Arts and Entertainment
Song of the Day 10/26: The Rolling Stones, “Start Me Up”
I don’t want to make a big thing of it, but Joe Biden is the same age as Keith Richards, and nobody is telling the venerable guitarist to hang it up. The indestructible Stone might look like the picture of Dorian Gray, but he stopped by the Jimmy Fallon show the other night after the […]
Song of the Day 10/25: The B-52s, “Dry County”
For Andrew C, by request. The B-52s were scheduled to play a White House state dinner tonight but had their performance called off at the last minute. Jill Biden was called upon to explain, “While we had initially planned for the legendary B-52s to perform their iconic dance and party music, we are now in […]
Song of the Day 10/24: Tommy Conwell and the Young Rumblers, “I’m Not Your Man”
Theme song for the endless search for a Speaker of the House. Tommy Conwell ruled the bar band circuit in Philadelphia and Delaware for a little while back in the ’80s with his blend of blues and pop. His popularity in the region culminated in a major-label contract and a debut album, “Rumble,” anchored by […]
Song of the Day 10/23: DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, “A Nightmare on My Street”
Will Smith’s spoof of the Freddy Krueger movies fits the Halloween season, but he’s living a more substantial nightmare these days, what with all the publicity his apparently estranged wife is getting for her tell-all memoir. Stay out of the basement, Will, it’s full of dirty laundry. “A Nightmare on My Street” was the second […]
Song of the Day 10/22: Jimmy Cliff, “Trapped”
For Gaza. Jimmy Cliff released this song as a single in 1972, the same year he starred in “The Harder They Come,” the movie and soundtrack that made Jamaican music mainstream, but it got surprisingly little attention at the time. Produced by Cat Stevens, whose “Wild World” was a big hit for Cliff in the […]
Song of the Day 10/20: Tom Jones and the Cardigans, “Burning Down the House”
I thought Jan. 6, 2021, made clear what the MAGA Republicans wanted to do to Congress, so the current House fire is no great surprise. I blame voters for handing them the matches. The Talking Heads’ funkiest tune, inspired by a Parliament/Funkadelic concert, became their highest-charting U.S. single, No. 9 in 1983. But the song […]
Song of the Day 10/19: Vince Taylor, “Brand New Cadillac”
Americans might be forgiven for thinking British rock and roll began with the Beatles. The Merseybeat sound they represented seemed to grow from meager roots – skiffle, the craze that dominated the late ’50s and early ’60s in England, sounded like jug-band music to Americans. The British reaction to Elvis Presley and the rest of […]
Song of the Day 11/18: The Grateful Dead, “Touch of Grey”
The media hasn’t had time to remind you lately, what with a couple of wars and a couple of Trump trials and Republicans In Disarray Chapter XII, but Joe Biden is older today than he was last week, which is the last time they checked in on that emerging story. Robert Hunter was not yet […]
Song of the Day 10/17: Sly and the Family Stone, “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)”
Sly Stone, much to my surprise, is still alive. Now 80, he’s released a memoir, titled after his No. 1 hit “Thank You ((Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin),” something I learned when this CBS Sunday Morning piece turned up in my YouTube feed. The book is the product of hundreds of interview sessions with Ben […]
Song of the Day 10/16: Mickey Dolenz, “Shiny Happy People”
Rock is deep into its post-modern phase. How else to explain 78-year-old Mickey Dolenz, the last surviving Monkee, releasing an EP of R.E.M. covers? Well, maybe as time being a flat circle – R.E.M. was one of the first bands to cite the Monkees as an influence. “Shiny Happy People” might be the song that […]
Song of the Day 10/15: Madness, “Michael Caine”
Iconic British actor Michael Caine announced yesterday on BBC Radio that, at 90 years old, he’s retiring. “I keep saying I’m going to retire. Well, I am now. I’ve figured, I’ve had a picture where I’ve played the lead and it’s got incredible reviews. The only parts I’m likely to get now are old men.” […]
Song of the Day 10/14: Joni Mitchell, “Banquet”
For Paul and El Som, by request. The original arrangement on “For the Roses” features Joni on piano, but this full band concert performance from her film 1983 film “Refuge of the Roads” brings the song to greater life. The music starts at 1:46, but the old film footage preceding and punctuating it puts the […]
Song of the Day 10/13: Cyndi Lauper, “Money Changes Everything”
What makes so many politicians succumb to the lure of lucre? I think Cyndi Lauper summed it up. Actually, a guy named Tom Gray, who led an Atlanta new wave band in the late ’70s, summed it up first on an indie label in 1978, and did it so well that it got the Brains […]
Recent Comments