Arts and Entertainment
Song of the Day 12/8: Imogen Heap, “Hide and Seek”
WXPN’s countdown of the 885 Greatest Songs By Women – yes, it’s grandiose, but they had to call it something – has passed the halfway mark, and my strategy of picking cuts I thought might otherwise be ignored isn’t looking too successful. So far only two of my 10 selections, “Birthday” by the Bjork-led Sugarcubes […]
Song of the Day 12/7: Denny Laine’s Electric String Band, “Why Did You Come”
Denny Laine, who died Tuesday at 79, might have been who Andy Warhol had in mind when he said everyone would get 15 minutes of fame. For about that long in 1964 it looked like the guy born Brian Hines would be a big rock ‘n’ roll star. The band he fronted, the Moody Blues, […]
Song of the Day 12/5: Nine Inch Nails, “The Beginning of the End”
Could this be a message for Valerie Longhurst? You decide. It comes from Trent Reznor’s 2007 LP “Year Zero,” a concept album about an American dystopia. Reznor set his tale of a United States beset by terrorists and ruled by a Christofascist regime in 2022, 15 years in the future, because that was the year […]
Song of the Day 12/4: Jim Bryant, “Something’s Coming”
El Somnambulo insisted I feature this tune today. I have no idea why, but when a man in a luchador mask tells you to do something, you do it. Though Richard Beymer portrayed Tony in the film, his singing was dubbed by Jim Bryant. The music is by Leonard Bernstein, lately portrayed by Bradley Cooper […]
Song of the Day 12/3: Ratboys, “The Window”
El Som included a tune from Chicago band Ratboys in his monthly favorite new tunes post back when their fifth studio LP, “The Window,” came out in August. The album, produced by former Death Cab for Cutie guitarist Chris Walla, got good reviews from the music press, and almost all of them cite the soaring […]
Song of the Day 12/2: The Pogues, “Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah”
It’s been a tough year for Ireland’s musicians. Sinead O’Connor died in July, and this week Shane MacGowan, frontman for the Pogues, died a week after being discharged from a hospital. He was 65 and, given his problems with alcohol and heroin, many people were surprised he lived that long. MacGowan is often called a […]
‘Bulo’s Fave Tunes: November 2023
A shorter list this month. Always happens in November as some of the best tunes I heard will not be released until 2024. February, in particular, looks real promising. Shorter, though, doesn’t mean less quality. In fact, I’ll let you be the judge: This video’s amazing. All done in one take. My kind of music, […]
Song of the Day 11/30: Billy Joel, “Only the Good Die Young”
Henry Kissinger was already 54 years old when Billy Joel, a scamp half his age at the time, released this banger in 1977. The third single from “The Stranger,” his best-selling album, it only reached No. 24 on the Hot 100 but has lived on via classic rock radio. He introduces this live performance on […]
Song of the Day 11/29: André 3000, “I Swear, I Really Wanted to Make a ‘Rap’ Album but This Is Literally the Way the Wind Blew Me This Time”
The music world is still trying to figure out what to make of the new album from André 3000, best known as half of the hip-hop duo Outkast. Though he’s chipped in guest vocals for lots of other artists in the 17 years since the last Outkast LP, André, unlike his former partner Big Boi, […]
Song of the Day 11/28: Spinal Tap, “Warmer Than Hell”
Director Rob Reiner – or was it Marty DiBergi? – confirmed yesterday that filming on a sequel to “This Is Spinal Tap” will begin in February. The new movie reportedly will be patterned on the Band’s farewell concert film “The Last Waltz” and will feature guest spots by Paul McCartney, Elton John and Garth Brooks […]
Song of the Day 11/25: 39 Steps, “Slip Into the Crowd”
Somebody put Woody Allen’s “Hannah and Her Sisters” on the TV on Thanksgiving – the multi-year plot contains two big Thanksgiving scenes – and I got to hear the song that gave an obscure band its 15 minutes of fame. There’s a scene about halfway through the movie when the characters played by Woody Allen […]
Song of the Day 11/24: Graham Parker and the Rumour, “Lady Doctor”
I’ll take any excuse for playing Graham Parker’s blue-eyed soul, so here’s one for Dr. Bethany Hall Long. From his 1976 debut album, “Howlin’ Wind.” Parker released a new album in September with his new backing band, the Goldtops. He still has a feel for the soulful tune.
Song of the Day 11/23: Mary Gauthier, “Thanksgiving”
Just in case you’re not feeling all that thankful today, Mary Gauthier’s song about visiting prison on the holiday will remind you that some people have it much worse. Unlike a lot of songs like this, she doesn’t lay on the schmaltz, and the sentiment she shares was hard-won – she spent her 18th birthday […]
Recent Comments