Mark Pentleton

The words “perfect day” came to mind last night as we walked along Ayr beach in beautiful late-summer sunshine (even if it was a bit cold!) so I decided to play Perfect Day as the last song of August’s 365songs. Dating from 1972, Lou Reed included this on his Transformer album. It also featured in [...]

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Although I got back from Ireland last night I’m still in a bit of an Irish mood so I thought I’d play this song today. It’s a beautiful song in the 1970s by Pete St. John, set during the famine of the 1840s, and tells the tale of Michael, a fictional man from Athenry in [...]

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This song is sung by Mary Magdalene and the Apostles just after Jesus is condemned by Herod in the musical and the film version of Jesus Christ Superstar. I particularly like the chorus of this song: the line “I think you’ve made your point now”, and the following line which is sung in sixths by [...]

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With the schools going back here in Scotland today and everyone’s children moving on another year, today’s song probably should have been Slipping through my fingers – but I played that back in March! Instead I chose Elton John’s beautiful 1973 song to Marilyn Monroe Candle in the wind. I love the 1986 live version [...]

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Bright Eyes was the theme song from the 1978 animated film Watership Down which told the story of a group of rabbits. The song was written by Mike Batt and performed by Art Garfunkel and it was the best selling single of 1979.

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Today’s song is especially for my friends Lynn and Gordon Stewart and little Joshua who was born yesterday. It’s always been a favourite song of Joshua’s mum and I hope that Joshua enjoys listening to it some day! Congratulations to Lynn and Gordon, and welcome to the world, Joshua!
Looking for space was released by John [...]

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This song started life as Variation 5 in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Variations, a set of variations on a theme by Paganini for cello and rock orchestra which were written for Andrew’s brother Julian following a lost bet on a Leyton Orient football match! Variation 1 became the theme tune for The South Bank Show.
Variation 5 [...]

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Following Fernando yesterday, we’re staying in 1975, but changing style! In answer to my sister-in-law’s question from the other day, we are indeed rocking today! Bohemian Rhapsody is dedicated to my brother-in-law Andrew who celebrates his birthday today. I hope you enjoy this 1975 Queen classic! It’s also my nephew Antony’s birthday today – I’m [...]

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We’re returning to the 1970s today with this Abba classic from 1975. This song became Abba’s biggest selling single of all time, selling 6 million copies in 1976 alone and going on to sell 10 million worldwide. It was originally written in Swedish for Frida and featured on her 1975 solo album Frida Ensam but [...]

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Given that this is the 200th song in my 365songs project (just 165 to go…!) I wanted to play something big today and I’ve opted for the Billy Joel classic Piano Man. I’ve always loved this song – I used to play the harmonica along to it, but I couldn’t find a harmonica when I [...]

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A good song for a Sunday morning! This 1977 classic was written by Lionel Richie and was also covered by Faith No More in 1992. Hope you enjoy today’s song. I’ll need to think of something appropriate for tomorrow – it’s song number 200!

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When I said that I was playing this song today my wife reminded me of the line in The Fabulous Baker Boys when Michelle Pfeiffer asks “does anybody really need to hear Feelings again in their lifetime?” However it was one of the songs which was regularly requested in the various restaurants and hotels I [...]

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This song first appeared on Elton John’s 1974 album Caribou, but it perhaps wasn’t until 1991 that this song really found worldwide success. Elton John had performed it as a duet with George Michael at Live Aid in 1985, but the live recording from a concert at Wembley in March 1991 became a massive hit [...]

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Today’s song is the love theme from The Godfather, also known as Speak softly, love. The instrumental version first featured in the 1972 film and was written by Nino Rota. The theme also featured in the sequels and it was sung in Sicilian dialect in The Godfather 3.

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Today’s song is the 1973 Eric Carmen power ballad, All by myself. This song has been recorded by many artists, perhaps most notably Céline Dion in 1996. It has also been used in many films including Bridget Jones’ Diary. The song uses a theme from Rachmaninoff’s 2nd piano concerto, and today’s “interesting fact” is that [...]

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I returned today from a five-day trip to Palma de Mallorca where I was filming material for a new video show we’re working on. Last night as I walked along the Carrer San Miquel in Palma a saxophonist was playing the theme from the film Love Story so I thought I’d play this on my [...]

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A big song for Eurovision day itself – performed in French by the Greek-German singer Vicky Leandros, representing Luxembourg back in 1972, just three weeks before I was born! This is one of the signature Eurovision songs and was released in English, German, Greek, Italian and Japanese after winning the contest. For a little nostalgia, [...]

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I’ve had some requests over the past few days to play the Billy Joel song She’s Always a Woman as the Fyfe Dangerfield version is being played all the time in the John Lewis ads on tv at the moment. I’ve actually already played this song, back in January, but I thought I’d do another [...]

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It was touch and go there… I’ve had a really busy day with meetings in Glasgow most of the day then Parent Council at the school tonight and I almost completely forgot about 365songs! I normally have a few songs stored away in cases like this, but not tonight, so I’ve just recorded the 1974 [...]

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We’re returning to Billy Joel for today’s song. I’ve loved these days was written in 1976 and first appeared on the Turnstiles album. In 1976 Billy Joel returned to New York after living in California. It is said that the lyrics of I’ve loved these days refer to the decadence of his time spent living [...]

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