The Song For Today - Jimmie Oliver (the lemonade war series txt) 📗

sad record to be marginally Rod Stewart's best-ever piece. On the anniversary of the old mod's birthday in 1945, you could do worse than play this composition.
{Also on this day, Cuban troops start to withdraw from Angola in 1989}

JANUARY 11TH
Jeepster by T Rex (1971)
from the album Electric Warrior
This single fell just short of the Number One slot in the UK singles chart, but in my humble opinion it is more deserving of this coveted position than the four T Rex tracks that did arrive there. This date is the anniversary in 2003 of the death of Marc Bolan's closest musical collaborator, percussionist Mickey Finn, at the age of 55. 1971 marked a transformation in the fortunes of T Rex, as Bolan and Finn metamorphosed from the cult hippie Tyrannosaurus Rex into the radio-friendly T Rex. While Marc and Mickey basked in the new-found glory of T Recstacy, their former champion John Peel was horrified at their new pop sound. Pop or not, 'Jeepster' (an unusual love song) is one of the great singles from the era of glam rock.
{Also on this date, the state of East Pakistan is re-named as Bangladesh in 1972}

JANUARY 12TH
Tragedy by The Bee Gees (1979)
from the album Spirits Having Flown
January 12th is the anniversary of the death of Maurice Gibb in 2003, aged 53. It is consequently appropriate that the song for today is 'Tragedy' by the Bee Gees. After scoring two chart-toppers in Britain in the late 1960s, Australia's finest singing family had to wait a full decade before returning to the top of the hit parade with the dance-floor classic, 'Night Fever'. For a few years, the brothers Gibb could do no wrong. Their renewed popularity was a result of their association with the 'Saturday Night Fever' soundtrack which effectively re-ignited their flagging fortunes. Cashing in on this success was the single 'Tragedy', taken from the 'Spirits Having Flown' album, which was undoubtedly one of the best Number Ones of 1979.
{Also on this day, Agatha Christie dies in 1976, at the age of eighty-five}

JANUARY 13TH
Night Boat To Cairo by Madness (1979)
from the album One Step Beyond
Originally included on the 'One Step Beyond' album, it was a full six months before 'Night Boat To Cairo' became the fourth hit single from the debut album of Camden Town's finest septet. Today marks the date of birth of their hugely likeable vocalist, Graham 'Suggs' McPherson. In the group's pre-fame days, Suggs was fired from the band when he deemed a football match more important than attendance at group rehearsals. Fortunately for us all, common sense soon prevailed, and Suggs could be found on our screens in the spring of 1980 dressed in British Eighth Army uniform with his six buddies as they clowned their way through the video of this excellent song. This track was the featured cut from the 'Work Rest And Play' EP, although also worth checking out is the tune 'Don't Quote Me On That' which remains one of the great undiscovered pop songs.
{Also on this date, Marshal Tito becomes the President of Yugoslavia in 1953}

JANUARY 14TH
Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana (1991)
from the album Nevermind
Apparently 'Teen Spirit' is/was an American deodorant. Only Kurt Cobain, the nerd-cum-rock star could conceive such a song title. Featuring Kurt's remarkable tongue-in-cheek lyrics, not to mention a light and shade dynamic, reminiscent of Led Zeppelin, Nirvana brew up a storm, which became the staple diet for many a student disco for the ensuing decade. This opening track from the 'Nevermind' album launched grunge rock's best act into the big league of superstardom, for which they were scarcely prepared. On the birthday of Dave Grohl, take a listen and marvel at Dave's drums demolition. This track remains one of the great anthems of the 1990s.
{Also on this day, in 1972 Margrethe II becomes Denmark's first Queen since 1412}

JANUARY 15TH
Without You by Nilsson (1971)
from the album Nilsson Schmilsson
This momentous ballad is steeped in tragedy. Firstly, the lyrics by themselves reveal someone in a state of darkest despair. This was indeed the case for the composer, Pete Ham (a member of the group Badfinger), who would take his own life a few years later. Secondly, the vocalist (Canada's Harry Nilsson) also met a premature end on this day in 1994, aged 52, after years of hard living in the company of Keith Moon, Ringo Starr, and John Lennon. Although something of a bad luck charm, this single was one of the best transatlantic Number One hits of 1972 courtesy of Nilsson's impressive vocal performance.
{Also on this date, Los Angeles plays host to the first Super Bowl in 1967}

JANUARY 16TH
Killer Blow by Sade (1986)
from the Absolute Beginners movie soundtrack
Sade came to prominence in the mid-eighties with a number of excellent hit singles, such as 'Smooth Operator' and 'Your Love Is King'. This particular track is quite obscure, but it makes a welcome appearance on the soundtrack to the heavily-panned 'Absolute Beginners' musical film. Few soundtrack albums can come close to 'Absolute Beginners' for quality, as it yielded efforts from such luminaries as David Bowie, Jerry Dammers, Ray Davies, the Style Council, and this undiscovered gem from Sade. I had the supreme good fortune to pick this superb soundtrack album up for something like 99p in a Bradford record store about fifteen years ago. Irrespective of the patchy film, this was money well spent. For the record, the elegant Sade was born on this day in 1959.
{Also on this day, the Shah of Iran flees Iran and goes into exile in 1979}

JANUARY 17TH
Wonderland by Paul Young (1986)
from the album Between Two Fires
The immensely likeable Paul Young was born on this date in 1956. Luton's greatest soul singer enjoyed huge success with his first two albums 'No Parlez' and 'The Secret Of Association'. Both albums produced a string of hit singles, mainly cover versions of such quality as Jack Lee's 'Come Back And Stay' and Hall And Oates's 'Every Time You Go Away'. Young's third album, 'Between Two Fires', was less commercially successful, which is regrettable considering that it possesses such fine tracks as 'Wasting My Time', the up-tempo 'In The Long Run', and this majestic attempt at Betsy Cook's 'Wonderland'. Released as a single, 'Wonderland' failed to penetrate the Top Twenty, but Young does tremendous justice to a song that includes such lines as: "Are your eyes so tired of searching that they can't see love?/ And is your heart so full of locks and keys, that it can't open up?" Superb stuff.
{Also on this date, the first air strikes of Operation Desert Storm take place in 1991}

JANUARY 18TH
Pride (In The Name Of Love) by U2 (1984)
from the album The Unforgettable Fire
Martin Luther King Day is commemorated in the United States of America each January on the third Monday of the month. The charismatic King became the subject of a number of posthumous pop records, including Marvin Gaye's 'Abraham, Martin, and John' and this stunning classic from Ireland's leading export, U2. 'Pride' was the second Top Ten hit single in Britain for Dublin's fab four, helping to launch them towards two decades of world domination. Bono and his buddies were so struck by the legend that is King that their 'Unforgettable Fire' offering also included another King-inspired track on Side Two, namely 'MLK'. 'Pride' features an awesome intro from guitarist Dave 'The Edge' Evans, ably assisted by the drums of Larry Mullen. Anybody who scoffs at the output of 'eighties popular music needs to listen to this record. 'Pride' is an apt title, because the authors ought to be proud of their end-product.
{Also on this day, Martin Luther King Day is observed in all 50 states in 1993 for the first time}

JANUARY 19TH
Dedicated To The One I Love by The Mamas And The Papas (1967)
from the album The Mamas And The Papas Deliver
One of the two Papas, Denny Doherty, passed away on this day in 2007 at the age of 66. For the uninitiated, the Mamas and the Papas were Abba in a California, 'sixties flower-power setting. Actually, unlike Sweden's finest foursome, they did not write all of their own material, in spite of the best efforts of John Phillips. The repertoire of cover versions included 'My Girl', 'Twist And Shout', and 'Dancing In The Streets'. However, nothing quite compares with their version of 'Dedicated To The One I Love'. Supremely beautiful vocal harmonies contribute to a stunning love song. Rather like Fleetwood Mac and Abba themselves, the west coasts's great singing quartet mixed business with pleasure as they fell in and out of love with one another. Internal disharmony decreed that the Mamas and the Papas, like most of their members, would be a short-lived wonder.
{Also on this date, Miami, Florida, receives its only ever snowfall in 1977}

JANUARY 20TH
Let There Be More Light by Pink Floyd (1968)
from the album A Saucerful Of Secrets
On this day in 1968, the original Floyd performed ensemble for the last time at Hastings in Sussex. The tale goes that on a subsequent outing, the question was posed as to whether they should pick up Syd Barrett for the gig, but there was now no enthusiasm for deploying the services of the group's front-man and wayward genius. Barrett did however receive musical assistance from his former colleagues as he proceeded to release a couple of characteristically quirky albums. Back in early 1968, while Syd became surplus to requirements, Dave Gilmour was recruited to the unenviable task of filling the void of Syd. Before such a changing of the guard took place, Barrett contributed a formidable guitar part to the excellent opening track of the group's second long player, 'A Saucerful Of Secrets'. 'Let There Be More Light' is a magnificent opener, with a semi-sinister and spooky sound which set the tone for some of the Floyd's subsequent space rock, 'progressive' recordings.
{Also on this day,in 1981 Iran releases 52 American