Tuesday Tunes – A Good Pick Me Up

Tuesday Tunes is a music meme hosted by Dale at Smurfin’ the Web.

To take part, answer the question and post a link in the comments at his blog HERE.

A Good Pick Me Up
What tracks do you listen to that make you feel good and lift you out of a bad mood when you hear them?

Whenever I feel a little blue, there’s one song guaranteed to make me smile. And I’m not the only one. My sister and I once tested a theory of mine that nobody could resist the power of Mr Blue Sky by ELO. On a dull, rainy day, we drove down Union Street in Aberdeen and when we stopped a the lights, we cranked the volume right up on Mr Blue Sky and rolled down the windows. The effect was amazing and immediate – people started to walk along in time to the music with a little spring in their step, they began smiling and one or two even joined in singing. Another time, when stuck at road works on a motorway, we did the same thing. The cars around us, all with their windows down as it was a sunny day, all started nodding their heads in time to the music, smiling, and the guys in the white van next to us joined in the chorus with us, singing at the tops of their lungs.

Nobody can resist Mr Blue Sky!

So, if you’re feeling low, listen to this marvellous feel-good song and see if it works for you…

The other song that always makes me feel like everything’s just a little bit better is New Shoes by Paolo Nutini.

Tuesday Tunes – Drive Time

Tuesday Tunes is a music meme hosted by Dale at Smurfin’ the Web.

To take part, answer the question and post a link in the comments at his blog HERE.

Drive Time
Songs that you love to listen to in the car.

One of my current favourite tracks to listen to in the car is from the animated film, Cars. I’m not usually a country fan, but some of the new country stuff that’s coming out these days is totally rockin’ and Life is a Highway by Rascal Flatts is one that fits the bill perfectly.

Tuesday Tunes – With The Sound of Music

Tuesday Tunes is a music meme hosted by Dale at Smurfin’ the Web.

To take part, answer the question and post a link in the comments at his blog HERE.

With The Sound Of Music
An easy one this week. Quite simply, what is your favourite song from a musical?

I’m not a massive musicals fan, and Dale has chosen two of my favourites (similar tastes and all that!), but another one that I’ve always loved is The Cellblock Tango from Chicago. Here’s the version from the 2002 movie:

And much as I hated the updated movie version of Moulin Rouge in 2001, I loved how they reworked Roxanne by The Police into a tango. So here’s El Tango de Roxanne:

Finally, well, I’ve saved the very best for last. I adore the entire musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001), so it’s difficult to choose just one song from it. As a result, I’ve chosen one from random in the hopes that it will entice others. Here’s Wicked Little Town:

Really though, go watch it as soon as possible – you won’t regret it!

Tuesday Tunes – Shaken, Not Stirred

Tuesday Tunes is a music meme hosted by Dale at Smurfin’ the Web.

To take part, answer the question and post a link in the comments at his blog HERE.

Shaken Not Stirred
With so many to choose from over the years, what is your favourite Bond theme?

I was going to go with Live and Let Die, but as Markie got in ahead of me and Dale had already gone with A View To A Kill, I’ve gone with number three on my list – The Living Daylights.

It wasn’t the greatest of the Bond movies, but I think Timothy Dalton got a bum rap playing Bond – he did a grand job in the role and was much better than most people give him credit for (terrible grammar there, but I’m tired, so I acknowledge, apologise and move on).  I always loved A-ha (especially Mags on keyboard, who was my favourite!), and this is a cracking tune, with or without the Bond connection.

Tuesday Tunes – I Shouldn’t But I Do

Tuesday Tunes is a music meme hosted by Dale at Smurfin’ the Web.

To take part, answer the question and post a link in the comments at his blog HERE.

I Shouldn’t But I Do
What songs do you like that are out of character for your usual musical taste?

Well, Dale got in first with Jedward‘s Eurovision entry, Lipstick (curse you!), but really, I’m a huge Eurovision geek too, so my number one entry here is the Eurovision Song Contest as a whole. Yes, there are some crap songs on there every year, but on the whole, these days the quality is very high and I love loads of the songs entered from around the world. But, as Dale beat me to the boys with the hair raising, erm, hair, I shall move on to something else…

Paolo Nutini‘s Pencil Full of Lead is so unlike anything else I listen to, but I adore the catchy, old-style big band style of it, and the humour behind it is brilliant too. Just check out the video…

I hate The Smiths. I hate Morrissey even more. Cannot stand the pretentious pr*ck. However, there is one song from this detestable source that I love – How Soon is Now? However, I still prefer the cover version by Love Spit Love from the soundtrack to The Craft, as it doesn’t have the nasal whining of Morrissey – always a plus!

I can’t think of any others off the top of my head, so I’ll leave it at that…

Tuesday Tunes – That One’s a Classic!

Tuesday Tunes is a music meme hosted by Dale at Smurfin’ the Web.

To take part, answer the question and post a link in the comments at his blog HERE.

That Ones A Classic!
Classical music that you love…

Dale stole one of my all-time favourites (O Fortuna from Carmina Burana), so I’ll have to share a few of my other favourites instead…

I adore Mozart, so I have to include at least one of his beautiful compositions. There are so many to choose from, but I’ve gone with Symphony 40 in G Minor – a stunning piece, I think you’ll agree!

Another classical piece I cannot hear often enough is Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saëns. Those not familiar with the title may recognise it as the theme tune to Jonathan Creek (which is a show I love!). Many, many years ago I played the violin and it was this piece that made me love that instrument so much.

Finally, a most wonderful piano-led piece – 18th Variation by Rachmaninoff, which featured in the film Somewhere in Time (which is a lovely film, by the way, and one everyone should watch!).

So, there you go – three classical tunes that really do it for me! Which ones make your list of top classical hits?

Tuesday Tunes – You Know The Movie Song…

Tuesday Tunes is a music meme hosted by Dale at Smurfin’ the Web.

To take part, answer the question and post a link in the comments at his blog HERE.

You Know the Movie Song
Contemporary songs that hit the charts and are associated with a particular movie.

Although Dale already chose a song from The Graduate, for me the stand out song was Sound of Silence – a song I absolutely love! Apparently it was Simon and Garfunkel’s second biggest hit after Bridge Over Troubled Waters (which is a song I can’t stand). Anyway, here it is:

Next up is a song that was re-released to promote a film of the same name in 1986 – Stand By Me. The song, sung by Ben E King, will always conjour up the image of four young boys setting out on a summer weekend to find a dead body.

Finally, a song I’m amazed Dale didn’t pick, You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling by The Righteous Brothers will always make me think of a certain scene in Top Gun:

Tuesday Tunes – I Got A Crush On You

Tuesday Tunes is a music meme hosted by Dale at Smurfin’ the Web.

To take part, answer the question and post a link in the comments at his blog HERE.

I Got A Crush On You
Which musicians did you have a crush on when you were a kid?

The first major music crush I ever had was Adam Ant (aka Stuart Goddard). When I was seven years old  I decided I would one day marry him. I never did, of course, but even now, looking back at him as The Dandy Highwayman or Prince Charming, I think he’s gorgeous. The whole New Romantics look always appealed to me and he just looks so, well, so goddamned pretty! Check him out here in Stand and Deliver and tell me honestly, what woman wouldn’t hand over all her precious jewels immediately and then hope for a kiss from those luscious lips?

Now, bear in mind, this track was released in 1981, when I was only five years old, so I guess my crush began then – I started young – but it was a lasting crush and I still occasionally daydream about my Prince Charming. Of course, it helps that the music was great.

Unfortunately, he hasn’t aged well at all. He’s 56 now and no longer makes me go wibbly at the knees. He’s also had major mental health problems in more recent years which have taken their toll on him.

The other “little bit of a teensy-tiny crush” is a little more unusual. There was a band called Kajagoogoo. Everyone fancied the lead singer, Limahl. Not me. I fancied the bass player, Nick Beggs – the one with the poodle-frizz hairdo. Here’s Kajagoogoo performing their biggest hit, Too Shy (which I still love, by the way!). You’ll see Nick Beggs to the left of the stage, with the big white hair. isn’t he pretty? I always liked the pretty guys…

Too Shy was released in 1983, so I was about seven years old when I first saw him. Thankfully, Mr Beggs has aged a great deal better than Mr Goddard. He’s 49 now and still looks good!

Honorable mention must also go to Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran. He was the keyboard player and had cheekbones to die for! The whole band were kind of pretty really, but to me, he was the prettiest and my favourite.

Here they are performing Girls On Film on Top of the pops in 1981. I was five years old. I still love their music.

He’s 49 years old now and looks fairly decent – he’s not completely lost his looks, but he’s not a stunner either – about average, really.

So there you go, my girlhood crushes laid out for all to see. Obviously I had excellent taste from a very early age because, quite clearly, they were both extremely hot back in the day. Such a pity only one of them can remotely lay claim to that label now…

Tuesday Tunes – “Worst Song Ever!”

Tuesday Tunes is a music meme hosted by Dale at Smurfin’ the Web.

To take part, answer the question and post a link in the comments at his blog HERE.

Worst Song Ever!
Are there any tracks that when you hear them anywhere they make you feel ill?

Yes! There are TWO songs which make me feel physically sick – one actually caused me to quit a job!

The first is Sowing the Seeds of Love by Tears For Fears. Now, I don’t mind Tears For Fears, in fact, I love their original version of Mad World (far better than the abomination that is the cover version by Gary Jules), but Sowing the Seeds of Love makes me ill and I have absolutely no idea why. It just does. I cannot listen to it. As a result, the version I’m posting here might not even be right, I can’t tell for sure because I cannot listen to it, so apologies if it’s a duff version! I also hate the video, so I only watched a few seconds on silent to try to make sure it was the right one!

The second one is Christmas Wrapping by The Waitresses. I once got  a part-time Christmas job working in The Sweater Shop in the Argyll Centre near Edinburgh. They had one Christmas CD which played on repeat all day. one day the CD player got stuck on repeat and played this song over and over and over again. For nearly two hours. I never even made it to my lunch break. I marched into the manager’s office and told her I couldn’t work under such torturous conditions, handed her my badge and said I wouldn’t be back. I never set foot in another of their stores. And now they’re out of business. Now , I’m not saying they went bust because I quit, but I like to think it was karmic payback. I mean, i was actually reduced to tears that day! As a result, this is another song I can’t listen to and so this might be a duff version I’ve posted, but here goes.

So, those are the songs that make my ears bleed and my brain explode in horror. Please don’t ask me to listen to them – I might have to kill you to escape!

Tuesday Tunes – “Front of the Queue”

Tuesday Tunes is a music meme hosted by Dale at Smurfin’ the Web.

To take part, answer the question and post a link in the comments at his blog HERE.

Front Of The Queue
This week the aim is to tell everyone who you think deserves to be at the top of a “frontman/woman” list.

Well, Dale has already stolen my automatic first choice of Freddie Mercury, so I’ve had to think of another. Then I figured, why not take this as an opportunity to let everyone know about a front woman with an awesome voice; a woman who fronts a band who, when I mention them, everyone always says, “Who?”

So, my choice will be the fine vocal talents of singer-songwriter/bassist Johnette Napolitano, lead vocalist of Concrete Blonde.

The voice on this woman is absolutely wonderful. Deep, resonating, powerful, she reaches into your soul and rips it out of you when she opens her mouth to sing. I’ve never been lucky enough to see them live, but have listened to live recordings and she’s just as awesome live as in the studio.

As a special treat, I’ll leave you with the haunting Joey and the pounding Bloodletting – both from the Bloodletting album, which was released in 1990 and re-released in 2010 when the band reformed for a tour to celebrate the album’s 20th anniversary.