Arts and Entertainment
Song of the Day 1/25: Otis Redding, “These Arms of Mine”
It’s getting damn hard to honor somebody with a statue in this country. Sure, it’s more common these days to remove statues than install them as we reevaluate who’s worthy of the honor, but even when people agree someone deserves recognition, those in charge are told they’re doing it wrong. Consider the case of the […]
Song of the Day 1/24: Randy Rainbow, “Speaker of the House”
We hadn’t heard from Washington’s singing court jester, Randy Rainbow, for a while, but Kevin McCarthy’s long road to the speakership of the House of Horribles™ apparently inspired him. The tune is “Master of the House” from “Les Miserables,” but don’t hold that against it. Is it me, or is Randy working bluer than he […]
Song of the Day 1/23: Pink Floyd, “Brain Damage/Eclipse”
We can file this one under Things I Wish I’d Made Up: RWNJs think Pink Floyd has “gone woke.” This year marks the 50th anniversary of Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon,” something that didn’t go unnoticed by the suits at Sony. The LP has spent decades on the Billboard 200 album chart and […]
Song of the Day 1/22: The Radiants, “Hold On”
Listening yesterday to WXPN’s tribute to Jerry Blavat, I was reminded that back in the day the national music scene was a lot less homogenized than it is today. With heavy promotion a song could break nationwide, but a record like Billy Harner’s “Sally Sayin’ Somethin’” could be a big hit in Philadelphia and almost […]
Song of the Day 1/21: Jerry Blavat and the Yon Teenagers, “Discophonic Walk”
A thirtysomething guy was telling me just the other day how much he enjoyed listening to Jerry Blavat’s oldies show on WXPN on Saturday evenings. If you’ve never heard it, the Geator with the Heater, who died at age 82 yesterday, spun tales of his early days in the music business and rhapsodized about the […]
Song of the Day 1/20: David Crosby, “Triad”
A critic once called David Crosby rock’s ultimate survivor. I’d quibble with that — Keith Richards charted much the same course, and did it all on just one liver — but that critic wasn’t far off. Crosby went from folkie to hippie to junkie and came out the other side as a rock star emeritus […]
Song of the Day 1/19: First Aid Kit, “A Feeling That Never Came”
I usually leave the new music to El Somnambulo, who does it better than I could ever hope to. But I don’t think he flagged this quiet banger when the Swedish indie-folk duo, sisters Klara and Johanna Söderberg, dropped their fifth album, “Palomino,” last November. When I heard this tune on the radio I didn’t […]
Song of the Day 1/18: Brownsville Station, “Smokin’ in the Boys Room”
When control of the House of Representatives changes hands, so does the prime office space. Republicans now occupy high-traffic areas, making more public one of the institution’s dirty little secrets: Smoking is allowed in the private offices of members of Congress. Congressional offices from the first have been exempted from Washington’s ban on indoor smoking, […]
Song of the Day 1/17: The Ting Tings, “That’s Not My Name”
Hats off to the programming whizzes who lined up the entertainment by our new Congress. Not only are we treated to lots of scary stories about the new Republican House of Horrors, we get the George Santos saga for comic relief. Sure, we can fault the New York Democratic Party for Santos — losing to […]
Song of the Day 1/16: Stevie Wonder, “Happy Birthday”
This song is a big reason why today is a national holiday. In the late ’70s several states had honored the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. by making his birthday with a holiday, but a bill to establish it nationally went down to defeat in Congress in 1979. Wonder wrote “Happy Birthday” in response and […]
Song of the Day 1/15: Frank Wilson, “Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)”
On Bruce Springsteen’s LP of soul and Motown songs, “Only the Strong Survive,” the Boss covers a few hits, like the title track and “Someday We’ll Be Together.” But he also features a few songs that flew under the radar when they were released, none more so than Frank Wilson’s “Do I Love You (Indeed […]
Song of the Day 1/13: Laura Nyro, “Hands Off the Man (The Flim-Flam Man)”
It’s hard to choose any one Republicon to dedicate this song to — they’re all flim-flam artists to one extent or another, and always have been. Laura Nyro apparently wrote this for the 1967 film “The Flim-Flam Man,” with George C. Scott in the title role. It wasn’t used in the movie, but it showed […]
Song of the Day 1/12: Jeff Beck, “People Get Ready”
The Yardbirds spawned three of rock’s most revered guitarists — Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck. The first two have higher profiles, but a lot of people would tell you Beck, who died Tuesday at age 78, was the best of the three. He certainly was the most versatile, exploring musical styles beyond pop […]
Recent Comments