Arts and Entertainment
Song of the Day 9/21: Graham Parker, “You’ve Got to Be Kidding”
Judging by the visitors to our comments section today, I’m guessing it’s walkabout day at the RWNJ adult-care center. They apparently take themselves very seriously, but if they expect anyone else to take them seriously, well, they can take it up with Graham Parker. This tune was on Parker’s debut LP, “Howlin’ Wind,” released in […]
Song of the Day 9/19: Squeeze, “Tempted”
Writers lazily compare Squeeze’s Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook to John Lennon and Paul McCartney, but they worked more like a musical theater team — Difford wrote the lyrics, Tilbrook the music, like Bernie Taupin and Elton John. Tilbrook’s inventive melodies and genre-spanning compositions get most of the critical attention, but Difford could amaze in […]
Song of the Day 9/18: Nicki Minaj, “Anaconda”
Given that Trinidadian rapper/twerker Nicki Minaj is now an expert on the Covid vaccine’s effect on the male reproductive organs, I thought readers might appreciate a look at her credentials. I’m not sure what her major was in college, but immunology doesn’t appear to have been her field of advanced study. I do think, however, […]
Song of the Day 9/15: Billy Joe Shaver, “I’m Just an Old Chunk of Coal (But I’m Gonna Be a Diamond Someday)” Plus the Best Norm MacDonald Clip
Comedian Norm MacDonald, that self-identified Old Chunk of Coal, was sick with cancer for almost a decade before he died the other day, and told almost nobody. He started referring to himself as “just an old chunk of coal” seven or eight years ago, and this, apparently his favorite country song, is where the phrase […]
Song of the Day 9/13: Iggy Pop, “Mask”
What is it with MAGAnuts and their hatred of masks? Have you seen videos of these disturbed people, frothing at the mouth over the fact that their kids have to wear facemasks in school? Not only is wearing a mask a crucial step in public health, I have to agree with Iggy here — you […]
Song of the Day 9/12: Bill Withers, “Ain’t No Sunshine”
This one gets my vote for the most effective I-miss-my-woman song ever written. Bill Withers’ breakthrough hit was inspired by one of the great parting scenes in cinema — no, not “Casablanca,” but a film we don’t hear much about anymore despite its outstanding reputation, “Days of Wine and Roses,” starring Jack Lemmon and Lee […]
Song of the Day 9/11: Pat Benetar, “Hit Me With Your Best Shot”
Joe Biden is hitting America’s homicidal Republicans with his best shot — a vaccine mandate that’s popular with over 60% of the public, even in deep-red states. Somebody should tell all those butch GOPers they’re acting like soy boys — man up and take the shot. The tune, Pat Benetar’s first Top 10 hit (No. […]
Song of the Day 9/9: Big Daddy Graham, “Let’s Call in Sick”
The obituary identifies Big Daddy Graham, who died yesterday at 68, as a longtime WIP radio-show host, and that was definitely the most successful of his various gigs. But anyone around her in the ’80s, when the standup comedy boom had clubs opening even in unfunny places like Wilmington, Big Daddy — born Edward Gudonis […]
Song of the Day 9/7: The Beatles, “Do You Want to Know a Secret”
Pete ‘n’ Val have a secret, but it’s not hard to guess what it is: Gerald Brady will not be expelled from the General Assembly. This was the first Beatles single to feature George Harrison on lead vocal. The tune was composed in autumn 1962, primarily by John Lennon, who based it on the first […]
Song of the Day 9/5: Ani DiFranco, “Amendment”
Ani DiFranco has the solution to the Supreme Court’s attack on abortion rights. I don’t think it will happen anytime soon, but that doesn’t make her wrong.
Song of the Day 9/2: Friends of Distinction, “Grazing in the Grass”
This song just missed topping the charts twice — the first time as South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela’s instrumental version, which reached No. 1 in 1968, and again in 1970, when the Friends of Distinction added lyrics and took it to No. 3. Lead singer Harry Enten wrote them, and while Masekela’s reference to grass […]
Song of the Day 9/1: Tom T. Hall, “(Old Dogs, Children and) Watermelon Wine”
Songwriter and country singer Tom T. Hall died last month, and the world lost a wise old soul when he did. Hall wrote more than 20 No. 1 hits on the country charts, and sang several himself, but he’s mainly known through his only No. 1 on the Hot 100, the 1968 crossover smash “Harper […]
‘Bulo’s Fave Tunes: August 2021
There’s so much to enjoy (and possibly to be offended by) this month. In other words, my kind of list: CATBITE!! “I’m good, I’m veryvery good.” BONUS: Videos Only. Watch ’em back to back. What punk and politics should be. And how every one of their vids should end: That’s all I got. I ain’t […]
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