was I the only one whose mental jukebox immediately jumped to Billy Joel singing that line? But I think Trump got it wrong. He’s not an innocent man. He is, as in Bob Rivers’ parody of Joel’s hit, an ignorant man. Rivers was […]
Song of the Day 3/3: Bruce Springsteen, “My City of Ruins”
Springsteen sang this at the 9/11 memorial concert, and its gospel inflections and its message of hope amid the wreckage fit the moment so well that most people thought it was written for the occasion. It was actually written for, and debuted, the previous December at a charity concert for Asbury Park. His performance, backed […]
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