Arts and Entertainment
Song of the Day 8/21: Jason Isbell, “Something More Than Free”
The Democratic National Convention on Monday night featured Jason Isbell performing the title song from his 2015 LP. That album was his commercial breakthrough – it went to No. 1 on Billboard’s rock, folk and country charts.
Song of the Day 8/20: The Youngbloods, “Get Together”
Guest post by Nathan Arizona Those images of peace and love from Woodstock are engraved in our memory. Particularly vivid is the one where the Youngbloods sang their new good-vibes anthem “Get Together” – “Come on people/Smile on your brother” — as thousands of wet hippies hugged each other and sang along. Except it never […]
Song of the Day 8/19: Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs, “Stay”
Some obituaries for Maurice Williams, who died earlier this month at 86, called him a one-hit wonder. Yes, “Stay,” a No. 1 single in 1960, was his only hit with the Zodiacs, but it was just one of the tunes Williams wrote that reached Billboard’s Top 40. In 1957, when his group was called the […]
Song of the Day 8/17: Gangstagrass, “Good At Being Bad”
Mondegreen isn’t the only music festival in the region this weekend. The Philadelphia Folk Festival, which runs through Sunday, closed last night’s bill with Gangstagrass, which might mark the first time rap has been represented among all that acoustic music. Hip-hop/country crossovers have become increasingly common, but they mostly meld mainstream country with modern R&B. […]
Song of the Day 8/16: Phish, “Moma Dance”
WXPN in Philadelphia has been doing its Funky Friday for more than 30 years now, long enough that I automatically associate Fridays with soul and funk. One band I never hear on the show is Phish, despite their late-’90s foray into what Trey Anastasio labeled “cow funk.” Phish can, and has, covered just about every […]
Song of the Day 8/15: Phish, “You Enjoy Myself”
The pandemic has killed off Dover’s Firefly music festival, but this year The Woodlands found a replacement: Phish’s four-day Mondegreen festival. There’s a big difference, though. Where Firefly hosted dozens of bands who drew a broader spectrum of fans, Phish is the only band playing Mondegreen – two shows each night – so much of […]
Song of the Day 8/14: R.E.M., “Orange Crush”
OK, so the election isn’t being held today and a lot can change in (checks watch) 82 days. But right now the Harris/Walz ticket looks poised to crush a certain orange someone, and I don’t mean Tony the Tiger. It will, however, be gr-r-reat! Michael Stipe wasn’t referring to soda on this tune, released on […]
Song of the Day 8/13: Veruca Salt, “So Weird”
If whoever programmed “My Heart Will Go On” for the Trump rally is looking for more troll bait, might I suggest this as a theme song? It dates from 2006, when Louise Post was fronting the band herself after she and Nina Gordon split up in 1998. They had reunited by the time of this […]
Song of the Day 8/12: The Staple Singers, “I’ll Take You There”
The Staple Singers’ first No. 1 hit, and the song they’re best remembered for, didn’t really have much to do with the group. Mavis Staples is the only one who appears on the record. All the instruments are played by the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. When Mavis calls for “Daddy,” it’s Eddie Hinton, not Pops […]
Song of the Day 8/11: Céline Dion, “My Heart Will Go On”
As El Som noted in today’s Open Thread, the musical highlight of Trump’s sparsely attended Montana rally was the syrupy tear-jerker “My Heart Will Go On” by Céline Dion – famously, the theme song to James Cameron’s “Titanic.” People started speculating that the choice was the work of a mole in the Trump campaign. I […]
Song of the Day 8/8: Taylor Swift, “Look What You Made Me Do”
Taylor Swift cancelled three shows in Vienna after three suspects were arrested and charged with plotting an attack on her show. Police found bombs and ISIS propaganda, indicating again that Islamic terrorists consider music venues fair game. As a music fan, this does not predispose me to expressing any sympathy for the goals of Islamic […]
Song of the Day 8/6: Big Data feat. Joywave, “Dangerous”
Trends in popular music evolve rather slowly in modern times, which makes it harder to tell when they shift. Eleven years ago, for instance, this tune was all the rage, hitting No. 1 on the alternative rock chart. It typifies the bass-heavy sound that was popular then – “All About That Bass” was a product […]
Song of the Day 8/4: Aerosmith, “Dream On”
Some of the rock bands that formed in the ’60s are still performing live – some are on their third or fourth farewell tour. But bands formed in the ’70s and beyond don’t seem to have the same luck. Aerosmith, formed in Boston in 1970, just called it quits on the cusp of their planned […]
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