SoTD 11/4/2026: Because - Ronnie Spector

I meant to post this one about two days ago... I'm tired. Is anyone else tired?

(I am not tired due the results of last night's American mid-terms, this was not meant to be a thinly-veiled commentary on that. I am very pleased with those results. I'm happy to be "Woke" or "PC" or whatever slur right-wingers will develop for empathy next... Blue Texas! Never thought I'd see that in my lifetime. Trump's probably been beating Vance with a golf club for 24 hours straight.)

SoTD 10/30/2026: You Like Me Too Much - The Beatles

I've been wondering how long it would take for this feature to get to a Beatles song. Today feels like a good day for it-- at long last, I finally have all of the "canonical" Beatles albums on vinyl. Help was the last one I needed (well, the standard version of Help; I've had a copy of the hacked-up North-American version that's mixed weirdly and missing a bunch of songs for a couple of years now), and I picked it up today! I've heard this record about nine-hundred-thousand times in my life, yet it took until today to bring it home on wax. Go figure.

Choosing to spotlight George's second entry on the album for today's SoTD instalment. It's a good one, and an overlooked one too in my opinion. I think he came into his own as a songwriter a good deal earlier than most people tend to recognize. 

Dennis The Morrison

I drew this in 2024, felt like sharing it here because hey, why not! Be sure to click on the images for a higher-resolution look at them... Blogger seems to compress pictures a good deal unless you do that.

SoTD 10/27/2026: Hang On To Yourself (01/18/1972 Recording) - David Bowie

 

Proto-punky raunch 'n roll at its finest. I honestly might favor this take over the one that wound up on the Ziggy Stardust album a few months later... Ronson's guitar tone is perfect.

I like giving alternate takes/versions of songs a look now and then. I think there will be more of those in future Song o' The Day instalments. I really wish the Sex Pistols' 76-77 album wasn't region-blocked on Spotify for me, because there are several choice cuts from that compilation that I would love to add to the designated playlist...

SoTD 10/23/2026: Get Rid of Him - Dionne Warwick

 

Much like the aforementioned Brickfield Nights, this is one that's been stuck in my head a good deal lately. Phil Spector probably wishes he had come up with this tune (in whatever pit of Hell he currently resides in).

According to the YouTube comments, the Shirelles sang backup here... is that true? Pretty cool if so!

SoTD 10/22/2026: The Gold It's In The... - Pink Floyd

An under-appreciated gem from the one right before Dark Side of The Moon...

SoTD 10/19/2026: Betrayal Takes Two - Richard Hell & The Voidoids

 

Perhaps a very materialistic thing to celebrate, but I feel as though I've been approaching a place where I'm quite satisfied with my record collection. There is certainly much more that I'd like to get (an embarrassing amount to admit), but at this point I have the majority of what I would consider my "essentials". 

I fully recognize, like I said beforehand, that this is a very materialistic aspect of my life. But I don't think it's necessarily a bad form of materialism. I spend much of my free time in pursuit of records, books and DVDs that contain material that means something to me. I have no love in my heart for consumerism, but when you're trying to keep a collection of the art that has impacted you (especially a physical collection in this era where conglomerates like to limit the availability of certain things via the streaming platforms they push) I think that is ultimately an enriching experience. Especially as I would like to think that I have a rather varied collection of art and am always trying to broaden my horizons to at least some extent. Maybe I'm just making excuses, I don't know. Lately I've come more and more to the conclusion that enjoying art is one of the better things you can do for yourself while being alive. Who knows when you might be hearing your favorite song for the last time? This is probably silly, but I do hope whatever kind of afterlife we get comes with a personal library. Would it really be Heaven if I can never sit in a comfy bed with my cats and read my favorite books again? 

For my birthday recently, my beautiful partner Zo got me a copy of Richard Hell and The Voidoids' "Blank Generation" on vinyl. It's the 40th anniversary "deluxe" edition, which comes with a bonus disc of alternate takes and a beautiful booklet where Hell himself walks us through all the songs and what they mean to him. This has been one of my favorite albums since I was a teenager. I was actually fortunate enough to briefly meet Hell a couple of months ago, as he did a talk and book signing at a library downtown. There's a lot of personal meaning and pleasure in this music for me by this point.

As I was sitting there today, flipping through said booklet and hearing "Betrayal Takes Two" blare though my speaker, sounding better than it ever had before (up until now, I had to hear the album through my teenage laptop, then my college-era iPod, then streaming), I thought, "Hey, this is pretty sweet".

SoTD 10/16/2026: Brickfield Nights - The Boys

 

This one's been stuck in my head for the last few days. That chorus is just about perfect. If it isn't perfect, then I don't want to know what perfect is.

The Hollywood Brats are one of my favorite bands, I need to make a point of listening to the Boys more often...