Mark Pentleton

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, [...]

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Today’s 365song is perhaps one of the most well-loved carols: Away in a manger. It was first published in 1885 and the text was attributed to Martin Luther. There are two well-known melodies, but I’ve chosen to play the original, known as St. Kilda. I love Hayley Westenra’s studio recording of this carol – a [...]

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I tend not to play classical pieces on here – mostly because I’m so out of practice! Here’s some Debussy today. I think it should probably be played much faster, but I like it a bit ‘watery’ and fluid. Hope you like it too!
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I’m not sure how well this song is known. It is from the 1992 Chris de Burgh album The Power of Ten and I’ve always liked it – probably something to do with listening to it while I was living in France in 1992. The Connemara connection was strengthened by Sardou’s Les Lacs du Connemara [...]

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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.
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If you thought yesterday was cheesy, today is worse! I mentioned that I’d played Hero to someone yesterday and they immediately thought of the Mariah Carey version, so I thought I’d add this to my collection. It probably lacks something without Mariah’s warbling, but I hope you like it nonetheless.
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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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Today’s song is the theme song of the 1997 blockbuster Titanic. It was recorded by Céline Dion and went to number 1 all over the world, becoming the world’s best-selling single of 1998. The song also won an Academy Award for Best Song, several Grammies and a Golden Globe. I hope you enjoy my performance [...]

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I didn’t quite expect to be playing a Miley Cyrus song on here, but yesterday I was invited to the Valedictory Service at my sons’ primary school. This was an end-of-term celebration of achievement, and an opportunity to say goodbye to the primary sevens who will be leaving in a few days’ time to move [...]

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Today’s song is the Michael Bublé hit Everything from the 2007 album Call me irresponsible. Apparently written for his now ex-girlfriend Emily Blunt, this song was nominated for a Grammy. It also topped the charts in the US (adult contemporary), Poland, and twice in Italy, with more than a year in between each time!
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It wasn’t until I listened to the evening news on the radio in the car last night that I realised the significance of yesterday’s date. For many years my Italian grandmother would reminisce about the sad events which happened on 10th June 1940 when Churchill infamously gave the order, “Collar the lot!”, referring to Germans [...]

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Today’s song is the 1965 Petula Clark song Downtown. Hope you enjoy it. Sorry if you were hoping for a long story about what this song means to me – I’ve had a really busy day and Junior Apprentice is on in 5 minutes!
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This song from 1982 on the basic level was about the black and white keys on a piano, but on a deeper level dealt with racial harmony and integration. It was apparently inspired by Spike Milligan’s comment to Paul McCartney “black notes, white notes, and you need to play the two to make harmony, folks”! [...]

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Today’s song is a bit different: Lift the wings is from the full stage version of Riverdance, first performed at Dublin’s Point Theatre in 1995, following the successful Riverdance interval act at the previous year’s Eurovision Song Contest. As a song, Lift the wings is not particularly well-known, but I’ve always really liked it and [...]

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So, our second song of February is from the Schönberg/Boublil musical Miss Saigon. The song is a duet by the characters Chris and Kim as they pledge their love for each other. I’m not sure if it works, but I’ve tried to give the song a bit of a far eastern flavour by using lots [...]

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On Monday here in Scotland we celebrate Burns’ Day, 251 years after his birth. All across Scotland people will be attending Burns Suppers and celebrating ‘Scottishness’. Tonight we’re off to a ceilidh so I thought I’d make this weekend a bit of a “Scottish special”, starting today with one of my favourite Scottish songs, Wild [...]

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This song was first appeared on the Visitors album in 1981 and it is said to tell the story of the separation of Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. It was reworked into a ballad for the Mamma Mia film, this time focusing on two people finding love again. I think it’s one of the best [...]

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