Five years ago in 2009 Procol Harum‘s “A Whiter Shade Of Pale” was still the most played song on UK radio. Queen‘s Β “Bohemian Rhapsody” was at number two in that listing. In a strange coincidence both songs use the word ‘fandango’ in their lyrics. Are their any other songs that use ‘fandango’ in their lyrics?
Imagine how different music history might have been if Brian May had left Queen in 1974 just a short while before things really began to take off for them. It might have happened, during 1974 Queen were supporting Sparks in London and Ron Mael took the opportunity to ask Brian to become guitarist for Sparks. I wonder what direction each band would have taken had Mr May said yes? What do you think?
Before they chose the name Queen (which incidentally was chosen by Freddie Mercury) Messrs May, Mercury, Deacon and Taylor were at one point considering a very different name. They might well have been called Build Your Own Boat! Does that work for you? It doesn’t work for me. Would they have been as big with a name like that? Who knows?
Songs returning to the top of the UK singles charts on separate chart runs is not an uncommon occurrence. Often after a death; “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “My Sweet Lord“. However in the USA it has only happened once to my knowledge. That was a feat achieved in 1960 and 1962. The song was originally by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, although their version only made it to number 28 in the US chart in 1959 and even that was as a B-Side to “Teardrops On Your Letter”
Back in 1975 when Queen‘s “Bohemian Rhapsody” was number one in the UK chartsΒ for the first time did you notice that it’s lyrics contained the name of the song which succeeded its 9-week run at the top in early 1976? I certainly didn’t notice, but obviously it has the phrase “Mama Mia” in it which is the title of the Abba song which followed it to number one. I wonder if that has ever happened since? It certainly didn’t happen when “Bohemian Rhapsody” returned to the UK number one spot after the death of Freddie Mercury in 1991. It was followedΒ by Wet Wet Wet with “Goodnight Girl” then.
That well-knownΒ badger supporter Brian May has unearthed some recordings made by Freddie Mercury and Michael Jackson at Jacko’s home in 1983. He has workedΒ on them with fellow Queen member Roger Taylor and William Orbit. I guess the issue will be whether or not the three songs will live up to the expectations. was it quality control that kept them from release until now? Another big name duet for Jacko was Mick Jagger who joined the JacksonsΒ on the single “State Of Shock” from the brothers ‘Victory’ album in 1984. Personally I was and still remain underwhelmed by that song. Other elements of posthumous twiddling may have fared well but for me the quality was lacking with the Beatles “Free As A Bird” which was based around a very basic John Lennon demo recording.But let’s keep fingers crossed that this stuff is actually good.
Paul GambacciniΒ has suggested that the songs were dubbedΒ the Llama recordings given that JackoΒ allegedly brought his Llama into the studio when Freddie was there. A cautionary note was sounded by theΒ Guardian’s Laura Barton who said “It feels like we’re sucking the artists’ bones dry… sometimes it would be nice to leave them with a little bit of dignity.” I think I can agree with her sentiments there. But I obviously won’t pass judgement until I have heard the songs. The release seems likely to be later this year. So while you wait take a listen to some classic Jacko and classic Queen and a couple of Jacko versus Queen mash-ups!
After continuing to pile on the sales throughout 2012 Adele’s ’21’ album, which was already the biggest selling long player of the new century, has now moved above Oasis’ ‘(What’s The Story) Morning Glory?‘ to reach number 4 in the best-selling UK albums of all time. It is also the second best-selling album in 2012Β after Emeli Sande‘s ‘Our Version Of Events’. If it continues to sell at the same rate it is likely to become the 2nd best-selling UK album ever by this time next year. Not bad for an album that was only released in 2011 is it? Incidentally the best-selling UK album currently is Queen‘s ‘Greatest Hits‘.
At the same time as this excellent news, it has also been revealed that Adele’s ’21’ is the most returned and exchanged Christmas gift this year. Presumably because almost everyone in the country already has it. This is based on figures provided by the Music Magpie site. Emeli Sande was in second place with One Direction‘s (or Wand Erection as I like to call them) ‘Up All Night’ in third place. What album’s have you exchanged and why?
I always get a bit of a good feeling when a favourite song, or even one that I recognise is mentioned in a story, do you? My favourite author Stephen King does it quite often. Now there is a regularly updated site called Small Demons that have compiled a list of the songs mentioned most often in works of fiction. Click here to read about it in the NME. Here is the top 20;
1. The Beatles β ‘Hey Jude’
2. Elvis Presley β ‘Heartbreak Hotel’
3. Led Zeppelin β ‘Stairway To Heaven’
4. USA For Africa β ‘We Are The World’
5. AbbaΒ β ‘Dancing Queen’
6. Carl Perkins β ‘Blue Suede Shoes‘
7. The Beatles β ‘Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds‘
8. The Beatles β ‘Eleanor Rigby’
9. Nirvana β ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’
10. Queen β ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’
11. Los Del Rio β ‘The Macarena’
12. Michael Jackson β ‘Beat it’
13. Creedence Clearwater Revival β ‘Proud Mary’
14. OneRepublic β ‘Apologize’
15. The Beatles β ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’
16. The Beatles β ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’
17. ‘Lili Marleen’ (first recorded by Lale Andersen)
18. Michael Jackson β ‘Billie Jean’
19. Bob Dylan β ‘Like A Rolling Stone’
20. Rolling Stones β ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’
I get why some of these would appear, but USA For Africa, Β “Macarena” and “Apologize”? What’s that all about? “Hey Jude” has been mentioned in Stephen King’s Dark Tower series. The Beatles have a probably unsurprising five titles in the top 20 with Michael Jackson the only other artist with more than one with his two entries. I suppose an entry for the Fab Four‘s “Paperback Writer” would have been quite apt wouldn’t it?Β Click here to see a longer and nicely pictorial list.
Curses! Tin foiled again!
The Official Charts Company have released details of the biggest selling CDs in the UK since the formatΒ was included in album sales. The list probably holds no real surprises, but clearly has a few disappointing entries in my opinion. The fact that James Blunt, Dido, Leona Lewis and David Gray are in the top 10 shows how bland the UK’s music tastes have become in my opinion. Is this a result of many people buying their CDs from large supermarkets these days? Who knows, but surely that plays a part. Anyway here is the top 10;
1- Gold Greatest Hits – Abba: 4m
2 – 21 – Adele: 3.5m
3 – What’s the Story Morning Glory – Oasis: 3.4m
4 – Back to Black – Amy Winehouse: 3.225m
5 – Back to Bedlam – James Blunt: 3.209m
6 – No Angel – Dido: 3.031m
7 – Come on Over – Shania Twain: 3.02m
8 – Spirit – Leona Lewis:2.95m
9 – Urban Hymns – The Verve: 2.9m
10 – White Ladder – David Gray 2.8m
There are clearly some classic albums in the list from Oasis, the Verve and Amy Winehouse. But the current top-sellingΒ UK CD is Abba Gold, probably soon to be overtaken by Adele’s ’21’. One thing that surprised me was that Dire Straits’ ‘Brothers In Arms’ , the first million selling CD was not in the top 10 or even the top 30. Dido has one more album in the list at number 11. Robbie Williams and Coldplay have three albums each in the top 30. The Beatles’ compilation ‘1’ is at number 12 and there is no entry for Queen in the top 30 either.
The team at the finish, just how fresh do we look? π
Regular readers will know that I took part in the world-famousΒ Great North Run last Sunday. It is a half marathon (13.1 miles) which starts in Newcastle and finishes in South Shields. It was my first half marathon for 17 years so I wasn’t expecting a great time. I was part of a team of five and I am pleasedΒ to say that I came third in that little group with an official time of 2.44. But also big congratulations go to the rest of the team as well; Stuart O’Hara, Nick Cooper, Simon Downs and David Carline. In the overall race I was 35,301st, but I did still have a pulse at the end of the race and I have suffered no major aches or injuries. To my knowledge I was beatenΒ by a the fridge man, a gingerbread man, a ScoobyΒ Doo (although I did beat another ScoobyΒ home) and Jesus. JC carried a heavy wooden cross for the whole run and gave me a rather disdainful look when I asked whether he was in fact Jesus or Brian.
The atmosphere and support wereΒ tremendous and perhaps the only negative was the heavy rain at the start. especially as it took me 50 minutes to actually reach the start line from when the gun went off. But there were somewhere in the region ofΒ 55, 000 entrants. A lot of our excellent Olympians and ParalympiansΒ were also there to offerΒ support. In fact I was even able to high-fiveΒ with the swimming superstar Ellie Simmonds and the magnificent Mobot himself, Mo Farah.
Up to now we have raised 83% of our target sponsorship for the Save The Children charity. So thank you to all of you who have contributed so far, but it’s not too late. Click here if you would like to donate. I also promise that this will be my last begging post for some time. So now for a special treat how about some appropriate songs?
With Just A Hint Of Mayhem 