Mark Pentleton » 1970s

364/365 Songs: Thank you for the music – Abba

admin — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 07:45:21 +0000

I suppose this should really be the final song in my collection, but there’s something typically “Hogmanayish” planned for tomorrow, so I wanted to get the Abba classic Thank you for the music in today. The song was recorded in summer 1977 (I had just turned five at the time!) and was included on The Album, although it wasn’t released as a single until 1983 when it became the final single to be released by the group. Over the past year I’ve played 18 Abba songs and quite a few songs by the members of Abba in the pre- or post-Abba careers. I felt it was appropriate to finish with this song and give my thanks not only for the music which I’ve enjoyed playing this year, but to everyone who has listened each day.

334/365 Songs: Flower of Scotland – The Corries

admin — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 07:47:57 +0000

Today is St Andrew’s day, a day of celebration here in Scotland, although the weather is somewhat curtailing the celebrations with snow covering most of the country! Flower of Scotland has become something of an unofficial national anthem since it was written in 1967 by Roy Williamson of the Corries. When the Scottish National Orchestra conducted an online poll in an attempt to identify a preferred national anthem, 41% of the vote went to Flower of Scotland, with Scotland the Brave in second place with 29% and the beautiful Highland Cathedral 16%. I’d like to wish all Scottish listeners to 365songs a happy St Andrew’s day!

323/365 Songs: I write the songs – Barry Manilow

admin — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 08:13:59 +0000

Today’s song was written by Bruce Johnston of the Beach Boys in 1975 and was made famous by Barry Manilow, winning a Grammy Award in 1976. It is often thought that the “I” of the song refers to the songwriter, but according to Johnston the “I” is music itself. I write the songs has been covered by various artists including David Cassidy, Tom Jones and Johnny Mathis.

320/365 Songs: Another town, another train

admin — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 10:54:16 +0000

Today’s song is actually linked to one of my earliest musical memories. I think I would have been about 4 or 5 and I remember listening to this song on my dad’s reel-to-reel tape deck, along with He is your brother on Abba’s Greatest Hits album. It was written in 1973 and was released in Japan as a single and was also recorded in German as Wer im Wartesaal der Liebe steht. I was supposed to be taking an interesting train journey today, hence the song choice, but it looks like it won’t be happening because of the weather!

319/365 Songs: New York, New York – Liza Minelli/Frank Sinatra

admin — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 09:24:52 +0000

After yesterday’s Come fly with me and the talk of Frank Sinatra’s 1957 album of exotic songs, I thought I’d play another travel-related theme today, and it’s one of the most-requested songs from when I used to play in hotels. New York, New York was written in 1977 by John Kander and Frank Ebb and was performed by Liza Minelli in the film of the same name. Sinatra recorded it for his 1980 album Trilogy: Past, Present and Future and since then it has come to be associated primarily with him.

313/365 Songs: Move on – Abba

admin — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 22:27:22 +0000

This song was recorded in 1977 and the various working titles for the song included Yippee Yay, Joanne, Love for me is love forever and the rather cryptic Big John. I’m glad it ended up as Move on, not Big John!

305/365 Songs: SOS – Abba

admin — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 06:21:33 +0000

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! SOS was also recorded in Swedish by Agnetha Fältskog and featured on her album Elva Kvinnor i ett Hus along with last month’s Tack för en underbar vanlig dag.

Image courtesy of the Abbaworld blog

The reason I chose to play this song today is that today marks the 40th anniversary of the first live performance by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvæus, Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Benny Andersson at the Festfolk på Trägård’n in Gothenburg. It was 2 or 3 years before they started calling themselves ABBA, and apparently the performance didn’t go too well, but it was also when the group apparently learned what not to do at a live event. There’s more info here.

290/365 Songs: Tack för en underbar vanlig dag – Agnetha Fältskog

admin — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 06:44:22 +0000

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 a sense it’s a simple prayer giving thanks for the små under (small miracles) which happen every day, men det är så lätt at ta dom för givna, but it’s so difficult to take them for granted. There’s a version on YouTube which has the full song in Swedish with English subtitles – have a look!

288/365 Songs: High Flying Adored – Evita

admin — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 22:46:53 +0000

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.

275/365 Songs: Don’t it make my brown eyes blue – Crystal Gayle

admin — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 13:42:02 +0000

Last night I attended my friend and former colleague Joan Herald’s retirement party. It was a great night and I thoroughly enjoyed catching up with lots of old friends and former colleagues. No party for Joan would be complete without a bit of karaoke, and since Joan performed this song I thought it would be the perfect song to play today. It dates from 1977 and has topped the charts in Canada and the US, reaching #4 in the UK charts. I’m sure Joan’s performance would have gone straight to #1! I’d like to wish Joan all the very best for her new life – Mearns Castle will undoubtedly not be the same without you!

274/365 Songs: Lycka – Anni-Frid Lyngstad

admin — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 16:20:14 +0000

This gorgeous, simple song was first recorded by Benny and Björn in 1970, and then released by Anni-Frid on her solo album in 1971. The title of the song, Lycka, means “happiness” in Swedish and the lyrics tell the story of a couple who spend some time with each other after a busy day. There was a demo recorded in English called To Live With You, but the English lyrics aren’t great. Frida’s version is lovely – have a listen here.

273/365 Songs: Ben – Michael Jackson

admin — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 07:38:50 +0000

This is definitely the first song I’ve played on my 365songs project which is about a rodent! Ben dates from 1972 and was originally written for Donny Osmond. However, he was on tour at the time so it was given to Michael Jackson who recorded it for the film Ben which deals with the friendship between a boy – Danny – and his pet rat Ben… Nice tune, but strange provenance!

270/365 Songs: Let it be – The Beatles

admin — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 07:37:34 +0000

A big song today: this was voted the number 1 song in the Fans’ Top Ten Beatles Songs. It was written in 1970 by Paul McCartney. I hope you enjoy my performance!

266/365 Songs: Gonna sing you my love song – Abba

admin — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 20:55:25 +0000

After the ‘guest performance’ I posted earlier today, here is today’s 365song. It’s Abba’s Gonna sing you my love song, an album track from the 1974 album Waterloo. Hope you enjoy it!

260/365 Songs: Main theme from Star Wars – John Williams

admin — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 18:29:23 +0000

Today is our younger son’s 6th birthday and his special request was for the theme from Star Wars. It was written by John Williams for the first Star Wars movie in 1977 and has featured in the entire series of films since then. Happy birthday to Ewan and I hope you like today’s tune!

258/365 Songs: Dance (while the music still goes on) – Abba

admin — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 08:00:59 +0000

Today’s song is an album track from Abba’s 1974 Waterloo album. I’ve always really liked this song. Benny and Björn were heavily influenced by Ronnie Spector and this track is an example of this. Without the 12-string guitars my version is a bit different, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless. It’s also (I think) the only Abba track with two modulations, though I’d be happy to be corrected on that one!

252/365 Songs: I can see clearly now – Johnny Nash

admin — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 18:21:06 +0000

I was at the beach the other day and overheard someone singing this song so I thought I’d play it today. It dates from 1972 and the original version was performed by Johnny Nash. Subsequent covers have included a version by the Hothouse Flowers in 1990, and Jimmy Cliff’s version in 1993 which featured in the film Cool Runnings.

243/365 Songs: Perfect Day – Lou Reed

admin — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 09:53:33 +0000

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 the 1996 film Trainspotting, and then in 1997 the BBC released a version of it performed by various artists which became the 1997 Children in Need charity CD.

239/365 Songs: The Fields of Athenry

admin — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 16:26:29 +0000

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 County Galway, who has been sentenced to transportation to Botany Bay in Australia because he stole food to feed his starving family. The song has become an anthem for Irish sports fans since the 90s when it was adopted by the supporters of the Republic of Ireland football team in the World Cup.

233/365 Songs: Could we start again, please? – Jesus Christ Superstar

admin — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 07:49:46 +0000

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 Mary and Judas.

230/365 Songs: Candle in the wind – Elton John

admin — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 10:02:14 +0000

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 of the song from the Australian concert with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. The song was of course rerecorded in 1997 in tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales.

219/365 Songs: Bright Eyes – Art Garfunkel

admin — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 21:21:31 +0000

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.

212/365 Songs: Looking for space – John Denver

admin — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 08:14:08 +0000

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 Denver in 1976 and reached #1 in the Adult Contemporary charts in the US.

206/365 Songs: Unexpected Song – Song and Dance

admin — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 08:39:04 +0000

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 became Unexpected Song when Don Black wrote lyrics for the one-woman show Tell me on a Sunday – have a listen to my previous performance of the title song from this show from back in January.

204/365 Songs: Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen

admin — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 05:24:31 +0000

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 not sure if Antony is a Queen fan, but my Muse repertoire is pretty limited… Happy birthday, Antony and Andrew!

203/365 Songs: Fernando – Abba

admin — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 07:49:38 +0000

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 was rewritten in English for a worldwide release by Abba.

200/365 Songs: Piano Man – Billy Joel

admin — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 18:47:01 +0000

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 was recording today! It dates from 1973 and was written following the failure of Billy’s first album Cold Spring Harbor when he was making his living playing in bars, helping the regulars to “forget about life for a while”. The record company executives decided the original recording was too long, so they cut two verses in half and spliced them together. Billy makes reference to this in his later song The Entertainer: “it was a beautiful song, but it ran too long: if you’re gonna have a hit, you’ve gotta make it fit, so they cut it down to 3:05″. Catriona and I went to the last Billy Joel concert in Glasgow (and two previous ones) and I’ll never forget the encore of Piano Man and the many, many times the crowd sang the chorus as Billy stood ‘conducting’, before eventually bringing his piano and the band for one last chorus.

So, any ideas for the next 165 songs? Is there a song I’ve not played yet which you like? Or an artist which I’ve not really covered? By now I’m sure that you know my style, so let me know if there’s something you think would fit!

199/365 Songs: Easy (like a Sunday morning) – The Commodores

admin — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 09:29:08 +0000

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!

195/365 Songs: Feelings (Dime)

admin — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 20:04:01 +0000

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 played in over the years, so I figured it deserved a place in 365songs! My favourite version? It has to be Beaker singing it in the Muppet Show – “mee mee… mee mee mee mee mee mee…”

188/365 Songs: Don’t let the sun go down on me – Elton John

admin — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 07:46:24 +0000

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 in the UK and in the US reaching #1 in the UK singles charts and on the Billboard Hot 100.

184/365 Songs: Speak softly, love (Theme from the Godfather)

admin — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 07:41:46 +0000

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.

177/365 Songs: All by myself – Eric Carmen

admin — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 15:41:36 +0000

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 Carmen thought the theme was in the public domain but it turned out not to be. Carmen had to come to an agreement with the Rachmaninoff family and since then, Sergei was credited as the composer along with Carmen.

155/365 Songs: Theme from ‘Love Story’

admin — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 22:12:00 +0000

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 return. It’s a bit rough, I’m afraid – it’s very late and I wanted to make that pre-midnight deadline (although if I was still on Palma time I guess I’d have missed it!)

149/365 Songs: Après toi – Eurovision 1972

admin — Sat, 29 May 2010 08:24:43 +0000

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, here’s the original performance – complete with the live orchestra and very demure audience compared to the thousands in Oslo this evening!

134/365 Songs: Honesty – Billy Joel

admin — Fri, 14 May 2010 12:54:00 +0000

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 Billy Joel classic today instead. This is Honesty, and it’s for my friend Pierre-Benoît Hériaud, star of our French video series, Walk, Talk and Learn French. Honesty was released in 1979, and was the third single from the album 52nd Street.

117/365 Songs: Annie’s Song – John Denver

admin — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 22:08:11 +0000

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 John Denver song Annie’s Song. This song was inspired by John Denver’s then wife, Annie, and he apparently wrote the song in about ten minutes on a ski lift in Aspen, Colorado! The beautiful colours of the snow, the trees and the sky “filled up his senses” and inspired him to think about his wife. Who says men can’t multitask!?

115/365 Songs: I’ve loved these days – Billy Joel

admin — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 13:50:15 +0000

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 in Hollywood.

111/365 Songs: The name of the game – Abba

admin — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 13:37:37 +0000

We’re going back to Abba for today’s song. The Name of the game was recorded for the Album – the first studio album to be recorded after the band’s 1977 tour of Europe and Australia. The introductory riff was inspired by Stevie Wonder’s I Wish from his album from the previous year, Songs in the Key of Life.

105/365 Songs: Three times a lady – Lionel Ritchie

admin — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 08:47:35 +0000

I’ve spent the last five days in Cheltenham at the Apple Teacher Institute and last night, after the Showcase of the work produced by teachers in the workshops, we kept the tradition going with a night of karaoke and general silliness. Eddie, one of our teacher-performers, sang Three times a lady (and an unforgettable Purple Rain), so I thought I’d record this song and play it today on 365songs.

93/365 Songs: How deep is your love – Bee Gees

admin — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 20:07:09 +0000

Today’s song is a bit late – sorry! I’ve spent the past eight days travelling with my work, firstly to the Czech Republic and then to the Ukraine, delivering workshops for Apple Education. I’d recorded the past week’s songs before I left and have been activating them each day of my trip, but I’ve been catching up with things since my return and as a result I’ve only just managed to get today’s song recorded. It also appears that there are some technical problems with Libsyn (hosting company) and there’s a chance that the link won’t work. If that’s the case, it should resolve itself in the next few hours.

How deep is your love was recorded in 1977 by the Bee Gees and was part of the soundtrack for Saturday Night Fever and then rerecorded by Take That in 1996.

89/365 Songs: I’ve been waiting for you – Abba

admin — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 05:10:41 +0000

Today’s song is one of my favourite Abba songs. It was the b-side on the 1974 single So Long, and was on the Abba album in 1975, but has since appeared in many compilations.

81/365 Songs: Always on my mind

admin — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 08:20:13 +0000

A new week here on 365songs, and I’m starting with a song which has apparently been covered over 300 times by different artists. It was first recorded by Brenda Lee in 1972 but since then has been famously performed by Willie Nelson, Elvis Presley and even the Pet Shop Boys! And now me – hope you enjoy it!

80/365 Songs: Sorry seems to be the hardest word

admin — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 18:20:55 +0000

I’m running a bit late again today – I’m still recovering from my trip to South Africa! I played this Elton John/Bernie Taupin classic from 1976 on Wednesday night in the Sheraton in Pretoria, so I thought I’d play it for you here.

70/365 Songs: Send in the clowns – A Little Night Music

admin — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 06:48:02 +0000

This beautiful song by Steven Sondheim first featured in his 1973 musical A Little Night Music. There’s actually a Swedish link to this song too: the first time I heard it was on the solo album Ensam by Annifrid Lyngstad (Frida from Abba) when she sang Var är min clown (YouTube link) and it turns out that Sondheim’s musical was based on the Ingmar Bergman film Sommarnattens leende (Tales of a Summer Night)! I’ve always played this quite ‘loosely’ with a fair bit of rubato. I hope you enjoy it!

52/365 songs: Nobody does it better – Carly Simon

admin — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 07:09:47 +0000

Nobody does it better was recorded by Carly Simon for the 1977 Bond movie The Spy Who Love Me. Enjoy!

365 Songs: My love, my life – Abba

admin — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 09:42:15 +0000

This is one of those album songs which never quite got the publicity it deserved, at least at the time of its release. Taken from the 1976 album Arrival, it is thought to be the best example of Agnetha’s voice, according to Björn at least! Agnetha released a compilation of her Swedish and English hits in 1996 and appropriately named it My love, my life. More recently, at last year’s BBC ABBA concert in Hyde Park, Jamie Cullum performed this song in quite a different style. Hope you like my version! Please feel free to comment if you enjoyed it – or indeed if you didn’t!

365 Songs: One man, one woman – Abba

admin — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 08:04:33 +0000

Back to Abba today and the song One man, one woman from The Album. This song was recorded between July and November 1977 and is said to tell of Björn’s feelings about his marriage at the time. The lyrics appear quite negative in the opening verse: “No smiles, not a single word at the breakfast table…” but the chorus and later verses reflect a more positive, deeper love between a couple: “you smile and I realise that we need a shake-up – our love is a precious thing [...] one man, one woman, two friends and two true lovers, somehow we’ll help each other through the hard times.”

365 Songs: You’ve got a friend – Carole King

admin — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 07:01:21 +0000

Good morning and happy February to one and all! It’s a new month on 365 songs and I have lots of good songs planned for February. Have you voted for your favourite January song yet? Make sure you do so that I know which songs are most popular!

Today’s song is for Jenny (and Jim!) out in Spain. It’s the Carole King classic You’ve got a friend. It featured on her 1971 album Tapestry, but it was probably James Taylor’s version which made the song popular. I still prefer the original – I’ve always loved Carole King’s voice and music. I hope you enjoy this!

365 Songs – Caledonia – wishing luck to Andy Murray!

admin — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 22:20:23 +0000

This final entry in January’s 365song collection is the beautiful Dougie MacLean song, Caledonia, and it’s dedicated to Andy Murray who will take on Roger Federer in the Australian Open starting at 8:30 GMT tomorrow morning. I’m publishing this a few hours early to help inspire Andy, although I guess he’ll have other things on his mind I’m sure the whole of Scotland will be behind Andy tomorrow!

365 Songs – She’s always a woman – Billy Joel

admin — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 06:56:18 +0000

After yesterday’s late posting, I thought I’d get today’s posted nice and early! It’s one of my favourite songs by Billy Joel and it’s also one of Catriona’s favourites, so this one is for her.

She’s always a woman was released in 1977 on the album The Stranger. It was also released as a single in the same year peaking at no.17 in the US Billboard chart, but only 53 in the UK singles chart.

I hope you enjoy today’s performance.

365 Songs – I Wonder (Departure) – Abba

admin — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 10:22:28 +0000

It had to be Abba today… this evening Frida and Björn will be opening AbbaWorld in London’s Earls Court. There’s been talk of an Abba Museum opening up in Stockholm for years, but the decision was taken to make the museum a touring exhibit and from today Abba fans can visit this “stunning, sequin-spangled” exhibition in London, and perform with 3D holographic images of Abba, remix their songs and see “never-before-displayed memorabilia from the personal collections of the world’s most cherished pop icons”… Book your ticket now

The song I Wonder was first released as the b-side to The Name of the Game in 1977 and was part of the ‘mini-musical’, The Girl with the Golden Hair, appearing on The Album.

365 Songs – Imagine – John Lennon

admin — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 08:35:04 +0000

Today’s song is the John Lennon classic Imagine. First released in 1971 on the album of the same name, it soon found its way into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs Which Shaped Rock and Roll. My version is fairly true to the original, although I couldn’t resist a modulation into D flat… If you’ve been enjoying my music, please don’t forget to consider donating to my Haiti appeal.

365 Songs – Petite Marie – Francis Cabrel

admin — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 09:44:26 +0000

This song always reminds me of the year I spent in France in 1991-92. Although it dates from 1977 originally, it’s one of those French classics which was always played on the radio, and it was only when I was living in France that I discovered Cabrel. Here’s one version of the original. J’espère que la chanson d’aujourd’hui vous plaira!

365 Songs – Tell me on a Sunday

admin — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 14:33:25 +0000

Today’s song is by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Don Black and was from the musical of the same name, first performed at the Sydmonton Festival in 1979 by Marti Webb. The one-act musical was included as the first part of the show Song and Dance in London’s West End in 1982.

365 Songs – Just the way you are – with special guest Joe Moretti

admin — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 08:10:44 +0000

As part of the Apple Leadership conference happening alongside BETT I attended a dinner on the Silver Sturgeon last night and I had been asked to play a few songs with saxophonist and fellow ADE Joe Moretti. We hadn’t had the time (or piano) to rehearse anything, but enjoyed ‘busking’ our way through a few songs. I managed to record some of the songs so I’m including our version of the Billy Joel song Just the way you are recorded live last night as today’s performance.

365 Songs – Your Song – Elton John

admin — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 14:30:45 +0000

Earlier this week I asked if anyone had any requests and I’ve had loads of suggestions from friends on Twitter, Facebook and even in the real world! I’ve started recording some of these and we’ll start today with Elton John’s Your Song which was requested by Carolyn, dedicated to her dad. I had the pleasure of working with Carolyn’s dad, John Adrain, while I worked on the Partners in Excellence project for East Ayrshire, North Ayrshire and Argyll & Bute. It’s an honour to dedicate this song to John.

365 Songs: New York State of Mind – Billy Joel

admin — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 14:45:43 +0000

In this morning’s Herald “Review of the Decade”, I was reading about 9/11 and I was thinking back to one of my lasting memories from the time after the horrific events. Billy Joel performed the brilliant New York State of Mind at the benefit Concert for New York City and along with the other brilliant performances from the concert it represented so much.

The song was written in 1976 and first appeared on theTurnstiles album. Here’s my performance of New York State of Mind. It doesn’t quite have the emotion of the NYC concert, but I hope you like it nonetheless!

365 Songs: Happy New Year – Abba

admin — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 04:13:49 +0000

Yesterday my new piano arrived – the Roland RD-700GX and I’ve been playing it pretty much non-stop since. As we entered the new year I was thinking back ten years to the Millennium and to the fact that at the time I was playing much more regularly – on New Year’s Day 2000 I was playing in the Marine Highland Hotel in Troon, entertaining the guests at lunchtime.

This year one of my resolutions is to get back into my music and make a bit more time for it, and I’ve decided to challenge myself to posting a song each day of 2010. I’ll just be playing the piano so no need to worry about my singing! I don’t intend these to be perfect performances – I just really want to make a point of recording some stuff because it’s so long since I’ve done so. I’ve no idea if I’ll be able to keep this up to date, but I’ll try my best.

Today I’ve decided to stick to something topical, so here’s a performance of Abba’s Happy New Year. If you’re interested, here’s a bit of history about this song.