Ninety minutes of some nice tracks that will wake or shake you up from my music library.
| Title | Artist | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Handsfree (If You Hold My Hand) | Sonny J | Sonnington James III or Sonny J, released Handsfree in 2008 featuring a sample of “If You Hold My Hand” by Donna Hightower. |
| Long Train Runnin’ | The Doobie Brothers | It took Doobie Brothers band member Tom Johnston a long time to convince him to write lyrics and release this good rhythm track. Doobie Brothers guitarist and lead singer Tom Johnston might have found his inspiration for the song ‘Long Train runnin’ of the many trains he had been on and off throughout his life. |
| Son of My Father | Chicory Tip | “Chicory Tip”’s band name was taken from a coffee bottle. “Son of My Father” was written and initially recorded by Giorgio Moroder, the Godfather of the Euro Disco and synthesizer music. |
| From Here To Eternity | Giorgio Moroder | “From Here To Eternity” from Giorgio Moroder in 1977 with its metallic beats, high-energy impact, and futuristic effects prove that Moroder was ahead of his time like few artists of the 1970s. |
| Take My Breath Away | Berlin | Moroder has said that of all the songs he has produced in his career, he is most proud of this song. “Take My Breath Away” is a song written by Giorgio Moroder and Tom Whitlock for the 1986 film Top Gun, performed by American new wave band Berlin. |
| Sweet Dreams | Eurythmics | Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart came up with the beat and Annie Lennox improvised the synthesizer riff. Lennox stated once “Sweet Dreams” should rather be regarded as a mantra. |
| Don’t You Want Me | The Human League | Nothing but electronic sounds for The Human League who considered guitars “archaic and antique.” Lead singer Phil Oakey claims “Don’t You Want Me” is not a love song but about power politics between two people. |
| Just Can’t Get Enough | Depeche Mode | More Synth-pop from the same year 1981 … “Just Can’t Get Enough” with Depeche Mode. I recommend you the “Depeche Mode Baar” in Tallinn, Estonia if you can’t get enough of their music. |
| The Happening | The Supremes | “The Happening” was the last hit released under the name “The Supremes.” Later in 1967, they became “Diana Ross & the Supremes.” The Motown hit is written by Holland–Dozier–Holland and Frank De Vol (The Happening’s musical director) Tittle song of the 1967 movie The Happening, which starred Anthony Quinn, George Maharis, Michael Parks, Robert Walker Jr., and Faye Dunaway. |
| You Can’t Hurry Love | Phil Collins | Phil Collins’ version of the 1966 Supremes hit was used as the main theme for the 1988 film of the same name. Phil Collins did a re-make of the song but altered parts of the lyrics . |
| The Way to Your Heart | Soulsister | “The Way to Your Heart” is a 1988 hit single by Belgian band Soulsister, written by Jan Leyers and Paul Michiels (a.k.a. Polle Pap). A mixture of pop and rock with a very Motown-sounding tune, the song is about a boy dreaming of a girl that he‘s in love with, but she doesn’t answer his love. |
| Save Tonight | Eagle-Eye Cherry | This is a simple song by the Swedish-born singer Eagle-Eye Cherry expressing the values of the night, relationships and ultimately life. The singer is going to go away the next day and he wants to cherish this one last night spent with his love. He explains that you can’t fight changes, all you can do is accept them. |
| Cherry, Cherry | Neil Diamond | “Cherry, Cherry” is a song by Neil Diamond helped by producers Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich doing also backing vocals. “Cherry, Cherry” was originally “Money, Money,” but the Bang records owner Bert Berns convinced Diamond to make it lighter and more teen-friendly. Diamond has stated that the song was inspired by an early relationship with a significantly older woman. |
| Little Sister | Ry Cooder | “Little Sister” was written by Mort Shuman and Doc Pomus for Ry Cooder and first recorded and released by Elvis Presley in 1961. |
| Should I Stay Or Should I Go | The Clash | “Should I stay or should I go” is sung bilingual: in English and Spanish. The Clash frontman Joe Strummer knew Castilian Spanish, because he grew up in Spain in his early life. Eddie Garcia, the sound engineer, called his mother who is Ecuadorian and got her to translate some of the lyrics over the phone. So Joe Strummer and Joe Ely ended up singing in Ecuadorian Spanish. Rumour has it that Mick Jones wrote this song about his girlfriend Ellen Foley. |
| Dejame | Los Secretos | Los Secretos are a Spanish rock band founded in Madrid in 1978 made up of the three Urquijo brothers. Enrique Urquijo wrote “Dejame” in 1978. The band ‘Tos’ recorded the first version of Déjame in September 1979, at the DoubleWtronics Studios in Madrid. “Dejame” or ‘Let me’ was considered as a hymn of “la movida madrileña” is one of the greatest Spanish pop hits. Ry Cooder is one of the artists that inspired the band. |
| Send Me a Postcard | Shocking Blue | Shocking Blue’s guitarist Robbie Van Leeuwen wrote this song. The group is from The Netherlands, which led to an interesting translation problem when Shocking Blue lead singer Mariska Veres sang the English lyrics. Van Leeuwen wrote the first line down incorrectly: what was supposed to be “A goddess on the mountain top” he wrote as “A goddness on the mountain top,” and that’s exactly how Veres sang it. Most listeners didn’t notice, and the many cover versions corrected the error, but the result was a #1 hit with a misspoken first line thanks to a typo. |
| The Letter | The Box Tops | “The Letter” is a song written by Wayne Carson that was first recorded by the American Memphis, Tennessee local band the DeVilles, renamed as the Box Tops in 1967. |
| Brown Eyed Girl | Van Morrison | “Brown Eyed Girl” was Van Morrison’s first release as a solo artist. This was originally called “Brown Skinned Girl,” and was about an interracial relationship. Morrison changed it to “Brown Eyed Girl” to make it more palatable for radio stations. Some stations banned it anyway for the line, “Making love in the green grass.” Morrison was signed to Bert Berns’ label, Bang Records, in a deal that included management, production and publishing. Morrison stated that he has never received any royalties for writing or recording “Brown Eyed Girl” from Bang Records. The female backing vocals were performed by The Sweet Inspirations, a gospel-influenced group. |
| Love Is In The Air | John Paul Young | “Love Is in the Air” is a 1977 disco song by Australian singer John Paul Young. It was written by George Young (no relation) and Harry Vanda, and released as the lead single from Young’s fourth studio album, Love Is in the Air (1978). The song was played at the closing Ceremony of the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney and the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy. |
| Viva la Vida | Coldplay | Frontman Chris Martin told he was inspired by the phrase on a painting by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo called Sandías con leyenda: Viva la vida. He explained: “She went through a lot of s–t, of course, and then she started a big painting in her house that said ‘Viva la Vida.’ I just loved the boldness of it.” |
| Cézanne peint | France Gall | “Cézanne peint” by France Gall, written by her husband Michel Berger in a summer house in Aix-en-Provence, facing ‘La Montagne Sainte-Victoire’, and next to Cézanne’s studio. The claps of thunder at the end of the song remind us that Paul Cézanne, while painting in the Aix countryside in October 1906, fell victim to illness following a violent storm and a very heavy downpour. which fell on him. He died a few days later from pneumonia. |
| Vincent | Don McLean | “Vincent” is a song by Don McLean, written as a tribute to Vincent van Gogh. McLean wrote the lyrics in 1971 after reading a book about the life of Van Gogh. |
| Rosas | La oreja de Van Gogh | “Rosas” (English: “Roses”) is a song performed by the Spanish pop group La Oreja de Van Gogh, written by keyboard player Xabi San Martín. The song tells the story of the protagonist who sees her first love with another woman and remembers the moments they lived together for six months. At the same time, she narrates how she waits for him to arrive with roses every Friday in a place they frequented so they can continue with their relationship. |
| Un Ramito De Violetas | Cecilia | The song “Un Ramito De Violetas” emerges as a short story in the style of James Joyce, one of Cecilia’s favourite authors. A husband incapable of expressing his feelings, writes anonymous poems, aware of the illusions and happiness that knowing that she is loved by an anonymous admirer awakens in her. Evangelina Sobredo Galanes, known as Cecilia, (11 October 1948 – 2 August 1976) was a Spanish singer-songwriter. She took her stage name from the song “Cecilia” by Simon and Garfunkel. |
| Cecilia | Simon & Garfunkel | “Cecilia” by Simon & Garfunkel in 1970, written by Paul Simon. In the Catholic church, Cecilia is the patron saint of musicians. In this context, the song can be interpreted as the singer asking for musical guidance, possibly to help writing a song. Paul Simon says he can’t remember the specific inspiration when he was writing the song, but he knew Cecilia is the goddess of 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.
