Arts and Entertainment
Song of the Day 3/9: Booker T. and the MGs, “Time Is Tight”
Released as a single in 1968, this instrumental jam, credited to all four members of the legendary Stax house band, became the second-biggest hit of their headlining career, peaking at No. 6. It’s easy to hear why –Duck Dunn lays down a chooglin’ bass groove and Booker T. Jones plays his Hammond B-3 like a […]
Song of the Day 3/7: Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, “The Money Song”
Man, all this agitation for raising the minimum wage to a level a person could live has been going on forever, hasn’t it? Your grandpa probably busted a gut listening to the hot young comedy duo when they cut this routine on a Capitol Records 78 — on shellac — in 1948, voicing age-old complaints […]
Song of the Day 3/5: Suzanne Vega, “When Heroes Go Down”
The story, most recently, of Andrew Cuomo, lionized during the early days of the pandemic as the anti-Trump. From Suzanne Vega’s 1992 LP 99.9F°. When heroes go down They go down fast So don’t expect any time to Equivocate the past When heroes go down They land in flame So don’t expect any slow and […]
Song of the Day 3/4: The Presidents of the United States of America, “Volcano”
This one’s in honor of Indonesia’s Mount Sinabung, which started belching hot ash a couple of days ago. PUSA, as they were known, explained the way the geology works with this song from their second album, released in 1996.
Song of the Day 3/3: Mark Chestnutt, “Blame It on Texas”
Texas’ sociopathic leadership has lifted all Covid restrictions, which makes me think they can’t secede soon enough — if it were a foreign country we could impose a travel ban. Country music loves to sing the praises of the Lone Star State, but only Mark Chestnutt told the truth about Texans — they’re insane, eager […]
Song of the Day 3/1: Drive-By Truckers, “This Fucking Job”
The need for a higher minimum wage has been apparent for many years now, and anyone who claims $15 is too much too soon should study the issue a little more (if wages had kept pace with corporate profits since the 1970s, the minimum wage would be about $23 an hour). Even songwriters have been […]
‘Bulo’s Fave Tunes: February 2021
OK, I’ll admit it. Last month, I might have reached for a song or two that otherwise did not meet my demanding musical standards. You need have no such concerns this month. On a more incongruous note, I believe that this is the first month where I’ve had two songs by artists whose names begin […]
Song of the Day 2/27: Peter Gabriel and Playing for Change, “Biko”
Playing for Change, the music-education non-profit that records musicians around the world playing the same song and edits them into videos, released this Peter Gabriel classic a couple of weeks ago, 40 years after its original release, repurposing the anti-apartheid anthem to address police brutality. The notion has legitimate connection to the issue — after […]
Song of the Day 2/25: Warren Zevon, “Lawyers, Guns and Money”
I don’t know how I missed it, but until this Zevon classic from 1978’s “Excitable Boy” came up on a Spotify playlist last night I never realized it fit The Last Guy™ so well. What did he spend weeks asking for? A steady supply of lawyers, Proud Boy/Oath Keeper guns, and money — lots and […]
Song of the Day 2/24: John Prine, “Humidity Built the Snowman”
It’s been just over a year since John Prine’s last concert, at Cafe de la Danse in Paris, one my wife was lucky enough to attend. This tune was on the set list, as it often was since its release on his 1995 LP “Lost Dogs and Mixed Blessings,” an album full of songs about […]
Song of the Day 2/22: David Bowie, “Life on Mars?”
Perseverance, NASA’s latest Mars rover, landed on the Red Planet last week, and today the space agency unveiled video of its descent from the lander itself. It’s looking, of course, for life on Mars. Bowie included the song, featuring Rick Wakeman on piano and a string arrangement by guitarist Mick Ronson, on his 1971 “Hunky […]
Song of the Day 2/21: The Go-Go’s, “Vacation”
In one sense I can sympathize with Ted Cruz — who doesn’t want a vacation from the cold and snow? Cruz is such a wuss he vamoosed after a cold couple of days. Northerners have put up with it for weeks now. The Go-Go’s released this title song in 1982 as the first single from […]
Song of the Day 2/19: The Bangles, “Hazy Shade of Winter”
The Bangles had been playing this Paul Simon composition in concert for several years when they were approached about contributing a song to the “Less Than Zero” soundtrack (which doesn’t contain Elvis Costello’s “Less Than Zero,” maybe because that’s who author Bret Easton Ellis stole the title from). Under Rick Rubin’s production, the song reached […]
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