Arts and Entertainment
Where Are All Of Trump’s Faves?
Guest Post By Minister Of Culture Gary Mullinax: Where’s Kid Rock? Or Lee Greenwood. Or Toby Keith. Maybe they’re hanging out at the YMCA with the Village People. One thing’s for sure. These Trump favorites aren’t on the newly announced list of 25 songs added to the National Recording Registry. Must be a liberal highbrow […]
Song of the Day 4/9: Duran Duran, “Hungry Like the Wolf”
Government-funded science research might be a thing of the past, but private enterprise is there to pick up the slack. Why just this week, the sciencey entrepreneurs at something called Colossal Biosciences announced they have de-extincted a species, namely the dire wolf, which most people never heard of until they appeared as scary monsters in […]
Song of the Day 4/8: Willie Nelson, “Whiskey River”
As nations around the world play tit-for-tat with Trump’s tariffs, one American export seemed to bear the brunt of international ire: Bourbon. Kentucky whiskey was removed from shelves to great fanfare, and governments threatened retaliatory tariffs. Things looked dire for the distilling industry. It turns out “he’s crazy enough to do it” is a viable […]
Song of the Day 4/7: Ohio Players, “Love Rollercoaster”
I was all set to go with “Free Fallin’,” but the stock markets fluctuated wildly this morning, so the Ohio Players it is. “Love Rollercoaster” became their second No. 1 hit in January 1976. An urban myth arose about the song. At the 2:32 mark you can hear a high-pitched scream, supposedly the sound of […]
Song of the Day 4/6: Steely Dan, “Home at Last”
This song from the 1979 album “Aja” is unique in Steely Dan’s catalog: It’s the only one with solos by both Donald Fagen, on synthesizer, and Walter Becker on guitar. So it might be the only time they trusted themselves and each other simultaneously. Lyrically about an interstate Ulysses, “Home at Last” is revered by […]
Song of the Day 4/4: Randy Newman, “A Few Words in Defense of Our Country”
Randy Newman wrote an advance obit for the USA a while back that seems as if it were written to run today (h/t Lawyers, Guns & Money). It first appeared as an op-ed in the New York Times in January 2007, in response to President George W. Bush’s State of the Union address. It was […]
Song of the Day 4/3: R.E.M., “Man on the Moon”
Guest post by Nathan Arizona In a post-Andy Kaufman world, it was perfectly natural for R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe to question the moon landing in “Man on the Moon.” The song is (sort of) about Kaufman, whose comedy was all about confusion between reality and fiction. You could see how that worked in the 1999 movie […]
Song of the Day 4/2: Killing Joke, “Pandemonium”
I’ll be traveling today, so I’ll be spared whatever freakout ensues from whatever bilious bullshit Trump spews. I am, however, assuming pandemonium as the baseline outcome. Killing Joke’s 40-year career has been better appreciated in Great Britain, where all but one of their 14 LPs reached the charts, than in America, where only one eked […]
Song of the Day 4/1: The Rolling Stones, “Fool to Cry”
Stock markets have been wobbly in anticipation of tomorrow’s Trump dumbfuckery. Crying or not, there are enough fools running American industry to cover not just today but every day of the year. “Fool to Cry” was the only single the Stones released from their 1976 “Black and Blue” album, which they made after Mick Taylor […]
‘Bulo’s Fave Tunes: March 2025
While I always appreciate Nathan Arizona’s feedback, I’d like to hear from the rest of you. I know many of you listen each month, so whaddaya like? Or can’t stand? Ow-w-w-w!! Were I still booking shows at the Gild Hall, I’d be booking this guy: It may not be Favourite, but then, what is?: The […]
Song of the Day 3/31: Bruce Cockburn, “If I Had a Rocket Launcher”
Haven’t we all thought this in the past few months? Canadian singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn was a folkie who had written just a few political songs before he joined a 1983 trip, sponsored by the international relief organization Oxfam, to Guatemalan refugee camps in Mexico. He wrote of the experience, The refugees were the survivors of […]
Song of the Day 3/30: The Damned, “Smash It Up”
I don’t know whether to dedicate this one to Elon Musk or the protesters who are taking out their fury on his Tesla dealerships. It’s the signature song by the Damned, the most melodic and musically accomplished of the first wave of British punk bands. It was listed as “Smash It Up (Part II)” on […]
Song of the Day 3/29: Cheap Trick, “Surrender”
Major law firms are knuckling under to Trump, but Delaware lawmakers one-upped them: They surrendered to Elon Musk himself. Unfortunately, they fucked up by not following Cheap Trick songwriter Rick Neilson’s advice – when they surrendered they gave themselves away. “Surrender,” the first single from Cheap Trick’s 1978 LP “Heaven Tonight,” was the band’s first […]
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