A compendium of musical delights by Alan and Margaret Ashworth
LAST week we left the lad himself, Anthony Aloysius St John Hancock, in 23 Railway Cuttings, East Cheam, enjoying huge success with the radio series Hancock’s Half Hour. This had started … Continue readingHancock’s Half Hour (2)
From the Dan man’s 1994 solo album Eleven Tracks of Whack https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QheQ76S9Je0 . RIP Walter.
Originally an instrumental by French bandleaders Franck Pourcel and Paul Mauriat, this was released by Petula Clark in 1962 as Chariot with French lyrics. It was successful in Europe but not in … Continue readingLittle Peggy March: I Will Follow Him
Prog gem from the 1970 album Friend’s Friend’s Friend. Persevere until the 2 min 55 mark when horn player Keith Gemmill begins to enjoy himself. You will too.
This song was recorded at two days’ notice in 1966 after Frank Sinatra cancelled a studio booking with a 46-piece orchestra. Offered the session free of charge, co-writer Jerry Ragovoy … Continue readingLorraine Ellison: Stay With Me
I find it incredible that Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) wrote this marvellous work when he was only 16. By this time he had already composed 12 string symphonies, a symphony for … Continue readingMendelssohn: Octet in E flat major, Op 20
Jackie DeShannon (born Sharon Lee Myers in 1941) wrote this brilliant song and released it in 1963 as the B-side of another of her compositions, the vastly inferior Till You Say … Continue readingJackie DeShannon: When You Walk in the Room
The best thing about Clem Snide in my book is that the singer, Eef Barzelay, sounds like a young Loudon Wainwright III. This is from the band’s 2005 album End … Continue readingClem Snide: The Sound of German Hip-Hop
The six Brandenburg Concertos, written in or before 1721, are all gems, but this is my favourite. Here it is performed in Bach’s original instrumentation of three violins, three violas, … Continue readingJ S Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No 3, BWV 1048
CHARLES Wesley has already appeared a couple of times in these columns as the writer of Hark the Herald Angels Sing and O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing. It is hardly surprising … Continue readingAnd Can It Be