Today we begin thinking about ‘Sheep. This will no doubt take several posts to complete as there are many examples from classical, popular and modern music. “Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep)” is a popular song written by Irving Berlin and used in the 1954 film White Christmas. It is commonly performed as a Christmas […]
Animal Songs – Crocodile
It seemed to be a no brainer to follow a post about Alligators with one about Crocodiles. After all as the song goes: ‘See you later Alligator. In a while Crocodile’. “Crocodile” is a song written the famous songwriting partnership of Leiber and Stoller. It was recorded by the Coasters in 1958 and released as […]
Animal Songs – Alligator
Today, we begin a new series featuring songs about our friends in the animal kingdom. Animals feature in a myriad of songs and seem to be the constant theme of the lyricist. We begin with some ‘Alligator’ songs. The word “alligator” may have a double meaning. In addition to the obvious, animal interpretation, “alligator” is […]
January Songs
Today we are celebrating the month of January with a selection of songs that have been written in reference to the month. “January” is a song recorded by Scottish rock band Pilot. Written by David Paton and produced by Alan Parsons, “January” was the sole number-one single in the UK for Pilot, coincidentally going to […]
Poetry for the New Year
The New Year provides us with ample opportunities to reflect on the past and look forward to the future. It is the reason that the first month of the year is named January after the Roman God Janus who is always depicted as having two faces, one looking back the other looking ahead. This is […]
Classical Music for the New Year
J Strauss – The Blue Danube Every New Year collection must include this, the most famous waltz ever written, always the penultimate piece played in the popular New Year’s Day concert from Vienna’s Musikverein. An der schönen, blauen Donau (to give it its proper title), one of the best pieces of classical music to celebrate […]
Songs for New Year
New Year’s Day is a festival observed in most of the world on 1 January, the first day of the year in the modern Gregorian calendar. 1 January is also New Year’s Day on the Julian calendar, but this is not the same day as the Gregorian one. Whilst most solar calendars (like the Gregorian […]
Tracey Thorn – Tinsel and Lights
Tinsel and Lights is a Christmas album by British singer Tracey Thorn (best known as the voice of Everything But the Girl) . It was released in October 2012 on Buzzin’ Fly Records and Merge Records. It is her fourth solo studio album. The album mostly avoids canonical Christmas songs but instead features covers of […]
Nick Lowe – Quality Street
Quality Street: A Seasonal Selection for All the Family is a studio album by British singer-songwriter Nick Lowe. The album was released in October 2013 by Yep Roc Records. The album was featured at No.17 on Rolling Stone’s “40 Essential Christmas Albums” list at the end of November 2019. Nick Lowe was approached by his […]
Warner Brothers Stars – We Wish You A Merry Christmas
“We Wish You A Merry Christmas” This vintage television-related LP was released in 1959 and features 15 great Christmas favourites sung by Warner Brothers Stars. Stars included are Poncie Ponce, Bob Conrad, Eddie Cole, Roger Moore, Ty Hardin, Efrem Zimbalist Jr, Peter Brown, Ray Danton, Dorothy Provine, Ed Byrnes and Connie Stevens and Roger LaVerne […]