Mark Pentleton » minor

356/365 Songs: Walking in the air – Theme from the Snowman

admin — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 20:06:34 +0000

Today’s song is the theme from the 1982 film The Snowman based on the children’s book Raymond Briggs. It was written by Howard Blake and sung by Peter Auty in the film, but popularised by Aled Jones in a single which reached number 5 in the UK charts at Christmas 1985. It has been parodied, much to the hilarity of my son Ewan, in an Irn-Bru advert which you can see here!

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.

92/365 Songs: Gethsemane – Jesus Christ Superstar

admin — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 08:21:51 +0000

Today’s song for Good Friday comes from the musical Jesus Christ Superstar and is the song sung by Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane as he contemplates what is in front of him. I’ve always enjoyed playing this song – it’s a really powerful piece and I hope you enjoy listening!

85/365 Songs: Love on the rocks – Neil Diamond

admin — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 22:24:10 +0000

Very late with this one today – sorry, it’s been a bit of a mad day! This Neil Diamond song was included in the soundtrack of the film The Jazz Singer in 1980 and hopefully fulfils the request from Duncan from Apple with whom I was working last week in South Africa. It’s not quite Cracklin’ Rosie, but I hope this suits!

77/365 Songs: Sway – Dean Martin/Michael Bublé

admin — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 07:45:56 +0000

This song was originally composed in 1953 as ¿Quién será? (Who will it be?) by the Mexican composer and bandleader Pablo Beltrán Ruiz. An English-language version was released in 1954 by Dean Martin and since then it’s been covered by hundreds of artists, perhaps most famously by Michael Bublé in 2003. I hope you enjoy this week’s second Latin song!

63/365 Songs: I say a little prayer – Dionne Warwick

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 08:38:47 +0000

Written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David in 1967 originally for Dionne Warwick, this is one of those songs which has the musical equivalent of a few imperfect subjunctives! There is a bar of 10/4 in the verse, and the chorus is in 11/4 (2 bars of 4/4 and a bar of 3/4). It was first recorded by Dionne Warwick and since then has been performed by many artists including Aretha Franklin, and most recently the cast of Glee! Hope you enjoy today’s song.

61/365 Songs: Bésame mucho

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 07:10:51 +0000

Wales yesterday and Mexico today… Bésame mucho was written in 1940 by Mexican songwriter Consuelo Velázquez. For those of you who like singing along to my performances, here are the lyrics with a translation below. It somehow sounds so much better in Spanish, especially with that imperfect subjunctive in the second line!

Bésame, bésame mucho,
Como si fuera esta noche la última vez.
Bésame, bésame mucho,
Que tengo miedo a perderte, perderte después.

Quiero tenerte muy cerca,
Mirarme en tus ojos, verte junto a mí.
Piensa que tal vez mañana
Yo ya estaré lejos, muy lejos de tí.

Bésame, bésame mucho,
Como si fuera esta noche la última vez.
Bésame, bésame mucho,
Que tengo miedo a perderte, perderte después.

Translation

Kiss me, kiss me a lot,
As if tonight was the last time.
Kiss me, kiss me a lot,
I fear to lose you, to lose you afterward.

I want to have you very close,
See myself in your eyes, see you next to me.
Think that maybe tomorrow
I’ll be far, far away from you.

Kiss me, kiss me a lot,
As if tonight was the last time.
Kiss me, kiss me a lot,
I fear to lose you, to lose you afterward.

365 Songs: Fragile – Sting

admin — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 07:15:46 +0000

Today’s song is Fragile by Sting from the 1987 album …Nothing like the sun. It was also recorded in Spanish and Portuguese and was dedicated to Ben Linder, an American civil engineer who was killed by the Contras while he was working on a hydroelectric project in Nicaragua in 1987.

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 – Wishing you were somehow here again – Phantom of the Opera

admin — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 07:50:23 +0000

Since I’m in London this week I thought I’d do something a bit theatrical, so here’s one of the lesser-known songs from Phantom of the Opera. If anyone is coming to this blog having been at one of my presentations this week, then you may want to find out more about 365songs here.

This evening I’m attending a dinner on the Silver Sturgeon, and along with my ADE colleague Joe Moretti on sax, I’m going to be providing some musical entertainment. I’ll try to record something and post it soon!