Three times in recent weeks BBC Radio 2 (my radio station of choice) has played “Mama used to say”, a 1982 release by Junior. It reached #7 in the UK charts and #30 in the Billboard Hot 100. Every time I hear the record, including these three recent plays, I recall the same scene. It… Continue reading “Mama used to say”, a musical memory
The 2016 UK #1 “I took a pill in Ibiza” by Mike Posner is a recent addition to my repertoire. It was unfamiliar to me until last week. It reminds me of Joe South’s classic 1969 release “The games people play” (which peaked at #6) so I mix the two songs together. Ibiza is one… Continue reading More pop trivia: UK #1s that feature places
If you were in the UK in the 1970s and spent any time watching TV on a Saturday night you will have seen a musical act containing the word “Swingle”, “The Swingle Singers” perhaps, or “Swingle II”. They would appear on shows like “The Two Ronnies”, performing a cappella versions of, well, I can’t remember… Continue reading Word of the week: Swingle
At the end of this piece is a list of songs that were “Stuck at 2” in the UK for one act but made it to #1 for at least one different act. First, a few notes. In many cases, the original version only got as far as #2 but a later (and, you might… Continue reading Stuck at 2: Songs that peaked at #2 for one act and reached #1 for a different act
At various times in the last three years I have posted pieces about songs that were “Stuck at 2”. They made it to #2 in the UK charts but no further. The original piece, from June 2016, is here. Over the last year I have been posting lists of the songs that were “Stuck at… Continue reading Stuck at 2: the lists are complete, and a BBC Top 40 revisited
It’s been a while since I posted any music trivia, so here are 21 questions, mostly gathered from Pop Master, the weekday quiz hosted by Ken Bruce on BBC Radio 2. The theme here is “Same title, different song”. In each case there’s a shared song title which has provided different hits for multiple artists… Continue reading “Same title, different song”
Most people of my age and background will recognize the word Telecaster as a guitar model, a solid-body electric guitar made by US manufacturer Fender. People with an interest in the mechanics of electric guitars will know many of the things that I have just learnt from reading this Wikipedia page, although I already knew… Continue reading Word of the week: Telecaster
Here, as mentioned in this recent piece about Pop Master, is a round-up of the “3-in-10” questions for 2019. As you probably know, Pop Master is the mid-morning quiz on the Ken Bruce Show on BBC Radio 2, and the final challenge for the winning contestant is this: in 10 seconds name 3 Top 75… Continue reading Pop Master: the “3-in-10” questions, 2019
Here, for the third year in a row, is a summary of my time spent listening to Pop Master, the mid-morning quiz on the Ken Bruce Show on BBC Radio 2. This piece from 2017 (“100 Rounds of Pop Master”) explains the format of the quiz, and notes that this is the most listened-to slot… Continue reading One Thousand Rounds of Pop Master
If you learn to play guitar or piano you will probably end up with a repertoire, a set of songs that you can play for your own amusement, or to entertain others. It might consist of just two or three songs but it’s still a repertoire. If you can only play one song, then you… Continue reading Word of the week: repertoire
The Compartments 