Arts and Entertainment
Song of the Day 2/11: Blue Öyster Cult, “Career of Evil”
Pretty much everyone in the Trump administration could accurately title his memoirs “Career of Evil,” so I hope Patti Smith sues anyone who dares to. The godmother of punk wrote the lyrics to several tunes for the Long Island-based Blue Öyster Cult, including this cut from the 1974 album “Secret Treaties,” before she formed her […]
Song of the Day 2/10: The Smashing Pumpkins, “Pennies”
The collapse of the Kansas City Chiefs might be the latest evidence that everything Trump touches turns to shit. His chosen gladiator, Pat Mahomes, landed flat on his ass six times, and you can tell Mein Furball was pissed off, because he quickly changed the subject by issuing one of his impetuous edicts. Immediately and […]
Song of the Day 2/9: Robin Trower, “Day of the Eagle”
The Eagles won their first Super Bowl by beating the best team in the league, and they’ll have to do the same thing tonight if they’re going to win their second. Guitarist Robin Trower joined Procol Harum in 1967, a couple of months after the band scored a smash hit with “A Whiter Shade of […]
Song of the Day 2/8: David Bowie, “Watch That Man”
That man is Elon Musk, and it behooves the Democrats to not just keep an eye on him, but to tie the Bloated Dotard to Musk’s unpopular, pasty-white ass at every opportunity. But be careful – he talks like a jerk but he could eat you with a fork and spoon. David Bowie wrote “Watch […]
Song of the Day 2/7: The Dramatics, “Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get”
Turns out a lot of people who either voted for Trump or skipped voting altogether are surprised that he’s doing all the things he said he would do, including things that victimize them and theirs. I guess they figured that because Trump is such a blatant and obvious bullshitter, then everything he said must be […]
Song of the Day 2/6: The Damned, “I Just Can’t Be Happy Today”
This one’s pretty self-explanatory. It should hold true for, oh, the next 1,430 days or so. Not that I’m counting or anything. The Damned were overshadowed by their more obnoxiously promoted contemporaries, the Sex Pistols, who headlined the first show The Damned played. They beat the Pistols to market as the first British punk band […]
Song of the Day 2/5: Johnny Rivers, “Secret Agent Man”
Word comes that the Musk administration has given all personnel in the Central Intelligence Agency his “buy-out” offer. It seems to me that pissing off thousands of spies might be risky business, but given how effectively the CIA has been at keeping the Russians from fucking with our lives, I’m not counting on their revenge […]
Song of the Day 2/4: Baby Huey & the Babysitters, “Hard Times”
Even without Demolition Donny’s pointless tariffs, prices aren’t going down anytime soon, by which I mean “ever.” Song of the Day is well-equipped for what’s coming, because as long as music has been recorded, people have been singing about hard times. Get used to it. You might know this as a Curtis Mayfield song. He […]
Song of the Day 2/3: The House of Love, “Beatles and the Stones”
As El Somnambulo noted, last night’s Grammy Awards handed out trophies to both the Beatles and the Rolling Stones – the Beatles for “Now and Then,” a John Lennon demo that Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr massaged into one last Fab Four record, and the Stones for “Hackney Diamonds,” an album that plowed over old […]
Song of the Day 2/2: Delbert McClinton, “Weatherman”
As my late colleague Allan Loudell used to say, “It’s Groundhog Day all over again.” I’ll watch the 1993 cult classic again tonight as a tonic against our vile, egotistic times. I’ll bet the Young Chud Generation sees no reason for Phil Connors to change his behavior, which might be why we’re stuck in our […]
Song of the Day 1/31: Marianne Faithfull, “As Tears Go By”
Some people – old ones – will remember Marianne Faithfull as Mick Jagger’s girlfriend from London’s Swinging ’60s. She was 17 and just starting out as a folk singer when Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham “discovered” her at a party. Oldham, who fashioned himself the British Phil Spector, launched her career by giving her […]
Song of the Day 1/30: Rilo Kiley, “Portions for Foxes”
Summer festival lineups are being announced, and as usual the biggest news is about a band reunion. Wanna feel old? The band is Rilo Kiley. Formed by erstwhile child actors Jenny Lewis and Blake Sennett in Los Angeles in 1998, Rilo Kiley hit their stride in 2004 with their third LP, “More Adventurous.” Both Sennett […]
Song of the Day 1/29: Billy Strings, “Gild the Lily”
I don’t think this song, released last fall, made it onto any of El Somnambulo’s monthly new music roundups, but it’s gotten lots of airplay on WXPN. Beware – it wormed its way into my ear, and my method of banishing earworms involves featuring them as Songs of the Day. Billy Strings (real name: William […]
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