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

the British singles charts. Whilst Zeppelin willingly absented themselves from the Top Forty, The Who were a bit miffed that they never quite occupied Number One on the hit parade. Song-writer Pete Townshend was especially disappointed that this creation failed to make a bigger impact. For the uninitiated, Daltrey is not boasting of extraordinary eyesight. Instead, the song was very much a product of its year - a tribute to the power of LSD: "there's magic in my eyes". If there was any justice, this rather sinister tune would have spent ten weeks at the peak of the UK singles list. Nevertheless, it remains a strong candidate for the best song of the decade.
{Also on this date, in 1975 Australians enjoy their first colour television broadcasts}

MARCH 2ND
Satellite Of Love by Lou Reed (1972)
from the album Transformer
After Lou Reed divorced himself from the Velvet Underground and embarked on his solo journey, he found a kindred spirit in David Bowie, himself a big admirer of Reed's pioneering band. Before long, Bowie and his guitarist, the late Mick Ronson, would be invited to produce and contribute their own musical input to Reed's new project which evolved into the 'Transformer' album. 'Transformer' is one of those long players that experienced a brief flirtation with the charts but which various critics have raved about thereafter. For me, the album is patchy, but what is good is very good. The highlight is probably 'Satellite Of Love', a piano-led track which benefits from fine backing vocal harmonies from Bowie. Lou Reed, who was born on this day in 1942, continued to create the occasional classic song, though it is questionable whether any of them quite compares to 'Satellite Of Love'.
{Also on this day, the first test flight of Concorde is conducted in 1969 in Toulouse}

MARCH 3RD
Up Where We Belong by Joe Cocker And Jennifer Warnes (1982)
from the album An Officer And A Gentleman, Original Soundtrack
The Richard Gere and Debra Winger movie 'An Officer And A Gentleman' yielded one of the best love songs of the 1980s when Sheffield's Joe Cocker joined forces with Jennifer Warnes for this transatlantic collaboration which went on to top the American Billboard chart. Today is the date of birth of Cocker's temporary singing accomplice Jennifer Warnes, who was born in 1947. Warnes then tasted further commercial success with another American chart-topper when she sang with the ex-Righteous Brother Bill Medley for 'Ive Had The Time Of My Life' which is an equally memorable romantic song.
{Also on this date, the new state of Bosnia is created in 1992}

MARCH 4TH
Warrior by Public Image Limited (1989)
from the album The Greatest Hits So Far
John McGeoch, the Scottish guitarist in John Lydon's Public Image Limited, died on this day in 2004 at the age of 48. McGeoch provided a majestic guitar accompaniment to the seven-minute opus entitled 'Warrior', which I venture to suggest is one of the great undiscovered gems of rock and pop history. Originally included on the '9' long player, the better version is available on the group's 'The Greatest Hits So Far' collection. During this formidable dance record-cum-rock song, loveable Lydon exclaims: "I'm a warrior. I take no prisoner.....I'll never surrender." Some things never change.
{Also on this day, Robert Mugabe is elected to power in Zimbabwe in 1980}

MARCH 5TH
Sport (The Odd Boy) by The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (1969)
from the album Keynsham
Like P.I.L's John McGeoch, Vivian Stanshall (lead vocalist of the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band) died before his time, on this date in 1995, aged fifty-one. The Bonzo bunch were a musical equivalent of Monty Python's Flying Circus, as they produced an array of oddball tunes that celebrated the very eccentricity of all things English. Ripe for satire was the education system which inspired the song 'Sport (The Odd Boy)', which mocks the mythical nonsense that associates machismo and manhood with success on the sporting field. It's a tongue-in-cheek track which will strike a chord with any man (or woman) who felt marginalised at school by their lack of sporting prowess: "it's an odd boy who doesn't like sport."
{Also on this date, in 1991 all remaining Gulf War prisoners are freed by Iraq}

MARCH 6TH
Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush (1978)
from the album The Kick Inside
Even the piano introduction would have left the radio listener in little doubt that this song sounded like nothing that had invaded the airwaves before. Decorated by an orchestral accompaniment, high-pitched vocals, and an excellent guitar fade-out, this single took the charts by storm, yielding young Kate Bush with a Number One at the first time of asking. Bush would continue to carve out her own niche thereafter, with a series of unique releases and commendable albums. The long player from which 'Wuthering Heights' was drawn from, 'The Kick Inside', must rank as one of the best debut albums of all time. Credit is also due to Pink Floyd's guitarist David Gilmour who assisted Kate in taking the transition from gifted but unknown schoolgirl to a successful singing artist. Today marks the anniversary of the birth of Gilmour in 1946. 'Wuthering Heights' became a pop classic that does justice to the literary classic from which it draws its inspiration.
{Also on this day, the SAS shoot dead 3 IRA members in Gibraltar in 1988}

MARCH 7TH
Alone Again Or by Love (1967)
from the album Forever Changes
With the help of an exquisite acoustic guitar intro, this track evolves into one of the great album openers in the history of popular music. The rest of the long player, called 'Forever Changes' can best be described as 'far out', or an acquired taste. Held aloft as one of the outstanding records from the psychedelic era, 'Forever Changes' is awash with strings, peculiar lyrics, and brass, the latter of which are much in evidence on 'Alone Again Or'. On this date in 1945, Arthur Lee, the lead singer of Love, was born. His group did not function for very long, but they did leave a widely acclaimed legacy, of which this three-minute gold nugget is an obvious highlight.
{Also on this date, Palestine's first democratically elected parliament is formed in 1996}

MARCH 8TH
Cars by Gary Numan (1979)
from the album The Pleasure Principle
Gary Numan drew his inspiration from David Bowie. He also followed his hero to the top of the hit parade in 1979 when his group, the Tubeway Army reached Number One with 'Are Friends Electric?' Numan then took his leave of his 'Army' and launched his solo career with another chart-topper in the autumn of that year with the majestic 'Cars'. Electro-pop rarely sounded so good as it did on this synthesizer classic. The unsmiling Numan was born on this day in 1958. He could never maintain the impressive start to his pop career as exemplified by 'Cars'.
{Also on this day, in 1971 Joe Frazier defeats Muhammad Ali in New York City}

MARCH 9TH
I'm Waiting For The Man by The Velvet Underground (1967)
available on the album The Best Of Lou Reed & Velvet Underground
Welshman John Cale was born on this date in 1942. Cale provided the viola backing to the Velvet Underground's unique soundtrack. 'I'm Waiting For The Man' is one of a handful of impressive items from the New York band's debut, eponymous album. The long player barely made a dent in the American charts, yet it has been frequently cited that everyone who actually bought the record went on to form their own band. The Velvet Underground were a radical departure from the norms of popular music. Whilst their contemporaries sang of love, peace, and romance, the Velvet Underground preferred to focus on death, drugs, and the bizarre. The up-tempo, almost manic, 'I'm Waiting For The Man' is a case in point. The 'man' in question is a drug dealer. After the Velvet Underground dissolved, Cale continued to make an impact upon popular music, carving out a new role as a producer.
{Also on this date, Stalin's daughter, Svetlana, defects to the United States in 1967}

MARCH 10TH
Circle by Edie Brickell And The New Bohemians (1988)
from the album Shooting Rubberbands At The Stars
Edie Brickell, the future wife of Paul Simon, was born on this date in 1966 at a time when her eventual partner was already making a name for himself in the music world. Edie made her own splash in the charts with a couple of outstanding singles. 'Circle' was a superb composition, almost a girlie equivalent of Paul Simon's 'I Am A Rock', in which Miss Brickell sings about the satisfaction of being single and independent, scorning those who have under-valued her: "I quit, I give up. Nothing's good enough for anybody else, it seems.....And being alone is the best way to be.....When I'm by myself, nobody else can say goodbye."
{Also on this day, in 1969 James Earl Ray pleads guilty to killing Martin Luther King}

MARCH 11TH
Taxman by The Beatles (1966)
from the album Revolver
On this day in 1997, Paul McCartney had a knighthood conferred upon him, thus completing his transition from hippy pop star to a pillar of the establishment. It wasn't always so. On the energetic opener to the 'Revolver' album, McCartney and his fellow 'moptops' went political, firing a broadside at Prime Minister Harold Wilson and the future Premier, Edward Heath. Here was growing evidence that the 'fab four' were offloading their standard formula of love songs and pop music in favour of more thought-provoking material. The formidable interplay between bass