Another (remastered) edition of Ramblin’ Tunes serving a selection of popular songs that coloured music history with a blend of pop, rock, soul, disco, r&b and blues.
| TITLE | ARTIST | COMMENTS |
|---|---|---|
| Shout To The Top! | The Style Council | The Style Council’s frontman and songwriter Paul Weller addresses in his song ‘Shout to the Top’ the turmoil in England at the time their Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, wanted to reduce the power of the trade unions. |
| Smalltown Boy | Bronski Beat | The song “Small town boy” is a semi-autobiographical story of Jimmy Somerville, the lead singer of Bronski Beat. “Smalltown Boy” discusses the oppression and mistreatment of closeted gay youths in Scotland during the 1980s. |
| Parklife | Blur | Damon Albarn, frontman of the band Blur, was inspired by the novel “London Fields” for Parklife. The song and video won numerous awards in England but went nowhere in the US (maybe it was too British). The band asked British actor Phil Daniels doing the verses as they were big fans of his film, Quadrophenia, where he played a young working-class mod, named Jimmy. Another mod that featured in the movie was Sting as “Ace Face” who had a job as a bellboy in a Brighton hotel. |
| While You See A Chance | Steve Winwood | Steve Winwood had known success as a member of The Spencer Davis Group, Blind Faith and Traffic. When he went solo and was living in rural England, Will Jennings wrote him this song in the spirit of the old English saying “Fake it till you make it.” |
| Slippery People | Talking Heads | “Slippery People” by the Talking Heads from 1983 could well be referring to the charismatic preachers and the congregations that they lead. The American gospel, soul, and R&B singing group The Staple Singers, with civil rights activist, Mavis Staples, recorded the song in 1984. |
| Feeling Good | Nina Simone | Nina Simone’s mother was a Methodist preacher. Nina became an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist. Her 1965 version of this Broadway musical song ‘feeling good’ became one of her best known songs. The message of joy and contentment after hard times translated well to Simone’s vocal stylings. |
| 365 jours | Oxmo Puccino | Oxmo Puccino is a French hip hop musician born in Mali as Abdoulaye Diarra. 365 Jours deals with the perception of time with age: Born in the morning, major at noon, old at 8 pm. |
| I Need Never Get Old | Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats | This is a song by Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats from 2015 before he founded The Marigold Project that supports community and non-profit organisations working on issues of economic, racial and social justice. |
| Débranche | France Gall | “Débranche” (“Loosen-up”) by France Gall was released in the mid-eighties when she joined Chanteurs Sans Frontières and Action Écoles for the benefit of Ethiopia and other African countries where famine and drought prevailed. “débrancher” basically means “unplug” or “turn off”, but it was also a trendy term in the 80’s for “chill out” or “relax”. This beautiful song was written by her husband Michel Berger, who was a songwriter and singer. Her father, the lyricist Robert Gall, wrote songs for Édith Piaf and Charles Aznavour. After they married on 22 June 1976,, Gall only sang songs written by Berger until his death in 1992. |
| This World Today Is a Mess | Donna Hightower | Missouri born Donna Hightower settled in the sixties in France, then Belgium and finally in Madrid and won in 1971 the Costa del Sol International Song Festival. |
| Sisters Are Doin’ It for Themselves | Eurythmics & Aretha Franklin | “Sisters Are Doin’ It for Themselves” is a modern feminist anthem, written by Eurythmics members Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart. It featured on both Eurythmics’ and Aretha Franklin’s albums of 1985. |
| Only the Strong Survive | Jerry Butler | “Only the Strong Survive” is a song by Jerry Butler, a successful songwriter of numerous big R&B hits in the sixties. |
| Hey Hey Rise Up (ft. Andriy Khlyvnyuk of Boombox) | Pink Floyd | British rock legends Pink Floyd reunited to write their first new track in almost three decades “Hey Hey Rise Up”.“Hey, Hey, Rise Up”. It is inspired by Andriy Khlyvnyuk’s Instagram post. Khlyvnyuk – whose band BoomBox had performed with David Gilmour in 2015, had joined the Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces and made a recording singing the Ukrainian folk song “Oh, the Red Viburnum in the Meadow” while on the front lines in Kyiv against the Russian invasion. The track was recorded on March 30, 2022, and released a week later. |
| A Change Is Gonna Come | Sam Cooke | A year after hearing Dylan’s “Blowing in the wind”, Sam Cooke wrote in 1964 “A Change Is Gonna Come”, a protest song to support the civil rights movement for Black Americans equality. The song was released as a single a few months after Cooke was fatally shot at a Los Angeles motel. |
| What’s Going On | Marvin Gaye | “What’s Going On” was written by three Motown hitmakers and golfing buddies: Al Cleveland, Four Tops member Renaldo “Obie” Benson and singer Marvin Gaye. Marvin Gaye’s lyrics were inspired by stories his brother Frankie told him when he came back from the Vietnam War. “What’s Going On” was an expression he used to greet his friends. |
| Mad World | Tears for Fears | Tears For Fears’ first UK hit ‘Mad World’ was written by Roland Orzabal when he was as a 19 year old unemployed boy living with his girlfriend in Bath, watching people go about their daily routine, having to work, nine to five, for a living. |
| Stand by Me | Playing for Change | “Stand By Me” was the name of a gospel hymn written in 1905. Playing For Change, is a multimedia music project, founded in 2002, and featuring musicians and singers from across the globe. It’s aim is to connect the world through music. |
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.
