Category: Music from Films

Bob Dylan, Timothée Chalamet and “Like A Rolling Stone”

Last week I went to see the new Bob Dylan biopic called A Complete Unknown (see what they did there?) and it certainly was an experience. The story was set during the short period 1961 to 1965 when Bob went from being a new arrival on the Greenwich Village folk scene, to becoming a bit of a superstar.


As I was born in Scotland at the start of the 1960s, that story, very much an American one, was just before my time so I learned a lot. I’ve said around here before that I like Bob’s songs best when they are sung by other people but after watching the film I think I’m a convert to his kind of delivery. Not that we hear Bob on the soundtrack at all, as it is the actor Timothée Chalamet who does the honours. He is an actor that I admire a lot and I have it on good authority that he plays the part of Bob really well in terms of how he looks, sounds and behaves. An Oscar nomination confirms that. Here he is singing the song alluded to in the film’s title.

Like A Rolling Stone by Timothée Chalamet:


Joan Baez plays an important part in the film and again the actress who plays her does a fantastic job. Her voice is beautiful as I can imagine Joan’s was back in the day, when she and Bob were often paired up on stage, especially at the renowned Newport Folk Festival.

Bob and Joan

I came away wanting to listen to more Bob Dylan songs and fortunately found a fair few on my hard drive. I’m warming to this one most at the moment so here is the man himself from 1965 singing It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue. Bob has never divulged who Baby Blue was so we’re still in the dark all these years later.

It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue by Bob Dylan:


If you’re thinking of going to see the film, I would thoroughly recommend it. You don’t particularly warm to the character of Bob as he could be (as Joan Baez told him) a bit of an asshole but it was wonderful to see the context in which his classic songs were written, and wonderful to find out who the girl on the album cover was. Timothée does a good job of mumbling, just like Bob, but you do work out most of what he says and that was good enough for me. I think a lot of us will leave the cinema with a new appreciation for Bob Dylan, and like me, will be scouring their music library to see what they’ve got by the man, music they might not have listened to for quite some time.


Until next time…

Like A Rolling Stone
(Song by Bob Dylan)

Once upon a time you dressed so fine
Threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn’t you?
Yeah, people’d call, say “Beware doll, you’re bound to fall”
You thought they were just kiddin’ you

You used to laugh about
Everybody that was hangin’ out
And now you don’t walk so proud
Now you don’t talk so loud
About having to be scrounging your next meal

How does it feel
How does it feel
To be on your own
With no direction home
A complete unknown
Just like a rolling stone?

Come on

You went to the finest schools all right, Miss Lonely
But you know you only used to get juiced in it
Nobody taught you how to live out on the street
But now you’re gonna have to get used to it

You said you’d never compromise
With the mystery tramp, but now you realize
That he’s not selling any alibis
As you stare into the vacuum of his eyes
And say do you want to make a deal?

How does it feel
How does it feel
To be on your own
With no direction home
A complete unknown
Just like a rolling stone?

How does it feel
How does it feel
To be on your own
With no direction home
A complete unknown
Just like a rolling stone?

Yeah, the princess on the steeple all the pretty people
Drinkin’, thinkin’ that they got it made
Exchanging all kinds of precious gifts
Even to take that that diamond ring, you’d better pawn it babe

You used to be so amused
At Napoleon in rags with the language that he used
Now go to him now, he calls you, you can’t refuse
When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose
You’re invisible now, you got no secrets to conceal

How does it feel
How does it feel
To be on your own
With no direction home
A complete unknown
Just like a rolling stone?

2025: The Best So Far – Better Man, SAS Rogue Heroes and Sir Alex

Last time I wrote about my favourite things of 2024, concentrating mainly on what I’d heard, read and seen. Unbelievably, a week into the new year, I think I’ve already seen my favourite things of 2025. If I’m wrong, I’m going to be in for a treat this year. If I’m right, how weird that the year has peaked in week one.

Cinema

The day after New Year’s Day, I went out with a friend for lunch and a film. We thought we’d give the new Robbie Williams biopic a go and boy was I glad I did. I’m not generally a fan of biopics as we usually know the star’s life story already and why watch an actor sing and dance their way through the film when we can still watch plenty of footage of them via other means. Also, it’s often a highly edited version of the star’s life and only from the age of adulthood. All that was turned on its head in Better Man as Robbie was played by a CGI chimp. It sounds ridiculous but you get used to it incredibly quickly and the 8-year-old Robbie/chimp is very, very cute. The story takes us up to Robbie’s concert at the Royal Albert Hall around the time of his Swing While Your Winning album and despite the fact he has had to face his many demons along the way (the messy side of addition is not shied away from), at this point in his career he has made peace with himself and those closest to him.


My friend and I both loved the film and it seems the reviews have been very kind too. What comes across loud and clear is that Robbie was a born showman and from a very young age wanted to entertain people. He was stifled during his Take That years as their manager very much saw the band as being Gary Barlow plus friends, friends who did a bit of backing singing and a lot of dancing. Understandably this was not enough for Robbie and once he met up with his songwriting partner Guy Chambers he was on his way to a very successful solo career. The video clip for this song is a bit manic but the sentiment very appropriate. Let Me Entertain You was the fifth and final single from his debut solo album Life Thru a Lens. In March 1998, the track peaked at No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart.

Television Drama

The next thing I’ve been blown away by (no pun intended) in this first week of the new year is SAS Rogue Heroes, again about real people. I’m not usually a fan of action films and dramas but this one is quite exceptional. We watched the first season a couple of years ago and the second season started on the BBC on New Year’s Day. It had to be binge-watched. I am no fan of war, but 80 years ago one was being waged across the continent of Europe, and it can’t be underestimated how big an influence the small newly formed regiment called the Special Air Service played in bringing that war to an end. The main character in this season was Major Paddy Mayne, a poetry-loving, slightly mad (you had to be) solicitor from Northern Ireland. His regiment didn’t play by the normal rules of engagement and having read up about the real-life man, he was only in his mid-20s at the time. Paddy was played by the actor Jack O’Connell and although it looks as if he overacts much of the time, I have a feeling the real man was probably just as eccentric.


The drama was created by Steven Knight who also created Peaky Blinders. If you enjoyed it you will probably enjoy SAS Rogue Heroes. There is black and white footage of the time interspersed between scenes, and throughout it all, the soundtrack uses urgent punk rock music which perfectly suits the drama taking place. I’ve researched the tracks used and they are listed below with a link to a clip. I’ve also added a video clip of the Cult’s 1985 single She Sells Sanctuary which appeared in one of the episodes.

Television Documentary

This one could be peculiar to me amongst my blogging circle but I really, really enjoyed the BBC documentary Sir Alex this week. Most people probably know of Sir Alex Ferguson from his time as manager of Manchester United where he achieved everything there is to achieve in football, but he cut his teeth at Aberdeen FC, and it coincided with my happiest time living in that city. Every time there is a documentary about Aberdeen’s amazing win against Real Madrid in the European Cup Winner’s Cup final, I have to watch it, as all the memories of that time come flooding back and I remember exactly what I was doing and who with. Some of those I’m still in touch with but others I’m not, which is sad, but what a time for the city.


I thought the doc was very clever in that it bounced back and forth throughout the years of Fergie’s career and I did learn quite a lot I didn’t already know. What I do know was that my Aberdeen flatmate taught his sons during his 8-year tenure there and we often had their homework strewn across our kitchen table. I also remember that the oil company I worked for had a Christmas night out in 1985 in one of the city’s nicer restaurants. As was my wont I recited a festive poem for all my colleagues and then we exchanged the joke presents we had bought for each other. We were being a bit bawdy to be sure and poor Fergie and his wife were sitting next to us trying to have a quiet dinner together. I don’t think our party poppers landed in his soup, but they came close.

Willie Miller holding the European Cup Winners Cup in 1983

A lot of the Aberdeen players were interviewed for the documentary (as he ended up taking a lot of them with him when he moved to Manchester – grrr) and right at the end of part 2, the final word came from “King” Kenny Dalgleish – he said that despite all his success with Manchester United, Fergie’s biggest achievement was winning a European Cup with a provincial Scottish club. Whatever the final judgement, I know it contributed to making Aberdeen a wonderful place to live in the early ’80s. It’s probably going to be my favourite documentary of the year.

Until next time…

Let Me Entertain You Lyrics
(Song by Robbie Williams/Guy Chambers)

Hell is gone and heaven’s here
There’s nothing left for you to fear
Shake your ass, come over here, now scream
I’m a burning effigy of everything I used to be
You’re my rock of empathy, my dear

So come on, let me entertain you
Let me entertain you

Life’s too short for you to die
So grab yourself an alibi
Heaven knows your mother lied, mon cher
Separate your right from wrongs
Come and sing a different song
The kettle’s on, so don’t be long, mon cher

So come on, let me entertain you
Let me entertain you

Look me up in the yellow pages
And I will be your rock of ages
You see through fads and your crazy phrases, yeah
Little Bo Peep has lost his sheep
He popped a pill and fell asleep
The dew is wet, but the grass is sweet, my dear

Your mind gets burned with the habits you’ve learned
But we’re the generation that’s got to be heard
You’re tired of your teachers and your school’s a drag
You’re not going to end up like your mum and dad

So come on, let me entertain you
Let me entertain you
Let me entertain you

He may be good, he may be out of sight
But he can’t be here, so come around tonight
Here is the place where the feeling grows
You gotta get high before you taste the lows
Come on

Let me entertain you
Let me entertain you (let me entertain you)
So come on, let me entertain you (let me entertain you)
Let me entertain you (let me entertain you)

Come on, come on, come on, come on
Come on, come on, come on, come on

Let me entertain you
Let me entertain you

Two More Ladies With Big, Big Voices: Cynthia and Ariana

If you’re not a fan of musical theatre, or indeed musicals of any kind, look away now, as that’s where I’m going today. I went to see the newly released film Wicked last week and following on from my last post about ladies with big, big voices, I think I’ve just discovered another two – Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. They are the two leads in the film, both witches-in-training, but from opposite ends of the witchy spectrum. Although the stage musical Wicked has been around for 20 years now, I have never seen it (I don’t seem to get out of The Highlands much), so the story really was all new to me, and I loved it.


For anyone else like me who has missed out on the whole Wicked phenomenon, the story is taken from the 1995 Gregory Maguire novel, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. That novel was in turn based on L. Frank Baum’s 1900 novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. I am surprised at how early it was written as most of us are familiar with the 1939 film adaptation starring Judy Garland so I assumed the story was from around that time. But anyway, the musical Wicked is told from the perspective of two witches, Elphaba and Galinda, before and after Dorothy’s arrival in Oz. 

I said in the title that the two leads have big, big voices. As for Ariana Grande it’s not so much a “big” voice but one with a four-octave range. I knew little of her before the film other than the Manchester Arena attack happened during one her concerts. It turns out she has been voted among the ten greatest pop stars of the 21st century by Billboard and is also ranked among Rolling Stone‘s greatest vocalists of all time, the highest for any artist emerging since the 2010s. It also turns out that Ariana is a great comedic actress and could give Reese Witherspoon (Legally Blonde) and Alicia Silverstone (Clueless) a run for their money. Here she is singing the song Popular from the film.


Someone who does have a big voice however is Cynthia Erivo and as we reach the end of the film, which is just part one (the second part will be released next year at the same time), she sings the most well-known song from the musical, Defying Gravity. This is a song I know well as when DD was aged only 15, she was gifted one of those Experience packages, where she was given the chance to visit a recording studio and lay down some tracks. Being a keen singer, and having been in a few musical theatre shows up to that point, there was much excitement, and when we turned up for the day the song she chose was Defying Gravity. Of course now she would probably choose something quite different but I really liked her version which doesn’t have the power of the professionals but is very sweet nonetheless. I know she would be very embarrassed about me sharing this but hey, I was a proud mum, so here is what she came up with on that day. It was a fascinating process, how you record many versions of the same song, do a bit of tweaking and then cut and paste sections together to create the best version possible. She starts off a bit tentatively but after 1:00 the confidence shines through.

Defying Gravity by Darling Daughter (DD)


So, “What’s It All About?” – Judy Garland’s Wizard of Oz is a film classic, but it was made 85 years ago. The film Wicked is similarly colourful, and full of fun characters, but cinematography, soundtracks and script-writing have come a long way since the 1930s so I felt it was a real extravaganza for the eyes and ears. I’m not sure, however, if many of my followers would want to pay good money to go and see it? All I would say is…, just do it – you might surprise yourself.

Until next time…

Defying Gravity Lyrics
(Song by Stephen Schwartz)

Something has changed within me
Something is not the same
I’m through with playing by the rules of someone else’s game
Too late for second-guessing
Too late to go back to sleep
It’s time to trust my instincts, close my eyes and leap!

It’s time to try
Defying gravity
I think I’ll try
Defying gravity
Kiss me goodbye
I’m defying gravity
And you won’t bring me down

I’m through accepting limits ’cause someone says they’re so
Some things I cannot change but ’til I try, I’ll never know!
Too long I’ve been afraid of losing love I guess I’ve lost
Well, if that’s love, it comes at much too high a cost!

I’d sooner buy
Defying gravity
Kiss me goodbye
I’m defying gravity
I think I’ll try
Defying gravity
And you won’t bring me down

Barbra and Whitney: Two Ladies With Big, Big Voices

When I wrote about the death of Kris Kristofferson recently, I mentioned that I would seek out the film A Star Is Born to watch over the weekend. This of course was the 1976 version he starred in with Barbra Streisand, and sure enough, there it was on one of the many streaming platforms. I ended up having to pay for the privilege, which always galls me when we already pay for so many subscriptions, but when you’re looking for something specific it always seems to be the way. But I digress, did I enjoy it as much nearly 50 years after first watching it? I kind of did, but I think the more mature me has become a bit jaded, as the love story didn’t come across as epic as I remembered. I did appreciate Mr Kristofferson, however, and despite the passage of time, his character could easily be transplanted into a film made in 2024. Those rugged good looks never go out of style and as he seemed to be allergic to shirts, we did see a lot of his toned, tanned chest (if I’m allowed to say that nowadays). Sadly Ms Streisand’s bubble perm didn’t stand the test of time in the same way, nor her wardrobe, but her voice was exceptional, as ever.


I have long been a fan of the multi-talented Barbra Streisand who was the first performer to be awarded an EGOT (an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony). She broke my heart playing Katie Morosky in The Way We Were (written about here) and I am in awe of her powerful singing voice. With Barbra you know she will always hit every note, and inject each song with raw emotion. Here is one of the songs she “reluctantly” performed in A Star Is Born. A slow burner that really picks up the pace as her character becomes more confident.

The Woman In The Moon by Barbra Streisand

Another lady who had a powerful voice, and always hit every note, was Whitney Houston. Funnily enough, I was reminded of her whilst searching for A Star Is Born on Netflix. I didn’t find it there but they throw up suggestions of a similar nature, and one of those suggestions was the Whitney biopic I Wanna Dance With Somebody which I had gone to see at the cinema at the start of this year. I see it got mixed reviews, which figures, as there have already been a couple of documentary films on her life so we already knew her story. Having an actress play her in a film that sugar-coated much of the negative aspects seemed pointless to me and who wants to watch an actress sing her songs when there is still so much Whitney footage out there. The whole film was saved for me by the coda, where we see a flashback to the 1994 American Music Awards when Whitney sang a medley, suggested by her musical director. The medley was 10 minutes long and melded together: I Loves You, Porgy; And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going; and, I Have Nothing. It was a rousing performance and she was met with a standing ovation. I was similarly blown away by it.

I Have Nothing by Whitney Houston:


The final song in that medley, I Have Nothing, was written for Whitney’s film The Bodyguard by husband and wife team David Foster and Linda Thompson. Some of us will remember that Linda was in a relationship with Elvis Presley in the years before his death and, a bit of trivia here, she revealed in her memoir that the lyrics “Stay in my arms if you dare / Or must I imagine you there / Don’t walk away from me” were inspired by her time with The King.


So, “What’s It All About?” – Two ladies there with big, big voices and I have enjoyed, over the last week, revisiting some of their finest-ever performances. Barbra is still with us at age 82 but poor Whitney died young at the age of 48 after drowning in her bath ahead of the 2012 pre-Grammy Awards party. It didn’t come as a shock as she had become increasingly erratic in her behaviour due to drug use in the weeks and months ahead of her death, but, what a waste. Had she managed to conquer her demons she would probably still be with us today and like Barbra, continue to work until the grand old age of 82.

Until next time…  

I Have Nothing Lyrics
(Song by David Foster/Linda Thompson)

Share my life, take me for what I am
‘Cause I’ll never change all my colors for you
Take my love, I’ll never ask for too much
Just all that you are and everything that you do

I don’t really need to look very much further
I don’t wanna have to go where you don’t follow
I won’t hold it back again, this passion inside
Can’t run from myself, there’s nowhere to hide

But don’t make me close one more door
I don’t wanna hurt anymore
Stay in my arms if you dare
Or must I imagine you there
Don’t walk away from me
I have nothing, nothing, nothing
If I don’t have you, you, you, you, you

You see through, right to the heart of me
You break down my walls with the strength of your love, mm
I never knew love like I’ve known it with you
Will a memory survive, one I can hold on to

I don’t really need to look very much further
I don’t wanna have to go where you don’t follow
I won’t hold it back again, this passion inside
I can’t run from myself, there’s nowhere to hide
Your love, I’ll remember forever

But don’t make me close one more door
I don’t wanna hurt anymore
Stay in my arms if you dare
Or must I imagine you there
Don’t walk away from me
I have nothing, nothing, nothing
Don’t make me close one more door
I don’t wanna hurt anymore
Stay in my arms if you dare
Or must I imagine you there
Don’t walk away from me
Don’t walk away from me

Don’t you dare walk away from me
I have nothing, nothing, nothing
If I don’t have you, you
If I don’t have you, oh you

A Man Of Many Talents: RIP Kris Kristofferson

Last time, I paid tribute to Quincy Jones who we lost at the start of November. Someone I haven’t yet paid tribute to, however, is Kris Kristofferson who died back in September. If I’d been blogging around that time, I most definitely would have written something, as he has appeared in this blog several times.

Mr Kristofferson is someone I have long admired but until I started blogging it was mainly through his film work. Back in the ’70s he appeared in many films (Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, Convoy, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, A Star Is Born), and for some reason, he was one of the actors I took a real shine to. I have always had a penchant for a man with a beard (although not necessarily today’s hipster style), and he did sport a very rugged look back then. What I discovered once I started blogging, was that not only did he write some of the best-loved songs from that era, but he was probably one of those guys who would have succeeded in whichever path in life he chose. A top scholar, an accomplished athlete, a US Army captain, a helicopter pilot, a novelist, an actor, and a singer/songwriter.

Kris Kristofferson (sans beard) with James Coburn in Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid

Having double-checked, I find it incredible that he never once appeared on the UK Singles Chart in his own right, despite the fact so many of his songs did make an appearance when sung by other people – For the Good Times by Perry Como and Help Me Make It Through the Night by Gladys Knight and the Pips amongst others. He definitely did make an appearance for several weeks in a row however on 1977’s TOTP as he was Barbra Streisand‘s love interest in the film A Star Is Born. Much smooching was done during the filmed recording of the song Evergreen which was a massive hit for her that year. (Yes, my 16-year-old self was definitely smitten with Mr K in that one.)

Evergreen by Barbra Streisand (with Kris Kristofferson singing very badly!)
The back page of Words magazine from 1976, which unbelievably I still own

The last time I wrote about Kris around here was when I was challenged to write about the song Sunday Morning Coming Down. I soon discovered that although Kris wrote the song, and Ray Stevens was the first person to record it, it was only when Johnny Cash did a version in 1970 that it reached No. 1 on the Country Chart and won the Country Music Association Award for Song of the Year. The story is that Kris, who was working as a janitor at the time for Columbia Records in Nashville, mainly to get a foothold in the industry, flew his National Guard helicopter right onto Johnny’s front lawn to deliver the demo tape in person. That was the turning point for him as once Johnny took the song on, and made it his own, Kris was quoted as saying that he never again “had to work for a living”.

Here is a clip of Johnny and Kris singing the song as a duet. The preamble is something they used to do quite a lot of on these sorts of shows, and it can be a bit cringifying, but it does lead in to an excellent performance.

Sunday Morning Coming Down by Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson

I will finish with Kris performing Me and Bobby McGee which is probably the song most closely associated with him. He was a pioneering figure in the outlaw country movement of the 1970s, moving away from the polished Nashville Sound toward a rawer style. Maybe for this reason, I often prefer his songs to be sung by other people and Me and Bobby McGee has been recorded by many. It was originally performed by Roger Miller, then a posthumously released version by Janis Joplin topped the Billboard Chart in 1971. Over in Canada, Gordon Lightfoot released a version and then Kenny Rogers and the First Edition included it on their Ruby… album. But here is Kris in 1979 actually performing a version I quite like. Just the right amount of raw delivery in this one I think. The song is the story of two drifters – the narrator and Bobby McGee. The pair hitch a ride from a truck driver and sing as they drive through the American South before making their way west. They visit California and then part ways, with the song’s narrator expressing sadness afterward.

Me and Bobby McGee by Kris Kristofferson:


As with Quincy last time, Kris had a long life and achieved so much, but his passing will bring sadness to his close family and friends, and of course his fans. It is not always the case that stars have a long life however and I am mindful of the recent tragic death of ex-boyband member Liam Payne. Unlike Quincy and Kris, he became a worldwide sensation at a very young age but once the heyday of his band was over, it must be very hard to adapt to real life. I am hopeful that the management companies and record labels behind these boybands start to exercise more of a duty of care in the light of his death, but I’m not holding my breath.

But for now, I say farewell to that rugged, good-looking guy I was definitely smitten by as a teenager. I think I will have to seek out one of his films to watch this weekend as a bit of a reminder of those days. RIP Kris Kristofferson.

Kris Kristofferson 1936 to 2024

Until next time…

Me and Bobby McGee Lyrics
(Song by Kris Kristofferson)

Busted flat in Baton Rouge, waitin’ for a train
When I’s feelin’ near as faded as my jeans
Bobby thumbed a diesel down, just before it rained
And rode us all the way into New Orleans

I pulled my harpoon out of my dirty red bandana
I’s playin’ soft while Bobby sang the blues
Windshield wipers slappin’ time, I’s holdin’ Bobby’s hand in mine
We sang every song that driver knew

Freedom is just another word for nothin’ left to lose
Nothin’, don’t mean nothin’ hon’ if it ain’t free, no-no
And feelin’ good was easy, Lord, when he sang the blues
You know feelin’ good was good enough for me
Good enough for me and my Bobby McGee

From the Kentucky coal mine to the California sun
There Bobby shared the secrets of my soul
Through all kinds of weather, through everything we done
Yeah, Bobby baby, kept me from the cold

One day up near Salinas, Lord, I let him slip away
He’s lookin’ for that home, and I hope he finds it
But, I’d trade all of my tomorrows, for one single yesterday
To be holdin’ Bobby’s body next to mine

Freedom is just another word for nothin’ left to lose
Nothin’, and that’s all that Bobby left me, yeah
But feelin’ good was easy, Lord, when he sang the blues
That feelin’ good was good enough for me, mmm-hmm
Good enough for me and my Bobby McGee

La-da-da, la-da-da-da, la-da-da-da-da-da-da
La-da-da-da-da-da-da-da, Bobby McGee, yeah
La-da-da-da-da, la-da-da-da-da
La, la-la-la-da-da- Bobby McGee, oh yeah

La-da-da, la-da-da, la, da-da, la, da-da
La-da-da, la-da-da, la-di-da
Hey now, Bobby now, now Bobby McGee, yeah
Lord, oh Lord, oh Lord, lo-da-da, na-na-na, na-na-na, na-na-na
Hey now, Bobby now, now Bobby McGee, yeah

Well, I wanna call him my lover, call him my man
I said, I call him my lover, did the best I can, come on
Hey now, Bobby now, hey now Bobby McGee, yeah
Lord, a Lord, a Lord, a Lord, a Lord, a Lord, a Lord, a Lord, oh
Hey-hey-hey, Bobby McGee, Lord

A Wedding Unavoidably Missed, Elvis Presley and ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’

Last time I told the story of what’s been happening in my world over the last five months, when I’ve been absent from these pages. That’s been done now and glad I went there rather than leave it a mystery. What I didn’t say however was that my only child, a daughter known around here as DD, had planned her wedding for the beginning of October… and I missed it. It had been on the calendar for some time before I became unwell and the decision was made that it had to go ahead even if I was still in hospital come the day, which I was, and to be honest I was so ill at that time there was no way I could even have had “a pass” from the ward just to witness the ceremony.

What did happen on the wedding day however was that my support worker, who took me out for walks from the ward, managed to co-ordinate with my nephew to stream the ceremony live via his mobile phone. On the trial run everything worked fine, but once inside the very thick walled country house hotel where the wedding was to take place, that idea failed as we just couldn’t get a signal. What did happen however was that my lovely nephew filmed the entire ceremony then sent it across as a file via WhatsApp to Lindsay the support worker. And so it came to pass that 15 minutes after my daughter became a wife, I was sitting in a strange man’s car in a secluded spot overlooking our local duckpond watching it all on a bit of a battered smart phone. I was fine with it though as I knew I was too ill to attend and my outfit wouldn’t have fitted anyway as I had lost so much weight, so anything we could glean from the day was a bonus really. The humanist celebrant was excellent (should have been renamed a humourist as he was so entertaining and funny) and my daughter and other half smiled and laughed throughout the whole thing.


She had particularly wanted an autumn wedding as it’s her favourite time of the year. As a fair-skinned Scot like myself, who isn’t good with hot weather and blazing sunshine, she likes nothing more than to pack away her summer wardrobe and get the winter woollies and overcoats back into service. She loves the colours of autumn too and the wedding venue had been decorated with dried flower displays and around 40 pumpkins, some real, some ceramic! Everywhere you looked there was a pumpkin – at the end of the rows of chairs, at the entrance, and part of the table centrepieces. Everyone was encouraged to take a pumpkin home with them and most of the guests did, to their credit, although I doubt if many made soup or a pie with them. I have now seen the wedding video and most of the photos taken by the photographer so although I wasn’t there in person I almost feel as if I was. Not bitter at all about the timing. Couldn’t be helped. I felt bad at not having been able to help with the organisation, and I felt bad about seeing Mr WIAA sitting on his own in the front row during the ceremony, but most of all I felt proud of DD and the new Mr DD at having pulled it off despite having been distracted all summer with my illness.

But what is it I usually say at around this point? This is a music blog so where is the song. It’s an easy peasy choice, it’s the song that accompanied DD’s walk down the aisle on the arm of her dad, ready to meet her groom. The song they picked is one I have known for most of my life, but not the version they went for. Their version was by a singer called Haley Reinhart and it goes something like this:

Can’t Help Falling In Love by Haley Reinhart

As I said I am really familiar with this song because I was a big Elvis Presley fan in my youth and one of my favourite Elvis films is Blue Hawaii which is where the song first appeared. It used to be a ritual of mine to watch Blue Hawaii on Boxing Day as it gave me a bit of a pick-me-up watching Elvis sing and dance his way through warm and sunny locations whilst sitting here in cold and dreich Scotland. Over the last few years I’ve not kept up that tradition but maybe time to dust off the DVD and give it another whirl.

The song Can’t Help Falling in Love was written in 1961 and the melody was apparently based on Plaisir d’amour, a popular French love song composed in 1784. The song was initially written from the perspective of a woman as “Can’t Help Falling in Love with Him”, which explains the first and third line ending on “in” and “sin” rather than words rhyming with “you”. Whatever its provenance, it was a great choice for the wedding sung by a graduate of American Idol, Haley. But I can’t leave it there. Time for a bit of a compare and contrast. Here is my favourite version from Blue Hawaii when Elvis, who has returned home from the army to set up a tourism business with girlfriend Maile, sings the song at their lavish outdoor wedding.

Can’t Help Falling In Love by Elvis Presley


While we’re in the business of comparing and contrasting, I can’t end this post without also sharing the version by reggae band UB40 who had a really big hit with it in 1993 after it was used in the film Sliver. The song climbed to No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100, staying there for seven weeks. It also topped the charts of 11 other countries, including Australia, Austria, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the UK, where it spent two weeks at No. 1. Time to visit the video clip I think.

Can’t Help Falling In Love by UB40

Not much more to say really except to share another picture of the happy couple outside their wedding venue just as a touch of drizzle was falling. Made for a very atmospheric shot. Also, I have just seen the clock, and in less than three hours we are going to be heading into 2024. It’s been a year of highs and lows for us as a family, the high being DD getting married but the low being my illness and how it affected us all. Happy New Year for when it comes – see you on the other side.


Until next time…

Can’t Help Falling In Love Lyrics
(Song by  Hugo Peretti/Luigi Creatore/George David Weiss)

Wise men say
Only fools, only fools rush in
Oh, but I, but I, I can’t help falling in love with you

Shall I stay?
Would it be, would it be a sin?
If I can’t help falling in love with you

Like a river flows
Surely to the sea
Darling, so it goes
Some things, you know, are meant to be

Take my hand
Take my whole life too
For I can”t help falling in love with you
For I can”t help falling in love with you

Bowie, Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence and ‘Forbidden Colours’- RIP Ryuichi Sakamoto

If you are a music blogger and check your stats regularly, you soon sense something is amiss when one of your really old posts suddenly gets a lot of traffic. As it turns out I had already heard the news of Ryuichi Sakamoto’s death on the car radio, but true to form, once I got home and checked, a post I had written in my first week of blogging back in 2016 was already the most visited of the day.

I was still reeling from the death of David Bowie when I wrote it (so most of it is about him) but back then the whole raison d’être of this blog was for me to revisit favourite songs from the past, and all these years later, Sylvian and Sakamoto’s Forbidden Colours was still a favourite. Here is that post again from seven years ago.

First Posted 17th January 2016:

Inevitably I got to thinking a lot about David Bowie this week and like many of us, have ended up spending a fair bit of time online looking back at his many guises. One that has thrown me a bit is the early ‘80s Let’s Dance phase. Early ‘70s David Bowie hid behind bizarre “spaceman” characters but by 1983 he had gone seriously mainstream. Or was he playing another character? I heard him say in an interview that he felt far more confident on stage playing a character such as Ziggy but by 36, as he would have been by this time, it looks as if he was confident enough to be himself. Amazingly, after looking pale, thin, malnourished and let’s be honest, a tad weird a decade earlier, he had turned into one of the best-looking guys in the industry (we’ll ignore the teeth). This was the post-New Romantic period and he was very much adopting the sharp, elegant look that bands such as Duran Duran, ABC and Japan favoured.


I am still unsure who copied who, but in 1983 there were a series of events that seemed to tie in and feed off each other. He released the Let’s Dance album that year and a string of hits came from it starting off with the title track in March. He had approached Nile Rodgers to act as producer on it, and his brief was to “give him hit singles”, which is exactly what he did. A massive world tour followed and I remember my flatmate of the time heading downtown with her sleeping bag in order to queue all night for tickets (no computers or Ticketmaster in those days, we were old school).

We knew that Bowie had a film coming out later that summer, Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, and leading the advance party were David Sylvian (ex of the band Japan) and Ryuichi Sakamoto, a musician who acted in the film but who had also produced the soundtrack album. The beautiful song Forbidden Colours was released in July 1983 and looking at a picture of David Sylvian from back then, there is more than a passing resemblance to ‘83 Bowie (although he is not as suntanned as he hadn’t been on location in a tropical rainforest).

Ryuichi Sakamoto and David Sylvian

The lyrics again are a bit bizarre but the theme is a forbidden love, which is also reflected in the storyline of the film. I do remember going to see it when it came out the following month and Bowie turned in a really good performance. A male colleague from that era had also been to see it and when I asked his opinion he decided that there had been something lacking, in that there were no women in it. That would of course have been because it was set in a male prisoner of war camp.

Forbidden Colours by David Sylvian and Ryuichi Sakamoto:


So, unlike with his earlier creations, David Bowie in 1983 was very much part of the zeitgeist making highly commercial pop music and looking and dressing very much like his younger counterparts. He was back acting, and feeding off the people he worked with. Happy memories of those days – the real start of big ’80s hair (perms and bleaching were de rigueur), bold bright earrings, tanned skin, and lots of white shoes and clothing. Those of us who got on board with the whole look have probably ruined our hair and skin in the process but boy did we feel good when stepping out for a “night on the town”.

Scene from Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence

Not very much about Ryuichi himself in this repost for which I apologise, but other than the soundtrack to the film mentioned, I didn’t really know much about him. I have just discovered however that he also composed the soundtrack to another film I really enjoyed from the 1980s, The Last Emperor, for which he won an Oscar. He won a BAFTA as recently as 2015, for the soundtrack to the film The Revenant. A respected composer, record producer and actor who, like Bowie, sounds as if he was taken far too soon.

Until next time… RIP Ryuichi Sakamoto.

Forbidden Colours Lyrics
(Song by David Sylvian/Ryuichi Sakamoto)

The wounds on your hands never seem to heal
I thought all I needed was to believe
Here am I, a lifetime away from you
The blood of Christ, or the beat of my heart
My love wears forbidden colours
My life believes

Senseless years thunder by
Millions are willing to give their lives for you
Does nothing live on?

Learning to cope with feelings aroused in me
My hands in the soil, buried inside of myself
My love wears forbidden colours
My life believes in you once again

I`ll go walking in circles
While doubting the very ground beneath me
Trying to show unquestioning faith in everything
Here am I, a lifetime away from you
The blood of Christ, or a change of heart

My love wears forbidden colours
My life believes
My love wears forbidden colours
My life believes in you once again

Another Platinum Anniversary and Al Martino, the UK’s First Official Chart-Topper

Al Martino.

Who?

Al Martino. The person who had the honour of reaching the top spot on the very first UK Singles Chart published back in November 1952, 70 years ago this week.


Those of us who used to be chart-obsessed (and in the early ’70s I think I was), will already know this, as the kind of thing that often pops up in quizzes, but to my shame I don’t think I’d be able to identify Al’s chart-topping song even if I heard it. Time to right that wrong.


Well, what can I say, very much of its time and Al remained at the top spot for a further eight weeks so the only chart-topping artist of 1952. Al was born in Philadelphia to Italian immigrant parents and was inspired by the success of a close family friend, someone who had changed his name to Mario Lanza.

Al moved to the UK after the success of Here In My Heart, as he’d got himself into a bit of a pickle with some other Italian Americans who shall remain nameless, but who like to offer ‘protection’ and wear sharp suits. He often appeared at the London Palladium and had another six hits over here in the early ’50s. He eventually managed to return to the US in 1958 but found it hard to re-establish himself after so long away, and with the arrival of rock and roll his style of music had suddenly become very dated.

I did say I had never knowingly listened to Here In My Heart before but I definitely knew of Al Martino as during my chart-obsessed years, he had a No. 5 hit on the UK Singles Chart with this song, Spanish Eyes. I remember well writing his name in my chart listings notebook in July 1973, and on the cardboard insert of the cassette tape where I very illegally recorded the Top 20.

Spanish Eyes by Al Martino:


Spanish Eyes had first been recorded in 1965 after lyrics were added to a tune by German orchestra leader Bert Kaempfert, originally titled Moon Over Naples. It first charted in the UK in 1970 before returning as a big hit in 1973. I didn’t really question it at the time as the chart in those days was full of left-field offerings (it wasn’t all glam rock, we also had Benny Hill, Lieutenant Pigeon and Peters & Lee hitting the top spot!).

But what could it have been that prompted Al Martino’s return to form? Well, it didn’t take me long to find out it was Al who played the character Johnny Fontane in the 1972 film The Godfather, as a ‘mob-associated’ singer (not in any way inspired by Frank Sinatra of course) looking for help from his ‘godfather’ in securing a movie role. After a few false starts we end up with the very memorable bed scene, where the studio-boss woke up next to the severed head of his prize stallion. Needless to say, Johnny did then get the role.

Al with Marlon Brando in The Godfather

I think most of us of a certain age will recognise the Godfather theme music, but I hadn’t realised until now that Al also recorded a version with lyrics called Speak Softly, Love. It was the version by Andy Williams that became the most popular but fitting to have Al, the Italian American who was actually in the film, record it too.


So, ‘What’s It All About?’ – There is so much I could have written about when celebrating 70 years of the UK Singles Chart, but best I think on this occasion to stick with the artist who kick-started the whole thing. It was Percy Dickins of the New Musical Express who first gathered a pool of stores willing to report sales figures for 52 weekly charts published annually, all starting in 1952. How fitting.

It has of course got an awful lot more complicated since those early days. During my chart-obsessed years it was always the British Market Research Bureau who compiled the weekly chart, the one I listened to religiously (no pun intended) on a Sunday evening from 5pm until the big reveal at 7pm. I have to admit I no longer peruse the charts and if I ever do I have absolutely no idea who 90% of the artists on them are. It’s all got a lot more complicated what with streaming and the downloading of music. The songs are somehow not as precious as they used to be, and a lot more disposable.

Unusually for me I do recognise most of the artists on this week’s Official UK Singles Chart – Yeah me!

I still have some of my mum’s old shellac 78s from 70 years ago. I doubt if many of today’s youngsters will have a physical copy of anything they listened to in 2022 in 70 years’ time. Then again, the way things are going they will probably have bigger things to worry about, but I would wager our descendants will still listen to music, and have songs that become favourites above all others, songs that eventually top their 2092 charts.

Until next time…

Here In My Heart Lyrics
(Song by Bill Borrelli/Lou Levinson/Pat Genaro)

Here in my heart I’m alone, I’m so lonely
Here in my heart I just yearn for you only
Here in my arms I long to hold you
Hold you so near, ever close to my heart
So, darling

Say that you care, take these arms I give gladly
Surely you know I need your love so badly
Here is my heart, my life, and my all, dear
Please be mine and stay here in my heart

Say that you care, take these arms I give gladly
Surely you know I need your love so badly
Here is my heart, my life, and my all, dear
Please be mine and stay here in my heart

From Xanadu to Singin’ In The Rain, in Two Steps (of a Roller Skate)

When someone from the world of music leaves us, as Olivia Newton-John did a couple of weeks ago, many of us revisit their back catalogue and also end up watching footage of them we might not have viewed in decades, indeed, if ever.

Last weekend I decided it was high time I watched the film Xanadu, as it’s been mentioned many times since her death, yet it’s something I’ve never seen. The soundtrack album, packed full of songs by both Oliva and the band ELO, was a massive success all over the world (pun intended) and of course I know many of them well. The film however was still a mystery to me. It didn’t do well when it came out in 1980 which is why I probably didn’t see it back then, but having just watched it twice over the last two days (for research purposes of course), I’ve found it a total delight.


I can see why it was a bit of a flop when it came out as it didn’t neatly fit into any particular genre, and audiences going to see Olivia reprise her role as Sandy in the film Grease would have been sorely disappointed. But if you’re fairly open-minded when it comes to your film entertainment, and can wave reality goodbye as you start to watch, Xanadu has a bit of everything. In fact it’s totally bonkers in places, but all the better for it. Animated scenes, a bit of Old Hollywood glamour, lots of roller-skating, girls dressed as Disney princesses, dancers straight out of Studio 54, Mary Poppins-inspired rooftop scenes, big bands, rock bands, country and western bands, leg warmers, tuxedos, circus performers, Greek mythology, the Ready Brek special effect and girls turning into shooting stars. I could go on but you probably get the gist. The love story was the least believable aspect of the whole film, as the male lead was a bit angry and petulant most of the time whereas Olivia’s character Kira was sweetness personified, but hey, this was a film best suited to children under 12 I think, so we couldn’t have had too much raunchiness.

The songs were what it was all about though, and the whole film built up to this final musical scene when Olivia Newton-John breaks free from her ‘daughter of Zeus’ character, and sings the title song, Xanadu. As I said last time in my tribute post to her, she truly was the golden girl at that time and never more so than in this scene – literally everything about her is golden, her skin, her hair, and her clothes. The song was written by Jeff Lynne of ELO and it reached the No. 1 spot on the UK Singles Chart in 1980, when the film came out.

And, Xanadu by ELO:


But for me, the most thrilling aspect of the whole film was that Gene Kelly had a main role. He played Danny McGuire, a former big band orchestra leader turned construction mogul, who together with Kira’s love interest Sonny Malone, builds a new night club in a beautiful old art deco building where aforementioned barminess takes place. There’s a big band but also a rock band, the colours are neon bright, and in the opening few seconds of the Xanadu scene, Gene leads out the dancers on roller-skates.

Gene on his roller-skates

Growing up, I was a massive fan of Gene Kelly, and I loved watching all those great 1940s and 50s musicals he starred in. Even at age 68 – which he would have been at the time of filming – he still cut a dash, and still had that dazzling smile and twinkle in his eye that catches your breath. I was yet again smitten, as I used to be as a teenager watching him in films like An American in Paris and Singin’ in the Rain. Gene was very nifty on his roller-skates in Xanadu, but of course he should have been, as he was probably the first person to choreograph an entire tap dance routine whilst wearing them. Here is a clip from the film It’s Always Fair Weather from 25 years earlier (the really impressive bit starts at 2:08), but there is no doubt Gene ‘still had it’ in 1980.


Of course I know the film Xanadu won’t be for everyone, but I think I now get why all those male music bloggers around a decade younger than myself have been so upset by the death of Olivia Newton-John. I think they were probably just the right demographic for her at the peak of her popularity.

Personally, it’s yet another mortality reality check. Although Olivia was around a decade older than me when she died, she always played someone (very successfully) around my own age. When I was 18, she played the 18-year-old Sandy Olsson in Grease, and I’m sure Kira in Xanadu would have been aged around 20 in 1980, which I would also have been. Since starting this blog, we’ve lost an awful lot of the artists of my youth – it’s a bit of a sobering thought.

But I don’t want to end on a morose note. Gene Kelly lived a long life and has gone down in history as having been one of Hollywood’s greatest stars. An actor, dancer, singer, filmmaker, and choreographer – he could do it all, with bells on. I will end with that most famous of scenes from one of the best musicals ever made. I don’t have an audio clip of Singin’ in the Rain sung by Gene but I do have one by someone else. Full marks if anyone can tell me who it is?

Singin’ In The Rain by Matt Monro:


Until next time… RIP Olivia, RIP Gene.

Singin’ In The Rain Lyrics
(Song by Arthur Freed/Nacio Herb Brown)

I’m singing in the rain
Just singing in the rain
What a glorious feeling
I’m happy again
I’m laughing the clouds
So dark up above
The sun’s in my heart
And I’m ready for love

Let the stormy clouds chase
Everyone from the place
Come on with the rain
I have a smile on my face
I walk down the lane
With a happy refrain
And I’m singing
Just singing in the rain

I’m singing in the rain
Just singing in the rain
What a glorious feeling
I’m so happy again
I’m laughing the clouds
So dark up above
The sun’s in my heart
And I’m ready for love

Let the stormy clouds chase
Everyone from the place
Come on with the rain
I have a smile on my face
I walk down the lane
With a happy refrain
And I’m singing
Just singing in the rain

The Golden Girl with Great Hair and a Fine Voice: RIP Olivia Newton-John

I was away from home last week, meeting up with old friends of the same age. When we heard the news that Olivia Newton-John had died, we all felt a great sadness, not particularly because we were big fans but because she was part of our teenage years and not really that much older than us. Poor Olivia had been treated for the illness that finally took her life several times over the last 30 years, so in some ways she got more time than many others with the same diagnosis. She certainly put that time to good use becoming both an advocate for breast cancer research, and an activist for environmental and animal rights causes.

There weren’t many pinups of female music artists in the magazines I bought as a young teenager – they were all full of Donny Osmond, David Cassidy and the Bay City Rollers – but amazingly I found this one of Olivia in my box of teenage memorabilia, a box that’s provided a lot of material for this blog. I can’t be quite sure when that picture was taken but I’m guessing it’s from 1972/73 before she changed her hair to the long layered style that suited her so well. She was a regular throughout all four series of Cliff Richard’s prime time television show and families like mine would always tune in on a Saturday night. It wasn’t edgy entertainment and no boundaries were pushed, but for households who had probably only recently acquired colour sets, it was must-watch telly.

A pinup from FAN magazine

She was the golden girl with wholesome good looks, great hair and a fine voice. In the early ’70s she had hits in the UK with If Not For You, Banks of the Ohio and Take Me Home Country Roads. She was also chosen to represent the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974 with this very lacklustre song, Long Live Love, which even she herself admitted to not liking. She still came fourth however as back then we tended to do pretty well every year. Changed days (until this year of course). She looks as if she’s wearing her nightie and seems to be overcompensating for the poor song with her enthusiastic arm movements. A perfect example of how the contest was at that time though and nothing like the extravaganza it has now become. (And, as a fan of Eurovision it’s inevitable I would have had this song in my music library!)

Long Live Love by Olivia Newton-John:


Perhaps it was the ignominy of coming fourth in the contest that led to her wholeheartedly try her luck in the US and with the support of fellow Australian Helen Reddy ( who herself died only two years ago) she was soon the golden girl over there too, scoring several No. 1 hits on the Adult Contemporary Chart, one of them being I Honestly Love You. Again nothing edgy there and no boundaries pushed but Olivia was a ‘nice’ girl, who was never going to do anything to shock, ever. Or was she?

There can’t be many of us who have never heard of the 1978 film musical Grease, as it has become a bit of a cultural phenomenon. Set in late 1950s California, it follows the lives of 10 students as they navigate their final year of high school. It took a bit of persuasion, and a screen test, to convince her she could play a teenager, but eventually Olivia was cast as Sandy Olsson, the ‘nice girl’ who fell for ‘bad boy’ Danny Zuko, played by John Travolta. What is it with Olivia and nighties but here she is again dressed in one, singing Hopelessly Devoted to You from the film, a song that earned an Oscar nomination.

Hopelessly Devoted to You by Olivia Newton-John:


Ok, so Olivia is still the nice girl we are used to seeing on screen, dressed in her nightie, singing pleasant songs suited to the Adult Contemporary Chart. What we didn’t expect was this, the scene that wrapped up the movie, after which she flies off into the sunset in a car called Greased Lightnin’ with aforementioned bad boy Danny Zuko. The nightie has gone, to be replaced by black skin-tight trousers (that she had to be sewn into every day of shooting), a black leather jacket, teased hair and red lipstick. This was not the Olivia we were used to seeing and she certainly set a lot of teenage boys’ pulses racing. It has been pointed out many times this last week that the plotline perhaps doesn’t stand the test of time and that it couldn’t be made the same way nowadays. They are right of course, but in 1978 I had just turned 18, and for me and my friends it was just a light-hearted movie full of great songs and dance routines that we didn’t take too seriously. For Olivia, You’re the one That I Want, made her a bit of a superstar.

You’re The One That I Want by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John:


After the film Grease, Olivia adopted a slightly raunchier persona, even getting Physical, but just like with her ‘transformation’ in the film, I think we all knew that deep down she was still the same girl who used to appear on Saturday night telly with Cliff Richard. In 1980 they even recorded a duet together, Suddenly, for the film Xanadu. It has ridiculous lyrics (motions and oceans) but it’s a love song and I have always liked it, so a good clip to end with. Olivia was no longer the guest star in Cliff’s universe, the tables had turned and he was now a guest in hers.

Suddenly by Olivia Newton-John and Cliff Richard:


So, yet another of the artists I grew up with has left us. Farewell Olivia, the golden girl who sounds as if she truly was a beautiful person inside and out. She will be missed by all who knew her.


Until next time…

Suddenly Lyrics
(Song by John Farrar)

She walks in and I’m suddenly a hero
I’m taken in my hopes begin to rise
Look at me can’t you tell I’d be so
Thrilled to see the message in your eyes
You make it seem I’m so close to my dream
And then suddenly it’s all there

Suddenly the wheels are in motion
And I, I’m ready to sail any ocean
Suddenly I don’t need the answers
Cos I, I’m ready to take all my chances with you

How can I feel you’re all that matters
I’d rely on anything you say
I’ll take care that no illusions shatter
If you dare to say what you should say
You make it seem I’m so close to my dream
And then suddenly it’s all there

Suddenly the wheels are in motion
And I, I’m ready to sail any ocean
Suddenly I don’t need the answers
Cos I, I’m ready to take all my chances with you

Why do I feel so alive when you’re near
There’s no way any hurt can get thru
Longing to spend every moment of the day with you

Suddenly the wheels are in motion
And I, I’m ready to sail any ocean
Suddenly I don’t need the answers
Cos I, I’m ready to take all my chances with you