Mark Pentleton

This song started life as an instrumental called Soleado by Ciro Dammicco and was recorded in 1974 by his group Daniel Sentacruz Ensemble. The lyrics were added later by Fred Jay. When a child is born has been recorded by many artists, but the most well-known is by Johnny Mathis from 1975. It was used [...]

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I’ve always really liked this song. This may explain the extended version I’ve recorded in which I lost count of the number of modulations! It was recorded by Paul McCartney/Wings in 1977 and was the Christmas no.1 that year. McCartney had a recording studio situation on the Mull of Kintyre in Argyll & Bute and [...]

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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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This Michael Jackson dates from 1988 and was nominated for record of the year in the Grammy Awards of that year. It maybe lacks something without his vocals, the gospel choir and Quincy Jones’ keyboard arrangements, but I hope you enjoy today’s performance anyway!
Podcast: Download (Duration: 4:33 — 6.3MB)

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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) [...]

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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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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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Today’s song is Shania Twain’s From this moment from 1997. It’s especially for our friends Julie and David who celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary today. Ten years ago I accompanied the Mearns Castle Senior Choir who sang this song at Julie and David’s wedding. Happy anniversary, Julie and David!
Podcast: Download (Duration: 4:08 — 5.7MB)

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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 [...]

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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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I’m not a massive fan of Céline Dion, but she has recorded some songs which are absolutely beautiful, including this one from 1996 which was used in the film Up Close and Personal. It was written by Diane Warren (there’s another Diane Warren song coming up later this week!) and was number 1 in many [...]

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Hmm. Not sure about this one. After working very late last night I wasn’t feeling very inspired this morning and this is all I came up with! Any suggestions for the next um… 240 days?!
Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:18 — 4.6MB)

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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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Today’s song is a bit of a rarity. I don’t think it’s particularly well-known in the UK or the US – although I may be wrong! It was written by Lorenzo Barcelata in 1932 and was dedicated to the wife of the Mexican President Emilio Portes Gil. It has been used in a few films, [...]

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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!
Podcast: Download (Duration: 5:28 — [...]

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The previous songs from Les Misérables which I’ve included in my 365songs selection (I dreamed a dream, On my own and Bring him home) seem to have gone down very well, and there are plenty more to come! Today’s song, Empty chairs at empty tables, is sung by Marius about his friends who have not [...]

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This is my version of the original song taken from the film The Prince of Egypt. The song was later reworked by Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston without the “Hebrew chorus”, but it was the full version which we used to do back in the Mearns Castle Senior Choir (= “Glee Club” before Glee Clubs [...]

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This song was written by Rolf Løvland and Brendan Graham and was originally included on the 2002 Secret Garden album Once in a Red Moon. Since then it has been covered by many famous artists including Josh Groban and Westlife who recently sang it at the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize concert celebrating Barack Obama’s win. [...]

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I’ve never been to San Francisco, so I’m not quite sure if I left my heart there! I’ve been following Don McAllister’s blog and tweets about his experiences at MacWorld in San Francisco this year and it got me thinking that I’d not yet included the Tony Bennett classic in my daily lineup, so I hope you [...]

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Today’s song is another favourite from Les Misérables, I dreamed a dream. It has been recorded in 21 languages and covered by many artists including Aretha Franklin, Hayley Westenra and most recently Susan Boyle who performed it on last year’s Britain’s Got Talent.
Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:18 — 4.6MB)

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