Month: December 2018

George Michael, The Isley Brothers and “If You Were There”

Well, look what I found in my Christmas Stocking. Not strictly in the stocking as not the best shape to fit, and, not strictly a surprise present from the big man in the red suit (as I had bought it for myself), but a full two years on from his death, I still have a yearning to collect more George Michael goodies. When I saw this glossy mag in our local branch of WH Smith last week, I just knew it had to be mine, all mine…. .

Christmas Day for us this year was very chilled, and the first of a new regime where we have none of the older generation around any more to join us. A bit strange, but meant there was none of that manic preparation that goes into hosting a formal Christmas lunch complete with all the traditional accompaniments, accoutrements and accessories. A visit to the care home took place in the morning to exchange presents with my mum (DD had ordered a very special bear for her that plays a Jim Reeves song), followed by a mid-day bacon sandwich and the opening of our own presents. Then there was a Facetime call to DD’s boyfriend at the other end of the country, and a virtual first meeting between the two sets of parents (landmark moment). Once we’d had an afternoon walk along the river, followed by a bit of telly, I leisurely prepared a turkey dinner with all the trimmings which we simply ate in our new kitchen this year – Yes, all very chilled indeed.

One of the finely crafted baubles my mum used to make for our tree
My favourite tree decoration – Bought when DD was a baby

When it got to evening, George of course beckoned, and by the time I went to bed I think I’d read right to the end of the magazine. Just in case I’d missed anything, I re-read it again from cover to cover on Boxing Day, and although it contained nothing particularly new that I didn’t already know, a few lines jumped out at me, and I took notes: George, as we all know, was one of the key vocalists on the 1984 Band Aid charity single Do They Know It’s Christmas?, however on the day of the recording he said he felt really uncomfortable, as Wham! were treated as a bit of a joke by their peers, with (careless?) whispers and in-jokes being made at their expense. By this time Wham! had left their baby-biker image behind, and now sported blond highlights, gold hoop earrings and Day-Glo shorts, but George found it hard to believe people couldn’t see past the image and appreciate the music they were making. He was still only 20, but was writing, producing and arranging these records that jumped out of the radio. If that is true, shame on you fellow Band Aid participants. (Also, did you know that having released Last Christmas shortly before the Band Aid single, they donated all the royalties to the Ethiopia Appeal?)

Band Aid – 1984 (George just left of centre)

Something else I learnt from the magazine, was that Wham! would never have come about if not for Andrew Ridgeley, who was the driving force behind forming a band. George was the geeky songwriter, and a career in music was very much frowned upon by his strict father, who wanted him to join the family business. The Wham! image therefore belonged to Andrew, who was outgoing, sociable and loved going out dancing with girls. George lived vicariously through Andrew, but after being impressed by the confidence exuded by the character Tony Manero in Saturday Night Fever, he decided to lose weight, acquire some contact lenses and threw himself into the local disco scene. Without Andrew Ridgeley there would have been no George Michael.

During his career George had to face hostility from artists who attacked him for his appropriation of black music. He fought back, and ended up joining forces at various stages of his career with artists such as Aretha Franklin, Mary J Blige and Whitney Houston, who held him in high regard. His earliest musical influences however had come from artists such as Stevie Wonder and The Isley Brothers. In fact one of my favourite Wham! songs is If You Were There, which was not for once penned by George, but was an Isley Brothers cover included on their second album “Make It Big”. 

If You Were There by Wham!:


If You Were There was also the title of the 1997 Wham! “Best Of” album, which of course I had to buy. DD was a mere toddler back then, but I remember well dancing around the living room with her whilst listening to it, recreating the moves. We were now nearly 15 years on, but yes, I had been there and yes, I did know… .
If You Were There was also the title of the 1997 Wham! “Best Of” album, which of course I had to buy. DD was a mere toddler back then, but I remember well dancing around the living room with her whilst listening to it, recreating the moves. We were now nearly 15 years on, but yes, I had been there and yes, I did know… .

So, “What’s It All About?” – Whenever I think I’ve written my last George Michael post, something else comes along, and prompts another one. In this case it was the magazine I bought myself as a treat for Christmas (other gifts did appear in my stocking by the way).

I am often embarrassed by some of the songs I share around here, as they are unashamedly of the pop persuasion, but time and time again I have been vindicated (the Bee Gees, the Carpenters et al). George Michael himself proudly championed great pop music as true art. Here is a quote from him:

“If you listen to a Supremes or a Beatles record, which was made in the days when pop was accepted as an art of sorts, how can you not realise that the elation of a good pop record is an art form? Somewhere along the way, pop lost all its respect. And I think I kind of stubbornly stick up for all of that.” 

I don’t think I’ll be back again until the New Year – Can it really be almost 2019, the last year of this decade we didn’t know what to call. Is it “The Teens”? – Not sure. Whatever it’s called, hope your Hogmanay celebrations go well. For one night at least, we can forget all the political shenanigans that surround us at the moment, and just enjoy ourselves. The first few months of 2019 will be interesting, that’s for sure! 

Until next time….

If You Were There Lyrics
(Song by The Isley Brothers)

You’re the one that makes my day a dream come true
They might just be the last
Yet and still you wonder if
I think of you
You ought to see how the other girls behave when you’re not around
And only then you would know that it’s on your finger I’m wound

I you were there you’d know
I you were there you’d know
I you were there you’d know
I you were there you’d know
That I care

There’s no need for you not to have faith in me
‘Cos it’s by your side girl that I long to be
Yes there are times with my friends when I don’t know have to much to
say What you don’t know is with you could never act that way

I you were there you’d know
I you were there you’d know
I you were there you’d know
I you were there you’d know
That I care

I care for you baby, I
Swear that I care
There’s no need for you
Not to have faith in me
‘Cos it’s by your side girl
That I long to be
Yes there are times with
my friends when I don’t know
have to much to say uh, uh
What you don’t know is
with you could never act that way

I you were there you’d know
I you were there you’d know
I you were there you’d know
I you were there you’d know
That I care

I care for you , I
Swear that I care for you
Baby
I do
Have faith in me
I care for you baby

Postscript:

Although not much was made of the circumstances that surrounded George’s death in the magazine, after reading the single page that documented the last four years of his life, it appears a premature death was almost inevitable. He dodged a bullet in 2012, after becoming seriously ill in Vienna during the Symphonica tour, but he was also unwell in 2013, 2014 and 2015. Best to remember him in his prime – How he would have wanted it, I’m sure.

The Winter Solstice, “Fly Me To The Moon” and A Very Merry Christmas

Since discovering that all full moons have a name (given to them by the Native Americans who kept track of the months by the lunar calendar), I have written about each one as they appear in our skies. To accompany the post I always include one of the numerous songs that have been written about the moon and its many foibles.

Well, it’s all coming together at just the same time! Today is Yule, the day of the winter solstice, that pivot point in the year after which the days will start to get longer again. Tomorrow is the day of the December full moon, very appropriately called both the Cold Moon, and the Long Nights Moon. Last but not least, we are also right in the middle of Christmastime, that annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, which seems to have become a cultural phenomenon celebrated around the world by billions of Christians and non-Christians alike.

But this is my Moon Series, so what song to feature this time? Unbelievably, I have yet to share a Frank Sinatra song in this series, which is bizarre, as the Chairman of the Board was known to record a fair few songs with the word moon in the title over the course of his career. I shared a version of Fly Me To The Moon by Julie London just before I started this series, but now that we’re into its second calendar year, time to revisit the song I think, and time for a bit of Francis Albert at Christmastime.

Fly Me To The Moon by Frank Sinatra:

Fly Me To The Moon was written in 1954 by Bart Howard, but originally had the title “In Other Words”. Kaye Ballard recorded it first, but since then it has become a jazz standard, often featured in popular culture. Frank Sinatra’s 1964 version was closely associated with the first Apollo missions to the moon.

A few great moon shots have again been captured by my friend with the all singing, all dancing camera over the last week. Here are a few of the best.

I’ve mentioned this often since starting the blog, but the year I seem to warm to most when revisiting the tracks of my years, is 1967. Lots of reasons for that, but the main one seems to be that it’s the year I was just starting to take an interest in the music I heard on the radio and on television – I was a kid, I was happy, loved and nothing bad had yet happened in my young life. For this reason I took to retuning one of the car’s digital radio stations recently to Absolute60s. I figured that whenever I tuned in, there would be a one in ten chance something from my favourite year would be playing, which would in turn take me to my “happy place” (if I was having a bit of a stressful day).

As luck would have it, the first song played on this new retuned station was Somethin’ Stupid by Frank & Nancy Sinatra from, yes you’ve guessed it, 1967. This of course reminded me that in 2001, Robbie Williams & Nicole Kidman recorded a great cover version of the song which became the Christmas No. 1 hit that year. Both artists were at the top of their game in terms of their respective careers, and the video for the song, although obviously staged, still makes me feel all Christmassy. If I had to choose one year other than 1967 to take me to my happy place, it would be 2001, a time when DD herself was just a kid and starting to take an interest in music. She was old enough to enjoy all the wonderment of this time of year without yet being taken in by the commercialisation of it all.

Somethin’ Stupid by Frank & Nancy Sinatra:

So, “What’s It All About?” – I suspect I won’t return with anything new now before the big day, so to everyone who visits here, have a wonderful Christmas. Remember to look out for the full moon that should appear in our skies on Saturday night, and look forward to the fact the days are now lengthening again.

Just one more thing. Last night, Mr WIAA and myself headed into town to take part in an awareness raising event for a local charity. The high rate of suicide amongst young men in the Highlands means that many families have lost a son or brother in recent years. Mikeysline has been set up to offer support to people who suffer from depression and chronic loneliness. Yes, it may well be “the most wonderful time of the year” for some, but keep a close eye on those who could well be feeling even lonelier than usual.

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We lit up the bridges for Mikeysline

An added bonus to last night, was that we managed to take a few pictures whilst walking through the town centre, and of course, our almost full moon made it’s way into the shot.

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The moon peeping over the top of our Townhouse

Merry Christmas from all of us at WIAA. Hope you have a good one.

Fly Me To The Moon Lyrics
(Song by Bart Howard)

Fly me to the moon
Let me play among the stars
Let me see what spring is like
On a-Jupiter and Mars

In other words: hold my hand
In other words: baby, kiss me

Fill my heart with song
And let me sing for ever more
You are all I long for
All I worship and adore

In other words: please, be true
In other words: I love you

Fill my heart with song
Let me sing for ever more
You are all I long for
All I worship and adore

In other words: please, be true
In other words, in other words: I love you

Another Kind of Chain – Gene Pitney and “Twenty Four Hours from Tulsa”

Don’t panic, I’m not about to highjack that most excellent of features, Jez’s “The Chain”, but I seem to be experiencing blogger’s block, and want to find a way of kick starting things again around here.

I wrote last time about how I have very nearly completed my third year on the blogosphere. It’s been a joy, and although each year has been totally different for me in terms of what’s going on in the real world, this virtual world has been my anchor, my constant amongst all of life’s ups and downs.

Something that has kept me going more than anything else however, is that I seem to have become part of a little community, which I hadn’t bargained for when I started out in the blogging world. I suspect I would never have found this little community had I not discovered Jez’s place back in the early days, when I pretty much only wrote about the music (with a little anecdote thrown in). One of my early posts featured the three Jimmy Webb songs recorded by Glen Campbell in the late 1960s. One of these  songs was Galveston, and back then I used to perform a quick search before pressing the publish button, to check whether anyone else had written about it recently. Someone had, Jez, and as usual he had included a very funny story.

Many of us around here know that Jez has been a bit poorly of late, but after being absent for a wee while he seems to back firing on all cylinders in terms of his blogging output. I suspect there are a few more chapters to go in terms of what happened, but as ever, he has made what must have been a pretty awful time, very entertaining. Cross fingers he’s well and truly on the road to recovery.

Back in my early days of blogging, I used to find that each post linked to the previous one in terms of the thought process. I sometimes ended up with a string of posts all connected to each other in some way, as is wont to happen when you revisit older songs. Davy Jones followed on from David Bowie, for obvious reasons. Seals and Crofts followed on from the Isley Brothers, for possibly less obvious reasons, but great fun for me to delve into the respective backstory to their songs.

Linked posts!

Suggestions for Jez’s Chain were creative indeed. In fact there used to be a prize for the most tenuous link of the week, which led to a fair bit of “showboating”. Anyway, we all still miss The Chain, but respect the fact it took an awful lot of time and effort to put together, so no pressure to see it make a comeback. No indeed, no pressure at all!

But back to my chain and Galveston – What song links to it in terms of the thought process for me? Well I don’t know about you, but my immediate thoughts turned to Gene Pitney’s 1964 hit, Twenty Four Hours from Tulsa. We’ve moved across the state line from Texas into Oklahoma, but we’re still in the Southern States of the USA, we’re still in the 1960s, and it’s another song about leaving a girl behind. Oh yes, it wasn’t until I checked it out properly, that I came to realise the lyrics were about a chap finding himself just 24 hours from home, but falling head over heels in love with a woman he meets after stopping at a motel for the night. Apparently he “lost control as he held her charms“. This woman must have had stupendous “charms”, as hitherto, Gene had been looking forward to being back in the “arms” (not charms) of his wife.

Twenty Four Hours from Tulsa by Gene Pitney:


As a kid of course, back in the 1960s, I would never in a month of Sundays have worked out the meaning behind those lyrics when I first saw Gene perform the song on British telly. I do remember however that my dad used to do quite a good impression of him, as he did have quite a distinctive style. Oh how our little family of three laughed. But that was over 50 years ago, and for the first time ever, Mr WIAA and I will have none of our parents with us on Christmas Day. Only my mum left now, and she will have lunch in the care home. It really hit me this week, as I finally got round to doing some festive preparation, that our family has shrunk somewhat in the time we’ve been in our current house. The year we moved in, we had to hire a table and chairs to accommodate everyone, but over time we have lost a mum, two dads, an auntie and a best friend. Only ourselves and DD now, until the next generation make an appearance (and not quite ready for that yet, so will be patient).

I hoped this post would kick start the writing juices again, and it seems it has. A whole week to go until Christmas Day, so time to return with something festive before then I think. And, another full moon post to fit in as well – Will have to exercise the act of brevity when blogging, something I’m not great at delivering on. Good luck with all the last minute shopping, and again, all the best to Jez for his continued recovery.   

Until next time….

Twenty Four Hours from Tulsa Lyrics
(Song by Burt Bacharach and Hal David)

Dearest darling
I had to write to say that I won’t be home any more
For something happened to me
While I was driving home and I’m not the same any more

Oh, I was only twenty four hours from Tulsa
Ah, only one day away from your arms
I saw a welcoming light
And stopped to rest for the night

And that is when I saw her
As I pulled in outside of the small hotel she was there
And so I walked up to her
Asked where I could get something to eat and she showed me where

Oh, I was only twenty four hours from Tulsa
Ah, only one day away from your arms
She took me to the café
I asked her if she would stay
She said, “Okay”

Oh, I was only twenty four hours from Tulsa
Ah, only one day away from your arms
The jukebox started to play
And night time turned into day

As we were dancing closely
All of a sudden I lost control as I held her charms
And I caressed her, kissed her
Told her I’d die before I would let her out of my arms

Oh, I was only twenty four hours from Tulsa
Ah, only one day away from your arms
I hate to do this to you
But I love somebody new
What can I do
When I can never, never, never go home again

New Beginnings Part 2: Web Diaries, Take That and “Everything Changes”

“I don’t like it…, I love it!”

Those of us who watch mainstream telly in the UK, will recognise those words, as they frequently come from the mouth of Mr Simon Cowell, who seems to have singularly ruined this time of year for music lovers. His big-budget karaoke shows highjack the seasonal chart, so nobody makes Christmas records any more. This blog may feature songs from the 1970s more than any other decade, but if I have to endure another festive season listening to Slade and Wizard, I will be very grumpy indeed. (Nothing against Noddy and Roy of course, but even they must be getting embarrassed at the abundance of riches accumulated since making their respective festive hits forty-five years ago.)

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Christmas No. 1 Singles from over the decades

But as ever I’ve got side-tracked. Back to that hackneyed phrase:

“I don’t like it…, I love it!”

To my absolute delight, they were also the words that came from the mouth of my little mum this week, when I asked her if she liked her new care home. The relief was palpable, as so many old folk really resist going to live in such places. Of course it does help that it looks like a 5 Star Hotel; it does help that she is still able-bodied enough to enjoy all the activities, and finally; it helps immeasurably that the financial side of things is being taken care of by myself. As far as she is concerned, her state pension pays for all of it, and I intend to move heaven and earth to keep her there. Now that my time is being freed up from doing the actual caring (which was not my forte and can be done so much better by those professionally trained for such work), I can soon get back to being what they call “economically active”. Just a few things that need sorted out first…

You won’t probably have noticed, but I’ve not posted anything new around here for over a fortnight. Been a bit busy you see, but in a really good way. My mum is happy, so it’s now all steam ahead with selling her retirement flat, and we’ve watched enough of those “property porn” shows to know what can be done to dress the rooms for maximum effect. Still a bit to do, but it looks fantastic already. She was always really fastidious about keeping her home immaculate, so not too onerous at all. And, plenty of nice pieces to take to the care home once the deal is done.

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Phil and Kirsty doing their thing

But that’s not all. As far as my college course goes, we have now reached the end of the first semester. The last assignment had to be “uploaded” (bit more high-tech than first time around) on Monday, so now just waiting see how I did. Bit of a downside is that we had to prove we’d been keeping a journal, of sorts, for the last three months. Of course followers to this place know that this blog is in effect my web diary/journal, so although we all like retaining our anonymity around here, I had to bite the bullet and include a link. I have deliberately held off writing anything new for the last fortnight, as I was acutely aware that if my tutor opened the link, she would see the latest post – The pressure was on to make it a good one. I now realise however, she may not open the link for a while, so I can’t really hold off any longer. Will try and up the rate of output though, and with any luck, if she does drop by, it will be one of my better posts. Something I did mention in my assignment though, was that after a lifetime of working with Excel spreadsheets, it’s been great turning to writing in later life. Anyone who has been with me for the journey will hopefully agree I’ve got better at it over the years, the sentences becoming a little bit less clunky, and the posts a bit more entertaining.

Finally, the big one. As of last Saturday, I think we acquired a new business! We live right in the heart of the Scottish Highlands which now seems to be ranked No. 5 in the Lonely Planet Guide’s Top Regions to Visit in 2019, so anything related to tourism should be a winner. Won’t say too much about that one until it’s a done deal, but all very exciting, and with any luck it will help out with the care home fees.

So, not a lot of music around here yet today, but just kind of getting back into the swing of things again after a short absence. There is no doubt we have a lot of change going on around here at the moment, but it needed to happen, and just shows that retirement need never really be an option, as always new challenges out there to take on.

Lots of songs with the word ‘Change’ in the title, but I have included David Bowie’s Changes around here before (sadly still very relevant), so time for something different. I won’t inflict Wind of Change by the Scorpions on you, so you’re safe (although click on the link if you want a quick recap), but I will inflict this one, Everything Changes by Take That. I’ve always been a fan of Take That, right from the start, and remember well the outpouring of grief in 1996 when they announced they were splitting up. I’d just had DD and was a stay-at-home mum experiencing daytime telly for the first time in years – Poor Richard and Judy had to set up a helpline!

They are now a Man Band rather than a Boy Band and have lost a couple of members along the way, but this song just reminds me how great they were at the beginning – All that energy, and Robbie got starring role in this offering, which was a bit unusual, as Gary was usually in charge of the reins when it came to the lead singing role.

200px-Logo_Take_That

I’m feeling quite upbeat today, and have the designer for a well-known luxury brand sitting next to me as I type, as Mr WIAA is working with them on a new range. She has also become a friend, so a couple of busy, but fun days are likely to follow. Everything changes from time to time, and for us, everything has changed as we end 2018 and get ready to enter 2019. I will soon have completed a full three years of blogging, but I’m not done yet, and although it looks as if I’m going to be kept really busy in the new year, I’m going to keep this place going with more Moon Posts, American Odyssey posts and items from what I call Alyson’s Archive.

The lyrics to today’s song are entirely inappropriate for my situation, but the title is, and their high energy video clip is weirdly fitting for how I’m feeling today. It looks great, is shot in a sepia tone, and shows the band in a jazz café, performing the song with various patrons joining in. The song was the fifth single from the band’s second studio album, “Everything Changes” and was inevitably written by Gary Barlow amongst others. It was Take That’s fourth consecutive single to go straight in at No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart, where it remained for two weeks in April 1994.

Everything Changes by Take That:

I’ve ended up writing way too much here, but just goes to show what happens if you have a fortnight off. If my tutor does drop by this post, it’s not exactly representative of what I do around here, but it does show that my blog also doubles as my web diary, or journal, as well as being the place where I revisit the “tracks of my years”.

Back it 1996 everything changed for Take That, and life has continued to change for them over the intervening 22 years, as they later reformed, and morphed from being a five-piece Boy Band to a Man Band of varying number. In 2018 everything changed for us, and after a bit of an up-and-down year, everyone seems to be ending it in a good place. My mum loves her care home, I have my course and a new business to get up and running, Mr WIAA is busy making beautiful things that will appear in shop windows, and DD seems to have decanted to her boyfriend’s luxury apartment overlooking the river (no sad little student flat for her). I know it won’t last, as life just doesn’t work out that way, but in the meantime I’m going to enjoy the calm. No more whinging. New beginnings.

Until next time….

Everything Changes Lyrics
(Song by Gary Barlow/Michael Ward/Eliot Kennedy/Cary Baylis)

We’ve said goodbye, the taxi cab is waiting
Now don’t you cry, just one more kiss
Before I have to go
Hey girl I know the situation changed
And so much is new but something in my life
Remains the same cos

Everything changes but you
We’re a thousand miles apart
But you know I love you
Everything changes but you
You know everything single day
I’ll be thinking about you

The rumours true, you know that there’ve been others
What can I do, I tell you baby they don’t mean a thing
Now girl don’t go and throw our love away
I’ll be home soon back in your arms to hear you say that

Everything changes but you
We’re a thousand miles apart
But you know I love you
Everything changes but you
You know everything single day
I’ll be thinking about you

Everything changes but you
We’re a thousand miles apart
But I still love you
Everything changes but you
I’ll spend everything single day
Thinking about you

Though everything changes around us
(Baby don’t U cry)
We will be the same as before more

Everything changes but you
We’re a thousand miles apart
And I still miss you baby
Everything changes but you
You know everything single day
I’ll be thinking about you