The best pop album I’ve heard in 2018 actually came out in 2017. That’s Dua Lipa’s self-titled debut, which is so packed with bangers and bops that it could be a greatest hits collection. That woman is a talent.
The second best 2017 pop album I’ve heard is another debut, Camila by former Fifth Harmony member Camila Cabello. Best known for #1 hit ‘Havana,’ this is a sultry, introspective album about as far from Cabello’s girl band roots as she could get.
I don’t know anything about Father John Misty other than he’s apparently a major asshole. I’ve read snarky interviews where he trashes other musicians and accounts of other musicians trashing him.
He once announced that he would cover Ryan Adams’ 1989, which is a song-by-song cover of Taylor Swift’s 1989, to “match one grotesque stunt with another.” Adams, in turn, bashed Father John Misty on Twitter, calling him “the most self-important Asshole on earth” and, amusingly, “Sir Fuckhead.” Adams later apologized, saying he was having a bad day.
Before I intervened with some Frank Sinatra, this was the randomly dialed-up song slated for my father’s 75th birthday. Not exactly the best fit.
On the other hand, a pop-rock anthem by Kesha (featuring Eagles of Death Metal) encouraging people to ignore criticism and shine on through the negativity is appropriate on any day, including a milestone birthday.
Today is my father’s 75th birthday, a grand milestone for a grand man!
I’m cheating a bit by not featuring an individual song but instead an entire TV special as today’s SOTD. This is the 1990 celebration Sinatra 75: The Best is Yet to Come, a TV special that combined documentary footage with a live performance by the birthday boy himself.
Meet Me In Montauk 