Arts and Entertainment
Song of the Day 1/26: Jane’s Addiction, “Been Caught Stealing”
Yeah, I know, the guy is probably suffering from something worse than PTSD, but how could I resist? Besides, I like the song, even if I think Perry Farrell is an odd duck. This video was all over MTV when it came out in 1990 on “Ritual de lo Habitual,” and the song stayed big […]
Song of the Day 1/25: Arcade Fire, “Games Without Frontiers”
I have featured Peter Gabriel’s song about international diplomacy before, but it seems apt today in light of all the recent media saber-rattling. Besides, I had forgotten about this cover Arcade Fire recorded for 2013’s “And I’ll Scratch Yours,” a Gabriel-commissioned project featuring artists whose songs he covered on “Scratch My Back.” The recurrent phrase […]
Song of the Day 1/24: Smith, “Baby It’s You”
“Baby It’s You” was released as a single by first-ballot Hall of Fame groups the Shirelles and the Beatles. But the band who scored the biggest hit with the Burt Bacharach composition (with lyrics by Mack David, Hal’s older brother) was a now-forgotten group called Smith. The band was playing in a Los Angeles bar […]
Song of the Day 1/23: Laura Nyro, “And When I Die”
Readers following the thread spawned by Wednesday’s Song of the Day know that El Somnambulo has no love for the second Blood, Sweat and Tears LP, which spent seven weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart and spawned three No. 2 singles, including this tune, written by a 17-year-old Laura Nyro. Nyro wasn’t […]
Song of the Day 1/22: Naked Eyes, “Always Something There to Remind Me”
Burt Bacharach has written hundreds of songs, most from the 1950s through the 1980s. Of those, 73 have made the US Top 40. This one took the longest to get there. Bacharach wrote it in 1963, when he recorded a demo of it with Dionne Warwick. Two different singles were released in 1964, by two […]
Song of the Day 1/21: Meat Loaf, “You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth”
Michael (nee Marvin) Lee Aday, better known by his stage name, Meat Loaf, died yesterday, age 74, just nine months after the death of Jim Steinman, who composed “Bat Out of Hell,” the album that made Meat Loaf a star. That LP, rejected by numerous record companies, is the third-best-selling album in history. An estimated […]
Song of the Day 1/19: Three Dog Night, “Shambala”
Three Dog Night is a band I appreciate a lot more now than back when they were popular, because when they were popular they were also deeply uncool. Listening to them these days it’s hard to understand why. Granted, they didn’t write their own music at a time when singers weren’t considered “artists” unless they […]
Song of the Day 1/17: Peter, Paul and Mary, “Leaving on a Jet Plane”
If John Denver wrote this song today he’d have to include something about getting his Covid test before being allowed to board. Peter, Paul and Mary were an oldies act by the time this song reached No. 1 in December 1969, more than two years after its release on the group’s “Album 1700.” That LP […]
Song of the Day 1/15: Sufjan Stevens, “Decatur, or, Round of Applause for Your Stepmother!”
The irony of Republicans trying to restrict the teaching of history when they’re ignorant of it in the first place is lost on Republicans themselves, so they don’t recognize when they should be humiliated. Consider the case of the newly elected Virginia state delegate — Republican, of course — who authored a bill banning “divisive […]
Song of the Day 1/13: The Ronettes, “Be My Baby”
For a brief time, Veronica “Ronnie” Bennett, who died yesterday at age 78, was the hottest girl-group singer in the world. Thanks to producer Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound treatment, “Be My Baby” hit No. 2 in 1963 and the Ronettes — Ronnie backed by her sister and her cousin — were, after several years […]
Black Opry Revue Coming To Arden Gild Hall!!
The Arden Concert Gild will host the Black Opry Revue on Saturday, Feb.26, 2022 at the Arden Gild Hall at 8 p.m. Black Opry is a home for Black artists and Black fans of country, blues, folk and Americana music. The concert, which is being presented in conjunction with Black History Month, will feature these […]
Song of the Day 1/12: Hall & Oates, “Did It in a Minute”
Daryl Hall and John Oates reached the height of their Hall of Fame career in 1982, bookending the year with No. 1 singles — “I Can’t Go For That” in January, “Maneater” in December. Though it topped out at No. 9 in the weekly rankings, this song also made Billboard’s list of the year’s Top […]
Song of the Day 1/10: Momma, “Medicine”
I’m trespassing on El Somnambulo’s territory here, but I heard this on WXPN last week and I’ve been listening to it frequently ever since. While it’s derivative — what rock music isn’t at this late date? — its ’90s indie-grrl vibe reminds me of Belly and Liz Phair. Allegra Weingarten and Etta Friedman, friends since […]
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