Arts and Entertainment
‘Bulo’s Fave Tunes: September 2020
Month finished up strong. Turned into a great musical month. The rare A to Z month. Something for everybody, as usual: Woo-hoo! I beat Alby to this one. Sure it’s from about 27 years ago. However, I had never heard it before. Just released in a boxed collection. To me, it’s one of the best […]
Song of the Day 9/29: The Lemonheads, “It’s a Shame About Ray”
Somebody in the comments used this line the other day in reference to one-term state Rep. Ray Seigfried, who lost his primary earlier this month. It applies whether you’re pro- or anti-Seigfried — it’s either a shame he lost, or it’s a shame he was so graceless in defeat. The Lemonheads are one of the […]
Song of the Day 9/28: Sinéad O’Connor, “The Emperor’s New Clothes”
When Sinéad O’Connor ripped up a photograph of Pope John Paul II at the end of a Saturday Night Live performance in 1992, she was trying to make the world aware of the moral rot at the heart of the Roman Catholic Church. She failed, and in the process destroyed what, until that moment, was […]
Song of the Day 9/27: Kurt Vile and John Prine, “How Lucky”
Philly native Kurt Vile has a new EP out, highlighted by this duet with one of his musical heroes, John Prine. They recorded it last year when Vile was in a Nashville studio. In a statement released with the song, Vile said, “The truth is John was my hero for a long time when he […]
Song of the Day 9/25: Patti Smith, “People Have the Power”
I’m looking to dispel the air of doomed gloom that pervades progressive spaces these days, so here’s an anthem by Patti Smith and Fred “Sonic” Smith from her 1988 LP “Dream of Life.” The tune has special resonance today, because U2 covered it on their 2015-16 tour — and at their Paris concert, they invited […]
Song of the Day 9/24: The Clash, “The Guns of Brixton”
Set aside all your anxiety about Trump’s assault on American democracy. If you think we’re headed for civil war and a breakdown of social order, the question becomes as simple as the one Paul Simonon asks here: When they kick at your front door, how you gonna come? Though on one level it’s a song […]
Song of the Day 9/23: Robert Hazard, “Change Reaction”
Forty years ago, Robert Hazard was the biggest thing on Philadelphia’s music scene. Hazard, born Robert Rimato to an operatic tenor who lived in Delaware County, played folk, country and even reggae before turning to electro-pop New Wave music in the late ’70s and assembling a backing band, the Heroes, who adopted the matching-suit-skinny-tie style […]
Song of the Day 9/22: Bruce Springsteen, “If I Was the Priest”
I mentioned the other day that Bruce Springsteen’s upcoming album will feature new recordings of three songs from his earliest back catalog that have never seen official release. This is, to a large extent, a case of scraping the barrel bottom. “If I Was the Priest,” “Song for Orphans” and “Janey Needs a Shooter” all […]
Song of the Day 9/21: Bob Mould, “Siberian Butterfly”
Bob Mould released this a couple of week ago to preview his new album, “Blue Hearts,” due out Friday. It’s a throwback to his Hüsker Dü days — fast, loud and short. Bob’s look has changed, of course, but he’s the rare aging rocker who hasn’t mellowed.
Song of the Day 9/20: Bruce Springsteen, “Letter to You”
Bruce Springsteen dropped a new single Sept. 10, the title track to an upcoming album with the E Street Band recorded live in Springsteen’s home studio, no overdubs, in just five days last December. When I heard it the day it was released I was underwhelmed. It’s mid-tempo, soft-rocking and musically basic, nothing rousing or […]
Song of the Day 9/19: AI/DC, “Great Balls”
This is a few months old but I just found it the other day, and I still crack up when I listen to it. Back in May some YouTuber who goes by Funk Turkey fed all AC/DC’s lyrics into a computer program that spit out a “new” AC/DC song that, despite having total nonsense for […]
Song of the Day 9/18: Twisted Sister, “We’re Not Gonna Take It”
Let’s say you have two aging rock stars, one a legendary Irish R&B singer, the other a Long Island hair-metal has-been. If I told you one was a virulent anti-masker, which would you think was more likely to be the selfish asshole? If you picked Dee Snider of Twister Sister, sorry, we don’t even have […]
Song of the Day 9/17: Carroll O’Connor and Jean Stapleton, “Those Were the Days”
So I’m in the shower the other day and suddenly the theme song to “All in the Family” pops into my head, and it occurs to me that all the complaints Archie Bunker listed — welfare recipients, gender fluidity, crappy modern music — are pretty much the same complaints conservatives are whinging about today. They’re […]
Recent Comments