Song 176 - Three of the Greatest Leonard Cohen Songs

The word sadly says goodbye to the talented Leonard Cohen today, who died at the age of 82. Born in Canada; Cohen was not only a singer but a poet and novelist and leaves the world with an incredible legacy of songs that will be part of the worldwide musical history. I first came across the music of Cohen as a student studying in Edinburgh in the 1990s. The person who introduced me to his music loved to claim such a broad range of music taste, but, sometimes, I thought that the musical tastes where his dad's and like me, his parents' tastes became his own and he past Cohen on to me. 

The one song I associated most with Cohen, mainly because it is one of the only songs where I heard his original version first is I'm your man. Taken from his 1988 album of the same name,  I absolutely love Cohen's lyrics throughout this song, it is a love song but without all the shoulder pads and glam rock of the 1980s. When I listen to this song I remember a Soul Club in the West end of Edinburgh where we used to go and just chill out and enjoy music until the small hours.  The song lyrics are a loose translation of the poem Pequeno Vals Vienes by Federico Garcia Lorca, one of Cohen's favourite poets. 

The album itself was hailed as a return to form for Cohen and remained number one in Norway for 16 weeks and topped the charts in the UK. When asked to vote on the favourite Leonard Cohen songs of all time, readers of Rolling Stones put I'm you man" in the top ten along with two other tracks on this album.   

Listen to I'm your man by Leonard Cohen

My second Cohen song is "Favourite Blue Raincoat", which he wrote in 1971 and released as part of his third album, Songs of Love and Hate. Written as a letter, the lyric tells the story of a love triangle between the singer, a women named Jane, and the male addressee, who is identified only briefly as " my brother, my killer". I was first introduced to the cover version that Toris Amos did in the late 1990s. Amos is one of my favourite songwriter and her style on covering this song blew me away.  

It strikes a lovely melancholic image of a well- loved jacket that symbolised a person. Cohen said that he was the owner of the famous blue raincoat but claimed as a composition he was never satisfied with the song. Thinking the Cohen wasn't happy with the song makes me wonder what he would have like to have changed it! As to me, the song is perfect.

Listen to Famous Blue Raincoat
Listen to Tori Amos' Version

The last song, which is probably the most widely known out of my choice of three is Hallelujah which was first released in 1984 on the studio album Various Position. The song itself at the time of release had very limited commercial success, to begin with. However, in the 1990s, people started covering it, with the most famous being Jeff Buckley and the song has become an international hit, covered by many. I think Jeff Buckley's version stays with people because of his untimely death and the fact that he never saw how much of an impact his version of Cohen's classic would have on the world. 

Hallelujah is another song which Cohen struggled with and there is a suggestion put forward that he may have written as many as 80 versions before recording it for his album. The album itself was nearly never released. Another song that I can now not imagine life without and the different version evoke different memories for me.

Listen to Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen
Listen to Jeff Buckley's Version
Listen to Rufus Wainwright's version

There is a line from a poem that I read that says "Death is nothing at all, I have only stepped into the next room." Cohen joins a wealth of pop royalty that has left the world stage for heaven's this year and all we have left are the wealth of their sweet lyrics to comfort us in dark times. RIP Leonard Cohen, thank you for your music.

Song 175 - Mad World by Gary Jules

There is not a lot to be said about this song choice but the words President Elect Donald Trump. 2016 has been a year of situations where we have said it will never happen only to watch our world change overnight.

Orginally written by the British Pop Band Tears for Fears, the song first charted in the UK in 1982, when it reached no. 3 in the UK Chart. Being 5 at the time, I don't really remember the original version but I fell in love with the song when it was covered by Gary Jules in the film Donnie Darko in 2001. This version reached number one and would earn Roland Orzabal his second Ivor Novella Award in 2003.

The lyrics and melody of this song are beautiful and I think describes our world perfectly today 

Mad World by Gary Jules

Song 174 - Revolver by The Beatles

   The first Friday album for a while and today's album is celebrating its 50th birthday today. Yes of course, I'm talking about  Revolver, the 7th studio album of the Beatles. It spent 34 weeks in the UK album chart, with 7 of these being at the top of the chart. With a noticable progression in terms of style and experimentation from Rubber Soul, this 50th year old hearded the band as studio innovators and has inspired musicians throughout the world.

The Beatles started recording Revolver in April 1966 and recorded contintually for three months. Paperback Writer and Rain were released as their 12 single in June, a gap of six months from their last release which was their longest gap between releases since the band started. But anyone who knows this album and the quality of music coming from the Beatles at this time knows it was worth the weight. Paperback Writer & Rain never made the album; which contains14 tracks.

Recording started with the song Tomorrow Never Knows, which started the revoluntion in recording techniques as the song introduce many of the new studio technique the band together with George Martin and Geoff Emerick put together. The techniques included the incorporation of tape loops and backwards recordings of guitars, the use of a classical oct, indian-music backing, varispedding, reversed tapes and close music miking. The album is also credited with the invention of automatic double tracking (ADT), a technique  invented by the engineers in Abbey Road and was adopted throughout the record industy. It's not surprising that the album took over 300 hours to record and produced.

The album opens up with Taxman written and performed by George Harrison. Hearlded as the Beatles' first topical issue song and uses the Indian guitar played by Paul McCartney.It is an upbeat tempo that has lyrics normal people can relate to, and as we know from reading the news over the last year, there has been many a celebrity who have found a way to avoid the taxman character that Harrison sings about.

This is followed up by, prehaps, one of the saddest Beatles song written by Lennon and McCartney, Eleanor Rigby. Who was Eleanor Rigby?  A name on a grave that the band didn't now, but the lyrics address the theme of loneliness, which is something every generation can relate to. All four Beatles play a part in the lyrics to the song, but George Martin made the decision to put strings behind the lyrics.  One music journalist at the time said  "the corruption of 'Taxman' and the utter finality of Eleanor's fate makes the world of Revolver more ominous than any other pair of opening songs could."

I'm only sleeping increases the tempo once more and uses the clever technique of Varispeeding and ADT on Lennon's voice. This track was one of three tracks that was cut from the US version of Revolver and has been described as half acid dream half latent Lennon laziness personified by Barry Miles. The songs were cut due to an earlier release of the tracks by Capitol,  It is a perfect song to listen to if you are on holiday or even having a well derserved day off and know that whilst the world spins, you can enjoy life at a more gentle pace. This is followed on nicely by Harrison's first foray into Hindustani classical music with "Love you to". The Beatles had already started using Indian music in their songs as Lennon brought in an Indian sitar for Norwegian Wood. My interest in India and Indian culture has been sparked this week as I've discover that I have ancestors who were born in India.

As we nearly reach the middle of the album, here comes a song that was inspired by the Beach Boys' God Only Knows. McCartney's beauty ballard Here, there and everywhere is a beautiful lyrics journey of a heart in love. Love is very much a theme throughout this album (and every album they wrote) but perhaps these tracks show the maturing style of not just the song writing of the band but the emotional growth. Love and the meaning of love changes with the experience you have. If I was a Rock DJ on air, I would dedicate this track to my in-laws who are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary this week.  I feel there is something more romantic about old love as the longer two people are together the more entwinded they become. I am a romantic at heart.

Often described as the coffee break from the drama of their song writing, Yellow Submarine was written with Ringo's voice in mind and again the work achieved on this track to create a nautical atmosphere to accompany the lyrics. It would be four years before the film of the same name would be released. Good pub quiz knowledge.

Before you get gidding from the sea, the tone of the album changes again with the song She said She Said. This song only features Harrison and Lennon as there was an argument in the studio and McCartney stormed out. The lyric "I know what it is like to be dead" comes from a conversation with Peter Fonda, who remember nearly dying during an operation as a child.  The track recording went right up to the wire taking nine hours to produce, with just 24 hours before the album had to be finalised. If you were listening to the original recording of this, this is where the record would need to be turned over.

Side 2 for those who know what sides are starts as bright as any album with the track Good Day Sunshine. A song for anyone who can't help but smile about life. Followed up with And your bird can sing there are signs of Dylan's inspired  composition and a nod to Frank Sinatra with this number. This was another track omitted from the US album version.  

Talking about love, I wonder what it is like for Jane Asher who is said to be the inspiration for For No One, to hear this song now and whether she listens with fondness for the memories or regret. No one will probably ever know.  Keeping the theme of being inspired by people the next song, Dr Robert celebrates a New York physician known for dispensing amphetamine injections to his patients. On the recoding, the hard-driving performance is interrupted by two bridge sections where, over harmonium and chiming guitars chords, the group vocals suggest a choir praising the doctor for his services. Dr Robert was the third track not to make the US album. 

Harrison said he wrote I want to tell you about "the avalanche of thoughts" that he found hard to express in words. The song opens with a descending guitar riff as the recording fades in, similar to the start of the Beatles' 1964 track Eight days a week. This song is quickly followed up with Got to Get you into my life and was described by McCartney as a ode to pot.

Perhaps it is the last track which was their first track to start recording for the album which was the band's greatest achievement in studio recording at this time. This song is one of the earliest example of the emerging counterculture genre of psychedlic music. Some of the production on this track along is why this album often top of the best albums of all time.

I think and perhaps it is just me but one of the lovely things about this album is that you can see the development of the Beatles from the early days of Hamburg and Beatlemania to four very talented musicans who built on their roots. Their music evolves from what has gone before and the fact that they commissioned Klaus Voormann to design the (now) iconic album cover shows that they didn't forget their friends. For those who don't know Voormann becames friends with the Beatles when they first did gigs in Hamburg and was involved with the start of their careers

I could talk about this record for hours but perhaps it is better for you to listen it to understand why this album is only 50 years young and will be listen for another 500 years.

Written by Lennon, McCarney & Harrison
Album: Revolver
Released: 5 August 1966.

Song 173 - Fast Car by Tracy Chapman

 When I was going through my Kylie Minogue fan phase in the late 1980s, my sister was listening a different kind of music, which I am very grateful for as it helped keep my music tastes wide open. I am trying to avoid using the phase my sister listened to cooler music then me, but you can take it any way you like.

Released in 1988, Fast Car was Chapman's lead single from her debut album named Tracy Chapman. It reached number 5 in the UK chart. The lyrics together with Chapman's unmistakeable voice speaks about the idea of an uncomplicated world of being able to jump in a car and keep on moving, and although it is clear that Chapman is taking about life in America, I think we all understand that urge of being able to jump in a car and run from the  daily rountine of life. 

Chapman performed Fast Car at the televised 70th birthday concert for Nelson Mandela in 1988. Mandela was still in prison at this point and the pressure was building on the South African Government to release him. He would be released in 1990 after 27 years in prison. I think I remember my sister having a recording on tape of Chapman performing at this concert.  VH1 said of Tracy Chapman that she helped usher in a period of political correctness with bands like R.E.M and 10,000 Maniacs  

When I heard this song on the radio today, it took back to a place of positivity and hope and no matter what happening in the world just now, we have to believe that somehow, somewhere, there will be a way through all this violence that keep happening around the world. But the first thing we need to make sure is that people feel they belong somewhere and feel as though they are going to listen to.

Song 172 - Dear Mr President by P!nk

 

When the news broke that Donald Trump had secured his nomination to run for President of the United States, P!nk's song, featuring the Indigo Girls popped into my head as a concept that once I laughed at has the potential of being a reality and the news is somewhat terrifying . Then I thought the world at the moment is a very scary place and there seems an uncertainty hangs over the world on what is going to happen next. All we can hope is that the leaders and future leaders of this world will remember not to group people together and tarnish them all with the same brush because humans are individuals and although there are some horrible humans; it is simply not fair to judge people because they share things in common with others. Sorry this has become political but too much has happened this year in the world not to sit on the side lines.

Originally, P!nk wrote this for her fourth album, I'm not dead and was an open letter to President Bush's administration at the start of the noughties. The song itself needs very little detail analysis but speaks for itself about how P!nk thought about Bush and what was going on her country. Maybe it is a bit soulful for a Saturday afternoon in July, but sometimes in the heat of madness, you need a change of gear and something more reflective so here's it is

Dear Mr President by Pink

Written by Pink and Billy Mann

Released December 2006

Album: I'm not dead

Song 171 - Man on the Moon by R.E.M.

Having quickly placed one of their song into the jukebox on Friday, I wanted to come back to R.E.M, as they deserve more than a fleeting mention. Song choice from them today is Man on the Moon, which was their second single from their 1992 Album Automatic for the People. The lyrics of the song are a tribute to Andy Kaufman, the American Actor and Entertainer that died in 1984, with the chrous playing up to the moon-landing conspiracy which was mirroring the idea the Kaufman's death had been a hoax.  The lyrics makes reference to the career of Kaufman including his famous Elvis impersonation.

 The lyrics were written by R.E.M's front man Michael Stipe, with the melody written by Bill Berry and Peter Buck and for me it is a beautiful song.  R.E.M, first came into my life when I was in high school and was one of those bands that I religiously taped off the Top Forty on a Sunday night. I was out with friends at the weekend and we were reflecting that the youth of today don't know the fun of taping music off the radio and trying desperately not to get the voice of the DJ onto your mixed tape. Although I think with the Top 40, I would always be called for tea before the end of Top 40 so I would have to keep the tape running.

Formed in 1980, R.E.M.'s music spans 30 years up until the band's split in 2011. Automatic for the People was one of two of their most commercially successful albums, with Out of Time being released two years after. For me, they were a stable diet of high school years and music camps adventures. I will always remember that they played Murrayfield in Edinburgh just after I had finished high school. A concert, which alas, I missed, but I remember that it became a significant event in meeting two of my best friends from University as we all discussed R.E.M. on the first day of our course. They both are more dedicated fans of R.E.M. than me so hopefully I will have got my facts right today and they had huge posters of Michael Stipe on their bedrooms wall.

The song itself was a critical success reaching number 18 in the chart, and going on to be the main song on the soundtrack of the film about Andy Kaufman starring Jim Carey. Described by the New York Times as "Shining with a wit that balances R.E.M. more somber tendencies",  it speaks to the girl inside of me that always wanted to travel around space and go to the moon. Reach for the stars has always been one of my beliefs.

Have a listen and see if you believe what the New York Times reporter said:
R.E.M's Man in the moon

Written by R.E.M
Released: 1992
Album: Automaticc for the People

Song 170 - Two songs for this mind blowing day

Don't really believe that I am currently in the world, I was in yesterday after hearing the results of our vote on staying in the UK, but it has made me think of three songs that describe some of the comments I have seen on Facebook today. Both songs are from bands that I really respect. Sorry music followers, but I was rudely awoken this morning with the news that the UK is leaving the EU. Not what I wanted and not what I would have imagined today to be like.

It is the end of the world as we know it by REM

Mad World by Gary Jules

Back to normal tomorrow

Song 169 - Hernando's Hideaway by the Johnston Brothers

Lets have a Thursday Tango as the UK goes to the polls to decide on whether we leave the EU or not. Talking about politics is not my thing, all I'll say is make sure you vote. Anyway today's song is a cracking 1950s hit that was written by Richard Adler and Jerry  Ross for the musical, The Pajama Game. It was originally recorded and performed by Carol Haney, in the musical,  but I have chosen to put the Johnston Brothers' version into the jukebox as it is the one I know from the film Snatch.

Together with the unforgettable rhythm of the tune, the lyrics to Hernando's Hideaway are ones of friendships and being part of an exclusive club that only certain people can get into if they know the password. Another song from my writing mix, but this one is more upbeat and appeals to the idea that when you are sitting in front of the keyboard with a blank screen and your own creativity, there is no limitation to where you can take an idea. Writing is one of the most mind expanding things you can do as there is no one to tell you what is right or wrong. Okay, the pieces of work that you might want to get published one day should be more tailored for an audience, but if you are writing for yourself you can explore and do anything and at the end of the day, it can be easily deleted without any harm to anybody else.

In the musical, which is set in Iowa, Hernando's Hideaway is a raunchy dive in East Dubuque, Illinois, perching on a high cliff overlooking the highway between Dubuque and Galena. Since the musica was released there has been many place named Hernando's Hideaway, possibility because of the popularity of the song. One of the most interested places that was called Hernando's Hideaway was the smoking room in the House of Common, often quoted as a place of varied people and great debate.

When the Johnston Brothers released their version of Hernando's Hideway in November 1955, it went straight to number one, keeping the American version off the top of the UK chart. The Johnston Brothers were a vocal group formed by Johnny Johnston in the late 1940s, and although many of you may not know his name, I can bet (if you are of a similar age to me), you will know his work. How this you ask? In 1956, Johnston formed a jingle company and went on to produce hundred of famous jingles for television advertising including: A million housewives every day pick up a can of beans and say - Beanz Meanz Heinz. He also created the jingle for the first colour TV ad Bird Eye had on UK Television,

Anyway enjoy the song and have a dance.
Hernando's Hideaway

What does Beanz means?
Beanz meanz Heinz

Written by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross
Recorded by Johnston Brothers, 1955

Song 168 - In my place by Coldplay

It would be shocking for a music blogger to omit to mention one of the biggest summer festivals is starting today at  Glastonbury. So far,  I have never had the chance to go but who knows what will happen in the future?  However, for those who read yesterday's blog, I am doing my own anthems in the jukebox so my challenge was to find a song today which fitted both and I have come up with the 2002 Coldplay song In My Place and it speaks volumes to me as it was released when I turned 25, I had just become an Auntie for the first time and I was totally consumed by my writing. I look back then and think how did I found the time but I think more importantly the question for me is making the time now-a-days.

In My Place was the first single off Coldplay's 2nd Album A rush of blood to the head and it reached number 2 in the UK chart when it was released in August 2002. The lyrics speak to me like yesterday's song spoke as, for me, it is about being comfortable in your own skin and letting things play out in a natural way. I remembering drink tones of coffee with a friend listening to this song musing about the future. I think he even gave me the CD single of this tune for my trip to Paris (first time in an airplane at 25!)  I know when I started writing my book, Coldplay was one of the band I would have playing in the background. I think it is fair to say that In my place is the anthem of 25 year old Julia.

Written by all four of the band members collaboratively, the track is built around thumping drums and chiming guitars. The song would win the Best Rock Performance at the 45th Grammy awards the following year. The band are performing at the Pyramid and for everyone who gets to see them this weekend, enjoy. If like me, your Glastonbury experience is going to be through either radio or tv, enjoy this live performance from Coldplay from 2011.

In my place by Coldplay

Written by: Chris Martin, Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland & Will Champion
Album: A rush of blood to the head
Released: August 2002.

Song 167 - Beautiful Freak by the Eels

Last week I was privilege to read a friend's blog, which was beautiful and very honest about what was happening in her life and it made me think about the jukebox and where to take the next set of songs that I put into the jukebox. Then it came to me after a weekend of feeling sorry for myself having caught my husband's cold, and spending 48 hours curled up on the sofa,binge watching television: I should put in music that speaks to me and almost acts like an anthem for my life; so for the next short period, I am sharing some personal anthems. After having this thought; I did immediately followed it up with 'but if this was a jukebox would you want slower songs?' but in my cool music club that I would have; I would definitely have about three different rooms where one would, of course, be dedicated to the Beatles, one would be disco beats of each decade and the third would be a more chilled beat; where some of the choices would appear. There would probably be a fourth room of the super cool music but lets stop at three, before I turn the Empire State building into a disco tech. Could you image that 100+ floors of music? Legendary (yes I have been binge watching How I met your mother).

Anyway enough about the weekend of colds, the choice for the Jukebox today is the lovely song from the Eels, Beautiful Freak, which was released as a single from their debut album of the same name. Released as the last single of the album after hits like Susan's House, it peaked at number 10 on the UK single chart in February 1997. Written by Mark Oliver Everett, the lead singer of the band, the lyrics, are haunting love song trying to get their muse to accept themselves for who they are - I don't know whether this is what Everett meant by the lyrics but this is how I have taken them. When I listen to this song, it immediately takes me into the head of my main character of the book (that I have been writing/editing for the last 100 years) and this is very much her theme tune. She is struggling to embrace who she is and therefore the characters around her spend a lot of their time trying to make her see that who she is is actually what they need.

Now, I know some of the people who are reading this and will probably be thinking, but you are the main character of your own book so what you've said - do you mean it about yourself?  No I don't, honesty, I really don't because  I am comfortable in my own skin (perhaps a little bit too comfortable as I could do with losing a few pounds) but although there is a lot of things I would like to change or do with my life, changing who I am, isn't one of them because one of the biggest lessons in life is accepting yourself for who you are. Now that may not change how society views you or the perceptions that people have of you, but it does help you change things for yourself if make changes for positive effects. Stay happy within yourself and then anything is possible.

If you know this song, you are probably think, but this song isn't happy; but for me when I listen to it, it helps me to remember what I've said in the paragraph above and helps me remember who I am and what I believe in. That's a lot from one song, but trust the writer to over think it. The song is a lot less complicated.

Hear it here: Beautiful Freak by the Eels

There will be more from the Eels later in the week.

Song 166 - You're never fully dressed without a smile from Annie

Today would have been my mum's 66th birthday so the music blog today is going to be very simple and feature You're never fully dressed without a smile taken from the film Annie as all she would have wanted for everyone that knew her was happiness.

Written by Charles Strouse and Martin Charin, the kids from the orphanage reprise this song after hearing it being played on the radio after there is an appeal for Annie's parents to come forward. When the film of Annie was released in 1982, I always remember this number from the original film and the kids singing their hearts out. I also think that my sister and I used to sing this at each other when we were growing up. Happy memories and I whatever today brings I will smile.

Enjoy today's song: You're never fully dress without a smile

Song 165 - Maggie May by Rod Stewart

Arise Sir Rod! With the 90th Queen's birthday honours list being announced yesterday, the news that Rod Stewart had been knighted for services to music made me really happy; and for me Maggie May is the iconic hit that I always think of when I think about Rob, as well as one of my oldest friends, who has always been one of the biggest Rod Stewart's fans that could possible be.

Written in 1971 by Stewart and Martin Quittenton, Maggie May was originally the B side to the single Reason to Believe  until many radio stations in the USA started to play the B side instead of the intended single. Promoters weren't fools and they reversed the single; allowing Maggie May to be released  as a single in October; where it reached number 1 in the charts of both the UK and the US. A feet that has only been achieved by a number of bands including The Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel. The song would remain at the top of the UK chart for six weeks and was voted as one of 500 Greatest songs of all time by Rolling Stone magazine in 2004.

In an interview with Q magazine, Stewart confirmed that the song was written about his first encounter with a woman at a jazz festival in 1961, and the lyrics reflects the conflicting emotions of a 16 year old boy's feeling towards his older lover. Interestingly enough the name Maggie May comes from an old Liverpool Folk song about a prostitute who robbed a sailor at the docks, the folk song is known right around the world and The Beatles did their own version of it on their last studio album Let it be in 1970. (Honestly, I don't plan all these Beatles references.)

Maggie May comes from Rod Stewart's third solo Album Every Picture Tells a Story, also release in 1971. The album gained critic success when it was first released and had stayed one of the most important albums of his career. Featuring a mixture of rock, blues, country, solo and pop, the album took the number 1 slot in both the UK and the US. As well as the single Maggie May, Rod also included covers of That all right (Mamma) (The first single that Elvis released) and Tomorrow is a long time (Bob Dylan) and shows the range of Rod's voice.

With a career that dates back to 1961, it is perhaps no surprise that he has been knighted for his services to music. I recently caught up with my friend, the Rod Stewart fan, who had just purchased a vintage record player and is currently building up a record collection of vintage Rod Stewart's album, and we muse at the success of this music legend, and his ability to develop his style of music to fit the age of his voice, and having sold over 100 million records worldwide, whatever his formula is, it is obviously working.

When I heard the news of the knighthood, I thought back a moment of madness, we had as  children, when my friend asked our local record store if she could have the promotional material they had used to for the new Rod Stewart album and after they agreed taken it back to her bedroom so she could proudly hang it from her celling (I think it was a cupboard spanner). We all thought she was a bit bonkers with her loyalty to Rod Stewart back then, but I think now, she had an appreciation for a music icon that we stupidly didn't get. I should have realised sooner that there was something in her choice of music especially as, for her, Rod supports the wrong Scottish football team.

Enjoy Saturday's choice of music:
Maggie May by Sir Rod Stewart

Written by Rod Stewart and Martin Quittenton
Released: October 1971
Album: Every Picture tells a Story

Song 164 - Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys

Friday's album of the week is one of the birthday presents I received this week and I am very happy to eventually owned this album. Pet Sounds is the 11th Studio album of the Beach Boys, released in May 1966 and is one of the most influential albums of the 1960s. Written and produced by Brian Wilson, who had taken a break from touring to fulfill his dream of producing the greatest rock album even written. Wilson's drive for creating this album came from listening to Rubber Soul by the Beatles, as he felt the Beatles had achieved in creating a collection of songs that flowed together as a collection of songs in a way previous albums of the decade hadn't. Funnily enough, Pet Sounds would be one of the influences on The Beatles writing St. Peppers' Lonely Hearts Club Band so it is all swings and roundabouts in the world of pop.

Moving away from their early songs of American teen life through their normal rock-pop sound, many cite Pet Sounds as a concept album, which is something that is debated even now to whether this is a far label for it. There is a great debate on whether it is a psychedelic rock or an acid rock or even progressive rock. Regardless of what labels you wish to give it, Wilson achieved what he hoped as the album has now been around for 50 years and is still a very important of album of our times. Originally, Wilson wanted to keep its relevant for 10 years! Through the production of the songs into one album, there is an innovative soundscape of pop, jazz, classical, exotica, and avant garde music.

In fact it is the production of this record which takes it to another level as Wilson combine conventional rock set-ups with various exotic instruments, producing new sounds with a rich texture reminiscent of symphonic works layered underneath meticulous vocal harmonics. Instruments that had never been associated with the rock music, like cellos, trombones and bongos, were used to help the style of the album.

The initial release and reception of the album was mixed. It reached number 10 in the US album chart and number 2 in the UK album chart in 1966,  which was really disheartening for Wilson who poured himself into the album. 2 months later, the album would be further overshadowed by Revolver and it achievement in music and recognition took longer than Wilson would have liked, but hopefully he knows that the Beach Boys produced one of the most important albums of the 1960s.

Listen to Pets Sounds


Written by: The Beach Boys
Released: 1966

Song 163 - Birthday by the Beatles

It might be an obvious song for me today but this song is relevant to somebody every day of the year, and if you have ever created a birthday mega mix for a friend, this was a great opening track.
Written, of course, by John Lennon and Paul McCartney it was the first song on the third side of their double album, The Beatles, which is more commonly known as the White Album. The White Album was recorded on the 18 September 1968 during a recording session and sees a return to traditional rock and roll style of the early Beatles' music. An interesting fact about this track was credited equally between John and Paul, at a time when, individually, they were all moving in their own musical direction. There has been some debate on whether this is true.

Birthday was never released as a single for the band; but would eventually be released by Paul McCartney as a live track in 1990 and it reached number 29 in the UK chart. Birthday is probably one of the more minor tracks of the Album, which includes tracks like Back in the USSR, Glass Onion, Julia, Blackbird, Honey Pie, and I will.  The list is endless. The White Album was the 9th studio album released by the Beatles in 1968, which followed Sgt. Pepper's Loney Hearts Club Band. The album shows the development of all four member of the band as individual musicians who were beginning to break away from each other. When you look at the album's credits names like Eric Clapton, Pattie Harrison, Mal Evans, Yoko Uno and Maureen Starky, you can see why sometimes the studio seemed very full when they were they were recording between May and November 1968. Most of the songs were written in India and you can hear its influence especially in George Harrison's music.

I remember, for a very long time, I didn't have this album on CD due to the expense and then I was given it for my birthday by my sister and brother-in-law as I had been apparently dropping hints about owning it, but I wasn't aware that I had been doing this.  Then friends of mine gave me a book all about the the album, which is just a perfect companion to the album. I think I now have three copies of the albums, both in Mono and Stereo. If you have the chance to listen to this album do as this it is a remarkable piece of art; but I will bet that you'll know songs from the album without even listening to it.

Listen to the Birthday track here

Cheers to everyone who has a birthday today.

Song 162 - Mary Poppins by Irwin Kostal, Richard Sherman and Robert Sherman

Some of you probably thought the music had died as for the last month  the Jukebox has been on paused because of other things, but it's time to fully charge this jukebox and get it back on track. So my first Friday album after nearly a month break is Mary Poppins the soundtrack to the 1964 Walt Disney film of the same title. I love Mary Poppins and this month I saw the musical as it has been playing at Edinburgh's Festival Theatre.

Although the musical is slightly different from the film; there is an enduring message of friendship and family throughout both as Mary Poppins teaches not only the children, but also the adults to look beyond the rules and responsibilities that society puts on them and actually appreciate the people around them. Although, I never fully read the books of P.L. Travers, there is something in her penmanship that you can relate to about the family unit. Over the last month when I haven't been writing the blog, the importance of family and friends have been highlighted to me in so many different way as 2016 seems to be a year where the winds of change are proving to be very strong minded and brutal in the way they want to shape this year. Whether we want it or not, change is also going to be present in our lives and it how we adapt what is thrown at us that often ultimately determines how we move forward.

Going back to Mary Poppins, after the film was release in 1964, Walt Disney received 13 Oscar nominations and won 5 of them including best original score and best original song for Chim Chim Cher-ee. I would say that each of the songs on the soundtrack is a classic, but it is interesting to know that there was a total of 30 tracks that weren't included in the original score!

Although Mary Poppins is one of the greatest loved film made by Disney, Travers wasn't overally impressed with the whole approach so when Cameron Macintosh approached her for the rights for the musical, she gave explicit instructions that the no one from the original film was allowed to be involved with the musical, which meant the Sherman brothers could not contribute anything additional music to the score. Macintosh was able to included some of the original music in the score of the music but there is very obvious difference, although the souls of the characters are the same and it is a magical production.

To hear the music from the film and here's hoping you have a magical weekend

Mary Poppins' soundtrack

Song 161 - Purple Rain by Prince

The album of the week has to be Purple Rain by Prince, following the sad announcement of his death yesterday at age 57. If I had been writing my blog daily this week, Purple Rain, the single, would have followed Manic Monday. I am not going to say paragraph on paragraph about each song as I feel that Social Media, News sites and Twitter are doing that already. I am to give you two bits of trivial that I have on Prince.

(1) We shared the same birthday - 7th June, both Gemini. Please don't worry I am not going to say something weird like I can call the spirit of Prince, but I always thought it was cool that I had such a talented musician born on my birthday, who had respect and showed the world that you don't have to be tall to make your presence felt.

(2) If I had to pick one Prince song, it would be Darling Nikki as this song reminds me of being on holiday in the West Coast of Scotland as a teenage. Again, the faith mix tape was presence, of course belonging to my sister, and this song would be played against the backdrop of some of the most beautiful mountains of Scotland. I could imagine Nikki being in a remote castle and looking like a gothic vamp. It is one of those songs that you can allow your imagination get carried away. A writer's paradise was to be found in his lyrics of nearly all his songs.

Over the next week, there is going to be a bit of a Prince Tribute going on in the Jukebox as Prince was an iconic of music, and like David Bowie, you just wonder where the music scene would be today without in and you know no one can fill the gap he has now left.

Prince's Purple Rain

Song 160 - Manic Monday by The Bangles

Great song to sum up how I feel about today. Originally written by Prince, it was offered to the American Pop group the Bangles giving them their first single released from their second studio album. The song would give the Bangles their first hit, reaching number 2 in the UK chart in 1986.

Sometimes compared to the song Monday Monday by the Mamas and the Papas; I think everyone can relate to this song when Monday arrives too soon after the weekend and you wish you were still on Sunday. The song is written in D Major and moves at a tempo of 116 beats per minute and is set in common time. The actor Rudolph Valentio is referred to in the first verse. If you are a fan of Prince, you can hear his own lyrical style in the words of the song.

The Bangles formed in LA in 1981 and after a number of years working the music scene, they were asked to be the opening act for Cyndi Lauper on her Fun Tour. They had released one album before that happened which  received good reviews and an appearance of Leonard Nimoy on one of their videos. They followed up to Manic Monday would be their number one smash hit Walk like an Egyptian, which secured their place in main stream pop.

With a hurrah to the end of Monday, enjoy the lovely Bangles and their two smash hits:

Manic Mondays by The Bangles
Walk like an Egyptian


Manic Monday
Written by Prince
Released: 1986
Performed by the Bangles
Album: Different light

Walk like a Egyptian
Written by: Liam Sternberg
Released:1986
Performed by the Bangles
Album: Different Light

Song 159 - Two Classics by Belinda Carlisle and Tiffany

Okay, I think I am learning something about my own pop history that 1987 was a year when I started to truly follow music in my own right as nearly every song that I have pulled out to cover a song as song of the day so far in our 1980s month has come from this year. Today I am covering two hits that were back to back number ones at the start of 1988, but were released in 1987, from Belinda Carlisle and Tiffany.

Before kicking off her solo career, Belinda Carlisle had been the front singer with the American all-female rock band, The Go-Go's that formed in 1978. They were and remain the only US female rock band to write and play all their own instruments. Their success speaks for itself with over 7 million albums sold since they formed.

In the mid 1980s, the band had a period of separation between 1985 and 1990, as changes in the band's line up led to a discontentment with the original band members. This break with the band, allowed Belinda Carlise to follow a highly successful solo career, which peaked with the international hit single, Heaven is a place on earth, which reached number one across many countries in the world.

Written by Rick Nowels and Ellen Shipley, the pop video was directed by Holywood Actress, Diane Keaton and would become Carlisle's signature tune. After topping the Billboard Charts in America, it would achieve similar success in the UK chart, where it would be number one for two weeks at the start of 1988.

Here is the classic song and video to enjoy
Heaven is a place on earth

Written by Rick Nowels and Ellen Shipley
Performed by Belinda Carlisle
Release: 1987
Album: Heaven is a place on earth

Heaven is a place on earth would be knocked of UK number on by Tiffany's 1988 version of I think we're alone now, written by Ritchie Cordell and a hit in 1967 for Tommy James and the Shondells. Sixteen year old, Canadian Tiffany burst onto the scene the pop scene and reached number one across several countries including the UK, US, Canada and New Zealand. Originally Tiffany hated the idea of covering the song but it became her signature tune and her biggest hit. I remember having a huge poster of Tiffany on my bedroom wall and thinking she was cool. I always wished that I could do the cross legged dance that is performed in the video, but I never had the co-ordination in my legs. I must admit that watching the video now makes me think of How I met your mother's Robin Sparks character with lets go to the mall. Perfect send up of this 1980s classic.

Enjoy another classic
Tiffany's I think we're alone now

Written by Ritchie Cordell
Performed by Tiffany
Released: 1987
Album: Tiffany

Song 158 - The Immaculate Collection by Madonna

Moving away from Stock, Aitken and Waterman, our Friday album gets me out of a tricky situation. If you are going to talk about 1980s pop, you have to feature Madonna. But which of Madonna's 80s hits would you choose?.... If like me you feel that it is impossible to answer that question,  then I hope you'll be happy with today's album - Madonna's The Immaculate Collection. 

Released in 1990, The Immaculate Collection, spent nine weeks at the top of the album chart in the UK and is Madonna's second album to be certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipment of over 10 million copies across the United States. Having sold over 30-million copies worldwide, it is the best-selling compilation album by a solo artist and one of the best selling albums of all time.

From the moment Madonna released Holiday, her international success was really never in question. Released as the third single from her debut album, Holiday brought Madonna to the world and in the UK, it reached number 4 in the chart in 1984. Madonna's first two hits of Everybody and burning up only performed in the US chart.

Her debut album would give her two more UK hits with Borderline and Lucky Star. However, it is perhaps the hits from her second album that made Madonna an icon all over the world; those hits being Like a virgin and material girl. But it wasn't just Madonna's music that was becoming iconic, it was her look, style of dress and the way that she performed that influenced young girls/people everywhere. Madonna's style was copied by teenagers everywhere. The video that accompanied Like a virgin attracted critics and fans in equal measures. The critics wanted the song banned due in the belief that it unminded family values. Although Like a virgin stayed in the UK charts for 18 weeks, it peaked at number 3.

Material girl was the second single off the album; and with it Madonna created a mimcry of Marilyn Monroe's performance of the song Diamonds are a girl's best friend, again the single peaked at number 3 in the UK chart. Hot on the heels came her fourth single Crazy for you, released in 1985 and this reached number 2. Can we just take a moment here and think about the number of songs here that are so memorable and we are only half way through the 1980s.

The next song on the album is Get into the Groove, which came from Madonna's film Desperately Seeking Susan. This is a cracking song filled with dance moves and gave Madonna her first number one in the UK in 1985, staying at the top of the charts for four weeks. Some critics say that this was Madonna's first great single, but if I knew anyone who thought this I would ask them whether they had heard any of the songs I have already mentioned. Next on the greatest hits is Live to tell, the first single from the True Blue album. A powerful ballad with haunting lyrics. This would be followed up with Papa Don't Preach, which although was slated by some in the music industry, gave Madonna her second number 1 in the UK. Open your heart comes next, Madonna's tribute to Liza Minnelli and Marlene Dietrich

The next track La Lsla Bonita was first offered as an instrumental to Michael Jackson in 1987, but after he turned it down, Madonna took it and wrote the lyrics for it. Her ability to pick a good tune would give her her fourth number one in the UK. (True Blue was Madonna's third UK number 1 but didn't appear on the album.) I remember vividly this song being number one and the amazing red Spanish dress that was worn by Madonna. When this song became her fourth  number one single, Madonna broke the record for the most number ones achieved by a female artist.

The next set of hits on the album came from Madonna's Like a prayer album that was released in 1989. Like a prayer saw Madonna's song writing move towards a more adult audience and touched on her Catholic upbringing, which has been inspiration for a number of songs. The song and video won critical acclaim throughout the music industry and gave Madonna another number one single in the UK. Like a prayer open the doors for hits of Express Yourself & Cherish. 

On some albums, it is fair to say there are some tracks that aren't as strong as others, but when it comes down to Madonna's there is no such thing as a bad track. Vogue was the first single off her I'm Breathless album. Vogue is a classic Madonna's track and is probably the only one where you can run the quiz of which movie stars are named in the song. When it was released in 1990, it reached number one worldwide and became the best selling single throughout the world selling  over 6 million copies. Following on the success of Vogue, Justify my love & Rescue me, were the two singles from Immaculate Collection and each performed really well as single but received mixed reviews.

Madonna is an artist that has done it all, reinvented and restyle herself in a quest to keep herself relevant with her friends. When I was growing up, my sister was the bigger Madonna fan as my sister was slighter cooler than me, but Madonna's music has always been present in my life and reminds me of growing up.

Hear it for yourself and I hope you have a good dance:
Madonna's The Immaculate Collection


Released: 1990
Written by Madonna, Curtis Hudson, Lisa Hudson, Reggie Lucas, Stephen Bray, Patrick Leonard, John Bettis, Jon Lind, Brian Elliot, Gardener Cole, Peter Rafelson, Bruce Gaitsch, Shep Pettison, Lenny Karvitz, Ingrid Chavez.

Song 157 - Love in the first degree by Bananarama

Put your hands up if you remember the dance moves to Bananarama's 1987 hit Love in the first degree with by Stock, Aitken and Waterman (SAW). I definitely would have my hands up if it didn't cause problems with typing!

Love in the first degree is a surreal story where the main character is dreaming they are on trial for love. The lyrics came from Siobhan Fahey and was then built upon by SAW and Sara Dallin and Karen Woodward. If you listen carefully to the music structure it can be compared to Pachelbel's Canon, which is one of my favourite pieces of classical music.

Taken from their fourth studio album Wow!, Love in the first degree was Bananarama's biggest hit in the UK, reaching number 3 in the chart. It also performed well across Australia and New Zealand. SAW was on fire in 1987 as this song was also nominated for a Brit award for best song, narrowing missing out to Rick Astley. I don't think there would have been any concerns for SAW's finances that year.

Bananarama started in 1979, where childhood friend Dallin and Woodward formed the group with Fahey, who had been on the same university course as Dallin. Influenced by the punk rock scene going on at the time, the band quickly developed their own style. After recording their first demo in 1981, they were picked up and signed to Decca until 1993. Their first mainstream hit in 1982 was Really Saying Something, which reached number 5 in the chart. With hits like Cruel Summer, Robert De Niro's Waiting, ensuring that the band became a regular feature on the British Chart. In 1986, SAW involvement with Bananarama gave the band their first number one with their version of Venus, a 1969 hit by Shocking Blue,written by Robbie van Leeuwen. Although Venus hit the top spot at the top of the US, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, Mexico and South Africa, it only reached number 8 in the UK chart.

However the success of Venus ensure that Bananarama would continue working with SAW and they would produce Wow!, and give the kids of the 1980s yet another terrific dance of the 1980s. I remember dancing around the living room to this song as my sister had bought the 45" single.  I am so glad that YouTube wasn't invented then.

If you never learnt it, here's your chance
Love in the first degree

Written by: Siobhan Fahey, Sara Dallin, Karen Woodward, Stock, Aitken and Waterman
Released: 1987
Album: Wow!

Song 156 - Respectable by Mel and Kim

About four years ago, this song, once again,  became very familiar to me as a group of friends and I put together a special hen night tribute to one of our friends and Respectable was one of the tracks we used in our surprise for her.

Recorded in 1987, Respectable became the first (and only) number one for the sister act,  Mel and Kim, and the first number one that Stock, Aitken and Waterman (SAW) had written and produced for one of their act.

Respectable  wasn't just a number one in the UK, it also topped the charts in six other countries, including Switzerland and New Zealand.

Respectable has a catchy beat and a brilliant chorus of lyrics including Take or leave us, only please believe us, we are never going to be respectable! Making a statement was Mel and Kim's calling card and their style was something that was picked up very early by SAW, who changed their song writing to ensure their hits brought out their personality. Before embarking on her music career, Mel had been a glamour model and the band is iconic with their hats being the  main focus piece of their style. Their first break through hit Showing out (Get fresh for the weekend) reached number 3 in the UK chart, with their original single demoted to the B side of this single. Respectable was their second single.

Tragically, Mel had already been treated for cancer before the band started its climb to stardom and as their popularity grew, so did speculation over Mel's health. Although they tried to keep  her fight with cancer a private matter, Mel died in January 1989 at age 23. Tragic doesn't feel a strong enough word as looking at the success the sisters' were having you have to wonder what else this sister duo would have done if Mel had lived. It shows how important it is to take each opportunity in life when you have it.

To hear the brilliant Mel and Kim sing and look at those 80s fashions
Respectable

Written by Stock, Aitken & Waterman
Recorded: 1987
Album: F.L.M.

Song 155 - So macho & Toy boy by Sinitta

This song definitely changed its meaning after the success of X-Factor and the idea that Sinitta could have been thinking of Simon Cowell when singing these lyrics! Although, without Simon Cowell, it is very unlikely that So macho would have been a hit of the 1980s. Sinitta was the first artist that signed with Simon Cowell and Fanfare records back in the 1980s, and her first hit So macho was written by James George Hargreaves. Unfortunately, just before it was due to be released, the record company changed its mind and was about to withdraw Sinitta's record contract when Simon Cowell stepped in to change the course of history, putting up the cash to finance the record production.

When So macho was released in July 1985, it was an instant hit in clubs and high energy discos, but really failed to do anything on the UK chart. As it was selling but not charting, Cowell made the decision to delete production of the single in October 1985 to allow them to re-release the single in the middle of February 1986. So macho, again didn't immediately grow into an overnight success and it took 4 months for it to emerge from the lower end of the chart, but then it started gaining commercial air play which took the single all the way up  to number 2 in the UK chart. So Macho would go on and sell over a million copies and from the £5,000 put up by the record company to get the song released, they would see  the single return a profit of £1,000,000 and helped to secure the future of Fanfare records.

With the success of So Macho, Cowell encouraged Sinitta to work with Stock, Aitken, Waterman (SAW) as her style fitted the SAW machine perfectly and this partnership led to the creation of Toy boy, which was released in 1987 and spent 14 weeks in the UK chart making it one of the best selling songs of the year. This shows the power Simon Cowell has had over the music industry and the ability he has of recognising talent.

So lets have a disco Tuesday with not one but two hits from Sinitta.
So Macho
Toy Boy

So macho
Written by James George Hargreaves
Released: February 1986
Album: Sinitta!

Toy boy
Written by Stock, Aitken & Waterman
Released: 1987
Album: Sinitta!

Song 154 - Never gonna give you up by Rick Astley

I feel as though  I am going through the tapes I had as a kid as today's Stock,  Aitken & Waterman's (SAW) is the unforgettable Rick Astley with  Never gonna give you up. First noticed by Pete Waterman in 1985, when he took over as lead vocalist of his band FBI, he would eventually signed to the PWL record label along with the rest of his band.

Never gonna give you up was released from Astley's debut album, Whenever you need somebody, in August 1987 and was number one in the UK for five weeks making it the best selling single of 1987. The success in the UK was followed up throughout the world, as it reach the top of the charts in 25 different countries, including the United States and West Germany. Its success led to Astley winning a Brit Award for Best British Single. 

Due to the phenomenal success of his debut single, it is easy to forget about the other singles that came off his debut album, which was released in November 1987. In total Whenever you need somebody contained 5 hit singles that reached a top ten position in the country's chart they were released in. His fourth single Together Forever  helped gained him a Grammy nomination in 1989 for Best New Act, which he lost out to Tracy Chapman. 

You are probably asking yourself why is she telling me all this? My answer is I think acts belonging to SAW are given a certain label and almost sneered at by some music elite, where, although I probably do have my own musical scale worked out to my own taste, it is really important to recognise every genre and the role it has in the overall makeup of the music scene. In the first six months of his career, Astley never left the UK chart, which is no mean feet. 

I was a big Rick Astley fan and I do remember reading listening to interviews with Astley at the time of his second album when he felt he was struggling to emerge from the image of being a SAW creation even though he was writing his own material after the success of his first album. His portrayal in the British Press probably helped his decision to leave the SAW machine in 1990.  The media didn't want Astley to move away from his boy next door image, but Astley did, and in 1993, he  took a decade out to look after his family. In 2002, Astley returned with a new album and has continued to record and release material since then.

Astley will never escape the success of Never Gonna give you up and I hope that no matter how far his journey in music takes him, he will always be proud of his musical roots as for many people who grew up during the late 1980s, his biggest song will always have a place in our musical memories.

Hear an absolute classic:

Never gonna give you up by Rick Astley

Written by Stock, Aitken and Waterman

Released: August 1997

Album: Whenever you need someone

Song 153 - Too many broken hearts in the world by Jason Donovan

Kylie and Jason are a bit like salt and pepper, you can't have one without the other, especially not in a jukebox where we are having a whole section of Stock, Aitken and Waterman (SAW) acts. Too many broken hearts was Jason Donovan's first solo UK number single from his album Ten good reasons. Following his co-star into the pop world, Jason Donovan signed with SAW in the late 1980s. His first single, Nothing can divide us was a top ten single, but this was followed up with  Especially for You, his duet with Kylie Minogue, that went straight to number one in January 1989. It probably reached number 1 as most Kylie and Jason's fans were caught up in the hype of whether they were a couple in real life.

 At the time any relationship between them was played down but years later it was confirmed that some of the pictures used in the video had been taken from their own personal album. I remember having a pop-poster of the two of them released to promote their single on my wall and I think the nine year kid still inside of me was absolutely delighted when it was confirmed they had been lovers.

The success of Especially for you (which is the most commercially successful song written by SAW), probably guaranteed Too many broken hearts would be number 1 when released  in  March 1989. Donovan followed this up with his album Ten Good Reasons, which also topped the top spot in the album chart and became the biggest selling album of the year. I know I had a copy on tape.

Like all SAW hits, there is a bubble gum pop element to it, and, again, I think there were probably critics who thought that Jason Donovan was just cashing in on his fame through Neighbours. But I think it is important to remember that, like Kylie, Jason Donovan, since his days with SAW, has become a international star of musical theatre. I know that I was lucky enough to see Jason perform in The King's Speech, when the play toured Edinburgh last year. Seeing my school idol perform the part of the Australian Speech Therapist, Lionel Logue, was superb and I heard him sing! It was very different to the Scott Robinson character I had loved in Neighbours but still I had never believed I would have seen him perform live.

To relive the Australian Blond Bombshell's first number one:
Too many broken hearts

Kylie and Jason's Duet
Especially for you

Written by Stock, Aitken and Waterman
Release: March 1989
Album: 10 Good Reasons

Song 152 - Kylie by Kylie Minogue

This week has been a bit of a muddle with the blog, as although I had tried to schedule posts, there has been a technical issue my end and it hasn't worked! My apologises for this, but lets get back to the music and I am going to jump straight into the 1980s and start with Stock, Aitken and  Waterman's acts. Although there are many iconic acts who signed with SAW in the 1980s, for me, I have to start with  Kylie Minogue, as I was a huge fan of Kylie when she first appeared in Neighbours and the British Charts. To give you an idea of how big a fan I was, I was a member of her fan club, posters all around my walls and I think I watched the Neighbours' episode, when Scott and Charlene married, about 100 times. I had taped it for my sister, who was on a cruise when it was broadcast.

Kylie's relationship with Britain and the pop scene exploded in 1986, when the BBC started showing the Australian soap, Neighbours, in the tea-time slot. Kylie was cast as Charlene Mitchell, who's on/off off love affair with Scott Robinson (Jason Donovan), gripped fans all over the world. When the online characters eventually married, there were 20 millions viewers in the UK alone watching Neighbours. Due to the fame of Neighbours,  Kylie had the opportunity to perform The Loco-motion by Little Eva at a Fitzroy Football benefit Concert. Off the back of one performance, Kylie was signed to Mushroom Records. The song was released in Australia and became the highest selling single of the 1980s in Australia. Due to the success, Kylie travelled to London to work with SAW, who knew very little about her and even forgot she was coming to record in their studio. When they did remember, Kylie recorded I should be so lucky in less than an hour. 

I should be so lucky was released in December 1987 in the UK, charting at number 90 but after 3 weeks, reached Number 1 and stayed there for five weeks. The single was certified Gold in the UK and became an instant hit around the world. The video of the song is as iconic as the song, with one scene of Kylie in the bath blowing bubbles.

Due to the success of her first hit, SAW never forgot about their Australian star again and Mike Stock went across to Melbourne to apologise to Kylie and record the second song Got to be so Certain. His words to Kylie must have been successful as she returned to record her debut album in early 1988 in London. 

Kylie was released in the UK in July 1988, and after 7 weeks in the album chart, it eventually reached the number 1 slot and remain there for 4 weeks. It was the biggest selling album of 1988, and by the start of 1989, it had been certified six times platinum. In the UK, Kylie became the first female singer to have their debut album sell in excess of 2 million copies in the UK (at that time). Avril Lavigne would beat the record in 2003.

For me, this album reminds me of friendship and a period in my life before everything changed and a certain innocent of childhood would be lost for ever. Kylie is an artist which I will happily listen to now and although at the time, I remember my Dad moaning about the bubble-gum pop music that I was listening to, the beats of Kylie's early work make up my own music footprint of life.

Listen to Kylie's first album here:

Kylie by Kylie Minogue

Written by Stock, Aitken and Waterman, with the exception of The Loco-motion which was written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King.

Released: 1988