The dBs

Certain Songs #287: The dB’s – “Today Could Be The Day”

August 20, 2015 by Jim Connelly

Album: The Sound of Music
Year: 1987.

I somehow doubt the two things are related, but just as the Rolling Stones ended the mostly lyrically downbeat side two of their classic Out of Our Heads with the upbeat, optimistic, harmonica-driven “One More Try,” the dB’s end the mostly downbeat side two of The Sound of Music with the upbeat, optimistic “Today Could Be The Day.”

Which is just as well, because after songs like “Think Too Hard,” “Never Before and Never Again, “A Better Place” and “Looked at The Sun Too Long,” it was clearly a great call to end on a note of hope.

Certain Songs #284: The dB’s – “Change With The Changing Times”

August 17, 2015 by Jim Connelly

Album: The Sound of Music
Year: 1987

1987 was a helluva year for music. To this day, it remains one of my all-time favorites. R.E.M. broke through into the mainstream while U2 broke through into the stratosphere.

Prince reminded everybody why he’s the greatest musician of our generation while Bruce Springsteen scaled down beautifully. The Replacements and Hüsker Dü made the last of their great records while Public Enemy, Guns n’ Roses & Sonic Youth made the first of theirs.

Certain Songs #282: The dB’s – “Nothing is Wrong”

August 15, 2015 by Jim Connelly

Album: Repercussion
Year: 1982

I’ve mentioned The Who as a big influence on The dB’s, which might not seem intuitive to any of you, but I stand by it. The other big influence is, of course, Big Star. To the point where it only made sense that Chris Stamey has curated the Big Star’s Third live performances (the one in L.A. last year was fantastic) over the past few years.

That said, it was Peter Holsapple who wrote my favorite dB’s Big Star songs. Like “Nothing is Wrong,” a slow burner that comes across like a lost Chris Bell song.

Certain Songs #281: The dB’s – “Happenstance”

August 14, 2015 by Jim Connelly

Album: Repercussion
Year: 1982

“Happenstance,” the lead track from the dB’s second album, the stellar Repercussion, doesn’t blast from the speakers in the same way that “Black and White” took off, but it’s the most early-Who-like song in their catalog.

But not the noisy early Who. More like the version found on A Quick One or even parts of Tommy, where the guitars clang but never ring and the drums build and build but never explode.

19 Musical Moments To Die For

February 13, 2009 by Jim Connelly

This month, in honor of St. ~~Hallmark’s~~ Valentine’s day, it’s a special theme version of Musical Moments To Die For.

Love songs! Nothing but love songs!

Well, that’s not exactly right: not so much love songs, but songs about love, which is a totally different head. Totally.

However, just because I’ve applied a theme to this month’s post, it isn’t meant to be a definitive list of greatest songs about love or anything like that. It just happens that all of the songs this month are about it, that’s all. Which means, not uncoincidentally, a lot of these songs were huge hit singles or are incredibly familiar or obvious. Which, of course, doesn’t make them any less to die for.

This is the seventh in a series: The first one had 25, the second one had 24, the third one had 23, the fourth one had 22, the fifth one had 21, and the sixth had 20.