Arts and Entertainment
Song of the Day 11/28: The B-52s, “Rock Lobster”
Fox News is running out of things to freak out about. When Joe Biden put up the White House Christmas tree extra early, their “War on Christmas” standby failed, so they tried to bitch about him jumping the gun on Christmas. That fizzled, so now they’re mad about … Whole Foods deciding not to sell […]
Song of the Day 11/27: Blind Faith, “Presence of the Lord”
“Presence of the Lord,” Eric Clapton’s contribution to Blind Faith’s only album in 1969, was his first outing as a lyricist. Its message is personal, but Steve Winwood delivers it — Clapton set it in a key (A minor) above what he considered his own range. After Blind Faith’s demise, Clapton started singing it himself, […]
Song of the Day 11/26: Wilko Johnson, “When I’m Gone”
Regular readers know I consider Dr. Feelgood one of the most important British bands of the 1970s. The creative force behind the punk pioneers, guitarist Wilko Johnson (born John Wilkinson) died Monday at age 75, nine years after a cancer diagnosis gave him less than a year to live. Johnson stood out for both his […]
Song of the Day 11/24: World Party, “Thank You World”
Rather than list all the things to be thankful for, I’m going to go Karl Wallinger’s route and simply thank the world. Wallinger was World Party for most of its existence, playing all the instruments on most of the tracks on the band’s first two LPs, including “Goodbye Jumbo,” where this song debuted. He really […]
Song of the Day 11/23: Thin Lizzy, “Fight or Fall”
Fans of Irish rockers Thin Lizzy all have the same lament: If you went by classic rock radio you’d think the band only released three songs. Their breakthrough hit, at least in the British Isles, was a rocked-out cover of the folk song “Whiskey in the Jar,” released in 1972. It was another four years […]
Song of the Day 11/22: The Electric Prunes, “I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)”
Garage rock wasn’t called that when bands were actually playing it in the mid-’60s — the name came a few years later, when the “Nuggets” collection was released in 1972 to collect what were by then forgotten tracks. (Yes, kids, that’s how quickly popular music evolved back then.) The name referred to music that critics […]
Song of the Day 11/20: The Undisputed Truth, “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone”
This song won a Grammy for the Temptations in 1972 and is considered one of their greatest tracks. But it was first recorded and released earlier that year by a different Motown act, the Undisputed Truth. Producer Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong wrote the tune to exploit the socially conscious “psychedelic soul” genre that by […]
Song of the Day 11/19: Two Sheds Jackson, “Long Long Way”
Guest post by Nathan Arizona The composer Arthur Jackson had two sheds, and a nickname to match. But he was furious when his interviewer kept calling him Two Sheds and asking him about the sheds instead of his new symphony. This was a Monty Python sketch, though, so naturally the interviewer kept doing it. But […]
Song of the Day 11/18: Pink Floyd, “Pigs (Three Different Ones)”
With feral pet pigs running wild in Delaware, it seems like the right time for Roger Waters’ bitter anti-capitalist prog-blues workout. The sort of pigs he was writing about in 1977 are of course still with us.
Song of the Day 11/17: The Philly Pops, “Gonna Fly Now”
The Philly Pops, founded in 1979, announced that it’s throwing in the towel after this season’s Christmas concerts. Cultural institutions have been in decline for years, but the Covid pandemic seems to have delivered the coup de grace. Frank Giordano, the group’s president, told the Inquirer he made up his mind to shutter the organization […]
Song of the Day 11/16: Major Lance, “Since I Lost My Baby’s Love”
El Somnambulo isn’t the only one who loves the soul music of the ’60s. There’s an entire scene built around it in England known as Northern Soul. The name has nothing to do with where the music comes from but rather where its fans reside: the northern industrial part of England, especially Manchester, where people […]
Song of the Day 11/15: Roberta Flack, “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”
Roberta Flack, the first person to win back-to-back Record of the Year Grammies, announced that she can no longer sing. The 85-year-old chanteuse is suffering from ALS, which is also robbing her of her speaking ability. This song gave Flack, who spent several years teaching music and singing in Washington, DC, clubs before going pro […]
Song of the Day 11/14: Bruce Springsteen, “One Step Up”
Martin Luther King’s moral arc of the universe is, by definition, not a straight line. Sometimes it takes two steps back. The third single from “Tunnel of Love,” Springsteen’s 1987 album about the breakup of his marriage to Julianne Phillips, reached No. 13. Springsteen plays all the instruments on the song except the drum machine. […]
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