Song of the day: Guy Fletcher- Mary In The Morning

In 1971, the nephew from Guy Fletcher (the one from Dire Straits) had a hit. He started as a session musician, but in 1966, he started writing songs for other artists, such as Elvis Presley, the Hollies, and Power To All Our Friends from Cliff Richard. He managed Chris de Burgh, and he was in the band Rogue. Solo, he had a hit with Mary In The Morning in the Netherlands, where he reached number 11. Enjoy

Guy Fletcher- Mary In The Morning

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R.I.P. 2014

2014 was a beautiful music year, but unfortunately we have lost some great singers on the way. Once more an ode to the ones who died.

One of the first singers to die this year was Phil Everly, who was part of the Everly Brothers. He died on the third of January because of a lung disease, which followed his life of smoking. He was 74 years old, but will live on through his songs with his brother, who is still alive.

Some weeks later, the folk and protest singer Pete Seeger died. Though Pete did not have success with the original versions of his songs, covers have reached the hit charts. The song Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is A Season), which was sung by the Byrds and written by Pete Seeger, even hit number 1. Pete Seeger was 94 years old.

In March, the Godfather of House Music, Frankie Knuckles, passed away. He was famous for the song The Whistle Song, which laid the basis for house music. Only 59 years old, he died of diabetes.

In June, several famous artists passed away. Rik Mayall, a member of the Young Ones, died on the 9th. He was mostly a comedian, but his work with the Young Ones brought him a hit, when they re-recorded Living Doll with Cliff Richard for charity.

On the 19th of June, Gerry Goffin died at the age of 75. He was a songwriter, firstly for his wife, Carole King, but he wrote a lot of hits later: Will You Love Me Tomorrow, The Loco-Motion, and with some others Theme From Mahogany.

The drummer of the Ramones, Tommy Ramone, died at the age of 65 in July. A nice anekdote is that he had to, since no-one else wanted to do it. Apart for drumming some years, he also was one of the producers of the Ramones.

On the first of October, Lynsey de Paul died. There were some charting singles, but that’s not the main reason why I remember her. I remember her for playing songs between different parts of a Tommy Cooper show, and I thought she had a lovely voice.

Alvin Stardust also died this year. Mostly famous for his hit Pretend, but with quite some more hits, he passed away at the age of 72. He was still active in the music industry, though he did not release any new albums the last years (since 1989).

November brought us the death of Big Bank Hank. He was one of the rappers in the Sugarhill Gang. Much too young, he died at 58 this year.

And only a few days ago, Joe Cocker died. He became really famous because of the hit Up Where We Belong, together with Jennifer Warnes, but his cover of the Beatles’ song With A Little Help From My Friends already established him in the sixties as a good singer. Hits like Unchain My Heart, You Can Leave Your Hat On and Summer In The City put his fame down in the eighties and the nineties.

An impressing list of good artists, who will live on in their music. May they rest in peace.

 

Song of the day: The Shadows- Apache

There was an instrumental song, written by Jerry Lordan, which has been on number one in the UK for five weeks. The original was recorded by the Shadows in 1960, which also was their first big hit in the world. Hank Marvin had gotten an Italian echo-chamber from Joe Brown, which he used on the single. Bruce Welsh borrowed a guitar from Cliff Richard, who would be playing the drum in the beginning and the end. The song would be one of the first steps to the rock sound of the Beatles. Enjoy

The Shadows- Apache

What? How much?

Yes, some artists make lots of money on their hits. But their hits with Christmas bring a lot of money to them. Performing Rights Society, a British organization for copyrights, made estimations for 2013. Here is their list (with some notes from me):

1. Slade – Merry Christmas Everybody – € 606.000,-
I never expected this song to make so much money, but however: very good song!

2. The Pogues – Fairytale of New York – € 460.000,-
What song is this? Never heard about it, but it makes a lot of money. Strange…

3. Mariah Carey – All I Want For Christmas Is You – € 412.000,-
God, not this song again. If this song is played for the first time, you know there’s no escaping it from there on… No wonder that she gets so much money!

4. Wham! – Last Christmas – € 400.000,-
Nice sum of money for the two gentleman. And after ten times this song, we’ve had enough for the rest of the year…

5. Cliff Richard – Mistletoe & Wine – € 115.000,-

6. Band Aid – Do They Know It’s Christmas? – € 92.000,-
My question by this song is: where does the money go to? Still to some sort of fund for charity? Hope so, since there’s still hunger in the world.

7. Shakin’ Stevens – Merry Christmas Everyone – € 64.000,-

8. The Pretenders – 2000 Miles – € 54.000,-

9. East 17 – Stay Another Day – € 36.000,-
And then this song: What’s that?

10. Jona Lewie – Stop The Cavalry – € 16.000,-

On 23 December I start with some Christmas songs!

Song of the day: Cliff Richard & the Shadows- Summer Holiday

Mmm… remember MC Miker G and DJ Sven? Yes, from the Holiday Rap. Part of the Holiday Rap was based on the song of today. To be precise, otherwise I get e-mails, it was the chorus.
I really don’t know what to say about it, since everyone knows the tune, because it’s one of his most famous songs. It’s relaxing, so enjoy

Cliff Richard & The Shadows- Summer Holiday

Song of the day: MC Miker G & DJ Sven- Holiday Rap

Do you remember… this record? It was a big hit in the 1980s, 1986 to be precise. A remix of Madonna’s Holiday, with some lyrics by Cliff Richard, and the rest was made by them, I believe.
It was remixed by no one less than… Ben Liebrand! And there is something else nice about this song: Deejay Sven is now DJ Sven, part of the team of Somertijd, the radio show I listen to in the afternoon, and on Saturday night he has a programme with a lot of dance classics, and who makes mixes for that programme? Yes, Ben Liebrand!

Well, it was a big hit back then, and it’s nice to listen to now, so the song of the day is: The Holiday Rap! (The clip was broadcasted on the BBC, but it reached the top 10 in a lot of countries)

Song of the day: Cliff Richard & the Young Ones- Living Doll

Hello everyone,

Today’s song of the day is some kind of cover!
Actually, it’s a cover for charity, together with the artist who made the original.
You don’t understand? I will explain, after I said about which song we are talking.

We’re talking about Cliff Richard and the Young Ones, who made the single Living Doll.
The single was made for charity, as said, and was a cover.
The original was made by Cliff Richard only, but I think this cover is a lot more funny. I absolutely love it, and I think you have to hear this song 20 times to hear all the jokes.

Tomorrow a new song…