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mine for years and he was one of the pioneers of the pop scene in this country way back in the 50s. After the concert, the great man was in the foyer saying hello to people as well as selling a 3 CD compilation set of all his singles which I just had to buy, and I have to say I still play that when the mood takes me. He was really excellent, but was suffering from the flu’ and it was sad that a few weeks later he passed away in his hotel room on that same tour.
The Beach Boy’s, ‘Pet
Sounds’ is another of those classic albums that I still listen to, and I have to say I have a few Beach Boys compilation albums that always cheer me up whenever I play them.
Way back in 2007, I bought an album called ‘Handful Of Soul’ by Mario Biondi. It’s an abso- lutely awesome album and many will know the track ‘This Is What You Are’ from it. Trust me, there are some other fine songs on the album worth hearing and if you’ve not heard it, go get it. It’s a shame the follow up album couldn’t keep to the same standard.
Other albums over the years that seem to get played a lot by me are Carly Simon ‘Hotcakes’, which brings back some great memories for me. Eagles ‘Greatest Hits (1971- 75)’, Van Morrison ‘Moondance’ Marvin Gaye ‘Let’s Get It On’, and Al Green’s ‘Call Me’.
Frank Sinatra is another of those classic artists that I still find time to play. ‘The Capitol Years’ probably encompasses
his most successful period and is jam-packed full of classics. I have a few Ella Fitzgerald compilations that I love and hearing songs like ‘Manhattan’ and the absolutely awesome ‘Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye’ still send shivers down my spine. You’ll also find compila- tions of the likes of Dean Mar- tin, Tony Bennett and Bobby Darin in there too.
Classic albums do play a part in my listening and so Dire Straits ‘Brothers In Arms’ is there – as a side note it was the first album I bought on CD, way back in 1985. Don McLean’s ‘American Pie’ takes me back to a time when I was just a kid. Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’ is there as well. I just love ‘Money’.
I have a load of Elvis Presley albums, but I always end up playing ‘GI Blues’ for some reason. Probably because I still love the film.
Speaking of films, Isaac Hay- es’ ‘Shaft’ soundtrack is awe- some and listeners to my show will have heard me play ‘Café Reggio’s in my shows more than once.
One of my top three films is ‘Cinema Paradiso’ and the soundtrack album by Ennio Morricone is just about as chilled as it could be. Now it goes without saying, ‘Saturday Night Fever’ was a major turn- ing point in my life, and I am very nostalgic about the album and just love to play MFSB’s version of ‘K-Jee’.
So what guilty pleasures do I have that I listen to – more to the point should I admit to
them? Ah - why not. After all they add to the rich tapestry of life.
First up comes Gilbert O’Sullivan’s ‘Back to Front’ the album that has my favourite lyric of all time. In the song ‘The Golden Rule’ Gilbert sings, ‘I wouldn't behold wouldn't be cold I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for my Dear old mum and dad And the fun they had Early one night Dad put out the light Got hold of me mum Said he wanted a son And as you can see The result was me’ What a lyric eh?
Barry Manilow’s ‘Greatest Hits’ is there too – ‘Weekend In New England’ is just lovely.
This next one has a sentimen- tal pull to it to me as it’s an album I remember from when I was very young. Max By- graves & Ted Heath did an album in 1959 called ‘Max & Ted’ and it contained songs from the 1920s in it. Dated? Yes. Corny? Yes Do I love it? Yes. And it’s been rereleased under a different name.
And finally in my hall of shame ‘The Best of’ Wham’. Do I need to say anything about this album? No, I thought not.
Add to that a plethora of com- pilation albums and you can see that I pretty much like a bit of everything.
I promise not to play ‘Macerana’ or ‘Agadoo’ in a show anytime soon though!
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