Mor-Than-Words

    Don’t Look Back In Anger – Oasis Oasis were another turning point in my musical journey. Matt from work brought in a cassette tape of their first album and my ears pricked up straight away, suddenly my generation had it's own guitar band, proper sing along lyrics and attitude. Brilliant. I had always been envious of other eras in music, when the crooners were out run by the rock 'n' rollers, leading to glam rock and punk, dance and hip hop. The movement that became called 'Indie', all these independent record labels fighting the big labels for better chart positions. This is back in the day before you could release tracks from computers in your bedroom, never mind streaming. We even had chart battles with the likes of Oasis vs Blur , I should have been on Blur's side, I'm an Essex boy after all. I did like them and bought their albums on CD, but Oasis won out for me, cooler and nearer to my idols like the Stones and the Beatles . Bands with four or fiv

Free Fallin' – Tom Petty  This song sums up just how I'm feeling right now, not sure what's above or below me. There's a massive release when you're not sure what's coming next, but it's also scary as hell. I feel like I'm free falling at the moment and I don't want to hit the ground, this song seems to keep popping up. It gets referenced a lot within the songwriting groups I'm part of as a masterpiece of melody. I'm not a huge Tom Petty fan, but I do like lots of his hits, plus he was a big part of the Traveling Wilburys with a collection of my other favourite artists. I've also a massive soft spot for ' I Won't Back Down ." This was from Tom Petty 's first solo album which he wrote with Jeff Lynee of ELO fame. My guess would be he had the fact he was free of the confinement he had felt being in his band The Heartbreakers in his mind, suddenly he didn't have to please the others anymore. Lots of artists that come

    Hole In The Bottle – Kelsea Ballerini Been hearing this song on the Country radio, I think it's a great fun song. Tis the season to get sozzeled after all. Kelsea Ballerini has become a beacon in the new generation of great Country artists. She has had some very thought provoking songs like Homecoming Queen , even the most popular of kids still have their issues. Peter Pan , about never growing up, I certainly relate to that one. Then other big hits that just make you want to have a good time, Yeah Boy for example, aimed bang at the young Country girls. I've seen her perform on the Opry on YouTube and think she is amazingly talented. She also seems like a totally genuine person, but that does she to be true of a lot of Country stars, they do seem to be more grounded and able to look after their fans maybe more than other genres. These newer stars seem to have a great way of releasing songs that portray their lives and what they are currently going through, then as they ma

Fairytale Of New York – The Pogues ft. Kirsty MacColl I always used to say this was my favourite Christmas song, but not so sure now. I still really love it, it's one of the things I look forward to when this comes on the radio each year. But when my generation were always referencing Maria , Wham or East 17 , this was my Christmas song. They didn't like it then as it was a miserable anti Christmas song, I'm not anti Christmas, far from it, but I always knew this was a special song. But as with all things this has now become main stream, even traditional, but because of that it has to be dumbed down even to the point they are now censusing it's lyrics. Doesn't seem a lot of point to me, it was always an edgy Christmas song about a drunk bloke and his misses having a barney on Christmas Eve and ending up in jail. It's never going to be Silent Night is it. There is a real magic feeling built up round the song, probably to do with the tragic accident that killed

Ernie (The Fastest Milkman In The West) – Benny Hill This was Christmas No.1 from 1971. Benny Hill is no way PC these days, but he was a comedy king of the 1970s and this song is genius from whenever it was produced. Such a silly story, but so well told. Benny's TV show was a series of funny sketches and songs, this one stood out and so it was released as a single. Apparently it was inspired by Benny's own experiences as a real life milkman. You sort of guess that from the full extent of the lyric, it's to well informed not to have come from a real place. Ernie's big rival is Ted the bread man, with both men trying to grab the affections of widow Sue. The battle fought between them with bakery and dairy produce is so well scripted. Love the fact it's references come from that era, to think of a milk float being pulled by a horse takes you back to bygone days. His horse being called Trigger is a brilliant nod towards the Roy Rogers , the singing cowboy. My Dad had a

Johnny B. Goode and Earth Angel – Marty McFly   For my 100th post, I thought I'd go a little off piste and feature my favourite scene from my favourite movie. 'Something that really cooks'.  One of the best songs ever created, Johnny B. Goode , of all the massive songs throughout the history of music this one must be up there with the most important and it probably is the best Rock 'n' Roll record there is. Of course I should have posted the Chuck Berry version but watching this film as a teenager probably made me want to play guitar even more than being a huge music fan and loving all those great bands. Totally love Chuck Berry and he's one of my biggest musical influences, but fair play to Michael J. Fox , he totally nails this. I'd guess the writer of the Back To The Future trilogy settled on the characters going back to 1955 just so it could be this song that Marty McFly could preform. They liked it that much they even wrote in back into the second fil

  99 Red Balloons – Nena As it's my 99th post, thought of this little tune. Totally 80's this one, plenty of synths, processed instruments and vocals. Just a full on Euro Pop song, supposed it would be a pop song with balloons involved.  It was a big German hit that they translated for the British market, apparently the English version carries a different meaning to the German one, it was the German version that made the US charts. It was all inspired by the releasing of balloons at a Rolling Stones gig, the lyrics tell a story of the balloons being mistaken for a UFO and causing a major indecent, that leads to war breaking out between nations which in turn nearly destroys the world. The English version is a bit more light hearten but you wouldn't have taken this as an anti war song by the nature of the vocal performance and the pulsing beat of the song. The English version tells us how toy shop balloons get released and get mistaken for something sinister sent by a foreig

2 Become 1 – Spice Girls This was the first of three consecutive Christmas number ones for the Spice Girls , this one was 1996, Too Much 1997 and Goodbye 1998. This is probably my favourite Spice Girls song, love the gentleness of it, it's a long way from Wannabe . Viva Forever was done in a similar soft style and I really like that one as well. I had a strange relationship with this band, I remember taking Wannabe to Australia with me on a Now album, playing it for my brother who was living over there and telling him that they were the next big thing back home. They then exploded the music scene, but I often thought their music wasn't as polished as it could be. There personalities and the media created characters almost over shadowed the songs they put out, it was more about who was your favourite girl than your favourite song. Baby Spice, Emma Bunton just in case you were wondering. There's no denying they were one of the best groups of a generation. Their managemen

  O Come, O Come Emmanuel – Katherine Jenkins Well I had to do a few Christmas songs, but I didn't want to go for the obvious.  I really like Katherine Jenkins voice, I bought her Christmas album a few years ago, this song is my favourite off of it. I'm not a big classical or opera fan but think this is class, I like the understated backing, it's both somber and uplifting in places. Her voice sounds like the wind or something spiritual, the whole piece takes you on a journey. The lyrics are a bit over my head, it's celebrating the son of god coming, but being a translated ancient Latin hymn I guess it's going to be a bit serious. Apparently it's a hymn that used to be sung during Advent, a different part being sung each day leading up to Christmas Eve. As with most ancient tunes the words and music have been adapted and changed through many decades with debate as to what was original and what was added along the way. Whatever it's origins I find this very

  Crystal Chandeliers – Charlie Pride I was very sad to hear of the loss of another Country legend yesterday, Charlie Pride . He made a big impact in Country for being one of the first Black artists to be able to go main stream and join the Grand Ole Opry . He had some big crossover hits and reading all the tributes to him proved he was a big influence amongst his peers and a host of future stars. This wasn't his biggest hit, but it's the song I associate him with, I love this song. He's soft delivery and the instrumentation are really sweet and comforting. The lyric is very clever, a complete social comment on how people can get to thinking they are better than they are, trying to fit in to high society but soon enough they realising it isn't all it's cracked up to be. The reference to the Crystal Chandeliers is a great way to say how money doesn't but you happiness, love is more important. I've mentioned my 2015 visit to Nashville in a number of posts, I w

I Hear You Knocking – Dave Edmunds I was reminded of this amazing song this week, turns out it was No.1 in the UK 50 years ago, it stayed there to be the iconic Christmas No.1. I used to play this on a 45 single my dad had, always loved the dirty guitar parts. The intro is amazing, sounds other worldly and the backing so fits in with the message of the song. You can picture the person stood at the door, banging away and getting more frustrated as the song goes on. That'll teach them to go away. Dave Edmunds is one of those characters from the world of music where you hear his name mentioned by all the artists deemed to be much more successful than he was. He was around the scene helping them all get famous and being a big influence on other musicians. He completely transforms this song for me, I really like the boogie woogie version by Fats Domino but being a guitar lover I think this version is superb. The different sounding guitars on it and the steady back beat make this a rea

  I Am, I Feel – Alisha's Attic I remember this one from 1996, it came back to my mind yesterday as I was on a songwriting course co-hosted by Shelly McErlaine (born Poole), one half of Alisha's Attic . The group was a duo made up of Sheely and her sister Karen Poole , who happen to come from close to where I grew up in East Essex, UK. They have a famous father, Brian Poole who had a band called Brian Poole and the Tremeloes, they had major success in the 1960s. Shelly is married to Ally McErlaine , from the band Texas , they now have an country band together called Red Sky July along with Charity Hair. Shelly is now a songwriter/producer/talent scout and is an amazing person to listen to about how to craft a song. It seems she has worked with so many huge names, but the biggest thing that came across was her absolute love of music. The song itself is a sorry tale of how a man is taking a girl he's with totally for granted. The lyrics are a very clever reply to how he

  Space Cowboy – Jamiroquai – Remix – David Morales I had a love hate relationship with Jay Kay in the 90's, liked some of his songs but every time you saw him interviewed he always seemed to annoy me. Hats. But as soon as I hear this dance version of his bands anthem Space Cowboy it transports me back to that nightclub dance floor. I used to love throwing some shapes to this one, the whole 90s clubbing scene was loads of fun. Being with your mates and having a few beers, just out enjoying yourself. As always we didn't know how great it was at the time, but looking back now we were very lucky to be out and about at that certain time. Each generation has their own scene, what now has been called Ole Skool music holds a special place in my heart. This remix by David Morales, speeds up and adds to what is a clever song to start with. I always thought Jamiroquai were quite Jazzy with their music, all a bit over exaggerated. But fair play they were huge at the time and Jay Kay di

Six Feet Apart – Luke Combs Luke Combs is the latest in a long line of Country stars who have come from nowhere to be the main man at the moment. Seems like everything he releases is a huge hit. The Country crowd seem to refer to him as the every man, he doesn't act like the big star, he's just down to earth and says it as it is. Even in situations like this Pandemic he can sum up the mood of all of us with a simple lyric, who'd ever thought we'd have to stay 2m apart from each other or as they would say in the US, 6 feet apart. I think this song is very well put together and vents all of our frustrations towards this crazy situation the whole world has found itself in. It must be very therapeutic to be able to put your thoughts and feelings into a song, knowing it will also help others to deal with their own experiences. Only problem being he released this back in March and it's more true now than then. And I agree with Luke I miss all those same things, but hope

  Norgaard – The Vaccines So with the announcement that the scientists have cracked the COVID vaccine, thought it was appropriate to feature The Vaccines . I only know this band from this song, but know they have had loads of hits. I used to hear this in our local nightclub, The Pink Toothbrush , back when I used to actually go out on a Saturday night. It's a quick burst of punk music, this track used to jump out at me every time it was given a spin. Love the angst in there and quick wit, the jangly guitars give it a great edge. Plenty hear to sing along with and throw yourself around a dance floor. It's all about being young and care free. The speed of the thing is what gives it it's energy, a total random ramble of lyrics. Apparently the song is about Amanda Norgaard, a model the band met on a night out. Not sure it's exactly a love song as some of the references are a bit harsh. Getting your message out there in 1.38 is a great way to get a listener to prick their ea

Release Me – Engelbert Humperdinck To celebrate England coming out of Lockdown I thought we'd have Engelbert pleading to be released. Always loved this song, it's his vocal performance that takes this simple lyric to an entirely different level. The backing sounds like a stage play, he belts the hell out the words. I for one believe he wants out of there, the power and sadness in his voice would shatter any heart. This was a huge hit for Gerry Dorsey, better known as Engelbert Humperdinck , a clever stage name that once heard was hard to forget. He had some great songs such as ' The Last Waltz ' and ' Spanish Eyes ' but I know him best for this one. The words are one long plea to get your current partner to except the fact that it's over between us and we want away. The orchestral backing makes the makes the whole thing sound so dramatic and urgent. The story withing the lyric and the sad undertones makes it no surprise this started life as a Country song, c

Hold Back The River – James Bay I'd never heard of James Bay until hearing his album playing at a hi-fi show. This track stood out to me, then as ever I seem to have heard it everywhere. It keeps popping up in playlists and on TV shows. Strange old lyric, guessing it means, just stop time for a while and let me enjoy the moment. There is a sense of lost love, life getting in the way of his relationship. Guessing the reference to riding bikes in the sky is a reference to the film E.T. and being young. I like the guitar parts on this and it's quite old fashioned sounding to me, the intro with the guitar sounding mournful and his voice full of sadness draws you right in. It's a good imagery song, as we can all understand the chances of stopping a river flowing, but you have to hope it works out for him. There's a good chant in the middle for the crowd to join on with, a quite section going into a build just so he can chuck as much emotion as possible into the repeated ch

I Got You Babe – Sonny & Cher Thought I'd Cher this one. You may get the very unsubtle reference to the movie 1993 ' Groundhog Day ' if you have ever seen it. Basically the main character, played by Bill Murray has to repeat the same day over and over again until he finally sees the error of his ways. Each morning he wakes up his clock radio beside the bed is belting out this same song .  I hear this song a lot in my head since I've been waking up each morning during the pandemic lock-down. Probably something Sonny Bono couldn't have contemplated when he wrote it, recording it with his then wife the iconic Cher. Each day at the moment has a big shadow of yesterday hanging over it, just wondering if today is the day I'm going to get up and find the worlds back to normal. But never-mind the strange association this is a classy song, well constructed and performed. You can tell the joy between the couple, even in their voices, that they can face

    Vienna – Ultravox Happened to discover Midge Ure on social media today, he was mentioning it was 36 years ago since they recorded Band Aid's 'Do they know it's Christmas.' Midge never got the credit he deserved for what he helped to achieve in using music to change the world, Sir Bob had the louder voice. But seeing this reminded me of this great song by Midge's band Ultravox. This is basically classical music but using electronic instruments, the heart beat in the background is powerful. The intro sounds like compressed thunder, it makes you feel cold before you ever hear the lyrics telling us about frosted window pains. The piano talking over the top and the lovely little runs on the organ and drums make it all so dreamy. I bet over the years this song has meant a lot to loads of people, especially the band themselves as it was a huge smash record. Some songs like this one can be taken out of their time period, out of the so called genre and just admired f

I'm Sorry – Brenda Lee I'm sorry but this is a quality tune. It's like a daydream set to music, so soothing, Brenda's voice verses the violins is a match made in heaven. You believe every word, the spoken part sounds so sad, she was totally taken in and now she's sorry. As apologies go this one would take some beating. Being young is no excuse, but Brenda was 15 when she recorded this, you'd never believe it from the quality of her voice. Her vulnerability as a teenage girl comes across in the words and it's a fair representation of how two worlds, being young vs mature, collide as the backing is so sophisticated and grown up sounding. The lyrics aren't exactly Shakespeare but get their point across very well, there is a sense of upset and they express the pain of a break up and wrong doing. Song's like this with their big production and professional musicianship always seem to flow so well, I love the pure sound not bad for 1960. Brenda's Sweet

  Walking in Memphis – Marc Cohn It’s 25 years since I was walking in Memphis . I was on a weeks long road trip with my parents, whistle stop to Nashville and then Memphis. I liked Country and Blues music back then but didn’t know their history's as I do now. Memphis was brilliant, even the drive there surrounded by the forests in their fall colours was mesmerizing. Being huge Elvis fans we did Sun Studios, I can still look around the recording room in my head. It was only while we there I found out it was also where Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis started. We then did the Graceland experience, Elvis’ iconic home, fascinating and moving. Then in the evening we hit Beale Street , home of the Blues. We ventured into BB Kings bar and I can still remember the smell. Let’s just say it was a very relaxed atmosphere, sitting on a high stool, drinking a Bud, listening to the house band was amazing. It felt like being in a movie. Marc Cohn sums this all up perfectly in thi

  Spirit In The Sky – Norman Greenbaum   This song seems to haunt me, it keeps popping up all over the place. My generation know it as a very random hit by ' Doctor and the Medics ' from 1986, but the original by Norman Greenbaum is now my preferred version. The sound is a bit dirtier and rockier, the guitar in there almost sounds like a police siren, it swirls round in the background. Really catchy tune, proper Rock drumming before it was ever a genre in it's self. The subject matter is obviously not to everyone's beliefs but that doesn't take away a positive theme and it's not preaching. This was out smack bang in the hippie era, plenty of long hair on this one. Apparently Norman had seen Porter Wagoner, the Country artist, singing a gospel song on TV and thought I could easily do one of those and had the words done in 15 minutes. The fact he was Jewish has nothing to do with it. I have this song on loads of compilations, but also associate it with a recent

  People Are Crazy – Billy Currington This song makes me smile every time I heat it. Love the simple story of it, I can fully imagine meeting that old guy at the bar, loving hearing his stories and getting his views on this mad world. This is a Country song in it's truest form, telling a tale of love and friendship. The lyrics are so clever and it reminds me of Kenny Rogers classic ' Lucille ' as it places the listener right there in the sounds and smells of the bar and what's going on around them. It's so descriptive it makes you want to know the outcome, pull up a stool and order a cold one. The backing is a true Country shuffle with what almost sounds like a nursery rhyme hook, it's not over complicated and helps you hear the story unfold. The nature of the song's sentiment also gives the song a purpose, because let's face it 'People are crazy.' The payoff being that the story teller gets rewarded for being kind to a stranger is also a good li

Dick-A-Dum-Dum – Des O`Connor It was announced that Des O'Connor has died aged 88. I'm from the generation that know him best for his TV presenting instead for his singing, I remember his chat show on ITV on a Wednesday night. It seemed to be on every week of my entire childhood, he always seemed to end up in fits of laughter which as a kid made him seem really silly and fun. I also recall his stint doing Take Your Pick, mostly because of the brain hurting, yes or no game. It should be so simple but your so conditioned to answer a question yes or no, you never really stood a chance. Des was famously taughted by comedy duo Morecambe and Wise for his singing ability, which most people agree was totally unfair, but proved what a good sport Des was for going along with the joke. Des had some big chart hits before becoming an entertainer. This song was a big one from my childhood, really simple melody and repetitive words so fun to sing along to the chorus. We had a Des O'Con

    Song For Guy – Elton John   I ended up on a Zoom call with Stuart Epps , a very well known music producer and studio engineer for some of the best known artists and bands. He was telling some great stories about of some of the big names and studios he'd worked with. It's a who's who of music royalty, it was amazing to get the chance to speak to him. He played a big part in Elton John 's career and that leads me to this song. Elton is another artist that a fully admire and I really love some of his songs but can't pretend he was one of my influences, guitars all the way for me. But as a song writing partnership Elton and Bernie are up there with the best of them. Which makes this song stand out as it's the only one Elton wrote alone. Usually he'd be crafting a melody around Bernie's supplied lyrics, but here he came up with an soulful instrumental. Stuart told the story how it was getting near the end of a long studio session when Elton mentioned aga

  Scream & Shout – will.i.am ft. Britney Spears We are at the semi final stage of The Voice UK , as usual will.i.am is one of the judges and watching it the other night reminded me how annoying he can be. But saying that he's obviously very musically knowledgeable and can craft and produce amazing pop songs. Then this tune hit my iPhone on my usual shuffle through iTunes, yes I know I'm old school but at least I'm not still on cassettes. I have quite a few NOW albums on there, this fell out of the Club Hits one. Which I suppose it would as it references going clubbing throughout. I was never really a Britney fan either, when she started out I was in the Christina Aguilera camp, but as always I've grown to like Ms. Spears back catalogue. She's had her own Toxic issues as all good pop stars tend to do when they have lived with fame from too young an age. There's something about the beat of this song and it's references which make me remember how much

It's Not Easy Being Green – Kermit ( Muppets )   I've some huge heroes in my life and Jim Henson is up near the top of my list. The concept of The Muppets , probably the craziest bunch of creatures you could dream up, their love and friendship is a great lesson to all young people everywhere. My favourite Muppet has to be Fozzie , but I adore this song sung by Kermit , as voiced by Jim himself. We all think we have it hard in life sometimes, this song sets out to tell us what it's like being green. I think it sums up insecurity and self analysis perfectly, having a puppet sing it makes it accessible to everyone and so non threatening. The words are so clever, referencing all the great and diverse things that are green makes you realise how important they are. I totally get the lyric about blending into the background and not feeling noticed. But Kermit ends up saying he's happy to be himself which is something I think we all hope for, being safe inside your own skin i

Somewhere In My Heart – Aztec Camera A great track, with some strange lyrics going on. Catchy opening, then the repetitive drum beat draws you in and keeps you going throughout. I think this is all most a Christmas sounding song, the sample of what could be jingle bells going down the scale puts that in my mind. The sax is pretty up front and you can't argue with the guitar solo in the middle, something that is definitely out of fashion at the moment. It's a bit different from other 80's pop hits as it's not to synth based.  I got to know this one from a compilation I had called ' The Best Celtic Anthems ... Ever! ", Aztec Camera being from Scotland fit into that perfectly, it was a great mixture of Irish and Scottish songs, and this one was in good company with the likes of The Pogues and Van Morrison . Funny name for a group, but it's easily remembered and out there enough to set the tone of the music, another one of those bands where it was basically on

Firework – Katy Perry It's Guy Fawkes day, or Fireworks night if you prefer. So it's probably time to feature this song, I really like this one, but never really paid much attention to it's meaning. Songwriting lecturers I've been following hold it up as a proper song, the chord progressions and clever lyrics are sited as very sophisticated. It has such a positive message in there, who wouldn't want to be a firework. Bet you've never heard the first line of the song properly before, ' Do you ever feel like a plastic bag, Drifting through the wind.' Not your average opener and from there comes more and more references to being suppressed. When I was advised to study the words, it was an eye opener just how meaningful they are. Real messages of despair and then hope, it's now time to explode and be yourself. The words bounce along with the melody following perfectly, it's full on and then drops away. So now I have looked into the song more I have

  Addicted To Bass – Puretone My name is Kevin and I'm addicted to bass. Not really sure this song is the most bassful tune around, but it's pretty cool. The funny sounding mixture of sounds and a simple title usually goes a fair way to making a catchy hit. It sounds like a mixture of a ticking clock and someone bashing a trash can. Apparently it was a big underground hit in 1998, but didn't trouble us in the UK until 2002. It's a strange lyric in that it's quite a long moan, it's seen as a weakness to be addicted to bass. But I can think of worse illnesses and quite like the idea of it shooting up my spine. But sadly ' Everybody's groovin' to their own song' if that's the case it just proves music is for everyone but we all have our own favourites. You think this is just a fun song but with other lyrics like ' The backbeat of humanity sweetens my tears', isn't really an usual line in a dance song. Songs like this get so many remi

A Fistful Of Dollars – Ennio Morricone It's about time I put a theme tune on here. Following on from the Dollar mentioned in my last post, how's this for a theme tune. If this song doesn't set the tone of the movie, I'm not sure what would. I love a good Western, and I've been lucky enough to have visited Cowboy country a number of times. We always take the Western theme tunes with us, they really set the scene for the showdown. With this one the lonesome whistler starting it all off, later the full orchestra kicking in to add all the texture and mood, one man against the world, you know it ain't going to be pretty. The simple guitar riff builds into a string of sound effects until we feel we're stood next to that church with the ringing bell. Then you can hear what sounds like a posy of horses heading towards us. The chanting and the strings keep adding tension and we then feel like we are riding that pony across the West alone and ready for anything. A sto

I Need A Dollar – Aloe Blacc This one popped up on one of those free CDs you used to get with the Sunday newspapers. Back when CDs were musical currency before streaming had taken over. I was captured by it's sound and I could certainly relate to the story inside. It's such a simple song but with a powerful message. The simple words, piano and brass backing are matched by a great vocal performance, all resulting in a very pleasing easy to digest sound. But the problem with simple songs is that they fast become ear worms, little phases of which get stuck in your brain and go round and round. In other words proper hooks, these make songs like this so catchy and remember able. Add in the 'hey hey's' and it's in there for keeps. The lyrics tell a tale of working hard and getting no credit for your efforts, the world not being a fair place and all you have to show for it is to be able to warn the next person in line. They could share their wealth and even things out

Wake Me Up – Avicii   Always liked this song, but after watching a documentary on Avicii last night I have a new understanding of it. As a teenager Tim Bergling (Avicii) loved to create music on his laptop and like all musicians wanted people to hear it, but as often happens with young talented creative people no one told him about the trappings of fame. With the stereotypical pushy manager and a larger and larger group of hanger ons, what started out as a dream began to take a toll on his mental and physical state. A performer who loved being up on stage in front of an entire stadium of people jumping to his every beat was tortured by the pressure of touring and the fear of letting people down. The stress of it all leading to multiple health problems. It's a sad tale and reading through the lyrics of this song, which featured on his debut album, it now reads like a warning to himself. Wake me up when its over, expecting his life to become clearer and easier as he got older, in o

  Stand By Me (2020) – Whispering Bob's All-Stars I was lucky enough to be on a Zoom call with the legend DJ Bob Harris as part of Country Music Week . I even got to ask him a question, I asked about how songwriters should go about getting there songs in front of established artists in the modern age. Social media being the main way to get noticed now. He told some great stories, my favourite being about Rosanne Cash , Johnny Cash her father put together a list of 100 Country songs she needed to learn just so he knew she had a real understanding of its roots and philosophy .  Bob has put together a version of this song to both celebrate 50 years in the business and to raise money to help COVID hit musicians. It's a real mixture of artists and is a good guessing game who's singing and playing which parts. Bob gets in on the act playing the triangle. Great to see Duane Eddy makes an appearance. I love this song, the Ben E King version is one of the most iconic songs ever

If It Makes You Happy – Sheryl Crow It's totally true, especially at the moment, if it makes you happy, just go with it. But do possessions and the like really matter, or do you still end up feeling like somethings missing. Sheryl Crow was another artist that grew on me over time, I didn't take much notice of her as each of her hits pilled up. Then I bought her Greatest Hits album and realised just how many of them I actually loved. Then it sort of dawned on me she's basically classed as Country now, so it all fits. Whenever you see Country royalty doing their benefit gigs you usually see Sheryl on there as a guest. Her voice is so strong and her song choices always seem to be about feelings. Also love ' All I Wanna Do ' is have some fun, can't argue with that either. Then there's ' Leaving Las Vegas' which is something I've had the privilege of doing a few times so brings back great memories. This song is basically a strange list of things an

Need You Now – Lady A This is one of those songs that I've been aware of since it's release in 2009, but it's grown on me a lot since then, to the point it's becoming one of my favourite songs. It's so well put together, great hooks and melody, then Lady A 's voices blend so well together. As part of Country Music week Radio 2 in the UK had them in session and this is a live version of the song, I think you can call this effortless. Just sitting there at the mic's and belting this out with so much emotion and power. I particularity like the simple piano riff, those few notes remind me of the rain and set the entire mood. The lyrics tell a story of making a drunk phone call to an ex, you get to that point that their going round and round in your head and you just need to speak to them. It's a simple thought but these lyrics put the hurt and remorse across so well. To get that amount of feeling into a song is really hard and the sparse backing adds to that

    Gimme Some Lovin – Spencer Davis Group   Hey! Spencer Davis died yesterday aged 81. He was the founder of this great group, named after him apparently because the rest of the band were to scared to do interviews. They had some big hits in the sixties, real power driven rock and roll, plenty of zip and upbeat tunes. More in the style of rhythm and blues riffs, dirty sounding guitars with heavy drums. They put this song together in just half an hour in the studio as they were under pressure to come up with their next hit. Love this song, another one on my 60s compilations. The organ work on this raises it above the normal guitar based guitar bands, it sounds out there and like a freight train is rushing towards you. Either get out its way or jump aboard and enjoy the ride. I'm so glad they made it. The other great use of this song was in the ' Blues Brothers ' movie, love that film and their version of this song with their big band really cooks. It's a crazy story o

  Get Here – Oleta Adams I've been lucky enough to be on some huge holidays over the years, I've been round the world twice. Love going to new places and having my photo taken at the biggest landmarks. There have been times I've been on me own, no one who knew who I was for hundreds of miles. You realise after a while this planet is one amazing ride and you should see and experience as much of it as possible. That's one of the cruelest tricks this Virus is playing on us at the moment. But wherever I've been I seem to taken this song with me, I can remember it spinning round on my Walkman, blank cassettes were a god send for taking huge chucks of your record collection with you. I can also picture being in the back of a hire car cruising down an American highway watching a freight train riding along beside us with this song telling me to 'Get Here' playing out of an early version of the ipod. You often hear it on Airplane radio playlists, its to perfect for a

    With A Little Help From My Friends – Joe Cocker This is another one I had on most of my 60s compilations . Think the production and emotion created into this is pure class. Especially compared to Ringo Starr 's version released by the Beatles . You believe Joe Cocker had a little help from his mates, the roar in this vocal is a master at work, is he out of tune? Who cares! What sounded like a nursery rhyme before now sounds like a huge cry for help. The subject matter is so true, we all need propping up once in a while, hard times are upon us and we need to look after each other. The other thing about this song was it was used as the title music for a TV program called ‘ The Wonder Years .’ Channel 4 in the UK showed it when I was a teenager. It was set in the 60s in small town America and the narrator was the main characters older self looking back on his younger days. Kevin Arnold had a best mate called Paul, my name being Kevin and my best friend being a Paul was enough rea