Yesterday Once More

On this program we are celebrating World RADIO Day. As well as providing some information about the history of radio we found some songs all about radio. Cliff’s Richard’s bouncy Wired For Sound sets the tone followed up by Charlie Dore’s Pilot Of The Airwaves. Our signature song Yesterday Once More perfectly captures the essence of our program. Queen’s popular Radio Ga Ga and Indeep’s funky Last Night A DJ Saved My Life continue the celebration. Local colour is provided by Skyhook’s Love On The Radio and Masters Apprentice’s Turn Up Your Radio. Nostalgia for an early era of radio is sung by Freddy Cannon Transistor Sister and Aussie rocker Booka Hyland’s Transistor.

 

PLAYLIST

* Wired For Sound – Cliff Richard

* Pilot Of The Airwaves – Charlie Dore

* Yesterday Once More – Carpenters

* Radio Ga Ga – Queen

* Last Night A DJ Saved My Life – Indeep

* Love On The Radio – Skyhooks

* Around The Dial – Kinks

* Turn Up Your Radio – Masters Apprentices

* Transistor Sister – Freddy Cannon

* Misty – Johnny Mathis

* Transistor – Booka Hyland

* Video Killed The Radio Star – Buggles

Our opening song Living in a Child’s Dream by the Masters Apprentices is our eulogy to Glenn Wheatley who passed away this week. Starting his career with this band he went on to became one of Australia’s legends of the music industry managing the talents of John Farnham, Little River Band, Delta Goodrem et al.

This week’s songs relate to Felines and Canines and are themed as CATS and DOGS.  Rob discloses his fondness for cats and chats about one clever cutey named Edipuss (Edie) while Mossy, because of her allergic reaction to cats, says she prefers the company of dogs. Some felines are referenced in songs by American doowop group The Tokens (The Lion Sleeps Tonight), Survivor’s Grammy winning (The Eye of the Tiger), John P Loudermilk’s (Paper Tiger) sung by Sue Thompson and the lyrical delight of Harry Chapin’s chart topper Cats in the Cradle. The evergreen Rolling Stones offer their version of Walking the Dog, six Grammy winner, the late Etta James, refers to her man as being a Watchdog and Cat Stevens in 1966 is loving his dog.

PLAYLIST 6th February 2022

* Cool For Cats – Squeeze

* The Lion Sleeps Tonight – The Tokens

* Eye of the Tiger – Survivor

* Walking The Dog – Rolling Stones

* Cats in the Cradle – Harry Chapin

* Love Cats – The Cure

* I Love My Dog – Cat Stevens

* Paper Tiger – Sue Thompson

* Hound Dog – Elvis

* Bird Dog – Everly Bros

* Watchdog – Etta James

* 3 Cool Cats – Coasters

FLOWERS

It’s not exactly the flowers themselves but what they represent. For instance roses are nearly always a token of love although there can be variations. Jimmie Rodgers heads the program with his folksy catalogue of English flowers in an English Country Garden. Warm voiced Dan Fogelberg sings of the roses at the end of a horse race in the poignant Run for the Roses. Lyn Anderson uses the adage I Never Promised You A Rose Garden to good effect in the song of the same name. Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond strike the right note of sadness and regret in You Don’t Bring Me Flowers while Bobby Darin‘s swing style in Artificial Flowers seems strangely at odds with the lyrics. Aussie contributions come from a young Johnny Farnham Rose Coloured Glasses and a short song from Bandstand regular Sandy Scott with Wallpaper Roses.

 

PLAYLIST

* English Country Garden – Jimmie Rodgers

* Rose Coloured Glasses – John Farnham

* Run For The Roses – Dan Fogelberg

* You Don’t Bring Me Flowers – Barbra Streisand/Neil Diamond

* Artificial Flowers – Bobby Darin

* Daisy Jane – America

* Yellow Rose Of Texas – Mitch Miller Orchestra & Chorus

* I Never Promised You A Rose Garden – Lyn Anderson

* Apple Blossom Time – Tab Hunter

* Build Me Up Buttercup – The Foundations

* Wallpaper Roses – Sandy Scott

We open the show with Meatloaf’s Dead Ringer for Love as our tribute to the great artist.

UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS theme focuses on Australian artists and songs in celebration of Australia Day.  Diana Trask (Long Ago Last Summer), Lana Cantrell (Cant’Take My Eyes Off You) and Pat Carroll (All Kinds of Everything) headed off overseas in the 60’s in search of, and indeed achieved, international fame. ARIA winner Kerrie Biddell  (Oh Me Oh My) and Alison McCallum (Superman) realised their potential during the 70’s. Two legends Normie Rowe (It’s Not Easy) and Russell Morris (Sweet, Sweet Love) were popular in the charts and the group The Throb in ‘66 were doing well with their interpretation of Fortune Teller.

Pioneering country band Bluestone had a top 20 hit in the early 70’s with Wind and Rain and Stylus (World of Make Believe) were successful in the US touring as a supporting act for George Benson and Ike and Tina Turner. Bobby Bright presents a sensitive version of Would You Believe, Love while the whacky Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band delivers a true blue approach to their song Australia.

 

PLAYLIST

* Wind and Rain – Bluestone

* Oh Me Oh My – Kerrie Biddell

* World of Make Believe – Stylus

* It’s Not Easy – Normie Rowe

* Australia – Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band

* Sweet, Sweet Love – Russell Morris

* All Kinds of Everything – Pat Carroll

* Can’t Take My Eyes Off You – Lana Cantrell

* Fortune Teller – The Throb

* Would You Believe, Love – Bobby Bright

* Superman – Alison McCallum

* Long Ago Last Summer – Diana Trask

Tchaikovsky, Beethoven and Bach together with other composers have inspired many songwriters to include parts or whole melodies from popular classical pieces. Record companies hope that the familiarity of some of these pieces will provide the ‘hook’ in making a popular hit record. Some songs simply ‘borrow’ classical melodies, revamp them and compose new lyrics such as Elvis‘s It’s Now Or Never from the Italian classic O Solo Mio, his biggest selling record of all time. Keith Potger of The Seekers ‘borrowed’ the familiar theme from Beethoven’s ‘Ode To Joy’ to compose a rather twee, Emerald City. And Walter Murphy simply re-iterates the familiar riff of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony for his coy A Fifth Of Beethoven. More imaginatively, some composers take the classical underpin and develop into a tour de force such as Gary Brooker‘s A Whiter Shade of Pale or Eric Carmen‘s soaring All By Myself.

 

PLAYLIST

* Annie’s Song – John Denver

* A Groovy Kind Of Love – Phil Collins

* A Whiter Shade Of Pale – Procol Harum

* Somewhere – P J Proby

* It’s Now Or Never – Elvis Presley

* All By Myself – Eric Carmen

* Stranger In Paradise – Four Aces

* Light My Fire – The Doors

* Emerald City – The Seekers

* A Fifth Of Beethoven – Walter Murphy

* Asia Minor – Kokomo

* A Lover’s Concerto – The Toys

This week’s show opened with LuLu’s To Sir With Love, our tribute to the passing of Sidney Poitier. While he was not a noted singer he was an outstanding actor and fighter for equality.

The ensuing songs envelope the theme of BODY PARTS. Some of our selection include references to the head and its features. Paul Anka and Australian Lyn Randell both refer to the head in Put Your Head on My Shoulder and Going out of My Head. The eyes are favoured in raspy voiced Kim Carnes’ Bette Davis Eyes’, Alan Parsons Project’s grammy winning Eye in the Sky and Gene Pitney’s Looking through the Eyes of Love. Another facial feature is highlighted in Cliff Richards’ Lucky Lips and the Go Go’s (with Belinda Carlisle) Our Lips are Sealed and Johnny Crawford sings about the proboscis in Your Nose is Gonna Grow. Blues rocker Rod Stewart’s focus on the lower limbs is the basis for Hot Legs, Anne Shelton refers to the upper limbs in Lay Down Your Arms, while the Beatles and the Pointer Sisters sing about grasping body parts in I Want to Hold Your Hand and Slow Hand.

PLAYLIST

* Our Lips Are Sealed – Go Gos

* Bette Davis Eyes – Kim Carnes

* Eye in The Sky – Alan Parsons Project

* Lay Down Your Arms – Anne Shelton

* Hot Legs – Rod Stewart

* Going Out of My Head – Lyn Randell

* Put Your Head on My Shoulder – Paul Anka

* Slow Hand – Pointer Sisters

* I Want to Hold your Hand – Beatles

* Lucky Lips – Cliff Richard

* Looking Through the Eyes of Love – Gene Pitney

* Your Nose is Gonna Grow – Johnny Crawford

 

Our first program for 2022 features two contrasting stars: Diana Ross and Jimmie Rodgers.

Diana Ross had two stellar careers – one as the lead singer of sixties super group The Supremes and later as a solo performer. Jimmie Rodgers was a popular crossover singer throughout the 50s and 60s. Today we concentrate on the solo career of Diana Ross presenting some of her biggest hits: Theme from ‘Mahogany, Upside Down & Reach Out (Touch Somebody’s Hand). In the 80s her career was revived through the wonderful writing and composing of Barry Gibb with her knockout hit Chain Reaction. Jimmie Rodgers burst onto the scene in 1957 with three smash hits: Honeycomb, Kisses Sweeter Than Wine and Secretly. He also achieved success with the religiously inspired Just A Closer Walk With Thee. Jimmie’s versatility and his warm, gentle light tenor voice come to the fore in The Long Hot Summer from the film of the same name.

PLAYLIST

* Just A Closer Walk With Thee – Jimmie Rodgers

* Theme from ‘Mahogany’ – Diana Ross

* Honeycomb – Jimmie Rodgers

* Upside Down – Diana Ross

* Secretly – Jimmie Rodgers

* Reach Out (Touch Somebody’s Hand) – Diana Ross

* Kisses Sweeter Than Wine – Jimmie Rodgers

* Chain Reaction – Diana Ross

* The Long Hot Summer – Jimmie Rodgers

* I’m Coming Out -Diana Ross

* Woman From Liberia – Jimmie Rodgers

* Baby Love – Diana Ross & The Supremes

In this our final program of 2021 we are determined to stay positive and look ahead to better times in 2022. We feature two LGBTIQ+ icons both of whom died of AIDS related diseases but whose memories we still cherish. Flamboyant, energetic Peter Allen performs the Chris Montez song , The More I See You while legend Freddie Mercury leads Queen on We Are The Champions. Brightness shines through in Patrick Fernandez‘s rousing Born To Be Alive, Lainie Kazan‘s epic Feelin’ Good, the Everly Bros catchy Till I Kissed You and Give It Up from KC And The Sunshine Band. Warm notes are sounded through Heartlight by Neil Diamond and Billy Thorpe‘s rendition of the classic Over The Rainbow.

 

PLAYLIST

* The More I See You – Peter Allen

* Born To Be Alive – Patrick Hernandez

* Feelin’ Good – Lainie Kazan

* Heartlight – Neil Diamond

* ‘Til I Kissed You – Everly Bros

* Over The Rainbow – Billy Thorpe

* You Made Me So Very Happy – Blood Sweat & Tears

* Give It Up – KC & The Sunshine Band

* In The Summertime – The Mixtures

* We Are The Champions – Queen

* Dawning – Jay & The Americans

* Here Comes The Sun – The Beatles

It is during the week of Christmas festivities that Rob and Mossy wish to say a big thank you to you, our wonderful listeners and weekly contributors to the show. It is also the time we acknowledge the fabulous work of our support team including our dedicated podcaster Julia. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas. The playlist this week incorporates some of our favourite yuletide songs.

PLAYLIST

* Merry Christmas Everybody – Slade

* Merry Christmas You Suckers – Paddy Roberts

* Wonderful Christmas Time – Paul McCartney

* Driving Home for Christmas – Chris Rea

* The Christmas Song – Ella Fitzgerald

* Huron Carol – Canadian Tenors

* Last Christmas – Wham

* The Three Drovers – Lee Kernaghan

* The North Wind, Christmas Day – Bucko & The Champs

* Jingle Bell Rock – Bobby Helms

* Little Saint Nick – Beach Boys

* Rocking Around the Christmas Tree – Brenda Lee

We continue with our series of Australian music. Digging into the past reveals what an array of talent we have produced in this country. Two tour de force performances by two female singers feature in today’s program. When she was with the funk band I’m Talking, Kate Ceberano performed a knockout version of the Rose Royce song ‘Love Don’t Live Here Any More’. Equally breathtaking is the astonishing voice of well known blues singer, Wendy Saddington with her only commercial success ‘Looking Through A Window’. These two singers are ably supported by AC/DC (Jailbreak), Ray Brown And The Whispers (20 Miles) and the wonderful duo Cheetah with their big hit ‘Walking In The Rain’. Colin Cook (Heart) and Bobby Cookson (I Could Have Loved You So Well) both perform outstandingly.

 

PLAYLIST

* Heart – Colin Cook and The Strangers

* Marshall’s Portable Music Machine – Robin Jolley

* Love Don’t Live Here Any More – I’m Talking (feat Kate Ceberano)

* 20 Miles – Ray Brown And the Whispers

* Just A Poor Boy – Mike Furber And The Bowery Boys

* Jailbreak – AC/DC

* Looking Through A Window – Wendy Saddington

* Walking In The Rain – Cheetah

* I Could Have Loved You So Well – Bobby Cookson

* Exit Stage Right – Ronnie Burns

* The Carnival Is Over – The Seekers

* Hayride – The Flying Circus