FIRST HOUR
Free Electric Band (Albert Hammond)
(1973) ... considering he's had such a prolific career as a songwriter, with classics spanning the decades, big hits for The Hollies, Starship, Aswad # and many, many more, it's hard to believe the relentlessly upbeat, feelgood Free Electric Band has remained his only UK hit as a singer in his own right. Also fair to say, it deserved to do much better than a # 19 ( # The Air That I Breathe, Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now, Don't Turn Around)
If You Really Love Me (Stevie Wonder)
(1972) ... Top 20 hit from the previous year's album Where I'm Coming From, one of many songs around that time written by Stevie and his then wife Syreeta Wright
The Sign (Ace of Base)
... peaking at # 2 in the first of today's featured years, nine months after their chart-topping debut All That She Wants
Acceptance, agreement, a seal of approval...
Okay! (Dave Dee, Dozy. Beaky, Mick & Tich)
(1967) ... midway through an impressive run of more than a dozen Top 40 singles, this was their third hit to reach # 4
That's Nice (Neil Christian)
(1966) ... one hit wonder, much played on the offshore pirate radio stations of that era. His backing group were The Crusaders ~ although, clearly not the '70s jazz funk band of the same name (biggest hit - Street Life)
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Them Heavy People (Kate Bush)
(1978) ... 'Rolling The Ball' as many people know it ~. the original version is on Kate's ground breaking debut album The Kick Inside. The following year it was the lead song on a 'live' EP which made the Top 10 singles listings
Newsround Tameside: 28 years ago ~ 1994
Parklife (Blur)
...classic '90s Britpop, with Phil Daniels, the actor best known for playing the lead character in the film Quadrophenia giving the spoken word narrative between each rousing chorus
Searching (China Black)
... British pop reggae duo with the first - and biggest by far (# 4) - of three Top 40 hits. ** 1994 in British pop music was notable for a growing reggae/pop crossover trend. Artists such as Ace of Base, Chaka Demus & Pliers and Pato Banton (with the help of UB40), took their radio-friendly 'pop/reggae' hits to the top of the UK charts.... [W]
But Not For Me (Elton John)
... Elton sings Gershwin - short but sweet on the soundtrack of the mega-successful British film Four Weddings And A Funeral for which he also supplied the much more uptempo final song you heard as the credits rolled - it's coming up later....
I'll Stand By You (The Pretenders)
... eight years on from their last chart appearance, this was the one to take Chrissie and co back into the Top 10, for the first and only time in the '90s
Saturn 5 (Inspiral Carpets)
... Oldham's standard bearers in the Madchester music explosion of the late '80s-early '90s with a Top 20 single from their fourth album Devil Hopping
Every Little Thing He Does Is Magic (Shawn Colvin)
(1994) ... gently reworking The Police hit, slightly changing Sting's original lyrics to give a female-to-male perspective
Chapel of Love (Elton John)
... originally a '60s hit for The Dixie Cups ~ the perfect choice as a rock 'n' rolling finale for the Four Weddings And A Funeral soundtrack.
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SECOND HOUR
You Can't Hurry Love (Phil Collins)
(1982-83)... side one, track one on the original Now That's What I Call Music album ~ a massive change of style from the kind of music he had made with Genesis over many years. Staying true to the spirit of The Supremes' original, an unexpected combination of singer and song made it a dead cert chart-topper
My Man, A Sweet Man (Millie Jackson)
(1972) ... popular Northern soul floor filler, # 50 was its highest chart position. Millie Jackson is probably best known in the UK for duetting with Elton John (Act of War, 1985, # 32)
Jesamine (The Casuals)
... teaser track for our second featured year ~ former teen star turned songwriter Marty Wilde was the creative force behind this one, giving the group from Lincoln their only major hit which soared to # 2 with a total of 18 weeks on the chart [W]
Absolutely Lyricless ~ the instrumental break
... plentiful piano playing
Nut Rocker (B Bumble & The Stingers)
(1962) .... .. rocking and rolling their way to the top of the chart with some fast and frantic piano and just a hint of a famous classical tune, the march from Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker Suite. One of the biggest ever instrumental hits, # 1 in '62, returning to the Top 20 exactly 10 years later
Bad Penny Blues (Humphrey Lyttelton & His Band)
(1956) ... piano based jazz tune which apparently inspired Paul McCartney a dozen years later when he was working on the intro for The Beatles' Lady Madonna (1968, # 1)
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For You (Judie Tzuke)
(1978) ... turntable hit pre-dating by a year Stay With Me Till Dawn, her only major chart success. In recent years Judie has recorded and played live in an informal/occasional coming together with like-minded singer-songwriters Beverley Craven, Julia Fordham and Rumer (next up on today's playlist).... Following their last tour which played to 35,000 people countrywide, they are back with another series of concerts including Buxton Opera House on 29th October and Manchester's Bridgewater Hall, 17th November
Goodbye Girl (Rumer)
(2010) .. the David Gates song was the final track on her high acclaimed, mostly all self penned debut album
Newsround pre-Tameside: 54 years ago ~ 1968
Days (The Kinks)
... its # 12 highest placing would be equalled by Kirsty MacColl who brought Ray Davies well crafted song to a new generation more than 20 years later
Hold Me Tight (Johnny Nash)
... debut hit by the American singer-songwriter ~ one of the first non-Jamaican artists to record reggae music in Kingston (the Jamaican capital)
I Close My Eyes And Count To Ten (Dusty Springfield)
... powerful, slow-building ballad which grabs your attention from the start with its dramatic piano introduction
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60 years of Beatles, Bond... and front page news in the Ashton-under-Lyne Reporter! *
Love Me Do (The Beatles)
(1962) ... unbeknown to most record buyers outside Liverpool, the Fab Four's first single was released on 5th October 1962, 60 years ago this coming week . Also making its debut on that same day, with much more of a fanfare....
The James Bond theme (John Barry and The Seven)
(1962)... Sean Connery starred as agent 007 in Dr No, the first of the Bond films with its unforgettable signature theme
Headline News (Edwin Starr)
(1966 and 1968-69) ... one of his two Tamla Motown toe-tappers which just edged into the UK Top 40 in '66 - the other was Stop Her On Sight (SOS). Reissued as a double A side a couple of years later, they achieved a much more deserving # 11
* there's more to come next week...
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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 after 15:00 on Sunday 02/10/2022:
https://www.questmedianetwork.co.uk/on-demand
