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Song of the Day #125: ‘Stay’ – Lisa Loeb

loeb“Men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses.” So said Dorothy Parker, who clearly didn’t anticipate Tina Fey or today’s artist, Lisa Loeb.

Loeb has had a very limited amount of success but I’d guess what little she’s had can be largely attributed to her eye wear. Not to diminish her talents as a singer and songwriter, but it’s hard to deny the power of image in popular music. It’s kind of like Rhianna’s haircut, which seemed to get more press than her songs.

Aside from her glasses, Loeb is known for one thing, and that’s this song… ‘Stay.’

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Song of the Day #124: ‘Noah’s Dove’ – 10,000 Maniacs

10000maniacs10,000 Maniacs is one of those bands that really defines the sound of my teen years. R.E.M. is another, and I’ve always connected the two because of the distinctive voices of lead singers Natalie Merchant and Michael Stipe.

In My Tribe is a stellar album that throws me right back into a very specific time and place… in this case, 1988 in Fairfax County, Virginia, when my sister was introduced to this band by a co-worker and played it that whole summer.

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Great Scenes: Alec Baldwin’s motivational speech in Glengarry Glen Ross

glengarryglenrossI’m an Alec Baldwin fan from way back. Forget all you Johnny-come-latelys who are jazzed by his performances on 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live. I’m talking She’s Having a Baby and Working Girl. I’m talking The Hunt for Red October.

And then, 1990’s Miami Blues launched him into the pantheon. His performance in that wonderful film remains one of my favorite by anybody ever.

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Song of the Day #123: ‘That’s the Way I’ve Always Heard it Should Be’ – Carly Simon

carlysimonFirst, an aside. My god, this woman has a large mouth! Christopher Nolan should look her way if he needs to recast The Joker in the next Batman film.

Carly Simon is one of those artists who make me wonder about the fleeting nature of talent. She put out a series of albums in the early 70s that include some of the finest songs ever written. Her No Secrets is a flawless piece of work, featuring such classics as ‘The Carter Family,’ ‘You’re So Vain’ and ‘The Right Thing to Do.’ That was in 1972.

Since then, she has put out 25 more albums (including collections of covers). And with the exception of Coming Around Again (a very strong album that contained, among other things, a version of ‘Itsy Bitsy Spider’ that my dad just loves) there isn’t a winner among them. And even Coming Around Again was 21 years and 13 albums ago.

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