Mark Pentleton

I couldn’t end my 365songs project without including this classic. Originally a French song, Comme d’habitude, by Claude François, the English lyrics were written by Paul Anka after he heard the French version while on holiday in the south of France. Anka wrote the song for Frank Sinatra and it was recorded on 30 December [...]

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Written by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne in 1945, Let it snow! (or to give it its proper title, Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!) was first recorded by Vaughn Monroe and has subsequently been covered by many artists. The version I’m most familiar with is Dean Martin’s, but among the trivia [...]

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I’ve always loved the Frank Sinatra version of this song – it sort of represents an ideal image of Christmas for me: “frosted window panes, candles gleaming inside…”. It was written by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne and the Sinatra recording dates from 1954.
Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:33 — 4.9MB)

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This song dates from 1957 and was the title song of Frank Sinatra’s album, setting the tone for an album which featured various songs describing exotic locations, including April in Paris, The Isle of Capri, Blue Hawaii and Autumn in New York. Come fly with me must be one of the only songs ever to [...]

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It’s November and since most of December’s 365songs will probably have a festive feel, I’ve been having a look at some of the songs that I really enjoy playing that I want to fit in before the end of the month. I couldn’t believe that I’d not played Misty! This song dates from 1954 and [...]

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Before September ends I thought I’d better squeeze this song in! It’s actually been quite a nice day here in Dundalk, Ireland, where I’m working for Apple on the K20 Roadshow, but I’m not sure if the weather at home was quite as nice. I hope therefore that September in the rain was an appropriate [...]

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Another jazz standard today: first recorded by Bing Crosby in 1934, this song has been covered by many artists including Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Billie Holiday and the famous Ella Fitzgerald version with the Nelson Riddle orchestra. Hope you enjoy today’s song!
Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:52 — 5.4MB)

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Today’s song was requested by my mum who celebrates her birthday today. I’ve been warned not to say too much or mention her age, so I’ll simply say “happy birthday, Mum!” Fly me to the moon was written in 1954 by Bart Howard and has been recorded by many artists from Nat King Cole to [...]

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Given that today is Fathers’ Day, I asked my dad what song he’d like me to play, so this one is for him! Happy Father’s Day, Dad! I’m sure there’s a photo somewhere of my mum and dad at the Trevi fountain. If not, there’s definitely one of the whole family there in 1980… Dad?
The [...]

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Today’s song is a bit late – sorry! I’ve had another really busy day in a school all day (working with a great bunch of five and six year-olds making video stories, soon to appear on the Radio Lingua Schools website) and then at a Parent Council meeting tonight, so I’ve not had much of [...]

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… and it almost is the wee small hours of the morning by the time I’ve got round to publishing this today! This song dates from 1955 and was first recorded by Frank Sinatra, but has since been covered by various artists including Jamie Cullum, Nanci Griffith and Barbara Streisand. I think the version I [...]

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