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

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JANUARY 21ST
Unfinished Sympathy by Massive Attack (1991)
from the album Blue Lines
Robert Del Naja of ace nineties group Massive Attack was born on this day in 1965. Massive Attack provided their own huge assault on the charts with the album 'Blue Lines' from which the single 'Unfinished Sympathy' was drawn. This composition formed part of the soundtrack to the excellent sexual thriller 'Sliver', starring Sharon Stone and Tom Berenger. 'Unfinished Sympathy' represents all that is good about dance music - cool, mysterious, and with an irresistible rhythm. What a pity that the Beatles or the Rolling Stones could never produce anything remotely wondrous as this tune, which is definitely a strong candidate for the best song of the 1990s.
{Also on this date, Elvis's manager, 'Colonel' Tom Parker dies in 1997, aged 87}

JANUARY 22ND
The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle by The Sex Pistols (1979)
from the album The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle
By the time that the film 'The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle' had hit the cinema screens in 1979, Johnny Rotten had long since departed the Pistols in acrimony in January 1978, while scarcely twelve months later his buddy Sid Vicious took his leave of planet earth. The title track to the film and its soundtrack features stand-in vocal performances from amongst others Tenpole Tudor, who enjoyed a cameo role in the movie alongside that other notorious punk rocker, Irene Handl. I like to depart from conventional wisdom (such as it is) by expressing my admiration for 'The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle' album and in particular for this tune which surpasses anything that the Pistols had previously offered. Steve Jones provides an excellent guitar sound and the vocals are reminiscent of Sham 69 in which the group proceed to unseat such dinosaurs as Elton John, Rod Stewart, Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, and Mick Jagger, the "white nigger". Today is the date of birth of Pistols manager and entrepreneur, the inimitable Malcolm McLaren, born in 1946.
{Also on this day, Russian dissident, Andrei Sakharov is arrested in Moscow in 1980}

JANUARY 23RD
King by UB40 (1980)
available on the album The Singles Album
'King' is another tribute to the American civil rights leader, tragically gunned down in the spring of 1968. It was fitting that a multi-racial band should sing his praises. The track 'King' was coupled with 'Food For Thought' as a double A-side for UB40's two-pronged assault on the British charts. Both the background and the outcome of 'King' make for an interesting story. Unlike many other so-called working-class heroes in the music industry, UB40 did not benefit from an art college or grammar school background. The only benefits that they benefited from were unemployment ones. Thus, starting out on the road to possible fame, the UBs had a shoestring budget with which to launch their musical career. Consequently, they were obliged to record their debut single in Bob Lamb's home-made studio, which also doubled up as his bedsit. This home-made reggae classic, along with 'Food For Thought', would become (for the Graduate record label) one of the great success stories of the independent record company scene, peaking at No.4 in the UK singles chart. On this day, bassist Earl Falconer was born in 1957.
{Also on this date, the Rock 'N' Roll Hall Of Fame inducts its first 8 members in 1986}

JANUARY 24TH
America by Neil Diamond (1980)
from the album The Jazz Singer (Soundtrack)
Not to be confused with Simon And Garfunkel's magnificent song of the same name, 'America' is an epic recording from the hugely popular Neil Diamond, which reached the American Top Ten in 1981, having originally featured on the 'Jazz Singer' soundtrack. As well as carving out a successful singing career, courtesy of such gems as 'Sweet Caroline' and 'Forever In Blue Jeans', Neil Diamond also penned British chart-toppers 'Red Red Wine' for UB40 in 1983 and 'I'm A Believer' for The Monkees in 1967. Today marks the date of birth of Neil Diamond in New York, back in 1941.
{Also on this day, the first Apple Mac computer goes on sale in 1984}

JANUARY 25TH
Best Friend by The Beat (1980)
from the album I Just Can’t Stop It
If this book achieves nothing else, then I hope that it brings to the attention of the reader the fact that this effort from The Beat's debut album 'I Just Can't Stop It' is unarguably one of the great jangly guitar classics. Yes reader, if you haven't had the supreme good fortune to hear this song yet, then go and promptly acquaint yourself with it. The trouble for this record was that by the time that it was issued as the third single from The Beat's impressive long player, many record buyers were not inclined to buy a song from an album that they may already have possessed. On this the date of birth of the group's guitarist Andy Cox, this tune showcases his talents which re-surfaced when he and fellow Beat member David Steele formed The Fine Young Cannibals with Roland Gift. Sorry to shatter illusions folks, but this brilliant pop song far surpasses the La’s 'There She Goes'.
{Also on this date, Idi Amin seizes power in Uganda in 1971 from Milton Obote}

JANUARY 26TH
Johnny Too Bad by UB40 (1983)
from the album Labour Of Love
We stay in Birmingham for this album track from UB40's hugely successful 'Labour Of Love' offering in 1983. This song, one of ten reggae cover versions on the long player, featured Norman Lamont Hassan on lead vocals. Rather like Chas Smash of Madness and Neville Staples of The Specials, Hassan was the versatile member who had a variety of musical roles in the eight-piece combo. Stepping forward to the microphone, Norman was helped by a fine keyboards sound evoked by Mickey Virtue. This record was one of a handful of compositions from 'Labour Of Love' which wasn't released as a single but which could easily have been. Nevertheless, this piece remains a key component of a project which revived UB40 after they had floundered for a couple of years. Today marks the anniversary of the birth of Hassan in 1958.
{Also on this day, Egypt and Israel establish diplomatic relations in 1980}

JANUARY 27TH
Fine Time by New Order (1988)
from the album Technique
This 'fine' tune hails from New Order's 'Technique' album. This opening track and the rest of the contents bear the hallmarks of the Ibiza club scene and represent a far cry from the group's previous work in Joy Division with the late Ian Curtis. To their credit, the formidable New Order had the ability to re-invent themselves in the enforced absence of Curtis, as the Mancunians were in the vanguard of the emerging indie dance scene. 'Fine Time' is a 'fine' example of the group's new-found discovery of club techno-rhythms. The song is truly infectious and stands favourably in comparison with any album opener in pop history. It does face a strong challenge for the accolade of the best song from the long player from 'Vanishing Point'. On this the anniversary of the birth of keyboardist Gillian Gilbert, why not check out the merits of these two tracks in particular.
{Also on this date, Germany first observes International Holocaust Remembrance Day in 1996}

JANUARY 28TH
Love Hurts by Jim Capaldi (1975)
from the album Short Cut Draw Blood
Traffic were a group that didn't quite deliver, in spite of the quality of its line-up. Instead of which, Stevie Winwood and Jim Capaldi both chose to forsake collective responsibility in pursuit of a solo career. Capaldi did not go on to scale the heights too often, though this pleasing cover version of an Everly Brothers' recording represented a welcome return to the Top Ten in the singles chart for a man who subsequently succumbed to stomach cancer on this date in 2005 at the age of sixty. The hit single 'Love Hurts' can also be found on Capaldi's album, 'Short Cut Draw Blood'.
{Also on this day, all 7 astronauts are killed in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986}

JANUARY 29TH
The Last Time by The Rolling Stones (1965)
available on the album Big Hits (High Tide And Green Grass)
Today marks the date of birth of Andrew Loog Oldham in 1944 in London, the young hustler who managed the Rolling Stones during the mid-sixties. The story goes that Oldham was so concerned by the group's reliance on cover versions to provide hit singles, including Lennon and McCartney's 'I Wanna Be Your Man', that he locked Mick and Keith in a room, promising only to release them from captivity when they had written one or two new tunes. Consequently, at the sixth time of asking, the Stones issued a single that was their own composition. Featuring the dual guitar sound of Jones and Richards, and complemented by a decent B-side entitled 'Play With Fire', 'The Last Time' was a landmark recording for the infamous five. Now that Jagger and Richards had dipped their toes into the pursuit of songwriting, this certainly wouldn't be 'the last time' that they would construct new material.
{Also on this date, Willie Dixon, the blues songwriter and musician dies in 1992, aged 76}

JANUARY 30TH
Tomorrow Never Knows by Phil Collins (1981)
from the album Face Value
Not long after the death of John Lennon, two of his songs re-surfaced as notable cover versions: the chart-topping 'Jealous Guy' by Roxy Music and this closing track from the debut solo album of Phil Collins. His long player 'Face Value' was a huge seller and deservedly so, as it is choc full of marvellous compositions. However, nothing quite packs a punch like this courageous cover of one of the holiest of holies from the Beatles' canon - the last item on 'Revolver'. Whereas Lennon's initial effort was trippy and laid back, Collins created a percussion sound which transformed the tune into a much more powerful and even sinister one. On this date of birth of Phil Collins, there are