Arts and Entertainment
Song of the Day 1/18: Brownsville Station, “Smokin’ in the Boys Room”
When control of the House of Representatives changes hands, so does the prime office space. Republicans now occupy high-traffic areas, making more public one of the institution’s dirty little secrets: Smoking is allowed in the private offices of members of Congress. Congressional offices from the first have been exempted from Washington’s ban on indoor smoking, […]
Song of the Day 1/17: The Ting Tings, “That’s Not My Name”
Hats off to the programming whizzes who lined up the entertainment by our new Congress. Not only are we treated to lots of scary stories about the new Republican House of Horrors, we get the George Santos saga for comic relief. Sure, we can fault the New York Democratic Party for Santos — losing to […]
Song of the Day 1/16: Stevie Wonder, “Happy Birthday”
This song is a big reason why today is a national holiday. In the late ’70s several states had honored the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. by making his birthday with a holiday, but a bill to establish it nationally went down to defeat in Congress in 1979. Wonder wrote “Happy Birthday” in response and […]
Song of the Day 1/15: Frank Wilson, “Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)”
On Bruce Springsteen’s LP of soul and Motown songs, “Only the Strong Survive,” the Boss covers a few hits, like the title track and “Someday We’ll Be Together.” But he also features a few songs that flew under the radar when they were released, none more so than Frank Wilson’s “Do I Love You (Indeed […]
Song of the Day 1/13: Laura Nyro, “Hands Off the Man (The Flim-Flam Man)”
It’s hard to choose any one Republicon to dedicate this song to — they’re all flim-flam artists to one extent or another, and always have been. Laura Nyro apparently wrote this for the 1967 film “The Flim-Flam Man,” with George C. Scott in the title role. It wasn’t used in the movie, but it showed […]
Song of the Day 1/12: Jeff Beck, “People Get Ready”
The Yardbirds spawned three of rock’s most revered guitarists — Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck. The first two have higher profiles, but a lot of people would tell you Beck, who died Tuesday at age 78, was the best of the three. He certainly was the most versatile, exploring musical styles beyond pop […]
Song of the Day 1/11: Thompson Twins, “Lies”
This slice of ’80s electro-Brit cheese is exactly what Rep. George Santos (R-Who Knows?) deserves. The Republican Party in Nassau County, where Santos got elected, called a news conference to demand his resignation. He said he would not. Since damn near everything else the guy has said is a lie it’s hard to believe him, […]
Song of the Day 1/10: Jethro Tull, “Skating Away (On the Thin Ice of a New Day)”
To give you an idea how long ago the “classic rock” period was, Ian Anderson wrote this song for Jethro Tull’s “War Child” album in 1974, when scientists had concluded Earth was entering a cooling phase. Anderson approached it with his usual apocalyptic existentialism, but the lyrics are impressionistic, so the folk melody and lilting […]
Song of the Day 1/8: Prince and the Revolution, “Let’s Go Crazy”
Now that Kevin McCarthy has handed the loonies the keys to the new 2023 Congressmobile, they need a song to play on the radio — a theme song, if you will. How about this Prince number from 1984’s “Purple Rain”? Though you could make the argument that the so-called Freedom Caucus doesn’t have to go […]
Song of the Day 1/7: J. Geils Band, “Give It to Me”
Matt Gaetz admitted that he finally voted “present” to allow Kevin McCarthy to become Speaker of the House because he had run out of things to ask for. McCarthy failed to learn the lesson Paul Ryan and John Boehner so clearly laid out for him — if you cede the power of the position, there’s […]
Song of the Day 1/6: The Beach Boys, “Do It Again”
We all know Kevin McCarthy isn’t the brightest bulb on the GOP Christmas tree — to be fair, a lot of those lights don’t work at all — so I’m guessing he’s never heard about Sisyphus. If he had he might not keep doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different outcome. […]
Song of the Day 1/5: The Eagles, “Witchy Woman”
Christine O’Donnell was merely ahead of her time. An alleged Republican witch, one Anna Paulina Luna, has been elected to Congress from Florida. Like O’Donnell, she denies it. This all came out via lawsuit. Seems a MAGAt who chickened out of primarying her claimed he was told — by someone from Hispanics for Trump — […]
Song of the Day 1/4: Lit, “My Own Worst Enemy”
This one’s for Kevin McCarthy, whose capacity for self-embarrassment appears limitless. Like McCarthy, Lit hails from California, though from Orange County, not Bakersfield. This track, a single from their 1999 sophomore LP “A Place in the Sun,” took months to rise to No. 1 on the Modern Rock chart, but it’s had a long afterlife. […]
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