9 posts tagged “songs”

‘I Could Be So Good for You’ has been covered by other artists. For starters, a Mr Tom Jones impersonator singing the Minder theme tune with his Welsh accent:

   If you think that’s bad compared to Dennis’s original, how about this one, from the co-composer of the song, Gerard Kenny? (Dennis Waterman’s ex-wife Patricia was Kenny’s collaborator, hence the Waterman–Kenny credit—but this gave rise to the idea in Little Britain that Dennis stars, writes and sings his ‘feem toons’.) Dennis appears in this video, but not as Terry, as far as I can tell!

During a quiet moment at work, I put these on. A small tribute to Dennis Waterman, his starring roles, and his singing the ‘feem toon’.

I chatted with Dean Conlon of Groove 107­·7 FM yesterday—as I have mentioned before, it’s by some margin my favourite radio station not just in Wellington, but the whole country, with its decent mix of music.
   As Dean minimizes the chit-chat and concentrates on the music, sometimes you don’t always get to know who the artist is. There was a great piano cover of ‘Life on Mars’ a while back and Dean revealed to me that the group is called the Bad Plus. Here they are, with their EPK:

If you were to make a mix tape to sum up 2008, what would the first track be? Please share that song with us.

Tape? I may be old-fashioned but even I have moved from tapes. (Nothing beats an LP though.)

   And the reason for this is, of course, the TV series, Ashes to Ashes—and I am glad to report that on the way out to Hong Kong, Air New Zealand had the entire series on the entertainment system. Finally, some New Zealand programming decisions that make sense!
   The conclusion of Xanadu on Broadway deserves a note, too, especially with Kerry Butler as Kira, spoofing Olivia Newton-John’s Australian accent and exaggerating her singing style. Newton-John’s favourite song in the original musical was ‘Suspended in Time’, here performed by Butler and co-star Cheyenne Jackson:    My reason for choosing these two is that they somehow represent the Zeitgeist of the year. It’s interesting that they both date originally from 1980, which in some ways reflects the mood of 2008. A new US president and economic uncertainty marked the year then, just as they do now.

[Cross-posted] Normally I don’t do memes but since this has come from a real-life friend of mine, as opposed to someone I only know online, I am making an exception. So, Laura, here are my songs. (And you know me, I break all rules, which I will kind of do here!)

The rules
   1. Link to the person who tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
   2. Share five songs you are embarrassed to admit to others that you like and tell why.
   3. Tag seven random people at the end of your post.

The songs
   Here’s the thing: not a heck of a lot embarrasses me, especially not song preferences. So I will name some songs that you’d expect me to be embarrassed about but I am not.
   1. ‘Gin and Juice’, as performed by Richard Cheese. I know next to nothing about hip-hop though I eventually did hear the original done by Snoop Dogg. However, I heard the lounge version of this by Richard Cheese and his band first. It’s quite pleasant to listen to.
   2. ‘Jerusalem’. ‘Did those feet in ancient time / Walk upon England’s mountains green?’ Grand stuff.
   3. ‘On the Inside’, the theme from the Australian soap Prisoner, or as it was called in the UK, Prisoner in Cell Block H. My mother was a midwife and after school I would wait for her at the hospital while she finished work. I’d go into the TV room where the mothers were smoking away and watching Prisoner. Being a child, in those days, you couldn’t go and switch the channel while adults were watching. So I tended to see the end credits and the haunting song, and I can probably still sing parts of it today.
   4. ‘Diamonds Are Forever’, performed either by Shirley Bassey in the original or David McAlmont in a cover version conducted by Nicholas Dodd. Boys aren’t meant to like this song, but I love it. And McAlmont’s androgynous version is actually very good. And come on, it’s composed by John Barry with lyrics by Don Black. That makes it cool.
   5. ‘Have You Never Been Mellow?’, performed by Olivia Newton-John. It might have been composed by John Farrar. O. N.-J. rocks. There, I said it.

As I once blogged, I tend not to tag people and leave it to them to take up these memes at their leisure. So, if you wish to share your embarrassing songs, please go ahead.

What were your top 10 favourite songs or albums of 2007?

Songs that had me this year:

‘Two for the Road’
‘La Belle Vie’ (tr. ‘The Good Life’)
‘Avenues and Alleyways’
‘I’m Alone Now’
‘Gröna små applen’
‘I’ve Got You under My Skin’
‘Smile’
‘Theme from The New Avengers’
‘Life on Mars’
‘Theme from Life on Mars’

   OK, so none of these were actually released this year, but these were “my themes” for ’07. Many stay on the list for ages. Dropped off the list this year for regular sing-alongs: ‘I’ll Be Seeing You’, ‘We May Never Love Like This Again’ and the theme from Casino Royale, ‘You Know My Name’.
   Of the newfangled stuff that would have been on Top of the Pops if they were still making it, I am happily disinterested. Amazing what young people will listen to these days.

A very nice chap by the name of Apollo introduced me to Dizzler, a media player that allows one to stream (legally) music, video and radio. It’s pretty good and I incorporated it into my Facebook page, after programming in a bunch of songs, two videos and one radio station (Rix FM in Sweden).
   It’s not without its faults. Monica Zetterlund, one of Sweden’s top jazz artists, isn’t even represented on Dizzler. Sacha Distel has four songs, and one of them doesn’t even sound like him. KCSM-FM, the jazz station in the Bay Area, is not among the radio choices. On Facebook, I can’t see the search box words (black text on a black background is not a very good idea) and when I can see them, they’re set in Arial or Arial Rounded—two typeface families I intentionally uninstall from all our company computers as they breach notions of good taste and common decency.
   Apollo does admit it is more geared toward pop songs and the US, however. And despite its shortcomings, it does have enough songs for me to have a wee playlist of favourites. I’d still recommend it and hope that its catalogue becomes more comprehensive. Having the complete songs on my Facebook page is a nice touch.

A while ago, I raved about Avidiva, a girl group started by my friend Jennifer Hamilton. You’ll get to see how good they are for yourself this Friday on Good Morning, TV One. However, you won’t see me. I’ll blog more on the show after Friday, since it’s important you see Jen and the girls!

I’ve placed a small audio demo from my friend Jennifer Hamilton and her group, Avidiva (which I also named). Thought fellow Voxers (especially the local ones) might enjoy the covers that this New Zealand girl group performs, to audiences nationally.