FIRST HOUR
Geno (Dexy's Midnight Runners)
(1980) ... bold and brassy chart-topping single which still sounds as fresh as ever, paying homage to soul legend Geno Washington
Malt And Barley Blues (McGuinness Flint)
(1971)... second of two Top 5 hits from the band formed by Tom McGuinness, former bassist and guitarist with Manfred Mann, and Hughie Flint, previously the drummer with John Mayall's band. Joining them were vocalist and keyboard player Dennis Coulson, also multi-instrumentalists / singer-songwriters Benny Gallagher and Graham Lyle who returned to the chart five years later as Gallagher and Lyle ( I Want To Stay With You, Heart On My Sleeve, Breakaway) [W]
Fall At Your Feet (Crowded House)
... from the first of today's featured years ~ the band from Australia and New Zealand peaking at # 17 in the UK with their second appearance in our Top 40 five years after their first - Don't Dream It's Over
Santa songs which span the decades
Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town (Jackson 5)
(1970) ... one of the most enduring seasonal songs, which has been around since the 1930s - recorded by a vast array of artists in widely varying styles from Ella Fitzgerald to Bruce Springsteen. The J5 version is from the Christmas album released at the end of a highly successful year for the group which included their first four UK Top 10ers
Santa Baby (Ariana Grande feat. Liz Gillies)
(2013) ... recorded for her EP Christmas Kisses, six decades on from the original hit version by Eartha Kitt, Others who have covered the song include Madonna, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, LeAnn Rimes, Kylie Minogue, The Pussycat Dolls and Michael Bublé [W]
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He Was Really Sayin' Somethin' (The Velvelettes)
(1965) ... a fairly modest sized Motown hit in the US , successfully covered here in the early '80s by Bananarama & Fun Boy Three
Newsround Tameside: 30 years ago ~ 1991
Rocket Man (Kate Bush)
... from Two Rooms - an album of various artists covering some of the best known songs by Elton John and Bernie Taupin. In 2007, Kate's reggae-inflected re-invention of Rocket Man won The Observer readers' award for Greatest Cover of all time [W]
All 4 Love (Color Me Badd)
... second and final UK hit for the American contemporary R&B group
Dizzy (Vic Reeves and The Wonder Stuff)
... a coming together of diverse talents which paid off with this chart-topping single, equaling the success of Tommy Roe's 1969 original version
How Can I Love You More (M People)
... the group who would go on to become one of the top chart acts of the '90s, formed by influential Manchester DJ Mike Pickering featuring the distinctive, powerful voice of Heather Small
These Are The Days Of Our Lives (Queen)
... a fitting tribute to Freddie Mercury, whose death aged 45 from an AIDS-related illness had been announced just days before. Coupled with the reissue of Bohemian Rhapsody, the single went straight to # 1 and stayed there for five weeks. Queen thus became the first band to have a Christmas # 1 twice with the same song
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It's A Marshmallow World (Darlene Love)
(1963) ... a snow scene in a song from the album A Christmas Gift For You, produced by Phil Spector and showcasing his roster of artists. Darlene's other contributions are Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) and the much better known and more widely covered Winter Wonderland and White Christmas
Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree (Mel & Kim)
(1987) .... the unlikely pairing of Mel Smith and Kim Wilde for one of the first Comic Relief charity singles. Whenever she has been appearing live at this time of year, Kim has been known to perform the song solo - with no comedic interruptions.
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SECOND HOUR
Little Saint Nick (The Beach Boys)
(1963) ... never a hit in the UK, but widely known from several of those seasonal collections by 'various artists'
John Miles 23/04/1949 - 05/12/2021
Highfly (John Miles)
(1975) .... Top 20 debut for the singer-songwriter who would go on to reach the dizzy heights of # 3 the following year with the six minute epic Music. He also sang guest vocals with The Alan Parsons Project and in the '80s and '90s, worked extensively with Tina Turner, playing keyboards and/or guitar on each of her live tours and several of her albums. Played today in memory of John, who passed away peacefully last week, aged 72, after a short illness
She's In Love With You (Suzi Quatro)
... teaser track for our second featured year, peaking at # 11 ~ Suzi's chart career stalled from that point on with only one further appearance in the Top 40 (Mama's Boy, 1980, # 34)
Absolutely Lyricless ~ the instrumental break
... instantly familiar festive favourites ~ fun from start to finish
Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer (The Ventures)
(1965) ... tongue-in-cheek re-working of a seasonal classic with a Beatles-esque intro ~ 'borrowed' from the guitar riff on I Feel Fine..
Sleigh Ride (Ron Goodwin & His Orchestra)
(1967) ... a sparkling performance of one of those timeless tunes which are everywhere at this time of year, with or without vocals, wherever you go, as much a part of the festive season as mince pies and turkey. Sleigh Ride was written - and first recorded - by famous post-war American
composer Leroy Anderson ~ in the middle of a heatwave. Ron Goodwin pulls out all the stops with my favourite version of the many I've heard and played on the radio over many years - it was originally on a budget priced EMI Studio 2 album, Christmas Wonderland
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That'll Be Christmas (Thea Gilmore)
(2009) ... Thea's wry observations of the impending festivities and life in general at this time of year deserved to reach a much wider audience, especially having name-checked the next artist....
Stop The Cavalry (Jona Lewie)
(1980) ... a refreshing change from your typical happy-go-lucky, jolly jingle bells, sleigh riding Santa kind of Christmas song from the man who had recently charted with You'll Always Find Me In The Kitchen At Parties (1980, # 16) Stop The Cavalry made the Top 3, his biggest hit since 1972's Seaside Shuffle under the alias Terry Dactyl & The Dinosaurs
Newsround Tameside: 42 years ago ~ 1979
One Way Ticket (Eruption)
... proving beyond all doubt that the most unlikely song can be re-invented as a dance floor anthem ~ in this instance, a song which started out way back in 1959 as a Neil Sedaka B side
The Sparrow (The Ramblers)
... strolling up the chart in the weeks before Christmas '79, The Ramblers singing group put Abbey Hey Primary School in East Manchester on the pop music map with a cute little song which, once heard, was almost impossible to get out of your head. All over the country, mums, dads and children were rushing out to the nearest record shop asking for 'I'm only a poor little sparrow'. The single written by music teacher Maurice Jordan and produced by Kevin Parrott # at Stockport's Strawberry Studios eventually climbed to # 11, with the group appearing on TV shows from Top of the Pops to Pebble Mill at One to Tiswas ( # a chart-topper himself the previous year as one of the duo Brian and Michael - with Matchstalk Men and Matchstalk Cats and Dogs)
Duchess (The Stranglers)
... short-and-to-the-point with a strong melody which immediately grabs you. A track o the album Raven, Duchess reached # 14 on the singles chart
The Prince (Madness)
... debut hit for those Nutty Boys, gearing up to be one of the biggest bands of the '80s. Dedicated to Jamaican ska legend Prince Buster, whose music inspired them to start making their own They chose the name Madness from one of his songs
Wonderful Christmastime (Paul McCartney)
... the video with Paul & Linda & their bandmate Denny Laine heading off to the pub in Christmas scarves and jumpers nicely sums up the fun and festive mood of the song
Union City Blue (Blondie)
.... inspired by the film of the same name which Debbie Harry starred in (according to Wikipedia, she wrote the lyrics one evening during a break in the shooting). In the UK, it was the second single from the album Eat To The Beat and surprisingly proved to be a slight blip in an impressive run of chart success during '79-80 with six singles which made the Top 3 , five of them # 1s. Union City Blue, for reasons unknown, stalled at # 13 [W]
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Michael Nesmith 30/12/1942 - 10/12/2021
A modest tribute to the musician, singer and songwriter who found overnight fame in the '60s as 'the quiet one' of The Monkees. * Although he went on to enjoy further success as a writer and solo artist, he was happy to reunite in recent years with his former bandmates, admitting: "I never really left. It is a part of my youth that is always active in my thoughts and part of my overall work as an artist. It stays in a special place." * [*W]
Millions of fans around the world will have been sad to hear the news of his death, aged 78, which leaves Micky Dolenz as the last surviving Monkee.
Two of Michael's earliest songs:
You Just May Be The One (The Monkees) (1967) .... although never released as a single, this Nesmith lead vocal is fondly remembered from an episode of The Monkees' TV series and has rightly been included on their 'greatest hits' and 'best of' albums
Different Drum (The Stone Poneys) (also 1967)... Top 20 hit for the folk rock trio, with a then unknown Linda Ronstadt on lead vocals
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SHOW THEME:
Rhapsody In Blue (Rick Wakeman)
written by George Gershwin, arranged by Tony Visconti
from the album Rhapsodies (A&M Records, 1979)
[W]: Source: Wikipedia
Please bear in mind: it's a live show and so, occasionally I might need to change the running order, leave a song out, or play an unplanned extra song which will not be shown in this weekly music blog.
If you missed any of the show, you can catch up online :
https://www.questmedianetwork.co.uk/on-demand/
