In this episode I invite you to follow the travels of artists around the world. Put on some comfortable shoes to hop on trains, plains and boats. As always, you will hear a blend of popular tracks from different genres: pop, rock, blues, r&b and many more. Enjoy!
| TITLE | ARTIST | COMMENTS |
|---|---|---|
| Trains And Boats And Planes | Dionne Warwick | “Trains and Boats and Planes” was written, arranged and conducted by Burt Bacharach with lyrics from Dave Hal. Dionne Warwick recorded her version of the song in 1966. |
| Via Con Me | Paolo Conte | Paolo Conte earned International acclaim in 1981 with his jazzy song “Via Con Me” (Come away with me). The Italian song includes references to nature and landscapes. The rhythm reminds me of a galloping horse. In 2022 a documentary titled “Paolo Conte, Via con me” was released. |
| Voyage Voyage | Desireless | Claudie Fritsch-Mentrop (born 25 December 1952), is the woman behind Desireless (oui, il faut le dire avec un accent français – French pronunciation: [deziʁlɛs]) and the International hit “Voyage Voyage”. This French song from 1986 has been covered in various languages. In Japanese by the female duo Wink and in Spanish by the Mexican boys-band Magneto. |
| Marrakesh Express | Crosby, Stills & Nash | “Marrakesh Express” written by Graham Nash while he was still a member of the English rock band The Hollies but released by the band Crosby, Stills and Nash (CSN) in May 1969. Nash describes in the song his train ride from Casablanca to Marrakesh during his holiday in Morocco in 1966. |
| City To City | Gerry Rafferty | Gerry Rafferty released in 1978 an album titled “City To City” with a couple of numbers inspired by his long distance commuting. The album was released outside the UK with a slightly higher pitch than the actual recording speed. In this title song the night train is carrying Rafferty home to his daughter Martha. |
| I.G.Y. | Donald Fagen | The song ‘I.G.Y.’ is a look back at the “International Geophysical Year” from 1957 to 1958 (the year of the World Exposition in Brussels) of scientists trying to improve the world through technology. Musically, this is also the brilliant opening track to his 1982 album, The Nightfly from Donald Fagen. Donald Fagen describes a futuristic world like a transatlantic tunnel (Ninety minutes from New York to Paris: More leisure for artists everywhere) and cities fully powered by solar energy. |
| Last Train to Clarksville | The Monkees | “Last Train to Clarksville” was released as the Monkees’s debut single on August 16, 1966. It as well featured several times in the band’s television series. Because of their TV series, the lyrics remained rather vague meaning it did not explicitly refer to the Vietnam War or army base. Anyway, the story goes they replaced the initial city name Clarkdale by Clarksville because it sounded better. Musically, the songwriting duo Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, was inspired by the Beatles, in particular their hit at the time “Paperback Writer”. |
| Last Train To London | Electric Light Orchestra | “Last Train to London” is a song from the English rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). It appeared on their disco-inspired successful album Discovery in 1979. Band leader, writer and producer Jeff Lynne was inspired by the time they spent on trains going back and forth from their home town Birmingham to the various TV and radio stations in London. |
| Enjoy the Ride | Morcheeba | Here is some good advice from Morcheeba: “Enjoy the Ride”. Guest vocalist Judie Tzuke wrote the inspiring lyrics like “The day that you stop running Is the day that you arrive”. Tzuke, sticked to her Polish name, and seemed to be familiar with traveling titles. Her first album of 1997 was called “Welcome to the Cruise”. “it’s about accepting who you are in the moment and not trying to distract yourself with everything else – gaining a new understanding of yourself and life. |
| Homeward Bound | Simon & Garfunkel | “Homeward Bound” the American duo Simon & Garfunkel’s second single (after “The Sound of Silence”) in 1966. Paul Simon wrote this song at age 22 when he toured small folk clubs in England and was stuck at a train station. Peter Carlin used the title for his book ‘Homeward Bound: The Life of Paul Simon’ released fifty years later in 2016. |
| Adieu Sweet Bahnhof | The Nits | “Adieu Sweet Bahnhof” by Dutch band The Nits in 1984. The title translates “Farewell Sweet Railway Station”. Sitting in a train back to Paris, arriving at the Gare du Nord upon arrival what do you do? Take the metro or jump into a taxi? |
| Joe Le Taxi | Vanessa Paradis | “Joe Le Taxi” is a big hit from Vanessa Paradis when she was still a young teenager (14). The songwriter Estèva Roda Gil used the life of the lesbian Portuguese Maria-José Leao Dos Santos, who he met in a Parisian club and who was a night shift taxi driver. At the beginning of the song you hear Paradis’s destination is “Barbès” which used to be one of the cheapest districts of Paris with a large immigrant population. |
| Low Rider | War | “Low Rider” is a song written by American funk band War in 1975. The vocals are from saxophonist Charles Miller, A low rider is a customized car with a lowered body initially designed by Mexican-American youth in Los Angeles, California, to cruise as slowly as possible. |
| Route Nationale 7 | Lunabee | The Belgian “Lunabee” won a cover contest (organized by the Tilt festival & CQFD (Inrocks)) in 2008 with this version of “Route Nationale 7” from Charles Trenet. Trenet drove many times the 996 Km long RN7 that links Paris to the south of France. Lunabee added a dash of salt and a good dose of carbon dioxide to his composition of 1955. Today, most people use the motorways ‘sur l’autoroute des vacances’. |
| Un beau roman (Une belle histoire) | Michel Fugain | Michel Fugain et Le Big Bazar with one of the many songs written by Pierre Delanoë, Un beau roman (Une belle histoire). The romance of two people crossing each other along the motorway. One heading home to the foggy (hazy) north, the other going south. |
| Born To Be Wild | Steppenwolf | “Get your motor runnin’ and Head out on the highway” “Born to Be Wild” by the American-Canadian rock band Steppenwolf. The song featured (during the opening credits) in the 1969 road movie “Easy Rider“ about two bikers who travel through the American Southwest and South, carrying the proceeds from a cocaine deal. |
| Rocket Man (I Think It’s Going To Be A Long, Long Time) | Elton John | “Rocket Man” (officially titled “Rocket Man (I Think It’s Going to Be a Long, Long Time)”) is a song written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin, and performed by John. Taupin based it on The Illustrated Man, a 1951 collection of 18 science fiction short stories by American writer Ray Bradbury. One of them, “The Rocket Man”, presumably situated in decade 2020-2030 is about a boy missing his astronaut father who often goes to space for periods of three months and is only home for a few days. His mother is no longer attached to her husband for she knows that some day he won’t return home. |
| Major Tom | Peter Schilling | One-hit wonder Peter Schilling, born in Stuttgart, Germany with “Major Tom (Coming Home)” from his 1983 album, ‘Error in the System’. Schilling first released the songs in German: Das Original war “Major Tom (Völlig losgelöst – translated: completely detached)” und das Album ‘Fehler im System’. The song is a retelling of David Bowie’s classic (1969) “Space Oddity”. Schilling formed in 1995 a new band the Space Pilots and released several remixes of his hit. His songs often feature science-fiction themes like aliens, astronauts and catastrophes. Synthpop was a popular genre in Europe those years. |
| Magic Fly | Space | Space was a French group, created around Didier Marouani (Ecama) and Roland Romanelli, acclaimed for their 1977 synthpop hit “Magic Fly”. The composition initially was for the credits for a program on the first French TV channel, requested by the astrologer Élizabeth Teissier in early 1977. In the official video clip (https://youtu.be/ZavwtJxmqJI) they perform in space suites, no wonder they inspired their compatriots of Daft Punk. |
| Le vent nous portera | Noir Désir | “Le vent nous portera” from the French rock band Noir Désir. The song from 2001 evokes the story of two inseparable characters, whose memories will fly away forever. “Le vent nous portera” meaning “the wind will carry us”. The peaceful style is marked by the participation of Manu Chao on guitar and Akosh S. on bass clarinet marked. |
| Sailing | Rod Stewart | Rod Stewart, as a fan of the Sutherland Brothers, put a cover of their song ‘Sailing’ on his album ‘Atlantic Crossing’, which he recorded in 1975 (at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio). Writer Gavin Sutherland explained the spiritual meaning of the song: “it’s an account of mankind’s spiritual odyssey through life on his way to freedom and fulfilment with the Supreme Being.” |
| Leaving on a Jet Plane | John Denver | John Denver wrote this song at age 23 during a layover at Washington Airport in 1966 as “Babe I Hate To Go”. His producer Milt Okun convinced him to rename it as “Leaving on a Jet Plane” in 1967. Okun was also producer of the folk group ‘Peter, Paul and Mary’ and they recorded the song the same year on their LP “Album 1700”. Denver released his version in October ‘69 which caused ‘Peter, Paul and Mary’s belated success. In December ‘69 their version of “Leaving On A Jet Plane” became their only No. 1 single as well as their final top 40 pop hit. |
| I Don’t Wanna Die In an Air Disaster | Albert Hammond | Gibraltarian singer-songwriter Albert Hammond wrote “I don’t wanna die in an air disaster” when he was young and pretty in 1974. The same year he also released “I’m a train” and one year later he sang “Rivers are for boats to take us sailing, One day we will” |
| Night Boat To Cairo | Madness | “Night Boat to Cairo” is a song by British ska/pop band Madness from their debut 1979 album One Step Beyond…. Keyboard player Mike Barson composed it as an instrumental, but lead singer Graham McPherson (Suggs) added lyrics. The band often closes their concerts with this song. |
| Vesoul | Jacques Brel | “Vesoul” is a song written, composed and performed by Jacques Brel, released in 1968 on his album “J’arrive”. Brel stayed twice in a hotel in the city of Vesoul in France and was so grateful that he dedicated a song title to it. The song is a mix of musette and swing where Jacques Brel is accompanied by the accordionist Marcel Azzola, The story goes that Brel only had ten minutes left at the recording studio, just enough for two takes. In the second and final take, Marcel Azzola was asked to add a few musical and rhythmic variations from which comes Brel’s expression “chauffe, Marcel, chauffe”. |
| Wand’rin Star | Lee Marvin | “Wand’rin Star” is a song written for the Broadway musical comedy “Paint Your Wagon” of 1951. For the 1969 movie, Nelson Riddle orchestrated and arranged Lee Marvin’s version of the song. The soundtrack became a success and “Wand’rin Star” topped the UK charts in March 1970. |
| Andando | Sidestepper | Sidestepper is a Colombian band from Bogota D.C. started in 1996 by English DJ/producer Richard Blair (born 17 June 1965, London). Richard Blair collaborated with Toto La Momposina. who had arrived in Paris in 1979 as a refugee and performed extensively in Europe, particularly France and Germany. Totó la Momposina, the “Queen of Cumbia”, has dedicated her life to represent the music of Colombia’s Caribbean coastline, where African, indigenous Indian and Spanish cultures mingle to create a unique musical tradition. This original song ‘Andando’ was released on a compilation album ‘Nirvana Lounge – Ethnic Lounge’ in 2003. |
| Spanish Stroll | Willy Deville | “Spanish Stroll” was taken from the 1977 album Cabretta by Mink Deville. Willy Deville, a macho dandy, blended the tracks with the unique New-York Spanish flavour. |
| Walking In Memphis | Marc Cohn | “Walking in Memphis” from the American singer-songwriter Marc Craig Cohn (born July 5, 1959). According to Cohn, the song is “100 percent autobiographical”, about a Jewish gospel-music-lover and about more than just a place; it’s about a kind of spiritual awakening, one of those trips where you’re different when you leave. |
| Home on Monday | Little River Band | “Home on Monday” is a song by the Australian Little River Band, released inv1977. Songwriter Glenn Shorrock sings about the “Las Vegas Hilton”. This hotel was initially ‘The International Hotel’ that opened on July 2, 1969 and where Elvis Presley performed on July 31,1969, the first show of what would become a seven-year run at the hotel. More details about the 636 consecutive sold-out shows you get in the 2022 biographical drama film ‘Elvis’. |
| Heartbreak Hotel | Elvis Presley | Elvis Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel” recorded with his band, The Blue Moon Boys, ‘Mr Guitar’ Chet Atkins, and the pianist Floyd Cramer in January 1956. |
Sources
The information sources of the song facts include, but are not limited to, Wikipedia, songfacts.com, discogs.com, secondhandsongs.com, YouTube and artists’ related websites.
