Love-Song Count-Down to Valentine’s Day

I once live-blogged a meal in a restaurant; but I have never blogged on a daily basis leading up to an event. My Spanish friend, Ana, decided to update each day with one love-song from the decades leading up to the present, 1950s onwards. So, I decided to join in. Come back each day to see what love-song I have chosen for the next decade...

Monday 8th February 2021

Following my friend’s example, Ana, I am going to post a daily love-song from each consecutive decade in the lead-up to Valentine’s Day.

When Rick Astley recorded the song in the 1980s, I purchased lots of copies and, instead of Christmas-cards that year, I sent my friends a copy of the single. 

My choice to represent the 1950s is Nat King Cole’s “When I Fall In Love” from 1957. Enjoy! 

Tuesday 9th February 2021

Well, it’s Tuesday and that means the 1960s for my next decade in the love-song count-down to Valentine’s Day.

Whilst this track was a #1 hit in the UK in 1964 (my Y.O.B. - don’t tell!), I am linking to a video of this star’s come-back in the 1990s and is I think from his all-star concert in 1992 (?) (spot the famous contributors!). Apart from my birth-year, the other connection to me is that I am named (and very much honoured to be so) after this great musician, the inimitable voice and talent of Roy Orbison.

I give you #RoyOrbison and his painful love-song, “It’s Over”...

Wednesday 10th February 2021

The track I have chosen to represent the 1970s in the love-song count-down to Valentine’s Day was a global #1 hit in 1972, including in US (four weeks) and UK (five weeks). Until a couple of years ago, I had no idea what this singer-songwriter even looked like. His image was deliberately withheld, except rare and blurry album photos. He was born with a congenital heart problem and died of heart-failure in 1994 only aged fifty-two. He was the first artist to make a re-mix album and the first artist to do a mash-up. He was the winner of two Grammy-awards, in 1970 and 1973. He wrote &/or performed songs for several films, including “Midnight Cowboy”(1969), “Goodfellas”(1990), and “The Fisher King”(1991). He is so famous, and yet also nowadays perhaps all but forgotten.

He did not actually write the song which I am linking, but for his staggering vocal performance he won the latter Grammy. The recording itself was re-issued in 1976 and reached #22 in UK. This is when I bought the 7”. It was re-re-issued in 1994 and reached #47 in the UK singles-chart. This track reminds me of one of the first wimmin with whom I fell in love. And she broke my heart... Awwwh! But I survived. Ha ha ha...

Herewith I present Harry Nilsson, often simply known as Nilsson, and his classic “Without You”...

Thursday 11th February 2021

It was a tight race for my 1980s spot in the love-song count-down to Valentine’s Day 2021. My runner-up, at 5 mins 27 secs, is Soft Cell and their torch-song “Say Hello Wave Goodbye”. There are a couple of connections between this latter and the actual song I have chosen: they were both long tracks and criticised by radio-DJs for that at the time and both songs were unconventional if not experimental.

My top eighties love-song is even longer, coming in at 5 mins 47 secs. Many folk may never have even heard it let alone seen the video, despite them being recorded by one of the seventies biggest groups. This is my fave track by the artists. My second favourite of theirs is also in excess of five minutes and is entitled “Eagle”. My choice is titled “The Day Before You Came” and was released in 1982, but was considered less than successful at the time, only reaching #32 in the UK charts. A cover by Blancmange two years later got to #22. Nonetheless, by 2010, fans voted this their third most favourite track of the band ABBA.

Friday 12th February 2021

I have to come clean and aver that the 1990s is my fave decade for music. I went to so many music-concerts, including Annie Lennox, Moby, Pet Shop Boys, Simply Red. There were several love-songs from the decade which held personal resonance for me: R.E.M.’s “Nightswimming”(sic); Isha-D’s “Stay”; Olive’s “You’re Not Alone”; etc. However, my decision was made due to one person’s songs which kept cropping up as contenders.

The love-song I have chosen to represent the 1990s in the count-down to Valentine’s Day also has  memories attached to it. It was released in 1991 from an album that resulted in five UK singles and won that year’s Brit Award for best album. In this instance I recall a failed affinity with a man who could not quite make that final step out of the closet. For me, this track is bitter-sweet as it gets to the nub of why our relationship ultimately could not work.

Ladies and Gentlemen (pun intended), I give you “Heal Your Pain” by the very-much-missed Mister George Michael…

Saturday 13th February 2021

Today is the twentieth anniversary of meeting a man who was to become my partner for just over eleven years, but after we split he became my best friend.

I knew instantly which track I wanted to represent the love-song for the noughties (2000-2009). For me this song has a strong spiritual feel, in the sense it could be about the love of the divine for those of us in the physical-realm. However, it can equally be seen as a declaration of love from a parent, a sibling, a friend or a lover.

As an extra blessing, whilst the artist is very much a singer-songwriter, this track was penned by my chum’s fave female Swedish artist, Robyn.

My artist recorded this in Stockholm in 2004 and it was released in 2005, when it reached #16 in the UK singles-chart. The original video appears to have been all but eradicated, but I managed to track it down. Forgive the less than pristine quality.

I give you someone who is considered one of Britain’s greatest soul-singers, Beverley Knight and “Keep This Fire Burning”…

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xrg5z

Sunday 14th February 2021

So then, which artist and what song did I opt for to represent 2010+ in the love-song count-down to Valentine’s Day?

In this instance the artist is probably unknown to you, unless you are an avid reader of my facebook feed over the years &/or my blog. However, since discovering this wonderful, gay singer-songwriter, I have played his music far more than anybody else’s. Matt Alber (check the lexicon below for other blog-posts) is a total Mensch and knows how to pen and craft a good ballad.

In this instance, I have not selected one of his more famous tracks. Indeed, there is no video for this particular piece. So, one can only listen. Even prior to seeing Matt play live for the first time, this was already my fave of his works (before and since!). I am not going to describe what it is about, so that the listener can create their own narrative if they so choose.

Happy Valentine’s Day, happy PALentine’s Day to one & all! My love 💕💕💕

Meine Herren und Damen; mesdames et messieurs; ladies and gentlemen - Matt Alber and his melancholic love-song “Wallingford”…

I hope you have enjoyed my selections for 2021.

Overview of my Valentine’s Day 2021 love-song choices:

1950s - Nat King Cole - “When I Fall In Love” - 1957

1960s - Roy Orbison - “It’s Over” - 1964

1970s - Harry Nilsson - “Without You” - 1972

1980s - ABBA - “The Day Before You Came” - 1982

1990s - George Michael - “Heal The Pain” - 1991

2000s - Beverley Knight - “Keep The Fire Burning” - 2005

2010s - Matt Alber - “Wallingford” - 2011

My Celebrity Mourning

Normally, upon hearing of the death of a celebrity I do not feel grief let alone cry. This year, after hearing of the passing of Carrie Fisher I actually cried - and I am not one who cries easily or often. I suppose the passing of so many famous folk who have had an impact on my life in a relatively short period has taken its emotional and spiritual toll.

Hundreds of celebrities have died this past year, some globally recognised like Bowie and Prince. However, I am not just taking a look at the big names, but rather those who have had some impact on my life. Therefore, my apologies if a star who has affected the reader is not included below.

Architecture

Dame Zaha Hadid was an (Iraqi-born) British architect with an inspirational design-æsthetic. My significant other & I often discussed her work and whenever she was featured on the cover of a magazine we would purchase and lap up her interviews. As prophets, she never really succeeded in her home country, probably due to local authorities being afeared of their conservative populaces. Hadid was so prolific that even post mortem, buildings will be constructed up to at least 2022.

Cinema, Television & Theatre

[Image description: Leia feeding R2-D2 the hologram; © starwars.com]

Yesterday evening I went to the cinema to view Rogue One. The audience ranged from young children accompanied by parents to several elderly couples. The Star Wars saga is now truly intergenerational, so the loss of Princess Leia Organa and R2-D2 has been felt by very many.
I recall queuing at the soon-to-be-demolished ODEON cinema in Manchester and not getting in the first showing, though at the front of the queue for the second, and being amazed and thrilled that a princess could be so gutsy and feisty. Carrie Fisher was perfectly cast and throughout her life she never disavowed the fans. I loved her also in The Blues Brothers (1980) as Jake's vengeful ex, The Man with One Red Shoe (1985), The 'Burbs (1989), Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997), Charlies Angels: Full Throttle (2003), and more recently appearing as a parody of herself on The Big Bang Theory (2014).
Whilst R2-D2 will undoubtedly live on in one form or another in future Star Wars tales, the death of the actor who originally brought 'him' to life, Kenny Baker, as well as the designer of the costume by prop-designer Tony Dyson in the same year does rather suggest R2's passing. That is how it seems to myself anyway.

For many she is remembered for rôles and voice-overs which mean nothing to me personally for Caroline Aherne to me will always be the acerbic Mrs. Merton, who used to regularly have me crying and in pain from laughter in the 1990s.

[Image description: Caroline Aherne as Mrs. Merton; © Metro.co.uk]

The Lady Chablis was the drag-queen persona of transgender Brenda Dale Knox who performed brilliantly, outrageously and wittily in one of my all-time favourite films (movies) Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997). I think this film was the first time I had seen an actual transgendered person on screen and, along with Jude Law and Kevin Spacey playing gay men, illustrated non-heterosexual lives in a convincing fashion.

I cannot recall a time from my childhood when Ronnie Corbett was not on the television. My parents both enjoyed The Two Ronnies. However, I liked him most in the BBC sit-com Sorry in which he played the rôle of eternally harassed Timothy Lumsden, a stay-at-home, unmarried son and librarian. Again I used to cry laughing at the show.

[Image Description: cover of Sorry! series one DVD; © BBC]

Burt Kwouk for me will always be Cato in the Pink Panther films opposite Peter Sellers' incompetent Clousseau. I loved the scenes of the fights whenever Clousseau arrived home to his manservant's partly unexpected attacks. Hysterical! I am chuckling now just at the recall! Nonetheless he was a stalwart of cinema, TV and theatre and played across the board.

Carla Lane wrote several television series that aired during my childhood, adolescence and young adulthood: inter alia The Liver Birds (1969-1978), Bless This House (1971-1976), Butterflies (1978-1983) & Bread (1986-1991). In a sense she was the mother of all these shows.

Alan Rickman whilst fun and scary as Professor Snape in the Harry Potter franchise, for me quintessentially he is the hysterically pompous theatrical Alexander Dane playing Dr. Lazarus in the sci-fi spoof Galaxy Quest (1999). Just an eyebrow raised, a turn of the head or a Look causes me to fall about laughing. Whilst I loved him in many things, the other stand-out part for me was as the cellist dead husband, Jamie, in Truly, Madly, Deeply (1991), a film guaranteed to have me sobbing into sodden tissues. He was a great talent and has bequeathed us all a fabulous legacy.

Sir Peter Shaffer was a playwright and a screenplay-writer. The two that most effected me were star-studded Equus (1977) and Amadeus (1984). The former stirring something in my developing sexuality at the sight of naked Peter Firth. The latter finally led me to an appreciation of Mozart's music, which I continue to enjoy.

[Image description: naked Peter Firth and white-grey horse from Equus; © mubi.com]

Liz Smith has been in work I think every year from 1971 until her death whether on the big or little screens. In other words, I have not known a year without her in some rôle or other. However, the part that I love her for most is as the dotty Letitia Cropley in The Vicar of Dibley (1994-1996). The reader has probably gathered by now that I do rather like my comedians/comediennes!

Gareth Thomas appeared in very many television parts, but for me the seminal rôles occurred in 1976, 1977 & 1978 respectively: as Shem in Star Maidens; as Adam Brake in Children of the Stones; and, as Roj Blake in Blake's 7. They were all cheap science-fiction series; but in my late childhood I simply lapped them up.

Victoria Wood felt like someone one knew, a neighbour or acquaintance. She was unafraid to reference her Northern (-English) roots in her comedy or for that matter any of her works. I actually got to see her in the flesh several times, standing a couple of metres from me, when I attended the première of That Day We Sang (2011) at the Manchester International Festival. And whilst she is chiefly known for comedy, her part as the eponymous Housewife, 49 (2006) and her perfectly researched script were heart-breaking.

[Image Description: beermat from 2012 with image of Victoria Wood

advertising a photographic exhibition at © The Lowry]

Literature

Jenny Diski

was a novelist and writer. For me the novels Nothing Natural (1986), Like Mother (1988) and Then Again (1990) stand out and are retained on my bookshelves.

[Image description: novels "Then Again" (© Vintage) & "Nothing Natural" (© Minerva)]

Music

Black also known as Colin Vearncombe was a musician. His album Wonderful Life (1987) is still on my regular play-list, bringing back the Angst from my teenage years and nostalgia for those formative years.

Sir Neville Marriner was a violinist, but it is his career as conductor with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields which touched me. No doubt there are critically acclaimed "better" renditions of Mozart's opus, but it is their collaborative interpretations that brought me into the fold of Mozart enthusiasts. And for that, who would not be eternally grateful!

George Michael I was never a fan of Wham! with the exception of Careless Whisper and Last Christmas (both 1984). It was not until a good friend introduced me to the album Older (1996) on a journey by car from Manchester to Brighton that I fell in love with his music and heart-felt singing. I have purchased all his albums since, but Older remains on my permanent play-list. I was fortunate enough to see him live in concert with some very good chums who are also fans, and he came across as having much less ego than most other pop-singers I have experienced live. Discovering about his philanthropy since his death makes him more likeable (likable) to my mind.

Radio

I was brought up with Radio2 always playing in the background, except for my father's forays into Radio4 for the Archers and cricket commentary. Breakfast was hosted by Sir Terry Wogan and mid morning to early afternoon by Sir Jimmy Young. On Saturday mornings we listened to Radio1's Ed "Stewpot" Stewart who also hosted the Friday afternoon BBC1 show Crackerjack. All three broadcasters sadly passed away this year. I suppose though that it is Sir Terry I shall miss most as he had a separate career as a host & compère of television shows. For me his annual (quite possibly tipsy) commentary of the Eurovision Song Contest was the sole reason for watching the often dire show - though in recent years the quality has vastly improved.
Once I moved out of the familial home, I switched in the 1980s to Radio3 the BBC's classical & serious music channel.

[Image description: a photo of Rabbi Blue for an article from © The Independent

and a copy of his book "Blue Horizons"]

Then in the 1990s I switched to Radio4 for current affairs and early-evening comedy shows. During the mornings I would listen to the Today programme which included a daily Thought for the Day slot, approximately five minutes when a religious figure would give a short homily. My favourite was always the kind and affable Rabbi Lionel Blue who invariably seemed to be able to see the good in any situation. He had an infectious chuckle. But it was his rare humanity - which also permeates his books - that was his true gift.

Science

Sir Harry Kroto was a renowned chemist (and graphic artist too) and Nobel prize-winner. He was a great orator which made him an excellent proponent for talking up science to both young people and the media. I was fortunate enough to hear him speak at Manchester Town Hall in front of a packed audience in the noughties. The audience was so enraptured that no-one noticed or minded that he went way past the cut-off time for his presentation. A truly interesting and fascinating person.

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Apologies for the font sizing. Blogger has decided that I cannot alter the sizings nor the font in this blog-post for reasons no doubt known only unto itself! %/// If anyone knows how to alter, please let me know the secret!