Here’s a list of the songs that I performed in public for the first time during July 2024. Each month I aim to play at least one new song from each of the following repertoires:
- Songs that reached #1 in the UK.
- Songs that reached #1 somewhere else.
- Songs that have not reached #1 anywhere.
Songs that reached #1 in the UK
| Date | Song (Artist, Year it reached #1) | Notes |
| Tue 16-Jul-2024 | From Me To You (Beatles, 1963) | The first Beatles #1 in the UK |
| Sat 20-Jul-2024 | Light My Fire (Will Young, 2002) | Also a US #1 in 1967 |
| Tue 23-Jul-2024 | Reach Out (I’ll Be There) (Four Tops, 1966) | I dug out an old Motown songbook and practised this one enough to sing it without referring back to the chords or lyrics |
| Tue 23-Jul-2024 | Groovy Kind of Love (Phil Collins, 1988) | My usual choice for 1988 is “I Should Be So Lucky”, but it’s good to have alternatives for every year. Other 1988 #1s in my repertoire reached the top in other years as well: “With a Little Help From My Friends” and “He Ain’t Heavy (He’s My Brother)” |
| Tue 23-Jul-2024 | You Can’t Hurry Love (Phil Collins, 1983) | I dug out an old Motown songbook and practised this one enough to sing it without referring back to the chords or lyrics. Also a 1966 US #1 for The Supremes |
| Thu 25-Jul-2024 | Come on Eileen (Dexy’s Midnight Runners, 1982) | The UK’s best-selling record of 1982. We had a couple of goes at this one, in two different places. No violinists in the room at the time, unfortunately |
| Thu 25-Jul-2024 | You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) (Dead or Alive, 1985) | I have heard a bluegrass or country version of this, heavy on the banjo, and it worked well. It works well enough with strummed guitar, without the “Hi Energy” backing track |
| Tue 30-Jul-2024 | She Loves You (Beatles, 1963) | The UK’s best-selling single of 1963, and the best-selling record of the decade |
Songs that reached #1 somewhere else
| Date | Song (Artist, Year it reached #1) | Notes |
| Tue 2-Jul-2024 | It’s Too Late (Carole King, 1971) | #1 in the US. I had been practising it on piano, but played it in public for the first time on guitar |
| Tue 9-Jul-2024 | Da Doo Ron Ron (Shaun Cassidy, 1977) | #1 in the US in 1977, and in France (for Johnny Halliday) in 1963. My son and I were looking for something straightforward to play, where he could learn the words easily and play some fills on his cajon. We heard this on Tony Blackburn’s “Sounds of the 60s” and picked it up quickly |
| Tue 9-Jul-2024 | I Can See Clearly Now (Johnny Nash, 1972) | #1 in the US in 1972 and in France in 1994 (by Jimmy Cliff, because of its inclusion in “Cool Runnings”). Coincidentally “Without You” also reached #1 in the UK in those years, for Nilsson and Mariah Carey respectively |
| Tue 16-Jul-2024 | Happy Together (Turtles, 1967) | #1 in the US. One of the women in the room told me this was her favourite song |
| Thu 18-Jul-2024 | Summer in the City (Lovin’ Spoonful, 1966) | #1 in the US. One of the great summer songs |
Songs that have not reached #1 anywhere
| Date | Song (Artist, Year it reached #1) | Notes |
| Wed 3-Jul-2024 | Another Girl Another Planet (Only Ones, n/a) | Well, I wasn’t expecting this. The previous Sunday afternoon I visited an old school friend, a skilled blues musician (among other things). He learnt how to play the famous intro and solo to this one over 40 years ago, so we gave it an outing in a pub in Hammersmith a few days later |
| Thu 4-Jul-2024 | I’ll keep you satisfied (Beatles, n/a) | My brother and I have been playing this one for over 20 years, and even recorded a version of it in Denmark Street (Tin Pan Alley Studios) back in 2001. This is the first time I’d played it in front of strangers. A Lennon & McCartney composition, a #4 hit for Billy J Kramer & The Dakotas |
| Tue 9-Jul-2024 | Wednesday Week (Undertones, n/a) | My favourite Undertones song which always evokes that grey and uncertain summer of 1980 |
| Sat 20-Jul-2024 | Baby Mine (Disney, n/a) | Mascara warning |
| Tue 23-Jul-2024 | Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying (Gerry & The Pacemakers, n/a) | What a great record this is |
| Tue 30-Jul-2024 | Working Class Hero (John Lennon, n/a) | See this piece |
| Tue 30-Jul-2024 | Shake Rattle & Roll (Elvis Presley, n/a) | I was singing the lyrics from the Elvis version. Not everybody else was |
The Compartments 