Pting Rollo

Tomorrow evening will be fine for me.

21st - 27th July 1966 29. Visions - Cliff Richard https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4NR-oNspRs Cliff is backed by the Bernard Ebbinghouse Orchestra for this one and I did like the harp playing. It's a delicate song and the addition of female backing singers is quite unusual for one of his singles. 32. I Want You - Bob Dylan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iIS6ZZ9RVA I know Sophie B Hawkins' version of this well, it just missed the top 40 in 1993, but I didn't hear it until much later as I didn't buy her debut album until after her second and third ones. Her cover is much slower than Bob's which I don't think I've heard before. It's very upbeat but I'll be going back to Sophie's sultry version. 34. Hi-Lily, Hi-Lo - The Alan Price Set https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y--FFzjwUdw A song that goes back to 1952 and this is a boisterous version done in a Georgie Fame sort of style. 35. Lovers Of The World Unite - David and Jonathan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6T5kygrWio A positive message, catchy chorus and great harmonies all add up to make this one of the week's best songs. It wouldn't sound out of place in next year's 'summer of love'. 38. Younger Girl - The Critters https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phe6IXM9XME A nice, laid back sound but the title means I have to scrutinise the lyrics. He's going to hang around her like a brother until she's old enough in a few more years but will find it difficult to wait that long. On that basis, I'll pass on this one. 39. My Lover's Prayer - Otis Redding https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jo-klvlKdjM A gritty, raw vocal here from Otis accompanied by some slow piano playing and brass instruments. Record of the week : 28. Summer In The City - The Lovin' Spoonful After quite an unusual intro, this goes straight into the memorable chorus with lyrics about the daytime temperatures in the city being hard to bear and looking forward to the night time when it cools down. I like the slowed down instrumental parts with car horn and drilling sound effects thrown in. Overall, a great package of vocals and music. The single will peak at number 8 and top the Billboard chart.

Queen - Delilah Prefab Sprout - Farmyard Cat Mud - The Cat Crept In

Well done John for today's double 39. Round 1: 39 💥 Round 2: 39 💥 3 in 10: 3 Paranoid Android, Karma Police, Fake Plastic Trees

Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Two Tribes Nik Kershaw - I Won't Let The Sun Go Down On Me Grandmaster And Melle Mel - White Lines (Don't Do It) Billy Joel - Goodnight Saigon Scritti Politti - Absolute

I voted for all of that top four.

For volume of albums, can anybody beat Rick Wakeman? This list doesn't include the ones he recorded as part of Yes. 1971 Piano Vibrations 1973 The Six Wives Of Henry VIII 1974 Journey To The Centre Of The Earth 1975 The Myths And Legends Of King Arthur And The Knights Of The Round Table 1975 Lisztomania 1976 No Earthly Connection 1977 White Rock 1977 Rick Wakeman's Criminal Record 1979 Rhapsodies 1981 The Burning 1981 1984 1982 Rock'n'Roll Prophet 1983 Cost Of Living 1983 G'ole! : The Original Film Soundtrack 1984 Crimes Of Passion 1985 Silent Nights 1985 Life At Hammersmith 1986 Country Airs 1987 The Family Album 1987 The Gospels 1988 Time Machine 1988 A Suite Of Gods 1988 Zodiaque 1988 The Word And The Gospels 1989 Black Knights At The Court Of Ferdinand IV 1989 Sea Airs 1990 Night Airs 1990 In The Beginning 1991 Phantom Power 1991 Rock'n'Roll Prophet Plus 1991 Aspirant Sunrise 1991 Aspirant Sunset 1991 Aspirant Sunshadows 1991 The Classical Connection 1991 African Bach 1991 2000 AD Into The Future 1991 Softsword : King John And The Magna Charter 1993 Heritage Suite 1993 Prayers 1993 Classic Tracks 1993 The Classical Connection 2 1994 Live On The Test 1994 Light Up The Sky 1995 Almost Live In Europe 1995 The Piano Album 1995 The Private Collection 1995 The Seven Wonders Of The World 1995 Visions 1995 Cirque Surreal 1996 Fields Of Green 1996 The New Gospels 1996 The Word And Music 1996 Can You Hear Me? 1996 Orisons 1997 Tribute 1997 Simply Acoustic 1997 Fields Of Green '97 1998 Themes 1999 Return To The Centre Of The Earth 1999 White Rock II 1999 The Natural World Trilogy 1999 Art In Music Trilogy 2000 Preludes To A Century 2000 Chronicles Of Man 2000 Christmas Variations 2000 The Legend : Live In Concert 2000 2000 Morning Has Broken 2001 Out Of The Blue 2001 Classical Variations 2001 Tales Of Future And Past 2001 Two Sides Of Yes 2002 The Wizard And The Forest Of All Dreams 2002 Two Sides Of Yes Volume 2 2003 Out There 2005 At Lincoln Cathedral 2006 Retro 2007 Live At The BBC 2007 Retro 2 2009 The Six Wives Of Henry VIII : Live At Hampton Court Palace 2009 Past, Present And Future 2010 Always With You 2012 Journey To The Centre Of The Earth (re-recording) 2016 The Myths And Legends Of King Arthur And The Knights Of The Round Table (re-recording) 2017 Piano Portraits 2018 Piano Odyssey 2019 Christmas Portraits 2020 The Red Planet 2020 Hero : The Original Soundtrack 2022 A Gallery Of The Imagination 2022 Live From Elche 2024 Live At The London Palladium 2025 Melancholia

After releasing albums almost every year, Depeche Mode went on a run of one album every four years: 1993 - Songs Of Faith Of Devotion 1997 - Ultra 2001 - Exciter 2005 - Playing The Angel 2009 - Sounds Of The Universe 2013 - Delta Machine 2017 - Spirit (the next one was 2023)

Thanks. Round 1: 33 Life, Start Round 2: 33 Alice Cooper 3 in 10: 1 Open Road

RIP Sir Garfield Sobers, one of the greatest cricketers ever.

Well done John for today's double 39. Round 1: 39 💥 Round 2: 27 Bread, Who's That Lady, Rufus or Martha 3 in 10: 2 Use It Up And Wear It Out, Native New Yorker

Round 1: 30 The year, Dancin' On A Saturday Night Round 1: 36 Clubs (I went for Hearts but that was Dave Edmunds) 3 in 10: 2 Doctor Beat, Anything For You

Reaching the semi-finals is about the best that this average England team could achieve but it's still frustrating that they were so close to reaching the final with just five minutes of normal time left. They'll just have to learn from what they did wrong this time and give it another go at the Euros in 2028.

Thanks. Round 1: 30 U2, To Love Somebody Round 2: 33 Silver Convention 3 in 10: 3 Don't Go Breaking My Heart, Star, Amoureuse

Submitted something. I didn't have anything in reserve so looked for something new and found three good instrumentals. I've been unsure over the last couple of days over which one to enter so I hope I made the right choice.

14th - 20th July 1966 27. (Baby) You Don't Have To Tell Me - The Walker Brothers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlFcapTPx7s While this keeps the production values that I'm used to, there's something lacking and the main melody isn't as strong. After three consecutive top 3 singles, this cover of a Bobby Coleman song will only get as far as number 13. 31. A Place In The Sun - The Shadows https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXC6qd6e3as This certainly evokes an image of a tropical paradise with the marimba being played so its title is apt. A good instrumental for the summer. 38. You Gave Me Somebody To Love - Manfred Mann https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lq04ORKRuGU This will be a rare miss for Manfred Mann, peaking at number 36 after the last eight singles all reached the top 11. There's a good lead vocal and the instrumentals blend nicely so it maybe could have done a bit better. Record of the week : 29. With A Girl Like You - The Troggs I'm not a big fan of this record but it's the best out of these four. Sometimes, just a simple thing can make a song stand out and in this case it's the "ba ba ba ba ba, ba ba ba ba". That will be enough to take the song to the number 1 position for two weeks and give it two months in the top 10.

Round 1: 30 Rick Astley, the year, Nirvana Round 2: 39 💥 3 in 10: 3 You Got It, Oh Pretty Woman, In Dreams I don't normally watch Mastermind but I saw that Depeche Mode were somebody's specialist subject. The questions were really hard and I only got 3 out of 13 correct. The contestant got 11 correct.

Queen - I Want To Break Free Propaganda - Dr Mabuse Nik Kershaw - Dancing Girls New Order - Thieves Like Us Ultravox - Dancing With Tears In My Eyes Tie-break: People Are People

Thanks to everyone who read my reviews and commented. Please post your own order of songs if you have the time. This is a recap of my top 20: 1. The Sun Always Shines On TV - A-ha 2. West End Girls - Pet Shop Boys 3. Take My Breath Away - Berlin 4. The Final Countdown - Europe 5. Chain Reaction - Diana Ross 6. Papa Don't Preach - Madonna 7. A Different Corner - George Michael 8. Rock Me Amadeus - Falco 9. Reet Petite (The Sweetest Girl In Town) - Jackie Wilson 10. Caravan Of Love - The Housemartins 11. The Lady In Red - Chris de Burgh 12. True Blue - Madonna 13. Spirit In The Sky - Doctor and the Medics 14. Don't Leave Me This Way - The Communards with Sarah Jane Morris 15. When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going - Billy Ocean 16. Every Loser Wins - Nick Berry 17. The Edge Of Heaven - Wham! 18. I Wanna Wake Up With You - Boris Gardiner 19. Living Doll - Cliff Richard and The Young Ones featuring Hank Marvin 20. The Chicken Song - Spitting Image

1. The Sun Always Shines On TV - a-ha 'Take On Me' had been a huge breakthrough hit for the Norwegian group but was kept off the top of the UK chart by Jennifer Rush's 'The Power Of Love' for three weeks. The Sun Always Shines On TV was the follow-up single. After entering the chart around Christmas at number 39, it climbed to 27 and 5 before emulating Take On Me's peak of number 2, behind West End Girls. This time, a-ha got the number 1 they deserved, with a two week reign. The video for the song started with an epilogue to the one for Take On Me before switching to a performance in the church of Saint Alban the Martyr in Teddington in front of hundreds of mannequins. This is a song of two intros, the first one is quite brief with synth sounds resembling a flute and piano which continue to back the first vocal, then comes a longer and much more dramatic intro before the vocals take centre stage. Morten Harket puts in a skilled and evocative vocal performance but the highlight of the song for me is the wall of sound created by all the keyboard textures. The song's title came from the group watching TV on a rainy day in England and hearing the programme announcer say "it's a rainy day but, as always,. the sun always shines on TV". The rest of the lyrics seem to be about having worries and self doubt, maybe even depression, and craving the love of another person. This means that I can mention Genesis for a third time in this countdown as their TV themed song, 'Turn It On Again, has a similar lyrical story. I prefer The Sun Always Shines On TV to Take On Me which has almost 20 more times Spotify streams and it's my favourite song by a-ha. I placed it at number 391 in my top 1000 so that helped my decision to put it above West End Girls at the top of my rankings.

2. West End Girls - Pet Shop Boys West End Girls was one of twelve songs that the Pet Shop Boys recorded in 1983 and 1984 with producer Bobby Orlando who Neil Tennant had met in New York where he was interviewing Sting for Smash Hits magazine. It was a minor hit in some countries. The song was re-recorded in 1985 with Steven Hague producing and entered the chart at number 80 in November. It then progressed 59-40-23-9-5-4-3 before spending two weeks at number 1 in January 1986. It also reached the top of the Billboard chart and won a Brit award for best single. My top two number 1 singles from the year are well ahead of the rest and this one finishes as the runner-up. The 40 second intro immediately draws you in with the sounds of the street interspersed with different synth effects. Then Neil Tennant comes in, rapping in a well spoken English accent which would certainly have been unusual for the mid 80s even if wasn't the first time it had been done. He then sings the chorus parts. You also have a trumpet but it's not a real one, only an Emulator sample, and some backing vocals from Helena Springs. The lyrics are about the disparity between the poor East End of London and the more affluent and glamourous West End with the boys from the former travelling over to the latter for the evening to have a good time. Synth pop had virtually died out by 1986 but the Pet Shop Boys brought it back with something that sounded new and refreshing. I placed West End Girls at number 549 in my all time top 1000 behind twelve other Pet Shop Boys songs so with it only being my 13th favourite from them, it falls short of my top ranking here.

I'm glad it went much longer than 70 minutes, I was willing Muchova to get back into the match so we'd get a third set. After that, I wasn't really bothered who won. Noskova did really well to go 3-0 up in the final set after losing five games in a row.

Round 1: 36 Thomas Round 2: 39 💥 3 in 10: 3 Black Cat, Rhythm Nation, The Best Things In Life Are Free

3. Take My Breath Away - Berlin Take My Breath Away was written by Giorgio Moroder with lyrics by Tom Whitlock for the film Top Gun. It was first offered to The Motels, who got as far as recording a demo, but ended up with the American band Berlin whom Giorgio had worked with previously. Lead singer Terri Nunn was the only member of the group to contribute to the recording with the synths and other instruments being played by Giorgio and his studio team. The song spent four weeks at number 1 in November while also topping the Billboard chart and winning an Oscar for Best Original Song. Take My Breath Away ended up killing the group with the other members not wanting to perform a song in their concerts that they had no involvement with and they split up just one year later. Terri Nunn formed a new line-up of Berlin in 1997 and this group is still going with some of the original members eventually returning to the fold. The song was a top 3 hit again in 1990 after the TV premiere of Top Gun. Like my fourth placed song, The Final Countdown, this one starts with its main selling point, which in this case is that synth bass sound which continues throughout the whole of the song. We also have the electronic drums and sweeping keyboards. These alone are not enough, it obviously needs a great vocal and Terri Nunn comes up with the goods with an absorbing performance, full of emotion, which she said afterwards was down to her being unhappy with her own love life at the time.

Another new album: Asia - Indigo [6th November] (Their first album since 2014)