A Nostalgic Journey Through the Tracks of My Years
Author: Alyson
Whenever I hear an old song on the radio, I am immediately transported back to those days. I know I'm not alone here and want to record those memories for myself and for the people in them. 60 years ago the song "Alfie" was written by my favourite songwriting team, Bacharach and David. The opening line to that song was, "What's it all about?" and I'm hoping by writing this blog, I might find the answer to that question.
Some of you who visit this place know that I have been having a few technical issues of late which has hampered my usual blogging activities. And so, yet again, I am trying to restore 15 years’ worth of data back onto my PC and although it is apparently in a virtual “cloud” somewhere, it must be so high up in the stratosphere that at the moment it can’t be easily located.
The amazing thing however is that all sorts of things I had totally forgotten about are descending from the skies and as I have temporarily lost my zest for writing due to the technical issues (“ma heid’s mince” as we say in Scotland), this post will be in pictorial form as it very smoothly follows on from my last one which featured the song Misty by Ray Stevens. Back then C, from the wonderful Sun Dried Sparrows blog, mentioned in the comments boxes that Misty immediately made her think of the song Fog on the Tyne by Lindisfarne. Guess what descended from the cloud this afternoon? – the contents of my late father-in-law’s Digi Frame which we must have saved onto the computer after he passed away. No long wordy post therefore, just the pics that tell the story of a young man from Newcastle-upon-Tyne who somehow made his way up to the Highlands of Scotland and whose son I ended up marrying.
The River Tyne and the Tyne BridgeA young man who in the 1940s finds himself a job in an office overlooking the Tyne, right in the centre of NewcastleThat same young man has a passion for climbing and heads off on holiday to the Isle of Skye where he meets a lovely young art student from BirminghamThe young couple fall in love and marry a few years laterTheir love for the Highlands of Scotland means that they move up there to live and have three children who are all given very Scottish names, the youngest of whom becomes Mr WIAAThey have a long and happy life together but by 2015 both have passed on, leaving three happily married children and three grandchildrenAnd so it turns out that my daughter is one quarter Geordie – this one is for her therefore, Fog on the Tyne by Lindisfarne from their 1971 album of the same name
Fog on the Tyne by Lindisfarne:
Lindisfarne were a folk-rock hybrid formed in the Newcastle-upon-Tyne of 1969 and were named after the historic Holy Island of Lindisfarne off the Northumbrian coast. The lyrics to their songs blended “wistful sensitivity, social sentiments and boozy revelry”. Fog on the Tyne was the biggest selling album by a British band in 1971.
Lindisfarne in 1971
Fog on the Tyne Lyrics (Song by Alan Hull)
Sittin’ in a sleazy snack-bar Suckin’, sickly sausage rolls Slippin’ down slowly, slippin’ down sideways Think I’ll sign off the dole
Because the fog on the Tyne is all mine, all mine The fog on the Tyne is all mine The fog on the Tyne is all mine, all mine The fog on the Tyne is all mine
Could a copper catch a crooked coffin maker Could a copper comprehend That a crooked coffin maker is just an undertaker Who undertakes to be a friend?
And the fog on the Tyne is all mine, all mine The fog on the Tyne is all mine The fog on the Tyne is all mine, all mine The fog on the Tyne is all mine
Tell it to tomorrow, today will take it’s time To tell you what tonight will bring Presently we’ll have a pint or two together Everybody do their thing
We can swing together, we can have a wee wee We can have a wet on the wall If someone slips a whisper that its simple sister Slapped them down and slavered on their smalls
‘Cause the fog on the Tyne is all mine, all mine The fog on the Tyne is all mine The fog on the Tyne is all mine, all mine The fog on the Tyne is all mine
My last post was about the Roberta Flack song featured in the film Play Misty for Me and in the comments boxes, Rol, whose excellent My Top Ten blog is one I visit often, threw down the gauntlet and asked, “Any chance of a follow-up post on Misty itself, by Ray Stevens? If you don’t, I will!”.
After watching the film again the other night, it confirmed for me that the version of Misty that was requested so often (tring, tring, …”Play Misty for me”) by mad-stalker-woman Jessica Walter, was not indeed the one by Ray Stevens (as it wouldn’t have been recorded for another four years), nor by Johnny Mathis who did a very romantic version in 1959, but in fact the original instrumental composed by jazz pianist Erroll Garner. Mr Garner was born in Pittsburgh in 1923 and started playing piano at the age of three. He came from a very musical family all of whom played piano but he never did learn how to read music and always played by ear. I give you the original Misty, composed in 1954 (the familiar part starts at 0:30).
And here is where I made a brand new discovery – I mainly know Johnny Mathis from his mid ’70s offerings I’mStone In Love With You and of course When A Child Is Born, the big 1976 Christmas No. 1 hit. At that time Johnny always looked as if he’d just got off the golf course but in the late ’50s and early ’60s he was apparently the “Master of The Love Ballad” or more crudely put, “The King of Necking Music”. Despite being an outstanding athlete, he chose music as a career and amazingly Sinatra and Presley are the only male artists to have sold more albums. It should come as no surprise therefore, that when Johnny Burke wrote lyrics for the previously instrumental Misty, Johnny Mathis would be the very person to record this new version which became a big hit for him in 1959.
But this was supposed to be a post about the Ray Stevens‘ version of the song and at last I am getting round to it. Although Ray Stevens had been a very successful, multi-talented entertainer from the early ’60s onward, I probably only knew him from his early ’70s comedic novelty songs. There was Bridget the Midget (Queen of the Blues) in 1971 and then The Streak in 1974 released on the back of that very unusual fad of running naked through sporting venues. Fortunately, British bobbies’ helmets at that time were well designed for containing those body parts best kept under wraps, but still amused the crowds at Twickenham, Wimbledon and even at a Winter Olympics curling final (brrr…).
In 1975 Ray Stevens decided to record a very countrified, up-tempo version of Misty which was a bit of a departure for him after so many novelty records. He was however born in Georgia in 1939 (still with us, I have just checked) and became a producer and studio musician in Nashville, so it would have made sense for him to go down that route especially as during the mid-70s country music had kind of become mainstream. Looking back at the charts of 1975, around a quarter of the records were by people whose names ended in a “y” or an “ie” – Tammy, Dolly, Johnny, Kenny, Billie, Charlie and so on. Yes, country-pop as a sub-genre had come of age, even outwith the US, and I think a lot of it was down to the fact that for the first time in ages, people of my parents’ generation had new music they could identify with and enjoy. Maybe it was different in the cosmopolitan cities, but where I came from in Scotland venues were packed out with people keen to watch their American country stars of choice perform songs that were set in the Appalachians, in Tennessee or Kentucky. Very apt really as these songs were written by the offspring of the Scottish, Irish and other Celtic immigrants who played well-known traditional instruments, such as fiddles, banjos, harmonicas and acoustic guitars.
Misty by Ray Stevens:
Ray Stevens‘ version of Misty is the one I know best and whenever I hear that intro I know exactly what is going to come next – That first line about being so love-struck you’re “as helpless as a kitten up a tree”. Yes, we’ve all been there, but fortunately not for some time in my case (the helpless kitten part). I’m not sure if Erroll Garner or Johnny Mathis would have approved of this version, but it was certainly the most commercially successful here in the UK and won a Grammy Award in the category of Music Arrangement of the Year. Ray was never as well-known here as in his native US but I have just had a bit of a déjà vu moment where I am reminded of watching him appear on the Andy Williams Show back in the late ’60s. He was a regular as it turns out, but at the time I would have been just far too preoccupied with that very good-looking band of Osmond brothers who also used to appear regularly, performing their very polished barbershop routines.
So, “What’s It All About?” – Not sure how well I’ve risen to the challenge of writing about this song, but I have enjoyed revisiting Misty and finding out so much more of its back story. I know Rol would have probably approached it differently but hey, this is how I do things here at WIAA? so hopefully whoever drops by will find something of interest. The question now is, do I continue to ask for suggestions on what song to write about next? I think this approach is sufficiently different to what we do on The Chain, so for one more post only, please enter suggestions in the comments boxes below to a song that links to Misty by Ray Stevens and I’ll see what I can come up with – A challenge indeed!
Misty Lyrics (Song by Erroll Garner/Johnny Burke)
Look at me I’m as helpless as a kitten up a tree Ah, I’m walkin’ on a cloud I can’t understand, Lord I’m misty holdin’ your hand
Walk my way And a thousand violins begin to play Or it might be the sound of your “hello” That music I hear, Lord I’m misty the moment you’re near
You can say that you’re leadin’ me on But it’s just what I want you to do Don’t ya notice how hopelessly I’m lost That’s why I’m followin’ you
Ooh, on my own Should I wander through this wonderland alone, now Never knowin’ my right foot from my left My hat from my glove, Lord I’m misty, and too much in love
You can say that you’re leadin’ me on But it’s just what I want you to do Don’t ya notice how hopelessly I’m lost That’s why I’m followin’ you
Ooh, on my own Should I wander through this wonderland alone, now Never knowin’ my right foot from my left My hat from my glove, Lord I’m misty, and too much in love
(Misty) too much in love (Misty) too much in love (Misty) (Misty) too much in love…
Anyone who visits these pages will know that I am often earworm-afflicted, but thankfully most of these earworms are of the pleasurable variety. Last week it was The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face by Roberta Flack which had popped up on on the car radio on my way home from work. I hadn’t heard it in years and was struck by just how beautiful it was. Such a slow pace to it which contrasted markedly to everything else I had heard during the same journey. It was actually written back in 1957 by Ewan MacColl, the multi-talented British folk singer, songwriter, activist and more importantly, dad to Kirsty, but was subsequently covered by many other artists.
The young Ewan MacColl – Is it me or is there a passing resemblance here to a certain Mr Shane MacGowan?
Ewan made no bones about the fact that he didn’t like these cover versions, but despite that, Roberta’s version from 1972 became a major international hit, winning a Grammy Award for Record of the Year. Her rendition, at over five minutes long was much slower than the original which ran to only two and a half minutes but the success of this more sensual version was no doubt because it was used by Clint Eastwood for his 1971 film Play Misty for Me, where he made his directorial debut. Yes, although the song was originally written as a love song for Ewan’s long-distance American lover Peggy Seeger, whom he subsequently married, the Roberta Flack version, once in the hands of Mr Eastwood became a song all about “makin’ love” – All very smooth in the make-believe world of the movie and not at all like in the real world where I’m sure there would have probably been nettle stings, ants and mussed-up hair.
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face by Roberta Flack:
Play Misty for Me is a really great psychological thriller and one which I do remember watching on television as a teenager, back in the ’70s. Of course in those days families generally only had one television set which resided in what we called The Living Room (although I am aware that depending on your class and geographical location it could have been called something else). We also had no central heating but a very fine looking 2 bar electric fire to keep us cosy during the long winter months. My point is that the whole family sat in the living room watching television together and whenever “scenes of a sexual nature” as they are called nowadays were transmitted, it was a cue for everyone to get very embarrassed. My dad would suddenly pick up his Aberdeen Press and Journal (Scotland’s oldest daily newspaper) to hide behind, and my mum would find something very important to do in the kitchen. I was left red-faced, willing the “scene of a sexual nature” to be over as soon as possible so that we could all get back to the business in hand, which was hoping that the dashing Carmel-by-the-Sea radio jockey Mr Eastwood, would manage to thwart the unwanted attentions of his stalker, Jessica Walter.
And here is where the law of freaky coincidences strikes again. After purchasing the song at the weekend I decided to write about it on Sunday night. I got side-tracked however by a spot of boxset binging – Mad Men, the final season. Anyone who has watched Mad Men will know that it is an American period drama set primarily in the 1960s at the fictional Sterling Cooper advertising agency on Madison Avenue. We were now right at the end of the final season however and had reached the early 1970s. At the end of each episode they chose a song from the era to accompany the closing credits and what did Sunday night’s turn out to be? Yes, The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face by Roberta Flack!
The Cast of Mad Men – We’ve reached the 1970s!
But of course I can’t leave it there as this would just be too schmaltzy a post. No, instead I will leave you with Will from the Inbetweeners movie, who thought that a spot of Roberta Flack would help him capture the heart of Katie, a girl he had met on holiday – Needless to say it didn’t, and she led him a merry dance on the way to finding that out, but all very funny nonetheless. Until next time, I give you Will…..
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (Song by Ewan MacColl)
The first time ever I saw your face I thought the sun rose in your eyes And the moon and the stars were the gifts you gave To the dark and the endless skies my love To the dark and the endless skies
The first time ever I kissed your mouth I felt the earth move in my hand Like the trembling heart of a captive bird That was there at my command my love That was there at my command my love
And the first time ever I lay with you I felt your heart so close to mine And I knew our joy would fill the earth And last ’till the end of time my love And it would last ’till the end of time
The first time ever I saw your face Your face, your face
Something I do love about a brand new year is that the calendar (for 2017 this time), is as yet full of blank pages. We don’t know yet what the year will bring (although considering what last year brought maybe that’s a good thing) – 30 years ago it brought a new job, a new town and a new life. But this is supposed to be a music blog so what would I have been listening to back in 1987? Looking at the UK Singles Chart for this week, 30 years ago, the record still at No. 1 was Reet Petite by Jackie Wilson. I am constantly amazed at how rarely the top-selling record at any time really reflects the musical zeitgeist of the times, and this is a perfect example. Reet Petite was written for Jackie by Motown founder Berry Gordy back in 1957 but here it was giving much joy, 30 years later.
I didn’t really know which direction this post was going to take before I started but it does seem to heading in the general direction of revisiting years that end with the number 7! Those of you who follow these pages will know that over the last twelve months my favourite year for revisitation has been in fact 1967 as somehow the music from that era is the most pleasing to my now middle-aged ears. Why is that I wondered? It turned out to be down to a combination of factors but one of the main ones was simply that I was a very happy child and songs from that era only conjure up only good memories. Also my awareness of the world of popular music was still at its nascent state, so songs from that year are still lesser-known and I have not tired of them in the same way that I have tired of some of the material from my own, very well-known era, the ’70s and ’80s.
Looking back at the UK Singles Chart for week commencing 5th January 1967, it contains many rare gems I have not yet tired of. One that quickly became an earworm (of the very pleasant variety) was Sitting In The Park by Georgie Fame. Back in my childhood days I always used to mix up Georgie Fame and Alan Price (ex of The Animals), but looking into it a bit more, both of them did usually sit at keyboards of some sort and did work together quite a bit over the years, so explains a lot
Sitting In The Park by Georgie Fame:
Georgie’s real name was Clive Powell but once he became managed by Larry Parnes, who had given new stage names to Marty Wilde and Billy Fury(there’s a pattern forming here) the new name was pretty much forced upon him. Georgie Fame was essentially an R&B and jazz singer who had many hits in the ’60s, Sitting In The Park being one of his less successful actually. He had played piano for Billy Fury as part of his backing band The Blue Flames, and this record was indeed attributed to “Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames”. He is still the only British pop star to have achieved three number one hits with his only Top 10 chart entries. There was Yeh, Yeh in 1964, Get Away in 1966 and The Ballad of Bonnie and Clydein 1967 (inspired by the film from the same year).
Like many others from this era, Georgie had been heavily influenced from early on by the great jazz and blues musicians and was one of the first white artists to be influenced by the ska music he heard in Jamaican cafes. The Blue Flames had a three-year residency at the Flamingo Club in Soho which was usually full of American GIs who came in from their bases for the weekend. They brought records with them and after one GI gave Georgie a copy of Green Onions by Booker T & the MG’s, he apparently went out and bought a Hammond organ the very next day.
The song Sitting In The Park (which I find both beautiful but also desperately sad – commonplace when revisiting this era) was actually written by American R&B/soul artist Billy Stewart. He had a string of hits in the ’60s although was more popular in his native USA. Billy sadly died in a car accident shortly before his 33rd birthday. Here is his version of this song from 50 years ago which I have just discovered, and find strangely enchanting.
So, “What’s It All About?” – It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day… Oh no, that’s another song altogether by Nina Simone! It is however a new year and one that does indeed end with a 7 – A number with all sorts of significance. There are 7 days in the week, 7 notes on the musical scale, 7 wonders of the world and 7 deadly sins. There is also the fictional MI6 agent 007, and of course it was the number on the back of a certain well-known footballer’s shirt.
As for me, I think I’ve just had another touch of “blogger’s block” in this, the first week of a new year, which might well account for this very odd post. Whatever, I hope to return to form soon but in the meantime it has been a joy reacquainting myself with the sounds of Georgie Fame and Billy Stewart,who were both, just sittin’ in the park.
Until next time…
Sitting In The Park Lyrics (Song by Billy Stewart)
Sittin’ in the park, Waitin’ for hooo-hoo-hoo-hoo sha-la
Yes I’m sitting right here Waiting for you my dear Wondering if you ever want to show up
I don’t know you’re gonna show My darlin’ I got to go But nevertheless I staying You got to be waiting
Sittin’ in the park, Waitin’ for hooo-hoo-hoo-hoo sha-la-la
Sitting here on the bench With my back against the fence Wonderin’-a-if I Have any sense
Something tells me I’m a fool Let you treat me so cruel But nevertheless I say again you gotta be waiting
Sittin’ in the park, Waitin’ for hoooo-hoo-hoo-hoo
Well I think that all of us who blog about the world of entertainment, be it music, film, comedy, theatre, or any other category I might have missed, will agree that 2016 was a pretty desperate year. I don’t know if anyone has done the stats yet, but compared with 2015, never a week seemed to go by without a major name (and I mean really major) leaving this mortal coil. I doubt if any mathematician out there could have produced a formula that would have predicted such things. As we are now into 2017 (well hello new year), I am going to hope that things become a bit more normalised again – Steady as she goes.
I may be a day too late by the time this gets published but I thought of this song on New Year’s Eve, or Hogmanay as we call it here in Scotland, when I was writing the second part of my George Michael tribute. The two pieces of music (primitive cassette tapes actually) we took into hospital with us to while away those long hours in the Labour Suite awaiting the birth of darling daughter (fortunately selective memory kicks in and I can’t really remember the pain now), were by George and Dina Carroll.
I also can’t remember all these years later, if my daughter was born to the sounds of George, Dina, or neither, as we were probably well and truly sick of both of them by the time the end game came along. Also, I was a bit preoccupied with averting my gaze from the man holding the most enormous pair of forceps I had ever seen in my life, to really take note of which tinny sounds were emanating from the very basic player in the corner of the room. It is appropriate however to feature this lovely song at the birth of this brand new year. Let’s hope it’s going to be a better one, in every sense of the word.
Ring out the old, bring in the new A midnight wish to share with you
The Perfect Year was actually a song written for the stage musicalSunset Boulevard which opened in July 1993 although it was of course originally a very successful 1950 American film noir directed and co-written by Billy Wilder. The filmSunset Boulevard was nominated for 11 Academy Awards and won 3. It starred William Holden as Joe Gillis, an unsuccessful screenwriter, and Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond, the faded silent film star who drew him into her fantasy world.
But 1993 brought us the musical, and the music for it was written by that most prolific of impresarios Andrew Lloyd Webber, with the words being written by Don Black and Christopher Hampton. At the end of that same year Mr WIAA and myself ventured quite far afield on holiday, and to my shame, we returned home with quite a lot of music that was perhaps not of the entirely legitimate nature. Looking now at legitimate copies of the “Five Live EP” (mentioned last time) and the “So Close” album by Dina Carroll, the ones we had acquired on holiday in 1993 contained an awful lot of additional material, which is why they probably saw us through the long night in the Labour Suite. The upshot of this tale is that The Perfect Year was actually on our copy of “So Close”, and has always been my favourite track. A beautiful song, sung beautifully, with a sentiment that appeals to an old romantic like myself.
The Perfect Year by Dina Carroll:
Dina Carroll was born in Suffolk in 1968 and if I remember correctly, she is another of those artists with an American Forces father and a British mother who somehow seem hard to place, and could fit in equally well on either side of the pond. Dina started singing at the age of five and won a talent competition at thirteen. Between 1989 and 1993 she had great chart success and carried out a British tour in the November/December of that year supported by the then unknown Eternal (one of whom was little Louise Nurding now Redknapp who reached the final of last year’s Strictly Come Dancing – bit of trivia).
To round off this highly successful 1993, Dina recorded her version of The Perfect Year and released it in the December which is how it must have come to be on our (dubious) copy of “So Close”. The song reached No. 5 in the UK Singles Chart and Dina was to become the only British female to have two singles simultaneously in the Top 10 that decade, with Don’t Be a Stranger still riding high when The Perfect Year entered the charts.
So, “What’s It All About?” – It is indeed a new calendar year and we humans do like to compartmentalise time in this way, although really it’s still just the day after yesterday. We like to use this time of the year for fresh starts, and I hope your fresh starts work very well for you.
This time last year I had no idea this place existed and had hitherto mainly shared my thoughts with my friends on Facebook, much to their chagrin – It was time to move to a better medium and this one has been great. I will admit to making a few mistakes along the way and am still prone to sometimes making comments on other blogs, then changing my mind, but finding it is too late. Sorry if you have been the recipient of one of my ill-thought-out comments. I will do better in 2017.
Goodbye then to a sorry 2016, and Hello to a hopefully superior 2017 (although I’m not holding my breath).
Until next time, enjoy the beautiful sounds of Dina Carroll who in 1993 thought she was about to have, The Perfect Year.
The Perfect Year Lyrics (Song by Don Black/Andrew Webber/Christopher Hampton)
Ring out the old, bring in the new A midnight wish to share with you Your lips are warm, my head is light Were we in love before tonight?
Oh, I don’t need a crowded ballroom Everything I need is here If you’re with me next year will be The perfect year
No need to hear the music play Your eyes say all there is to say The stars can fade and they can shine Long as your face is next to mine
I don’t need a crowded ball room Everything I need is here If you’re with me next year will be The perfect year
We don’t need a crowded ballroom Everything we need is here If you’re with me next year will be The perfect year
It’s new year’s eve and hopes are high Dance one year in, kiss one goodbye Another chance, another start So many dreams to tease the heart
We don’t need a crowded ballroom Everything we need is here And face to face we will embrace The perfect year
Oh, we don’t need a crowded ballroom Everything we need is here So face to face we shall embrace The perfect year
Well old friend, it’s been a very sad but oddly uplifting few days. I wrote my first letter to you back on Tuesday when the news of your death was still raw. Since then I have pulled together all the old vinyl and CDs (from both the Wham! and solo years) and had a good wallow through your back catalogue. There is much there to give joy but also material there that now breaks my heart – I don’t know about the Cowboys but I hope you are now with the Angels. A cringey thing to say I know, but I had to include that song somewhere as although not a massive commercial success in its own right, it is still my favourite from your album “Listen Without Prejudice Vol 1” (there never was a Vol 2 but that of course is another story).
Cowboys and Angels by George Michael:
When I say it has also been an oddly uplifting few days, that is because we have now heard about some of your (hitherto anonymous) amazing acts of generosity. You were always at the forefront whenever a charity concert or single was in being put together but most of us had no idea just how many random acts of kindness you were responsible for over the years. You helped out at homeless shelters and always stood up for the downtrodden. A prince among men.
But I have jumped ahead. In my last letter to you I did a fair bit of reminiscing about all that went on in both of our lives during the Wham!years of the early ’80s but what happened after that? I think we both kind of grew up. You carved out a successful career as a very credible solo artist and I stopped being a flibbertigibbet, moved to a new town and took up a responsible job. Ok, so I still was a bit of a flibbertigibbet, but I now lived on my own and had to travel long distances to meet up with my old friends, but when I did, it was just like old times.
In 1987 you released your first solo album “Faith” and during one of our reunion weekends that year it was played constantly. The girls were mightily taken with your new “look” and we found it quite amusing that so many young men were trying to recreate that look, what with the designer stubble, the leather jacket, the shades and even the glove. Looked great on you but on anyone else it just kind of looked silly. One of my friends had actually been given a video of the single I Want Your Sex by her boyfriend, as a present for her birthday. A few raised eyebrows about that one as how could one ever compete with “Gorgeous George” in the bedroom department!
George Michael – Faith
But you were exhausted after all the hoopla that came with the promotion of “Faith” George, and to be honest so was I. Living in The Highlands of Scotland but spending every weekend travelling around the country was also exhausting and I started to make friends locally and even got myself a boyfriend who was to become Mr WIAA. Hurrah I hear you say (after getting bored with my stories of the on-off nature of my relationship with boyfriend no. 1 during the Wham! years).
In 1990 you released a much more contemplative album called “Listen Without Prejudice Vol 1” and the first single from itPraying for Time had lyrics that concerned social ills and injustice. We were starting to realise what kind of man you really were. This album was a very different affair and it alluded to your struggle with your artistic identity. Vol 2 never did appear and shortly after, you ended your record contract with Sony.
One good thing that came out of your dispute with the record company is that you had a fair bit of “gardening leave” and threw yourself into appearing at benefit concerts and such like. The one that has gone down in history, is when you took part in the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in 1992 along with Queen, Lisa Stansfield, Seal, David Bowieand many others. For some reason I can’t remember watching this concert live on telly at the time (put it down to getting engaged, married and buying and selling a property in a four month period) but it was obviously repeated in 1993 ahead of the Five Live EP where five tracks from the concert were released on a single EP, with all proceeds going to the Mercury Trust. This time we did see it, and my goodness it gave me goosebumps. You know when you witness something truly exceptional and your version of Somebody To Love with the other members of Queen really was exceptional (check out that note at 1:16).
Somebody To Love by George Michael and Queen:
Around this time I always had a blank tape in the VCR (remember those) and if something special came on telly I would quickly press “record”. This performance of Somebody To Love was revisited many times over the next few months. To see you, giving it your allGeorge, in your gorgeous coral-coloured jacket (a great choice by the way) and blousy gold earring, was joy personified.
And here is where you feature in a really important moment in my life, and that of my daughter’s as it turns out. A couple of years later I found myself “with child” (blame theI Want Your Sex video) and it was suggested that we take a few cassette tapes with us to the labour suite come the hour. It all gets a bit frantic when everything starts to happen so we quickly grabbed the bag and two tapes to take with us. One was by Dina Carroll (not thought of her in ages) and the other was the Five Live EP. Despite the rush to get there things did not end up happening very quickly at all and we spent all evening, all night and then part of the next morning awaiting darling daughter’s arrival, all to the sounds of you George, plus those of Lisa Stansfield, Queen and occasionallyDina Carroll. Very apt really, and excuse the schmaltz, but she truly has been “somebody to love”.
I will admit that once you have a family, music has to take a back seat, especially if you are the mum I think, and I am sorry George but my attention to you was a tad neglected over the next few years but I did appreciate your “Older” album when it came out in 1996 and of course I had to buy “The Best of Wham!” in 1997, and then “Ladies and Gentlemen” in 1998. Funnily enough, by this time darling daughter was becoming a little character in her own right and one of our favourite things to do of an afternoon was to dance to your songs. One of the best for this was Club Tropicana where we re-enacted the long pre-amble with the sound of the car pulling up, the footsteps, the cicadas and then the opening of the doors to “Club Tropicana”. Fun times and needless to say she did become a bit of an aficionado of musical theatre and at one point we thought that a life on stage might be for her.
Oh George, here I am running out of words again and I’ve only got to 1998 but of course that was also the year that you kind of let yourself down a bit. None of us who were fans cared whether you were gay or not but you did “out” yourself in a very public way by getting arrested in LA. You say it was a subconsciously deliberate act, which it probably was, and it did give us the very entertaining Outside later on that year. Didn’t endear yourself to the LAPD with that one though, did you?
I can see, as fellow Chain-Ganger George (coincidental name) suggested last time, that this will have to be a game of three thirds as opposed to two halves, so until next time, thank you again Georgios Kyriacos for all the great music I have had the privilege to revisit this week due to your very untimely demise. I would much rather it had been under very different circumstances, but there we are.
Until next time, RIP to the Cowboy and the Angel who tried very hard to find “somebody to love”.
Cowboys and Angels Lyrics (Song by George Michael)
When your heart’s in someone else’s hands Monkey see and monkey do Their wish is your command Not to blame Everyone’s the same
All you do is love and love is all you do I should know by now the way I fought for you You’re not to blame, everyone’s the same
I know you think that you’re safe Mister Harmless deception That keeps love at bay It’s the ones who resist that we most want to kiss Wouldn’t you say?
Cowboys and angels They all have the time for you Why should I imagine that I’d be a find for you Why should I imagine That I’d have something to say
But that scar on your face That beautiful face of yours In your heart there’s a trace Of someone before
When your heart’s in someone else’s plans Things you say and things you do That they don’t understand You’re not to blame Always ends the same
You can call it love but I don’t think it’s true You should know by now I’m not the boy for you You’re not to blame Always ends the same
I know you think that you’re safe Sister Harmless affection that keeps things this way It’s the ones who persist for the sake of a kiss Who will pay and pay Cowboys and angels They all have the time for you Why should I imagine that I was designed for you Why should I believe That you would stay
But that scar on your face That beautiful face of yours Don’t you think that I’d know They’ve hurt you, before
Take this man to your place Maybe his hands can help you forget Please be stronger than your past The future may still give you a chance The future, the future, not the past
That scar on your face That beautiful face of yours Don’t you think that I know They hurt you before
George, George, George…, Georgios Kyriacos, Gorgeous one – I probably knew that you had not been “looking after yourself” (as my mum would call it) for some time, but when I heard the news yesterday morning that you had passed away from heart failure, on Christmas Day of all days, it was the first time this year that I actually uttered a guttural roar on the hearing of such news. A loud, “No, no, no……” could be heard emanating from my person followed by a few punches of my pillow. I eventually pulled myself together however and headed off to our little office to see what the world wide web was making of it all. Shitty, shitty 2016.
First of all you were just a tad younger than me, and British, so of all the shiny stars from the world of entertainment who have passed on this year, you were the one I could identify with most (me being an international singer/song-writing superstar an’ all) – But seriously, you appeared in my life just as childhood and the artificial world of the student was coming to an end so you have been with me for the journey that has been my entire adult life. In a non-interfering, almost unnoticed way, you have provided one of the soundtracks to my life and have been there at a few of the most pivotal points. You will never be forgotten.
I spotted you for the first time, as was usual in those days, on Top of The Pops in the summer of 1982. We had just finished our degrees but were allowed to stay on in our Halls of Residence until the new term started in October – This was the first time I had lived in Halls over the summer but I had a job, my 5 best friends were with me, there were no lectures or exams, and the sun was shining – What a great time we had and on Thursday nights at 7.30pm we all piled into my little room for TOTP (as unbelievably in those less technology saturated times, I was the only one who had a little portable telly).
And there you were, joyously strutting your stuff with best mate Andrew, the other half of Wham!, and the girls Pepsi & Shirlie (the future Mrs Martin Kemp). I was, at 22 by this time, too old to be smitten by such teen-dream fodder but hey, it was summer and Young Guns (Go For It) was feel-good pop of the highest order. What not to enjoy. We’d already had New Romanticism with all the falderals and excess that it entailed, but here were a couple of young lads from Hertfordshire having fun in their loafers and rolled up jeans. I am ashamed to admit it now (no, not that I really liked this stuff, as that would never happen), but it was Andrew I was smitten with at first. He was indeed very cute back then and I feel bad about that now, as we all know you had real self-image issues over the years, but as time went by you did kind of grow into yourself and became a very attractive man.
Young Guns (Go For It) by Wham!:
But life moves on and we all decanted to flats in the city centre and became part of the real world, getting ourselves “proper” jobs and entering the 9 to 5. I have written about this before but during these transition years there is usually an overlap with the life left behind and for a while we still tended to frequent the old haunts of our student days. As time went by however, more socialising was done with new colleagues and our haunts of choice changed – This was Aberdeen, the Oil Capital of Europe for goodness sake, money was plentiful and bit by bit we moved up to the much more yuppified side of the town. I feel embarrassed by it now considering what was happening in other parts of the country at the time, but hey, we were young, it always felt like it was summer and life was being played out to all of your great chart singles, Club Tropicana, Wake Me Up Before You Go Go, Careless WhisperandFreedom.
I have already written about you twice this year George, once when Careless Whisper became a “random pick of the day” and once when recounting how your song Freedom was the key to securing a place in the final of the prestigious Inter-Oil Company Pop Quiz of 1985. Can be found here (George Michael, Careless Whisper and the Summer of 1984) and here (Pop Quizzes, George Michael and Freedom) – Fun times. But all fun times have their day and ironically that happened soon after we tried to recreate those wonderful scenes from your video forLast Christmas.
Last Christmas by Wham!:
About 10 of us booked a New Year break, not in a swish Alpine resort as per the video, but in the Cairngorms. Scotland was having an uncharacteristically mild winter that year and instead of snow we had…, well whatever it’s called when it’s winter and not snowy…, brown. No matter, we had a great time with days out and about and nights spent eating, drinking and playing games. When I said that all fun times have their day, that is exactly what happened. Hubby and I call it “cottage weekend syndrome” – You have this great time with like-minded single friends of both the male and female persuasion, but one by one everyone starts to pair up and become couples. The very thing that was the catalyst in getting them together in the first place leads to its demise once mortgages and children come along, which is sad, but, it seems that as humans we are destined to want to be couples. I know you have not had an easy time of it George in the relationship department, but I do hope that at the time of your death you had someone in your life who really cared about you. I find it hard to believe that such a fuss was made when you came out as gay in the late ’90s. First of all, I am pretty sure that all of us who were fans knew anyway (you were always just so well-groomed) and secondly it really didn’t matter – I can see that during the ’80s however, when that new virus came along that could lead to AIDs, it would have been a difficult time to tell a loving mother the truth.
My last major recollections of your days in Wham! were during the summer of 1986. After a very long-winded on-off relationship, by the summer of ’86 it was definitely over for good. This was a new found freedom I had not experienced in years and it was embraced with open arms. It coincided with the announcement that Wham! were also finally calling it a day and what with the release of a farewell single, The Edge of Heaven and a singles compilation album called “The Final” you were never out of the media. There was also a sell-out concert at Wembley Stadium and the world premiere of the film documenting your landmark tour of China.Put it down to giddy delirium at being single again, but I reverted to being a love-struck teenager and bought both original albums “Fantastic” and “Make It Big” as well as the new one. Very embarrassingly I also acquired some posters and put them up on my bedroom wall but there was also method in this madness. I was very conscious of the fact that being single again after many years as a couple, I could make mistakes of the rebound nature – The embarrassment of having posters of you and Andrew on my wall would surely stop any rash impulses being acted upon (which fortunately did work, so thanks guys).
That summer was also the one I went on holiday to Greece, your father’s country of birth. Those were more demure days when the hedonistic stories of sun, sex and sangria-fuelled partying did not feature as much when travelling to such places (or maybe we just went to a particularly nice island). Anyway, during the holiday we all ended up having little romances and lo and behold the boy I fell for was also called Georgios. I clearly remember shedding a little tear on the way home on the plane and then suffering the embarrassment, once back at work, of having to tell my boss that the password to my computer was indeed “Georgios” when he needed access in a hurry!
Swimming with George in Greece
So George, my memories of those years, 1982 to 1986 are now complete but there are so many more post-Wham! memories which I am going to leave for Part 2 of my tribute to you.
I have been conscious of late that because I am no longer writing in a vacuum and actually have a few followers, that I perhaps need to be a bit more selective with my choice of featured songs. I chose not to write about Last Christmas the other week as I do still get a bit embarrassed that back in the ’80s my social conscience temporarily left me, and I was swept up in a sea of Club Tropicana and Careless Whispers. But, the received wisdom is that you should always write from the heart and be true to yourself. No-one ever said that you can’t like a variety of musical genres anyway and my mantra has always been that I like music of great quality, whatever the style, so it is perfectly possible to have loved The Smiths as well as Wham!.
So long then, to the young Greek Adonis of my youth. Until next time, RIP George.
Young Guns (Go For It) Lyrics (Song by George Michael)
Hey sucker (What the hell’s got into you?) Hey sucker Hey sucker (What the hell’s got into you?) Hey sucker (Now there’s nothing you can do)
Well I hadn’t seen your face around town awhile, So I greeted you, with a knowing smile, When I saw that girl upon your arm, I knew she won your heart with a fatal charm. I said “Soul Boy, let’s hit the town!” I said “Soul Boy, what’s with the frown?” But in return, all you could say was “Hi George, meet my fiancée”
Young Guns, Having some fun Crazy ladies keep ’em on the run. Wise guys realise there’s danger in emotional ties. See me, single and free No tears, no fears, what I want to be. One, two, take a look at you Death by matrimony!
Hey sucker, (What the hell’s got into you?) Hey sucker! (Now there’s nothing you can do.)
A married man? you’re out of your head Sleepless nights, on an H.P. bed A daddy by the time you’re twenty-one If your happy with a nappy then you’re in for fun. But you’re here And you’re there Well there’s guys like you just everywhere Looking back on the good old days? Well this young gun says CAUTION PAYS!
Young Guns, Having some fun Crazy ladies keep ’em on the run. Wise guys realise there’s danger in emotional ties. See me, single and free No tears, no fears, what I want to be. One, two, take a look at you Death by matrimony!
I remember when he such fun and everthing was fine, I remember when we use to have a good time, Partners in crime. Tell me that’s all in the past and I will gladly walk away, Tell me that you’re happy now, Turning my back Nothing to say! “Hey tell this jerk to take a hike, There’s somethin’ ’bout that boy I don’t like” “Well sugar he don’t mean the things he said” “Just get him outta my way, ’cause I’m seeing red We got plans to make, we got things to buy And you’re wasting time on some creepy guy” “Hey shut up chick, that’s a friend of mine, Just watch your mouth babe, you’re out of line”
GET BACK HANDS OFF GO FOR IT!
Young Guns, Having some fun Crazy ladies keep ’em on the run. Wise guys realise there’s danger in emotional ties. See me, single and free No tears, no fears, what I want to be. One, two, take a look at you Death by matrimony!
Well, after a bit of a slow start this year (I blame too much time spent in this very absorbing virtual world of late, and not enough time in the real world), I have now totally embraced Christmas. This, therefore, will have to be a very short post as unbelievably I still have to buy and deliver a few presents, and source the rest of the food to add to the embarrassment of calories that is the traditional Christmas lunch.
So far so good, however, and despite being up until 4am checking out darling daughter’s whereabouts (it was “Mad Friday” after all, so a bit of a worry), I am up and at it. Our lovely postman, who does go beyond the call in attempting to deliver some of the odd items that arrive in the mail (Mr WIAA being a sculptor an’ all), has already been tracked down and given his Christmas tip. Today I was in “weekend wear” but already this week he has seen me in “straight-out-of-the-shower wear”, “serious-business-woman wear” and “Christmas-jumper-themed wear”. He sees me in more guises than my husband but has become a bit of a friend, so was pleased to see he had his Santa hat on today – all the better to keep his ears warm on this cold morning.
Interestingly, the reason that robins are such a symbol of Christmas is because Victorian postmen wore a bright red uniform. The postmen in their red-breasted coats resembled the much-loved bird, the robin red-breast, earning them the nickname, Robins.
But I digress as this is supposed to be a music blog despite the fact I often stray into other territory. I think my favourite Christmas album still has to be the one produced by Phil Spector in 1963, called A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector (originally released as A Christmas Gift for You from Philles Records). Spector treated a series of Christmas standards to his trademark wall of sound treatment, and the selections feature the vocal performances of Spector’s regular artists during this period, Darlene Love, The Crystals and The Ronettes among others.
Although I now have a copy of the digitally remastered version in CD format, the version I played to death in the early ’80s was the double album vinyl release, where the pink album was Phil’s Christmas one and the blue album was his Greatest Hits one (bit like the Beatles’ Red and Blue albums). When my flatmates were playing synth-pop and new wave, here I was listening to the fab sounds of Phil Spector and his wall of sound, but then I’ve always been a bit out of kilter timeline-wise, which is why perhaps I have been smitten by the music of 1967 this year.
The Christmas album has grown in popularity over the years and is full of tracks that have became iconic seasonal songs. My favourite track is Sleigh Ride by The Ronetteswhere they feature their well-known “ring-a-ling-a-ling ding-dong-ding” background vocals. Their version also made use of the clip-clopping of the horses as well as the sound of horse whinnying, heard at the beginning and end of the song. It doesn’t get any more Christmassy than that.
Sleigh Ride by The Ronettes:
So, “What’s It All About?” – Christmas starts too early nowadays I feel, but now that Christmas Eve is here I am ready to embrace the excess that will follow over the next couple of days. My plan to help the homeless has been somewhat scuppered as I am reliably informed by those in the know, that they will be well-catered for locally this year, by the professionals who specialise in this kind of thing. It turns out, however, that the biggest social issue of the day, is loneliness amongst the elderly, so the best thing to do is make sure my 81-year-old mum and her little band of buddies at their very swish “retirement” complex, are kept entertained.
Merry Christmas to all my blogging buddies. I didn’t even know this place existed this time last year and in less than twelve months I’ve made a good few like-minded friends of the virtual nature. I have long nagged my daughter and her friends to get out into the real world, and not spend all their time on their devices, but have now discovered myself that it does indeed have its place. Have a good one!
The Ronettes at Christmas-time!
Sleigh Ride Lyrics (Song by Leroy Anderson)
Just hear those sleigh bells jingling, ring ting tingling too Come on, it’s lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you, Outside the snow is falling and friends are calling “Yoo hoo,” Come on, it’s lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you.
Giddy yap, giddy yap, giddy yap, let’s go, Let’s look at the show, We’re riding in a wonderland of snow. Giddy yap, giddy yap, giddy yap, it’s grand, Just holding your hand, We’re gliding along with a song of a wintry fairy land.
Our cheeks are nice and rosy and comfy cosy are we We’re snuggled up together like two birds of a feather would be Let’s take that road before us and sing a chorus or two Come on, it’s lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you.
There’s a birthday party at the home of Farmer Gray It’ll be the perfect ending a perfect day We’ll be singing the songs we love to sing without a single stop, At the fireplace while we watch the chestnuts pop. Pop! pop! pop!
There’s a happy feeling nothing in the world can buy, When they pass around the chocolate and the pumpkin pie It’ll nearly be like a picture print by Currier and Ives These wonderful things are the things we remember all through our lives! of a wintry fairy land
Our cheeks are nice and rosy and comfy cosy are we We’re snuggled up together like two birds of a feather would be Let’s take that road before us and sing a chorus or two Come on, it’s lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you.
Well, what I hadn’t realised earlier this year when I decided to have a nostalgic revisitation of the “tracks of my years”, was that when we got to Christmas it would all get a bit emotional. Emotional partly because it has, I think we all agree, been one of those years; emotional because I am reminded of all the people who are no longer with us especially my darling dad who crops up on these pages often; emotional because this is the first year my daughter won’t be with us (I hadn’t considered that at some point we would have to share her with her boyfriend’s parents) and finally; emotional because of all the seasonal music my fellow-bloggers are posting.
But this is only Tuesday so still time to pull myself together, once I get this effort done and dusted. The eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed that last time, the title of my post was “Music from Love Actually, Part 1”. This then, is to be Part 2.
Since watching the film Love Actually last week I have since re-watched it (overkill maybe), just to remind myself of how significant a role today’s featured song plays in the storyline. Those of you who know the film well will also know that Emma Thompson‘s character, who is married to Harry (played by Alan Rickman RIP), has inadvertently found a beautiful gold necklace she fully expects to be given as a present for Christmas. Upon opening the square shaped box with expectant glee, she discovers that it is instead a Joni Mitchell CD, a great present as she is a big fan, but in that split second she realises that the gold necklace was for someone else, and she has to quickly extricate herself from the room. An emotional (that word again) scene then takes place where she has to pull herself together before re-emerging to join the family.
Throughout this scene in the bedroom, we hear the plaintive sounds of a more mature Joni Mitchell sing Both Sides Now from the album of the same name, released in the year 2000. Maybe it’s just because I’m a lady of a certain age, but it gets me every time. Like Emma’s character in the film, my life for many years was one of putting family first. I ran the school board, organised fund-raisers, took my daughter (and all the kids whose parents worked full-time) to after-school activities, completed courses with the OU and was chief cook and bottle-washer. If I had a pound for every time someone told me I was lucky that I “didn’t work”, I would be a very rich woman. Anyway my point is that poor Emma found herself in the situation where Harry had, she felt, made a fool of her and the life she had chosen. Fortunately for me Mr WIAA is self-employed, and as I have acted as his (unpaid) secretary for years, if anyone was going to get a gold necklace it was going to be me (but I didn’t, because I perhaps stupidly keep a tight control on the finances)!
Both Sides Now by Joni Mitchell:
But of course most people will know the song Both Sides Now from the 1967 Judy Collins version (there it is again, my favourite year). Joni had written the song earlier that year inspired by a passage from a novel by Saul Bellow. A quote from her goes as follows:
“I was reading Saul Bellow’s “Henderson the Rain King” on a plane and early in the book Henderson the Rain King is also up in a plane. He’s on his way to Africa and he looks down and sees these clouds. I put down the book, looked out the window and saw clouds too, and I immediately started writing the song. I had no idea that the song would become as popular as it did.”
Judy Collinswon a Grammy Award for Best Folk Performance in 1969 and it has become one of her signature songs. What I find remarkable is that I wrote very recently about how Judy Collins recorded Leonard Cohen’ssong Suzanne in 1966 and that it was she who persuaded the reluctant poet Cohen, to get out on stage to perform his own songs. Here we are again with Judy being the catalyst who perhaps made a couple of Canadian songwriters, international artists of great renown in their own right.
Very few of my real-life friends know about this “place” but one who does told me that she liked it, because it wasn’t one of those depressing blogs – Oh dear, I think I may have just disappointed! Hopefully got it all out of my system now but oh my, listening to the mature Joni Mitchell again, really tugs at the heartstrings.
I have decided that on Christmas Day, as darling daughter will not be with us, we will have a festive lunch and then take food out for the homeless. Mr WIAA is not convinced we will find them, as they will probably already be well catered for, but I have my doubts – Even up here in The Highlands, last weekend we had girls my daughter’s age sleeping in doorways, and in 2016 that just can’t be right.
Tomorrow is the winter solstice, where the day is the shortest of the year and the night the longest – We are at the cusp of something astronomical, looking at both sides now, one side has been getting darker and one will be getting lighter. Very apt song therefore for this post.
I will return in a cheerier mood before the big day. Merry Christmas!
Both Sides Now Lyrics (Song by Joni Mitchell)
Rows and flows of angel hair And ice cream castles in the air And feather canyons everywhere, I’ve looked at clouds that way.
But now they only block the sun, They rain and they snow on everyone So many things I would have done, But clouds got in my way.
I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now From up and down and still somehow It’s cloud illusions I recall I really don’t know clouds at all
Moons and Junes and Ferris wheels, The dizzy dancing way that you feel As every fairy tale comes real, I’ve looked at love that way.
But now it’s just another show, You leave ’em laughing when you go And if you care, don’t let them know, Don’t give yourself away.
I’ve looked at love from both sides now From give and take and still somehow It’s love’s illusions I recall I really don’t know love at all
Tears and fears and feeling proud, To say “I love you” right out loud Dreams and schemes and circus crowds, I’ve looked at life that way.
Oh but now old friends they’re acting strange, They shake their heads, they say I’ve changed Well something’s lost, but something’s gained In living every day.
I’ve looked at life from both sides now From win and lose and still somehow It’s life’s illusions I recall I really don’t know life at all
I’ve looked at life from both sides now From up and down, and still somehow It’s life’s illusions I recall I really don’t know life at all
It’s life’s illusions I recall I really don’t know life I really don’t know life at all
It’s been a game of two halves, or actually a game of three thirds, but my annual viewing of the very seasonal film Love Actually, is now complete. Spotted that it was on television this week so recorded it and dipped in whenever I had a free hour or so (it’s a very long film).
Like just about everything this Christmas, it made me sad, but also gave me hope.
Sad, because the wonderful Alan Rickman was one of the main cast members and of course we lost him earlier this year. Realising that this film is now 13 years old, I have just worked out that he was my age when it was filmed. In terms of the conveyor belt of life, I am a fair way down the line now, and there is still so much I want to do and achieve – This shitty year of loss is taking its toll and making a lot of us really appreciate what we still have.
The hopeful part is because of Hugh Grant’svoice-over at the start of the film, which goes as follows:
“Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think of the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion is starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don’t see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it’s not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it’s always there – fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends and girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phonecalls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge – they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I’ve got a sneaking suspicion…, love actuallyis all around.”
Thirteen years on and many of us are indeed feeling very gloomy about the state of the world but having just rewatched Love Actually (yet again) it does remind me that at the end of the day, love usually wins out, and we even have the wonderful Bill Nighy (playing rock and roll legend Billy Mack) to remind us of that, through the medium of song. As he points out however, it is very hard to substitute a one syllable word like love with a two syllable word like Christmas but he makes a brave attempt and ends up making it to the coveted No. 1 spot in the process, with his version of the classic Troggs‘ hit, Love Is All Around. After briefly celebrating his victory at a party hosted by Sir Elton John, Billy decides that his long-suffering manager Joe is in need of affection and suggests that he and Joe simply celebrate Christmas by getting drunk and watching porn! A hilarious but very touching scene. Yes, new friends come and go, but never forget those who have been with you for the journey.
Bill Nighy is one of my favourite actors and I am constantly amazed by how he can play an aging rocker like Billy Mack one minute, and perhaps a senior civil servant or downtrodden husband the next, using exactly the same mannerisms and quirks of speech. Please God let him grace our screens for many more years to come.
The song I want to feature for this post is the one used for the closing credits of the movie, God Only Knows by The Beach Boys. Now this is one of my favourite songs and was written by Brian Wilson and Tony Asher. It was released in May 1966 (very close to my favourite year for music 1967) as the eighth track on the wonderful Beach Boys’ album “Pet Sounds” and is of course from the baroque pop camp, of which I am so fond. The sentiments expressed in the lyrics were not specific to any God, and could be addressed to any “higher power”, being a song apparently about moving forward after loss. Well I don’t know about that because the lyrics seem to infer that moving forward would be nigh impossible. Whatever, it is still one of the most beautiful songs of the 20th century so thank you Brian and the boys for giving it to us.
God Only Knows by The Beach Boys:
So, “What’s It All About?” – I think it’s pretty obvious, don’t you?
God Only Knows Lyrics (Song by Brian Wilson/Tony Asher)
I may not always love you But long as there are stars above you You never need to doubt it I’ll make you so sure about it
God only knows what I’d be without you If you should ever leave me Though life would still go on believe me The world could show nothing to me So what good would living do me
God only knows what I’d be without you God only knows what I’d be without you If you should ever leave me Well life would still go on believe me The world could show nothing to me So what good would living do me
God only knows what I’d be without you God only knows what I’d be without you God only knows
Walter, was not indeed the one by Ray Stevens (as it wouldn’t have been recorded for another four years), nor by Johnny Mathis who did a very romantic version in 1959, but in fact the original instrumental composed by jazz pianist Erroll Garner. Mr Garner was born in Pittsburgh in 1923 and started playing piano at the age of three. He came from a very musical family all of whom played piano but he never did learn how to read music and always played by ear. I give you the original Misty, composed in 1954 (the familiar part starts at 0:30).
scent state, so songs from that year are still lesser-known and I have not tired of them in the same way that I have tired of some of the material from my own, very well-known era, the ’70s and ’80s.
Like many others from this era, Georgie had been heavily influenced from early
What's It All About? 