18 November 2010 0 Comments

322/365 Songs: I cover the waterfront

322/365 Songs: I cover the waterfront

Today’s song is a 1933 jazz standard from the film of the same name. It was written by Johnny Green and Eward Heyman.
Podcast: Download (Duration: 4:23 — 6.1MB)

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15 November 2010 1 Comment

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

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

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 [...]

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12 November 2010 1 Comment

316/365 Songs: Manhattan – Rodgers & Hart

316/365 Songs: Manhattan – Rodgers & Hart

Today’s song dates from 1925 and has been performed by a variety of performers including Oscar Peterson, Dinah Washington and Ella Fitzgerald.
Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:02 — 4.2MB)

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29 October 2010 1 Comment

302/365 Songs: Back for Good – Take That

302/365 Songs: Back for Good – Take That

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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30 September 2010 0 Comments

273/365 Songs: Ben – Michael Jackson

273/365 Songs: Ben – Michael Jackson

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 [...]

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24 August 2010 0 Comments

236/365 Songs: A Whole new world – Aladdin

236/365 Songs: A Whole new world – Aladdin

Today’s song is from the 1992 Disney film Aladdin and was written by Tim Rice (lyrics) and Alan Menken (music). The less said about Peter André and Jordan’s version the better…!
Podcast: Download (Duration: 2:29 — 3.5MB)

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17 August 2010 6 Comments

229/365 Songs: California Gurls – Katy Perry

229/365 Songs: California Gurls – Katy Perry

Today’s song is especially for my niece and nephew Aimee and Angus who celebrate their 10th birthday today. I’m fairly certain this is the first Katy Perry song I’ve played on 365songs! California Gurls has been a huge hit this summer and topped the charts in the UK, US, Russia, Poland, New Zealand, Ireland, Canada [...]

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12 August 2010 0 Comments

224/365 Songs: Runaway – The Corrs

224/365 Songs: Runaway – The Corrs

This song was originally released in 1995 by The Corrs and didn’t do particularly well in the charts, other than in Ireland and Australia. A remixed version by Tin Tin Out was released in 1999 and was only kept off the #1 spot in the UK by Britney Spears and her début single Baby One [...]

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29 July 2010 0 Comments

210/365 Songs: Nothing’s gonna stop us now – Starship

210/365 Songs: Nothing’s gonna stop us now – Starship

Today’s song is the 1987 Diane Warren and Albert Hammond classic Nothing’s gonna stop us now, performed by Starship and used as the theme song of the film Mannequin. It made #1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK charts, and rightly so in my opinion!
Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:07 — 4.3MB)

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15 July 2010 0 Comments

196/365 Songs: Andante, Andante – Abba

196/365 Songs: Andante, Andante – Abba

Today’s song is the ballad from the 1980 Abba album Super Trouper. It’s always been one of my favourite Abba songs, and I remember playing this often while my wife was expecting our first son. It was released as a single in South America and South Africa, but elsewhere it featured only as an album [...]

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10 July 2010 1 Comment

191/365 Songs: Beyond the sea – Bobby Darin

191/365 Songs: Beyond the sea – Bobby Darin

Based on the French song La Mer by Charles Trenet, this song was recorded in 1959 by crooner Bobby Darin. I’d like to dedicate the song to my wife Catriona who celebrates her birthday today. It’s always been one of her favourite songs, and I hope she likes this version! Happy birthday, Catriona!
Podcast: Download (Duration: [...]

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4 July 2010 0 Comments

185/365 Songs: At last – Etta James

185/365 Songs: At last – Etta James

After my Canada Day performance the other day I was trying to think of something suitable to play for American Independence Day and I came up with At Last. It’s perhaps not the most obvious choice, but the Etta James version of this song has become a standard used at weddings in the US and [...]

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22 June 2010 1 Comment

173/365 Songs: Je t’aime, je t’aimais, je t’aimerai – Francis Cabrel

173/365 Songs: Je t’aime, je t’aimais, je t’aimerai – Francis Cabrel

The title of this song in English is “I love you, I loved you, I will love you”, using the present, imperfect and future tenses of the French verb aimer! I lovely song for us French teachers. But it is, of course, much more than that, and I’ve loved this song since I first heard [...]

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29 May 2010 1 Comment

149/365 Songs: Après toi – Eurovision 1972

149/365 Songs: Après toi – Eurovision 1972

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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26 May 2010 0 Comments

146/365 Songs: Hold me now – Eurovision 1987

146/365 Songs: Hold me now – Eurovision 1987

There was something about Eurovision in the 1980s – it was probably when I first got interested in the contest and its linguistic and musical “exoticism”, but there’s definitely something about some of the big songs from the 80s, including this classic from Johnny Logan with which he won his second Eurovision (previously with What’s Another [...]

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9 May 2010 0 Comments

129/365 Songs: Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana

129/365 Songs: Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana

My previous operatic performance (on the piano!) seemed to go down quite well, so I thought I’d do something else operatic with the Intermezzo from Mascagni’s opera Cavalleria Rusticana. It conjures up Italian countryside on warm summer evenings! Hope you enjoy this!
Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:20 — 4.6MB)

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30 April 2010 0 Comments

120/365 Songs: Beauty and the beast – Disney

120/365 Songs: Beauty and the beast – Disney

Song 120 is the title song from the Disney movie Beauty and the Beast. Written by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, it won the Academy Award for Best Song in 1992. We’re four months into the project now. I’d be interested to know if you have any favourites so far? Let me know in the [...]

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20 April 2010 0 Comments

110/365 Songs: Our love is here to stay – Gershwin

110/365 Songs: Our love is here to stay – Gershwin

A birthday performance for me today! I’ve been saving this song for a special day as it’s always been one of my favourite songs to play. It was first released in 1938 so it’s quite appropriate as I turn 38 today! It also featured in An American in Paris. I recorded it this evening after [...]

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19 April 2010 0 Comments

109/365 Songs: Smile – Charlie Chaplin

109/365 Songs: Smile – Charlie Chaplin

This beautiful song was written by Charlie Chaplin and used in the soundtrack of his 1936 movie Modern Times. It was first recorded by Nat King Cole in 1954 and has been covered many times since.
Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:27 — 4.8MB)

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1 April 2010 0 Comments

91/365 Songs: Hey Jude – the real version!

91/365 Songs: Hey Jude – the real version!

Ok, so I couldn’t resist doing a special performance for April Fools’ day! Here’s the real version of the 1968 Beatles classic, Hey Jude. I hope you enjoy this a bit more than my earlier post!
Podcast: Download (Duration: 5:24 — 7.5MB)

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