Arts and Entertainment
Song of the Day 4/7: Robert Knight, “Everlasting Love”
Despite his smooth voice, Robert Knight only had one hit — this song, written expressly for him by Buzz Cason and Mac Gayden, who owned a record company in Nashville. The song itself, though, has been a hit over and over again, with covers reaching the Top 40 in the US in the ’70s (Carl […]
Song of the Day 4/6: Bobby Rydell, “Wildwood Days”
You have to be eligible for Medicare to have first-hand memories of Bobby Rydell, the South Philly teen idol from the early days of rock ‘n’ roll. He had his first hit at age 17, in 1959, and hit his peak in 1963, the year he appeared in the film version of “Bye, Bye Birdie” […]
Song of the Day 4/5: Stevie Wonder, “Evil”
Stevie Wonder, whose albums made critics’ Top 10 lists in the ’70s, seems to have fallen into relative neglect in recent years — Marvin Gaye, not Wonder, is now considered Motown’s greatest 1970s artist. This makes sense — Gaye’s soul influenced a lot more modern music than Wonder’s funk and pop. But at the time […]
Song of the Day 4/4: Wet Leg, “Chaise Longue”
This song went viral on social media last summer, and mainstream media picked up on it by autumn, but I didn’t hear it until last week, and it cracked me up. Wet Leg is Rhian Teasdale, who sings this tune, and Hester Chambers, two friends who live on the Isle of Wight, just off England’s […]
Song of the Day 4/3: Genesis, “The Carpet Crawlers”
Genesis, the venerable British band that pioneered prog rock in the ’70s and churned out synth-pop hits like clockwork in the ’80s, called it quits last week, 55 years after forming at a posh public school in Surrey. Their decision was prompted by the declining health of drummer-cum-frontman Phil Collins, who since 2017 had to […]
Song of the Day 4/1: Steve Miller Band, “The Joker”
The No. 1 hit that made Steve Miller a star is, in a way, the first song that owes its existence to sampling. Miller assembled it in large part from lines and riffs borrowed from earlier works, and not just his own. Everyone knows the first-verse lyrics quote tracks he recorded with earlier, bluesier incarnations […]
‘Bulo’s Fave Tunes For March 2022
17 songs this month. That’s a lot. I took another listen through the list on Sunday just to see if I should cut one or two. I couldn’t. Meaning, this is one of the best and deepest monthly gatherings of songs in quite some time. It’s that good. Hope you agree. Did I mention that […]
Song of the Day 3/31: Bruce Willis, “Respect Yourself”
Actor Bruce Willis’ family announced yesterday that he’s retiring from acting due to aphasia, a brain condition that affects language and communication. The 67-year-old Penns Grove, N.J., native rocketed to fame in the mid-’80s in the unconventional TV dramedy “Moonlighting,” where he occasionally burst into snatches of Motown tunes, and turned heads with a rendition […]
Song of the Day 3/30: Ray Charles, “What’d I Say”
Joe Biden ad-libbed nine words in his speech in Poland and pundits all weighed in, for or against. I’m only following the story by headlines, but it sounds like Joe didn’t think he’d said anything wrong, and it took a while to convince him to walk it back. So now every pundit is weighing in […]
Song of the Day 3/29: DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, “I Think I Can Beat Mike Tyson”
Rap fans might remember that Will Smith had pugilistic fantasies going back to at least 1989, when this song was released on the duo’s “And in This Corner…” LP. As the album’s lead single, it also got the expensive video treatment, and the sharp-eyed will notice that one of the its guest stars, though not […]
Song of the Day 3/28: Taylor Hawkins, “Holy Man”
The headlines said Taylor Hawkins, who died at age 50 Friday in Colombia, was the drummer for the Foo Fighters, but that only captured a portion of his talent. He sang lead and played drums in a number of side projects, including his own band, Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders, and sang lead on […]
Song of the Day 3/25: 10,000 Maniacs, “Peace Train”
How could a song that advocates peace become controversial? Well, how about if the guy who wrote it later supported the assassination of an author for blasphemy? Even when it was released on 1971’s “Teaser and the Firecat,” Cat Stevens’ first US Top 10 hit wasn’t universally admired. With the war in Vietnam still raging, […]
Song of the Day 3/24: U2, “Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of”
As the Ukraine War grinds into its second month, this seems like a fitting commentary on Vladimir Putin’s predicament. Bono wrote the song, which appeared on the band’s 2000 LP “All That You Can’t Leave Behind,” after the suicide of his friend Michael Hutchence, lead singer of INXS, as an argument against suicide. Seems like […]
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