Happy 80th Birthday to the Aussie Yodelling Cowboy, Frank Ifield who had a string of hits in the UK in the early 60s...
For kicks and old times sake, I will occasionally belt out, to anyone who'll bear it, this number to say goodbye to my favourite season : And embarrassingly, I'm word perfect on the lyrics. That's what comes of being a kid while the record is playing. You just soak it up.
Happy 61st Birthday to atmospheric Singer/Songwriter, Juliee Cruise who was born on this day in Creston, Iowa in 1956. Everytime I hear this I am instantly back in 1990 watching Twin Peaks...
English Easy Listening Crooner, Matt Monro was born on this day in Shoreditch in 1930.. This is his signature song...
And a Singer who Sinatra once described as having "the classiest singing and silkiest chops in the singing game", Lou Rawls was born on this day in Chicago in 1933...
Happy 72nd Birthday to Singer, Songwriter, Actress, Comedian, and Film Producer, Bette Midler who was born on this day in Honolulu in 1945. I love her version of this Stones classic...
And Happy 71st Birthday to Singer, Songwriter and Pianist, Gilbert O'Sullivan who was born Raymond O'Sullivan in Waterford, ROI on this day in 1946. I liked this when I was 9 years old...
So the Vengaboys and Steps were awesome! Vengaboys did all their singles, and I knew the lyrics to most of them... It was awesome singing along to some epic tunes! Steps were good too and did all the ones I knew (and a few I didn't recognise) although my lyrical knowledge wasn't as good. They ended with Tradgedy, which was awesome. Everyone was so into it and as a visual spectacle, it was immense. Lots of wedding dresses and a giant wedding cake. Not to mention several thousand people all doing the weird thumb/finger thing all together. And for your viewing pleasure, Boom Boom Boom Boom!
What a voice. I remember hearing him in the 1970's on Radio 2 and thinking WTF. There were one or two guys [I'm keeping it male on purpose here as there were just as many women] out there who could really raise practically any ordinary tune several levels. This guy was such a vocalist. People like Levi Stubbs. Brilliant vocalists or singers. I'll post one.
Al Green , Bill Withers, were such vocalists, amongst a host of others. Who doesn't secretly like Lovely Day. If you've ever driven a convertible car in the morning, during the summer, with the top down, this is the tune to play. It is an ever-lasting smile tune:
I can thank The Dell's Tannoy for grinding my love of Tamla Motown into my soul, against my instincts. I would lean against the wall at either end, Archers or Milton, and would endure these tunes. Then one day I found I was singing to them in my head, and I knew that although Soul Music was never going to be my instinctual music, this stuff really got under my skin. It's more than mere nostalgia. Levi Stubbs and The Four Tops singing Bernadette, for example. Sorry about the bass light audio, but the video is way the best. You'll notice how Levi Stubbs influenced vocal delivery for a generation of R&B vocalists:
