Yes, I have definitely got behind on blogging about books! Oh well, here’s a flavour of what I’ve been reading with links to two books I have reviewed separately.
A book I started in January and finished in February was the brilliant The Golden Age of Children’s TV by Tim Worthington.
My quintet of music books
I spent pretty much the whole of the next two calendar months just reading music books, and they covered pretty much every era of music.
The Closest Thing to Crazy by Mike Batt
I have mentioned more than a few times how much I love Mike Batt’s music, from The Wombles to Barbara Dickson and Summertime Special to Katie Melua. His autobiography is every bit as incredible and as varied as his musical life. One of life’s iconoclasts, he has never been more than one right move away from runaway success or one wrong move away total disaster. The rollercoaster life he has lived has included both of those extremes in equal measure. Just reading it was a white knuckle ride so living it must have been exhilarating and scary in equal measure. The genius of his song writing has always rescued him when, often, self-imposed disaster has hit him. This is a vibrant, honest and frequently very funny autobiography from one of music’s true originals. Definitely a book I can recommend unreservedly.
Whatever Happened to Slade? by Daryl Easlea
My next book covered in incredible detail the rise, fall and rise again of one of the most influential groups of the 1970s. Slade’s journey from obscurity to stardom via two changes of name and two changes of image could not happen anymore. They gigged continuously, found local success then national success, but refused to move away from their Black Country roots. Like Mike Batt, their story is a rollercoaster but not a self imposed one. Their manager Chas Chandler was responsible for their breakthrough and the all conquering imperial period they enjoyed, but his decision to chase US success that was never going to happen took them away from the UK at their height and killed their chart career stone dead for 5 years or more. Their return to success in the early 80s was entirely down to their brilliance as a live act, as recounted in one of the best sections of a brilliant book. In 1980, they appeared at the Reading Festival, as a late replacement for Ozzy Osbourne’s Blizzard of Oz, as hasbeens who no one wanted to see. By the end of their set they had blown away every other band that weekend. It’s a book with all the detail of the most exhaustive website, but it’s written by Daryl Easlea who is a massive fan which gives the book a narrative drive that makes it one of the best books about a band ever written.
Reach for the Stars by Michael Cragg
We move forward to the mid 1990s for Michael Cragg’s book about pop’s massive period of chart domination which saw any number of bands coming through with only one aim, to entertain. The title is, of course, from S Club 7’s Reach, one of my favourite songs. They feature quite heavily as do the Spice Girls, Sugababes, Blue, Five and many others. Presented in the first person for the most part, Cragg has used interviews from the time and more recent catch ups to present the history of a time where fun was the name of the game but where the artists who made sure we were having fun paid a huge price mentally, physically and emotionally. Reading about their struggles made it a very bittersweet and very honest read. It’s definitely One in a Million!
The Sound of Being Human by Jude Rogers
After reading the previous three I went back to a book that I loved first time round. Guess what? I loved it just as much second time round! Here’s my review of it from April 2023 The Sound of Being Human by Jude Rogers
O Sing Unto the Lord by Andrew Gant
Another music book, but one as different as you could imagine from the previous four. A scholarly book with a welcome appearance of the author’s sardonic humour throughout, this book by Andrew Gant reflects on the history of English Church music from a social, cultural, political and historical point of view. He draws the characters involved extremely well throughout, turning them into flesh and blood individuals in the way that a historical novelist would. His recreation of times past kept me fascinated throughout because of his insights and his incredible breadth of knowledge. If you are interested in music and want to learn about the dangerous times through which some of the composers lived, you will find this as much of a page turner as Wolf Hall.
I have been collecting signed photos since I was 12 or 13 years old. Pretty much 95% of my collection has been built up by writing to celebrities from a range of fields, acting, singing and sporting. Nothing can quite match the thrill of receiving a signed photo and occasionally a personal reply in the post. However, at the moment, I do not have the free time to pursue that avenue, though I do intend to go back to it. To fill in some gaps in my collection I have been to the odd signing session, but my visit to the London Film Fair was the biggest convention I have attended so far. So, what was my day like, and would I go again? Well, read on.
I Want It Now!
The reason I wanted to attend this particular convention was to finally meet one of my first celebrity crushes, Julie Dawn Cole. I was close to meeting her at Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory at the BFI but as you will discover, if you read it, it was a case of so near yet so far. This time, I decided to have a picture with Julie as well as getting a couple of signed photos. Now, it’s an odd phenomenon, or maybe it isn’t and everyone else just appears more confident but I always get nervous when meeting a celebrity who has been part of my cultural hinterland. Well, with Julie you could double the nerves and then add more! I had wanted to meet her for so long and I thought that I might chicken out if I didn’t go to see her straight away, so before I walked around the stalls I went straight to her signing table. I was shaking with nerves and excitement, as I reverted to a star struck inner child, but when I finally got to the front of the queue she put me at ease (as far as that was possible!) by being just as lovely as I had imagined. I got two signed photos, the Veruca Salt picture reflecting the part for which she is most famous, and the part that enchanted my 10 year old self, Jo Longhurst in Angels. She seemed genuinely pleased that I was a fan of Angels, and she told me that the original Angels were still in touch although it was very hard for them to arrange times to meet up because their schedules didn’t quite match! I was really pleased to hear that, because the whole of the original cast from the first three series seemed so tight knit on screen, and it was nice that they had a similar closeness off screen. It was a fantastic experience meeting Julie and that was because she focused entirely on me during the brief chat and made me think that in some way she enjoyed meeting me as well. An inner child can dream can’t he?!
Vampires and Man Eating Plants!
The other childhood favourite I wanted to see was Janina Faye who made a number of movies as a child and a teenager, most famous of which were the 1958 version of Dracula with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, and the 1963 film version of Day of the Triffids alongside Howard Keel and my favourite actor of the 40s and 50s Mervyn Johns. Janina was absolutely lovely and very happy to talk about the films and the actors she appeared alongside. I told her that I had first seen Dracula at the age of 10 or 11 because I was obsessed with vampires at the time. The film terrified me so much that I had not watched it since, although I do have the Blu-ray version on my TBW pile of films and TV! We talked about Mervyn Johns and I suggested a couple of his films, particularly The Halfway House which she might want to check out. She said that the Triffids movie was disappointing because it cut so much of the book out, which gave me the opportunity to hand her my book for her to sign the front cover. It might be an odd place to sign it, but every time I reread the book I will be reminded of 10 minutes chatting to a lovely and vibrant lady.
Something I realised
Just as an aside, I thought back to my early favourites and one connection became clear. All the actresses I loved watching as a child were part of the action, not just sitting back and being demure. Julie, of course, was the ultimate ‘bad egg’ who controlled the world around her until she met her match in Willy Wonka. Janina was determined to survive as Susan in Day of the Triffids and played her part in staving off the end of the world. Katy Manning as Jo Grant was often going it alone, ignoring both the Doctor and the Brigadier. I met Katy back in 2006 at a Doctor Who signing. Finally, Roberta Tovey played Susan in the two big screen Dalek spin offs and was in the thick of the action throughout. Roberta is the last of that quartet I want to meet so I am keeping my eyes peeled! It’s interesting how much your early cultural experiences inform your character, and true to that my favourite girls in real life were the types who were more than happy to shape their world by being determined and taking risks.
The stalls and my purchases
Having never been to a convention of this size, I was not prepared for the range of temptation that they would put in my path! I came away having spent far more than anticipated. Just as well it was a late birthday treat really! Anyway, as you can see below, I got some memorabilia that I probably would not have found elsewhere. The biggest find was the original cinema programme of Scrooge from 1970. I am old enough to remember the days when many films had these available, and now that they are obsolete these connections to a cultural past become ever rarer and ever more valuable from a historical perspective. Luckily I picked up Scrooge for £5 and I don’t think it had been read more than once, so pristine was it. Another film from around the same time, Melody, was absolutely massive in Japan, and at another stall I found an original Japanese cinema programme for £4. My luck was definitely in! I had no intention of adding to my huge TBW pile, so of course I picked up the original Star Wars trilogy, classic sci-fi film Things to Come and the entire first series of 70s anthology Thriller! Oh well, I paid less than £15 for the lot so I feel like I got some real bargains there. Finally, I got a book covering every film Jenny Agutter has ever made. One of our best and most versatile actresses, there’s a number of these films I have not heard of let alone seen, so it will definitely be a fascinating read. By the way, I wrote to Jenny a number of years ago and received a signed photo so this icon of my younger years is already safely in my collection.
And finally ….
I have never wanted to have a picture of myself with one of my favourites on the basis that I would ruin the picture! Well, this time I did and to my surprise I don’t seem to have done, although I will leave you to decide.
The musical version of Clueless came with impeccable credentials. The original screenwriter Amy Heckerling adapted her own film, K T Tunstall wrote the score and Glenn Slater, the writer behind Tangled, Sister Act and School of Rock amongst many others, provided the lyrics. The film itself has proved to be a touchstone for three generations of teens as they watched and re-watched Alicia Silverstone et al. I had only seen the original film once, but I remembered enjoying it immensely, so I was expecting a really good evening.
The Story
Clueless is based on the novel Emma by Jane Austen. The central character Cher is a 17 year old high school student who lives with her widowed father who is a lawyer. Her stepbrother Josh, who also wants to be a lawyer, sees her as interfering and shallow while she sees him as dull and idealistic. Cher’s best friend Dionne is more than happy to go along with Cher’s schemes to match ‘suitable’ couples together. Her attempt to get her grades increased by the grumpy Mr Hall works when she sets him up with fellow teacher Miss Geist. So, when new girl Tai arrives she decides to turn her from a pink haired nerd into someone worthy of Elton, the narcissistic, shallow Elton, even though Tai and skateboarder Travis are far more compatible. Deciding to take advantage of her profile at the school, she sets her sights on fashion lover Christian, but she is in for a shock.
The Cast
Emma Flynn plays Cher, the central character with sweetness, determination, depth and humour. At no point do you see Cher as a figure of fun. Yes, she can be misguided and far too sure of her instincts, but she is genuinely sweet and kind. When something happens that she feels is wrong she is determined to make it right. She is the friend who will back you up to the hilt but only if you can keep up with her! By refusing to make her a caricature, Flynn centres the whole performance. Her acting and singing fizz with verve and energy and she has an absolutely fantastic voice. She has a fantastic stage presence and your eyes are drawn in her direction every time she is on stage, not just sporadically! Emma Flynn isn’t a star of the future, she is a star right now, and we were really lucky to see her as the perfect Cher.
Keelan McAuley is the perfect foil for Cher in his role as Josh. You completely buy into his earnest young intern who has a clear sense of right and wrong like Cher. The problem is that his sense of right and wrong often clashes with hers. In the song, Human Barbies he sets out his case for the prosecution, but in that song you sense that he is trying to help her out rather than criticise. When he feels that she is setting her sights on the wrong guy he is clear that his role is as her protector. Their spiky relationship is the centre of the story and thanks to Mcauley it rings completely true. His singing is powerful, and in the boyband influenced Reasonable Doubts he nails one of the absolute showstoppers.
Chyna-Rose Frederick is Cher’s best friend Dionne, whose easy friendship with her is in contrast to the fiery relationship she has with boyfriend Murray (Rabi Kondé) Despite their regular spats it is clear that they really love each other, and in that, if in little else, she is prepared to be quite independent of her friend. Like Cher, Dionne is completely driven by what she sees as the best for everyone else. Frederick is sassy, funny and completely watchable whenever she is on stage, keeping up with Flynn which is no mean feat.
Romona Lewis-Malley plays new girl Tai. Initially she has pink hair and unfashionable clothes and she is worried about coming to a new school. That is the reason that she allows Cher and Dionne to make her over, but it is clear that she is not really comfortable with her new image. She has more in common with Travis (Blake Jordan) who shares her love of cartoon characters and loves her artistic talent. Both characters are appealing and you definitely root for them as a couple even when Cher doesn’t.
Max Mirza and Isaac J Lewis play Elton and Christian respectively. They are both clothes horses, both inordinately vain and love to make an entrance. There the similarities end, because where Elton is calculated and selfish, Christian is ingenuous and open hearted. Both actors play their characters flaws to the hilt, but they also give performances that are nuanced and far from one note.
The Music
The best way to describe the music is as a 90s mixtape that takes you straight back into the decade. There were so many good songs that it seems almost wrong to pick any out for special praise. The music of K T Tunstall and the lyrics of Glenn Slater is so right and so familiar that you will feel as if you’ve heard these songs before. To get a feel of the music I can do no better than point you in the direction of K T Tunstall’s Clueless Mixtape which features six songs you will be playing again and again if you’re anything like me. My favourite was Reasonable Doubts sung by Josh and his fellow interns as he voices his distrust of Christian and his certainty that he is completely wrong for Cher. Any song that has the lines ‘This guy is thicker than a porpoise/He will try to habeus her corpus!’ is total genius and had me laughing out loud at the show and whenever I’ve listened to it since!
My entirely objective point of view
I have seen a number of musicals over the years, but not one of them has had me grinning and singing along (quietly) in the theatre like this one. It was a total blast and it was so refreshing to hear one that can stand alongside the best of the genre past or present. There are some really good modern musicals and make no mistake whatever, Clueless is right up there at the top of the pile. It would be remiss of me not to give a shout out to the incredible set design of Mikiko Suzuki Adams who made the most of every single inch of the stage with her innovative designs. Wait till you see how they introduce the cars! I was there on a Thursday night and it wasn’t a full theatre which was such a shame. Something this good deserves a full house every night. Everyone there had a marvellous time watching a show that transcended the generations with ease. Whether you saw the film version of Clueless first time round or caught up with it via streaming, I guarantee you will absolutely adore this fantastic piece of stage magic. Book those tickets now and support the huge talent on and behind the stage. As the final encore has it, ‘It’s all that/ and a bag of chips’!
Sisters: Annie Lennox and Friends Royal Albert Hall March 6 2025
This was a concert my wife in particular never expected to be able to see. A massive fan of Annie Lennox since her Tourists days, Janet has all of Annie’s solo recordings on CD, but with it having been 6 years since Annie last sang in public, we thought her concert days were over. When Sisters was announced, in aid of Annie’s own organisation The Circle our daughter stayed on Ticketmaster for an hour and a half, and finally secured two standing tickets which we were really happy with. Nearer the time I saw a competition run by For One Night Only events offering top price tickets plus exclusive access to Annie’s soundcheck. Well, that was my slightly (very) leftfield Valentine’s Day present for Janet, but as the money was going to charity and we had tickets anyway, I thought why not? You guessed it – we won! So, my review of the night starts with the soundcheck.
Annie Lennox Soundcheck
There were 30 of us with access to the soundcheck so it was pretty much as exclusive as you’re going to get. Annie watched us walk in, grinned and said ‘You’re all very quiet!’ As you can imagine that went some way to breaking the ice for fans suddenly in front of an icon who had been part of their lives for more than four decades. For someone who is as interested in music as I am, what really stood out was the way in which the soundcheck was carried out. It was relaxed with a fair amount of humour between the songs, in a way that was clearly very natural, not just Annie putting us at our ease, but once the songs started the fierce determination shone through. The vocals were excellent and the seriousness with which the dimensions of the stage and the positioning of instruments, seats and microphones were considered, showed how important it was to all concerned. We were not allowed any phones, cameras or recording equipment, quite rightly, so we could just concentrate on the music and the experience. I surprised myself by finding it such an emotional experience, with a sense of gratitude, excitement and awareness of how much a part of our lives Annie has been, combining to make this really special. We were treated to versions of classic songs that were just for us as a small incredibly lucky group of people. Annie couldn’t have been more welcoming or lovelier and I said to Janet that vocally she could definitely still produce the magic. It turned out that we hadn’t seen anything yet!
Part 1 The Friends
The second part of our prize were seats just seven rows from the front of the stage! It’s as near as we will probably ever get, so we were determined to enjoy every minute. Clara Amfo was our host for the evening and she was brilliant throughout. Clara’s introductions for each of the artists were beautifully judged and even those that we didn’t know came with an added sense of anticipation thanks to her. Rioghnach (pronounced Ri-uh-nah) Connolly, the BBC Folk Singer of the Year, sang three beautiful songs, Land of my Other, Carry Your Kin and Too Many Have Gone. Her stunning voice and incredible flute playing completely entranced the audience and no doubt sent many of us to Spotify and YouTube as I have no doubt that she won many more fans. Irish folk singing is something I have a natural affection for, and this was a particularly fine example of how good it can be. As a teacher I did appreciate the ‘teacher look’ she gave the late comers a few rows in front of us! The subtext of ‘What time do you call this?’ was abundantly clear! It certainly amused me.
Following Rioghnach was the poet Rakaya Fetuga whose powerful and timely poem Quietly reminded us in no uncertain terms why we were here. The situation for women worldwide needs to be improved in so many ways, health wise, jobwise and opportunity wise. If we were able to do this across the globe, our countries and the relationships between them would, I think, be greatly improved, but this requires women to ascend to power in countries that routinely shut them out from exercising that power in every possible way. All of these things were addressed in this marvellous piece of performance poetry.
Celeste was the next artist, a BRIT award winner and Oscar nominee. Her three tracks Women of Faces, Time Will Tell and Strange were delivered with an ethereal beauty that made them extremely powerful. She was clearly unfamiliar to a number of the crowd, but the purity of her voice won over many of the uninitiated. Her three tracks were a really good introduction to this rising star of the music scene.
Nadine Shah revelled in the opportunity to perform in front of the Royal Albert Hall audience and she electrified us with Topless Mother and a Nirvana cover, All Apologies, delivered with real power. She mentioned how grateful she was to be able to do what she does as a career, and she warmed the audience up ready for the delights to follow.
The final artist of the first half was the most well known of the quintet, . A soul singer, actress, campaigner, fundraiser and musical theatre veteran, Beverley Knight OBE. Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda got the first singalong of the night as she filled the Hall with her amazing voice. Her next track was the very appropriate Sisters, Sisters and she finished her trio of tracks with the positive Everything’s Gonna Be Alright, a message that needs to be held on to in these dark times. She brought the first half to an uplifting close and set the stage for the second half with the legend herself, Annie Lennox
Part 2 Annie Lennox
Misan Harriman, the photographer spoke eloquently about the work of The Circle but, perhaps mindful of what was about to happen, he kept it concise and effective. Here was the moment the entire hall had been waiting for. Annie came on stage resplendent in a sequined jacket which was a statement of intent from the start. She was here to entertain. She started with the haunting Dark Road that was delivered with beauty and depth, but that was perhaps the least familiar song of her entire set. Pretty much everything else demonstrated, if it needed demonstrating, that she has been a massive part of the musical life of this country since the early 1980s. Next was Little Bird which got the first of many audience singalongs going, but then she got one of the big guns out. Walking on Broken Glass is a song that is recognisable from the first few notes. It would have been great in Name That Tune back in the day! As soon as it started the audience jumped to their feet and began singing and dancing. The pure joy radiating to and from the stage just summed up how loved Annie and her songs are. She sang it with a voice as powerful and true as if it had been two or three years ago she recorded it, not more than 30 years ago. It is still my favourite song of her solo career and when I heard it here it just reminded me that it is a truly great pop song that stands with any song from any era.
From there she went back to the early Eurythmics days with the beautiful yet disquieting Love is a Stranger given a new freshness and verve. No More I Love Yous was a single that I never knew was a cover version until I was researching this post. Originally recorded by The Lover Speaks in 1986 it barely scraped into the Top 60 which is totally baffling. Annie decided it deserved more and rerecorded it, taking it Number 2 in the UK charts and narrowly missing the Top 20 in the US. It was her biggest solo single and deservedly so, because it is a piece of genius in its original form and in Annie’s version. There Must Be an Angel was the most emotional song of the night for me. She sang it as a duet with her daughter, Lola, a marvellous singer in her own right, and the way Annie looked at her daughter throughout with such a powerful and abiding love in her eyes brought tears to mine. Here Comes the Rain Again was beautifully rearranged for piano and gave a freshness to a song that I have always liked ever since I first heard it.
The first of two surprise guests was introduced for the next song. Hozier, a massive presence both vocally and physically, was introduced to sing a duet with Annie on one of my favourite songs of the 2010s, the immense Take Me to Church. It was an absolutely stunning meeting of two great voices that blended together perfectly on a version of the song that could really do well if it was rereleased. It was definitely one of the absolute highlights of the set. Their second duet was seamlessly blended into the first, this time I Put a Spell on You. The classic song recorded by Screaming Jay Hawkins, Nina Simone and Creedence Clearwater Revival could not have been sung any better on any of those versions. It was Annie Lennox at her absolute best and the audience loved it. The next song, Missionary Man, showed the strength of Annie’s catalogue because it was not a standout. For many other artists it would have been one of the strongest songs of the night. The final two songs of the set were a fantastic finish by any standards. Why is one of the most memorable songs of her solo career and here it was delivered with power and beauty that just stilled and mesmerised the audience who had previously been on their feet and singing along. It was a perfect example of an artist with the power over an audience like very few others. The finale was a duet with Paloma Faith on a song that summed up the message of the entire night. It was of course Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves which led to a huge Royal Albert Hall singalong. That was nothing compared to the singalong for the encore, the timeless and brilliant Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This). The perfect end to a perfect night in the company of the ageless and indefatigable Annie Lennox.
Commander Starkie, my old Headmaster
Back in 2011 I was asked to help plan a 60th anniversary reunion day for my old Primary School, St. Andrew’s in Rochester. Despite having been there nearly 40 years before, my love for my old school had grown over the years and I couldn’t wait to get started. I had a number of ideas, some of which were agreed by the reunion committee. One was to create an oral archive for the school using a series of questions which former pupils would answer as a way of giving voice to their thoughts and feelings about the school. Students from across the school’s history took part and there were some fascinating reminiscences.
The other idea was my main task, in terms of the day, which was to theme the classrooms for each of the decades since St. Andrew’s had been founded in 1951. There were two main elements to these themes, memorabilia and music. I sourced pictures and magazines, while the school searched through its own archives to find magazines, photographs and newspaper articles. It made every single classroom a time capsule, an impression strengthened by CDs playing the hits of the time. This was right up my street as I attempted to put together music that would have been popular with pupils at the time. Two considerations governed my choices, the relative familiarity and ongoing popularity of the songs and the ‘mix’. As any good DJ and anyone who has created playlists from the days of cassette onwards knows, the mix of songs creates the mood. Sudden changes in tempo and style take people by surprise, and are generally extremely unwelcome, and choosing the wrong song in the wrong place can kill an atmosphere stone dead! Actually there was a third, that my playlist could be contained on a CD-R disc of just over 75 minutes long! That third requirement led to a number of issues with songs I would otherwise have loved to include not fitting on the CD and being replaced by songs that reduced the overall running time to the required timescale. I eventually ended up with discs for each of the 6 decades which I felt best reflected the type of music that would best jog the memories of those involved. I felt I did pretty well overall, and below I share a brief review, the full track list and my newly constructed Spotify Playlists for each of the decades. I hope you enjoy them and that they bring back memories for you.
The 1950’s Mix
This was quite an easy one to put together, partly because of my abiding affection for the music of the era, and partly because the songs were more easily fitted into the mix than other decades tended to be. The relative strength of the genres, where there were clear similarities between the the tracks, made it easier to group and I am still very pleased with the result.
- Rock around the Clock – Bill Haley and the Comets
- Say Mama – Gene Vincent
- Great Balls of Fire – Jerry Lee Lewis
- Jailhouse Rock – Elvis Presley
- Shakin’ All Over – Johnny Kidd and the Pirates
- See You Later Alligator – Bill Haley and the Comets
- C’mon Everybody – Eddie Cochran
- Heartbreak Hotel – Elvis Presley
- Peggy Sue – Buddy Holly and the Crickets
- Move It – Cliff Richard
- Livin’ Doll – Cliff Richard
- Red River Rock – Johnny and the Hurricanes
- Heartbeat – Buddy Holly and the Crickets
- Crazy – Patsy Cline
- Diana – Paul Anka
- Duke of Earl – Gene Chandler
- Mr. Sandman – The Chordettes
- When I Fall in Love – Nat King Cole
- Puppy Love – Paul Anka
- All I Have to do is Dream – The Everly Brothers
- True Love Ways – Buddy Holly and the Crickets
The 1960s Mix
With the wealth of popular music across the decade, the main task was to try to include as many of the key artists of the time. I didn’t do too badly, although for every artist I included there was at least one other I could and perhaps should have done. That said, it was perhaps the most popular mix of the day and the final song, In My Life just summed up the event perfectly.
- Do Wah Diddy Diddy – Manfred Mann
- Help – The Beatles
- Congratulations – Cliff Richard
- Delilah – Tom Jones
- Young Girl – Gary Puckett and the Union Gap
- Pretty Woman – Roy Orbison
- The Young Ones – Cliff Richard
- Baby Love – The Supremes
- Fun Fun Fun – The Beach Boys
- Foot Tapper – The Shadows
- Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen – Neil Sedaka
- Daydream Believer – The Monkees
- Happy Together – The Turtles
- You’ve lost that Lovin’ Feeling – The Righteous Brothers
- He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother – The Hollies
- Those Were the Days – Mary Hopkin
- You don’t have to say you love me – Dusty Springfield
- You’ll Never Walk Alone – Gerry and the Pacemakers
- The Sound of Silence – Simon and Garfunkel
- Are You Lonesome Tonight – Elvis Presley
- In my Life – The Beatles
The 1970s Mix
What a difficult one this was! I initially overdosed on glam rock as it was my era at St Andrew’s and reminded me so much of my time there. However, I needed to rein that enthusiasm in otherwise the entire playlist would have been 73 – 76! Looking at it now after 13 years, I missed out 70 – 72 almost entirely and I needed to replace a certain bacofoil clad singer with another artist on the grounds of taste when I transferred it to Spotify! Luckily the swap not only goes unnoticed in terms of the mix, but in many ways makes it better. I seem to remember making a second 70s mix just for me, so I would be interested to see what was included on that.
- Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen
- Crazy Horses – The Osmonds
- Blockbuster – Sweet
- Tiger Feet – Mud
- Cum on Feel the Noize – Slade
- Under the Moon of Love – Showaddywaddy
- Summer Nights – John Travolta and Olivia Newton John
- Puppy Love – Donny Osmond
- Daydreamer – David Cassidy
- Bye Bye Baby – The Bay City Rollers
- Don’t Give Up on Us – David Soul
- Vincent –Don McLean
- Seasons in the Sun – Terry Jacks
- When Will I See You Again – The Three Degrees
- Dancing Queen – Abba
- Beach Baby – First Class
- Hold Me Close – David Essex
- Cool for Cats – Squeeze
- I Don’t Like Mondays – Boomtown Rats
- My Perfect Cousin – The Undertones
- Message in a Bottle – The Police
The 1980s Mix
I ended up with no less than four CDs of music for this decade! It was definitely my most difficult set of choices for the day itself as my musical identity was very much formed from 1980 – 1984 in particular. When I finished each CD I was left with the feeling of ‘How could I have left this one out?’! Looking at my Spotify list, I had to transfer out Tom Hark by The Piranhas as, incredibly, that does not exist anywhere on Spotify. Its replacement, Modern Romance’s Best Years of Our Lives, actually fits the feeling of the day more effectively.
- Best Years of Our Lives – Modern Romance
- I’m Gonna Be (500 miles) – The Proclaimers
- Baggy Trousers – Madness
- Echo Beach – Martha and the Muffins
- Stand and Deliver – Adam and the Ants
- Going Underground – The Jam
- Every Little Thing She Does is Magic – The Police
- Locomotion – OMD
- Girls on Film – Duran Duran
- Karma Chameleon – Culture Club
- Freedom – Wham
- Never Gonna Give You Up – Rick Astley
- Perfect – Fairground Attraction
- Tainted Love – Soft Cell
- Take On Me – Aha
- Ghost Town – The Specials
- See You – Depeche Mode
- Crazy for You – Madonna
- The Winner Takes it All – Abba
- Lady in Red – Chris De Burgh
- Will You? – Hazel O’Connor
The 1990’s Mix
This set of songs, I think, gives a fairly good picture of the decade, although the absence of big hitters Blur, Pulp and Oasis would definitely need to be fixed if I revisited it. There are Britpop classics by Boo Radleys and Supergrass, but there needs to be more. The big miss though was staring me in the face. How could I have left Wannabe by the Spice Girls off the original playlist? Well, from memory, it just didn’t fit and it was easier to omit it than completely rejig the playlist. Well, it’s back in its rightful place thanks to Spotify! As to the second last song, it’s just as perfect as the final song in the 60s mix.
- Wannabe – Spice Girls
- Go West – Pet Shop Boys
- Baby One More Time – Britney Spears
- Bring It All Back – S Club 7
- Tragedy – Steps
- I’m Too Sexy – Right Said Fred
- Mambo No. 5 – Lou Bega
- Could It Be Magic – Take That
- Three Lions – Baddiel, Skinner and The Lightning Seeds
- Wake Up Boo – The Boo Radleys
- Alright – Supergrass
- Walking on Broken Glass – Annie Lennox
- All That She Wants – Ace of Base
- It Must Have Been Love – Roxette
- Song for Whoever – The Beautiful South
- Nothing Compares 2 You – Sinead O’Connor
- Back for Good – Take That
- When You Say Nothing At All – Ronan Keating
- Don’t Be a Stranger – Dina Carroll
- These Are Days of our Lives – Queen
- Angels – Robbie Williams
The 2000s Mix
Pop all the way with this one! I loved getting back into the charts during this decade with my children. It is in some ways my most pleasing list, because I can’t think of anything I would replace.
- Amarillo – Tony Christie
- Can’t Get You Out of My Head – Kylie Minogue
- I Gotta Feeling – Black Eyed Peas
- Price Tag – Jessie J
- Paparazzi – Lady Gaga
- Hot N Cold – Katy Perry
- She’s So Lovely – Scouting for Girls
- Reach – S Club
- Up – The Saturdays
- Sex Bomb – Tom Jones
- Bad Day – Daniel Powter
- The Lazy Song – Bruno Mars
- Stop and Stare – One Republic
- Viva La Vida – Coldplay
- Rule the World – Take That
- Bleeding Love – Leona Lewis
- All About You – McFly
- Whole Again – Atomic Kitten
- Something Stupid – Robbie Williams and Nicole Kidman
- Someone Like You – Adele
- You’re Beautiful – James Blunt
So there you have it. 6 decades, 6 playlists, 126 songs. A school history in music no less. As I have admitted there are things I would do differently, but I am very pleased and somewhat proud of the part I played in the day with my flair for mixing together memories and music, not to mention my oral archive. If anyone from St Andrew’s is reading this, I am definitely available for the 75th Anniversary in November 2026!!
David Pearce - Popular Culture and Personal Passions 