Arts and Entertainment
Song of the Day 8/9: The Supremes, “Stop! In the Name of Love”
We’ll leave the Aussies for tomorrow — Lamont Dozier of Holland-Dozier-Holland fame died yesterday at age 81. He and his partners churned out an astounding 15 No. 1 singles for Motown, including 10 by the Supremes. Dozier started out as a singer on the Anna label owned by Berry Gordy’s sisters. He hired Dozier as […]
Song of the Day 8/8: Free Energy, “Free Energy”
Cleaning out a CD rack this weekend I ran across “Stuck on Nothing,” the debut album from this Philadelphia-based power pop quartet. Critics mostly loved it, and Rolling Stone called them one of the best new bands of 2010. They sounded a lot like Fountains of Wayne without the sense of humor — Free Energy […]
Song of the Day 8/7: Nini Music, “LongMa”
I bet when Nancy Pelosi was digging to China as a little girl, she didn’t think she’d find Taiwanese folk metal when she got there. I assume this showed up in my feed because I was reading stories about Taiwan; until a couple of days ago I never even considered that such a genre might […]
Song of the Day 8/6: The Undertones, “Teenage Kicks”
Guest post by Nathan Arizona Iconic British DJ John Peel called it his favorite song ever. He cried when he first heard it. He had lyrics from it carved on his tombstone. One music site pronounced it the second-best indie song ever. Another named it the sixth-best power pop song of all time, allowing that […]
Song of the Day 8/5: Canned Heat, “Going Up the Country”
California hippie-rockers Canned Heat, founded by blues aficionados Alan Wilson and Bob Hite, had their biggest US hit with this tune. It became an anthem for the back-to-the-country movement that became popular during the chaotic year 1968. The song reached No. 11 at the end of the year, but it’s been associated with summer ever […]
Song of the Day 8/3: Gary Lewis and the Playboys, “This Diamond Ring”
Guest post by Nathan Arizona It must have been weird being the son of Jerry Lewis. Did the comedian make funny faces and flop onto the floors around the house the way he did on stages with partner Dean Martin? His son, Gary, knew from early on he did not want to follow that path. […]
Song of the Day 8/2: Nichelle Nichols, “Know What I Mean”
The obituaries for Nichelle Nichols, who died late last week at age 89, naturally headlined her historic role as Lt. Uhura on the original “Star Trek,” and admirably highlighted her long, fruitful relationship with NASA. But only the longest obituaries mentioned her career pre-“Star Trek,” when she toured as a singer with both Lionel Hampton […]
‘Bulo’s Fave Tunes: July 2022
Featuring, somewhere within this list, an artist who is coming to the Arden Gild Hall in November! (Tickets on sale soon…): Watch this video from one of our strangest and most fascinating ensembles: In my seventies, still listening to teenagers. Might even try to book ’em…: Don’t think he can write a bad, or […]
Song of the Day 7/29: Chad and Jeremy, “A Summer Song”
The British Invasion was so all-encompassing that pretty much any act with English accents soared up the charts. Consider the case of Chad and Jeremy, who scored a handful of hits and lots of television appearances in the US in 1964-65, but had only one charting single in their native UK. Chad Stuart, who died […]
Song of the Day 7/27: Bob Dylan, “Mr. Tambourine Man”
One of the pleasures of the internet is the easy access to historical footage, and I always get a kick out of early performances of now-classic music. I remember when the CD of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie’s 1945 Town Hall concert came out, the most amazing moment wasn’t the music, as great as it […]
Song of the Day 7/26: Joni Mitchell, “Just Like This Train”
Joni Mitchell, rarely seen in public over the last decade, played what amounted to a whole set Sunday at the Newport Folk Festival. Her appearance wasn’t announced in advance — the performance was billed as “Brandi Carlile and Friends,” and Carlile was at Mitchell’s side throughout, along with a clutch of admiring younger musicians that […]
Song of the Day 7/25: Iron Maiden, “Run to the Hills”
h/t Unstable Isotope, who wondered why nobody had set the Hawley Trot to this heavy metal classic. In the world of heavy metal, Iron Maiden is as big a band as Metallica, but it’s never gotten the same respect in the US as it has internationally. You can tell because Metallica sailed into the Hall […]
Song of the Day 7/23: Queen, “Bicycle Race”
This year’s Tour de France isn’t over, but the winner was determined this morning when teammates Wout van Aert and Jonas Vingegaard finished 1-2 in Stage 20, a 40-km individual time trial. Vingegaard, who’s more than 3 minutes up on pre-race favorite Tadej Pogacar, will wear the yellow jersey when the Tour finishes with its […]
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