Arts and Entertainment
Song of the Day 11/25: Bruce Springsteen, “Last Man Standing”
Bruce Springsteen’s “Letter to You” album, released a month ago, got reviews I would characterize more as respectful than enthusiastic. Many of the songs replicate the arena-rock template Springsteen laid down 40 years ago, but most are neither written nor delivered with the passion he had in the ’80s — Springsteen said he wrote nine […]
Song of the Day 11/24: Dave Clark Five, “Glad All Over”
When the Beatles led the first wave of the British Invasion, the band that challenged them in popularity wasn’t the Rolling Stones, who were still playing blues covers — it was the Dave Clark 5. Unlike the skiffle-influenced Merseybeat sound of the Beatles and other Liverpool bands, the north London-based DC5 were straight-up rock-and-rollers. They […]
Song of the Day 11/23: Cream, “Badge”
Eric Clapton and George Harrison’s lives and careers were intertwined to a remarkable degree — they played on each other’s albums, they gave each other guitars, they even stayed friends as they vied for the same woman, Harrison’s first wife, Pattie Boyd. But they only wrote one song together. As Harrison explained years later, “Each […]
Song of the Day 11/22: Grand Funk Railroad, “I’m Your Captain/Closer to Home”
When it comes to guys cracking up, I like the classics. This song, probably best and most-popular in Grand Funk’s repertoire, has been open to wide interpretation — one view holds that the “captain” is Richard Nixon, and the song about Vietnam. I always thought it represented a guy losing control of both his life […]
Song of the Day 11/21: Laurie Anderson, “It’s Not the Bullet That Kills You (It’s the Hole)”
Laurie Anderson was a performance artist and musician with a following among New York’s boho art scene for years before she became suddenly famous in 1981, when star British DJ John Peel championed her single “O Superman.” He propelled it to No. 2 on the UK charts, and her resulting LP “Big Science” did the […]
Song of the Day 11/20: Shark Tape, “Neverlast”
I have no topical reference today, just a song I keep on my playlist that nobody else has ever heard. I’m a sucker for power pop, and this little ditty hits my sweet spot — lots of jangly guitar with a melancholy edge, sort of a latter-day Gin Blossoms vibe. Shark Tape is, or was, […]
Song of the Day 11/19: AC/DC, “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap”
Theme song for Trump’s legal team, though I’m skeptical about the “done dirt cheap” part. Of course, they’re cheap from Trump’s standpoint — he’ll just stiff them. AC/DC didn’t break in the States right away. This was the title song to a 1976 LP, recorded while Bon Scott was still alive. The song and album […]
Song of the Day 11/18: King Luan, “There Are No Gnomes in Sweden”
I don’t watch much TV except for my exposure when my wife does — I call it eaveswatching, because I’m usually just listening while I’m doing something else — so until last night I had never seen Jimmy Fallon do a Tonight Show bit called the “Do Not Play List.” The idea is simple enough: […]
Song of the Day 11/17: James Gang, “Walk Away”
People think of the James Gang as Joe Walsh’s old band from Cleveland, but despite fronting the power trio and doing most of the songwriting during its 1968-71 heyday, Walsh was neither the first nor last to hold that job — the best-known was Tommy Bolin, who later joined Deep Purple — in a band […]
Song of the Day 11/16: The Association, “Along Comes Mary”
Voters in New Jersey, Arizona, South Dakota, and Montana legalized recreational marijuana two weeks ago, bringing the total to 15 states with legal weed. It’s a far cry from 1966, when this single from the Association was controversial for its coded endorsement of pot. Tambyn Almer, who wrote the tune, admitted as much in later […]
Song of the Day 11/15: Rickie Lee Jones, “Show Biz Kids”
Good covers of Steely Dan songs are hard to come by, and this is generally acknowledged as one of the best. Rickie Lee Jones gave Fagen and Becker’s nasty riff and snide lyrics a decidedly beatnik vibe on her Grammy-winning 2000 LP of covers, “It’s Like This.” The original has inspired years of debate about […]
Song of the Day 11/14: Scandal, “Goodbye to You”
To everything there is a season, and with you-know-who in mind, this is the season for kiss-off songs. This New Wave classic by Patty Smyth and Scandal was the standout track on the band’s introductory EP in 1982. The song, written by guitarist and band leader Zack Smith, reached only No. 65 on the Hot […]
Song of the Day 11/13: Steve Miller Band, “Take the Money and Run”
Trump’s stubborn fandom will forever perplex me, but I think it’s related to the way Americans lionized bank robbers during the Depression, or outlaws like Jesse James in the post-Civil War days. Trump fits right in — he’s still taking the rubes’ money, and one way or another he’s gonna run, either for office or […]
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