Category Archives: song of the day

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Song of the Day #3,799: ‘We Got the Beat’ – The Go-Go’s

Miles Copeland, brother of Police drummer Stewart Copeland, co-founded the indie rock label I.R.S. and in early 1981 signed a Los Angeles-based, all-female New Wave quintet called The Go-Go’s.

The band landed a gig opening for The Police thanks to that connection and within a year their debut album, Beauty and the Beat, topped Billboard’s albums chart, spending a month and a half at #1. It was the first time in the chart’s history that an all-female group who wrote their own music hit the top spot.

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Song of the Day 3,798: ‘Every Little Thing She Does is Magic’ – The Police

From the late 70s to the early 80s, The Police released five albums, every one of which went platinum in multiple countries. When all was said and done, they sold more than 100 million records worldwide.

I’ve always known 1983’s Synchronicity was a monster hit — it went eight times platinum in the U.S. alone and spent 17 weeks at #1 on the Billboard chart. But I underestimated how success of the band’s earlier efforts.

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Song of the Day #3,797: ‘Waiting On a Friend’ – The Rolling Stones

As I look at ten celebrated albums of 1981, I’ll highlight some I don’t know at all and some with which I have passing familiarity.

The Rolling Stones’ Tattoo You falls into the second category. I’ve done my share of dipping into The Stones’ catalog, with most of my focus on the remarkable period between 1966 and 1972 (regardless of your opinion of the band, it’s hard to deny the sustained creative excellence of that stretch). The latest Stones album I know well is 1978’s Some Girls.

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Song of the Day #3,796: ‘Hurtin’ (On the Bottle)’ – Margo Price

Sometimes the Random iTunes Fairy reminds me of an artist who had completely slipped my mind. Such is the case with Margo Price, who released an excellent debut album — Midwest Farmer’s Daughter — in 2016.

I played the album a few times and really enjoyed it but then it just fell out of my rotation and I frankly forgot she even existed until today’s random SOTD popped up. This was the first single from the album, and one she played on Saturday Night Live as one of the show’s few country musical guests.

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Song of the Day #3,795: ‘When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings’ – Willie Watson and Tim Blake Nelson

Most of the early discussion about the Coen Brothers’ new film, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, has centered not on its content but its distribution. Produced by NetFlix, and originally rumored to be a limited series rather than a full-length feature, the film is the first in a series of releases by the streaming platform of films by high-profile directors.

Next up is Alfonso Cuaron’s lavishly received Roma, with Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman due in early 2019. Each of these films will get a very limited theatrical release to secure award season eligibility but for the vast majority of viewers, it will be found only on their TV, or God forbid, their iPhone.

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