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

assisted by a fine strings accompaniment as they proceeded to unleash a love song that ought to be short-listed for one of the best UK Number One of the 1970s. If you don't appreciate this tune, then you don't appreciate music.
{Also on this day, the Solidarity trade union is banned in Poland in 1982}

OCTOBER 9TH
#9 Dream by John Lennon (1974)
from the album Walls And Bridges
When marital relations between John and Yoko Lennon took a turn for the worse, the ex-Beatle fled the nest to re-create his teenage, irresponsible past. During John's infamous 'lost weekend' of debauchery in Los Angeles, which lasted considerably longer than a couple of days, he still managed to hold it sufficiently together in the recording studio to construct some impressive new material. The shining example is the magnificent '# 9 Dream', which stands favourable comparison with any other song recorded in the 1970s, and which I believe far surpasses the hyped 'Imagine'. This extraction from the 'Walls And Bridges' album was based on the fact that the number 9 kept surfacing in John's life - not least on this day in 1940 when in the midst of a Luftwaffe air raid on Liverpool, Lennon was born. The miracle of his safe delivery prompted his mother Julia to name him John Winston, much to his later consternation.
{Also on this date, in 1967 Che Guevara is executed in Bolivia at the age of 39}

OCTOBER 10TH
Vienna by Ultravox (1980)
from the album Vienna
There have been regrettably numerous occasions when the great British record buying public have badly let themselves down. One obvious example is when public taste was such in early 1981 that Joe Dolce's novelty single 'Shaddap Your Face' was able to hold off the challenge of the superb 'Vienna' by Ultravox to sit at Number One in the UK chart. Dear oh dear. With the benefit of a memorable black and white video, as well as a fine piano input, this slice of melodrama can lay claim to being the greatest Number Two hit of all-time. British record buyers: how could you take leave of your senses? Anyhow, Ultravox's Midge Ure was born this day in 1953, under the name of James Ure, not in Vienna, but in the less grand surroundings of Lanarkshire. Ure had tasted success previously when Slik scored a Number 1 with 'Forever And Ever' in 1976, but his greatest claim to fame would arise from a couple of projects in 1984 and 1985.
{Also on this day, the actors Yul Brynner and Orson Welles both die in 1985}

OCTOBER 11TH
Bad Card by Bob Marley And The Wailers (1980)
from the album Uprising
American guitarist Al Anderson was born this day back in 1949. Anderson became one of several backing musicians who were recruited to the Wailers to support Bob Marley as he progressed through the 1970s from Jamaican superstar to international superstar. One notable recording from Marley and his Wailers was the album track 'Bad Card', from the 'Uprising' project. This composition was based on a bad experience that Marley had at the hands of his American manager Don Taylor. The latter apparently helped himself to more of the Marley finances than he was entitled to. Marley is rumoured to have given the cheat a bit of a hiding, as well as sacking him for dealing his 'bad card'. Meanwhile, Marley, Anderson and the rest of the Wailers finished their summer 1980 European 'Uprising tour' in England and Ireland, only for a potential conquest of North America to be cut short by Marley's deteriorating health a few months later.
{Also on this date, the Mary Rose ship is raised from the sea in 1982}

OCTOBER 12TH
Down Down by Status Quo (1974)
from the album On The Level
Status Quo never really accumulated the critical acclaim that they perhaps warranted, in spite of several tremendous singles, including 'Pictures Of Matchstick Men', 'Caroline', and 'In The Army Now', which between them spanned three decades. The Quo were probably at their peak in the rocking 'seventies, and they actually became one of the few rock acts to reach Number One in the singles chart in Britain when the excellent 'Down Down' climbed to the UK pop summit in January 1975. The combo's rhythm guitarist, Rick Parfitt, was born on this date in 1948, in Woking, the same town that spawned the Jam.
{Also on this day, in 1984 an IRA bomb explodes at Brighton's Grand Hotel}

OCTOBER 13TH
America by Simon And Garfunkel (1968)
from the album Bookends
Today represents the anniversary of the birth of Paul Simon in New Jersey in 1941. The eastern seaboard state of New Jersey earns a mention in the Simon and Garfunkel mini-epic, entitled 'America'. This 'state of the nation' composition was less commercially successful than many of the duo's other singles, but it is a marvellous song that deserves as much kudos as the pair's three American chart-toppers. Written and performed at an anxious time in American history, the tune includes the lines: "She said the man in the Gaberdine suit was a spy/ I said be careful, his bow tie is really a camera."
{Also on this date, American television's Ed Sullivan dies in 1974, aged 73}

OCTOBER 14TH
Nights In White Satin by The Moody Blues (1967)
from the album Days Of Future Passed
Justin Hayward from the Moody Blues was born on this day in Swindon, back in 1946. After the chart-topping success of 'Go Now', the Moody Blues progressed towards delivering albums that confirmed them more as artists than entertainers. Their greatest single artistic statement is undoubtedly 'Nights In White Satin' (written by Hayward), which is one of the few songs that has probably been universally acknowledged as a classic. This memorable piece from the 'sixties was a beneficiary of assistance from the London Festival Orchestra.
{Also on this day, Leonid Brezhnev becomes the leader of the USSR IN 1964}

OCTOBER 15TH
Since I've Been Loving You by Led Zeppelin (1970)
from the album Led Zeppelin III
On this day in 1928 the new airship, the Graf Zeppelin, completed its first transatlantic flight, landing at Lakehurst in New Jersey. Forty years later, on the same date, Led Zeppelin (arguably the world's greatest rock band) performed for the first time ensemble on native soil when Surrey University played host to an act still billed as the New Yardbirds. Two years later, Robert Plant and his accomplices surprised many rock aficionados with their folksy, acoustic guitar-dominated third album, which was a radical departure from much of the content of their first two projects. The misunderstood but outstanding third long player featured the wondrous blues track 'Since I've Been Loving You'. This seven and a half minute opus is undoubtedly among the very best of the group's entire canon.
{Also on this date, the 'great storm' of 1987 hits England and France}

OCTOBER 16TH
Sunday Morning by The Velvet Underground And Nico (1967)
available on the album The Very Best Of The Velvet Underground
German chanteuse Nico was born on this date back in 1938, at a time when her fellow-countrymen were preparing to carve up Czechoslovakia, en route to world domination. Three decades later, the Velvet Underground had the blonde beauty foisted upon them by Andy Warhol for the recording of their pioneering first long player. Lou Reed may not have entirely welcomed her presence, but Nico makes notable vocal contributions to the 'banana album' with 'I'll Be Your Mirror', 'Femme Fatale', and the marvellous album opener, 'Sunday Morning'. It may not be of a lengthy duration, but this fine track packs a mean punch about not being in charge of one's faculties on a Sunday morning, something which many Saturday night alcohol and drugs enthusiasts could readily relate to.
{Also on this day, in 1978 Karol Wojtyla is appointed as Pope John Paul II}

OCTOBER 17TH
Easter Island by Rico Rodriguez (1982)
from the album Jama Rico
Ace Jamaican trombonist Rico Rodriguez was born on this day in 1934. After moving to England, Rico was employed by the likes of the Specials and Paul Young on such monster hits as 'Ghost Town' and 'Love Of The Common People'. He also was granted license by the Two Tone Records label to record a couple of albums of his own. Regrettably, these offerings are well-kept secrets, in so far as they received less exposure and recognition than they ought to have. Among the many treasures from Rico's assembly line are 'Jungle Music', 'Destroy Them', and the hugely danceable rhythm of 'That Man Is Forward'. However, best of all, is an item called 'Easter Island'. Produced by his musical buddies Dick Cuthell and Jerry Dammers for the 'Jama Rico' project, here is a contender for any short list for the best instrumental in the history of popular music. If you haven't heard it yet, then you have missed out. Rico was awarded an MBE in 2007.
{Also on this date, Mother Teresa is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979}

OCTOBER 18TH
Lovefool by The Cardigans (1996)
from the album First Band On The Moon
Today is the date of birth of Peter Svensson in 1974. His Swedish group, the Cardigans, may have merely imitated the well-worn formula of a pop outfit fronted by a pretty young woman, but they still released a couple of noteworthy singles. 'My Favourite Game' remains a very listenable song, but it is perhaps overshadowed by the smash hit, 'Lovefool'. The latter is clearly one of the best recordings of the 'nineties, and it certainly benefited from its inclusion in the soundtrack to the 'Romeo + Juliet' movie.
{Also on this day, in 1968 Bob Beamon sets a new long jump world record}