FIRST HOUR
Geno (Dexy's Midnight Runners)
(1980) ... bold and brassy chart-topping single, paying homage to soul legend Geno Washington which still sounds as fresh as ever
Malt And Barley Blues (McGuinness Flint)
(1971)... second of two Top 5 singles 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) * In more recent times Tom McGuinness continues to receive a warm response from live audiences whenever he plays the McGuiness Flint hits on tour with the present day band The Manfreds [* W]
California Dreamin' (River City People)
... bringing The Mamas and Papas' '60s classic to a new generation, in the first of today's featured years. The single also featured one of their own songs Carry The Blame
Cheery Christmas chart hits - but nothing to do with Christmas
Thank U Very Much (Scaffold)
(1967) ... debut hit from the Liverpool music and comedy trio who went on to have the following year's Christmas # 1 Lily The Pink
I'm The Urban Spaceman (Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band)
(1968) ... their only chart success, produced by Gus Dudgeon and Apollo C Vermouth – alias the ever versatile Paul McCartney
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It May Be Winter Outside (But In My Heart It's Spring) (Love Unlimited)
(1975) .... song written in the '60s by their mentor Barry White, long before he was famous. Love Unlimited took it into the Top 20 in the UK, eight years after the original single by Felice Taylor - also produced by Big Barry - had failed to break through Love Unlimited 's version can be found on several 'various artists' Christmas compilations, although it actually charted in February '75, long after the seasonal tinsel came down
Newsround Tameside: 32 years ago ~ 1990
King of The Road (The Proclaimers)
... twins Craig and Charlie Reid usually write and sing their own songs, but their cover version of a classic '60s country chart-topper by Roger Miller was a rare exception which slipped seamlessly into their repertoire. A Proclaimers' original included on the same CD single follows at the end of the first hour...
Step Back In Time (Kylie Minogue)
... one of Kylie's final outings with the Stock Aitken Waterman 'Hit Factory, suitably nostalgic for this show ~ 'remember The O'Jays, remember the old days?....
I'll Be Your Baby Tonight (Robert Palmer with UB40)
... one-off pooling of talents, taking an old Bob Dylan song and creating a gently uplifting reggae ballad, similar in style to some of the slower songs in UB40's own repertoire
Saviour's Day (Cliff Richard)
... two years on from Mistletoe and Wine, Cliff was back with another Christmas number 1 ~ bear in mind, though, his first, way back in 1960 was the simply titled but not at all seasonal I Love You
A Little Time (The Beautiful South)
...the only chart topper of their long run of Top 40 singles just the one week at # 1 and unusual in that Dave Hemingway is the male vocalist, rather than Paul Heaton, duetting with Briana Corrigan
Don't Worry (Kim Appleby)
... ...a first solo outing for Kim after losing her younger sister Mel to cancer at the tragically young age of 23. As Mel and Kim they had four Top 10 hits in the late '80s, including a # 1 with Respectable
Lulu Selling Tea (The Proclaimers) .... this time it's a short-but-sweet snapshot from Craig and Charlie of their younger days, growing up in the '60s, with[lucky bags, Bazooka Joes, school milk, shoes with animal tracks, Batman, Daktari and Skippy on TV... and George Best ~ Manchester United's Belfast boy wonder 'who wore his hair the Beatles way' ([see also: King of The Road, earlier in the hour]
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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'
Warm This Winter (Gabriella Cilmi)
(2008) ... keeping faith with the original 1962 US hit by Connie Francis, which had the slightly elongated title I'm Gonna Be Warm This Winter
You Make Loving Fun (Fleetwood Mac) ... teaser track for our second featured year ~ single taken from Rumours, the band's mega-selling classic album, played today in tribute to Christine McVie who died a few days ago aged 79. You Make Loving Fun was one of the songs on the album written by Christine on which she sang lead vocal and played keyboards - there's another one on the playlist later this hour...
Absolutely Lyricless ~ the instrumental break
... timeless tunes from different music traditions
Elizabethan Reggae (Boris Gardiner)
(1970) .,..re-working a familiar light classical tune, Elizabethan Serenade. * The composer Ronald Binge chose the title to reflect the post-war optimism of a 'new Elizabethan Age' that began with the accession of Queen Elizabeth II in February 1952. * And yes, it's THE Boris Gardiner, who later re-emerged, as a singer rather than an instrumentalist, with a # 1 in 1986, I Want To Wake Up With You [* W]
Greensleeved (Jethro Tull)
(2003) ... folky prog rock in a laid-back lounge jazz style is how I'd describe many of the tracks on the highly recommended Jethro Tull Christmas Album ~ this centuries-old melody is no exception
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Bless The Weak (Daniel Takes A Train)
(2022)... bona fide '80s band stepping through the time tunnel once again with a brand new charity single for 2022. Echoes of REM and The Police - according to two of the positive reviews the song has had so far. For me, after several plays, I'm thinking Paul Heaton / Housemartins. The song is released in partnership with the leading housing charity Shelter - "every stream with help a great cause":
https://open.spotify.com/track/7DRT8hD8vsqqjHXLoYHLiT?si=ed2c72b1315d4ed7
Newsround Tameside: 45 years ago ~ 1977
Peace On Earth / Little Drummer Boy (David Bowie & Bing Crosby)
... ... contender for unlikeliest duet ever ~ recorded for a 1977 TV special in the US, and finally saw the light of day as a successful Christmas single, five years later (1982, # 3)
Rockaria! (ELO)
... one of a run of Top 10 singles from the previous year's album A New World Record
Songbird (Fleetwood Mac)
... continuing the thread of thought from earlier, with another track written for the Rumours album by the late Christine McVie. Songbird features her on piano and vocals
Floral Dance (Brighouse & Rastrick Band)
... one of the biggest instrumental hits of the '70s, thanks to Terry Wogan playing it constantly on his BBC Radio 2 breakfast show. His loyal listeners loved his sing-a-long to one of the Cheeriest Cheery Tunes ever ~ so much so that it was only a matter of time before Terry was persuaded to record his own version which also made the chart, peaking at # 21 in early '78
Daddy Cool / The Girl Can't Help It (Darts) ... debut hit for the doo-wop revivalists, a fast and frantic two and a half minutes combining two '50s songs originally recorded by The Rays and Little Richard respectively.
Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue (Crystal Gayle)
... country-pop crossovers don't come much bigger than this ~ # 1 on the US country chart, # 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, Top 5 here and a major hit in several other countries
Dancin' Party (Showaddywaddy)
... 12 months after their No.1 Under The Moon of Love became the big Christmas '76 party hit, those chart successes kept on coming. Dancin' Party had been an early '60s hit for the 'king of the twist' Chubby Checker, but his highest placing (# 19) was easily beaten by the unstoppable force that was Showaddywaddy. The band of eight from Leicester, consisting of * two vocalists, two drummers, two guitarists, and two bassists * took the song to # 2 [* W]
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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
If you missed any of the show, you can catch up online after 15:00 on Sunday 04/12/2022:
https://www.questmedianetwork.co.uk/on-demand/
