Arts and Entertainment
Song of the Day 11/13: The Hooters, “All You Zombies”
As yesterday’s Graham Parker song illustrated, something about minor chords and a reggae beat seemed to put ’70s and ’80s rockers in an apocalyptic mood. When Eric Bazilian and Rob Hyman started fooling around with these chords in rehearsal, what turned into their signature song was the result. According to Rob Hyman, “We just started […]
Song of the Day 11/12: Graham Parker & the Rumour, “Don’t Ask Me Questions”
There ain’t no answers in me. This was one of Graham Parker’s signature tunes when he burst onto the British music scene in the brief period in 1976 between the decline of pub rock and the rise of punk with his debut album, “Howlin’ Wind.” Most of the songs combined the horn-enhanced R&B of Van […]
Song of the Day 11/11: Squeeze, “Gone to the Dogs”
The idiom is so old its origins are uncertain, but for centuries now going to the dogs has meant going downhill, if not to outright ruin. Now it’s America’s turn. This song appeared on Squeeze’s “Play” album, but it was written as the possible theme song for a British sitcom set in the world of […]
Song of the Day 10/10: FEX, “Subways of Your Mind”
Back in March, Song of the Day featured a tune dubbed the Most Mysterious Song on the Internet. Known only from a tape made from a radio broadcast back in 1984, both its title and the band who recorded it were lost, even to internet sleuths, who spent 17 years looking for the answers. Last […]
Song of the Day 11/8: Quincy Jones, “Soul Bossa Nova”
Quincy Jones scored almost three dozen films, including “In the Heat of the Night,” “The Italian Job” and “The Color Purple.” The first of them came years after he wrote this number, but Mike Meyers turned it into a movie theme anyway. Austin Powers wasn’t even a gleam in a satirist’s eye in 1962 – […]
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 […]
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