Last Song You Listened To

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Moonraker
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Re: Last Song You Listened To

Post by Moonraker »

I get lots of mental lapses and not only late at night...some people call them senior moments, but I prefer to call them intellectual interludes.
Much better, Eddie! :D
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Re: Last Song You Listened To

Post by John Pickup »

Intellectual interludes. That's brilliant. I shall be using that, Eddie. :D
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Re: Last Song You Listened To

Post by Courtenay »

Just been listening to Frankie Vaughan's version of Istanbul Not Constantinople, but I must say I prefer the original (by the Four Lads). But that's just personal taste. There was a more recent recording of it by They Might Be Giants, which I don't much like either - too fast, in that case.

On the other hand, here's where I first heard it... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20uXjti9h4I" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; :roll:

Back to the actual last song I listened to - Fingal's Cave (Hebrides Overture by Mendelssohn)
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Re: Last Song You Listened To

Post by Domino »

I must confess that I was never a fan of Frankie Vaughan's singing. Although he occasionally flirted with rock 'n' roll (such as his cover of Jim Lowe's 'Green Door'), he was never really convincing. At least, not to me. He did have a long and successful career. One of his earliest records (I think going back to 1949 or 1950) was 'Give Me the Moonlight, Give Me The Girl', which he adopted as his signature tune. I can still hear him now, with his top hat and cane, going:

Give Me the Moonlight, Huh-huh-huh-huh,
Give Me the Girl, Huh-huh-huh-huh-huh,
And leave the rest...........to........me!


Dave
Last edited by Domino on 23 Oct 2014, 15:13, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Last Song You Listened To

Post by Eddie Muir »

I feel much the same way about Frankie Vaughan as you do, Dave. I met him twice (once during my skiffle group days and later when I was teaching and he presented a minibus to the school) and I have to say that he was one of the nicest people I have ever met. :D

Although not as good as Charlie Gracie's original version, I rather like Frankie's version of Wanderin' Eyes from 1957:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XR7KqMmIK-E" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Here's the Charlie Gracie version:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMXm34kJIVY" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Both recordings reached number 6 in the hit parade.
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Re: Last Song You Listened To

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

It Started With a Kiss - Hot Chocolate:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3pf7o-9OOk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I love the opening line, so clear and resonant, and then the melodious backing kicking in.
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Re: Last Song You Listened To

Post by Domino »

I've just been reading a number of biographical articles online about Frankie Vaughan, and it seems he may not have recorded 'Give Me the Moonlight' until 1955. He was certainly using it in his stage act from about 1950.
It is actually an old Victorian song. He discovered the sheet music for it whilst performing at a Glasgow venue. His first television appearance was in 1952.
He raised a lot of money for boys' clubs over the years.
One of the most interesting things about him was that, although he came from Liverpool, he never spoke with a recognisably Liverpool accent. This was typical, for entertainers were routinely told that they had to lose the accent or they would never get anywhere. Tommy Handley and Arthur Askey are other examples of this.

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Re: Last Song You Listened To

Post by Domino »

The Coasters -What is the Secret of Your Success? Recorded 1957 as a 'B' side.

http://vid1303.photobucket.com/albums/a ... q1dmxg.mp4" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Re: Last Song You Listened To

Post by Moonraker »

My mother was a huge fan of Frankie Vaughan, especially liking Green Door.
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Re: Last Song You Listened To

Post by Courtenay »

Moonraker wrote:My mother was a huge fan of Frankie Vaughan, especially liking Green Door.
Did she ever catch the pretty open implication that they were trading and smoking pot behind it? :mrgreen:

Just stumbled across this '70s classic: Suzi Quatro - Devil Gate Drive 8)
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Re: Last Song You Listened To

Post by Stephen »

Found myself singing Blue Mink's Melting Pot earlier!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAWn4FO1MOw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: Last Song You Listened To

Post by Courtenay »

Just came across Sergei Rachmaninov's setting of the Ave Maria in Russian, Bogoroditsye Dyevo. Incredibly, spine-tinglingly beautiful piece.

I was privileged to sing this in a choir once (as a first alto) in Melbourne some years ago, but I doubt we were a patch on this performance.
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Re: Last Song You Listened To

Post by MJE »

     Rachmaninov's church music is a complete surprise if you come to it after the glittering, larger-than-life, and far better-known works like the piano concertos, much of the piano music, and the like. I don't know this "Ave Maria" setting, and can't even claim to *know* the a cappella Russian Orthodox music, but I have heard samples of the latter occasionally in the past, and it is quite amazing music - quite stark and austere in one way, without a note wasted, yet incredibly and gorgeously rich-textured at the same time.
     It is said that the opening theme of Rachmaninov's Third Piano Concerto (the concerto featured in the film "Shine", about pianist David Helfgott) is based on an old Russian Orthodox chant - although I don't know if that is verified or not. But it has that characteristic type of melody which moves gracefully, mostly by adjacent notes, through a very narrow range of notes (little more than half an octave for much of its duration), which may sound boring, described like that - but it is anything but, in Rachmaninov's hands. (Does a melody that goes D F E D C-sharp D E D E D E F F F E D C-sharp B-natural C-sharp D D F E D C-sharp D E D G F E D E D C-sharp B-natural C-sharp D E E-flat (a new note!) D C-natural B-flat, etc., etc. seem like Chinese water-torture? Listen to it: it's mesmerizing and the very opposite of boring. Many versions available on YouTube, some of course better than others.)
     He is one of my very favourite composers - a true master, and I have great admiration for his work. Russia produced some incredible composers in the 19th and early 20th centuries, some of them almost totally forgotten now, perhaps partly due to suppression by the Soviet authorities of the time, which is a terrible tragedy to music. But, thankfully, some of this obscure and wonderful music is gradually being resurrected nowadays.

Regards, Michael.
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Re: Last Song You Listened To

Post by Moonraker »

Courtenay wrote:
Moonraker wrote:My mother was a huge fan of Frankie Vaughan, especially liking Green Door.
Did she ever catch the pretty open implication that they were trading and smoking pot behind it? :mrgreen:
No and neither did I! :shock:
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Re: Last Song You Listened To

Post by Moonraker »

MJE wrote:    But it has that characteristic type of melody which moves gracefully, mostly by adjacent notes, through a very narrow range of notes (little more than half an octave for much of its duration), which may sound boring, described like that - but it is anything but, in Rachmaninov's hands.
If you can't read music, you can hear it here. It starts 1'23" in.
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