Song 196 - Tiny Dancer by Elton John

Just in case you thought the last blog entry was a one-off, I thought I would follow it up with this hit from Elton John, who like Freddie Mercury has been immortalised in film over the last few years. Interesting fact, the director of both Starman and Bohemian Rhadsopy was Dexter Fletcher, who played Spike in Press Gang. Why I am telling you this? Probably because I was already thinking about becoming a writer when Press Gang was on TV as well as having a massive crush on Dexter Fletcher.  But I am getting sidetracked here, let us get back to song 198 of the jukebox - Tiny Dancer by Elton John. 

I think for me, Elton John has always been one of those artists that have been there in the fabric of my music. Never, someone, I would have rushed out to buy his latest album, but on a trusty, homemade tape mix, his songs would appear and over the years, I have found myself collecting his music. This year has seen the release of the highly delayed, Rocketman, a film charting the early years of Elton’s music journey and struggles with addiction. Having loved the film about Freddie Mercury, I was ready to hate this film as I wondered how they could tell a truthful account of the life of someone who is very much alive. Having now seen it, I was blown away by the whole movie. I thought the use of his music in the movie and the reimagined songs, sung by Aaron Egerton and Jamie Bell to mention the two leads, was incredible. You have to praise Elton John for being able to hand over his life and allow others to tell his story. Yes, I know he had control over the final cut of the movie, but even being in control, you are handed over your life to others to tell your story and that has to be brave. I think we sometimes forget that celebrities are real people and what makes a really good story, requires people to open up themselves and allow people to walk through memories, both bad and good.

For me, I count myself lucky, I have actually seen Elton John live. Not because I spent months planning my tickets, because I  found myself there when other people weren’t able to go.  We saw Elton at St. Johnstone’s McDiarmid Park in Perth. A small gig compared to the dizzy heights of Madison Square Gardens, in New York, but here we were listening to one of the most iconic pop stars. I am glad I can say that I have experienced his music live, even though we didn’t know all the hits. 

Out of all the Elton John hits, Tiny Dancer stands out for me as it makes me think of one of my own character, who I created about 13 years ago, Little Pink. Little Pink is a very personal character as she is a version of myself, who challenges me and reminds me to keep exploring life. When the character first appeared on my page, I saw her as a vision of pink dancing in a hospital corridor, and the lyric from Tiny Dancer, which goes, “Ballerina, you must have seen her dancing in the sand. And now she's in me, always with me, tiny dancer in my hand”, fits Little Pink. Although Little Pink is the tiny dancer in my head. 

Written by Elton John & Bernie Taupin, there is a relaxed hopefulness in the song, which never fails to bring a smile to my face. Released in February 1972, it wasn’t an overnight success, and it wasn’t released as a single in the UK as it faired badly in the USA. However, the Canadian markets loved it, and over time it has become one of the most popular songs released by Elton John. The lyrics were written after Bernie Taupin’s first trip to the USA.  I still find it crazy to think that whilst Elton John is one of the most recognisable faces on the planet, Bernie Taupin is a name everyone knows but he could walk past me in the street and I wouldn’t know him from the next guy. And coming back to Rocketman, the beating heart of the movie was the friendship between John and Taupin, who conquered the world with their music but maintain their friendship. I think in life we sometimes forget how important friendship is. Everyone talks about falling in love and being loved, but equally, friendships are so important. You need to have people who are there supporting you, whether you are just about to play live at Wembley or when you feel lost to the whole world. Friends are the family we choose for ourselves and should always be celebrated. 

For me, friendship comes through in the song as it has one of the tunes which makes me think of having big adventures with friends and chilling out afterwards reflecting on the fun you have just had. I don’t know how it makes you feel but I hope you enjoy it:

Listen here to Tiny Dancer

Tiny Dancer by Elton John and Bernie Taupin

Released: 7 February 1972

Album: Madman across the water

Song 195: Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen

Originally, many thought this song would never be a commercial success because of its length of nearly 6 minutes when most hit singles were around 3 minutes long. Also, it wasn't written in the normal convention of a pop song,  verse/chorus/verse/chorus. Despite being told the record would never be played on the commercial radio, the single would be the Christmas Number 1 in 1975 and stay at the top of the chart for nine weeks. Then 16 years later, it would reclaim the number one spot for another 5 weeks (the only record to be Christmas Number one for the same artist). It has been at number one for a total of 14 weeks. Yes, the song to relaunch the Juke Box is Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen.

Formed in London at the start of the 1970s, Queen started life as a four-piece rock band consisting of Roger Taylor, Brian May, John Deacon and Freddie Mercury. They first charted in the UK with their second album in 1974 and it wasn't until the release of A Night at the Opera did they achieve international success. Their catalogue of hits range from We will Rock You to The Show Must Go On, and it is hard to imagine the world pop scene without their influence, especially as they have sold in the region of nearly 300 million records, And, if their music wasn't iconic enough, their performance at Wembley for Live Aid is one of those moments in history, where people remember where they were when they saw Queen at Live Aid in 1985. But let's go back to Queen's first number one,  Bohemian Rhapsody as it is still one of the most iconic songs ever written. 

Written by Freddie Mercury for Queen’s 1975 album A night at the Opera, the song is an opera in its own right. Throwing out the normal conventions of a pop song, the tune is split into sections, which contains some of the most powerful lyrics of any modern-day pop together with some of the most fun lyrics to sing at the top of your voices with friends. It is one of those songs which makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, especially when I’ve not heard it in a while.

Part of the success of Bohemian Rhapsody was down to the fantastic Kenny Everett, who teased his radio audience with parts of the record on his radio shows. The snippets of the song left his audience wanting to hear more. Everett would play the song 14 times in 2 days to keep his audience happy and the rest is history. 

Many people debate what Mercury meant when he wrote the song, and I am glad that no one, or perhaps only a very few people, actually knew the meaning behind all the lyrics. There are a thousand theories out there, which you can read about, but for me, I would recommend that you just listen to the music and enjoy it for what it is. 

Mercury’s untimely death in 1991 sent ripples around the world, and I remember listening (and tapping) the Freddie Mercury Tribute concert off the radio and listening to the songs over and over again. The concert for those who haven’t listed to it entwined live performances with clips of Freddie talking about his career. I always remember one of the questions he was asked was “What would he do if he wasn’t a singer” and Freddie said “a Stripper”, which lead to the question, "what songs would you strip to?”, his reply was “to all the songs I’ve written.” 

The song is reported to be the UK's 3rd best-selling single of all times, and it is the most downloaded song of the 20th century, having been streamed/downloaded 1.6 billion times. The 2018 film of the same title brought Queen to a new generation of fans, together with the We will Rock You musical, opened in the West End in 2000.

For me, I never really think of myself as being a Queen fan, but when I look at through my music collection, the number of Queen songs within my library might lead anyone to disagree. I do remember that my headteacher at Primary School was a massive Queen fan and I have vivid memories of her having an 'It’s a kind of magic' t-shirt, which she wore. 

Many of you are probably wondering why to start this blog again after nearly a two-year absence, perhaps because the world has changed so much over the last two years and I want to finish what I started. I have to thank my nephew, Luke, for helping me choose this song. I asked him what was one of his favourite bands and Queen was his answers. Yesterday was Luke's 13th Birthday so I hope he enjoys being the inspirations to get his Auntie back writing again. Thanks, Luke and I hope we can share more music together soon. 

Watch  Bohemian Rhapsody here.

Released: 31 October 1975

Album: A Night at the Opera 

Written by: Freddie Mercury

Performed by: Queen

Song 130 - Barcelona by Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé

This week there hasn't really been a theme for the songs in the blog, but after reading all the articles on George Martin yesterday and how he bridged the gap between classical and pop music, Barcelona by Freddie Mercury and Montserra Caballe popped into my head.

When Barcelona won the Summer Olympics Games in 1992, Mercury was able to fulfill one of his dreams by recording an album with Caballe; called Barcelona. Mercury produced the album with Mike Moran and would send recordings of her part to Caballe for her to practice as they had very little time to practice together.

The song starts with an orchestral introduction, which fades and is followed by Mercury and Caballe singing alternately their solo lines, sometimes merging into duet. When singing the chrous "Barcelona" and a few other parts for the studio version,  Mercury dubs over his voice in his usual multi-tracking styles. Mercury leads the song whereas Cabelle provides a powerful background soprano.

The song has been described as a combination of pop and opera singing which accentuated their differences. With Mercury's voice, it is all about articulation whilst Caballe concentrates on her tone making her lines more difficult to comprehend, especially as she sings in both Spanish and English.

The song was originally release in October 1987 and reached number 8 in the UK chart. It was one of the most successful solo singles of Freddie Mercury's career. The album of the same name was released at the same time and reached number 25 in the UK album chart. Sadly, Mercury death in November in 1991, he never got to see the Summer Olympics for which it was written for. The single re-entered the charts and peaked at number 2 in the UK chart in 1992.

For me, there is something in the duet that makes the makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end and brings tears to my eyes. I think it is because I love music that defies boundaries of who should be listening to what. Opera, Pop, Rock or hip hop should be accessible to all and when two tribes combine music styles in this way, there is something to be applauded about it.

Anyway, enough from me, let's hear the song:
Barcelona by Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballe

Written by Freddie and Mike Moron
Released: October 1997
Album: Barcelona

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 84 - Somebody to Love - Queen

Another first entry into the jukebox for a band who is bound to bring more hits into the jukebox before 2017 happens is Queen and their 1976 top two hit Somebody to love. Queen is one of those bands for me is never at the top of my pile of music, but are definitely in the hall of fame for me. My primary school's Head  Teacher loved Queen and although the days of Primary School are long gone, I am really glad that she brought their music into school as the world would be a duller without them.

Written by the genius that was Freddie Mercury, the song lyrics is about questioning God's role in a life without love and whilst the the track sounds as though they are using a choir; the band is actually using a technique of voice layering applied to Freddie Mercury, Brian May and Roger Taylor's voices that gives the song it uplifting chorus, especially on the new music system that we got for Christmas now that I have worked out how to stream music through the stereo. (Pity my neighbours, although if you are reading this you probably are enjoying my taste in music.)

Somebody to love was the first single from Queen's A day at the races album, which followed their highly successful album A day at the opera, which had Bohemian rhapsody on it.  Roger Taylor later remarked that Freddie Mercury had drawn on the inspiration that was Aretha Franklin  when writing the lyrics and tune. A reference Freddie which is easy to hear on with the gospel like chorus to it.  At this time of year, you need a song you can do a bit of air guitar to and put some energy into the month of January especially as we are all about to take down the Christmas decorations and everything looks bare; and for those who are looking for love this year - this is a perfect song. 

Listen to the one and only Queen:
Somebody to love by Queen

Written by Freddie Mercury
Released: November 1976
Album: A day at the races.