Arts and Entertainment
Song of the Day 2/28: Sting, “Russians”
In 1985, when Ronald Reagan was saber-rattling against the Soviet Union, Sting included this song on his first solo album, “Dream of the Blue Turtles.” Released as the fourth single from the LP, it reached the top 10 in several European nations, but only No. 12 in the UK and No. 16 in the US, […]
Song of the Day 2/27: Rod Stewart, “Only a Hobo”
For a while in the early ’70s, Rod Stewart was the best Bob Dylan interpreter around. His recordings don’t make the “Best Bob Dylan Covers” lists anymore, but this one was so good it kept Dylan from officially releasing his own version for decades. It had been released to the public only once before Stewart […]
Song of the Day 2/26: Gabriel Sullivan, “The Rust, the Knife”
Guest post by Nathan Arizona The desert, with its big sky, endless waves of sand and scattered cactuses, has inspired a lot of music lately. It’s no surprise that dry and dusty New Mexico and Arizona are the center of this hybrid of Mexican-flavored rock guitars,Tex-Mex trumpets, Latin cumbia and spaghetti western/noir moodiness. Even the […]
Black Opry Revue Preview: Part Two
We’re bringing these incredible artists to the Arden Gild Hall this Saturday. In conjunction with Black History Month, and presented in partnership with the Delaware Division Of The Arts and radio station WXPN. (Up-to-date vax cards and masks required.) You can get tickets right here. I promised that you would hear from all five performers. […]
Song of the Day 2/25: Procol Harum, “A Whiter Shade of Pale”
I don’t expect the death last week of Gary Brooker, frontman for Procol Harum, to put a stop to fans advocating for the band’s induction to the Rock Hall of Fame, but it does make it beside the point. Brooker, who founded the band from the remnants of his earlier group, the Paramounts, was its […]
Song of the Day 2/24: John Paul Jones and Playing for Change, “When the Levee Breaks”
Playing for Change, the non-profit music education charity that proselytizes and raises money by sharing covers featuring musicians both famous and obscure from all over the world, dropped a killer track this week. Featuring John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin on bass, it answers the musical question, “If you replaced Jimmy Page with Derek Trucks, […]
Song of the Day 2/23: Screaming Trees, “Nearly Lost You”
While rock’s Jurassic generation keeps grinding on — look, another tour by 79-year-old Paul McCartney! — its more recent Cretaceous Period relics are dying out. Mark Lanegan, frontman for Screaming Trees and collaborator with Queens of the Stone Age, died at 57 at his home in rural Ireland. No cause of death was given, but […]
Song of the Day 2/22: Bill Evans, “Peace Piece”
I don’t know all that much about the situation in the Ukraine, and if you’re honest about it neither do you. I just think that the fewer innocent people who die over all this, the better. Bill Evans was so fucking great that he just sat at the piano after a recording session for his […]
Black Opry Revue Preview: Part One
We’re bringing these incredible artists to the Arden Gild Hall this Saturday. In conjunction with Black History Month, and presented in partnership with the Delaware Division Of The Arts and radio station WXPN. (Up-to-date vax cards and masks required.) You can get tickets right here. But first, how about a taste of three of the […]
Song of the Day 2/21: The Presidents of the United States of America, “Lump”
The second-biggest hit for the only band fit to play on Presidents Day, a No. 1 hit on the Modern Rock chart in 1995. They got the record’s sound by playing two guitars with a total of five strings between them, instruments frontman/composer/bassist Chris Ballew and guitarist Dave Dederer called them a “basitar” (two strings) […]
Song of the Day 2/20: The Association, “Windy”
Here’s a symptom of climate change you don’t hear about much in the States: destructive hurricane-force winter winds of more than 120 mph. There’s plenty of video to prove it. Suffice it to say this didn’t used to happen. Though they’re not much heard today, The Association was all the rage in the days of […]
Song of the Day 2/18: Cat Stevens, “Wild World”
Cat Stevens’ first Top 40 single as a performer wasn’t his biggest hit — it only reached No. 11, but it’s his most-covered by a wide margin. So far the song has been recorded by more than 100 artists, by talents ranging from Bette Midler to Garth Brooks. But its popularity with other singers isn’t […]
Song of the Day 2/16: C.W. McCall, “Convoy”
For conservatives, bad ideas never die, they just get recycled ad nauseam. So when a few dumbfuck truckers decide they’ve had enough of this mask-wearing, vaccine-taking reality, they retreat to the same dumb response their pappies and grandpappies did when faced with problems that, given their limited intellects, they couldn’t possibly understand. This was a […]
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