Arts and Entertainment
Song of the Day 12/12: Supertramp, “Breakfast in America”
Guest post by Nathan Arizona Supertramp had Breakfast in America in 1979. It was delicious. The album “Breakfast in America” propelled a mildly successful British band to one whose songs were heard pretty much everywhere. Quadruple platinum. Grammy nominations for best album and best pop vocal. Elaborate critical praise. ”A textbook-perfect album of post-Beatles, keyboard-centered […]
Song of the Day 12/10: Esther Phillips, “Release Me”
In their ongoing effort to show that they can act like whiny babies over absolutely anything, Republicans are bitching about Joe Biden freeing WNBA star Brittney Griner from Russia in a prisoner exchange. He did it all wrong — wrong American, wrong Russian, wrong timing — so it’s obviously bad news for Biden. It’s good […]
Song of the Day 12/9: Steam, “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye”
If politics were really sports, Democratic senators would serenade Kyrsten Sinema to this tune like she was a relief pitcher getting yanked from the game. The song became a sports venue staple in 1977, supposedly prompted by the White Sox sweeping four games from the Twins. Some fans began singing, “Minnesota, Minnesota, hey hey, goodbye,” […]
Song of the Day 12/8: Ride, “Vapour Trail”
I didn’t want this one to pass unnoticed: Doug Mastriano, the failed GOP candidate for governor of Pennsylvania, thinks the government is using jet vapor trails to manipulate the climate, no doubt cackling and twirling their mustaches all the while. “Vapour Trail” was the closing track on the first full-length LP by Ride, “Nowhere,” a […]
Song of the Day 12/7: The O’Jays, “For the Love of Money”
The Trump organization was found guilty of fraud and tax evasion, and though CFO Allen Weisselberg threw himself on the grenade, not a soul alive believes he did it on anybody’s orders but Trump’s. This Philly soul classic is credited to three people — it grew out of a jam session — but Kenny Gamble […]
Song of the Day 12/6: The Beths, “Expert in a Dying Field”
El Somnambulo featured a song from this New Zealand indie band’s latest album in his Best of the Month roundup when it arrived in August. Critics have categorized them as power pop because their songs have strong hooks, but they’ve also compared Liz Stokes’ vocals and songwriting to Aimee Mann’s. The title track from the […]
Song of the Day 12/5: Peter and Gordon, “World Without Love”
Guest post by Nathan Arizona When the sister of aspiring musician Peter Asher started bringing her boyfriend to hang around the house, her brother had somebody to talk music with. The bloke’s name was Paul McCartney and he had already gotten his own career off to a good start in a band he put together […]
Song of the Day 12/4: The Million Dollar Quartet, “This Train”
On this date in rock and roll history, Dec. 4, 1956, the Million Dollar Quartet — Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins — sang together for the only time, an impromptu jam session at Sun Studios in Memphis. It began as a Carl Perkins recording session, for which a still-unknown Jerry […]
Song of the Day 12/3: Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, “I Don’t Want to Go Home”
Though it was never released as a single, this became one of the defining songs of the Jersey Shore sound. Southside Johnny sells the perennial show-closer with his impassioned blue-eyed growl over a horns-plus-guitar hook. It’s as much Steve Van Zandt’s signature song as anybody’s. Van Zandt wrote it for Jersey bar singer John Lyon, […]
Song of the Day 12/2: Jordan Mailata, “Hold”
I have a strict policy on holiday music — the 12 Days of Christmas Songs. You’re probably getting as much as you can stand from other sources, so I start the solstice stuff Dec. 14 and stop on Christmas Day. To quote a sailor man of some repute, that’s all I can stands and I […]
Song of the Day 12/1: Chicken Shack feat. Christine Perfect, “It’s Okay With Me Baby”
Christine McVie, who died Wednesday at age 79, is being remembered as a pop singer and songwriter for Fleetwood Mac. Rightly so — several of the band’s best-known tunes were hers, including “Don’t Stop,” Bill Clinton’s campaign song. But before she met and married John McVie and joined his band, she was Perfect — Christine […]
Song of the Day 11/30: Stevie Wonder, “Signed, Sealed, Delivered”
By request of Mediawatch, in honor of El Somnambulo’s dive into New Castle County Council’s developer-funded political machine. Stevie Wonder had Top 10 hits throughout the ’60s, but this 1970 soul burner marked his first foray into producing his own material and one of his last singles while under contract to Motown. The Funk Brothers […]
Song of the Day 11/29: Jimmy Buffett, “Volcano”
Mauna Loa’s eruption brought to mind my son’s favorite Deep Thought by Jack Handy: “If you ever drop your keys into a river of molten lava, let ’em go, because man, they’re gone.” Jimmy Buffett was early in his musical transition from character to caricature when “Volcano” arrived as the title track to his 1979 […]
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