George Michael performs in Rotterdam, Netherlands on April 12, 1988. He’s finally in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2023. Photo by Rob Verhorst/Redferns. First off, I want to acknowledge that one of my favorite musicians, Gordon Lightfoot, died this week. I will be doing a tribute…

Insert Foot’s Christmas playlist. My cat and I just put together our very first playlist of 14 essential holiday songs and it’s super exciting.  Of course, I did most of the work.   I say that because my cat, who answers to “Marlo” (he does, eventually, the third or fourth time…

Pictured: Either Gordon Lightfoot or editor Daniel J. Willis. Physically, the two are around the same age. Emotionally, Lightfoot is much younger. Good news! It was my birthday yesterday. That means two things: First, it means that I’m somehow even older. You’d think there would be a theoretical maximum…

Daniel J Willis is actually two Skee-Los tall. We took a break from music last week, but now I’m back with our regularly scheduled nonsense. This past Thursday was my birthday, which means it’s time for my annual self-indulgent column of songs I like with no regard for theme…

Andrew WK gave everyone the permission to party hard. Yes, even to Cat Stevens. This week Spotify rolled out its annual Year in Review app, for subscribers to see what their top songs and artists of 2019 were. This year, since 2020 is right around the corner, they stretched…

The night George Michael saved the world. Editor Daniel J. Willis submits his script for “Bill and Ted Face the Music.” My birthday is Tuesday. So in honor of me this week’s column theme is… me. That’s right, rather than picking five songs I like with a common theme,…

L to R: Buckwheat Zydeco, Prince Buster, Phife Dawg, Jean Shepard, Don Buchla. Art: Roman Gokhman It’s safe to say that 2016 has been something of an all-around dumpster fire, especially when it comes to the sheer volume of iconic artists we’ve lost. The list of familiar and life-changing…