Song 110 - Eleven songs for Terry Wogan

It seems that January 2016 is going to go down in history as the month where we were all shocked by the deaths of national treasures in Britain through cancer; first David Bowie, then Alan Rickman and now Terry Wogan. Having paid tribute to both David Bowie and Alan Rickman by putting songs in the jukebox, it seems only far for me to pay tribute to Terry Wogan in the same way. Although; not a singer in his own right; the influence he has had on music worldwide being a DJ for over 50 years makes it only fitting that the jukebox has music that reflect the world of Terry Wogan. Please note this is not an official list as you will probably tell if you read on.

I think it is only fair to start with Wogan's own single The Floral Dance, that was released in 1978 and reached number 21 in the UK Chart. The tune and words was originally written by Kate Emily Barkley Moss (1881-1947), who studied at the Royal Academy of Music and was a professional violinist, pianist and concert singer.  Written in 1911, the song tells the story of an incident that apparently actually happened to Moss herself on a visit to Helston during the springtime 'Furry Dance' celebrations and the song was reportedly written directly afterwards as she was going home on the train. The songbook cover states that the music was founded on an old Cornish air and I expect that she never imagined a man from Limerick to cover it 66 years later in only the way Wogan could.

Terry sings the floral Dance 

Unfortunately this didn't start a great career as a pop star but he would go on and record Christmas songs with Aled Jones in aid of Children in Need, the BBC charity for which Sir Terry was as much the image for as its logo the Pudsey the Bear. 

Since 1980, Wogan was the lead presenter of Children in Need and he hadn't missed a event until 2015. Since 1985, there have been charity singles to raise money for the charity and stars like Shane Ritchie, Girls Aloud, Spice and McFly have all recorded singles. Possible for me the most memorable single in aid of Children in Need was the versions of Perfect Day by Lou Reed they recorded in 1997. With a mixture of hit artists spanning both pop and classical, these covers are simple amazing and was definitely more commercially successful than the previous Children in Need single performed by Sid Owen and Patsy Palmer. To hear the  Perfect Day all three versions 

Perfect Day - various artist - Children in Need

Although I don't know what Terry Wogan's perfect day was; I know that for 16 years he was the choice of millions to wake up to on a week day morning before work. He started his 16 years on Radio 2 breakfast show in 1993 with Whitney Houston being number 1 in the chart with her cover of the Dolly Parton's hit I will always love you and ended it with Lady Gaga Bad Romance in the 2009. Due to the length of time Wogan was in control of the airwaves; he was credited with launching the career of Katie Melua and helping bring Eva Cassidy's music to the UK.  

Whitney Houston's I will always love you

Dolly Parton's I will always love you

Katie Melua's The closest thing to crazy

Eva Cassidy's Songbird

Lady Gaga's Bad Romance

Although it seems really strange to put Lady Gaga beside Eva Cassidy, perhaps it is a nod to another Wogan's successes in his professional career which was his presenting of the Eurovision Song Contest for over 40 years. In the 1970s, his presenting of the competition took place on radio; but from 1980 to 2008, he was the face and voice of the competition; and his quick wit and rather honest opinion of some of the acts meant he was the extra guest on all of our Eurovision parties throughout the years. In his time presenting; the UK only won the event twice; Buzz Fizz in 1981, with Making your mind up and Katrina and the Waves in 1997, with Love shines a light. 

Buck Fizz at Eurovision with Making your mind up

Katrina and the waves with Love shines a light

However, Ireland, Wogan's place of birth won the contest  six times in the time he was presenting it (seven times in total) and  won it three years in a row (1992,1993,1994). Ireland is the most successful country in Eurovision and is the only country who had the same artist win the contest twice with different songs:

Johnny Logan's Hold me now, winner of Eurovision in 1987

My last track today is a version of Danny Boy played on guitar by Eric Clapton. An irish classic going out in memory to an Irish Icon of TV and radio. RIP Terry Wogan. 

Eric Clapton plays Danny Boy

Song 109 - Another Love - Tom Odell

Sometimes when you you are battering down the treadmill; you find exercise motivation coming from an unlikely tune. Earlier this week, I found myself listening to Another Love by Tom Odell and actually speeding up. Not that I mind as this is a beautiful song and has been one of my most played over the last couple of years.

I think it is my good friend the piano that makes me drawn to this song and the building crescendo in the melody coupled with Odell's haunting beautiful voice makes it a modern classic (for me anyway). The sound was used by BBC programming in 2013 so it became very familiar, very quickly. But even with regular playing, there is nothing that can  dilute this song's beauty.

Odell was discovered by Lilly Allen, who is head of the record label In the name of, which is part of Columbia Records in 2012 and with his advance on his album deal, he bought an old green mini cooper. In October the same year, he released his debut extended play, Songs from Another Love which lead to a television debut on Later with Jools Holland. In 2013, he won the BRITs' Critics Choice Award, following artists like Adele and Florence and the Machine. The album would be released in June 2013 and would become a number 1 album in the UK. Although he missed out on being the BBC Sound of 2013, he would be named as Songwriter of the year by Ivor Novella by the end of 2013.

So much so soon, it makes me excited to think about the possible delights that might be  coming our way in the future.

To hear Another Love
Another Love by Tom Odell


Written by Tom Odell
Album: Long Way Down
Released: 2013

Song 108 - X&Y by Coldplay

This album to me is the album I wrote my second novel to and although I know not everyone is a Coldplay fan, to me they are part of my life's soundtrack.  Interestingly enough this album, which was their third studio album ,was released the day before my 28th birthday on June 6 2005 and I used to walk around Edinburgh blaring it out on my iPod, lost in a world of the book I was writing.

The album cover is a combination of colours and blocks, which is a representation of the Baudot code, which was the predecessor to the International Telegraph Alphabet.


My love of Coldplay dates right back to their first album, Parachutes, and they are one of those bands where the name is enough for me to purchase their music. I think the jukebox already has a few Coldplay songs in and I think with this album, every  has means something to me and belong to the world of my book's characters. All of the characters spend much of my novel looking at their own demons and taking chances on trying to break away from their supposed portrait they give to the world.

The second verse in the second track of  the album, What If, contains the lyrics Every step that you take, could be your biggest mistake, It could bend or it could break, that's the risk you take." Those lyrics hit me  as life is about taking risks; especially as a writer, because you are letting others inside your head and it can be a very personal place to invite people into.  I don't know some may say that I am still hiding as a writer as I haven't as yet published my novel!

Anyway enough about me - here's the breakdown of tracks

1. Square One -  Not released as a hit, Square One for me is about looking to the future and taking the chance to be discovered. From a writing point of view it talks about the first to the last page, which makes sense; although I tend to write as I feel it and then decide the order.

Square One

2. What If - this just hits you for all the reason above - it is a beautiful melody with a very clear opening of Martin and his piano playing. Sometimes I think this is a love song and other times it could be anyone questioning their place in the world.

What if

3. White Shadows - Throughout this album, there is a computer generated sound that hadn't been present in early album. Coldplay cited being influences by 1970 pop and artist like Brian Uno and David Bowie. Uno played the synthesizers on this track; however it is reported that David Bowie turned down the opportunity to work with Coldplay as he wasn't happy with the material offered to him.

White Shadows

4. Fix You  - a song which is sad and uplifting at the same time. It is probably one of Coldplay's best known tracks because the lyrics express emotions everyone can understand and relate to when they watch people they love go through heartbreak.  A funny story for me was I went to see Coldplay in September 2009 at Hampton park and I recorded them singing this song as it is one of my favourite songs, but unfortunately all you can hear is me trying to sing along with the track too. It is very funny but very hidden from public consumption.

Fix You

5. Talk - Bringing the temp back up and using the main riff (with permission) from Kraftwek, a German electronic music band from its song  Computer Love, the track was meant to be first single from the album but when they were all a bit spooked at the thought of release so they scraped the idea and the song nearly got forgotten about. The song was eventually as a single in December 2015.

Talk

Again going back to my own writing; they talk about a missing jigsaw piece which again spoke to me as my first attempt at writing a book was named that. It was a piece of writing that really should stay unread as it is mainly my attempt to try and make sense of losing my mum at 16. However, the interesting thing is that there is a bit character in this story; which is my main character in the book I am busy working on.

6. Speed of Sound - the lead single off the album built around a piano riff and influenced by Kate Bush's Running up that hill, it reached number 2 in the British Chart and was named as Best Single at the 2006 Brit Awards.

Speed of Sound

7. A message - If you have never heard this song, please listen to it as it is a lovely track about being there for someone and the point that you don't have to be alone.

A Message

8. Low - not a lot to say about this one. Good tune though.

Low live @ Glastonbury

9. The Hardest Part - This is a piano-based ballad song, it begins with a piano melody, followed with electric guitar lines that accompanies slow-tempo. Released as the fourth single from the album, its lyrics appeal to my characters and me about letting go. Sometimes as a writer you need to let go of the prose that circles your head night after night. I am telling you writing a novel is like having a whole world inside of you that is as vivid and bright as the real world.

The Hardest Part

10. Swallowed in the sea - Another love song with clever lyrics. I like the idea of vastness of the sea and the idea of being moulded throughout the look. I think, when I look back on the initial writing phase - I was lost in my sea of worlds and I had friends who lucky kept me going and bringing me back into reality.

Swallowed in the sea

11. Twisted Logic  - again not a lot more to say than what I've said already. This just describes my method of writing.

Twisted Logic


12. Till Kingdom comes  - this was the hidden track on the CD and was originally meant to be a duet between Johnny Cash and Chris Martin, but unfortunately Cash died before this could happen. This is another great tune that is very upbeat.

Till Kingdom Comes

Some say that X&Y wasn't as critically pleasing as the first two album, however, this album had by 20131 sold over 13 million copies. Now if I can ever get my book published and sell over 13 million copies I won't be complaining. I had forgotten how linked this album is to my writing and perhaps I need to go back on the walks around Edinburgh listing to this so I can achieve my dream of being a published author.

Written by: Chris Martin, Jonny Buckland, Guy Berryman, Will Champion
Album: X&Y
Released: 2005

Song 107 - Getting to know you - Rodgers and Hammerstein

Staying with music from films and taking another song from a pantomime I was in, Getting to know you, is a lovely number about friendship blooming and potentially romance depending on how you read/hear the lyrics.

Taken from the 1951 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I, Gertrude Lawrence was the first Anna to sing this song and then for the film Marni Nixon dubbed it for Deborah Kerr in 1956. The lyrics reference the affectionate relationship Anna is building up with the children and wives of the King of Siam. Although it is hard to image, the fate of this song was once to be rejected by Rodgers and Hammerstein, who had first thought up the tune for the musical South Pacific, released on Broadway in 1949. They had originally thought about using the melody for a song called Suddenly lucky to be sung by Neille. Changing their minds at the last minute, they wrote (I'm in love with) a Wonderful guy instead for this production, which was fortunate as it is hard to imagine either musical without the two songs in them as we identify with them.

The King and I is based on the book about Anna Leonowens, who became schoolteacher to the King of Siam's children. Labelled as an autobiography, there has been recent doubts raised to how accurate the book is, the book was transformed into the wonderful musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein. Originally it had been hoped that Gertrude Lawrence would have been able to star in the film as well as the musical as the score had been written for her voice. However, sadly Lawrence died of cancer before the film was made and Deborah Kerr was brought in. Kerr couldn't sing and worked closely with Marni Nixon who's voice was dubbed in. Kerr and Nixon would work closely together on this arrangements and Nixon would again help Kerr in her later film An affair to remember.

There was no dubbing of voices when I was in the local pantomime Aladdin and the song was used throughout the pantomime and at the end. The words of friendship since then has always stayed with me as there is nothing greater than being part of a big production where you have the chance to work with people you would never really talk to you. I think The King and I embraces the idea that you shouldn't judge anybody until you get to know them and then you should respect the differences, rather than trying to say one way is better than the other.

To hear and see the lovely song:
Getting to know you from the King and I

Written by Rodgers and Hammerstein
Date released: 1951, Broadway
Film released: 1956

Song 106 - Over the rainbow - Judy Garland

Somewhere over the rainbow way up high, there's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby. Over the rainbow needs very little introduction. Written by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburgh, it was written for the file The Wizard of Oz and has become one of the most iconic songs of all time. Though many artist had sung it; this song belongs to wonderful Judy Garland, who sang it in the Wizard of Oz right after Toto is condemned by the town spinster, Miss Gluch and she is told by Aunty Em to find a place where you won't get into any trouble. The only place Dorothy can think that matches this is somewhere far, far way, behind the moon, beyond the rain... Somewhere over the rainbow.

Over the rainbow became Judy Garland's signature tune, she was only 17 when the film was release and won her the Juvenile Oscar in 1940 and her song won the Oscar for  best original song in the same year. Performing it for the next 30 years of her life, Garland never changed the arrangements of the song and always performed it like she performed it for the film.  In a letter to Harold Arlen, Garland wrote: Over the rainbow has become part of my life. It's so symbolic of everybody's dreams and wishes that I'm sure that's why some people get tears in their eyes when they hear it. I've sung it thousands of times and it's still the song that's closest to my heart.  I really don't have to say anything more but perhaps a little fact that it was until 1956 that MGM released the Wizard of Oz soundtrack and the original version of Over the rainbow was available.

Without argument, Judy Garland's recording is the best, however there has been many covers of the songs by an array of different artists due to the universal message of hope and following your dreams. One of the most noticed covers in recent times and a version that I have fallen in love with is Irasel Kamakawiwo'ole's, which was released in 2004 as a single. Using the ukulele as the accompanying instrument, which gives the song a reggae chilled out feel to this version that works. Kamakawiwo'ole's version has gone on to sell over 4 million of digital sales (up until 2014) something unfortunately Irasel didn't see how successful his version has been, as he died in 1997. For me, I remember the song being used in the series of ER when they killed off Dr. Mark Green. I wept buckets but found this version of the song.

To hear Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz:
Somewhere over the rainbow - Judy Garland as Dorothy

To hear Irasel Kamakawiwo'ole's version:
Somewhere over the rainbow - Irasel Kamakawiwo'ole

Written by Harold Arlen & E.Y. Harburgh
Performed by Judy Garland as Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, released 1939.
Album: The Wizard of Oz, released 1956.

Song 105 - America by Simon & Garfunkel

Simple beautiful are the two words that come to mind when I hear the opening bars of this Simon & Garfunkel's song. America, taken from their fourth album Bookends, is about a pair of lovers hitchhiking around America, and is drawn from Paul Simon's own experiences with an old girlfriend. There is a deeper message behind the lyrics suggesting that America had lost its own cultural identity. If you think about America in late 1960s, it was disjointed and discontented with the Vietnam War and the corruption of Nixon in the early 1970s; and the album was released 24 hours before the assassination of Martin Luther King; the song fitted an America so far away from the American dream.

Arguable one of the best singer/songwriter duos of the 20th Century, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel met and started harmonising their voices together in the 1950s, under the stage name of Tom and Jerry. Receiving their first record deal signing whilst they were only 15,  they released their first album in 1964, Wednesday Morning AM, and released 5 albums before they went their separate ways in 1970.   The album Bookends is a concept album and was heavy influenced by albums like Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in the lyrics and the production of the album.

When I hear Simon and Garfunkel's songs, I am taken back to my childhood as they were another favourite in the Boxer household. It was only listening to their Greatest Hits did I realise how well I knew their songs. America for me also makes me think of my relationship with my husband as one of the first holidays we had together was in America so the opening lines "Let us be lovers and marry our fortune together" rang through my ear as we travelled from Washington D.C. to New York. I also considered using the line on our wedding order of services.

To hear a mellow tune for a Tuesday and go to America
America by Simon and Garfunkel


Written by Paul Simon
Album: Bookends, 1968

Song 104 - Smile by Charlie Chaplin

"Humour heightens our sense of survival and preserves our sanity" Charlie Chaplin. 

Monday morning again and I am staying with the theme of smiling.  As everyone needs a reason to smile on a Monday I am going to turn to a song written by Charlie Chaplin for his 1936 film Modern Times, Smile. However, so I don't get caught out by musical historians, Charlie Chaplin is only responsible for the tune and the lyrics (and title) were added to the music in 1954 by John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons. After adding lyrics, the legendary Nat King Cole released the song and it reached number 2 in the UK chart in the same year.

Where can I possible start with Charlie Chaplin? He is one of my heroes of stage and screen. When the 1992 film of his autobiography was released, I don't think I even appreciated the Chaplin was British, but the brilliant Robert Downey Jr in the lead part, under Richard Attenborough's direction soon meant that I would fall in love with Chaplin. Smile is just one example of the music that Chaplin produced and if you have ever watched one of his films, you will know how important  musical scores are throughout his pictures.  Chaplin  wasn't a trained musician and he couldn't read music so everything he composed would come straight from his head through his fingers to the piano. Does this method of composing work? Yes because in 1973, Chaplin would win his only competitive Oscar for the best original score of the re-release of Limelight. 

The premise for composing the tune for Smile was to accompany the plot of Modern Times, which tackles issues about the Great Depression and was a satire on industrial life. Still unconvinced about sound in his film, the tramp remains silent throughout the film apart from singing a song. It is only The Great Dictator do we hear the voice of the tramp, which happens to be the last film the tramp appears in.

My favourite version of Smile is sung by Robert Downey Jr., as he brought Chaplin to life for me:

Smile by Robert Downey Jr.

To watch and hear the instrumental in the original film
Smile, instrumental in Modern Times

Tune written by Charles Chaplin, 1936
Words written by John Turner & Geoffrey Parsons, 1954

Song 103 - Smile - David Gray

This is a lovely number for a cheeky Sunday morning by David Gray. Taken from his fourth album Sell Sell Sell, Smile is a intimate track where Gray's voice is quite gravelly and you feel that you are sharing a road trip with him as he is watching someone he loves in their every day movements. It is intimate because explaining why you smile at certain things that people do, especially if its someone you love, can be really difficult to explain to anyone outside a relationship. For me, there is something about this song and the lyrics that embraces the connection between two lovers; which makes it a gem of a song.

Sell Sell Sell is David's Gray's third album released in 1996 and before White Ladder brought him the internationally and commercial success; and I found the album only after buying White Ladder, but I am so glad I did. We are so lucky with the amount of great male song writers in the UK.

To hear David Gray's Smile
Smile by David Gray

Written by David Gray
Album: Sell, Sell, Sell
Released: 1996.

Song 102 - You're no different by Alan Silvestri

Okay so I wasn't really sure what the Saturday song would be and it would be too easy just to talk about The Beatles again. So I've chosen a track from the film Forrest Gump entitled You're no different as it was the first tune on my i-tunes today. It is a beautiful piano piece that sets the tempo at a different pace for a weekend. Although I am writing this after a good gym work out and some volunteering  I am settling down to do some novel editing so the mood needs to be mellow and chilled. The pieces of music isn't very long, a minute long to be exact, but it fits the film.  The title reflects the views of Forrest's mother in the film that he is no different to other kids and just because he thinks and does things slightly differently, doesn't mean he should be treated differently to others. I think what's great about the character Forrest Gump is that he has a simplicity to him and instead of making everything so complicated, he  manages to live by the rules his mamma told him and what he thinks is right. Perhaps we should all live like that sometimes, without the needless ends of complications.

Written in 1994 for the release of the film, Alan Silvestri's instrumental score for the film was nominated for best original score at the 67th Academy Awards. Silvestri is another of these great American movie composers who you may not know the name of him or what he looks like but you know his music through films like Who framed Roger Rabbit, Back to the Future and Captain America. 

Silvestri's Forrest Gump score is beautiful and a little interlude between all the pop music that has been put into the jukebox in the last couple of weeks.

Have your mellow moment by listening here:
You're no different from Forrest Gump

Written by: Alan Silvestri
Date released: 1994
Album: Forrest Gump - Picture Score

Song 101 - Abbey Road by the Beatles

Never ask me to name my favourite Beatles song, but my favourite Beatles Album is Abbey Road. Released in September 1969, for me, there is not one track on that album which isn't worthy of being part of the jukebox and here's why:

In the autumn of 1990, when I was 13, my family was involved in  putting on the local village pantomime Dick Whittington and it was decided that Octopus Gardens would make a great song for when Dick is traveling to the palace to get rid of the rats. To get the music for the track, we borrowed the album from a family friend and being a Beatles fan back then, I tapped the whole album and from that moment, my appreciation for the Beatles took a whole new level.  I think up to this point, my knowledge of Beatles music was mainly due to a tape of their 1962-1964 music.

Where do I start with what makes it so fantastic? One,  the album contain tracks written and song by all four of them, you have Harrison's Something and Here's comes the sun,  Starky's Octopus gardens; together with Lennon and McCartney's classics as Come together, Because and You never give me your money. Two, the second side is a melting pot of magical melodies that weave into each other, it isn't an album to put onto a random mix as you miss the sheer beauty of the composition. Three are the characters in the songs, you have the series killer in Maxwell's Silver Hammer; Mean Mr Mustard, Polythene Pam; and the man in Come Together who has to be good looking cause he is so hard to see. Then outside the characters there is a mixture of heart warming and heart breaking songs, which perhaps reflect the mind state of four friends who had reached the end of their time together. For a 13 year old girl with an over active imagination, it had everything and it has never failed to inspire me and I am a wee-bit older now. Have I sold it to you yet?

Lets go through the tracks: Side 1.

Come together 
A brilliantly simple track sung by John Lennon, it is its simplicity that makes it perfect. Having listened to this album so many times, this song for me strikes a happy chord. A number of other artists have covered this, and it was on the HELP album for the War Child Charity where Paul McCartney played with Paul Weller and Oasis on the cover. You can't help thinking that John Lennon would have been part of that album too if he had been around. It was released as a double A-side single with Something, which is track two on the album.

Come together, sung live by John Lennon in New York

Something
Possibly the best song George Harrison wrote whilst he was a Beatles, this love song refers to the relationship with his first wife Patti Boyd, who he had met on the film A Hard Day's night. Boyd would go on to be the inspiration for the song Wonderful Tonight, Layla and Bell Bottom Blues written by Eric Clapton, her second husband. Something gave the Beatles their 18th number one in the US surpassing Elvis Presley and won an Ivor Novella award for Best song musically and lyrically in 1969.

Something by the Beatles

Maxwell's Silver Hammer
Sung by McCartney, all you have to do is listen to the lyrics of this song and they tell you the story of Maxwell.  Paul described Maxwell's Silver Hammer as "my analogy for when something goes wrong out of the blue, as it so often does, as I was beginning to find out at that time in my life. I wanted something symbolic of that, so to me it was some fictitious character called Maxwell with a silver hammer."

Maxwell's Silver Hammer

Oh! Darling
Another song sung by McCartney, he worked for a week to make sure his voice wasn't too clear on the track. This track is heavy influenced by the Rhythm and Blues music of New Orleans.

Oh! Darling by the Beatles

Octopus's Garden
Ringo would normally get to be lead vocal on one track of an album, Octopus Gardens was performed and written by him after taking a two week holiday with his family and developing an interest in Octopus. Sometimes the inspiration is easy to see.

Octopus Garden, live version sung by Ringo Starr

I want you (She's so heavy)
For the last track of side one, Lennon takes back the lead vocal role for this gritty number. I actually miss my taped version of this song as you could hear the needle lift of the record right at the end of the music. Lennon wrote this number about his love for Yoko Uno and is one of the longest Beatles tracks ever lasting 8 minutes and containing only 14 words. Touching on the world of heavy metal, it one of the last track the Beatles recorded together as a band in September 1969.

I want you (she's so heavy) The Beatles

Side 2

Here comes the sun
Another perfect number for George Harrison and you can imagine yourself being in the back garden with a drink, which is actually where he wrote it in the back gardens of his friend's, Eric Clapton, house. You can hear Harrison's india influence coming through on the track and McCartney sings backing vocals. By putting this as the opening track of the second side, it shows the diversity between the heavy metal style to folk rock.

Here comes the sun - The Beatles

Because
Keeping it mellow, Lennon's vocal on Because, follows on fantastically. The voices of Lennon, Harrison and McCartney are dubbed trice so it sounds as though there is a nine part harmony on the track.  Cited as the favourite track of Lennon and McCartney on the album, it took them more than 5 hours of recording to get the track to a level they were happy with. Much is said about the unhappiness and the tension of recording this album, but there was still a level of dedication to creating the best material they could. I can't find a link to the Beatles' recording on You Tube.

The Medley: You never give me your money, Sun King, Mean Mr Mustard, Polythene Pam, She came through the bathroom window, Golden slumbers, Carry that weight and The End.

Staring with You never give me your money, the medley was put together by George Martin and Paul McCartney. It was an attempted by George Martin to get Lennon and McCartney to think about their music seriously. The first track inspired by the Band's disputes with Alan Kein, leads into Lennon's Sun King, which follows the same vein as Because & Here's come the Sun.  Using the nine-part harmonies with their voices, you could put these three tracks as singles on their own album. As you are starting to feel chilled and the heat from an Indian Summer, The Sun King gives way for Mean Mr. Mustard, a character that was inspired by a news article John Lennon read when he was in India and is another great example of characters The Beatles created in their songs, Mean Mr. Mustard gave way to Polythene Pam, another Lennon's character inspired by a real person he met in Jersey. She's came through the bathroom window, written by McCartney, was also inspired by  a fan who gained entry to his flat through the said window.

You never give me your money

Sun King, Mean Mr Mustard, Polythene Pam, She came in through the bathroom window

The last two tracks, Golden Slummers & The End, for me anyway maybe suggests the end of the band and the fact that these four friends have simply moved in different directions. Although the later years of the band became more difficult with the death of Brian Epstein, the legal fights, I like to think of them as made it very, very big. Perhaps because I have always being able to listen to album in the cultural history surrounding it, has made me think that they they all knew that it was over by the end of the record for the Beatles, and too much is made of the arguments surrounding this album and not enough about the brilliance of it.

Golden Slummers, Carry that weight, The End

Hidden track: Her Majesty
Lovely little track about the Queen.

Her Majesty by The Beatles

I urge you to go out and listen to this album. It maybe three years shy of being 50th year old, but it is fantastic for its age.

Song 100 - Lucy in the sky with diamonds - The Beatles

Song 100 and yes we are back to the Beatles, I wanted to keep along the lines of diamonds and what better song then Lucy in the sky with diamonds, taken from their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. I mean how can you not feel relaxed with the opening line: Picture yourself in a boat on river, with tangerine trees and marmalade skies.

Although credited to both Lennon and McCartney, Lucy in the sky with diamonds, is said to be a Lennon led song. John, himself, said that he had been inspired by a painting that Julian (his son) came back with from nursery with the same title, that he painted with his friend, Lucy.

Although in the years since the song was released, many have said the song is about LCD, Lennon and McCartney has both firmly denied this, saying the song had more to do with their love of Alice in Wonderland. Another myth surrounding this record is that it was banned by the BBC because of the apparent meaning of it. This is not true and it was played on BBC radio in May 1967.

Lucy in the sky with diamonds is the third track on the critically acclaimed album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which was the Beatles' 8th studio album. Released in 1967, it stayed at the top of the album chart for 27 weeks in the UK and 10 weeks in the US. The album would win 4 Grammys, including best album, which was the first time a pop album had won this award.

Most of the song is in a simple triple metre (3/4 time), but the chorus is in 4/4 time. The song modulates between musical keys, A major for verses, B Flat major for the pre-chrous and G major for the chorus. Lennon sings it over an increasingly complicated underlying arrangement which feature tamboura played by George Harrison, who also plays the lead electric guitar put through a leslie speaker. Then McCartney is playing a counter melody on a Lowrey organ, taped with a special organ stop sounding, like a celeste.

 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band moved The Beatles into a more experimental period with their  music and it is said that the idea of creating the Edwardian band, was to allow them the freedom to explore new music style and influences. The album itself is in the number 3 in the best selling albums in the UK  ever.

The song itself has been covered by a variety of artists. Perhaps the most famous artist was Elton John in 1974, as Elton worked with John Lennon on his version of the song. Elton John would take the song to No. 1 in the US Chart.

To hear about Lucy in the sky;
Lucy in the sky with diamonds by The Beatles


Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney
Album: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Released: 1967.

Song 99 - White Diamond by Kylie Minogue

With the amount of songs going into the Jukebox to pay tribute to artists, I thought I would change tempo today and the idea of a diamond came into my head and with it this little beautiful track by Kylie Minogue. White Diamond written with the Scissor Sisters  is taken from her 10th studio album, X, and the first album she released after being treated successfully for cancer.

One of the most pleasing aspects of this song is the two different versions there are of this track; one is perfect for a slow dance and the other will help you prepare for a night out.

The album version is a slower version. Appearing as the last track of the album, the tempo is soulful making the lyrics sound very reflective and, placed in context to what Kylie was going through at that point, the word seem to reflect  the pressure of going through radiotherapy and her inner fight against the horrible disease.

Then for her Showgirls - homecoming album, which is an album of the resumed tour she started again in 2007, the version of White Diamond is a classic pop song, and it is unmistakable a track that has been written with Scissor Sisters' Jake and Babydaddy. When you hear it, all you want to do is dance.

For me, Kylie is one of those artists that I had a fondness for as I was ten when Neighbours was at the height of the Kylie and Jason mania that led to the pair of them signing with Stock, Aitken and Waterman and I remember have all the posters around my bedroom walls. But like me, Kylie grew up and her music and image changed and with it, her fan base and popularity grew and grew. She is pop royalty and an icon of pop for my generation. Kylie will be given more space and time in the jukebox over the next few months.

The pop version
Showgirl Homecoming Live Version of White Diamond

The slower version
White Diamond by Kylie Minogue

Written by: Kylie Minogue, Jake Shears and Babydaddy
Album: X,
Album released: 2007.

Song 98 - Hotel California - The Eagles

Sorry folks if you are feeling the Jukebox is turning into a tribute box to celebrate the ones no longer with us, but I can't call myself a music lover and not recognise today's news that the guitar and founder of The Eagles, Glenn Frey, died yesterday at the age of 67. It was strange this morning as I heard Hotel California being played on Radio 2 and I hadn't yet heard the news. Hotel California was always destined to be in the Jukebox and here's why.

I think everyone has a track that follows them and strangely is played at pivotal points in their lives. For me I usually hear Hotel California when I am embarking on an event or at a stage in my life that will change my life experience forever.  Here's the evidence; I first remembered hearing Hotel California in the outback of the Eastern Tip of New Zealand's North Island. I was on a Kiwi Experience tour and staying in a place that was so close to paradise. After watching the sun go down, a group of us sat on the porch of the house and listen to the owners of the B&B jam with one of their track being Hotel California. It is funny looking back at that adventure because at points in New Zealand I was on my own, away from my family and yet, I didn't feel lonely. It was one of the most enlightening period of my life. The second playing that stays in my mind is being on a pier in Cape Town, surrounded by friends, having dinner and counting down to climbing Table Mountain. I think at the moment in time I had never felt so comfortable in my own skin and if I look at photos from that night, my face beams with happiness. Again so far away from everything I knew, but I felt so comfortable in myself. The third playing was in Zermatt, on honeymoon, with my husband, I need not say more than I was very content. Three pivotal moments accompanied by The Eagles. I have heard the song more than three times but I think it is funny how it has been the same song that I remember from three really important periods in my life.

The Eagles recorded Hotel California and released it in February in 1977. The single, taken from the album of the same name, peaked at No. 8 in the UK chart and reached No. 1 in the US charts. Written by Don Felder, Don Henley and Glenn Frey, it is their biggest hit and won a Grammy Award for Record of the Year (1977). Much has been said about the meaning of the song but thinking about the context for me of the song; I very much like Henley's description of its meaning he gave in 2013 when he said that it is about "a journey from innocence to experience" as at all the main point I have talked about in my life has been milestones in my own journey. There is also a darker view of the lyrics which suggest that the song is about the dark underbelly of the American Dream.

Whatever the full meanings of the lyrics, it cannot be denied that Hotel California has one of the best guitar riffs of any song.  The intro and verse's chord pattern counts eight measures, each one assigned to a single chord. Seven different chords are used in eight measures. As the song opens, it is not until the eighth measure that a chord is repeated. The song is initially in the key of B-minor.

It looks as though the hotel in heaven must be getting an extension.

Let's hear Hotel California again and see if it creates shivers up and down your spine:
Hotel California by the Eagles

Written by The Eagles
Released: February 1977
Album: Hotel California

Song 97 - Hedwig's theme by John Williams

Over the last week, the Jukebox has become a tribute to David Bowie and before moving away from paying tribute to artists that have meant a great deal, I want to put Hedwig's theme by John Williams into the Jukebox for Alan Rickman, who also lost his battle with cancer last week.  It is strange how people you have never met or known can cause such sadness inside of us. For me, it was Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves when I first started to appreciate what a talent Alan Rickman was.  I remember I was absolutely hooked on Robin Hood. I think it was one of the first film I had seen at the cinema without parents and then at Christmas time, I was given the video of the film. Yes, back in the good old days when VHS ruled the world. I even had the soundtrack of the film! An excellent work by Michael Kamen; who is another great film composer. I recently found the soundtrack on CD in a charity shop and had to buy it. I write much of my prose to music so enjoy having a wide range of genres to choose from.

You are probably thinking why not put the Robin Hood Soundtrack into the Jukebox? I don't know maybe one day, but I think Harry Potter and the role of Snape is probably the most well known of all Alan Rickman's roles and has had more of the impact due to 8 films and the popularity of the Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling. Rickman brought to life this wonderfully strangle and complex character; which you were never sure was a villain or a hero throughout the books, until the very last part. When a character is so intensely powerful in a novel, sometimes, it is easy for the films to loose some of the depth on screen, but Rickman played Snape beautifully and brought to life one of the most important characters of the series. There is a melancholic malice to the character that driven by a unquestioning loyalty to one character above all others; Lilly Potter. Even though, audiences around the world knew that the Harry Potter series is over; it is hard to image the world without Alan Rickman in it.

Like the Starwars theme, John Williams  would give the Harry Potter films an outstanding theme with the composition of Hedwig's Theme. Although Hedwig is the name of Harry's owl, the theme music is an opening to Harry Potter's whole world; the magic, spells, Hogwarts to name a few. The music appears in all the films and when I hear it now, I feel as though I am being transported into a different world which is what music should be. A gateway to another place in your head. Like Dumbledore would extract memories from people in order to find where Voldemort had hidden his soul, music can unlock memories, help to create new ones and transport you to other worlds.

To be taken into Harry Potter world:
Hedwig's theme by John Williams

Composed by: John Williams
Date of Release: 30 October 2001

Song 96 - David Bowie sings with....

With this my last set of Bowie's songs to go into the Jukebox in succession, I have turned to three songs he performed with possibly some of the biggest stars of music; Mick Jaggar, Freddie Mercury and John Lennon.  I think these songs illustrates the respect the Bowie had within the industry to be able to work with so many great artists. I mean how many artists are there who have had John Lennon as a back up singer. Here are my last three Bowie's tracks for the time being.

Dancing in the Street - David Bowie and Mick Jaggar

With the aim of raising money for Live Aid, Bowie teamed up with Mick Jagger to record Dancing in the street in 1985. Originally recorded by Martha and  the Vandellas in 1964, Bowie and Jagger took the single all the way to number 1 and created an iconic 80s pop video that sums up the cultural and the fashion of the day. I must say that at the time, I don't think I knew who Mick Jaggar was and I definitely didn't fully appreciate the pop royalty of the two stars. The single took 13 hours to record and was played twice at Live Aid concert.

The video won at the MTV video awards and the Brit Awards  and although it is often made fun of, I think it is a good reminder that David Bowie was part of the revolution of the pop video.

Relive a 1980s classic
Dancing in the Street


Under Pressure - Queen featuring David Bowie

Giving Queen their second number one in 1981, the track Under Pressure came about after Bowie was due to record backing lyrics on  Queen's track on Cool Cats. The final version that became Under Pressure evolved from a jam session that Bowie had with the band in Montreux, Switzerland and the single is attributed to all five of them. The scat singing that dominates much of the song is evidence of the jam-beginnings as improvisation. I am sure on one documentary I watched on Queen both Bowie and Mercury didn't listen to what the other was singing so it became a friendly competition between two incredible artists. Brian May spoke in 2008 to Mojo Magazine about the challenges with recording the song "It was hard, because you had four very precocious boys and David, who was precocious enough for us all. David took over the song lyrically. Looking back, it's a great song but it should have been mixed differently. Freddie and David had a fierce over it. It's a significant song because of David and its lyrical content."

Unlike Dancing in the Street, due to the commitments of both Bowie and Queen, they didn't appear in the video to accompany the No.1. single, but they did perform it live  together

See the live version
Under Pressure by Queen and David Bowie

Fame - David Bowie

Fame was first released in 1975 and was written by David Bowie, Carlos Alomar and John Lennon. It reached No. 17 in the UK chart and No.1. in the US Billboard Chart. From the album Young Americans,  Fame was the result of a jamming session with John Lennon when he was staying in New York and trying to extricated himself from his management. The jamming session lasted a day and using the riff that was developed by Carlos Alomar, Lennon started singing 'aim; which Bowie changed to Fame and then wrote the rest of the lyrics. Lennon's voice is used as a backing singing and is heard at the end of the song repeating the words: "Fame, Fame, Fame", from a fast right the way through to a low track, before Bowie finished the lyrics. Later in life Bowie describe the song as being an angry track aimed at the management he was tried to leave and the lyrics reflects that Fame isn't all it is cracked up to be. 

To hear Fame:

Fame by David Bowie

Heaven has definitely gain a very talented musician this week.

Song 95 - Ten iconic Bowie songs

I've realised that I am coming to the end of my Bowie Tribute week and I haven't got nearly enough of the hits into the Jukebox that I would like so I am going to start Saturday by giving you ten  iconic songs  and then on Sunday, I am going to add in some of the great artists who worked with him over the years. If I get to the end of the weekend and I haven't mentioned the hit that stands out for you don't worry, later in the year - I will be turning the blog over to its readers and allowing them to give suggestions on what songs should go in. It has already been pointed out to me that I missed a classic James Bond Theme back in November; so whatever you do, please don't be offended if I missed a hit.

SONGS 1 - 5.

1. Ziggy Stardust 
Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

Written and recorded in 1972 for the album The Rise and fall of Ziggy Stardust and the spiders from Mars, Bowie would launch one of his most famous alter egos on the 10 February 1972 in Tolworth, in the UK. Ziggy Stardust was dreamt up whilst Bowie was promoting Hunky Dory in New York. Ziggy is a rock star who acts as a messenger for alien and became an instant hit with fans of Bowie. This period of his music is often credited as creating the cult of Bowie due his creative genius of being able to reinvent himself into different characters throughout the decades.

The character was known for his glam rock and the album explores themes like sexual exploration and social commentary. The album was met with controversy when it was first released and is now hailed as one of the most outstanding albums of all the time.

The album combined the hard rock elements of The man who sold the world with the lighter experimental rock and pop of Hunky Dory. The first single to be released from the album was Starman;  a single that would cement Bowie's breakthrough with UK audience, which was boosted by a groundbreaking performance of the single on Top of the Pops in July. The album would remain in the chart for nearly two years and sales of Hunky Dory increased with the popularity. The other songs which are my  3 & 4 in today's list also popular at this time was John, I'm only dancing & All the Young Dudes.

2. Starman
Starman - Ziggy Stardust comes to earth with a message of hope

3. The man who sold the world
The Man who sold the word

4. John, I'm only dancing
John, I'm only dancing

5. All the young dudes
All the young dudes

Songs 6 - 10

6. Ashes to Ashes
Ashes to Ashes

Although the American fans of Bowie had given him his first number 1 in the USA with Fame in 1975, it would it Britain five more years to secure a Bowie chart number 1 in the UK. Described as a nursery rhyme in the vein of Brother Grim, listeners are reunited with Major Tom who is no longer a starry eyed astronaut but a junkie strung out in heaven's high, hitting an all-time low. some interpreted this as a play on Bowie's 1977 album Low, which charted his withdrawal inwards following his drug excesses.

The video for the song was one of the most iconic of the 1980s, costing  £250,000, which was the most any artist had invested into a pop-video at that time. It incorporated scenes both in solarised colour and black and White. Bowie was dressed in a Pierrot costume, which was a dominant visual representation of his Scary Monsters phase. Also appearing with Bowie were Steve Strange, Judith Frankland and Darla Jane Gilroy, who were part of the London Blitz scene and would go on to participate in the new romantic movement, which was heavily influenced by Bowie's music and image.

7. Rebel Rebel 
Rebel, Rebel by David Bowie

Rebel Rebel was Bowie's last single in the glam rock style that had been his trademark and a swan song for Ziggy Stardust. Released in February 1975, it saw Bowie move away from working with Mick Ronson and took the chance to play guitar himself. The lyrics play with the idead of gender and has a very distinctive riff that will stick in your head. Whilst All the young dudes had been the male glam rock album, this was the female equivalent.

The single was taken from Bowie's 8th album Diamond Dogs which was a concept album built on a marriage of Glam Rock and the novel 1984 by George Orwell.  Two further singles would be released from the album Diamond Dogs and 1984. 
8.  Diamond Dogs
Diamond Dogs

9. 1984
1984

10. Let's Dance
Let's dance

Jumping forward to the year 1983 and this time both America and the UK would place Bowie's Let's Dance at the time of the single chart. Taken from an album of the same name, the video was film in Australia. This track would bring Bowie to the ears of a new generation of fans and made him, probably in the first time of his career, commercially mainstream, something later on Bowie would rebel against, in the early 1990, when he went into his Tin Man phase.






I feel that this week the grief that has been poured out throughout the world for David Bowie has been testament to his amazing contribution to music. Something I think I am only just managed to scratch the surface off. Writing blogs on Bowie's music has given me a deeper appreciation of the man behind so many iconic music moments and genres. I know without a doubt that there will be more Bowie to be placed in the jukebox in the months ahead.

Song 94 - Blackstar (the album) - David Bowie

In this week where we have now lost two great artists in their respective fields, the Friday album into the Jukebox is David's Bowie's Blackstar which was released a week ago today  before his tragic death was announced three days later. The title track was released in November 2015, and was used as the theme song of the TV programme The Last Panthers. We now know that it was in November that Bowie received the news that his cancer has spread across the rest of his body and that this would be his last studio album.  What a statement to leave us all with.

In Rolling Stone Magazine, Bowie's producer Tony Visconti, paid tribute to his friend by saying "He was so brave and courageous"... "And his energy was still incredible for a man who had cancer. He never showed any fear. He was just all business about making the album." If you want to read more of this interview, the link is at the bottom on the page.

Blackstar was Bowie's 26th album in a career spanning five decades. Recorded in New York City, Bowie began writing songs for his last album straight after he had finished his last album The Next Day. Two songs that appear on the album had been previously release, Sue (In a Season of Crime) and Tis a Pity She was a Whore were re-recorded for the album. Like other Bowie Albums, it foundations came from Bowie being inspired by different artists like Kendrick Lamar,  Boards of Canada and Death Grips.

There are no surprises that the songs and their lyrics are very clearly the words of a man trying to come to terms with his own death, and for me, it doesn't feel right to pick over the lyrics  highlighting what they might refer to. For me, we just have to be thankful that Bowie gave us the music that he did and he shared his incredible journey and talent with us.

To see the haunting video of Blackstar:
Blackstar by David Bowie

Written by David Bowie
Album: Blackstar
Released: January 2016

To read the Rolling Stone Article, please see the link below
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/david-bowie-planned-post-blackstar-album-thought-he-had-few-more-months-20160113#ixzz3xFW8HLwI 

Song 93 - Space Oddity David Bowie

With the first introduction of the character Major Tom, a fictional astronaut, Space Oddity was released in 1969, five days before the Apollo 11 mission launched and 10 days before they would walk in the moon. Putting the cultural reference of the space race against Bowie's music, it makes sense why Bowie's lyrics throughout his career played around with the themes of space. I mean who doesn't look up in the sky and wonder what lies between the stars.

When it was first release in 1969, it reached number 5 in the UK chart and went on to win the Ivor Novella award in the same year. In 1975, Space Oddity was re-released and reached number 1 in the UK chart, which was his first single to hit the top of the charts. The character Major Tom appears again in the singles Ashes to Ashes, Hello Spaceboy and Blackstar. 

Taken from the album David Bowie, it became the first pop-video transmitted from space when astronaut Chris Hadfield performed the song from the international space station in 2013.

To hear Major Tom's first outing
David Bowie - Space Oddity

Written by David Bowie
Album - David Bowie, 1969

Song 92 - Changes by David Bowie

It is really interesting looking back on the career of David Bowie and researching the songs to realised how some songs which I think are massive hits didn't really perform in the chart when they were first release. Changes, released in 1972 as single, falls into this category and maybe demonstrates that Bowie was ahead of his time and perhaps the mainstream of 1970s pop didn't embrace him fully when he was first releasing material.

One of the quotes that I've seen on social media and news sites this week given by Javis Cocker from Pulp is "Bowie made people feel that it was alright to be a bit different and try things out", and when you think about how much there is today in today's society about conforming to a certain life or look, perhaps it would be healthier for younger people to be encouraged to be more like Bowie in their outlook. He walked his own path, he didn't feel it necessary to fit into one particular image and because of this he created a legacy in music and film that I think will be there forever.

Changes, taken from the 1971 album Hunky Dory album, was almost a prescript to Bowie's career as it is based on the idea of an artistic continual reinvention and distancing themselves from the rock and roll mainstream. It was the first track on the album and the album was hailed by Rolling Stone as "Bowie's most engaging album musically, but also finds him one more writing literally enough to let the listener exam their ideas comfortably without having to withstand a barrage of seemingly verbiage before  getting at an idea."

Perhaps when listening to the track today you can think what changes there are to be made by you
Changes by David Bowie

Written by David Bowie
Album - Hunky Dory
Released - 1972.

Song 91 - "Heroes" by David Bowie

Continuing my tribute to David Bowie, today's song is "Heroes" and although Bowie said We could be heros just for one day, reading all the tributes to him yesterday he was a hero every day for many people in the music world.

Written with Brian Eno in and released in September 1977 as a single from the album with the same name, "Heroes" is part of Bowie's Berlin period, where he had moved away from New York and teamed up with Brian Eno. Although Heroes only reached number 24 on the UK chart, it is probably the most covered of all Bowie's songs. If you are wondering why there are speech marks around the title this is how the title was written by Bowie as it was to add a touch of irony to the title. The music has been likened to a wall of sound production, an undulating juggernaut of guitars, percussion and synthesizes. The basic back track on the recording consists of a conventional arrangement of piano, bass guitar, rhythm guitar and drums. The juddering effect throughout the melody is created by three oscillators and feedback from a guitar. They created the build up of Bowie's voice by using three microphones to capture the voice each at a set distance away from Bowie and then controlling when they come on throughout the sound. The effect creates a stark metaphor towards the two doomed lovers that who are centre stage throughout the song.

Bowie would go on and performed a live version at the Berlin Wall in 1987, two years before the Berlin Wall was knocked down and together with Bruce Springsteen; is credited as being instrumental in German Unification.

Bowie's Berlin period saw him produce three albums with Eno, which are often referred the Berlin Trilogy; Low, Heroes and Lodger. Bowie used in time in Berlin to get himself clean from drugs and to revitalised his music career after his Tin Man Persona period.  When the first album Low was released there was considerable negativity raised about this change in direction and it took the record label 3 months to release it.

As I have stated above, "Heroes" has been covered by so many artists since it was first release. I think for me, the version after Bowie's that stands out is the one recorded for the film Moulin Rouge by Baz Luhrmann, the song is used in a medley of love songs sung by Ewan MacGregor and Nicole Kidman, although no-one could ever sing it like Bowie and no one ever will.

To hear "Heroes", 
"Heroes" by David Bowie

Written by David Bowie and Brian Eno
Released: September 1977.
Album: Heroes, released October 1977.

Song 90 - Life on Mars? by David Bowie

Waking up today was like any other normal Monday morning until after the third snooze on the alarm, I caught the end of a news bulletin announcing the death of David Bowie. Bowie is an icon of world music and listening to the reports, you realised how much of his music has always been in the background. This week, the jukebox will be celebrating the life and works of David Bowie, along with the rest of the world.

I'm starting with Life on Mars? which was on Bowie's 1971 album Hunky Dory.   In 1968, Bowie wrote lyrics set to music of a 1967 French Song Comme d'habitude, called Even a Fool Learns to Love. Bowie never released this and the rights to the original French tune was bought by Paul Anka who together with Frank Sinatra turned it into his hit My Way. Bowie seeing the success of the Anka version was prompted to write Life on Mars? as a parody of Sinatra's recording. Bowie told the Daily Telegraph in 1988 how he had written the song; "Workspace was a big empty room with a chaise longue; a bargain-price art screen; a huge overflowing freestanding ashtray and a grand piano. Little else. I stated working it out on the piano and had the whole lyric and melody finished by late afternoon."

The song was released in 1973 reaching number 3 and remaining in the chart for 13 weeks.
When playing it on tour in 1989, Bowie describe Life on Mars? as a love song and due to its lyrics Life on Mars! is often described as Salvador Dali painting.

For me, the song makes me think of myself as a little girl looking up at the sky and thinking about space travel. I am still very much attracted to the idea of space and I would put my writing career down to one story about an alien discovering my village for the first time. My alien was from Pluto; not Mars but I don't think there has been a pop song about Pluto. Also, there are a number of Bowie songs that talk about space including Space Oddity.

I think what the world of music has lost today is an entrepreneur of music; who was able to keep inventing himself and his craft. He was also a pioneer of music.  His love for music and how he approached change is unlikely to be seen again. Whilst we will all be mourning his lost, my thoughts go out to his family and friends on this sad day.

To watch and enjoy Life on Mars?
Life on Mars? David Bowie

Written by: David Bowie
Album: Hunky Dory, 1971.
Released as a single: 1973

Song 89 - Pencil Full of Lead by Paolo Nutini

Keeping on a happy theme for a Sunday and posting very late in the day, today's song is Pencil Full of Lead by Paolo Nutini. My challenge to you is try and listen to the song without smiling.

I love this song and when my Aunt bought me the Album Sunny Side up  this song stood out as a classic and right enough it has been played and played and played.

What makes it great is its beat and it sounds like a ragtag song that  you instantly want to do the Charleston to. Gavin Fitzjohn plays the outstanding trumpet which can be heard throughout the song, including the flutter-tonguing that can be heard to the trained ear.


Written by Paolo Nutini, the song was released as the third single from the album in November 2009, and reached the top twenty in the same year. The album itself debuted in the album chart at number 1 and went on to be quintuple platinum. With his unmistakable Scottish accent; Nutini offers sunshine on a very wet and miserable day and a bit of joy on a Sunday night; when the return to work is on the horizon; and if you have a dirty mind, the title and flutter-tonguing of a trumpeter has to keep you smiling.

Enjoy Paolo's singing:
Pencil Full of Lead by Paolo Nutini

Written by Paolo Nutini
Released: November 2009
Album: Sunny Side up.

Song 88 - Escape (the piña Colada song) by Rupert Holmes

On a cold winter's day, what better thing to do than find a cheerful song for the Jukebox and Escape (the piña colada song) ticks all the boxes. Written in 1979 by Rupert Holmes, the song has found a new audience due to the 2014 film  Guardians of the Galaxy.

The story of the lyrics is a boyfriend placing an ad for a new partner as he is tired with his current girlfriend; the new girl must like piña coladas and walks in the rain to name but a few things. But the twist in the story is that the woman he mets is his current girlfriend and they realise that they have more in common than they both thought and they decide to give it another go.

Robin Holmes originally gave the song the one word title of Escape but was persuaded to add the brackets when the song was going unnoticed because people were calling it the piña colada song.  The change ensure the song was the last number one of the billboard chart in1979. Interesting  fact the lyric If you like pina colada was going to say if you like Humphrey Bogart but it was changed at the 11th hour. The song was on the Partners of crimes released in the same year.

It is happy and relaxing song for a Saturday.

Have a listen here:

Escape (the pina colada song)

Written by Rupert Holmes
Released 1979
Album Partners in crime

Song 87 - The Sound of Music by Rodgers and Hammerstein

Well, if you really can choose a singular song from the Sound of Music you are doing better than me - this is me introducing a new feature for the Jukebox in 2016, where each Friday, I will be putting one whole album into the Jukebox as the songs on the album are all awesome. The idea came to me on New Year Day when I thought about putting a track from the Sound of Music in as it is a film that is shown at New Year and realised by trying to decide on one track was too difficult a task for me. Even trying to narrow it down to a top five was proving difficult so I decided that, unlike chocolate, there can never be too much music added into the Jukebox at one time.

Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote the music for the 1959 Broadway musical The Sound of Music, which was based on the memoir The story of the Trapp Family Singers by Maria Von Trapp. The film would follow in 1965 with Julie Andrew and Christopher Plummer. Surprising enough the release of the film was to a limited number of cinemas but within four weeks, it was number one and by 1966, it has become the highest grossing film overtaking Gone of the Wind and remained at number one for five years.   The music unsurprisingly won numerous awards including an Academy Award.

Julie Andrews, who has to be a national treasure, was cast when Robert Wise (Director of Sound of Music) was shown the footage of the then unreleased Mary Poppins and realised that if he didn't sign Andrews right away, she would be someone else's with her talent. It is hard to believe now that anyone else could have been considered for the role. More alarmingly in the late 1950s they had considered producing a non-musical film of The Sound of Music and casting Audrey Hepburn as Maria. But lucky, this never happen and 20th Century Fox bought the rights for the film in 1960.

To the music, what can I say, it is almost too well known to start putting my own memories on to it as there are fans of The Sound of Music everywhere and each of you will have your own memories without me. I think I will share only two; one is for the song I am sixteen going on Seventeen as I wrote my own version of the song for a millennium pantomime that I co-wrote, where the old fairy godmother sang my version to the young fairies who weren't very respectful. Second memory is a disappointment that I missed my niece playing Gretl and whenever I hear So long, farewell I now imagine my niece playing the role. We were in America at the time. 

One last thought and I leave you to the music; for me The Sound of Music  has everything in it as the story is about love, family and strength against impossible odds - this is why the music has lasted and why in 100 years, I hope people are still going to sing-a-long a sound music and enjoying the film.

Here is a selection box of the Sound of Music for you to enjoy:

The hills are alive...

My Favourite Things

Do Re Mi

So Long Farewell

Sixteen Going On Seventeen

Lonely Goatherd

Edelwiss

Written by: Roger Rodgers and Hammerstein

Album: The Sound of Music, Original Score, 1965

Staring: Julie Andrews