Tunes Du Jour Celebrates International Be Kind To Lawyers Day

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It started, as these things often do, with a law.

Or more accurately, with three: “Law of the Land” (Temptations), “The Laws Have Changed” (New Pornographers), and “You Can’t Rule Me” (Lucinda Williams). A trifecta of declarations, all suggesting that whether you’re enforcing the law or dodging it, someone’s about to get into trouble.

This playlist is my musical tribute to International Be Kind To Lawyers Day — a real holiday, celebrated annually on the second Tuesday in April, for reasons that are presumably legal. It’s not just about lawyers, though. This 30-track journey follows the trajectory of a full-blown legal drama: rules are established, rules are broken, crimes are committed, time is served, lawyers are called, and justice is… complicated.

We meet a few Fun Lovin’ Criminals, some Smooth Criminals, and even those who insist they’re just Criminal Minded. The lawbreakers get caught — there’s fighting, testifying, jail time, and at least one unfortunate visit to the Court of the Crimson King (which, I suspect, is not a traffic violation court).

And let’s not forget the lawyers themselves. They’re gun-toting in one song, love-struck in another, and altogether overburdened. But in honor of their service — and in defense of their billable hours — we end on a note of redemption: “Return to Innocence” by Enigma. Because if music has taught us anything, it’s that legal complications can always be resolved in just over four minutes.

So, whether you’re in the mood to break the law, beat the rap, or rap to the beat of the Fat Boys (or Snoop, Freddie Gibbs, Boogie Down Productions…), press play and pass the gavel. And if you happen to know a lawyer, consider saying something nice. After all, they know where all the paperwork is buried.

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Your (Almost) Daily Playlist: 2-20-24

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Steely Dan’s Walter Becker was obsessed with a tiny sound glitch on the album Katy Lied and flew to a 3M factory in Minnesota to find out the cause. It turned out to be a blot of dried mustard on the tape. Duh!

The late Walter Becker was born on this date in 1950. Lots of Steely Dan on today’s playlist.

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Your (Almost) Daily Playlist: 11-15-23

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I saw the movie Muriel’s Wedding with my friend Kathy in the theater when it was released. You know what’s better than watching Muriel’s Wedding? Not watching Muriel’s Wedding. As I recall, ugly duckling Muriel marries a smoking hot South African swimmer who looks like he stepped out of a Calvin Klein ad and then dumps him for no good reason. Oh, I probably should have written SPOILER ALERT before I told you that. Oh well. Here’s another SPOILER ALERT: Muriel’s an idiot. When she tells the delicious hunk of meat that they’re over, Kathy screamed out “WHAT?” I felt the same, as did most of the people in the theater, as we were in a gay neighborhood. Why would she leave that gorgeous piece of manflesh? To “discover herself?” To “follow her dream?” Give me a break. The only thing she found was a one-way ticket to Loserville. The best thing about Muriel’s Wedding…well, the best thing about Muriel’s Wedding not counting that yummy man candy who Muriel threw away like yesterday’s trash is that it brought AꓭBA back to the spotlight. Since their breakup in 198something they remained prominent throughout much of the world, but in the US, they were a campy artifact of a bygone era. Stateside the group had one number one single, “Dancing Queen,” whereas in England they hit number one 1,876 times. England. People in England are – I say this with love and as a die-hard AꓭBA fan – nuts. Anyhoo, after Muriel’s Wedding we got AꓭBA featured in the delightful motion picture The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, which I also saw in the movie theater, where I was seated behind former New York City mayor Ed Koch, who I used to call Ed Crotch. Then we got the jukebox musical Mamma Mia, which was super successful on stage and screen. I never saw it on stage but I saw the movie – not in the theater but on television – and it made me miss my friends in New York – Kathy, Laura, Daisy, Debbie – because we used to have bad movie days every few weeks where we’d watch Showgirls or Battlefield Earth or that movie in which Anna Nicole Smith played a hostage negotiator and we’d laugh and talk through the movies and it was always a blast. They would love Mamma Mia. It’s like the musical equivalent of Showgirls. I know many disagree. Many disagree with me (and Kathy) about Muriel’s Wedding, too. To each their own. You’re allowed to have your wrong opinions.

AꓭBA’s Frida was born Anni-Frid Lyngstadon this date in 1945. Lots of AꓭBA on today’s playlist.

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Your (Almost) Daily Playlist: 9-1-23

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The Bee Gees wrote “How Deep Is Your Love” at the Château d’Hérouville in France, where Chopin had stayed and played piano, though Chopin wasn’t involved in the recording of the song, as he was busy being dead. The song was intended for Yvonne Elliman, but Robert Stigwood, the producer of Saturday Night Fever, said “No, no way. Uh uh. Forget it.” The Gibb brothers took their song to number one, the first of 7034 number one hits (give or take) from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. HDIYL spent 17 weeks in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100, a record at that time.

Bee Gee Barry Gibb was born on this date in 1946. A half dozen of his group’s hits are included on today’s playlist.

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Your (Almost) Daily Playlist: 9-18-22

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Today’s playlist celebrates the September 18 birthdays of The Ramones’ Dee Dee Ramone, Dizzee Rascal, The Jayhawks’ Mark Olson, Noname, Bell Biv DeVoe’s Ricky Bell, Frankie Avalon, Xzibit, Dodgy’s Nigel Clark, Kira Isabella, Friends’ Samantha Urbani, and Jimmie Rodgers; and the September 19 birthdays of Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker, Chic’s Nile Rodgers, Mama Cass Elliot, The Righteous Brothers’ Bill Medley, Skepta, 10cc’s Lol Creme, Billy Ward, Tegan and Sara, Marshall Jefferson, Brook Benton, Les Savy Fav’s Tim Harrington, Jay Electronica, The Springfields’ Mike Hurst, Eamon, Lit’s A. Jay Popoff, Lita Ford, Rex Smith, Austin Roberts, and Teddybears’ Patrik Arve.

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Throwback Thursday: 1975

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Today’s Throwback Thursday playlist revisits the music of 1975. Each of the 30 songs below made the pop top 40. I miss the days before radio became so segmented and one could hear Eagles rubbing up against Minnie Riperton next to Bob Dylan followed by Labelle with Bruce Springsteen’s first hit playing with The Captain & Tennille’s first hit on deck. It satisfies the musical omnivore that I am.