Today our series moves on to the source of so many comic songs from the Victorian era – The Music Hall. Although it pre-dates Gilbert and Sullivan in its inception, it comes into full flower around the same time as their great comic operas were filling the theatres. Music Hall is a type of British […]
Comic Songs (2)
Our second visit to the works of Gilbert and Sullivan sees us return to Iolanthe for our first offering. Lord Chancellor who is the main protagonist (“The law is the true embodiment”). is appealed to by the peers to decide who will have the hand of Phyllis with whom they are all smitten. The Lord […]
Music of The World (7)
“Begin the Beguine” is a popular song written by Cole Porter. Porter composed the song in 1935 on a Pacific cruise aboard Cunard’s ocean liner Franconia. In October 1935, it was introduced by June Knight in the Broadway musical Jubilee, produced at the Imperial Theatre in New York City. The Beguine is a dance and […]
Music of The World (3)
“Al di là” (“Beyond”) is a song written by Italian composer Carlo Donida and lyricist Mogol, and recorded by Betty Curtis. The song was the Italian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1961, performed in Italian by Curtis at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France in March 1961. In the United States, Emilio Pericoli […]
Music of The World (1)
Today we begin a new series. We shall be considing songs that became popular in the UK whilst being sung in another language. Despite Brexit and our general failure to learn any other language but our native tongue, it seems that we have long had a love affair with the music of world, no matter […]
Forgotten Songs – 2000’s (2)
“Not Gonna Get Us” is a song recorded by Russian music duo t.A.T.u. for their first English-language studio album, 200km/h in the Wrong Lane (2002). IThe song was written by Sergio Galoyan, Trevor Horn, Elena Kiper and Valery Polienko, while production was handled by Horn. Musically, the song is a Eurodance-inspired song, and lyrically it […]
Some Odd Songs for Father’s Day
“Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” is a song written and recorded by James Brown. Released as a two-part single in 1965, it was Brown’s first song to reach the Bilboard Top Ten, peaking at number eight, and was a number-one R&B hit, topping the charts for eight weeks. It won Brown his first Grammy. […]
Forgotten Songs – 1990’s (5)
“All Together Now” is a song by British band The Farm from their 1991 album Spartacus. Peter Hooton wrote the lyrics in his early 20s, after reading about the Christmas Truce of 1914. The song was first recorded under the title “No Man’s Land” for a John Peel session in 1983. In 1990, Hooton wrote […]
Forgotten Songs – 1990’s (4)
“Lovefool” is a song written by Peter Svensson and Nina Persson for Swedish band the Cardigans’ third studio album, Fist Band on the Moon (1996). It was released as the album’s lead single in Sweden in mid-1996 and in September 1996 in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the song was serviced to radio […]
Forgotten Songs – 1990’s (2)
“Stay (I Missed You)” is a song by American singer-songwriter Lisa Loeb. It was released in May 1994 as the lead single from the original movie soundtrack to Reality Bites (1994). The song was written and composed by Loeb herself, while production was handled by Juan Patiño. “Stay” was originally conceived in 1990, at one […]