Arts and Entertainment
Song of the Day 6/29: Little Feat, “Willin’”
The death toll in the case of the tractor-trailer filled with migrants abandoned in stifling heat in San Antonio, Texas, now stands at 51, making it the deadliest such tragedy in history. This shouldn’t count as much of a surprise — the border between the U.S. and Mexico is among the world’s deadliest, according to […]
Song of the Day 6/28: Sean Ono Lennon, “Here, There and Everywhere”
At least two musicians recorded this song as a birthday tribute to Paul McCartney — one by Elvis Costello, the other by John Lennon’s son Sean. It’s an apt choice — McCartney said this was his favorite Beatles song. He wrote it one morning when he arrived at Lennon’s house while John was still sleeping, […]
Song of the Day 6/27: Colin Hay, “Beautiful World”
I apologize for the mellow streak, but laid-back music is about the only thing that keeps the rage at bay these days. This Colin Hay song from his 2001 album “Going Somewhere” actually addresses the need to take solace in the simple things as a refuge from the deluge of doom. The verses list his […]
Song of the Day 6/26: Stubby Kaye and Peter Palmer, “The Country’s in the Very Best of Hands”
Today’s song comes from the 1959 Broadway musical “L’il Abner,” and it shows that hayseeds have been bitching about the same crap for generations. My memory was jogged last Sunday when I heard the tune on Geo. Stewart’s radio show “Crazy College,” which airs every Sunday at 6 5 p.m. on WVUD. Last week’s episode […]
Song of the Day 6/24: Malo, “Suavecito”
With the Supreme Court celebrating “Trigger the Libs Day,” I figure it’s time to once again dip into my mellow summer playlist. Play as necessary until feelings of rage subside. Malo was a San Francisco-based band formed in 1971. Their sound capitalized on two then-current trends in rock — horn sections, typified by Chicago, and […]
Song of the Day 6/23: Bob Dylan, “Happy Birthday to You”
I did not realize until the other day that Paul McCartney and Brian Wilson were born two days apart in 1942, McCartney on the 18th and Wilson on the 20th, so both of them turned 80 within the past week. Among those who sent along public birthday wishes was an old-timer they know, 81-year-old Bob […]
Song of the Day 6/22: Tommy James and the Shondells, “Crystal Blue Persuasion”
I don’t know if its the daily headline shitstorm or the mild summer weather, but all I want to listen to lately is laid-back tunes from the ’60s. And you can’t get much more laid-back than this. The voluble James has told various stories about the song’s genesis — sometimes it was inspired by the […]
Song of the Day 6/21: Megafaun, “The Longest Day”
Happy summer solstice, a celestial event that, judging from archaeological evidence, seems to have meant more to neolithic peoples than it does to us. Then again, 6,000 people turned out in the mist at Stonehenge this morning to mark the event, which might have been an impressive crowd by prehistoric standards. Megafaun is an indie-folk […]
Song of the Day 6/19: The Young Rascals, “Groovin'”
To follow the news is, by definition, to doomscroll. Well, to quote a famous sailor man, that’s all I can stands and I can’t stands no more, at least for one day. The weather is perfect for groovin’ on a Sunday afternoon, and so is this No. 1 song from the innocent days of late […]
Song of the Day 6/18: The Fixx, “One Thing Leads to Another”
Bands from the ’60s and early ’70s that can still tour draw big crowds. Bands from the ’80s and ’90s, not so much. Consider The Fixx. They’re still releasing albums and touring more than 40 years after their early days in London, performing the same synth-pop with politically oriented lyrics that made this song, from […]
Song of the Day 6/15: Black Sabbath, “Guilty as Hell”
As Jason330 noted, we all knew what’s being shown by the Jan. 6 committee. And that includes everybody who tried to pull it off. Still, there seems to be some grudging acknowledgement from the punditry that the exercise is doing some good, just days after the consensus was that it was doing no good. So […]
Song of the Day 6/13: Inner Circle, “Bad Boys”
This should be the theme music for the Jan. 6 Congressional hearings when they resume tonight. Hey, it worked for “Cops,” which has resumed production for Fox Nation after Paramount dropped it in the wake of the George Floyd murder in Minneapolis. Inner Circle, the Jamaican band that first recorded the song in 1987, was […]
Song of the Day 6/12: The Flaming Lips, “Waitin’ for a Superman”
Metropolis, the fictional city where Superman fights for truth, justice and a better tomorrow, has always presented DC Comics with a problem in truthiness — where exactly is it? A lot of people, the News Journal reminded its remaining readers this week, place it in Delaware, right across Delaware Bay from Gotham City (I’d link […]
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