Mark Pentleton

Today’s song was written in 1931 by Fabian Andre and Wilbur Schwandt with lyrics by Gus Kahn. It was first recorded by Ozzie Nelson and his orchestra, but has been covered many times since by artists including Doris Day, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole and Dean Martin. In 1968 the song was recorded [...]

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Today’s song – the first song of my penultimate month on 365songs – is Abba’s SOS from the 1975 Abba album. It is one of the group’s best-known songs and reached #6 in the UK charts on its release in September 1975. It was #1 in Australia, Belgium, West Germany, New Zealand and South Africa! [...]

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I’ve been wondering what to play all day today for a Hallowe’en-themed song, and it wasn’t until I saw Anton Du Beke in Strictly Come Dancing tonight dancing to the Ghostbusters theme that I realised this was the piece of music to play! It was written in 1984 by Ray Parker Jr for the soundtrack [...]

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Today’s song dates from 1951 and was originally written in Italian by P.G. Redi and Michele Galdieri for the movie Anna, released in 1953. Shelley Dobbins wrote an English version of the lyrics and the song was recorded by Nat King Cole in 1958.
Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:43 — 5.2MB)

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This song is for everyone who spent half of today trying to get through to the ticket lines or developing repetitive strain injuries by refreshing the Ticketmaster website trying to get hold of a Take That ticket for their tour next summer. We tried, but we didn’t get through, and now it seems that almost [...]

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I’m not sure if what I’ve done with this song quite works, but I hope you enjoy it! Wonderwall was released by Oasis in 1995 and has been covered by various folk, including the tongue-in-cheek Mike Flowers Pops, and in a swing version by Paul Anka (which is actually very good!) I’ve tried to make [...]

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Having spent much of today in Glasgow at a meeting, returning home to watch The Apprentice and updating the latest episode of News Time Spanish, I had switched off my computer, only to realise that I’d forgotten to upload today’s song. And on this, the 300th day of the year, too! I recorded this song [...]

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This song started life in 1982 when it was released as the third single by Tears for Fears. A reworked version in 2001 by Gary Jules and Michael Andrews gave a different style to the song and it was used in the soundtrack for the movie Donnie Darko. In the first of the studio finals [...]

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Yesterday’s song seemed to go down well so I was in the mood for another Agustín Lara bolero today. This is Noche de ronda, which has been performed by many artists. I first heard it on a Trío Los Panchos album, and like yesterday’s song it was recently performed by Luís Miguel on his album [...]

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Today’s song is a lovely bolero written by Mexican Agustín Lara. It’s been covered by many artists, including most recently by Luís Miguel – YouTube version here. There is also a popular English version translated as You belong to my heart which was recorded by Bing Crosby accompanied by the Xavier Cugat orchestra.
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I don’t quite believe I’m playing this! Ah well… Following many repeated requests from my other sister-in-law and regular listener Fiona, I’ve finally succumbed to “a bit of Dolly”! I’ve blues-ified it a bit, but it still doesn’t take away from the fact I’m playing Dolly Parton… Hope you enjoy it Fiona!
Podcast: Download (Duration: 4:47 [...]

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A real treat today! The perfect Gershwin harmonies in Bess, you is my woman now are just beautiful and I’ve always loved playing this song. I wanted something just perfect to play today to welcome my new little niece into the world. She doesn’t have a name yet, but many congratulations to mum Morag, dad [...]

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This song dates from the 1920s and is probably one of the most well-known Cuban songs. It has been covered by many artists, from Nana Mouskouri to Tito Puente and Joan Baez. The song was traditionally used as a vehicle for social commentary, with performers improvising verses according to events or situations, but always returning [...]

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This song comes from the 1927 Jerome Kern musical Showboat, and it’s dedicated to my grandfather Terry McGibbons who would have been 99 years old today. He used to love singing this song and I’m including a recording of him below.
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This Whitney Houston song dates from 1988 and was included on her first album. It went to #1 on the Billboard charts in the US, but only reached #14 in the UK.
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After yesterday’s relatively unknown song, today I’m playing what is probably one of the best-known songs of the 90s. At least according to the Performing Rights Society, it’s officially the most popular karaoke song! Hope you enjoy today’s song.
Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:44 — 5.2MB)

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This is probably not the best-known song of my 365 collection, but I’ve always liked its simplicity. It was recorded by Abba’s Agnetha Fältskog in 1975 and featured on her album Elva kvinnor i ett hus (Eleven women in one house). The title of the song means “thanks for a wonderful, ordinary day” and in [...]

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Today’s song by George and Ira Gershwin dates from the 1937 film A Damsel in Distress when it was performed by Fred Astaire. Since then the song has been covered by many artists including Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Judy Garland and Michael Bublé.
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Today’s song is from the 1976 musical Evita and is sung by the character Che as Eva dances at the ball with Juan Perón, now Argentina’s president-elect.
Podcast: Download (Duration: 2:53 — 4.0MB)

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This song is for my friend and colleague Lisa Steven who celebrated her birthday yesterday and who requested something from Miss Saigon for her special day. I hope she didn’t mind waiting a day given the events in Chile! I Still Believe is from the 1989 musical Miss Saigon written by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain [...]

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