Arts and Entertainment
Song of the Day 12/27: Tom Petty, “The Waiting”
This one’s for Donald, who is finding that waiting is indeed the hardest part. The lead single from 1981’s “Hard Promises” reached No. 19 on the Hot 100 but No. 1 on the then-new Mainstream Rock chart. Lead guitarist Mike Campbell is the MVP on this track.
‘Bulo’s Fave Tunes OF THE DECADE: #’s 80-61!
There are two songs on the list that may, or may not, have made it were it not for the videos. This is one of them: 80. (2016) 79. (2018) 78. (2015) 77. (2011) 76. (2018) Maybe the only (still a) teen on my list. I almost had two songs from her on the list. […]
Bulo’s Fave Tunes OF THE DECADE 100-81!
Man, what a challenge it was to put this list together. It took me months. I’ll definitely be doing this in Spotify format a little later. I had lots of input from my family, and their influence is shot through the list–at least where I agreed with them. 2010 to 2019 is a lot of […]
Song of the Day 12/25: Greg Lake w/ Ian Anderson, “I Believe in Father Christmas”
In the UK, where singles are still a thing, bands frequently write and record Christmas songs in the hopes of scoring a seasonal hit. Greg Lake released this one in 1975, and it’s become one of the more popular holiday tunes of the rock era. Lake intended it as a song against the commercialization of […]
Song of the Day 12/24: Henry Rollins and Stephen Colbert, “Carol of the Bells”
There’s a reason this sounds nothing like a Christmas carol — it wasn’t written as one. In 1914 Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych was commissioned to create a song for choir based on traditional Ukrainian folk chants. He wrote “Shchedryk”, intended to be sung a cappella by mixed four-voice choir, based on four notes he found […]
Song of the Day 12/23: The Philadelphia Orchestra, “O Come, O Come Emmanuel”
In 1962 the Philadelphia Orchestra under Eugene Ormandy recorded “The Glorious Sound of Christmas,” setting a standard for orchestral Christmas music that has never been exceeded — the LP went gold by the following Christmas, making it one of the fastest-selling classical records in history, and has never been out of print. The lush strings […]
‘Bulo’s Fave Tunes Of 2019: The Top Ten!!
But first, a recap of all the musical goodness that has come before: ‘Bulo’s Fave Tunes Of 2019: #’s 50-31 ‘Bulo’s Fave Tunes Of 2019: #’s 30-21 ‘Bulo’s Fave Tunes Of 2019: #’s 20-11 Here we go, ready or not: 10. The Suitcase Junket is the most amazing one-man-band of the decade. He writes great […]
Song of the Day 12/22: Sufjan Stevens, “Only at Christmastime”
Nobody, not even the prolific Johnny Marx, has written more Christmas songs than multi-instrumentalist Sufjan Stevens, who has released two Christmas albums, each consisting of more than 50 tunes on five EP-length discs. It’s not all new material — a lot of covers of traditional carols are mixed in with Stevens’ originals. The first, “Songs […]
Song of the Day 12/21: The Drifters, “White Christmas”
Did you know that there was one version of this song — out of the more than 500 that have been recorded — that angered composer Irving Berlin so much he waged a campaign to get it banned from radio stations? No, it wasn’t this one, which was a hit for the original Drifters in […]
Song of the Day 12/20: The Piano Guys, “I Saw Three Ships”
The era of audio-only music might have ended with MTV, but we’re now into an age in which viral video is the best way to break into the music business. The Piano Guys — four middle-aged dudes who stumbled into YouTube stardom by making videos to advertise a music store — are a perfect example. […]
Song of the Day 12/19: The Kinks, “Father Christmas”
The best punk Christmas song, period. There are other punk-style efforts, but they just sound like punk songs with a few words about the holiday. Ray Davies, as usual, had more in mind, so you get punk energy, a singable melody and sympathy for the poor kids reduced to mugging a department-store Santa in this […]
‘Bulo’s Fave Tunes Of 2019: #’s 20-11
At this point, I think more about the order of the songs. We’re in for some real treats today: 20. 19. Belongs here for the weirdness factor alone: 18. 17. 16. 15. 14. The saddest song of the year. David Berman (of Silver Jews fame) released this album, and committed suicide soon thereafter. The […]
Song of the Day 12/18: Jethro Tull, “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”
Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson has written several Christmas songs, and he’s also given many traditional carols new, jazzy arrangements that show off the band’s chops. This is one he played in concert for many years before recording it in 2003 for Tull’s “A Christmas Album.” That album, the last studio effort from the band, featured […]
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