Arts and Entertainment
Song of the Day 8/4: Cam Cole, “Mama”
I was watching the first season of “Ted Lasso,” the Jason Sudeikis comedy about an American football coach who’s hired to manage a British football squad. In one episode the owner of the team is hosting a benefit gala when the featured musical act, Robbie Williams (a big star in Britain), cancels at the last […]
Song of the Day 8/3: Hüsker Dü, “Love Is All Around” (Mary Tyler Moore theme)
Back in the days of punk rock, a lot of bands would emulate the Ramones by covering familiar songs at a breakneck tempo — think of the Clash covering “I Fought the Law,” or the Ataris’ take on Don Henley’s “Boys of Summer.” Part of the fun was choosing songs totally incongruous with punk aesthetics, […]
Song of the Day 8/2: Foxes and Fossils, “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes”
This is the story of a local cover band that became YouTube famous. I first started seeing Foxes and Fossils in my feed a year or more ago, during the pandemic lockdown, probably because I listen to a good bit of vocal harmony stuff. I don’t recall clicking on anything, but lots of other people […]
‘Bulo’s Fave Tunes: July 2021
Kids, if you haven’t gotten vaccinated yet, and you don’t like any of these tunes, then don’t get vaccinated. Self-selection isn’t just for anti-vax mouthbreathers, it’s for music hate-ahs too. Enjoy. That’s an order. I hereby predict that this will be Nathan Arizona’s Fave Of The Month: One of our […]
Song of the Day 8/1: Los Lobos, “Native Son”
H/t Nathan Arizona Los Lobos just dropped a new album of cover songs, “Native Sons,” all by bands from Los Angeles, and not just obvious choices like the Chicano band Thee Midniters — the Beach Boys, Buffalo Springfield, the Blasters and even Jackson Browne are represented. Los Lobos did write one original song for the […]
Song of the Day 7/30: Kansas, “Dust in the Wind”
Robby Steinhardt, second vocalist and violinist for the band Kansas, died last week of pancreatitis, aged 71. He wasn’t the group’s leader, but his violin was the most distinctive element of their prog-rock sound, and his wild mane was its most arresting visual feature. He also served as front man during their concerts, making the […]
Song of the Day 7/29: ZZ Top, “Tush”
Texas blues-rockers ZZ Top are undergoing their first personnel change in 51 years today because bassist and second lead vocalist Dusty Hill died in his sleep Tuesday. The band became famous in the early years of MTV, which debuted about the same time ZZ Top began to augment their power-trio boogie with new wave trappings. […]
Song of the Day 7/28: Allman Brothers Band, “Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More”
It’s a good time to eat a peach — it’s the height of a better-than-average peach season. It’s also a good time to play “Eat a Peach,” the soundtrack of many a lazy Rehoboth Beach day back in the ’70s. The band, still basking in the success of “Live at Fillmore East,” was in the […]
Song of the Day 7/27: The Coasters, “Young Blood”
Aged-out frat boy Matt Gaetz thinks he’s somehow going to survive his scandalous behavior with underage females, even in the face of stories like this one, in which the sister of his fiancee calls Gaetz a “literal pedophile” (she later corrected that to “ephebophile,” the term for someone attracted to post-pubescent teens). Where could Gaetz […]
Song of the Day 7/26: Iggy Pop, “China Girl”
For Gerald Brady. Yeah, you know the hit version (No. 10 US, No. 2 UK) that Nile Rodgers produced for David Bowie, but it was first recorded six years earlier by Bowie’s co-writer, Iggy Pop, for his debut solo LP, 1977’s “The Idiot,” which Bowie produced. According to a Bowie biography, the song was inspired […]
Song of the Day 7/25: The Weakerthans, “Psalm for the Elks Lodge Last Call”
When people complained about Bob Dylan being awarded the Nobel Prize in literature because “lyrics aren’t literature,” they betrayed their ignorance about literature. Some of the earliest writings in the Western canon, including the Bible’s Book of Psalms, originated as song lyrics. The word “psalm” itself is derived from the Greek word meaning music and, […]
Song of the Day 7/23: John Mayer, “Last Train Home”
The last thing I expected this summer was brand-new yacht rock, yet here it is. Someone played this for me and dared me to guess who it was, and all I could come up with was “Stevie Winwood or maybe Mark Knopfler but somebody else singing.” The last person I would have guessed was John […]
Song of the Day 7/22: Bruce Springsteen, “Wings for Wheels”
An odd story about a Bruce Springsteen composition popped up recently — an argument about the lyrics to his iconic song “Thunder Road.” Since the release of his “Born to Run” album in August 1975, everyone has sung the first line of the song as “The screen door slams, Mary’s dress waves,” with good reason: […]
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